the headlines... a british man is jailed for life in the united arab emirates. 31—year—old matthew hedges was found guilty of spying on behalf of the uk government. the foreign secretary said he is "shocked" at the sentence. uae is supposed to be a friend and ally of britain, we have given them repeated assurances about matthew and if it goes on there are going to be serious diplomatic consequences. the family of a primary school pupil who was sexually assaulted by boys at school speak out after winning compensation from the local authority. theresa may arrives in brussels for crucial brexit talks — ahead of a planned eu summit on sunday. tens of thousands of children are now classed as problem gamblers — a steep rise in numbers as more under 165 turn to betting. now on bbc news — it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday.

martin o'neill's five—year reign in charge of the republic of ireland comes to an end — who now to lead the boys in green? a call for tougher sanctions on clubs with racist fans following a damning report on the levels of abuse in football. and we bring you the latest from antigua ahead of england's world twenty20 semifinal clash on friday. also coming up in the programme... she was on thin ice in pyeongchang, but now world champion elise christie says she's not giving up on olympic gold. it is not time to back off now. i was the medal hope with the team,

but it is a medal hope everyone and i think everyone felt the pressure just keep pushing. and who is your bbc african footballer of the year 2018? we hear from one of this year's contenders — sadio mane. good evening and welcome to the programme. plenty to come, but first the republic of ireland are on the hunt for a manager after the departure of martin o'neill. his coaching staff are gone too, including roy keane, putting an end to a pretty torrid 2018 for the irish set—up. they haven't won a competitive game so far this year, finding themselves relegated from their uefa nations league group. a far cry from the side that reached the last 16 of the euros two years ago. joe lynskey reports. one was the tactician, the other had

the temperament. it was the blend of personalities that ireland hoped would promise so much. and it comes i'iow. would promise so much. and it comes now. the republic of ireland have scored and the place is going mad! this was the high point of o'neill and keen cosmic revelation, a win against italy took them to the knockout stage of the euros, but the next cycle would bring harder times and keep players retirements were exposed in world cup qualifying, where ireland's hopes of reaching russia were ripped apart in a play—off. it was all a campaign where keen cosmic personality tested the squad. rows with players went public in lake recordings. on the wrong side of the assistance. you are asking me about the criticism of players, it is my responsibility.

results do fall under his responsibility and 2018 has seen some of the worst. relegation from the nation ‘s leak was confirmed with just a the nation ‘s leak was confirmed withjust a single the nation ‘s leak was confirmed with just a single goal in their four games. a new manager will go straight into qualifying for euro 2020. the results haven't been good enough and the manager always comes under pressure, ultimately the faa, it is mutual consent, they have parted company, i think if they are still there he would have qualified. o'neill spent his career as a premier league mainstay but at 66 yea rs old premier league mainstay but at 66 years old he could no choose to walk away. it was the job and the characters that once got this nation excited. but no irish football faces another rethink. more on this from conor mcginn mara. many felt this was the natural conclusion to a pretty lacklustre year for ireland.

what is the reaction been like? this could have happened a few months ago. ireland collapsed in the world cup play—off. until that point you could make a case that martin o'neill and roy keane were working in tandem and they were improving but it has fallen off the cliff since then. the list of results, one friendly win in 2018. in recent games not even a hint things were improving. no goals in the last four matches. inevitable, the matter who you are. martin o'neill as a very eloquent statement as you would expect. the banks are players and fa ns expect. the banks are players and fans and backroom staff but he doesn't mentionjohn fans and backroom staff but he doesn't mention john delaney. fans and backroom staff but he doesn't mentionjohn delaney. he looks back with rose tinted glasses. when they beat italy. euro 2016, they were only knocked out by the ones who would go on to become world champions. there were high is a long wait but it felt that even if pep guardiola was in charge those players went gelling and whoever comes in faces a big task.|j players went gelling and whoever comes in faces a big task. i don't think michael o'neill has plans to

retire soon but looking at the vacancy, retire soon but looking at the vacancy, who has that had in the ring? mick mccarthy is an obvious contender because he is available. he left ipswich in the summer. there are other contenders. chris hughton is probably best qualified, he is an irish former international and premier league manager but would he wa nt to premier league manager but would he want to leave brighton for this job cosmic and would the faa be willing to buy up his contract which ends in 2021. stephen kenny is interesting. a lot of domestic success in ireland. he won the double this year. he won the title in dundalk. an interesting choice. the grassroots of supporters of the league of ireland would be pleased but they did a big leap. sam alla rdyce has but they did a big leap. sam allardyce has been mentioned. in a parallel universe this would have been keyed up for roy keane to step and had things worked better in the transition but i don't see that happening now. we will wait and see. thank you forjoining us. if you've ever witnessed racism at a football match, it seems you're far from alone.

in fact according to new figures, more than half of supporters in the uk have seen this behaviour first hand. this is just one of the shocking statistics from a new study carried out by british anti—discrimination campaign kick it out. austin halewood has been looking at the details. thisjoint survey by this joint survey by kick it out and swedish platform forza football is the largest of its kind, with 27,000 responses from 38 different countries and put. as a major problem with racism. the findings revealed that half of football supporters here in the uk have witnessed racism at matches. only 40% say they now have to report it. that figure dropped even further to 28% around the world. how can football change? 60% of global firms say they would support points deductions for either national or clu b deductions for either national or club teams whose fans are found

guilty of racism. the chairman of kick it out lewd —— lord beasley believes current sanctions could be stronger. where clubs are transgressing stronger. where clubs are tra nsgressing and their stronger. where clubs are transgressing and their fans in competitions, abroad, either uefa or fifa following national teams, clearly they to apply penalties that are consistent and punitive. where there are clubs or countries whose fa ns there are clubs or countries whose fans are repetitive offenders, they have to apply serious sanctions, even throwing people at the competitions. there is a reluctance to give there. on a slightly more positive note here is a map that shows the percentage of fans in certain countries that would feel co mforta ble certain countries that would feel comfortable with a player of the different ethnic or racial background playing for their club or national team. if we look at great britain, 92% of uk firms say they would feel comfortable dustup we can

open it up more and see russia in the corner. only 77% would be happy in russia. the same number as in germany and switzerland. almost a quarter of theirfans, germany and switzerland. almost a quarter of their fans, 22%, germany and switzerland. almost a quarter of theirfans, 22%, would feel uncomfortable with a player of a definite —— different ethnic or racial background. both of their teams were involved in controversy and the world cup this summer with players of albanian heritage receiving abuse while representing the swiss national team and the arsenal and germany midfielder mesut ozil retired from international duty after the tournament, saying he is german when we win, but an immigrant when they lose. the survey suggests racism does remain a major problem in the sport of the bus majority of fa ns in the sport of the bus majority of fans in the uk and the rest of the world 74% in fact would want fifa to consider previous racist abuse when awarding countries international tournaments such as the world cup.

it is figures like this from the survey that hopefully show a real appetite for change. now, staying with football, and after facing heavy criticism this week, the chief executive of the professional footballers‘ association has written an open letter to members defending his work and calling for an independent review. gordon taylor has been in charge of the pfa for 37 years but there have been recent calls for change within the organisation — including from the union's chairman ben purkiss. let's get more on this now from our sports correspondent david ornstein. there have been growing calls for change within the organisation this week. is this taylor buckling to pressure? i think it is him responding to pressure. the pfa want to clear this up pressure. the pfa want to clear this up pretty quickly. they are responsible for all professional footballers in england and wales and so they have a huge responsibility. the arguments stemmed from the civil war if you like ben purkiss who wa nts to war if you like ben purkiss who wants to see the organisation

reformed. he wants to see it move into the modern era. many people are upset with gordon taylor's salary. last year £2.29 million which dwarfs much of the pfa's spending on certain cause it is as responsible for. people disgruntled that he 73 yea rs old for. people disgruntled that he 73 years old and of the pfa he has been there for a0 years, 37 as chief executive. the statement released today or open letter as you say, because for an independent qc lead full and open review into the structure and operation of the pfa. he promises that the criticism has been noted and it will not be swept under the carpet. it says he is happy to defend the pfa's record on issues such as mental health, diversity and player welfare but he is the first to admit that there we re is the first to admit that there were always areas the pfa can improve on. we don't have any para meters improve on. we don't have any parameters or a timeline for this review yet. the fact that it will be

independent means gordon taylor, who hasn't faced real election in his a0 yea rs hasn't faced real election in his a0 years in charge, will not set the parameters, he will not set the panel, he will be marking his own home on so many will see this as a good date in the pfa's drive towards improving and being fit for purpose in the modern era. thank you. england's women cricketers are getting ready to take on india in the semifinals of the world twenty20 on friday. they lost narrowly to hosts west indies on sunday and finished second in their group while india topped group b. our reporterjo currie has been with the team out in antigua. england just one day away from their world cup semifinal but forget the beautiful location, england's players haven't had time for palm trees and white sandy beaches. their eyes firmly fixed on the game ahead. that is because india, their opponents, are being tipped as potential champions. this game is

also a rematch of last year ‘s one—day world cup final at lord's. england were victorious then but this is a different format of cricket. tammy beaumont admits england will have to be at the very best that they have any hopes of reaching the final. i think they are threatening team. maybe a year ago you wouldn't have thought they were such a good t20 outfit. they have got themselves well organised. we have played them in a warm up game and they looked to have really good plans against us. we are trying to put them into practice today and come up with some good countermeasures to overcome that. i think they are a much improved side. sell—out crowds are expected for both semifinals. but held at the server richards stadium on thursday night. but surprising when you consider the posts and defending champions west indies are taking on australia before england take on india. if you want to follow with much as we have full match commentary on bbc radio five live. you might have to set an alarm clock

for england. that gets under way at midnight uk time. jonny bairstow is back in the england team for the third and final test against sri lanka, which starts on friday. he replaces injured all—rounder sam curran and will play as a batsman, with ben foakes remaining as wicketkeeper. stuart broad also returns in place ofjames anderson, who's rested. anderson's played a relatively minor role in their two wins so far, taking only one wicket, and he steps aside for stuart broad, who's yet to feature in the series, which england have already won. i understand the reasoning behind it, the series has been wrapped up, it is the opportunity to rotate, and i think with the winter we've got ahead, it makes sense for stuart to get some cricket. we have what will be a tough tour of the west indies, so it could be a long period without him bowling, so to have him get a game under his belt i think is good for him and the team. speed skater elise christie

was the focus of huge hopes at this year's winter olympics, but her dreams ended in heartbreak as she crashed out on the ice and came home empty—handed. the three—time world champion has since admitted she considered quitting after pyeonchang, but now she says she's determined to win gold in bejing in four years' time. elise has been speaking to our reporter david mcdaid. nine months ago another winter olympics ended in heartbreakfor elise christie. christie goes down before they reach the very first corner. with a second successive games she was the big medal hope. for the second successive games those hopes were dashed. today she believes that outcome was virtually guaranteed. i felt like i had lost the olympics before i had even got there. the year as a whole wasn't right and we have made a lot of mistakes. as a triple world champion

she should have been a match for anyone but she says her body and mind were telling her otherwise. going into the games i was depressed, there was low, i was in pain every day. eventually went to the doctor said i don't know what is wrong and he said you are on the verge of being overtrained if not overtrained. there was conversation between me and a few of the stuff and it was like it was not time to back off now. i was the medal hope with a team and a medal hope everyone. everyone felt the pressure to just keep everyone. everyone felt the pressure tojust keep pushing. everyone. everyone felt the pressure to just keep pushing. the rebuilding process for christie has not yet been simple. post pyeongchang a relationship also fell apart and her coach 15 years was let go. have you come back from that? there was a period of time where i don't know, i can't keep going, but the last six weeks i have been back full—time on theice weeks i have been back full—time on the ice again feeling quite positive about the future now. i am

definitely back into thinking about winning that olympic medal. she may have been knocked down, but the message is don't count her outjust yet. now a look at the some of the other stories around today. charlotte bankes — one of the world's leading snowboard cross athletes — has defected from the french national team and joined the british set—up. born in hemel hempstead, she moved to france at the age of four. she claimed three world cup medals for france last season. gregor townsend has made eight changes to the scotland team for their match with argentina at murrayfield on saturday. finn russell moves into inside centre, with adam hastings — son of scotland great gavin — starting at fly half. josh strauss is given his first start since last year's summer tour at number eight. and england and arsenal'sjordan nobbs has taken to social media to say she is "heartbroken" after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament seven months before the women's world cup. she said she was grateful for the support she's received, admitting she has been truly overwhelmed.

sadio mane has been nominated for the bbc african footballer of the year award for the fourth consecutive year, highlighting his consistent levels of performance and goal scoring for both liverpool and senegal. the 26—year old was instrumental in helping jurgen klopp's side reach the champions league final and he continued his scoring at the world cup, as senegal were edged out at the group stage. i love scoring from my team. honestly i love scoring for my team. it isa honestly i love scoring for my team. it is a great season. sadly we didn't win something, but this seasonit didn't win something, but this season it as motivation for us to repeat it and tried to go for it and win it. very important goals for

myself, because i was struggling to score goals. it boosted my confidence. the control with my right and immediately shoot with my left. it was an amazing goal. they scored in the champions league vinyl, very happy, the window would have been very important. i scored in the final. one of my best days. but we were leading 1—0 and it can be the best day in your life but also the worst day in your life. we we re also the worst day in your life. we were expecting to go far. we went out. iam very i am very happy to be nominated for the african player of the year, so,

yeah, it'll give me more motivation to keep working harder and harder and hopefully we will win it one day. my name is sadio mane. i play for liverpool and senegal. please vote for me. bbc african player of the year. sadio mane is nominated along with mohamed salah, medhi benatia, kalidou koulibaly and thomas partey — and you can vote for your favourite right now via the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport and follow the link to the bbc african footballer of the year voting page. voting closes at 2000 gmt on sunday 2 december. now, finally, tiger woods and phil mickelson will battle it out for $9 million when they go head—to—head in an 18—hole battle