Europe’s top clubs, including some Premier League sides, have held discussions about using six substitutes per game to ease the workload on players.
Sides met at the European Football Clubs’ (EFC) general assembly in Rome last week to discuss issues within the game.
It was not officially on the agenda or pushed by the EFC, but clubs had informal, private discussions about utilising 28-man squads – up from the current 25 – and six substitutes.
Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest were among those from the Premier League in Italy.
Five substitutes were introduced in the Premier League in May 2020 before football resumed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The league reverted back to three for the 2020-21 season, before five was voted in permanently from the 2022-23 season. A sixth substitute is allowed to replace a player without a suspected head injury.
Three extra squad places are seen as being able to reduce the workload on players after threats of strikes.
Last season Tottenham defender Archie Gray was included in 80 matchday squads for club and country, including friendlies, the joint highest in Europe with Real Madrid’s 20-year-old midfielder Arda Guler.
Gray, 19, made 48 appearances as Spurs won the Europa League and helped England Under-21s win Euro 2025 in the summer.
Sources close to the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have doubts if 28-man squads would help players, given it would not stop them from travelling in a matchday squad or ease mental fatigue regardless of whether they play.
In June Uefa, the EFC, FifPro Europe and European Leagues launched a study to better assess different types of injuries, performance levels and player welfare.
Last month FifPro, the world players’ union, released its fifth annual report on the issue, looking at how much players played and travelled in 2024-25.
It wrote: “Even if the player does not end up playing any minutes, they still have to be physically present and fully participate in team preparations, mentally prepare, while often spending time away from home and undertaking international travel.
“As such, these occasions are also part of the player’s working time commitments.”
Mike Henson, BBC Sport rugby union news reporter and Adam Lanigan, BBC Sport England
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George Ford says that he turned down an approach from big-money rugby union start-up R360 to extend his 102-cap England career.
The 32-year-old fly-half has signed a new three-year deal with Sale Sharks, where he has made 44 appearances and scored 341 points since joining in 2022.
England have previously confirmed that any players who join R360’s global circuit, like any other stars based overseas, will be ineligible for Test selection.
“They contacted my agent to have discussions, but my decision-making around it was purely based on the fact I’ve got unbelievable desire to play for England,” said Ford.
“I’ve loved my time at Sale Sharks as well and it never really got any further than that in terms of negotiations with the proposed new league.
“I love and I’m passionate about playing for England. I want to have the opportunity to I represent my country still. I feel I’ve still got a lot to give in a white shirt.”
R360’s aim of establishing eight all-star men’s teams for a series of events in major cities was hit by a coordinated ban from leading unions last week.
England, New Zealand, Ireland and France were joined by Scotland, Australia, South Africa and Italy in saying they would not pick any R360 recruits for international matches.
Ford, who started all three Test matches on England’s summer tour of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were on British and Irish Lions duty, also turned down “a couple of opportunities” overseas to stay in the Prem and available to England.
Sale boss Alex Sanderson estimated that, for star players like Ford, a move to R360 could earn them a third more than staying in England.
He added that moves to Japan could be a chance to double their money, while tax breaks for sportspeople add to the financial advantage of Top 14 clubs in France.
“It’s fundamental for this club, pivotal for the club moving forwards, that we have him at the helm,” said Sanderson.
“It’s bigger than just how brilliant he is on the field.
“It is where he’s from, where he wants to take the group and how well driven he is.
“He’s a motivational force for me as a coach, not just the players that he plays with.
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Sale have reached the play-offs in each of four of their past five Prem campaigns, without being able to claim the title.
While Ford was restricted to only a 25-minute cameo off the bench in the Six Nations earlier this year, he has staked a strong claim to be first-choice stand-off when England begin their autumn campaign against Australia on 1 November.
Ford admitted the current depth and quality of fly-half options is unprecedented during his time with England, with former skipper Owen Farrell back at Saracens and in contention for a call-up again.
“It’s brilliant, isn’t it? It’s where you want to be really in terms of squad depth. I’d imagine [head coach] Steve [Borthwick] is quite happy having four options like that,” said Ford.
“Selection is so subjective. That’s sort of a little bit out of my control right now, because my main focus at the minute is playing as well as I can for Sale.
“If I worry too much about if I’m going to get picked, I’m not going to get picked. It takes me away from my job in the here and now.”
Sanderson however was emphatic in his backing for his man.
Charlotte Church was welcomed onto This Morning to perform a live soundbath for viewers, but the singer became offended when Alison Hammond burst into a fit of laughter
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Alison Hammond hosts This Morning alongside Dermot O’Leary(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Charlotte Church has revealed that Alison Hammond’s viral laughing fit during her This Morning soundbath performance left her feeling deeply hurt and annoyed.
The Welsh singer and Celebrity Traitors star, 39, appeared on the ITV morning show in November 2023 to lead hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary through a live soundbath session.
What was supposed to be a serene moment went viral on social media when Alison struggled to contain her laughter during the musical demonstration.
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Now, Charlotte has spoken about the experience on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast, admitting the moment touched a nerve.
“Oh that p**sed me right off,” she confessed, before repeating: “That p**sed me right off.” She went on to explain: “I’ve met Alison Hammond a number of times and she’s a wonderful woman. I think that part of it was a misjudgement on my part to go, ‘let’s do a five minute sound bath on national TV. That makes loads of sense. Yeah, let’s go for it’.”
However, Charlotte said it wasn’t just Alison’s laughter that stung, but what it represented. “I think what annoyed me more than anything else was that then I’m given the opportunity to display and demonstrate and represent somewhat this amazing art of sound healing or sound ceremony or however people want to describe it, and then it’s made a figure of fun,” she said.
“That really did actually touch quite a deep wound for me. I was like, ‘Ugh I really like you, Alison, but f**k you.’” Podcast host Elizabeth Day pointed out that it likely reminded Charlotte of times she’s been mocked in the past, to which she agreed: “Yeah, totally.”
The soundbath segment had given Charlotte a chance to showcase the kind of spiritual work she now focuses on at her wellness retreat in rural Wales, The Dreaming.
While on the ITV show, she explained: “One of our pillars is sound and sound healing in all of its forms. Sound affects us on a cellular level and science is really starting to come to terms with the power of sound.”
Since stepping back from mainstream music, the Voice of an Angel star has devoted herself to spiritual practices. Her retreat, which is set in 47 acres of ancient woodland, offers activities such as breathwork and forest bathing.
She has recently spearheaded a new five-day Witch retreat, which is an immersive experience designed to help guests “embody their magic through ritual, nature and deep witchcraft practices”.
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Charlotte is passionate about the new direction her life has taken and is looking forward to incorporating some of her singing skills into her holistic work.
She previously shared: “I’m doing stuff at The Dreaming, which is really about pulling out the strands of how sound can be used for healing, how voice can be used for healing. I wanna sort of try and meld this idea of music and healing, and voice and healing, with that joy and ecstasy.”
The Duchess of Sussex attempted to put a positive spin on her and Prince Harry’s new deal with Netflix as she likened her agreement with the streaming giant to that of the former US president
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Meghan Markle at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2025(Image: Getty Images for Fortune Media)
Meghan Markle has compared herself to the former US president and former First Lady, Barack and Michelle Obama as she discussed her and Prince Harry’s brand new deal with Netflix.
The Duchess of Sussex spoke at Fortune’s annual Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington DC, where she spoke about her deal with the streaming giant and the future of her widely-panned lifestyle show With Love, Meghan. Earlier this year, Meghan and Prince Harry signed another deal with Netflix, which guaranteed a “multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects”, which Meghan likened to the same deal the Obamas have with the streaming service.
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She told the audience in Washington: “My husband and I were in an overall deal with Netflix, and then not just similar to Higher Ground in the Obamas’ deal, once that had come to its term, the extension of it, which was such an incredible sign of the strength of our partnership, was now being in a first look deal.
“Which is also exciting, because it gives us flexibility to go to our partners first, and then at the same time, to be able to shop content that might not be the right fit for Netflix, but has a home somewhere else.”
Meghan also said she is “grateful” for the partnership, adding it has been “incredible” for her As Ever brand which sells flower sprinkles, pre-prepared baking kits and jam. She said: “What we’ve designed is being able to have so much robust support in year one, where you have the show complementing the brand or content and commerce or meeting, and then still enabling me to have autonomy, to build out my own team and scale it in the way that I envision.”
She added the partnership means “the business will, of course, go on longer than a series”. The Sussexes previously described their latest deal with Netflix, which is also a partner in As Ever, as “extending their creative partnership”.
But PR and crisis expert Mark Borkowski has called it a “downgrade,” and suggested Netflix had “done a very neat job of pivoting away from two very expensive people who didn’t deliver”.
Elsewhere during the conversation, Meghan shared a cryptic update about the future of With Love, Meghan , when she was quizzed about the show receiving a third season.
When asked by Fortune’s editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell if a follow up season could be in the works, Meghan seemed to dodge the question and not give a straight answer, instead opting to talk about her upcoming holiday special, which she announced would be airing in November.
Meghan said: “So I think looking at that format — again, it’s a year of learns — so we’re able to say, ‘Eight episodes for two seasons — it’s a lot of work’.”
“And having done Suits for seven years, I remember what goes into a production. I also recognize how much people want content in different sizes. Part of what we’re testing out now is, it’s amazing to sit and watch a show for 30 minutes, but how can I give you a recipe in two minutes? And where can I share that with you? And how that continues to grow As Ever.”
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Meghan also teased that the holiday special would include gift wrapping techniques, as she used to teach “advanced gift wrapping” between acting auditions.
The anticipated second season of Meghan’s show, which follows the widely-panned first season that premiered earlier this year, and saw Meghan share cooking, crafting, and hosting tips with a range of celebrity pals and experts. And after just hours of its premiere, was savaged by critics who deemed it everything from “needy” to “narcissistic”.
Malaysia’s football federation has appealed FIFA’s decision to suspend seven national team players in an eligibility scandal, a news report said Wednesday.
The world governing body last month banned the foreign-born players for a year and fined the FA of Malaysia (FAM) $440,000.
FIFA accused the FAM of submitting doctored or false documents that said the seven players had Malaysian ancestry, making them eligible to represent the country. FAM denied knowingly wrongdoing.
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FIFA said an investigation showed that none of the players — who helped Malaysia to a 4-0 drubbing of Vietnam in June in an Asian Cup qualifier — actually had a parent or grandparent born in the Southeast Asian nation.
“This appeal process is like a second round for us, so we are making better, more thorough and detailed preparations. It was not done hastily or under pressure,” FAM acting president Yusoff Mahadi said, according to Bernama news agency.
Yusoff’s comments were made on Tuesday during Malaysia’s 5-1 victory over Laos in an Asian Cup qualifier.
FAM maintains it acted in good faith over the scandal, saying there was a “technical error”.
Tottenham Hotspur have announced that Fabio Paratici will return to his role of sporting director two-and-a-half years after he was banned by Fifa.
BBC Sport reported in May that talks were under way about a possible comeback for the 53-year-old.
Paratici will hold the position of joint-sporting director with Johan Lange and oversee Spurs’ men’s football strategy including performance development, scouting and recruitment.
He resigned from the role in April 2023 after his appeal against a 30-month Fifa ban for financial irregularities was rejected by Italy’s highest sports court.
The Italian was banned after Juventus, where he was sporting director and managing director before joining Tottenham in 2021, were found guilty of false accounting and deducted 10 points in Serie A.
Last month a judge in Rome accepted a plea bargain request by Paratici and other former Juventus executives, meaning he will not have to serve a 18-month prison sentence.
Plea deals in Italy do not involve an admission of guilt or any acceptance of liability.
“I’m delighted to be returning to a club that I love,” said Paratici.
“I have been working with Johan, Vinai [Venkatesham] and Thomas [Frank] as a consultant for a number of months and I now look forward to returning to London and joining the team full-time.
“I’m convinced that working in partnership with Johan we can build a special future for the club and our supporters.”
Tottenham will complete their new leadership structure by recruiting a director of football operations to work alongside Paratici and Lange.
‘Paratici’s know-how invaluable for Spurs’
Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent
One of the biggest unkept secrets in English football is finally out: Fabio Paratici’s official return to Tottenham has been confirmed.
Of course, since severing ties with Spurs because of his suspension, the Italian – renowned as one of Europe’s leading sporting directors – has been working on a consultancy basis for the club.
BBC Sport has reported regularly over the year that the wheels were in motion towards Paratici returning to the club on an official basis in 2025, though there was a dalliance with AC Milan in the summer.
Given his links to Daniel Levy, the Italian’s return looked unclear when the former executive chairman left Spurs last month.
So it is testament to Paratici’s reputation that the club’s new look ownership team have retained their commitment to re-employing the administrator.
The attraction to Paratici is clear: one of the most extensive contacts book in the game – who he doesn’t know probably isn’t worth knowing.
