Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - A game-time decision will be made on whether New Zealand Breakers centre Yanni Wetzell takes the court in the team's opening Australian National Basketball League game against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday.

The 25-year-old is one of the nine members of the Breakers touring party that tested positive for Covid-19 and he has been in isolation for the best part of two weeks.

He is now Covid-free.

This is the third stint he has experienced in isolation but the first caused by a positive test and he said it will take a while to readjust physically after being locked down.

"I've had pretty mild symptoms; I've been able to get away from this pretty unscathed," he said.

"It hasn't been as atrocious as it could have been, so I've been pretty fortunate but looking forward to getting out."

Wetzell has participated in team meetings via Zoom but will go to morning shootaround with the team on Saturday, unsure how he will feel back on court.

However, he would love to play against his former team.

"It's always a special game playing the old team; we will see how I go in shootaround, it's unlikely that I will play at this stage, but if I feel amazing I'm going to try and give it a shot."

"Heath-wise, I feel great. I'm not tired anymore; I'm very enthusiastic about getting back out there."

Bates stars for Sparks in Super Smash

Otago Sparks captain Suzie Bates scored an unbeaten 76 off 59 balls as the Sparks beat the Northern Brave by 61 runs in the Super Smash.

Bates provided the top score for the Sparks who suffered a shock batting collapse through the middle whilst captain Bates carried her bat for her fourth highest score in the competition over her lengthy career.

Bates's 54th T20 half century (15th for Otago Sparks) substantially helped the visitors to set Northern Brave a target of 155.

The Northern Brave reached 93/8 from their 20 overs.

It was the Sparks' third largest T20 winning margin in their history, young pace bowler Emma Black finishing with 2-16 off her four overs and Molly Loe 2-21.

In the men's game, the Otago Volts won the toss and sent the Northern Brave in to bat.

Katene Clarke fell early before the rain came in and halted play. The shower proved to be a quick one and play was able to resume shortly after, but the match was reduced to 17 overs each side.

Captain Jeet Raval wasted no time getting into some runs, making 33 of just 18 balls before he fell in the sixth over. The rain returned and got the final say as the match was abandoned.

Former head of world athletics dies

Lamine Diack, the former head of world athletics' governing body who was convicted of corruption last year, died at home in Senegal on Friday at the age of 88, his son said.

Diack led the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015, making him one of the most powerful people in athletics. But he was later found guilty of running a clique that covered up Russian doping in return for millions of dollars in bribes.

A French court sentenced him to four years in prison in 2020, but he was never jailed. He remained under house arrest in France and was later released on bail, allowing him to return to Senegal.

"He died at home around 2 a.m. of a natural death," his son, Papa Massata Diack, said.

Diack's lawyers had previously said he was in poor health and would die in jail if sentenced.

Born in Senegal's capital Dakar, Diack attended university in France where he was a champion long-jumper in the 1950s. Afterwards he coached football in Senegal and helped manage the national team, which allowed him to transition into politics.

Diack was mayor of Dakar from 1978-1980, and later served as senior vice president of Senegal's National Assembly.

As IAAF president, he was found guilty of soliciting bribes totalling $3.9 million from athletes suspected of doping to cover up test results and let them continue competing, including in the 2012 London Olympics.

He paid off other IAAF officials to aid with the cover up, and also accepted Russian money to help finance Senegalese leader Macky Sall's 2012 presidential campaign, the court found.

- Reuters

Former Black Cap unsure if he will walk again

Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns said he is not sure if he will walk again but that he is lucky to be alive after suffering a spinal stroke following life-saving treatment for a torn artery in August.

The stroke left the 51-year-old paralysed from the waist down.

"I don't know if I'll ever walk again and I have made my peace with that," Cairns told the Daily Telegraph.

"It's now about understanding I can lead a full and enjoyable life in a wheelchair but at the same time knowing it will be different."

Cairns played 62 tests, 215 one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches for New Zealand between 1989-2006.

After retiring from international cricket he was accused of involvement in matchfixing in India while captaining the Chandigarh Lions in the defunct Indian Cricket League in 2008.

He denied wrongdoing and fought several legal battles to clear his name, winning a libel case against former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi in 2012.

In 2015, Cairns was cleared of perjury in relation to the libel case after being charged by Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, with two of his former team mates, Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent, testified against him.

Cairns said his brush with death had given him a chance to rebuild relationships.

"There have been relationships which ... have fractured that have been reignited on the back of a new perspective on life. It is almost like everybody has moved on which has been heart-warming," he said.

"It was good of Brendon to wish me well ... There is no direct contact between us but the fact he did that was very decent of him."

- Reuters

UCI Track Champions League faces another cancellation

The UCI Track Champions League will culminate in this weekend's double-header in London after the final round scheduled for Israel on 11 December was cancelled because of the new Omnicron coronavirus variant.

It is the second round of the new competition to be cancelled, after a Paris leg was also scrapped for Covid-19 related reasons.

London will host two sold-out rounds.

Israel has imposed tight restrictions on movement into the country in response to fears about the new variant.

"It is with regret that we have been left with no choice but to remove Tel Aviv from this year's calendar," Francois Ribeiro, head of Discovery Sport Events which is partnering the UCI in the Champions League, said in a statement.

"We were ready to celebrate our four series winners at the Sylvan Adams National Velodrome but the events of the pandemic have taught us the importance of adapting when necessary."

The Track Champions League features 72 of the best male and female riders, including serveral New Zealand riders, competing in sprint and endurance competitions.

Points and prize money are accumulated from each race, with overall winners of each of the four divisions earning $28,200.

Ahead of London, Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen leads the men's sprint table after dominating the rounds in Mallorca and Lithuania, while Germany's Emma Hinze leads the women's sprint standings. Britain's double Olympic champion Katie Archibald leads the women's endurance division with Spain's Sebastian Mora top of the men's endurance table.

- Reuters

FIFA dismiss South Africa protest over World Cup qualifier loss

FIFA dismissed South Africa's protest following the 1-0 loss to Ghana in their decisive World Cup qualifier in Cape Coast last month, with the country's football association (SAFA) saying they will consider further steps once they read the judgement.

FIFA's Disciplinary Committee decided that the protest was inadmissible, without providing any further details.

SAFA believe they were "robbed" by Senegal referee Maguette Ndiaye and his assistants, who handed the home side a dubious penalty and made several other doubtful calls.

The result allowed Ghana to leapfrog South Africa to the top of their pool and move into the final stage of qualifying in March for the finals in Qatar next year.

"We have received the decision without details and will request the reasons (from FIFA) and consider our options," SAFA chief executive Tebogo Motlanthe said in a statement.

South Africa had been hoping to benefit from the precedent set when they were ordered to replay their World Cup qualifier victory over Senegal five years ago after Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was found guilty by FIFA of unlawfully influencing the result.

Lamptey was banned for life while Senegal won the replay 2-0 and qualified for Russia 2018

- Reuters

Sri Lanka spinners pave way for big win

Sri Lanka spinners Ramesh Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya picked up five wickets apiece against the West Indies to lead the hosts to a 164-run victory on the final day of the second test in Galle.

Off-spinner Mendis completed his second five-wicket haul to finish with 11 wickets in the match as Sri Lanka completed a 2-0 series win against the Caribbean side to pick up the full 24 points on offer in the World Test Championship.

Sri Lanka, who were all out for 204 in the first innings, declared their second innings closed at 345 for nine early on the fifth day, setting the tourists a target of 297 to try and win the match and level the series.

While the target seemed out of reach on a track assisting the spinners, a draw did not seem unlikely when West Indies reached 65 for one.

But Mendis and Embuldeniya then ran through the batting lineup to bundle them out for 132 in the second session as West Indies lost their last eight wickets for 40 runs.

Mendis, 26, took his tally to 18 wickets in the two tests to pick up the player of the series award.

Embuldeniya finished with seven wickets across the two innings as the Sri Lankan spinners took all 20 West Indies wickets to fall in the match.

Dhananjaya de Silva was adjudged the player of the match for his unbeaten 155 in Sri Lanka's second innings.

- Reuters