Digest

SOCCER

Rashford signs new Man United deal

Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford has signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2024, the English outfit announced on Saturday.

The new contract on a reported 250,000-a-week plus bonuses, makes him the highest-paid English player in the Premier League, according to the Independent newspaper.

The 25-year-old agreed a new deal alongside Diogo Dalot, Fred and Luke Shaw with the four players' current contract up at the end of the season.

The England forward came through United's academy and was part of his country's squad that reached this month's World Cup quarterfinals.

"We want to develop, we want to support those players and we want them to keep in our process," United coach Erik Ten Hag said.

"We want to construct a team for the future, so for longer years, and those players have to be part of it," he added.

Vieira slams Martinez's 'stupid' celebrations

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira believes Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's "stupid" celebrations have tarnished Argentina's World Cup final win.

Martinez was a key figure in Argentina's victory over France.

He made a fine save to deny Randal Kolo Muani in extra-time and then denied Kingsley Coman in the shoot-out in Qatar as Argentina won a thrilling final.

But the keeper was then seen making a crude gesture after winning the golden glove trophy for the best goalkeeper at the tournament.

Then, during Argentina's victory parade in Buenos Aires, he was seen holding a baby doll with its face covered by a photograph of France star striker Kylian Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in the final but still finished on the losing side.

Vieira, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, was unimpressed by Martinez's antics.

"Some of the pictures I saw from the Argentinian goalkeeper, I think, take away a little bit what Argentina achieved at the World Cup," said Vieira a pre-match press conference ahead of Palace's Premier League match against London rivals Fulham.

"I don't think they really needed that."

BASKETBALL

Curry will be out at least two more weeks

Four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry, sidelined since suffering a partially dislocated left shoulder, will be out for at least another two weeks, the reigning champion Golden State Warriors said on Saturday.

Curry, who suffered the injury on Dec 14 at Indiana while trying to make a steal, has missed the team's past four games.

The Warriors said Curry was recently reevaluated and the exam indicated Curry is "making good progress" in his recovery and "will be re-evaluated again in two weeks," the team said in a statement.

The 34-year-old guard, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and last season's NBA Finals MVP, will miss at least six games in the next two weeks, starting with Golden State's home showdown Sunday against Memphis.

That contest is part of the NBA's annual Christmas Day NBA schedule, this year featuring five games involving most of the league's best clubs and biggest stars.

In other holiday games, the Philadelphia 76ers will visit New York while Dallas plays host to the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee travels to Boston and Phoenix plays at Denver.

The Boston-Milwaukee contest pits the team's with the NBA's best records against each other, the Celtics leading the league at 23-10 with Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee on 22-10.

Sabonis to undergo further hand testing

Sacramento Kings All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, who injured his right hand in Friday's loss, will undergo further testing to determine if he will miss any time, according to an ESPN report Saturday.

Sabonis will also undergo evaluation for treatment options after X-rays confirmed the injury, which he suffered in the fourth quarter of a 125-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.

An All-Star in 2020 and '21 with the Indiana Pacers, Sabonis has been a major contributor to the Kings' turnaround this season. The 26-year-old is averaging 17.9 points, an NBA-leading 12.4 rebounds and six assists for the Western Conference's current No 6 seed.

Sabonis, who leads the NBA in double-doubles with 23, came over to Sacramento last February in a deal that sent guards Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield to Indiana.

The Kings haven't made the playoffs since 2006, the longest postseason drought in the NBA.

Stands partly collapse in Cairo, injuring 27

At least 27 people were injured when stands partly collapsed on Saturday during a basketball game in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, health authorities said.

Officials said part of the seats fell on spectators at the Super Cup match between Cairo's Al-Ahly and Ittihad of Alexandria following a stampede in the stands.

The game at the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo's 6th of October district was called off following the incident, according to local media.

Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said in a statement that most of the injured suffered broken bones. He said they were taken to hospitals and their injuries were not life threatening.

Mohamed Fawzi, a spokesman for the Sports Ministry, told a local television channel that the stands collapsed because of a stampede by Ittihad supporters.

DOPING

Russian hurdler stripped of 2012 gold

Banned Russian athlete and 2012 Olympic 400m hurdles champion Natalia Antyukh will lose her gold medal from the London Games after she did not appeal her doping ban, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old won the 400m hurdles title at the 2012 Olympics defeating American Lashinda Demus, who will be upgraded to gold once the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acts on the AIU ruling.

In October, the AIU had disqualified Antyukh's results from July 2012 to June 2013 "for the use of a prohibited substance/method." The ruling became final and binding with the athlete not appealing the decision within the stipulated 45 days.

"The IOC may now proceed with the reallocation of medals and the update of the IOC database," noted the AIU's correspondence to the IOC.

Antyukh is serving a four-year ban until 2025 for breaking anti-doping rules.

Agencies