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Plymouth & Cardiff games off amid Storm Darragh warnings

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Saturday’s Championship matches between Plymouth and Oxford and Cardiff City against Watford have been postponed with severe weather warnings in place for south west England and Wales.

Newport’s clash with Carlisle in League Two has also been called off.

Storm Darragh will begin to affect the UK from Friday with amber wind warnings in place for Plymouth on Saturday.

The highest level of warning – red – has been forecast over parts of Devon posing a significant risk to people travelling to attend the game.

Parts of Wales are also under a red weather warning, prompting the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to postpone all Saturday’s scheduled domestic football and rugby matches.

Plymouth said they had been recommended by the Safety Advisory Group to postpone the match at Home Park.

A club statement said the decision had been made early “to avoid lengthy travel to Plymouth in difficult weather conditions and also in the best interests of supporter safety, as we would never put the safety of fans, staff or players at risk”.

“There is a real danger of flying debris and potential falling trees which could cause danger to life, with damage to buildings and homes also a real possibility,” the statement continued.

“Roads, bridges and railway lines could also close, and the stadium and surrounding area may be hit by power cuts.”

Argyle said tickets already bought for the game will be valid for the rescheduled fixture.

The game had a key bearing on the bottom half of the division – Argyle are one place and two points above the relegation places while Oxford are a point and four places above them.

Cardiff had initially planned an inspection on Saturday but said the decision to call off their game followed “new advice received from the Met Office, and the recommendations of Cardiff Council and South Wales Police”.

Scheduled horse racing meetings at Sandown Park, Aintree, Chepstow and Wetherby are also subject to precautionary inspections on Saturday morning

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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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