Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The National Football League (NFL) has fined the Green Bay Packers $US300,000 and two of the team's players, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers, $14,650 each for violating COVID-19 protocols.

The fines were handed down a week after Rodgers, a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player, tested positive for COVID-19 and later admitted he misled people about his vaccination status.

Rodgers and team mate Allen Lazard, who is also unvaccinated, were fined for attending a Halloween party despite protocols that prohibit unvaccinated players from gathering outside of the club facility in a group of more than three players.

While the Packers did not sanction the party the NFL said they were fined for the event since they were aware of it after it took place and did not discipline Rodgers or Lazard and failed to report their violations to the league.

The violations also included Rodgers not wearing a mask during news conferences.

- Reuters

Fury has elbow surgery

Tyson Fury was "very badly injured" going into his knockout victory over Deontay Wilder last month and has since undergone elbow surgery to correct the problem, the British heavyweight champion's father has said.

According to an interview with British broadcaster BT Sport, John Fury said Tyson had cortisone injections in both elbows and had a six-hour operation to remove bone spurs.

"Tyson was very badly injured going into that fight," John Fury told BT Sport. "He was handicapped from the beginning. It wasn't a boxing match, was it?"

The 33-year-old Fury outlasted Wilder in an enthralling slugfest in Las Vegas that was more competitive than many had expected but ended as most predicted, with the Briton outboxing the American to remain the undefeated lineal champion.

"He said to me afterwards, 'I couldn't box, I couldn't work the jab. If I'd missed the jab, it would've put me in limp mode and I wouldn't have been able to fight'," said John Fury.

"'The pain when throwing the jab was unbearable, so I was fighting two people -- the pain in my own body and him. All we could do was make it a war, and I wanted to win more than he did'."

- Reuters

England midfielder ruled out of World Cup qualifiers

West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has withdrawn from the England squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Albania and San Marino due to illness.

England, who sit top of Group I with 20 points -- three ahead of Poland -- from eight games, host Albania on Friday before travelling to San Marino on Monday to conclude their qualifying campaign.

"West Ham United can confirm that Declan Rice has returned to the Club from international duty with England due to illness," the club said in a statement, adding that the illness was not related to COVID-19.

"He will now recover before returning to training at Rush Green ahead of the Hammers' Premier League fixture at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 20 November."

England said they would not call up a replacement for the 22-year-old.

Rice, capped 27 times by the national team, has been a regular under manager Gareth Southgate since his debut in 2019. He played all seven of England's games at Euro 2020 where they lost in the final to Italy.

- Reuters

Volts on the board in Plunket Shield

The Otago Volts have secured their first win of the first-class cricket season.

Otago have beaten the Central Stags by 161 runs in Nelson to move into second place on the Plunket Shield ladder.

Tom Bruce was left unbeaten on 77 not out with the clock ticking down, but with spinners Michael Rippon and Anaru Kitchen taking five wickets between them on the last day, the Volts finished off their quarry in the 76th over of the innings to pocket 17 out of the possible 20 points for the match.

The Volts had declared early in the morning session, their strong second innings effort of 422/7 moving them into pole position on the last day.

The Central Stags now head to the Basin Reserve still hunting their first win of the season.

PNG women's cricketers hit by Covid

Papua New Guinea have withdrawn from the Women's World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe after several of their squad tested positive for Covid-19.

Papua New Guinea had been scheduled to face West Indies on the opening day of the qualifiers but are unable to field a team.

The 50-over squad had gone into quarantine in Port Moresby on October 30 and had been due to depart for Zimbabwe on November 6.

"Multiple PCR tests have been done on nearly a daily basis to try to give players the opportunity to test negative," Papua New Guinea's cricket board said in a statement.

"We have also over the weekend worked with the ICC on later flight options to give the team more time to still be able to tour. Unfortunately, all the extra efforts to get the team to travel have been unsuccessful."

The ICC said Papua New Guinea would not be replaced in Group A, which includes Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and West Indies.

The five-team Group B includes Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United States.

Three teams from the qualifying tournament will join New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa and India at the 2022 World Cup in March and April in New Zealand.

- Reuters

PSG player in hot water

Paris St Germain women's midfielder Aminata Diallo has been taken into custody by the Versailles Regional Police Service following an attack on one of the club's players last week, the French side said in a statement.

L'Equipe newspaper reported that Diallo, 26, had attempted to physically injure team mate Kheira Hamraoui by having two masked men drag her out of a car and assault her on November 4.

"Paris St Germain can confirm that Aminata Diallo was taken into custody this morning by the Versailles Regional Police Service as part of the proceedings opened following an attack on the Club's players," PSG said on their website.

"Paris St Germain condemns in the strongest possible terms the violence committed," the club said, adding that the alleged assault had taken place a week ago.

"Since Thursday evening the club has taken all necessary measures to guarantee the health, well-being and safety of its entire women's team.

"Paris Saint-Germain is working with the Versailles Police to clarify the facts. The Club is paying close attention to the progress of the proceedings and will study what action to take."

Diallo, capped seven times by France, joined PSG from fellow French club Guingamp in 2016.

- Reuters

NZ-developed tech gets World Tri green light

World Triathlon is looking to use a New Zealand-developed anti-drafting technology to ensure fairer competition among athletes, the sport's governing body said.

RaceRanger, an electronic sensor system, is designed to improve fairness around the issue of drafting on the bike section of non-drafting triathlons, which make up around 85 per cent of triathlon competitions around the world.

Drafting is when a cyclist moves into an area of low pressure behind another cyclist, reducing the wind resistance and the amount of energy required to pedal.

Non-drafting triathlons do not permit such an advantage, meaning athletes must maintain a specified distance between each other, unless they are moving to the side to pass.

Athletes and officials currently rely on naked eye judgements to determine drafting distances during races.

Developed by New Zealand triathletes James Elvery and Dylan McNeice, RaceRanger comprises two electronic units that competitors can attach to their bikes.

World Triathlon said the system can make accurate measurements of the distance between athletes as they ride while also flagging infringements to technical officials patrolling the course through an app.

The technology will be tested in New Zealand before being introduced at World Triathlon events.

- Reuters