Spain’s World Cup-winning national team will return to action this weekend for its first match since lifting the trophy. The reigning champions will face England in their opening Nations League match, with the squad holding an open training session attended by large numbers of fans ahead of the game.

Retired champion jockey Damien Oliver is to partner with track managers in an effort to resolve potential issues, following disruptions at Caulfield last weekend.

As part of a new initiative with Racing Victoria, Oliver will inspect tracks on the day prior to race meetings throughout the remainder of the Spring Carnival. Any identified safety concerns will be promptly reported to RV stewards for their assessment and determination of required remedial actions.

Jockeys had expressed safety concerns regarding ‘turf plugs’ that had been inserted into the Caulfield track before Saturday’s Underwood Stakes meeting, noting their easy dislodgement.

These concerns resulted in RV stewards mandating the rail be shifted four metres outwards in the home straight, away from the area that had raised rider apprehension.

The Melbourne Racing Club stated on Tuesday that these turf plugs are grown on-site and are used to replace affected ground from previous weeks of racing.

Tanya Fullarton, CEO of the Melbourne Racing Club, commented on Tuesday that stewards had acted with undue haste in their decision to move the rail on Saturday.

“Saturday underscored the importance of ensuring that any concerns about a racing surface are appropriately assessed, with the necessary technical input, before significant decisions are made on race day,” the statement read. “The stewards were placed in an extremely difficult position, with concerns raised by jockeys less than an hour before the first race. With the limited time available, they were unable to properly consult with our track team about the purpose, installation, and condition of the plugs before making the incorrect decision to move the rail.”

“Our track team complied with that direction so the meeting could proceed, but this is not how these issues should have to be dealt with on race day. The new inspection process will give jockeys and participants confidence in the racing surface and allow any genuine concerns to be identified and addressed by stewards and race clubs well before racing.”

Fullarton added that the Club’s review following Saturday’s meeting found no safety issues and that the turf plugs had been correctly installed.

“The turf plugs were correctly installed, the track as presented was safe for racing and the rail did not need to be moved,” the statement read. “The track subsequently raced safely and fairly throughout the meeting. Dozens of exactly the same turf plugs remained on other sections of the track that continued to be raced on after the rail movement, with no issues for jockeys and horses. The jockeys clearly did not understand how turf plugs work. The jockeys’ claim that being able to pull the tops off the plugs somehow showed that the track was unsafe is nonsense. Turf plugs are routinely installed a few days before a race day and are always able to be physically pulled up, as grass plugs take at least two weeks to bind with the rest of the turf profile. This has been standard practice for over 25 years and is not a problem. They remain in place while horses gallop over them, with no risk to jockeys or horses.”

Matt Hyland, chief executive of the Victorian Jockeys’ Association, strongly defended his members who raised concerns after large clumps of turf could easily be lifted from the Caulfield track on Saturday.

“I’ve read the statement from the MRC and find some of the commentary extraordinary,” Hyland told Racenet. “I’ll back my members’ judgement on track surfaces all day, every day, and if they raise concerns around the safety and inconsistency of the tracks, it’s their workplace and they’re entitled to their views. I think the vision we saw on Saturday speaks for itself.”

Racing returns to Caulfield on Sunday for the Manikato Stakes meetings where the rail will be out 13m for the entire circuit. The rail was to be in the 10m mark, however after the rail was moved to 11m in the home straight for last Saturday’s card, this move will allow fresh ground. The MRC said the reason the rail was not moving back to the true position was to protect the track for the Caulfield Cup Carnival that commences on October 10.

For those looking to bet on the upcoming races, consider the available online bookmakers.

Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi, 13, has completed a hat-trick of gold medals at the Asian Games after winning the women’s 400-metre individual medley.

Having already shaken the swimming world by winning the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, the teenager erased any lingering doubts about her generational talent with a dominant victory in the 400m individual medley, further tightening China’s grip on the medals table.

Yu’s wire-to-wire win, clocked at four minutes and 28.56 seconds, set a new Games record and came comfortably 3.95 seconds ahead of compatriot Ke Wenxi.

She also finished less than five seconds off Summer McIntosh’s world record of four minutes and 23.65 seconds and now looks set for a direct showdown with the Canadian at next year’s World Aquatics Masters Championships in Budapest, before a potential Olympic rematch at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“I am very happy. I have gained a lot from these Asian Games, but there are also some regrets,” Yu said. “I will go back and review what I ⁠did not do well. Hopefully, I can do better next time.”

China’s butterfly queen Zhang Yufei was the latest to gush about Yu, telling Reuters: “I’ve only seen her at the National Games so far but seeing her results get better ⁠and better it makes me really happy.”

Elsewhere in the pool, China continued to dominate as Peng Xuwei claimed the women’s 100m backstroke title, even though she was “not particularly satisfied” with how she swam, while Zhang Zhanshuo powered to victory in the men’s 200m freestyle to bag his fourth gold of the ongoing Games.

China boast 21 gold medals in 27 swimming events and are looking to pass their total of 28 golds from the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Two days of competition remain in the pool, where Yu could still feature in a relay event.

Man Utd announced their end-of-year financial results on Wednesday, which confirmed the cost of Ruben Amorim’s sacking.

Manchester United have confirmed their exceptional items for the financial year were a cost of £8.2million, primarily comprising costs for sacking Ruben Amorim and the departures of his staff.

In January, Amorim was sacked by United after just 14 months in charge. The Reds faced a hefty compensation bill of £16.7m to cover Amorim’s departure, along with his staff, but the Portuguese’s contract stipulated that the figure would be reduced if he landed a new job.

Amorim was appointed by Milan in the summer, saving United from paying out more compensation, and the full cost of his sacking has now been revealed in the club’s end-of-year financial results, published on Wednesday.

United have confirmed their exceptional items for the year were £8.2m, which is largely down to the sacking of Amorim, and pay-offs for coaches Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido, Emanuel Ferro and Jorge Vital.

A small portion of the exceptional item cost is attributable to final costs related to the club’s restructuring programs, and to additional contributions the club expects to pay to pension schemes.

When United announced their financial results for the prior year, their exceptional items were a cost of £36.6m, primarily due to the sacking of Erik ten Hag and various members of his coaching staff.

Amorim was sacked amid rising tensions with the United board. He called out the club’s decision-makers when he spoke to the media after facing Leeds at Elland Road, suggesting others should focus on their jobs.

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In the Premier League, Amorim had the worst win ratio (32 per cent), the worst goals conceded per game ratio (1.53) and the lowest clean sheet ratio (15 per cent) of any United manager in history.

Omar Berrada still praised Amorim shortly after he was sacked, saying: “Ruben Amorim deserves a lot of credit. In a very difficult season he helped raise standards in the dressing room. I am sure he will go on to be a successful coach.”

Amorim reflected on his United tenure over the summer, saying: “The first thing is that it doesn’t matter anymore. That is the feeling. There’s a history, then something happens, the context changes, and you focus on the next challenge.

“I learned a lot. It would be hard to point to one thing, but the important thing that I clearly know is that I made a lot of mistakes. When you do this kind of reflection, and you understand that it was not just their fault, but also my fault, I think you can be a better coach and a better man.”

Group 1 races are becoming a regular fixture for champion trainer Chris Waller.

In the six Group 1 races held so far this 2026-27 season, Waller has emerged victorious in four.

Waller has five runners entered for the Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday, and his sole participant in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Sunday will be Beiwacht.

Beiwacht, a Group 1 winner for Waller already this season having claimed the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last month, was at Caulfield on Tuesday morning for a gallop in preparation for Sunday’s contest.

Former jockey Steven Arnold, now a trusted work rider for the Waller stable, partnered Beiwacht in his hit-out.

Arnold delivered a glowing report, suggesting that despite Beiwacht being a 1400m specialist, the drop back in distance to 1200m will present no difficulties.

“I was really happy with his work this morning,” Arnold said.

“We were not here to test his ability, just a training exercise to get him out of the box and stimulate him a bit.”

“He did it all perfectly. He’s been here before, he gets on his right leads around here and he felt amazing up the straight.”

“His fitness is perfect coming back to the six furlongs (1200m).”

“I was very happy with his work and he’s ready to go.”

Beiwacht has had only one start this campaign, which was a win in the Memsie Stakes, and the Waller team has had four weeks to freshen him for Sunday’s 1200m race.

“He hasn’t done a lot between runs and he’s a natural athlete,” Arnold commented.

“I think the six furlongs holds no fears for him, and he likes to dominate those seven-furlong (1400m) races.”

“It’s probably speed dependent and how much pressure there is in the race, but if he can get up on top of the speed and get into a good rhythm, which he does, then he’ll be highly competitive.”

Arnold mentioned that Waller excels at preparing his horses for top-level competition on the designated day.

“He’s very good at aiming them at races and getting them right on the day as we saw with Angel Capital on the weekend,” Arnold stated.

“He’s the boss.”

Check out the betting sites for the best racing odds available for this event.

Need to know

Manchester United have released their latest accounting figures

Everything you need to know about Man United’s accounts:

1. Record club revenues: Manchester United have officially posted record-breaking revenues for the 2025/26 season, reaching a staggering total of £677.6million. This impressive figure represents a 1.7 per cent increase from the previous year, which is notable given the lack of a training kit sponsor and European football during the campaign.
2. Non-current borrowing figures: The long-term debt levels hanging over the club have continued to rise significantly, partly due to changing interest rates and the active refinancing of some bonds in June. The latest results confirm that the club’s “non-current borrowings” now stand at £577.6m, which represents an increase from the £471.9m reported a year ago.
3. Operating profit: While the overall net loss widened over the past year, the club’s broader financial accounts did confirm an operating profit of £22.6m. This marks a significant turnaround from the operating loss seen previously, driven by structural efficiencies and rigorous cost-cutting measures implemented across the business.
4. Overall financial loss: Despite generating record revenue over the past year, the club still posted a net loss of £43m. This represents an expanded deficit when compared to the £33m loss recorded the previous year, highlighting the financial challenges still facing the club.
5. Revolving credit facility: In addition to the aforementioned figures, the club continue to have a revolving credit facility, which operates similarly to a credit card. By the end of June this year, the balance stood at £110m.
6. Other notable figures: Broadcasting income rose by £33.9m through United’s third-place finish in the Premier League, but commercial revenue fell by £16million due to the end of the Texos training kit sponsorship. Matchday income also decreased by £6.8million as a result of hosting 10 fewer games at Old Trafford last season.

READ MORE: Manchester United announce record revenues but debt continues to rise

India’s Asian Games 2026 schedule for September 24 Time (IST) Sport Event/stage Indian participation/opponent News/status 5:10 am Rowing Men’s single sculls, Final A Balraj Panwar Medal event 5:30 am Rowing Men’s double sculls, Final A Satnam Singh/Salman Khan Medal event 6:10 am Wushu Women’s 60kg final Rohibina Devi vs Zhang (China) Medal event 6:15 am Shooting Men’s 10m air pistol qualification and team final Aakash Bharadwaj, Kamaljeet, Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve Team medal event; individual qualification 6:30 am Athletics Women’s heptathlon 100m hurdles, Heat 1 Anamika Aneesh Kozhinjaparambil First heptathlon discipline 6:30 am Canoe sprint Women’s C1 200m, semifinal 1 Megha Pradeep Final subject to qualification 6:30 am Rowing Men’s pair, Final B Jaswinder Singh/Nitin Kumar Classification race; not a medal final 6:30 am Shooting Skeet mixed-team qualification Parinaaz Dhaliwal/Anant Jeet Singh Naruka Final subject to qualification 6:30 am Table tennis Women’s doubles, Round 2 Yashaswini Ghorpade/Diya Chitale vs Setayesh Iloukhani/Mahshid Ashtari (Iran) Round of 32 6:38 am Athletics Women’s heptathlon 100m hurdles, Heat 2 Pooja First heptathlon discipline 6:46 am Swimming Men’s 50m butterfly, Heat 5 Benedicton Beniston Final subject to qualification 6:50 am Canoe sprint Women’s K2 500m, semifinal 1 Phairembam Soniya Devi/Parvathy Geetha Final subject to qualification 7:01 am Athletics Mixed 4x400m relay, Round 1 Heat 2 India Final subject to qualification 7:10 am Athletics Women’s heptathlon high jump Anamika Aneesh Kozhinjaparambil, Pooja Second heptathlon discipline 7:10 am Rowing Women’s four, Final A Gurbani Kaur, Aleena Anto, Tendenthoi Devi Haobijam, Poonam Medal event 7:10 am Table tennis Women’s doubles, Round 2 Sreeja Akula/Syndrela Das vs Bolor-Erdene Batmunkh/Burenjargal Sanjaa (Mongolia) Round of 32 7:21 am Swimming Men’s 800m freestyle, Final B Aryan Nehra Classification final; not the medal race 7:32 am Swimming Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Heat 1 India Final subject to qualification 8:00 am Canoe sprint Women’s C1 200m, Final A Megha Pradeep Subject to qualification; medal event 8:00 am Squash Mixed doubles, Round of 16 Suraj Chand/Shameena Riaz vs Joshana Chinappa/Velavan Senthilkumar All-Indian contest 8:10 am Canoe sprint Men’s K4 500m, Final A Harshwardhan Singh Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam, Arun Singh Medal event 8:20 am Canoe sprint Women’s K2 500m, Final A Phairembam Soniya Devi/Parvathy Geetha Subject to qualification; medal event 8:30 am Canoe sprint Men’s C2 500m, Final A Raju Rawat/Gyaneshwor Singh Philem Medal event 8:35 am Table tennis Men’s singles, Round 1 Manush Shah vs Qi Shen Wong (Malaysia) Opening-round match 9:45 am Kabaddi Men’s Group A India vs Chinese Taipei Group-stage match 10:30 am Squash Women’s singles, Round of 16 Tanvi Khanna vs Wai Yhann Au Yeong (Singapore) Knockout match 10:30 am Squash Women’s singles, Round of 16 Anahat Singh vs Wai Iynn Au Yeong (Singapore) Knockout match 11:10 am Canoe sprint Men’s K1 500m, Heat 2 Harshwardhan Singh Shaktawat Qualification heat 11:15 am Shooting Skeet mixed-team final Parinaaz Dhaliwal/Anant Jeet Singh Naruka Subject to qualification; medal event 11:15 am Squash Men’s singles, Round of 16 Abhay Singh vs Ravindu Laksiri (Sri Lanka) Knockout match 11:15 am Squash Men’s singles, Round of 16 Veer Chotrani vs Sanjay Jeeva (Malaysia) Knockout match 11:20 am Rowing Lightweight men’s single sculls, Final B Ajay Tyagi Classification race; not a medal final 11:30 am Esports Puyo Puyo Champions, Group B Paritosh vs Munkhzorig Ganbold (Mongolia) Group-stage match 11:30 am Hockey Men’s Pool A India vs South Korea Pool match 11:40 am Canoe sprint Mixed K2 500m, Heat 2 Parvathy Geetha/Prasanna Kumar Chempadiyil Sathyaprakash Qualification heat Noon Rowing Lightweight men’s double sculls, Final A Rohit/Ujjwal Kumar Singh Medal event 12:10 pm Esports Puyo Puyo Champions, Group B Paritosh vs Mun June Justin Koh (Singapore) Group-stage match 12:15 pm Shooting Men’s 10m air pistol individual final Indian qualifiers Subject to qualification; medal event 1:00 pm Rowing Men’s quadruple sculls, Final A Arvind Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Navdeep Singh, Jakar Khan Medal event 1:10 pm Esports Puyo Puyo Champions, Group B Paritosh vs Tzu-ang Kuo (Chinese Taipei) Group-stage match From 1:30 pm Boxing Women’s 65kg preliminary round, Bout 58 Parveen vs Malika Nozimova (Tajikistan) Follows five earlier bouts; exact start may vary 1:35 pm Swimming Men’s 50m butterfly final Benedicton Beniston Subject to qualification; medal event 2:10 pm Esports Puyo Puyo Champions, Group B Paritosh vs Tanarak Wongkitikun (Thailand) Group-stage match 2:48 pm Swimming Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay final India Subject to qualification; medal event 3:35 pm Athletics Women’s heptathlon shot put Anamika Aneesh Kozhinjaparambil, Pooja Third heptathlon discipline 4:14 pm Athletics Women’s triple jump final Niharika Vashisht, Asha Ilango Medal event 4:15 pm Kabaddi Women’s Group A Japan vs India Group-stage match 4:38 pm Athletics Men’s 100m, Round 1 Heat 1 Animesh Kujur Qualification heat 5:02 pm Athletics Men’s 100m, Round 1 Heat 4 Gurindervir Singh Qualification heat From 5:30 pm Athletics Women’s heptathlon 200m, heats Anamika Aneesh Kozhinjaparambil, Pooja Heats at 5:30 pm and 5:40 pm; individual assignments pending 5:55 pm Athletics Women’s 10,000m final Seema Medal event 6:45 pm Athletics Mixed 4x400m relay final India Subject to qualification; medal event

Man Utd acquired a new plot of land to build a new stadium earlier this year, and the cost has now been revealed.

Manchester United paid £63.5million to acquire land to unlock their 100,000-seater stadium project.

In June, United announced they had reached a deal with Indurent, a leading provider of industrial space and a Blackstone portfolio company, to acquire a 25-acre plot of land to push on with their stadium project.

United did not confirm the cost of the purchase when the update was announced, but the club’s end-of-year financial figures have revealed that £63.5m was paid.

United have financed the £63.5m purchase by refinancing a loan earlier this year. Club sources have claimed it will not impact spending in the transfer market, as the loan was refinanced specifically for land purchase.

“We have now completed the major milestone of securing the land which will form part of the proposed location of the new stadium,” Omar Berrada said as the financial results were published.

The land acquired is a large triangle, located between Wharfside Way, Europa Way and John Gilbert Way. There is still some land for United to purchase around the plot – but club sources have said no problems are expected.

United had been in talks with Freightliner to acquire land behind the Stretford End, but talks had stalled over cost, leading the club to look at alternative options for space around the current stadium.

Freightliner and United were locked in talks for over a year, with reports suggesting they valued the land at £350m.

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Club insiders were delighted when the deal to acquire the alternative plot of land from Indurent was announced, believing they had struck a fair deal.

United estimated that a new stadium alone would cost £2billion, but an updated estimate in 2026 could double costs, despite the club being saddled with a record level of debt.

The project will be financed privately, and “positive conversations” with potential investors and stakeholders are ongoing. United will sell the naming rights of the new stadium to raise capital.

Earlier this year, The Sponsor compiled a European stadium naming fair market value report, which outlined that United could bank around £15m per season, equating to £150m over 10 years.