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Motorsport boss ‘saddened’ by proposed FIA changes

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The head of Austria’s motorsport federation says he is “saddened” by proposed changes that will reduce accountability at motorsport’s governing body the FIA.

Oliver Schmerold, the chief executive officer of the OAMTC, says the new statutes would be “not good governance” and “not good in terms of checks and balances”.

Schmerold said he had communicated his concerns to the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, but it is his “sad projection” that the changes will be approved by member clubs on Friday.

The changes to the FIA statutes will be put to the vote at a meeting of the general assembly in Kigali, Rwanda.

Schmerold said the likely consequences for the FIA would be that “we lose a certain level of checks and balances [and] we might be questioned by other international bodies about our governance and we could run the risk that things go wrong”.

He said the changes, which limit the independence of the FIA’s audit and ethics committees, would make it harder to recruit “established and independent individuals” to them.

“The ethics and audit committees would lose that attractiveness so there would be maybe in future only individuals on those committees who are more or less in one way or another depending on the actual leadership,” Schmerold said.

“Which individual who is behind good governance and who has shown he has a good professional track record would be ready to take on a position on a committee which is completely controlled by two individuals?”

The changes in question would ensure any ethics complaints were overseen by the FIA president and president of its senate, rather than the senate itself, and they would remove the power of the audit committee to investigate financial issues independently.

Schmerold is the second senior figure from an FIA member club to express concerns about the proposed changes after David Richards, the chairman of MotorsportUK, said on Saturday they “did not reflect the highest standards of corporate governance”.

The changes have been proposed at the end of a year in which the ethics and audit committees have investigated a number of allegations about the conduct of Ben Sulayem.

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Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.

Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.

The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?

“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.

“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.

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I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp

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Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.

The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.

He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.

Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.

“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.

“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.

“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.

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Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev

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Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.

Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.

The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?

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