his apparent defence of the anti—lgbt stance of fellow christian israel folau has seen the englishmaned by saracens and the rugby football union. he has expressed his regret at the offence caused, with both the rfu and saracens stressing that his viewpoint is at odds with rugby union's values of inclusivity. the saracens boss hopes the matter has now been dealt with, as his side prepare for a huge champions cup semifinal against munster on saturday, with billy vunipola said to be involved. this group of players and staff have been together for a long period of time and we ca re for a long period of time and we care about each other and we want to look out for each other through the good times and the bad times as well. and i have no doubt when it comes to saturday, he will be giving it all for his team—mates and likewise hails team—mates will be pulling for him as well. coaches and players at saracens came to move on and focus on the rugby but the fact that believe own apollo has not taken down his controversial post, shows he is standing by his beliefs, evenif shows he is standing by

it intends to sack one of its star players — israel folau — over a social media post which said that hell awaits gay people. the winger is a devout christianar. here's our rugby union correspondent chris jones. in his latest post that was put out on his social media channels yesterday, israel folau said that hell awaits all gay people. he puts these homophobic beliefs down to his religious views and a year ago the rugby australia authorities disciplined in. now they have come back and said they have made repeated efforts to contact israel folau. he has not returned their calls and in the absence of any mitigating factors he will get the sack. it is a huge development. he is one of australia's top players. but rugby australia are putting the values of the game above his playing ability. so unless he can come up with an explanation, and remember he was disciplined for this a year ago, thenit was disciplined for this a year ago, then it is looking like israel folau has played his last game of rugby union, possibly for australia and certainly he won't be going to the rugby world cup at the end of the year. 0le gunnar solskjaer says there's no

this all started with that instagram post by israel folau, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. he's also a fundamentalist christiand homosexuals together with liars, thieves and adulterers, and said, hell awaits you. now rugby australia has made those best made clear those comments are likely to end his career, but here in the uk billy vunipola, the saracens number eight, capped more than a0 times by england, likes that instagram post andi england, likes that instagram post and i did while he doesn't hate anyone, man was made for woman to procreate. now, saracens have condemned that post. they say they are taking it very seriously. they'll also handle it internally, they say, but here in twickenham the rugby football union says rugby is an inclusive sport, we don't support these views and will be meeting with billy to discuss his social media posts. the question will be off course how far the rugby authorities are prepared to push this and tonight, clive, those posts by both players are still on instagram. richard lister there at twickenham, thank you. there have been clashes between police and protestors in alger

australia has sacked one its star players — israel folau — over a social media post in which said that ‘hell awaits‘ gay people. folau is a devout christianrole models in some areas. i know some of them don‘t want to be, but at the end of the day if you are going to put yourself out there on twitter and instagram and have hundreds of thousands, a million followers, then you can affect their reaction and you can have an effect on what people think and say. so i think it‘s really important that going forward everyone has understanding of their responsibility. it‘s been a mixed day for england all—rounder ben stokes — in his latest match playing for the rajasthan royals against the chennai super kings in the ipl. stokes made a quick 28 runs and then took a stunning catch off the bowling ofjofra archer as the super kings collapsed chasing their target of 152. the super kings had the last laugh though. they needed three off the last ball — bowled by stokes — and new zealander mitchell sa ntner hit it for six. that‘s all the sport for now, but before we go don‘t forget you can get latest updates on the first round of the masters from augusta on

rugby union star israel folau is said to challenge the second by the national team which came after he made homophobic comments on instagram for allow who is an ultra conservative christian said in his post last week that homosexuals would go to hell if they didn't repent it led to rugby australia announcing they would tear up his four million dollar contract but for lao has stood by his comments and the matter is now due to go before a tribunal. french rugby side to lose will waste special jerseys they pay tribute to the fire ravaged notre dame cathedral in their european champions cup semifinal on sunday to lead to lose of the only french side in the last fall they will auction the jerseys following the game against irish side. with all money raised being donated to reconstruction efforts the tampa bay lightning have made n.h.l. history but not in the way they would have wanted their out of the stanley cup playoffs of being swept four games to none by the columbus blue jackets it comes off to tampa bay have tied the record for the most regular season wins in the one hundred two year history of the league this is also the first time in league history the team with the m

israel folau posted on social media that "hell awaits" gay people. he's since stood by his comments, saying that his christiantwo years ago he was contemplating retirement, with a glittering golfing career on the rocks. but now tiger woods is masters champion once again, more than a decade after winning his last major title. he says there were serious doubts he'd ever return to the sport. back injuries, trouble in his personal life and arrest for reckless driving marred what seemed the perfect sporting life. but yesterday all that was behind him, as he won the famous green jacket by one stroke. so, is it sport's greatest comeback? here's andy swiss. just a few years ago, they were writing him off, now he's written one of sport's most astonishing chapters. what a moment. white men from the lowest of lows, tiger woods has scaled almost unthinkable highs, masters champion once more. he embraced his family and it was proof he, he said the power of perseverance. he, he said the power of perseverance . you never he, he said the power of perseverance. you never give up. that's a given. you always fight. giving up is

australian rugby union star israel folau is set to challenge his sacking by the national team which came after he made homophobic comments on instagram for allow an ultra conservative christian said in his post homosexuals would go to hell if they didn't repent led to the announcing they would tell his four million dollar contract matters now due to go before a tribunal. all right i saw a sport during paul thank you very much for that update thanks for watching the news hour on al-jazeera that's it for myself and the team here in doha but we hand you over to lauren taylor in our london news center she'll be with you in just a moment and much more off the day's news right here on al-jazeera but i. went on line. with the didn't you for them not only for joining us on all of us have been calling. this is a dialogue talking about. you have seen what it can do to somebody. and. everyone has a voice. or twitter and you could be on the street join the conversation. until now the coverage of latin america most of the world was a cover including todd's tragedies. and that was it but not how people feel how they how they think and that's what we do we go anyway five and a half months

controversial social media posts by australia‘s israel folau, who‘s been sacked for saying that ‘hell awaits‘ gay people. vunipola, who‘s also a christian a 38—12 victory over warrington. the wolves had begun the evening ahead of saints on points difference. but six tries from 6 different scorers did the damage for the home side. mark percival and winger regan grace amongst the scorers. in the night‘s other match, wakefield continued their good form as they beat wigan warriors 30—20. ellie downie missed out on another european all round gymnastics title in poland. she had to settle for silver. downie led going into the floor routine, but was eventually pipped by france‘s melanie dejesus dos santos, who snatched gold. angelina melnikova of russia was third i‘m absolutely ecstatic. coming in yesterday i didn‘t think i would get that, and it was so close to first, but honestly it doesn‘t mean much. i was so close, i‘m over the moon. now she was described as an australian icon and the greatest of all time as she crossed the line to win a 33rd straight race. winx is retiring after the record run was completed with her victory in the queen el

rugby australia says it's going to sack star player israel folau, after he posted homophobic comments on social media. he's a committed christians the huddersfield giants held on to beat castleford tigers. alex mellor was the star for the home side, he ran in a hat—trick of tries as huddersfield won by 20—18. they move four points ahead of bottom side leeds. there was a great return to competition for great britain's claudia fragapane at the european gymnastics championships. she has had a really tough year, after snapping her achilles just before the commonwealth games. but she looked somewhere near her best in poland as she posted the leading score on her way to the floor final. oh my gosh, i'm so excited to be here and i was so nervous going up there, but i feel a bit emotional seeing everything that's happened last year and then coming in and doing a big floor routine and nailing it, i'm really, really happy. now, this is something really impressive. we do love a trick shot, don't we? never really one in rugby, not something we see very often, so check this out. this is bath's freddie burns with a double kick. it might take

australia has sacked one its star players — israel folau — over a social media post in which said that ‘hell awaits' gay people. folau is a devout christianardiff blues' australian head coachjohn mulvihill. in 2019, athletes have... they have a job to do as role models in some areas. i know some of them don't want to be, but at the end of the day if you are going to put yourself out there on twitter and instagram and have hundreds of thousands, a million followers, then you can affect their reaction and you can have an effect on what people think and say. so i think it's really important that going forward everyone has understanding of their responsibility. it's been a mixed day for england all—rounder ben stokes in his latest match playing for the rajasthan royals against the chennai super kings in the ipl. stokes made a quick 28 runs and then took a stunning catch off the bowling ofjofra archer as the super kings collapsed chasing their target of 152. the super kings had the last laugh though. they needed three off the last ball — bowled by stokes — and new zealander mitchell santner hit it for six. that's all the sport for now. i'll ha

rugby union star israel folau is said to challenge the second by the national team which came after he made homophobic comments on instagram for lao who is an ultra conservative christian said in his post last week that homosexuals would go to hell if they didn't repent it led to rugby australia announcing they were tailpiece four million dollar contract the matter is now due to go before a tribunal and that for the sport thank you very much thanks for watching the news hour back in just a moment with much more on the day's news see you in a minute about. on line. to the answer for them not to do you got this or if you join us on the set all of us have been colonized in some form or some fashion this is a diana talking about a legal front you have seen what it can do to somebody just people using multiple drugs including a funnel and some people are seeking it out everyone has a voice from the c.r.s. boss here twitter and you could be on the syria join the global conversation amount is iraq and monday put it on the. us and british companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped natural resources is already

australia has sacked one its star players — israel folau — over a social media post in which said that "‘hell awaits" gay people. folau is a devout christianf you are going to put yourself out there on twitter and instagram and have hundreds of thousands, a million followers, then you can affect their reaction and you can have an effect on what people think and say. so i think it's really important that going forward eve ryo ne important that going forward everyone has understanding of their responsibility. atletico madrid's diego costa won't play for the club again this season, after recieving an 8—match ban for abusing a referee. the former chelsea player was given a straight red card in the first half of their la liga defeat against barcelona last weekend. in the match report, the referee claimed the spain striker had "insulted his mother". costa denied that but was given a four match ban for the insult and a further four for grabbing the official‘s arm. chelsea and arsenal are in europa league quarter—final first leg action tonight. you never know, one of them might need to win the competiton to qualify for next season's champions leag

in a post on instagram, israel folau proclaimed hell awaits homosexuals if they did not repent. mr folau, who is a fundamentalist christian his contract will be scrapped. and actually, that is quite a sanction, for somebody expressing so, so... it is notan sanction, for somebody expressing so, so... it is not an opinion obviously that i agree with but it is his opinion and now the sport has decided to get rid of him. there has been a long—running debate in this country about racist incident, anti—semitic incidents in football matches and elsewhere, i was talking to the chelsea chairman last week andi to the chelsea chairman last week and i asked him, if players on the pitch here racist or anti—semitic chanting, in this case something homophobic, then would he agree to the team leaving the pitch? and he said absolutely he would. there are people now here in britain who are saying, that is the sort of thing that has got to happen to try and bring some of the disco mineta behaviour and comments to a head. so there is a sport in australia taking a tough line. this is beyond one hundred days. still to come... government space

rugby australia says it intends to sack israel folau over a social media post which said that hell awaits gay people. he's a devout christian in his latest post that was put out ona in his latest post that was put out on a social media channel yesterday he said that hell awaits all gay people. he put these homophobic beliefs down to his religious views and one year ago the rugby australia authority to discipline him. now they have come back and said they had made repeated efforts to contact him. he has not returned their calls and in the absence of any mitigating factors, he will get the sack. he was one of australia's two best players. rugby australia putting the values of the game and the offence he is causing with these comments above his playing ability. manchester united boss ole gunnar solskjaer is optimistic his side can still make it through to the last four of the champions league, despite defeat by a below par barcelona in the first leg of their quarterfinal. lionel messi wasn't at his brilliant best, but he still had a hand in the only goal of the game. he set up luis suarez whose header was deflected in for an o

folau has said his christian faith must come before his rugby union career. england‘s billy vunipola has defended israelthe opposite. it has been a divisive issue and has seen some rugby players come out in support of the likes of vunipola and some fiercely opposed. wigan warriors have confirmed that shaun edwards will not become their new head coach, as planned, at the end of the season. the wales rugby union defence coach intially agreed to the role in august last year. but, after a successful six nations campaign, as part of warren gatland‘s wales coaching team, edwards is expected to remain as part of the staff. that‘s all the sport for now. olly foster will be here with more in the next hour. now on afternoon live — let‘s go nationwide and see what‘s happening around the country — in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let‘s go to rogerjohnson in liverpool where the city fell silent earlier this afternoon to remember the 96 fans who died in the hillsborough disaster 30 years ago. that is the scene at anfield, we will be with you in just a that is the scene at anfield, we will be wit