Evander Kane re-signed with the Edmonton Oilers on a four-year, $20.5 million contract shortly before the start of NHL free agency, having resurrected a career in the midst of turmoil after joining the team midway through the 2021-22 season.

Kane, who totalled 35 goals in 58 games with Edmonton when including the playoffs, announced his decision in a Twitter post late on Tuesday.

The 13-year veteran forward signed with the Oilers in January following an ugly departure from the San Jose Sharks, who terminated his contract earlier that month for violating COVID-19 protocols while playing in the American Hockey League.

Kane did not play a game for the Sharks last season due to a handful of off-field issues. The 30-year-old began the campaign away from the team as the NHL investigated accusations from his ex-wife that he assaulted her and wagered on league games, and he also served a 21-game suspension for submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccine card to the Sharks and the NHL.

The NHL announced in October that it could not corroborate the domestic assault claims and said it found no evidence that Kane gambled on league games.

"Throughout the last 12 months, there have been lots of road blocks, tons of adversity and many tough days," Kane wrote. "I'm grateful for the tremendous amount of support from family, friends, team-mates and others who have helped me stay strong through these difficult times.

"I want to thank the Edmonton Oilers for giving me the opportunity to REMIND people who I am as a player and person."

A two-time 30-goal scorer, Kane rediscovered his touch by producing 22 goals and 17 assists in 43 regular-season games with Edmonton. He was even better in the postseason, tallying 13 goals and four assists in 15 games to help the Oilers advance to their first Western Conference final since 2006.

"A big part of my decision to stay in Edmonton was because of the opportunity given to me only seven months ago but also the chance to be a part of a championship team," he said.

"I want to win, and I believe after signing this deal we will be able to add the right pieces along with myself to accomplish that goal, a championship."

Selected by the Atlanta Thrashers with the fourth overall pick of the 2009 draft, Kane has compiled 286 goals and 259 assists in 812 career regular-season games. The Vancouver native is one of seven players to have scored 20 or more goals in each of the past seven seasons.

Suzuki have confirmed they will depart MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season after reaching an early release agreement with promoters Dorna.

The Japanese manufacturer previously indicated their intent to seek a withdrawal from the sport, citing economic difficulties behind their decision.

 Suzuki had been contracted to MotoGP through to 2026, having previously returned to the premier class in 2015 afterling quitting in 2011.

They have now been handed an early termination following negotiations, president Toshihiro Suzuki confirmed.

The company will also exit the World Endurance Championship - which includes the Le Mans 24 Hour race - at the end of the current campaign.

Suzuki last won the MotoGP title in 2020, their first for 20 decades, with Spanish rider Joan Mir crowned champion.

They will support both Mir and his team-mate Alex Rins - eighth and ninth in the standings respectively until the end of the season, with the pair currently eighth and ninth in the standings re

Jonas Vingegaard's attack paid off in style as the Dane took the lead in the Tour de France, severely denting Tadej Pogacar's hopes.

Wednesday's 152kilometre route through the Alps looked set to be crucial in the general classification standings, though few would have predicted this outcome up the Col du Granon.

Pogacar seemed in complete control of the GC and was expected to maintain his advantage, such is his proficiency up the slopes.

Yet led by Primoz Roglic and Wout van Aert, Jumbo-Visma attacked early and lured Pogacar and his fellow UAE Team Emirates riders into responding.

Those early moves seemed to have backfired, with Pogacar and team-mate Rafal Majka looking strong heading onto the final climb, but it all fell apart for the two-time reigning champion when Vingegaard sensed a weakness and lodged a brilliantly timed attack 5km out from the finish, leaving the yellow jersey in his wake.

Geraint Thomas soon followed suit, making his own dent in the GC standings, as for the first time in his career Pogacar showed real vulnerability. 

While Pogacar floundered, Vingegaard wrapped up a sensational ride by overtaking Romain Bardet, who is up to second in the GC, and Nairo Quintana to seal his maiden Grand Tour stage triumph.

Thomas pushed over in fourth, with David Gaudu and Adam Yates getting up to the summit before Pogacar – his yellow jersey unzipped and flapping – limped across the line, close to three minutes behind Vingegaard.

"It's really incredible, it's hard for me to put words on," said Vingegaard, whose lead over Pogacar in the GC standings is well over two minutes. "This is what I dreamt of, always, a stage in the Tour. Now the yellow jersey, incredible.

"We made the plan from the start of the day, you can see what it was, we wanted to make it a super hard race in my favour, the favour of Primoz. I took a lot of time today, but I'd never have done that without my team-mates, they were all incredibly strong today.

"On the last climb I was thinking if I don't try, I'm not going to win. Second place is a nice result, but I had this last year, now I want to try to go for the victory." 

Van der Poel calls it quits

One of the big names at this year's tour, Mathieu van der Poel, has failed to really get going and he called it a day on stage 11, abandoning the race. It has been a frustrating stint for the Dutchman, who impressed on his Tour de France debut last year. He was dropped on the Lacets de Montvernier, after initially getting involved in the early breakaway.

STAGE RESULTS

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 4:18:02
2. Nairo Quintana (Team Arkea–Samsic) +0:59
3. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +1:10
4. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) +1:38
5. David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ) +2:04

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS 

General Classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 41:29:59
2. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +2:16
3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) +2:22

Points Classification

1. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 304
2. Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 155
3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) 148

King of the Mountains

1. Simon Geschke (Cofidis) 43
2. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) 35
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 30

Darren Clarke believes he has "a few more decent days left on the golf course" after revealing he turned down the offer of joining the LIV Golf Invitational.

Clarke, who won The Open in 2011, is competing at St Andrews this week in the season's final major.

It marks the 150th anniversary of The Open Championship, golf's oldest major.

Yet the lingering dispute over LIV Golf - the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour - continues to cast a shadow over the sport.

Clarke has now revealed he was approached to take up a broadcast role for LIV Golf, an option that the Northern Irishman was keen to explore.

However, his desire to continue playing on the PGA Tour meant he had to turn it down.

"I could still have gone and done it but it would have basically meant me retiring from playing professional golf. I wasn't ready to do that just yet," Clarke said, as quoted by BBC Sport.

"Unfortunately I asked for permission to do it and it was denied, [I am] not allowed to do it as part of my PGA Tour membership.

"I respect that decision. I would love to have gone and done it and played both but they decided in their rules and regulations that it wasn't viable for me to do so.

"I want to play. Hopefully I've got a few more decent days left on the golf course and I wasn't ready to hang the clubs up just yet."

While Clarke understands why golfers would take up the chance to play on the lucrative tour, he believes it is fair that there are consequences for those decisions.

"I can understand why the guys have done it. That's fine, they get paid a lot of money to go and join the LIV tour," the 53-year-old added.

"It's a different question if you ask should those guys be allowed to play. It's like asking should Liverpool be allowed to play in the Premier League and go play in LaLiga at the same time?

"As [DP World Tour chief executive] Keith Pelley said, every action comes with consequences. So if you want to go and do this, then you can't do that.

"It's not my position to say what's right and what's wrong but at the moment the rules are that those guys are ineligible to play."

Frank Lampard is adamant Anthony Gordon will not be leaving Everton despite reported interest from Tottenham and Newcastle United.

Gordon provided a bright spark for Everton under both Rafael Benitez and Lampard last term, as the Toffees secured Premier League survival with one game to spare.

Along with Richarlison and Jordan Pickford, Gordon was a standout performer under Lampard, who took charge in January following Benitez's dismissal.

No Everton player featured in more league games than Gordon last term, with the winger scoring four goals and setting up a further two, while only Demarai Gray (42) and Alex Iwobi (36) created more chances than the 21-year-old's tally of 35.

With Richarlison having been sold to Tottenham for a deal reportedly worth an initial £50million, with a further £10m in add-ons, Everton – who needed a big sale to ease their financial difficulties – are down a key performer from last season, with the Brazil forward having scored 10 goals, including crucial strikes against Leicester City, Chelsea and Crystal Palace in the run-in. 

Yet there is also interest in Gordon, with Spurs having reportedly looked at the possibility of signing the England youth international alongside Richarlison and Newcastle said to have made enquiries.

But with Gordon having taken the number 10 shirt ahead of the upcoming season, Lampard insists the youngster is staying put.

"He's worked for it, you have to earn the number 10," Lampard told Everton's website. "With the 10, it has a bit of magic to it, a bit of flare and Anthony's got that, but he's got it in his own style.

"I don't want him to be doing pirouettes on the halfway line, we need him doing what he was doing last year, plus goals and assists, which Anthony is so hungry to do.

"He's earned it, absolutely. A link to the crowd, a link to the fans, a local boy – he gives everything, a great talent.

"He's going nowhere, he's our player. That was a hugely important thing for me, he's the sort of player we want to build to go forward with and I'm delighted that he's got his number 10 but now I want him to continue to earn it."

Another player linked with a move away from Everton has been Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose late winner against Palace sealed their safety.

The forward had an injury-hit campaign and managed just five goals, but Lampard is eager to see the England international back at peak fitness.

"I couldn't have been happier for a player to score that goal that goes down in Everton history. You get goosebumps when you think about it, it's just an amazing goal," Lampard added.

"I saw Dominic in my time at the club striving, doing everything to be fit. The powerhouse that we saw in the last games of the season – that's Dominic. Great lad, great talent, a dream to work with. A fully fit Dominic is something for us to get excited about this season."

An enquiry carried out by the French Senate found chaotic scenes before the Champions League final were caused by "a string of dysfunctions" in the organisation of the event, rather than Liverpool supporters.

The kick-off for the showdown between the Reds and Real Madrid at the Stade de France on May 28 was delayed due to alarming scenes outside the stadium in Paris.

The French government initially accused Liverpool fans, who were sprayed with tear gas and complained of being subjected to heavy-handed policing, of being at fault for having fake tickets and arriving at the ground late.

Paris police chief Didier Lallement apologised to supporters for the use of tear gas and his wrong estimation of the number of fake tickets that were in circulation.

Two Senate committees launched an investigation to discover what happened prior to Madrid's 1-0 win and concluded that Liverpool fans were not to blame.

The report stated: "It is unfair to have wanted to make supporters of the Liverpool team bear the responsibility for the disturbances that occurred, as the Minister of the Interior did to divert attention from the inability of the state to adequately manage the crowds present and to curb the action of several hundred violent and co-ordinated offenders."

"The systems put in place had major shortcomings with regard to the intelligence [absence of hooligans but presence of delinquents in large numbers], the transport routes for supporters [removal of a drop-off route at the surroundings of the stadium] and insufficient communication.

"It is not only in the execution that problems arose. Upstream, the crisis scenarios were insufficiently worked on and did not demonstrate the necessary flexibility in the face of so many unanticipated events."

The report's co-chairman, Laurent Lafon added: "The gravity of what happened at the Stade de France shows that there are many decisions to be taken to ensure this doesn't happen again at the Rugby World Cup or the Olympic Games."

He continued: "There was a need to communicate clearly about transporting the fans from the train station between the chief of police, the French Football Federation, and the train operators but this didn't happen.

"We recommend communicating with football supporters more and improving the attractiveness of the area around the Stade de France so that people are willing to arrive early.

"We want the authorities' view of football supporters to change, that is a strong recommendation that we are making."

Queensland emerged victorious in a pulsating series finale to reclaim the State of Origin shield in a thrilling 22-12 win over New South Wales in Brisbane on Wednesday.

The Maroons looked to be in danger of slipping to a fourth series defeat in the last five in their own backyard, after the Blues handed them a blowout defeat in Perth for Origin II following a narrow win in Sydney in Origin I.

But in one of the modern great deciders in series history, Billy Slater's wounded hosts held on in the final quarter of a bruising encounter to win at Suncorp Stadium in Origin III.

Both teams lost players to injury straight out of the gate, with New South Wales' Cameron Murray and Queensland duo Selwyn Cobbo and Lindsay Collins all forced off with head injuries in the first five minutes.

Despite being down two men, the Maroons still struck first through Valentine Holmes' tackle-busting dart out wide in the 12th minute, though the Penrith Panthers half-back combo of Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai promptly combined for a Blues response six minutes later

Debutant Jacob Saifiti steamrollered through after repeat sets for the visitors to hand them the lead nine out from the break, but Queensland reduced the deficit to two heading into the interval after Kurt Capewell leapt onto a sublime Harry Grant grubber.

An ill-tempered start to the second half saw Dane Gagai and Matt Burton both sin-binned for a dust-up, before Ben Hunt helped quell a Blues resurgence with a superb 40-20, setting the stage for a chain of repeat sets eventually finished by Kalyn Ponga.

Grant looked to have potentially sealed the deal for the Maroons with a dozen minutes left on the clock, only for the bunker to chalk it off - but when Hunt picked off a last-gasp Cleary chip to go the length of the field with two minutes to go, the release of emotion around Brisbane ensured this would be remembered as one of the all-time series encounters.

Barcelona have confirmed they have agreed a deal with Leeds United to sign Raphinha.

The deal is reportedly worth up to €67million (£56.57m). Raphinha's move is subject to a medical being completed.

Chelsea and Arsenal were both heavily linked with the former Sporting CP attacker, with the Blues striking a deal with Leeds in late June to bring the winger to Stamford Bridge.

However, reports suggested that Raphinha was prioritising a move to Barca, with Blaugrana president Joan Laporta announcing "he wants to come".

Xavi's side are contending with well-documented financial issues, with Laporta revealing new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen could only be registered after salary adjustments. 

But Barca have seemingly made further alterations to secure the services of Raphinha, who is set to sign a five-year deal.

Raphinha scored 11 times in the Premier League for Leeds in his last season, after netting six goals in the 2020-21 season following his arrival from Rennes.

That marked his best return in front of goal since he struck 15 times in the 2017-18 campaign Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.

Indeed, since making his Leeds debut, he has directly contributed to 29 Premier League goals, scoring 17 times and managing 12 assists, at least five more than any team-mates in the period.

Xavi will hope Raphinha can continue his scoring form when Barca open their LaLiga campaign at home to Rayo Vallecano on August 13.

Daniel Ricciardo has rubbished rumours that he is planning to retire, adding that he is committed to McLaren until the end of the 2024 season.

Former Red Bull and Renault driver Ricciardo signed for McLaren ahead of the 2021 season, but the Australian has struggled to find his best form for the team.

He claimed one race win last season - at the Italian Grand Prix - marking his first F1 triumph since the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018.

That was Ricciardo's only podium finish of 2021, however, and the 33-year-old has failed to finish in the top three at all so far this season, with his best finish, sixth, coming at home in the Australian Grand Prix.

Speculation has mounted that Ricciardo would soon announce his decision to quit F1, but he has insisted that is not the case.

"There have been a lot of rumours around my future in Formula One, but I want you to hear it from me," Ricciardo, who finished ninth in last week's Austrian Grand Prix, posted on his social media channels.

"I am committed to McLaren until the end of next year and [I] am not walking away from the sport. Appreciate it hasn't always been easy, but who wants easy!

"I'm working my a** off with the team to make improvements and get the car right and back to the front where it belongs. I still want this more than ever. See you in Le Castellet."

Ricciardo is 12th in the drivers' standings, having collected just 17 points in 2022, with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in seventh place.

Raphael Varane says Manchester United must "improve in everything" in a new era under Erik ten Hag.

The Red Devils struggled again last season, failing to qualify for the Champions League or win a trophy.

Ten Hag was lured from Ajax as the permanent successor to interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who stepped in following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking last November.

The Dutchman's reign got off to a winning start during their pre-season tour on Tuesday, hammering Liverpool 4-0 in Bangkok.

Varane says United must improve in all areas in order to become a force once again.

"We know exactly how we want to play," Varane told Sky Sports. "The manager explained very well what we have to do and it's absolutely clear.

"So we know we have to be very fit because it's a very physical way to play. This is just the start of the pre-season so it's just the beginning, but we know exactly where we want to go.

"I think we know exactly what we have to do - we have to improve in everything.

"We have ambition for this season but also, most important, we have to work with humility. I think it's the most important."

Varane was hampered by injuries during his first campaign at Old Trafford, with a lack of a consistent centre-back partnership an issue as Harry Maguire came under fire.

The France defender hopes he can complete uninterrupted preparations for his second term, with the World Cup in Qatar also on the horizon.

"Personally, it's an opportunity for me to have a real pre-season, to get fit and to be ready because it'll be a very long season with a lot of games and high intensity," he said.

"I will try to be ready and to be fit, and obviously I'm very excited for this season coming and I'm very happy to be with Manchester and in this great club. We will try to win some trophies."