hello, i'm gavin ramjaun. this is your update from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme... a historic day in golf — as the saudi breakaway liv series joins forces with the pga and dp world tour, taking everyone by surprise. a win for carlos alcaraz at the french open — to set up a tantalising semifinal with novak djokovic at roland garros. and london irish are ejected from rugby union's top flight after the deadline passes for the club to pay players and staff. hello, and welcome to the programme. it's been described as an historic day for golf — with many still in a state of shock as the saudi—backed breakaway liv tour today merged operations with the pga and dp world tour.

it's a move which effectively ends the bitter divide within the sport. the pga tour had been defending its position since talk of a rival circuit began, with litigation pending against the liv tour, which had poached some of their best players. here's our sports editor dan roan. for the last year, it has been tearing the world of golf apart. bankrolled by saudi arabia, the rebel liv series lured some of the biggest stars of the game away from the traditional tours, sparking an unprecedented dispute. but today came news of a shock merger and an end to their feud. in a joint statement, the pga tour, dp world tour and saudi public investment fund hailed investment fund hailed a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf on a global basis, with a new collectively owned for—profit entity, vowing to work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward. notably, today's announcement, they said, would be followed by a mutually agreed end to all pending featuring huge prize money,

a shorter three—day format and a team element, those behind liv claimed its innovations would attract new audiences, but critics saw it as an attempt to seize control of the sport. i hate what it's doing to the game of golf, i hate it. with legal disputes in both the us and europe, where several liv golfers lost a case over the fines and suspensions they faced for playing in the series. the time was right for all three parties to come together and there is no question that all three partners shared the appetite to get a deal done. as for the players themselves, there was a mixed reaction. phil mickelson, paid a reported £160 million to sign up to liv, tweeted, "awesome day today." but, for other leading pga tour players, it seemed to come as a surprise, with two—time major winner collin morikawa saying... ian poulter and sergio garcia were among several top liv players who walked away from the dp world tour

and became ineligible for the ryder cup, but they could now return. already the chair of saudi—owned newcastle united, another of the kingdom's growing list of sports investments, pif governor yasir al—rumayyan will now chair the new golf entity, with the pif also providing fresh funds, reinforcing the concerns of human rights campaigners that this is sportswashing — something i put too al—rumayyan last year. it's the big thing in golf- and we are going to enjoy it. that is why i'm here. thank you very much. can i just ask you very quickly about the suggestions of sportswashing? what do you say to that? i'm really not sure about this. for many in the sport, however, today's peace deal will come as a major relief. dan roan, bbc news. we've a box—office clash to look forward to in the men's semi—finals at the french open. carlos alcaraz, the men's number one, will take on novak djokovic after the spaniard beat stefanos stefanos tsitsipas in straight sets. alcaraz raced into a two—set lead, but wobbled a little in the third.

he was 5—2 up and served for the match, but was taken to a tie break — where he edged through to make the final four at roland garros for the first time. djokovic had no real issues in his victory over karen khachenov. he lost the first set, but came back to win the next three as he continues his quest for a record 23rd grand slam. this kind of wins, you know, i think serve as a great confidence booster, mentally and physically and emotionally for me. it's important. to win a match where you were losing her you were being down and then you came back and won a match. especially the latter stages of a grand slam against the top layers. and aryna sabalenka sealed her semifinal place in the women's draw. the belarusian, who won in straight sets, was accused by her ukrainian opponent elena svitolina of encouraging fans to boo her by waiting at the net for a handshake after the victory. svitolina hasn't shaken hands

with russian opponents since ukraine was invaded with support from belarus. ijust wasn't —— itjust ijust wasn't —— it just was an instinct, _ ijust wasn't —— it just was an instinct, like i always do after_ instinct, like i always do after my— instinct, like i always do after my matches. and i say many — after my matches. and i say many times already, i'm not supporting the war. i don't want — supporting the war. idon't want my— supporting the war. i don't want my country to be involved in any — want my country to be involved in any conflict, and if i would like — in any conflict, and if i would like to— in any conflict, and if i would like to be _ in any conflict, and if i would like to be political, i wouldn't be here. i don't want to be — wouldn't be here. i don't want to be involved in any politics. i to be involved in any politics. iiusl— to be involved in any politics. iiusl wenl— to be involved in any politics. ijust want to be a tennis player~ _ i don't know, to be fair. my statements— i don't know, to be fair. my statements were _ idon't know, to be fair. my statements were clear- i don't know, to be fair. my. statements were clear enough about — statements were clear enough about the _ statements were clear enough about the ham _ statements were clear enough about the ham steak - statements were clear enough about the ham steak —— - about the ham steak —— handshake. _ about the ham steak —— handshake. i— about the ham steak —— handshake. i was- about the ham steak —— - handshake. i was expecting that, — handshake. i was expecting that, you _ handshake. i was expecting that, you know, _ handshake. i was expecting that, you know, whoever. handshake. i was expecting i that, you know, whoever and handshake. i was expecting - that, you know, whoever and the situation — that, you know, whoever and the situation loses _ that, you know, whoever and the situation loses i _ that, you know, whoever and the situation loses i guess— that, you know, whoever and the situation loses i guess it's - situation loses i guess it's food, _ situation loses i guess it's food, so _ situation loses i guess it's food, so i _ situation loses i guess it's food, so i was _ situation loses i guess it's food, so i was expecting i situation loses i guess it's i food, so i was expecting that -- gets— food, so i was expecting that -- gets boos _ london irish have been

suspended from playing in rugby union's premiership, after missing a deadline to pay wages of staff and players. takeover talks with a us consortium failed to materialise, meaning the club are ejected from the english top flight. natalie pirks reports. chanting. this was the end of their season, but it turned out to be the end of an era. london irish players and staff tonight learned their fates on a zoom call. 125 years of history potentially gone. fans are struggling to understand just how it came to this. i would say heartbroken is a very accurate description. it can't get any worse than this, to be honest with you. i can't imagine a life now, not supporting london irish. well, london irish�*s demise is just the latest chapter in a sorry story of premiership rugby. they're the third club to fall injust nine months, with a recent report saying the problems were a stain on the reputation of the governing body.

bad news, eh? the dream's over. worcester warriors were the first club to go under, players discovering they'd been relegated in october. they still can't operate as a professional club. and last month, six times english champions wasps were demoted to the foot of the rugby pyramid after debts of more than £95 million forced them into administration. all three clubs were being chased for unpaid taxes. it gets to a point whereby - the three clubs are losing way too much money, too much debts need to be paid and it— comes to a point where those debts calling. - the pandemic exacerbated clubs' already perilous finances. the government is worried and has appointed independent advisers to help the sport. he still going! what a score! one of the stars of london irish, whose future now lies elsewhere. on the pitch, rugby union

enjoys sold—out internationals, but off it, clubs have been accused of sleepwalking into a crisis. natalie pirks, bbc news, twickenham. henry arundel. ten chinese snooker players have been punished for their involvement in the sport's biggest match—fixing scandal. two players, liang wenbo and li hang, have been handed lifetime bans — with the others, including former masters winner yan bingtao, and former uk champion zhao xintong among those receiving bans ranging from 20 months to more than five years. we're very pleased to see this come to some kind of close. the commission's outcome today really is a message to those who are trying to manipulate sport in general. life spans were surprised today. they were very hard to come by in any sport, to see two life bands for the most deserving. tottenham have appointed ange postocoglou as their new manager. the former celtic boss joins the premier league side on a four—year contract. postocoglou is tottenham's fourth permanent manager since mauricio pochettino led them to the champions league final in 2019,

and followsjose mourinho, nuno espirito santo and antonio conte. he's the first australian to manage in the premier league, and arrives after winning a domestic treble in scotland. karim benzema has agreed terms with saudi arabian champions al—ittihad after leaving real madrid. 35—year—old benzema is the latest big—name recruit to the saudi pro league. the current ballon d'or winner won five champions leagues and four la liga titles at the bernabeu, having spent ia years at the club. benzema's had a medical in madrid and is set to sign a three—year contract. thousands of west ham fans have travelled to prague for their europa conference league final against fiorentina. it's manager david moyes�* first european final in his 25 years as a manager. wingerjarrod bowen admits it's a big occasion. i've been here three years and was _ i've been here three years and was toldm _ i've been here three years and was told... i would have bet your— was told... i would have bet your hand _ was told... i would have bet your hand off if you told me we would — your hand off if you told me we would be — your hand off if you told me we would be here three years

later~ _ would be here three years later~ i_ would be here three years later. i was disappointed last year. — later. i was disappointed last year. so _ later. i was disappointed last year, so that probably gave us that extra _ year, so that probably gave us that extra bit of motivation to do it— that extra bit of motivation to do it this _ that extra bit of motivation to do it this year. i think with the season we've had as well, i think— the season we've had as well, i think i— the season we've had as well, i think i want to do it even more. _ think i want to do it even more. to— think i want to do it even more, to make it even more special— more, to make it even more special for— more, to make it even more special for us. more, to make it even more specialfor us. but more, to make it even more special for us. but like you said. — special for us. but like you said. the _ special for us. but like you said, the fans are travelling out here _ said, the fans are travelling out here and i don't know how many— out here and i don't know how many numbers, but the fan base here _ many numbers, but the fan base here is— many numbers, but the fan base here is incredible. that is just about it from us. more on that big golf story at the usual addressed. that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye. hello there. you've probably noticed the weather not really changing very much over recent times, and that's because high pressure's been firmly dominating. and with high pressure around, it's not rained very much anywhere. but in warwickshire, in church lawford, you'd have to go back to the 11th of may — that was the last time it

rained — so that's nearly four weeks of dry weather. some of the warmest weather has been across in northern ireland, county tyrone — it's been very warm in castlederg for the last nine days, but five of these recent days have seen temperatures reach 2a celsius — that's six above average. now, it's the west that had the highest temperatures again on tuesday, but england, stuck underneath this area of cloud, had much lower temperatures in many areas — for example, in leek, in staffordshire, 18 celsius on monday, 12 celsius on tuesday. we also had some cloud dropping the temperatures in parts of west scotland as well. now, over the next few hours, we're seeing that cloud again thicken up across parts of england, wales, northern and eastern scotland. you might find a few spots of drizzle, although predominantly, it will be a dry start to the day on wednesday. the best of the early—morning sunshine, like recent times, will be across these western areas of the country. could be a few mist patches, clearing and lifting, and then the sunshine comes out. i think there is a better chance of seeing this cloud break up across the midlands, east wales, so you probably

will see some sunshine. but there could be some areas of eastern england again that keep the cloud all day. where that happens, temperatures into the teens — but otherwise, i think more of us will see temperatures into the low 20s. and with those sunny conditions out west, we'll see some very high levels of pollen building in across parts of england and wales, so it could be quite a sneezy day for hay—fever sufferers allergic to grass pollen. now, for thursday, again, there could be a bit of cloud around across eastern areas — probably east scotland, northeast england, the favoured spots for holding on to that. but otherwise, plenty of sunshine around, and those temperatures again reaching the mid—20s in the very warmest areas. we then do start to see a change, courtesy of this storm system — storm oscar, that's been bringing some torrential rain to madeira. what that'll do, it moves to the southwest of the uk, and it shoves a load of humid air across the country. and so, we'll see a change in the weather conditions as we head into the weekend. as it turns more humid, we'll start to see some showers and thunderstorms break out. and, although the rain from these will be hit—and—miss

in nature, some could see the first significant rain forfour weeks.