BEN WHITE has joked he is one of the most UNPROFESSIONAL players at Arsenal – despite his incredible injury record.

Across the past four Prem seasons, the Gunners defender has missed just nine games.

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Asked how he has managed this feat, White laughed: “I really don’t know. If you were to ask anyone at the club: ‘Who is the most professional?’ it wouldn’t be me.

“I wouldn’t go in the ice bath, I don’t stretch, none of that. I just don’t get injured.

“It is probably a factor that I’m not super quick, I am not that powerful. I can just plod along. I can play through a lot [of pain].

“If you don’t play for a week, someone is going to and do well and you might not get in the team. It’s good for everyone to be competing and raising the level.”

White is in line to return to the squad to face Bournemouth on Saturday after a rare occurrence of sitting out of Arsenal’s last two Prem outings due to a minor groin issue.

Recovering at home, you will NOT find White watching football – a player well-known for suggesting he is not obsessed with the sport.

On that topic, White explained: “It’s not a big deal. At training and with the number of videos you have to watch every day… it’s so extreme.

“So, when I come home I just want to forget about it. There’s no football on, I don’t talk about it, mum and dad don’t speak to me about it… it’s just like it’s not my job.

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“I have always been that way and want to continue that, just a normal guy. I don’t do mad things when I get home. The normal day-to-day stuff is something I like to keep to myself.

“People think that I don’t love [football], I don’t watch it, but I could still tell you most things about every winger I’m going to play against and their attributes.

“Playing right back, there are so many good wingers. Every game, every team, it is probably their best player. That’s why it is so difficult to play there in the Premier League.”

West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta wants the Football Association to investigate “misleading” leaks about his betting case.

The FA charged Paqueta in May for allegedly getting booked deliberately “for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market”.

Paqueta, 27, has denied all four charges brought against him and believes “misleading and inaccurate” reporting is putting his chances of a fair disciplinary hearing at risk.

“I am frustrated and upset to have read recent misleading and inaccurate press articles, published in both England and Brazil, claiming to disclose information about my case,” Paqueta wrote on X, external.

“Some of that information is entirely false and appears designed to undermine my position.

“I am also concerned that, although they are false and misleading, these articles are clearly sourced from an individual close to the case.”

The four charges relate to Premier League fixtures against Leicester, Aston Villa, Leeds and Bournemouth between November 2022 and August 2023.

Paqueta has remained eligible to play for West Ham since learning of the charges but could be facing a lengthy ban if a breach is proven.

“The FA proceedings are supposed to be confidential and they are extremely serious for me and my family,” Paqueta added.

“The continued leaking and publication of inaccurate information in the press is now putting at risk my chance of receiving a fair hearing.

“I have, therefore, instructed my lawyers to write to the FA to request that they conduct a thorough investigation into how information about the case, even if inaccurate, is finding its way into the public domain.”

Paqueta joined West Ham from French club Lyon in August 2022 for an initial £36.5m.

The Brazil midfielder has scored two goals in seven Premier League appearance this season.

BBC Sport has contacted the FA for comment.

Free Practice 1 at the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled on Friday as the expected heavy rain hit the Phillip Island circuit.

Race direction gave the 45-minute session every chance to go ahead, delaying the opening of pit lane multiple times in the hope that the rain would ease enough for the resurfaced track to dry.

Things briefly looked positive when, an hour and 40 minutes past the planned start time, the pits were finally scheduled to open.

However, amid what looked like general reluctance from most of teams and riders, the idea was quickly dropped. Shortly thereafter, the session was finally abandoned.  

“We have some aquaplaning and it’s better to wait until the rain stops,” reported multiple MotoGP race winner Loris Capirossi, who did several track inspections in the BMW safety car.

The cancellation of FP1 is likely to have consequences and could lead to some rescheduling of the programme. The soft rear tyre Michelin has brought to this track, which not only has a new surface but places unique demands on rubber, cannot safely go into a full race without any dry track time.

One year ago, adverse weather conditions forced flexibility on the part of the Australian GP organisers. With a better forecast for Saturday than Sunday, the Grand Prix was brought forward to Saturday.

While the grand prix went ahead and was won by Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco, the sprint – switched to Sunday in place of the grand prix – ultimately fell victim to the expected conditions and was called off.

Safety Car

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

This year’s rain came as no surprise given the forecast as it was earlier in the week. While torrential rain predictions did not materialise on the Japanese Grand Prix weekend two weeks ago, the forecast for Phillip Island has proven accurate thus far.

Although the high winds set to hit the island on the practice days stayed away on Saturday morning, they began to pick up following the cancellation of FP1.

Home rider Jack Miller will be among those riders pleased to see the rain. One of several riders eyeing the opportunity this outlier weekend may bring, the KTM man said on Thursday that minimal dry running will play into his hands.

Capirossi’s safety car outings this morning were notable for some lurid slides as well as some good humoured ‘penalties’ shown to him on a pit board by the bored Fabio di Giannantonio and Andrea Migno of VR46, complete with Rossi’s #65.

The Irish government has indicated to Uefa a desire to host more Euro 2028 tournament matches in the Republic of Ireland.

The European Championship finals will be staged across the UK and Ireland, with the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to host six matches.

Five games were scheduled to take place in Belfast but the UK government’s decision not to provide funding to rebuild Casement Park in the west of the city in time for the Euros put pay to that.

The cost of rebuilding the derelict Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) stadium to a specification which would allow it to host Euro matches had escalated, with the UK government saying that the finances required had exceeded £400m.

Speaking at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday, Irish Culture and Sports Minister Catherine Martin said that she would like to see more of the tournament’s matches held on the island of Ireland.

On the prospect of additional Euros games potentially being staged outside of Dublin, she said: “I think that’s ultimately for the stakeholders themselves to decide. But yes, the more that can be held on a wider spread.

“I always talk about regional tourism as well, and looking at the 250,000 people working in tourism, 70% of them are in the regions.”

A CHESS grandmaster was chucked out of a tournament for allegedly using a mobile phone during a match.

The current world no.69 Kirill Shevchenko was competing in the Spanish Team Championship when the incident occurred.

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As a result of the alleged ‘cheating’, his two draws in the first two rounds have been changed to defeats.

The Romanian was competing for the Silla – Integrant Col·lectius team.

The Spanish Chess Federation has explained his expulsion from the tournament.

A statement revealed the reason was “the usage of mobile devices during the playing of his matches.”

It continued: “FEDA maintains its firm commitment against cheating in chess, acting in the strongest possible way in any case which is detected.

“We profoundly regret that these events have occurred.

“We also wish to state that, in any case, this individual behaviour has nothing to do with the impeccable performance of his Club and the rest of his team members.”

Shevchenko has been removed from the Silla – Integrant Col·lectius team as a result.

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The team posted a statement it said it “rejects in the strongest and most blunt way whichever practice of illegal and/or illicit strategy used in an unsportsmanlike way to gain an advantage.”

Chess.com has reported that suspicion arose around Shevchenko when he spent long periods away from the table.

Chief Arbiter Oscar Bruno de Prado Rodríguez has claimed that a phone was found in a toilet cubicle.

It was apparently accompanied by a note that had handwriting similar to that of the 22-year-old.

On Tuesday, the Romanian Chess Federation insisted that it was still waiting for “solid evidence” to support the allegations.

It insisted that it has “zero tolerance for violations of fair-play rules”.

A statement read: “We await for the details of the case and we will carefully study the accompanying evidence.

“So far, we only have press reports and alleged witnesses, but no official communication.

“Until then, we are on the side of our chess player, who denies the accusations against him.

“We will support him as we support all our chess players, within the limits of the regulations in place.

“If further information comes to light, we will decide within the Federation our next steps.”

Wales captain Hannah Jones joined the other home nations’ captains at the draw which was live on BBC’s The One Show on Thursday night.

“It’s a really exciting group, we know Canada is going to be one of the favourites going in, so that will be a really good, challenging game,” Jones told BBC Sport.

“Scotland is always close, me and Rachel [Malcolm] were talking before the show, we played them at the last world cup, and we were like maybe it might be again.

“And then Fiji, I’ve never played Fiji before, so that’s quite exciting. I watched them play against Scotland a couple of weeks ago with the offloading game, so it’s a different type of rugby and I’m excited to play that game.”

Two teams from each pool will progress to the knockout stages and Jones is hopeful Wales can make it to the last eight.

“It’s really exciting, you never know what’s going to happen in a Rugby World Cup,” she added.