Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Gabriel Jesus scored a 76th-minute winner as Manchester City beat Paris St Germain 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium to take their place in the Champions League knockout stages as Group A winners.

PSG also advanced to the last 16 thanks to Leipzig's 5-0 win over Club Brugge.

Kylian Mbappe fired PSG into a 50th-minute lead, while City drew level through Raheem Sterling in the 63rd minute.

Gabriel Jesus grabbed the winner in the 76th minute.

With one round of games remaining, City lead Group A on 12 points with PSG on eight and Leipzig and Brugge, both on four points, left to compete for third place and a spot in the Europa League.

Second-half goals by Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah earned a below-strength Liverpool a 2-0 win over Porto to maintain their 100% record in Group B.

Juergen Klopp's side have a maximum 15 points from their five matches while Porto hung on to second place with five points thanks to Atletico Madrid's 1-0 home defeat by AC Milan.

Porto, who have five points, host Atletico (four points) in their final match in the group.

Other clubs to confirm their places in the last 16 were Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Sporting Lisbon.

-Reuters

Eligibility rules ease for rugby players

International rugby players will be allowed to switch national teams from next year subject to certain criteria.

The revised regulation will apply from Jan. 1 and a player must either be born in the country to which they wish to transfer or have a parent or grandparent born in that nation.

The player must also stand down from international rugby for a period of 36 months and may change unions only once, subject to approval by the World Rugby Regulations Committee.

"We have listened to our membership and players and sought to update the regulation recognising the modern professional rugby environment without compromising the integrity of the international game," said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.

"We believe this is the fairest way to implement progressive change that puts players first while also having the potential to support a growing, increasingly competitive international men's and women's game."

International transfers are currently permitted in rugby sevens to allow players to participate in the Olympics.

-Reuters

Canoe Racing seeks expulsion of Olympic champion

A special meeting next month will seek the explusion of Canoe Racing New Zealand member Alan Thompson.

The double Olympic gold medalist was investigated after complaints of inappropriate sexulaised remarks to female athletes.

One incident occurred in 1998, and the other in 2014.

One of the incidents occurred overseas on a CRNZ tour, and the other at a competition in New Zealand.

Wellington QC Victoria Casey carried out the investigation and found the alleged conduct occured.

The CRNZ Constitution sets out that a member may be expelled only by Special Resolution of Members at General Meeting. As such, the Board has requested the CEO to call a Special General Meeting for 22 December 2021.

Iyer will play for India in first test

India batter Shreyas Iyer will make his test debut against New Zealand in the opening match at Kanpur.

Opener KL Rahul was ruled out on Tuesday due to a left thigh muscle strain, paving the way for the 26-year-old Mumbai batsman to come into the side for the first test starting this afternoon.

"He did really well in England. He was in good form, played well in the T20s. We will miss him. But we have guys who can do the job, guys who have done well for us in the past and are experienced," said stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane.

India, beaten by New Zealand in the World Test Championship final in June, are already without regular captain Virat Kohli, who decided to skip the first match.

Batter Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been rested for both matches.

Iyer has been a regular for India in the white-ball format, playing 22 one-dayers and 32 Twenty20 internationals.

Rahane said the hosts were yet to finalise their combination for the match but added that the series would be a good opportunity for those coming into the side in the absence of the big names.

Spin bowling will be the deciding factor in the match and the 33-year-old Rahane said it was important for India to maximise their home advantage.

"We are backing our bowlers to take 20 wickets on spin-friendly pitches," Rahane said.

-Reuters

Benzema found guilty

France and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been found guilty of conspiring to blackmail a fellow French footballer with a sex tape.

A judge handed Benzema a one-year suspended jail term and ordered him to pay a $122,000 fine.

Benzema, 33, was one of five people put on trial last month over an attempt to extort Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena.

The scandal has stunned the football community in France and both players lost their national team places.

The case dates back to June 2015, when the two footballers were at a French training camp.

Benzema has always denied the allegations and insisted he was only trying to help Valbuena get rid of the compromising video.

Benzema has since returned to the France team.

-Reuters

Vaughn won't work on Ashes tour

Former England captain Michael Vaughan will play no part in the BBC's coverage of the upcoming Ashes series after being named in the racism controversy involving former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq.

Rafiq alleged that Vaughan told him and two other players of Asian origin that there were "too many of you lot, we need to do something about it" before a match in 2009. Vaughan has strongly denied the accusation.

"While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment," the BBC said in a statement.

"We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest."

Vaughan, who has been an analyst with the BBC since 2009, was dropped from a radio show by the broadcaster earlier this month after the allegations came to light.

The five-test Ashes series between England and hosts Australia begins in Brisbane on Dec. 8.

-Reuters

Sri Lanka on top

Hosts Sri Lanka need just another four wickets to wrap up the first test against West Indies in Galle.

The Windies ended day four on 52/6 in their second innings, still 296 runs away from their target.

Eleven wickets fell on the fourth day with Sri Lanka declaring on 191/4.

Sri Lanka's spinners Ramesh Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya then ran through the West Indies batting line-up to leave them reeling at 52 for 6 at stumps.

Mendis has 4-17.

Cooper leads the way

A double century from Henry Cooper has Northern Districts on the front foot with a day to play in their Plunket Shield game against Otago in Alexandra.

Northern are 547 for seven in their first innings, a lead of 205.

With so many runs being scored Northern will need to give themselves as long as possible to dismiss Otago a second time on the final day.

World Rugby names preferred World Cup hosts

England is set to host the 2025 women's Rugby World Cup and Australia the 2027 men's tournament after both countries were listed as the "preferred candidates" in a new approach by World Rugby.

The World Rugby Council approved revisions to the World Cup host selection process, including a preferred candidate phase that the body hopes will help maximise the growth of the sport worldwide.

An "exclusive targeted dialogue" would continue with the United States in regard to hosting the men's World Cup in 2031 and also a women's edition at some point in the future.

Final hosting rights will be awarded by the council in May 2022, World Rugby added.

The next women's Rugby World Cup was postponed until next year in New Zealand due to the COVID-19. The next men's tournament is due to be held in France in 2023.

-Reuters

Murphy upset after losing to amateur

Former champion Shaun Murphy said amateurs should not be allowed to play in professional snooker tournaments after he lost in the first round of the UK championship to 19-year-old Si Jiahui.

The 39-year-old, who was runner-up in the world championship this year, fought back from 5-1 down to level the match but lost the deciding frame to the Chinese amateur.

Murphy, who has won more almost $8 million in prize money in his career, vented his frustration after the defeat in York.

"I'm going to sound like a grumpy old man but that young man shouldn't be in the tournament," Murphy, known as the Magician.

"It's not fair, it's not right... I don't know why we as a sport allow amateurs to compete in professional tournaments. This is our livelihood. This is our living. We're self-employed individuals and not contracted sportsmen. We don't play for a team."

Si is competing as an amateur due to falling off the main tour at the end of last season and takes on 49-year-old veteran Dominic Dale in the second round.

"The other 127 runners and riders in the tournament, it's their livelihood too. It's wrong, in my opinion, to walk into somebody who's not playing with the same pressures and concerns I am," Murphy added.

"He played like a man who does not have a care in the world, because he does not have a care in the world. I'm not picking on him as a young man, he deserved his victory."

-Reuters

Bundesliga won't be halted

The German Football League rejected a call to halt the Bundesliga season for several weeks because of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The DFL, which runs the top two Bundesliga divisions, was responding to a call from second-tier club Erzgebirge Aue President, Helge Leonhardt, to stop play until December.

Leonhardt said football needed to be a role model and put people's safety first to reduce the risk of further infections and decrease the burden on the German health system.

Germany registered a record 66,884 new coronavirus infections and 335 more deaths due to the virus, bringing the total number of deaths close to 100,000.

-Reuters