Bompastor was visibly upset on the touchline as she approached the fourth official to question the decision.

Chelsea’s players looked bemused and their frustrations grew, including Bompastor kicking a bottle, when Kadeisha Buchanan’s late effort was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Anneke Borbe, although replays showed that was the correct decision.

Asked what feedback she received from the officials on their decisions, Bompastor said: “Nothing. It’s always the same. You go to them and ask them to check they made the right decision, they always say ‘yeah, we are checking.’

“But they made the wrong decision. Nothing changes. When a human makes a mistake, you can understand a little more but when there is the VAR, it’s really difficult.

“I don’t think it’s been the first time for us this season in the Champions League. When we played Barcelona, Catarina Macario’s goal was not offside. That changes a lot. I just think they need to be better.”

Bompastor insisted she believes VAR is good for the women’s game but that the officials using it must be the “right people to check the situations”.

Asked how the women’s game could be respected more, Bompastor said the solution would be to bring the “best” referees to the biggest games.

“If that has to be coming from the men’s game, then maybe,” she said. “If it is coming from the women’s game, then [use] the best ones,” she added.

“We need to make those decisions. It’s really frustrating. We need to bring competence which is the most important thing.”

Pesu, 36, has officiated throughout this year’s Women’s Champions League and oversaw two games at last summer’s European Championship, including the opening match between hosts Switzerland and Norway.

Man Utd are planning to build a new Old Trafford and they have issued an update on the work going on behind the scenes over the next 12 months.

Manchester United stadium development boss Collette Roche insists progress has been made on plans to build a new £2bn Old Trafford, with talks with investors going well and land-acquisition deals set to be announced soon.

Since announcing last year plans to build a new 100,000-seater Old Trafford on land adjacent to the current stadium, there has been no concrete progress made public, but Roche insists the project has moved forward behind the scenes.

United have been working on securing land needed to deliver the new stadium and the wider regeneration project, with the aim of securing a large patch of land currently owned by Freightliner proving to be a particular challenge.

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But Roche revealed progress had been made on that front and suggested an announcement confirming a deal could be made in the next couple of months.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in the last 12 months,” said Roche, who was handed the title of chief executive, new stadium development, earlier this year.

“But to be fair, a lot of it has been behind the scenes. So people might not have seen that, but some of the examples of progress we’ve made are first and foremost in land assembly.

“We want to make sure we get the best possible position for this stadium, one which has got plenty of land around it to put the right facilities in place, one that’s connected and offers a great match day experience.

“So I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to all the local landowners to understand where that needs to be, and we’re progressing that really, really well, and I’m hoping to be able to share some positive news on that front in the next few months.”

United have also been working to try and line up investment for the project. Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirmed last year that they would fund the stadium with private finance, and Roche revealed United had spoken to “people and organisations” keen to be involved.

There have also been talks with public bodies around taxpayer investment in infrastructure around the stadium. Ratcliffe said last year that public cash would be needed to complete the wider regeneration aims around the stadium, with both sets of plans going hand-in-hand.

“I think the second area that we’ve done a lot in is around investment, and I’m delighted to say we’ve had a lot of interest,” said Roche. “There’s a lot of people and organisations that want to invest, not just in the stadium, but also in the wider stadium district. And so those conversations are naturally going to be behind closed doors.

“And I think the third part, but arguably the most important work we’ve been doing is really laying the foundations and relationships with the people that are going to make this happen.

“So primarily, it’s the local authorities. It’s working with the newly established Mayoral Development Corporation. Bit of a mouthful, but we call it the MDC. So that’s chaired by Lord Seb Coe. And as we know, he’s got tremendous experience in sports-led regeneration projects with the work he did in London 2012.

“It’s supported by Andy Burnham, our mayor, who thinks it’s going to bring amazing benefits for the city region and also by Tom Ross, who’s obviously our leader here in Trafford. And so they’re a really important group of people.

“They’re the ones that are going to help us with the planning, make sure we’ve got the infrastructure around the stadium to be able to get in and out efficiently and effectively, but also the ones that will remove any obstacles that we come up against as we go through this build, and to make sure that we can deliver the benefits. As we’ve all said, we want to for the greater good.”

The mare Machine Gun Gracie, successful in last year’s WA Oaks–WA Derby pairing, showcased elite form again via a stunning run in the Group 3 $250,000 Epona Stakes (1900m) on Saturday at Rosehill Gardens.

As a fresh addition to brothers JD, Ben and Will Hayes’ Lindsay Park yard, Machine Gun Gracie broke through for her maiden win in almost 12 months since the Perth feats – with expectations of more elite targets looming.

“She’s got plenty of X-Factor,” Jd Hayes said.

“We’ll have a good chat and debrief with the team and the connections here, have a few cold ones and enjoy today. Then work out where we’re going, because I think a mare of her calibre, we will have plenty of options.”

Market drifter at $17, Machine Gun Gracie demolished her field, securing the Epona Stakes by two lengths from Polymnia ($5.50), Placid Pearl ($101) grabbing third narrowly.

Godolphin-owned Pinito, the $2.60 top pick, raced outwards on the turn and dropped to a poor ninth. This victory represented Machine Gun Gracie’s second for the Hayes team after spells with Perth handler Justine Erkelens.

Erkelens keeps a stake in the mare’s ownership syndicate and watched from the stands as she cruised to Epona Stakes glory.

“They saw our facilities (Lindsay Park) and thought it would really suit ‘Gracie’, so we’re just very lucky in that regard that she got sent our way,” Hayes said,”She’s gone from strength to strength and she’s got plenty of upside. We’ve always had a high opinion of her and it’s good to see her convert here today.”

Jockey Luke Currie settled Machine Gun Gracie smoothly before unleashing her devastating sprint to the wire.

“In Perth she raced on speed and was really strong but last time she was a bit sticky out first-up and I just rode her quietly from there,” Currie said.

“But she had the barrier extension on today because she’s so big she doesn’t fit in the gates so well. She gets very uncomfortable and I thought that’s what happened last time.

“She still didn’t begin the fastest, so I had to just give her a little nudge, but she got there and switched straight off and pricked her ears. She always travelled nice and kind, off a nice tempo, and was always going to be hard to beat.”

Visit betting sites to find racing odds for Epona Stakes contenders.

Five years ago, the Chicago Cubs stole Pete Crow-Armstrong away from the Mets in a three-player trade that, most notably, sent Javier Báez to New York for two months before free agency. The deal was part of Chicago’s deadline sell-off that saw 2016 World Series champions Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant traded away in addition to Báez. A difficult time on the North Side, it was.

Now the Cubs are making sure Crow-Armstrong is part of their long-term future. The Cubs and Crow-Armstrong have agreed to a six-year, $115 million extension, according to ESPN. The deal runs from 2027-32 and doesn’t include any option years. Crow-Armstrong was previously scheduled to hit free agency after the 2030 season.

Here are the largest contracts given to players five years away from free agency:

1. Jackson Merrill: 9 years and $135 million (signed April 2025)
2. Pete Crow-Armstrong: 6 years and $115 million (signed March 2026)
3. Jacob Wilson: 7 years and $70 million (signed January 2026)
4. Ke’Bryan Hayes: 8 years and $70 million (signed April 2022)
5. Lawrence Butler: 7 years and $65.5 million (signed March 2025)
6. Ezequiel Tovar: 7 years and $63.5 million (signed March 2024)

Crow-Armstrong, 24 on Wednesday, played his first full MLB season in 2025 and joined Sammy Sosa as the only 30-30 players in Cubs history while playing Gold Glove-winning defense in center field. He slashed .247/.287/.481 with 31 homers and 35 steals, and ranked fourth among all players with 21 outs above average defensively. It added up to a 5.4 WAR season and MVP votes.

Now that he’s made the leap from exciting prospect to All-Star, the Cubs locked up Crow-Armstrong and made him the centerpiece of their roster moving forward. How did he get here? What does he have to do to get better? And what’s next for the Cubs? Let’s dig into all that now.

How PCA unlocked his power

The Gold Glove defense and stolen bases were expected. The power is what took Crow-Armstrong from good role player and No. 9 hitter to legitimate star. He’d never hit more than 20 home runs in a season in the minors before clubbing 31 in the majors last year. He showed off that power with a two-homer game in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month:

To get into his power, Crow-Armstrong adjusted his setup at the plate last season, specifically widening his feet and getting a little deeper into the box. His feet were 28.1 inches apart in 2024, per Statcast. In 2025, it was 33.7 inches, putting him in the top 25% of the league. That helped him move his intercept point (i.e. where the bat makes contact with the ball) up two inches, or about 33%.

OK, great, so what does that mean? In English, Crow-Armstrong is now catching the ball further out in front of the plate, to use an old baseball adage. That has allowed him to pull the ball in the air more — his pulled fly ball rate went from 19.3% in 2024 (a tick higher than the 16.7% league average) all the way up to 30.2% in 2025. Here are the 2025 pulled fly ball rate leaders:

1. Isaac Paredes: 38.5%
2. Cal Raleigh: 38.4%
3. Spencer Torkelson: 31.8%
4. Max Muncy: 31.5%
5. Kyle Schwarber: 31.1%
6. José Ramírez: 30.9%
7. Pete Crow-Armstrong: 30.9%

That’s a pretty good list of names there. I know pulling the ball has a bit of a stigma because of the (now banned) infield shift, but it’s the best way to hit for power. Last year, balls pulled in the air produced a .612 batting average and 1.329 slugging percentage. Crow-Armstrong began pulling the ball in the air at an elite rate last season and the home runs followed.

Gold Glove defense in center field would have gotten Crow-Armstrong paid no matter what, but without last year’s power spike, his earning potential would have been capped. Defense pays only so much. Crow-Armstrong tweaked his setup at the plate, connected with the ball a split second sooner, and became a 31-homer player. That’s what earned him this contract extension.

What he needs to do next

The power is there, the stolen bases are there, and the defense is there. The next hurdle for Crow-Armstrong is fine-tuning his plate discipline and being more selective. The man likes to swing, so much so that it’s a detriment. Last season, he swung at 41.4% of pitches out of the zone, the fifth-highest rate in baseball and well above the 28.0% league average.

Crow-Armstrong’s 2025 was a tale of two seasons. He hit .265/.302/.544 in the first half and only .216/.262/.372 in the second half. It’s easy to think that, well, pitchers figured him out, and fed him pitches out of the zone and got him to chase. That’s not really what happened, though. Crow-Armstrong had a lower chase rate in the second half (37.6%) than he did in the first half (43.7%).

The second-half slump was the product of a mechanical issue, not a chase issue. He was getting too wide with his stance and too long with his stride, assistant hitting coach John Mallee told The Athletic last month. “He was accelerating in his stride, covering too much ground, which kind of made him a little long, and he was mis-hitting balls,” Mallee said.

Getting the swing right is a constant battle not unique to Crow-Armstrong. Every hitter goes through it. For him to get to the next level, though, Crow-Armstrong has to rein in that chase at least a little bit. It is really, really hard to be a productive hitter with a 40% chase rate. That much chase is something pitchers can exploit, leading to a lot of swings and misses and weak contact.

Realistically, Crow-Armstrong will never be a plate discipline savant with a near-20% chase rate like Cubs teammates Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki. A realistic goal is pulling that chase rate down into the 35% range. That’s where productive hitters like Bo Bichette, Bryce Harper, and Julio Rodríguez reside. You can chase 35% of the time and be a perennial All-Star. At 40%, it’s much harder.

The goal is not drawing more walks (though the Cubs would certainly take them). Walks are a byproduct of plate discipline, not the goal. The point of plate discipline is swinging at better pitches and giving yourself the best chance to do damage. That’s what’s left for Crow-Armstrong to master. If he controls the zone better, it just might turn him into the game’s best center fielder.

More extensions ahead for Cubs?

The Cubs have a history of extending their best players. Crow-Armstrong joins Happ and Nico Hoerner as players who broke into the big leagues with the Cubs and signed extensions that delayed free agency. I would guess right-hander Cade Horton is next on the team’s extension to-do list. Possibly first baseman Michael Busch and closer Daniel Palencia as well.

The upcoming offseason is an important one for the Cubbies because they have a lot — A LOT — of core players coming up on free agency. The list includes Happ, Hoerner, Suzuki, Shota Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon. My guess, and I emphasize this is only a guess, is that Hoerner is the top priority among that group because his elite contact/elite defense/elite makeup skill set is so valuable.

Convincing a young player like Crow-Armstrong to take guaranteed millions years before free agency is one thing. Convincing a player who’s already made some money in his career to pass up free agency when he’s just a few months short of reaching the open market is another. I’m sure the Cubs will try to extend Hoerner and Suzuki at least. Whether they get it done is another matter.

Crawley Town have named former Derby County, Brighton and Sheffield United forward Colin Kazim-Richards as their new head coach.

The 39-year-old – who has been involved in the youth set-up at Arsenal – takes over after the club parted company with Scott Lindsey on Monday.

Lindsey departed after a 10-match winless run in League Two, from which Crawley took just five points to leave them two places and a point above the relegation zone.

Kazim-Richards retired from playing in 2023 after a spell at Turkish side Fatih Karagumruk, with Celtic, Fenerbahce, Toulouse, Galatasaray, Olympiakos, Bursaspor, Feyenoord and Brazilian club Corinthians among his former clubs

He made 37 international appearances for Turkey, scoring twice, after making his debut in 2007.

Crawley owner Raphael Khalili told the club website, external: “Following a thorough and highly competitive recruitment process, Colin distinguished himself as an outstanding candidate.

“He is a natural leader with extensive experience in the dressing room and we firmly believe he is the right person to guide the club forward at this important time.”

File image of Antoine Griezmann.© AFP

Soccer fans have launched a formal complaint with the European Commission against FIFA over World Cup ticket prices. Football Supporters Europe (FSE) said on Tuesday it joined with consumer group Euroconsumers to allege soccer’s world governing body had abused its position to impose excessive prices. FSE accused FIFA of a “monumental betrayal” in December when tickets were put on general sale ranging from $140 for the cheapest group games to $8,680 for the final. The cheapest tickets for the final were $4,185 but all prices are subject to change as FIFA is employing dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“FIFA holds a monopoly over ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup and has used that power to impose conditions on fans that would never be acceptable in a competitive market,” FSE and Euroconsumers said in a joint statement.

Following a backlash from fans in December, FIFA slashed some ticket prices to $60 for every round through to the final, which teams could distribute to their most loyal fans.

Beside the exorbitant prices, FSE also claimed FIFA deployed pressure selling tactics and cricitized the transparency of the process.

It has called for prices to be frozen during the next round of sales in April and for dynamic pricing to be stopped when selling to fans in Europe.

“Dynamic pricing turns fans’ loyalty into a bidding war, inflates costs without added value, and locks out many supporters,” said Els Bruggeman, head of policy and enforcement at Euroconsumers.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in January that the demand for tickets was the equivalent of “1,000 years of World Cups at once”. He said all 104 matches at the World Cup would be sold out, meaning “tickets will probably be resold at even higher prices.”

FSE was also critical of FIFA’s official resale platform, which has seen tickets listed well in excess of their face value and from which the governing body takes a 30% cut from any sale.

“FIFA point to their unconfirmed sales figures as validation of their unfair ticket practices, while the reality is they leave loyal fans with no other choice — pay up or lose out,” said Ronan Evain, executive director for FSE.

FIFA told the Associated Press that it had not formally received the complaint. It added that as a not-for-profit organization, revenue from the World Cup was reinvested to grow soccer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)