FOOTBALL’S booze ban will be lifted in a trial in the Women’s Championship.

Drinking alcohol in sight of the pitch is prohibited in the top five tiers of the men’s game, although allowed lower down the pyramid.

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But with the law not covering women’s football, a trial allowing drinking inside the stadium “bowl” will take place at two clubs in the second tier during this season.

Nikki Doucet, chief executive of Women’s Professional Leagues Limited, told Leaders Week London at the Allianz Stadium that the clubs where the trial will take place had yet to be decided.

She said: “ We are testing that actually in a couple of teams in the Championship this season and we’ll see what we learn from it.

“Our fan base and the behaviour is different to the men’s game.

“Ultimately it’s about being able to give our fans choices, while obviously maintaining the safety and what we need to do in terms of being responsible.”

The idea of fans being allowed to drink at grounds in League Two and the National League was proposed by former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch in her 2021 “Fan led Review”.

While it was backed by fans’ groups and lower division club bosses, the push-back from Police was massive and saw the idea kiboshed.

Sun Sport has been told that the Police position has not changed in terms of men’s football although there is no mechanism which would see local Forces able to prevent a women’s game trial.

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Drinking in view of the pitch has been banned in the men’s top five divisions since 1985.

Fans caught breaching the laws under the 1985 act can be banned from grounds, handed hefty fans and, in extreme circumstances, given three month prison sentences.

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Sebastien Bourdais will join the factory Cadillac team for the final round of the 2024 World Endurance Championship in Bahrain early next month.

Bourdais, the outright 2014 Daytona 24 Hours winner, will join Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber in the #2 Chip Ganassi-entered Cadillac V-Series.R for what would be his third appearance in WEC this year.

The Frenchman started the season with the American outfit in the new Qatar 1812km round before returning at the Le Mans 24 Hours in Ganassi’s second entry, teaming up with IndyCar star Scott Dixon and sportscar ace Renger van der Zande in the #3 Caddy.

“It’s good to get back in the car with Alex and Earl,” said Bourdais, who finished third in the recently concluded IMSA SportsCar Championship with the US arm of the Ganassi Cadillac squad. 

“Performance-wise, it seems like the car is in a really good window. It’s pretty light, good on power and competitive, so there is definitely something to play for. Bahrain is a really big challenge. It’s an extremely abrasive racetrack. 

“Tyre deg is very high and using the tyre the right way and not hurting it but making it function without making it slide is a critical thing to do. You have to do it with setup, dampers, traction control and you name it. We’ll try to find some recipes that work and hopefully, we’ll wind up in a good spot.”

Ganassi/Cadillac Racing has been one of the few teams to take advantage of the regulations to run a two-driver line-up for six-hour races this year.

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

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This meant that Lynn and Bamber raced as a duo in five of the eight rounds this year, with Bourdais partnering them for the pair of rounds in the Middle East at either end of the campaign and IndyCar champion Alex Palou serving as the third driver in the Le Mans centrepiece event.

It marked a shift in the marque’s approach from 2023, when the now-retired Richard Westbrook took part in every round along with Lynn and Bamber.

The WEC was planning to mandate three drivers in each Hypercar entry from 2025, but appears to have gone back on that idea after pushback from teams.

Cadillac’s best result of the season so far is a fourth-place finish achieved at the returning Austin event in September.

The General Motors brand will end its partnership with Ganassi following the Bahrain event to begin a new chapter with Jota, which will be running a pair of V-Series.Rs in Hypercar next year after competing in 2023-24 with customer Porsche machinery.

“We started off the season really well. Eventually [we] didn’t get the result because of the circumstances, but we certainly deserved a good finish,” said Bourdais.

“The car was very competitive in the race and we played the short game really well. Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a tough season results-wise. There was always something coming in the way of a good result. If we could send it off on a high that would be pretty cool.

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

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Other changes

Elsewhere, Alpine has shuffled its driver line-up following Nicolas Lapierre’s decision to retire from racing. While Jules Gounon will join the team as expected, he has been drafted in the #35 Alpine A424 alongside Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin.

Charles Milesi moves from the #35 car to team up with Mick Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #36 car, taking the spot previously occupied by Lapierre.

In LMGT3, Conrad Laursen will replace Clemens Schmid in the #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3, while Giorgio Roda and Giammarco Levorato will race the #88 Proton Ford Mustang GT3, with both Mikkel Pedersen and team owner Christian Ried stepping away from the cockpit for the bonus points finale.

Artur Beterbiev has been ordered to defend his IBF light-heavyweight title against the mandatory challenger, a day after Dmitry Bivol appealed to the four sanctioning bodies to back an immediate rematch.

Russian Beterbiev, 39, became the division’s first four-belt world champion with a split-decision victory over compatriot Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn and manager Vadim Kornilov publicly lambasted the scorecards, which were 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 for Beterbiev.

Bivol, 33, sent a request through his lawyer on Wednesday to the WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC, asking for their support in securing a rematch with Beterbiev.

But the IBF has now officially ordered Beterbiev to begin “negotiations” with a mandatory challenger, German Michael Eifert.

This may well not be the end of the matter, however.

The IBF says Beterbiev can still request an “exception” to make a voluntary defence which would be considered.

As sanctioning bodies, the organisations authorise fighters to compete for their world titles, but none of the four major sanctioning bodies have the power to overturn an official result.

The British Boxing Board of Control was in charge of overseeing the weekend’s event, as has been the case for most Saudi fight nights in the last 12 months.

While Hearn said the 116-112 scorecard was “disgusting”, Bivol did not publicly question the result.

Bivol suffered the first defeat of his 24-fight career, while Beterbiev was taken the distance for the first time as a professional.

LAS VEGAS – Kyler Phillips has had his eye on Rob Font prior to drawing him at UFC Fight Night 245.

Phillips (12-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) meets Font (20-8 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event (ESPN+) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Phillips, who’s coming off a win over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 299 in March, would have preferred a quicker turnaround, but likes his matchup against perennial contender Font.

“I did initially, but we got a good opponent. We got one of the names we wanted,” Phillips told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a UFC Fight Night 245 pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “So it’s an honor to be able to do that and step into the octagon with such a decorated fighter.”

Phillips has won seven of his past eight, and is expected to continue his ascent up the bantamweight ladder if he can get past the higher-ranked Font.

“I see myself matching up very well against anybody in the division, just because of my elusiveness and able to adapt on the fly at any given moment, but still have that basis of a strong fighter,” Phillips said.

You can watch Phillips’ full pre-fight interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.

TEMPLEGATE tackles Friday’s racing looking to land some winners and build the bank for Champions Day on Saturday.

Back a horse by clicking their odds.

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WADE OUT (1.35 Uttoxeter, nap)

Olly Murphy’s five-year-old won his only point-to-point in Ireland before taking a Market Rasen bumper in first gear. He showed a good engine there and has a bright future over hurdles. This trip on decent ground should be ideal.

CHARGING THUNDER (2.00 Fakenham, nb)

He won his sole run on the Flat after moving to James Owen and his staying power will come in handy now he’s jumping a hurdle. He’s built for the winter game and the booking of Harry Cobden takes the eye.

SOMETHING (5.00 Newcastle, nb)

Had three lengths in hand here on Tuesday and can follow up under a penalty. He will take some pegging back from the front.

UNIQUE SPIRIT (4.25 Newcastle, Lucky 15)

Did well to score from a mile back here last time. A 2lb rise won’t put the brakes on.

Templegate’s tips

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Liam Lawson says thinking about auditioning for a Red Bull seat in 2025 is “very far” from his focus, which is simply on meeting the performance criteria set by RB on his Formula 1 return.

The New Zealander will return to an F1 seat in Austin after Daniel Ricciardo was let go by RB following the Singapore Grand Prix, with Red Bull seeking to assess his performance versus Yuki Tsunoda as it considers its driver options for the future.

Lawson was touted as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez earlier this year, although Red Bull decided to put its faith in Perez lifting himself out of a mid-season slump.

Asked if there were any indications from Red Bull over what Lawson needed to do to put himself in the frame for a Red Bull drive, potentially as early as 2025, he replied that he was only focused on the performance targets he had been set.

“I mean, I think [that thinking about a Red Bull drive is] very far ahead, honestly,” Lawson said. “The target or the goal that’s been set out is the same as it’s always been since I was 17 and joined the program.

“It’s all performance-based, and that’s basically how they’ll be looking at it. Obviously, Yuki’s done a very good job the last couple of years, and especially this year.

“He’s the benchmark for them to compare me against; he’s the only one in the same car as me. So I’ll be directly compared with him.

“I guess the goal or the expectation from them is for me to compete alongside him. In terms of where that sets me out for next year or in the future, I have absolutely no idea. But that’s the target that’s been set out.”

Liam Lawson, Reserve Driver, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

Lawson said that there were no specific points targets set out that he needed to achieve, but he felt that he needed to break into the top 10 quickly to help RB cement its claim for sixth in the constructors’ championship.

He added that the nature of the Austin F1 sprint weekend was a “difficult” way to return, given his lack of experience on the circuit and the limited practice running available to him.

“[The break has been about] just preparing as much as possible; it’s a difficult time to come into the season, obviously with a sprint weekend this weekend, new track, end of the season, so I’m just trying to be as ready as possible.

“I think it’s not as simple as a position or like ‘this is where I want to be’. I think it’s scoring points mainly for myself, because what the team’s going to judge me on is how I perform, and the best way to do that is score points.

“And also for the team, fighting for P6 in the championship as well. I’ll basically be trying to get to the points as soon as possible, for me that’s the goal.”