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ENGLAND fans were hit by lasers during their clash with Greece.

The Three Lions were treated with a hostile atmosphere in Athens as they looked to secure a win to keep alive their hopes of winning their Nations League group.

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Lee Carlsey’s side got off to a quick start as Jude Bellingham linked with Noni Madueke who slid across for Ollie Watkins to score.

But moments later Bellingham and the rest of his team-mates were targeted by lasers pointed from the stands.

Bellingham and Pickford were hit in the face by the green lights, which plagued England throughout the first half.

It comes after Chelsea players also had to combat lasers in a recent trip to Greek side Panathinaikos.

Christopher Nkunku was blasted by the same green light as he stepped up to take a penalty in the Europa Conference League clash, which he scored.

England fans slammed the behaviour of those inside the stadium and condemned the use of lasers.

One fan said: “See laser pens are alive and well in Greece 🤦‍♂️”

Another added: “Some t*** with a laser at the England game. I hope they stand on Lego.”

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A third wrote: “It could blind someone.”

And another commented: “Imagine being stupid enough to take a laser pen to a football match. They’ve had long enough now to find the person doing it.”

NEW YORK – Michael Chandler won’t set sights on a potential rematch with Dustin Poirier.

Chandler’s most recent outing came in a submission loss to Poirier in at UFC 281 in November 2022. Poirier was unhappy with Chandler’s antics during the fight and accused him of being a dirty competitor.

Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) has hinted at one last fight before retirement, but Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) doesn’t see “The Diamond” risking a potential loss.

“Yeah, I mean, not really,” Chandler told reporters on fighting Poirier during Wednesday’s UFC 309 media day. “I mean, Dustin’s got a win over me. He’s never going to take the chance in one of his last couple of fights to put that on the line and lose to me and have that stain on him the rest of his life. So, I know that for sure.

Chandler runs things back with Charles Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) in a co-main event Saturday UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) at Madison Square Garden in New York.

He has bigger plans than trying to avenge his loss against Poirier.

“I’m not really worried about it,” Chandler continued. “I will be ranked ahead of him Saturday night at midnight when I beat Charles Oliveira. We’ve got other options: Max for the BMF belt, Islam for the title obviously. You’ve still got the Conor fight, still got ‘TUF 31,’ finishing that which needs to be finished.

“We had a contract signed. There’s a lot of options for me, and I don’t think he’s necessarily one of them at all. Maybe someday we’ll squash the beef, probably not. I think we will at some point. Right now, we’re just two dudes in the same division looking towards the same thing.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

A new competition for jump jockeys with £500,000 for the winner will launch on Friday.

The David Power Jockeys’ Cup will have a prize fund of £1.5m and gets under way with a three-day meeting at Cheltenham from 15-17 November, and runs until the Grand National meeting at Aintree in April.

Jockeys will earn points in any race televised on ITV Racing with 10 points awarded for a win, eight for second, six for third and four for fourth.

The jockey who collects the most points will be crowned the winner and scoop the top cash prize, while second place collects £200,000 with £100,000 on offer for third spot, plus awards all the way down to 10th place.

Harry Cobden, the current champion jump jockey, is among those who are set to take part along with Harry Skelton, Nico de Boinville and Rachael Blackmore.

Cobden said: “It’s a huge amount on offer and I’m sure will create some great competition as we’ll all be trying to win as many of those ITV races as we can.”

Skelton added that the cup will be the “pinnacle in the sport” for jockeys in National Hunt racing, with a “a transformative amount of money” on offer.

Blackmore, who is currently injured, said the competition “adds a massive layer of excitement” to what “already promises to be another highly competitive season”.

“It’s great to see this level of innovation and investment in racing, particularly towards jockeys,” said Blackmore, who won the Grand National in 2021 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2022.

“The prizes on offer are incredible. It’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase the very best of the sport.”

The competition is named after the co-founder of bookmakers Paddy Power, whose parent company Flutter are backing the competition, along with the Jockey Club, Great British Racing and the Professional Jockeys’ Association.

Trainers, racing staff and the two leading conditional jockeys will also have the chance to win prizes.

Conor McGregor’s long-awaited comeback might have to wait a little while longer than expected.

The Irish superstar, who last fought all the way back in 2021, has been teasing his return to the octagon for several months with hopes to compete again sometime in 2025. While next year is still the targeted timeline, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that he now believes McGregor’s return won’t be sooner than later.

White addressed the latest on McGregor during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show when he was asked about potentially rebooking the fight with Michael Chandler after he faces Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 on Saturday.

“That’s a fun fight,” White said. “I think Conor and Chandler both like that fight. When Conor comes back, which I see being sometime the later part of next year, we’ll see where everybody’s at and what’s going on and we’ll figure out who faces Conor.

“That’s why everybody was so excited about it. Chandler and Conor McGregor is a fun fight.”

Hearing that McGregor likely won’t return until late 2025 probably wasn’t the news anybody was expecting after a broken toe delayed his previously scheduled fight against Chandler back in June.

McGregor groused that he was gearing up to fight again but once it was clear that he wouldn’t return in 2024, Chandler eventually moved on. He now faces Oliveira in a five-round co-main event on Saturday’s card from Madison Square Garden in New York.

While Chandler has stated that he’s still interested in facing McGregor after sitting out for nearly two years waiting for that matchup to happen, it appears he might have to change his expectations about rescheduling the fight.

Despite the constant delays, White remains confident that McGregor will eventually return to the UFC but he also stands by the statement that all bets are off due to the absurd amount of money that the former two-division champion has earned during his career.

“It’s a fact that he does [want to come back next year],” White said. “He and I probably talk four or five times a month. He definitely wants to come back.

“We’ll just see. Every time I’m on here I tell you money — money messes everything up. So we’ll see.”

Alex Palou is a three-time IndyCar Series champion, with the last two clinched in stunning back-to-back success. Yet, even as a reigning champ, Palou feels his resume is unfinished without a victory in the Indianapolis 500.

“You cannot be an amazing IndyCar driver without winning the Indy 500, for sure,” Palou told Motorsport.com. “I would say winning it multiple times, it’s really tough just because it doesn’t depend only on you. But winning it one time with the team I have run has to be done. I don’t need to do it next year or the following one; I have a lot of years to do it.” 

While the Spaniard has yet to win a race on an oval, he finished runner-up in the 2021 edition of the Indy 500 after leading the second-most laps (35). He also captured the pole for the 2023 event. In his five career Indy 500 starts, he has led in four of them for a total of 119 laps. 

Despite his strong form in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” Palou takes nothing for granted after witnessing how tough it has been for Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon over the years. A six-time series champion, Dixon’s stout record at the Indy 500 includes ultimate glory in 2008 but it stands as his only victory in 22 starts, which also includes three runner-up finishes, five poles and 677 laps led (most all-time).

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda crossing the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Month of May

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

“Dixon, it’s wild that he only has one, but that’s how it goes,” Palou said. “And he’s the best IndyCar driver we’ve had in, I would say, almost ever. Yeah, hopefully, I can win it someday. But, yes, I don’t think the job is complete until we win an Indy 500, which would mean that I won on an oval, as well.”

Further regarding his own legacy and what has been achieved in only five seasons in the sport, the 27-year-old Palou doesn’t think about how much higher the ceiling can go.

“I think it’s really tough to win one championship,” Palou said. “It’s tougher to win two. And it’s tougher, tougher to win three. I think it just becomes more difficult every time, even if it seems that we’re halfway to six, we are a long, long way.”

But that is already halfway to Dixon.

“Yeah, but it’s 100% of what I’ve done,” Palou said. “It’s a lot, so I don’t know where is the limit. I’m really pretty sure that with this team and with the work that they put in and what I want to put in, we can keep on winning and fighting for championships. Yes, I want to win eight, but I’m focused on next year. I don’t try and win eight and that’s my goal. 

And staying in to the present moment has Palou not only locked in on becoming the first driver from his home country to win the Indy 500, but also capturing three consecutive championships – a mark that would move him alongside Dario Franchitti’s magical run from 2009-11. 

“I’ll try and win the Indy 500 next year and the championship and tie with Dario and be like, ‘Hey, I’ve done it as well,’” Palou said. “So, that’s the next goal. I’m not thinking about anything else than that just to be able to make fun of Dario; that’s the goal.”