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be allowed to go home. in a moment, it will be sports day. but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. we will be speaking to a number of guests tonight about the dramatic arrest of julian assange, one of them is a former government lawyer and now a lecturer in public law. we will get his opinion on the case. after eight o'clock tonight, israel hopes to join the select few countries who have landed a spacecraft on the moon. we'll be speaking to the leading british space scientist, too. grady about what this means and how they have done it. and after it emerges that amazon workers have been listening to what customers say to their electors, we will speak to the director of enforcement strategy at the open markets institute, a body dedicated to tackling corporate monopolies. that's after 11 o'clock,

stay with us for that. that's all coming up later. now it is time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. it's here! the first golf major of the year is under way, with rory mcilroy the favourite to take the masters in augusta. "unacceptable" — rugby australia declares it's rugby australia declares its intention to sack israel folau over his homophobic social media post. "we need to win" — arsenal boss unai emery readies his players for napoli in the quarterfinals of the europa league. also coming up in the programme... conor mcgregor says he broke his foot three weeks before losing to khabib at ufc 229. and going for the max — olympic champion whitlock and his gb teammates stay on course for medals in every event at the european gymnastics championships.

hello and welcome to sportsday. good evening. we begin with the big news in rugby union, concerning one of australia surely is best players, israel folau, and rugby australia has announced its intention to terminate his contract after he sparked outrage over an anti—l bgt social media post. joe wilson reports. in australian sport, no—one has displayed ability quite like this man, israel folau. he has

represented his country in rugby union and rugby league, he has played professional australian rules football. he also thinks gay people will go to hell. his recent instagram post urges repentance for various behaviour he deems sinful, oi’ various behaviour he deems sinful, or else hell awaits. australia's by or else hell awaits. australia's rugby authorities say they have tried in vain to contact him but he has been warned before about social media posts. now, his careerseems to be over. today, australia and new south wales rugby released a statement which reads... gareth thomas played 100 rugby union matches for wales. he is gay. he has used twitter to urge people not to be influenced by folau, be the best

you and happiness awaits, rather than hell, he writes. israel folau isa than hell, he writes. israel folau is a sportsman with religion central to his identity, in a diverse society. views folau shares as an expression of faith, his employers and sponsors call discrimination. rugby, it appears, and sponsors call discrimination. rugby, itappears, no and sponsors call discrimination. rugby, it appears, no longer has a place for him. well, here's the reaction to the post from cardiff blues head coachjohn mulvihill. in 2019, the athletes have a job to do as role models in some areas, some of them don't want to be but at the end of the day, if you're going to put yourself out there on twitter and instagram and you have hundreds and thousands

and millions of followers, you can affect things and you can have an effect on what people think or say. this so ijust think it's really important going forward that everyone has an understanding of their responsibility well, we're going to discuss a little bit more on this with jacqulin magnay, journalist with the australian newspaper, whojoins us from london. thanks forjoining us, ijust wondered why you think rugby australia has taken this decision because on the back as it is very understandable but it may be seen as a model versus a commercial decision, and also, is it definitely the end for folau, in your opinion? i don't think it is the end for israel folau because he is such a talented footballer and some code somewhere in the world will certainly sign him up, though. of the obvious code that he may go to, which is rugby league, has already shut off that avenue. israel folau is such a big name in australian sport and there's such a dismay and disappointment that he's done this again, and used social media and his influence and high profile to push forward his views that are at odds with a lot of commercial interests with a lot of commercial interests

with australian rugby, the chief sponsor certainly doesn't like it and after what he did last year, he was warned about using social media in this way, and he signed a new contract, a $4 million contract, expressly forbidding him from using this, and he has gone and done it. so, rugby australia is now ripping up so, rugby australia is now ripping up that contract and saying, enough is enough. and you mentioned it there briefly, rugby league in australia distancing themselves from folau, ijust australia distancing themselves from folau, i just wanted australia distancing themselves from folau, ijust wanted to read a bit about what they have had to say. they said... he fails rugby league's inclusiveness test, we are about being inclusive, and rugby union has made a decision which clearly rugby league would support, he says. should his career effectively be over, i know you say it is not the end for him, but should it be over? i don't think so, i think people understand that israel folau has certain views, we may not agree with them and most people don't, but there is this view that he has the

right to say them, although in rugby union's case, he had a contract that he breached, he was warned about it and so the issue for rugby union is that he breached his contract, not so much that he has got these views, that he used his permission to promote them. margaret court, the tennis legend, came under pressure herself for homophobic and transphobic comments, the court named after her in melbourne wasn't renamed, in your mind is there any reason why the reaction to the two was slightly different, very strong on folau but not margaret court? no. i think on folau but not margaret court? no. ithink in on folau but not margaret court? no. i think in both cases it was a very strong reaction, ithink i think in both cases it was a very strong reaction, i think that billie jean king of course took exception to what margaret court had said and, of course, the australian public is mainly against israel folau as well soi mainly against israel folau as well so i think you will find that most australians disagree with the way in which they are promoting their views, which is against in general the views of most australians. thank you so much forjoining us from

london. we are still waiting to hear from israel folau, thank you, jacqulin magnay. now, a look at some of the days other stories... diego costa won't play for atletico madrid again this season after receiving an eight—match ban for abusing a referee. it follows his red card against barcelona in la liga last weekend. costa was given a four—game ban for insulting the official‘s mother and a further four for grabbing his arm. hearts have closed part of their tynecastle ground for the rest of the season after missiles were thrown onto the pitch during the match with rivals hibs at the weekend. chairman ann budge has apologised to anyone affected by the incidents. jimmy anderson took his 300th first—class wicket for lancashire today. he took three wickets in total on day one of the match. and how about this for a catch from england all—rounder ben stokes in the ipl? stokes and joss buttler are in action for rajasthan royals, and stokes took this stunner off

the bowling of another potential england player jofra archer. now, after the involvement of four english sides in the champions league over the past couple of nights, our attention now turns to the europa league quarterfinals, with both arsenal and chelsea in action. both teams will believe they can win it. joe lynskey‘s here to take us through tonight's action. yes, and we know that in recent yea rs yes, and we know that in recent years this competition not only has a major trophy riding on it but it is now a passport for teams like arsenal and chelsea into next seasons champions league. and at this stage, that comes into focus now for arsenal and chelsea, especially with both of these sides teetering on the edge of the top four places in the premier league. well, chelsea face an away trip to slavia prague, but it's arsenal who have the much trickier quarterfinal draw. their first leg is at home against napoli, and for arsenal, there is particular pressure to take a lead back to italy for the second leg, mainly because of their dreadful away record this season.

they were comfortably beaten by everton at the weekend, their sixth premier league defeat on the road this season. and that was another match where they failed to keep a clean sheet — in fact only arsenal and ipswich town, bottom of the championship, haven't shut a single team out on the road this season. well, the gunners have also lost the away legs in the two knockout rounds of this competition, only big wins at home saw them through against bate borisov and rennes. so, when you consider all that, you'd think then that unless arsenal can win at home tonight, they'll be in trouble. this is how it looks domestically for their italian opponents. napoli are too far behind juventus to challenge for the league title, but they are much more comfortable in serie's a top four places. that means they don't have the same pressure arsenal have on them to win the europa league.

it's a competition arsenal's manager knows exactly how to win — unai emery is looking to win the trophy for a fourth time, having won this competition three times in a row with sevilla. and according to one journalist who's followed him closely, emery can be a specialist over these two—legged matches. people would say that he is an expert in the europa league, logically, the stats suggest that thatis logically, the stats suggest that that is a case, but i'm not sure there are experts in knockout competitions, the one thing is that he is very, very thorough journal when a player comes onto the pitch, he knows what his job is, when a player comes onto the pitch, he knows what hisjob is, what when a player comes onto the pitch, he knows what his job is, what he has got to do, his responsibilities, and they know a lot about the wea knesses and they know a lot about the weaknesses of the other side. that's why a lot of people are saying, have

arsenal got a team to actually win the europa league? perhaps not, but everybody knows it is a way into the champions league as well. but who night emery does know how to maximise his side when actually, it isa maximise his side when actually, it is a home and away fixture. so, a big night for arsenal at the emirates. chelsea have it slightly easier, and they'll play their match away at slavia prague in a partially closed stadium because the czech side were involved in a crowd trouble incident earlier on in the competition. maurizio sarri has suggested chelsea could rest eden hazard for that match after his brilliant performance agains west ham on monday. these are the eight sides then competing for that trophy and that champions league place next season. and the way the draw is, it could conceivably end up with that final in baku being a straight shootout between arsenal and chelsea for that last champions league place.

bernie ecclestone, the man who used to run formula 1, has told the bbc the sport's becoming boring because of mercedes' dominance. ecclestone was at the top of f1 for nearly 40 years until he was removed, following a takeover in 2017. and in an interview with radio 5 live, he says it's now too predictable. i would like to lay the blame a little bit at mercedes, because if they had given angels to red bull when they wanted them, then we would have had three teams all capable of winning races and being competitive. because that's what it's all about andi because that's what it's all about and i think it has been a bit boring for everyone, with the fantasticjob that mercedes did with lewis winning, it's incredible what he has done and what mercedes has done, but it would have been much better if

you could go to a race and say, i don't know who is going to win this. you can hear more of that interview with bernie ecclestone in 5 live formula 1 on bbc radio 5 live tonight from 9 o'clock. the team will also look ahead to this weekend's chinese grand prix, the 1000th in f1 history. great britain's dominick cunningham has confirmed he'll miss the weekend's floor final at the european gymnastics championships, after he injured his knee in qualifying in last night. cunningham's misfortune was a sour note on an excellent qualifying session for gb's men. our olympic sports reporter david mcdaid has more from poland. seven finals available, seven finals qualified. a satisfying day for great britain's men before injury took the gloss off. dominick cunningham on the vault, landing awkwardly, jarring his knee, his championships were over. awkwardly, jarring his knee, his championships were overlj awkwardly, jarring his knee, his championships were over. ijust got lost in the air and then it was just too late and then i did a leg

landing, which is pretty gutting. the pain that i was in was just, landing, which is pretty gutting. the pain that i was in wasjust, i passed out on the floor, i don't even remember a great amount about it. at the moment i am quite happy about where we are at because we did all the main checks and it is ok —ish mac. all the main checks and it is ok -ish mac. but fraser and cole are very much in the mix for tomorrow's final. he will have to battle severe back pain if he is to make the podium once again. just every morning evenly and down is painful, i get shooting pains down my leg every now and again, it is horrible, just to bend forwards and do your shoelaces, it's just to bend forwards and do your shoelaces, it's agony. i can't describe what it's like doing a routine but i think the adrenaline helps. routine but i think the adrenaline helps. as for the defending champion, he comfortably topped pommel qualifying, max whitlock looking good to end his gold—medal drought after missing out in 2018. idea learn a lot from that year and i've always said, competitions that

don't go perfect i can learn so much from. i was very happy with my score yesterday, because for me it was not a perfect routine, i split my legs at the beginning, it shows that i can still score more and make a lot of improvement. for me like i said it's just about learning from that and going forward with a lot of confidence, just going for my routine as best as i can and hopefully get my highest score that ican. hopefully get my highest score that i can. and if they do perform as they can, there could be plenty of medals coming their way. conor mcgregor is in the news once again. today, he's claimed that he broke his footjust three weeks before his defeat by khabib nurmagomedov at ufc 229. mcgregor tapped out in the fourth round of the bout in las vegas last year. at the time, he said he'd been beaten fair and square by the russian. however, in reply to a question on social media, mcgregor said he broke his footjust before the contest. he then added in reference to the post—fight brawl that followed... "i still marched forward, however,

and also landed the final blows of the night." former chelsea midfielder florent malouda has found out he's lost his job with fc zurich in the most unconventional of manners. the swiss side took to twitter to say he was leaving his role as forwards coach a little after a month since he came into the club by "mutual agreement". clearly, it wasn't very mutual, with the former france international expressing his obvious surprise in response. that's all from sportsday. at augusta, justin harding the south african holds the lead, tommy fleetwood, the leading briton, on two under after nine holes, so far, bernard langer rolling back the yea rs on bernard langer rolling back the years on two under as well. tiger woods is one under par, and then rory mcilory on par at the moment

after eight holes. you can follow all of that on the bbc sport website an app. we'll have more throughout the evening. this let's get more now on the news thatjulian this let's get more now on the news that julian assange, the this let's get more now on the news thatjulian assange, the founder of wikileaks, is in prison after being arrested at the ecuadorian embassy in london early he had been living for seven years. that was after asylu m for seven years. that was after asylum was withdrawn. he now faces potential extradition to the united states over the leaking of government secrets. today, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison for breaching his bail. we can now speak toa breaching his bail. we can now speak to a former government lawyer, now a lecturer in public law. i am delighted to say that he joins us in

the studio. let's break this down into extradition and first of all, what has actually happened today. so, he has been found guilty of skipping bail. what happens next? well, i think he has been committed for sentence at the crown court will happen in due course. that's because the districtjudge in the magistrate's court didn't think she had enough powers of sentence, so it looks as though julian had enough powers of sentence, so it looks as thouthulian assange is going to face a substantial prison sentence, perhaps three months or more, for that bail offence, that was when he entered the equatorial embassy, in 2012. seven years ago. rather than surrendering to extradition. you are a former government lawyer, it was a very dramatic arrest of today, what do you make of the british government's handling of the situation? you make of the british government's handling of the situation?|j you make of the british government's handling of the situation? i think it has been reasonable. i think difficult to criticise, the police have respected international law