Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The Football Ferns have signed off the SheBelieves Cup in America with a nil-all draw with the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic had several late chances to sneak a win in the four-team tournament but New Zealand goalkeeper Victoria Esson, playing in her first game of the competition, was able to keep the barrage of shots out.

Football Ferns defender Meikayla Moore has been left on the bench for today's game in Texas.

Moore scored three own goals in New Zealand's last game and coach Jitka Klimkova wanted her mindset to be right before she returned to the field.

Moore came on to the field with around seven minutes in regular time left in the game.

Klimkova was coaching against her country of birth with the New Zealand squad for the first time.

New Zealand leave the tournament with losses against Iceland and USA and the one point from Thursday's game.

United score late in draw with Atletico

A late goal from substitute Anthony Elanga rescued a 1-1 draw for Manchester United at Atletico Madrid in their Champions League last-16 first-leg clash.

United, looking disjointed and lacking spark, were cornered from the start by a relentless Atleti, who opened the scoring after seven minutes with a brilliant header by Joao Felix.

19-year-old Elanga had been on the pitch less than six minutes after replacing Marcus Rashford, when he raced onto Bruno Fernandes' perfectly-weighted pass to roll the ball past home goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Benfica and Ajax drew 2-2.

Meanwhile in the Premier League Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane scored twice each as Liverpool crushed Leeds United 6-0 to close the gap leaders Manchester City to three points.

Liverpool move on to 60 points from 26 matches, three behind the champions. Leeds slipped further into the relegation battle, remaining 15th and only three points clear of the bottom three.

Burnley boosted their Premier League survival with a surprise 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor.

The Clarets third win of the season and their first back-to-back victories in 13 months left them in 18th place, but they are now just two points behind Newcastle.

Crystal Palace beat second to bottom Watford 4-1.

-Reuters

Lefty to take a break from golf

Six-time major golf champion Phil Mickelson "sincerely regrets" his criticism of Saudi Arabia's regime and will take a break from the game "to work on becoming the man I want to be".

The American, who was involved with the Saudi Arabian-backed super league to gain leverage over the PGA Tour, claims his views were taken "out of context".

However the 51-year-old says his comments were "reckless" and he is "deeply sorry for his choice of words".

Comments made in November to writer Alan Shipnuck, who has authored a soon-to-be-published unauthorised biography of the US PGA champion, were made public by the writer last week.

Following their publication, big-name American players Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson distanced themselves from the proposed league, which is to be a lucrative Formula One-style tour funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Both players were expected to be leading figures in the breakaway set-up.

It is thought Mickelson's remarks, in which he branded the Saudi regime as "scary" and that the project was a "once in a lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates", prompted DeChambeau and Johnson to side with the status quo.

In a statement issued by his management company SportFive, Mickelson said: "Although it doesn't look this way now given my recent comments, my actions throughout this process have always been with the best interest of golf, my peers, sponsors, and fans."

-BBC

Zverev given the boot

Alexander Zverev was kicked out of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, for "unsportsmanlike conduct" after his doubles match, with the German later apologising for his behaviour.

Zverev, partnering Brazilian tennis player Marcelo Melo in doubles, came perilously close to hitting umpire Alessandro Germani when he repeatedly assaulted the umpire's chair with his racquet after a loss to the British-Finn pair of Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

Zverev said he regretted his behaviour and apologised for the incident.

After shaking hands with the opponents, the 24-year-old Zverev, ranked third in singles, approached the umpire's chair and hit it repeatedly before heading towards his courtside seat, upset over a line call during the match earlier.

He approached the chair a second time and once again hit it while shouting expletives.

Last year's winner, Zverev was scheduled to meet fellow German Peter Gojowczyk, who will now get a walkover to advance to the quarter-finals.

Zverev's angry outburst could earn him a fine and ban.

-Reuters

Bennett helps teammate into red

New Zealand cyclist George Bennett has helped UAE Team Emirates teammate Tadej Pogacar to victory on the fourth stage of the Tour of the UAE.

The win also moves Pogacar into the race leaders red jersey.

The Slovenian won a sprint at the summit of the first mountain stage.

Bennett led his teammate up the climb and helped put him in place for the sprint finish.

Pogacar now has a two second lead over Italian Filippo Gana with three stages remaining.

UAE Team Emirates also leads the team category.

Djokovic into Dubai quater-finals

World number one Novak Djokovic impressed again at his first tournament since being deported ahead of the Australian Open, beating Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 to reach the Dubai Championships quarter-finals.

Just as against Lorenzo Musetti in his opening match, Djokovic received plenty of vocal support from a large crowd at the Aviation Club and responded with some dazzling tennis under the lights.

The 20-times Grand Slam champion was forced to pull out all the stops in the second set to fend off a fired-up Khachanov, forging ahead in the tiebreak and claiming victory on his first match point with a superb return.

The Serbian is competing for the first time this year after his hopes of winning a 10th Australian Open title were dashed when he was deported following an 11-day saga revolving around his decision not to have a COVID-19 vaccination and the subsequent exemption he was granted to play in the event.

His absence from Melbourne allowed career-rival Rafa Nadal to win the title and move ahead in the race to claim the most men's Grand Slam titles, reaching 21.

Djokovic could also lose his number one ranking in the next week even if he wins the Dubai title.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, who Nadal beat in a thrilling Australian Open final, will take the top ranking if he wins the Acapulco title.

Djokovic faces Czech Jiri Vesely next.

-Reuters

Hamilton wants neutral officials

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton called on Formula One to bring in "non-biased" race stewards, saying friendships between some of them and certain drivers had influenced their decision-making.

The Briton, who said he had lost faith in the sport's governance following the controversial safety car call in last year's Abu Dhabi finale that denied him an unprecedented eighth title, did not name any stewards or driver.

He also did not specify any incidents where a biased decision had gone against him.

"Race drivers, some are very, very good friends with certain individuals, some travel with certain individuals and tend to take a more keen liking to some of them," the 37-year-old told a news conference on the opening day of pre-season running in Barcelona.

"So I think (F1 should appoint) just people ... that have just no bias and (are) super central when it comes to making decisions," said the Briton, adding he would also like to see greater female representation among the stewards.

Formula One races are policed by a rotating panel of stewards whose responsibility it is to rule on incidents during the race, which includes the handing out of penalties.

-Reuters

Murray unhappy with prize money split in Dubai

Former world number one Andy Murray said the difference in prize money at the Dubai Championships is a "big step backwards", with the men's singles winner set to receive five times more the amount as compared to the women's champion.

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko took home $154,000 after winning the women's WTA 500 event by beating Veronika Kudermetova in the final last weekend.

The men's ATP 500 event, which ends this weekend, will result in the winner receiving prize money worth $773,000.

"Obviously that's a big step backwards, so it's not great," Murray said after his 7-5 6-2 loss to Jannik Sinner.

"Obviously if they're the same size events one week apart, that's quite a big discrepancy."

Tennis is usually considered the leader in the battle for equality for women's sport, with equal prize money paid to men and women at the four Grand Slams.

"There has been tournaments on the tour, like the Washington event, for example, with the different size events, the prize monies are different," Murray added.

"I've also played the tournament in Brisbane for the men, which is a smaller event compared to women, and the prize money is flipped the other way."

-Reuters

New head of Women's Rugby

Englishwoman Sally Horrox, former advisor to the Football Association and UEFA, has been appointed as director of women's rugby at World Rugby.

Horrox, joint managing partner at London-based sports and brand consultancy Y Sport, also had a previous stint as non-executive director at England Netball.

Horrox, who will take up the position in early May, joins ahead of the 2021 Women's World Cup, which was delayed due to COVID-19 and will be held in New Zealand in October and November this year.

New Zealander Katie Sadleir previously held the position of General Manager of Women's Rugby, before moving to the Commonwealth Games Federation last year.

Rainey back on his bike

American motorcycling great Wayne Rainey will be reunited with a racing bike at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the first time since a crash at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix that left him paralysed from the chest down.

The three-time 500cc World Motorcycle Champion will ride the Yamaha YZR500 on which he won the 1992 World Championship.

The bike has been reconfigured to be ridden using handlebar controls alone.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and one I couldn't pass up," Rainey said. "This year marks 30 years since I won my last World Championship and when Goodwood suggested that I ride one of my GP bikes, the wheels started spinning.

Rainey won 24 500cc GP races and took 64 podiums in 82 starts, winning three straight titles in 1990, 1991 and 1992. At the time of his accident in 1993, he was on course to add another title to his tally, leading standings with three races left.

Following his crash, the American became Yamaha's team manager for a few years, before retiring in 1998. He is currently the president of MotoAmerica.

-Reuters