Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The former All Black Liam Messam has been called into the Chiefs squad after a series of loose forwards injuries.

Messam and Taranaki's Tom Florence come in for Kaylum Boshier, Mitchell Karpik and Simon Parker who have suffered season ending injuries.

The 37 year old Messam played for Waikato in the Mitre 10 Cup last year and has been training with the Chiefs for the past couple of weeks.

He played the last of his 179 games for the franchise in 2018.

Kaylum Boshier suffered a shoulder injury in the Chiefs last minute win over the Hurricanes in Hamilton at the weekend and needs surgery which will put him out for six months.

Karpik suffered a knee injury at training and also requires surgery putting him out for up to three months while Parker has had foot surgery and will be out for six months.

-RNZ

Leicester close in on Champions League berth

Leicester City moved closer to Champions League qualification as they came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in the Premier League.

The result leaves Leicester third in the Premier League, but takes them seven points clear of fifth-placed West Ham with five matches to go.

Leicester, who have also reached the FA Cup final for the first time since 1969, have only played in the European Cup or Champions League once, reaching the quarter-finals in 2016-17 after winning the Premier League the previous season.

Their run-in includes games against Manchester United in second, Chelsea in fourth and Tottenham in seventh.

Palace remain 13th.

-BBC

All Blacks to play Wales

The All Blacks will play Wales in Cardiff in October.

The Welsh Rugby Union has confirmed it's Autumn series with games against New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia.

The All Blacks fixture on October 30th is outside World Rugby's official international window, so Wales could be without players who play their domestic rugby in another country unless an agreement can be reached.

It is the All Blacks first trip to Cardiff since 2017 with the hosts looking to end a 68-year winless run against New Zealand.

All fixtures and the return of supporters to sporting events will be subject to any Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time, but the Welsh Rugby Union says "there is a confidence that the Autumn Nations Series 2021 will see the return of supporters to Principality Stadium".

-BBC

F1 confirms sprint races

Formula One teams and bosses have agreed unanimously to debut a new points-scoring 'sprint qualifying' at three races this season, two of them in Europe.

The experimental format will feature a qualifying session after the first free practice session on Friday to determine the grid for a sprint race on Saturday that serves as qualifying for Sunday.

The finishing order of the race -- which at 100km will be about a third of a normal race distance and last about half an hour without mandatory pit stops -- will determine Sunday's starting grid.

The top three finishers will receive three, two and one point respectively with the Sunday format continuing as usual.

The two European sprint races are expected to be the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July and Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September.

Brazil in November had been considered the most likely venue outside Europe but the Covid-19 pandemic has made that race in Sao Paulo uncertain and other circuits are understood to be interested.

-Reuters

Arsenal stars interested in buying club

Arsenal legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira have joined Spotify founder and billionaire Daniel Ek's bid to buy the English football club.

Owner Stan Kroenke has no intention to sell, but more than 1,000 fans protested outside Emirates Stadium at the weekend calling for him to quit.

Arsenal had announced they were one of 12 founding members of the European Super League the previous week.

But just 48 hours later, they withdrew and apologised to fans.

Kroenke's son, Josh, told an Arsenal fans forum on Thursday that his family have no intention of selling and promised to engage with fans in future - he refused to answer a question about their exit strategy, responding: "I'm not willing to answer that question because we have no intention of selling."

Swedish businessman Ek, who is worth a reported $6.5 billion tweeted: "As a kid growing up, I've cheered for Arsenal as long as I can remember. If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I'd be happy to throw my hat in the ring."

-BBC

Cricket qualifiers confirmed for Comm Games

The ICC has confirmed that Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and England have all qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Women's cricket will feature at the Games for the first time, and cricket for the second time, after a men's one-day international competition, which was staged in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, was won by South Africa.

Athletes from the Caribbean represent their individual countries at the Games and a qualifying tournament for those nations will decide which team takes West Indies' spot.

The final place in the T20 tournament will be allocated to the winners of a qualifying event to be held by Jan. 31, 2022.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will attract 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories, is scheduled to run from July 28-Aug. 8 next year.

-Reuters

Breakers too good for 36ers

The Breakers have beaten the Adelaide 36ers 93-77 in their ANBL game in Launceston.

The Breakers got off to a flying start to lead 16-6 early on and while Adelaide did fight back, the New Zealanders ended strongly to win by 16.

Forward Finn Delany top scored with 23 points, while captain Tom Abercrombie had 19.

The Breakers are eighth on the table with an 8 and 15 record.

The Breakers now take on Melbourne United on Wednesday night as they try to snap the league-leaders' nine-game winning streak.

-RNZ

Olympic organisers ask for nurses

Tokyo Olympics organisers have asked for around 500 nurses to help during this year's Games, the head of the organising committee Toshiro Muto said.

Local media reported that the organising committee had asked the country's nursing association for assistance in staffing Olympic venues and the athletes' village before and during the July 23-Aug. 8 Games.

Olympic organisers are pushing ahead with their preparations as Japan struggles to contain a resurgence in the coronavirus pandemic. The country on Friday declared areas including Tokyo and Osaka to be in a state of emergency.

"We asked that around 500 nurses be considered," Tokyo 2020 CEO Muto told a news conference. "The main condition is that this must not negatively affect regional medical care."

The organising committee also said it will convene a roundtable with medical experts on Friday to discuss its COVID-19 measures.

-Reuters

Shearer and Henry inducted

Former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer and ex-Arsenal forward Thierry Henry have become the first two players inducted into the English Premier League's Hall of Fame.

Shearer is the Premier League's all-time top scorer, having netted 260 goals across 14 Premier League seasons with Newcastle and Blackburn Rovers.

The former England international, who won the Premier League title in the 1994-95 season with Blackburn, is the only player to have scored 100 goals in the competition for two different clubs.

Former France international Henry scored a club-record 175 Premier League goals in 258 matches for Arsenal.

He won the league title twice and was a key member of the "Invincibles" team who went unbeaten during the 2003-04 campaign. He also provided a joint-record 20 assists in 2002-03.

The league said the Hall of Fame "celebrates the talent and achievements" of those who have featured in the division since its inception in 1992 and that players must have been retired as of Aug. 1, 2020 to be eligible.

-Reuters

Mitchell welcomes arrests

Rugby league international Latrell Mitchell, one of Australia's most prominent indigenous sportsmen, has welcomed the arrest of two men for allegedly racially abusing him online and hopes his actions in reporting the messages will be a catalyst for change.

New South Wales police last Friday charged the two men with sending abusive messages to the South Sydney Rabbitohs fullback, who is the great-nephew of Grand Slam tennis champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

"This is an outcome that I've wanted for a very long time, for people to be accountable for their actions and their words," the 23-year-old said.

"I've been copping this all my life since I was an 8-year-old kid. My ancestors before me have and nothing's changed."

Racial abuse of indigenous players was once commonplace in Australian stadiums but as it has become rarer in recent years athletes of colour have become a target for attacks on social media.

Mitchell said he wanted the National Rugby League to establish a system whereby players receiving any abuse, not just of a racist nature, could pass on messages for the league to forward to the police.

-Reuters