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Great Britain’s Matt Weston kicked off his skeleton World Cup campaign in perfect fashion by winning Friday’s opening race of the season in Cortina.

The 28-year-old finished 0.15 seconds ahead of Austria’s Samuel Maier after the two runs to earn his 10th World Cup gold medal.

Weston’s start times of 4.78 and 4.76 seconds were only 24th and 18th quickest in the pack, leaving him with an uphill struggle to make the podium.

But two-time world champion Weston made up the deficit through the 16-corner track, to win with a time of one minute and 53.84 seconds and claim his 21st podium finish in his past 25 races.

with a time of one minute and 53.84 seconds in Cortina.

A hamstring injury saw Weston miss a pre-season training camp in Norway.

“I’m not able to push at anywhere near my usual pace but I feel like I’ve really clicked with the track and that showed,” said Weston.

“To start 24th and then 18th but still get the win proves that my sliding was on point even though I’ve missed out on a lot of ice time because of the injury.”

Weston was particularly pleased with his victory because it came at the venue that will be used in February’s Winter Olympic Games.

“It’s been an incredible two or three weeks here – it’s an amazing venue and a really interesting track – and I’m already looking forward to trying to match today’s result when we come back for the big one,” said Weston.

“I know that this result won’t mean anything come the Olympics but it’s a great way to start the season and it will definitely give me confidence when we come back here in February.”

The Premier League will from next season move to a new system of financial fair play based on squad costs.

The clubs met in London on Friday to vote on three possible methods of replacing profit and sustainability regulations.

Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) got 14 votes in favour and six against, which is the minimum number that is required to exact a rule change.

Clubs will have a limit of 85% of revenue, although teams competing in Europe will have to adhere to Uefa’s maximum of 70%.

Rules around sustainability, which set out a club’s financial spending plans over the medium and long term, were passed unanimously.

But anchoring, which would have placed a top limit on spending based on the money earned by the bottom club, failed to get the necessary support. Twelve voted against it, with seven in favour and one abstaining.

“The new SCR rules are intended to promote opportunity for all clubs to aspire to greater success and bring the league’s financial system close to Uefa’s existing SCR rules,” a Premier League statement read.

Profit and Sustainability (PSR) was about a club’s balance sheet of all revenues over a three-year period, while SCR is just about team costs on a seasonal basis.

Several clubs, in healthy financial positions, were happy with PSR and wanted to keep the status quo. Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Leeds voted against the change.

SCR limits the amount of revenue a club can spend on player and manager wages, transfers and agents’ fees to 85%.

But there will be a dual system in place, with clubs in European competition having to adhere to Uefa’s SCR limit of 70%. A club could be sanctioned by Uefa but be compliant in the Premier League.

The higher limit is intended to protect the Premier League’s competitive balance, given the increased income received by those clubs competing in Europe.

Chelsea and Aston Villa were both given heavy fines by Uefa for breaches in the 2024-25 campaign, and that’s when the limit in Europe was 80%.

The Premier League has added some wriggle room, too, with a multi-year rolling allowance of 30% that permits clubs to spend beyond the limit. It allows clubs to invest ahead of revenue and variance or sporting underperformance.

An assessment is made each March, and the allowance is crucial to determine possible sporting sanctions applied in the same season.

The 85% marker is known as the Green Threshold. Spend above that and you get a financial penalty.

The Red Threshold is 85% plus the allowance. Go beyond that, and it’s a fixed six-point deduction which increases by one point for every £6.5m spent over the Red Threshold.

Think of it this way. Every club will start next season on 85% + 30% allowance, so effectively 115%.

Any clubs that spends above 85% will face a fine, but you would need to be in excess of 115% for a sporting sanction.

But those percentages will change for 2027-28.

Let’s say a club spends 105% on their squad next season. That means they have used 20% of their allowance, and for 2027-28 their maximum spend before potential sporting sanction is 95%.

If a club spend less that 85%, they can increase the allowance again to the maximum of 30%.

Next season, the Premier League will switch to a new financial fair play model based on squad costs.

On Friday, the clubs convened in London to vote on three different ways to replace sustainability and profit regulations.

The minimum number needed to enact a rule change was 14 votes in favor and six against, according to Squad Cost Ratio (SCR).

Clubs will be able to generate 85% of their revenue, but European competition teams must adhere to Uefa’s maximum of 70%.

The club’s financial spending plans over the medium and long term were unanimously approved as sustainability rules.

However, anchoring failed to gain the necessary support in order to establish a top spending cap based on the money made by the bottom club. Seventy-eight people cast ballots against it, with one abstaining.

A Premier League statement read, “The new SCR rules are intended to promote opportunity for all clubs to aspire to greater success and bring the league’s financial system to Uefa’s existing SCR rules.”

Profit and Sustainability (PSR) is concerned with a club’s balance sheet of all revenues over a three-year period, whereas SCR is only concerned with team costs on a seasonal basis.

Numerous clubs, with good financial standings, were content with PSR and wished to maintain the status quo. The change was rejected by Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Leeds.

SCR places a club’s maximum revenue cap of 85% on player and manager wages, transfers, and agent fees.

However, there will be a dual system in place, with clubs in European competition required to adhere to Uefa’s 70% SCR limit. Uefa might impose sanctions on a club, but it could still win the Premier League.

Given the higher revenue received by those teams competing in Europe, the higher cap is intended to safeguard the Premier League’s competitive balance.

Uefa fined both Chelsea and Aston Villa for violating the 2024-2019 campaign, when the maximum allowed in Europe was 80%.

With a 30-percent multi-year rolling allowance that allows clubs to spend more than the cap, the Premier League also offers some wiggle room. It enables clubs to make an investment before revenue, variance, or underperformance in sports.

Every March, a review is conducted, and the allowance is crucial to figuring out potential sporting sanctions for the same season.

The Green Threshold refers to the 85% mark. If you spend more than that, you pay a fine.

The allowance is added to the Red Threshold’s 85%. If you go beyond that, you get a fixed six-point deduction that rises by one point for every £6.5 million spent above the Red Threshold.

Consider this scenario. Effectively, every club will begin the following season at 85% plus a 30% bonus.

Any clubs that spend more than 85% will be fined, but a sporting sanction would require more than 115%.

However, in 2027-28, those figures will change.

Let’s say a club will dedicate 10% of their next season to their squad. That means they have used up 20% of their allowance and have used up 95% of it by the year 2027-28.

A club can increase the allowance up to a maximum of 30% if it spends less than 85%.

After the shareholders jeered director Ross Desmond for calling some fans “bullies,” interim manager Martin O’Neill described it as “as sad a morning” as he had witnessed after Celtic’s annual meeting was postponed.

Less than five minutes after the meeting began, some shareholders chanted “sack the board” and the meeting at Celtic Park had previously been adjourned for half an hour by chairman Peter Lawwell.

The Scottish Premiership club stated in a statement released shortly after that event that “such conduct is completely unacceptable and incredibly disappointing.”

We regret glaringly that shareholders who were deprived of a chance to participate in a fair and constructive meeting were not given the opportunity to participate.

Fans groups have criticized Celtic’s board for their summer transfer business and failure to qualify for the Champions League, where they currently trail surprise domestic league leaders Heart of Midlothian by seven points.

Desmond defended his father, a “lifelong and ardent “Celtic supporter,” in his opening statement, vowing that the board would not be bullied by “aggressive and irrational “criticism.”

The Irishman defended Lawwell and its co-founder, Michael Nicholson, and argued that “dehumanizing and demonizing them is repulsive.”

Desmond continued, “Those people are bullies,” and criticized a select group of fans for a recent incident that resulted in the Green Brigade Ultras group being banned.

According to his statement, Lawwell only brought the meeting to a close because of the shareholders’ reactions.

As directors entered the crowded Kerrydale Suite, where other fans could watch via video link from another function suite, shareholders booed and received dozens of red cards.

Before the introduction of the interim manager, cheers for him followed the cries of “out, out, out.”

Vice-chair of Celtic Trust Jeanette Findlay demanded that the meeting be moved to questions as the season review video began to play on large screens.

Lawwell remarked, “This disruptive behavior is not on. sack the board” from shareholders. It must end now. Respect must be shown to everyone in the room.

Lawwell called a 30-minute adjournment after the “you respect us” yell.

As a series of videos were played on large screens during the meeting’s conclusion, dozens of fans gathered as Lawwell, Nicholson, and chief financial officer Chris McKay defended the board’s record.

McKay defended the club’s $77 million summer cash reserve position in his video, claiming it was the result of “a very successful year in terms of player trading and Champions League performance.”

However, Celtic has since “invested in major infrastructure projects, we’ve gone through a transfer window, and we’ve dropped to the Europa League this year.”

With the signings of Adam Idah and Arne Engels, McKay noted that Celtic had already spent about £25 million on the Champions League despite having already spent the previous two deals in the 2024 summer window.

He claimed that the club’s first-team cost was the highest ever. In club history, we had the highest squad-carrying value. That demonstrates a lack of ambition.

O’Neill later stated that “it’s the most depressing morning I’ve ever seen” and that he wished he had addressed the group in a few words to promote unity.

The 73-year-old legend Jock Stein reminisced the statement, “A club without united would never be successful,” when he led Celtic to seven pieces of silverware during his first managerial tenure.

He acknowledged at his post-game press conference, “That was a little raucous. The board has acknowledged that they made mistakes, but there were those who would have desired to ask questions.

There are only so many times you can apologize before you have to go through with it. So we’ll start over, with the goal of starting over with the new manager.

There must be a reunion of this, they say. “A clear disconnect exists at this moment, but it can be fixed without a doubt.

England and Steve Smith.

For 15 years, the right-hander has steadfastly controlled the Ashes series.

Smith must be kept quiet if England are to prevail in Australia.

A Smith innings that stands alone for its unease was exactly what Ben Stokes’ side needed on day one.

Smith’s entire attention was entirely at his own volition during the 24 hours leading up to the first Test.

He stepped into his captain’s press conference, which he may only do once a week if Pat Cummins recovers from injury, to address Monty Panesar in a preplanned and premediated manner.

Nobody in this country cared to hear the former England spinner’s comments about how England should “make Smith feel guilty” about his role in the “Sandpapergate” scandal when they first appeared a week ago, so I apologize for being mean.

However, they were able to get away with Smith after he was the target of England fans’ taunts since his part in the 2018 ball-tampering incident against South Africa.

And that’s when he snapped as a media tit-for-tat battle unfolded on the eve of the Ashes.

After just two deliveries, Smith moved to the middle after Jake Weatherald was floored by Jofra Archer and later dismissed lbw.

England fans cried in tears on television when he resigned as captain in 2018 (a Panesar update is still unfinished) as he emerged, collar up, and in full flow with the typical Nadalian twitches (a Panesar update is still being made available down under).

Smith scored 17 runs before being caught off Brydon Carse by Harry Brook, making it the least un-Smith of his innings. 49 balls, including three wild swipes, saw 12 plays and misses.

One hand is struck by two elbows, one by the other. A risky single that Marnus Labuschagne would have had to take home with a direct hit.

His personal best was a 49% false shot percentage, which included the lurches, the gloves’ waves, and the bat’s points, which will never change.

In Australia, Smith’s average for that range is 10.9%. His previous record was 29%, highest anywhere in the world.

Stuart Broad, the former paceman who had played against Smith the most in Test cricket before this week, summed up England’s previous struggles by stating that he still had no idea how to dismiss him.

England bowled a special game to Smith on the first day of the 2025-26 match in Perth, whether it had been planned or not.

Not one of Smith’s 49 deliveries would have hit his stumps, which is the first time England have done that in any of Smith’s Ashes innings lasting 20 balls or more, a drop from their usual 11% figure, partly due to the bounce in the pitch and partly due to England’s selection of quicker bowlers chosen to hit the pitch rather than caress it.

A hangover from the 2019 series was abounding while Jofra Archer welcomed Smith with a bouncer in yet another throwback to the Stokes summer of 2019 with a run of 774 runs at an average of 110.57 as England flicked through from Plan A to Plan F with little success.

However, England’s spell targeted the channel that most Test batters lack: the outside of their body.

At his best between 2010 and 2010, Smith had a 54.5 against balls average, but this year, his average against runs is down to 22 runs per dismissal.

England can concentrate on simplicity going forward, even though the puzzle is not entirely resolved.

After a day of uncharacteristic conversation, Smith should do the same. He still has nine more chances to add to his slew of Ashes victories.

He was uneasy in the spotlight in Perth, perhaps unnerved.