the times | Thursday December 3 2020 2GM 73
Sport
result on eating uncastrated wild boar.
Martin Carefoot has since withdrawn
his claim that he falsified his evidence,
but Fury could still face trouble if Ukad
pursues the case.
Fury’s relationship with Spoty has
been an uneasy one since a section of
the crowd booed him when he attended
in 2015 because of homophobic and
sexist remarks. In an article in the Mail
on Sunday, Fury said three things were
needed for the devil to come home:
“One of them is homosexuality being
legal in countries, one of them is abor-
tion and the other is paedophilia.”
Greg Rutherford, who made the
shortlist that year after winning the
world long jump title, originally said he
was withdrawing because of Fury’s
“very outdated and derogatory com-
ments”, but was persuaded to attend.
When Fury was interviewed on stage
by the host, Gary Lineker, he said: “If
I’ve said anything in the past that’s hurt
anybody, I apologise.”
Spoty was first held in 1954, with
votes written on 14,517 postcards, and is
no stranger to controversy. In 1955 the
great distance runner Gordon Pirieaccepted two awards and then lambast-
ed the media for denigrating and dam-
aging British sport. In 1991 Bob Nudd,
the world angling champion, polled
more than 100,000 votes but the BBC
said Angling Times’s postal forms
constituted a breach of the rules.
One of the most shocking moments
came from Sue Barker, who made an
ill-judged joke about Gavin Henson’s
relationship with Charlotte Church
when interviewing the Wales rugby
coach, Mike Ruddock. Barker asked: “If
you can keep Henson out of Church
what are your chances?”
The all-male shortlist of 2011 also
sparked complaints and led to a 50-50
gender split on the expert panel, but no
woman has won since Zara Phillips
(now Tindall) in 2006.The Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
says that he would support the
introduction of temporary concussion
substitutes after calls for change
brought on by the clash of heads
between David Luiz and Raúl Jiménez
on Sunday.
Jiménez, the Wolverhampton Wan-
derers forward, suffered a fractured
skull in the incident, while Luiz, the
Arsenal centre back, played on with a
bandage protecting a head wound
before being replaced at half-time.
The decision to allow Luiz to
continue playing has been questioned
but Arteta insisted that the club’s
medical staff stuck to established
protocols. The manager acknowledged,0Arteta backs concussion subs
Ian Winrow however, that he can see the value in
having the opportunity to make a
temporary change while a player’s
condition is assessed.
He said: “If you have any doubt at any
moment and you need an extra two
minutes or five minutes to check some-
one, maybe we can think about that. If
we have any extra doubt, OK we give
them a bit more time if necessary — but
you cannot play 10 or 15 minutes with
ten men in football.”
Arsenal face Rapid Vienna at home
in the Europa League tonight having
already qualified for the round of 32.
Arsenal (probable; 4-2-3-1): A Runarsson —
C Soares, S Mustafi, S Kolasinac, A Maitland-Niles
— M Elneny, J Willock — N Pépé, A Lacazette,
R Nelson —E Nketiah.
Referee R Petrescu (Rom).
TV BT Sport 2, kick-off 8pm.continued from back
Fury: Take me off BBC shortlist
Cameron
Woki W
Age 22 Position Back row
Club Bordeaux Bègles Caps 3
An impressive talent who won the
World Under-20 Championship in- Shone off the bench in the Six
Nations and started for the first
time at the weekend. Strong,
quick, mobile and with good
hands. Could cause
problems.
Fury says that he
does not need BBC
“verfification”qqqqqqquqqqqqKane is derby injury doubt
Ian WinrowJosé Mourinho has said that Harry
Kane is an injury doubt for Sunday’s
north London derby after the
Tottenham Hotspur striker missed
training yesterday.
Kane was absent as Mourinho’s
squad prepared for today’s Europa
League visit to LASK and the Spurs
head coach confirmed that the England
captain would miss the trip to Austria.
Mourinho expressed his hope that
Kane would be available to face Arsenal
but conceded that there was a risk he
would miss out, though did not reveal
the nature of the injury. If Kane were
unavailable it would come as a signifi-
cant blow for Mourinho as his sideattempt to consolidate their standing at
the top of the Premier League.
The 27-year-old has scored 13 goals in
16 games this season. Asked about
Kane’s absence from training, along
with Érik Lamela, Carlos Vinícius and
Sergio Reguilón, Mourinho said: “All
injured. Lamela is an injury that comes
already three weeks and I don’t believe
he has a chance for the weekend. Harry,
Vinícius and Sergio, there is a chance
for them to be [back] for the weekend.”
Dele Alli is expected to return to the
line-up tonight, as is Gareth Bale.
Tottenham Hotspur (probable; 4-2-3-1): J Hart —
M Doherty, D Sánchez, J Tanganga, B Davies —
H Winks, M Sissoko — L Moura, D Alli, G Lo Celso
— G Bale.
Referee P Raczkowski (Pol).
TV BT Sport 2, kick-off 5.55pm. Radio talkSPORT 2.US firm closes in on
£200m Burnley deal
Football
Matt LawtonAn American sports investment com-
pany is close to completing the takeover
of Burnley with the Premier League set
to approve the £200 million deal.
ALK Capital, which is fronted by
Alan Pace, the former president of
Major League Soccer franchise Real
Salt Lake, has faced direct competition
from the rival bid of the Egyptian
entrepreneur Mohamed Sayed Zein El
Kashashy and the sports lawyer
Chris Farnell.
The Times understands the Premier
League is scrutinising both offers, with
sources claiming the Americans are
now the firm favourites to complete the
deal “imminently”.
At one stage it did seem that El
Kashashy and Farnell were in pole posi-tion, having signed a sales and purchase
agreement and provided proof of fund-
ing. The only matter to be resolved was
the outcome of the Premier League’s
owners’ and directors’ test.
But the Premier League has been
slow to complete that process, with the
delay thought to have been caused by
the subsequent offer from ALK for the
49 per cent stake belonging to the
Burnley chairman Mike Garlick and
John Banaszkiewicz’s 28 per cent share.
Insiders believe a deal will be com-
pleted in time for the January transfer
window, when the manager Sean Dy-
che will be keen to add quality to a
squad second from bottom in the table.
Burnley made only one significant
addition to their first-team squad in the
summer with Dale Stephens, the
central midfielder, joining for £1 million
from Brighton & Hove Albion.Pivac rings the changes
for final autumn outing
Rugby union Wayne Pivac, the Wales
head coach, has made nine changes
to the starting line-up for their final
Autumn Nations Cup match against
Italy in Llanelli on Saturday.
Justin Tipuric, the flanker who
missed the 24-13 loss to England at
the weekend because of a head knock,
returns to the back row alongside Jim
Botham and Taulupe Faletau.
Other switches include a start for
George North at outside centre.
Wales (team to play Italy): Liam Williams; Josh
Adams, George North, Johnny Williams, Louis
Rees-Zammit; Callum Sheedy, Kieran Hardy;
Nicky Smith, Sam Parry, Tomas Francis, Will
Rowlands, Alun Wyn Jones, Jim Botham, Justin
Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.Leading Briton in Vendée
suffers damage to yacht
Sailing Sam Davies, the leading Briton
in the Vendée Globe, was last night
assessing the damage to her yacht
(Initiatives Coeur) after hitting an
object south of the Cape of Good
Hope. Davies reported the incident to
her team yesterday evening and was
heading north at reduced speed in the
hope of inspecting the boat in calmer
seas (Matt Dickinson writes).
Davies is 11th and the leading
woman in a race that has already
included several major incidents. Two
boats have retired, while Sébastien
Simon is also heading north after
damaging his starboard foil. Charlie
Dalin (Apivia) remains in the lead.