Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The number of COVID positive members of the Breakers travelling party has increased to eight.

The Breakers are currently in Melbourne preparing for the start of the ANBL basketball season and confirmed on social media the number who've contracted COVID-19 in their 39 strong group which includes players, management and family members had doubled from the original four announced earlier in the week.

The side's opening game of the season is on Saturday week.

The club says most of the playing group has returned to training following the required negative PCR and rapid antigen tests.

-RNZ

United close to decision on manager

Manchester United are close to appointing Ralf Rangnick as interim manager on a six-month contract.

The 63-year-old German is poised to join United but will not be in charge this weekend against Chelsea while he waits for his work permit.

United have agreed terms with Rangnick, but not with Lokomotiv Moscow, where he is the head of sports and development.

It comes after United sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following a trophyless three-year spell as boss.

Rangnick won the German Cup with Schalke in 2011 and took RB Leipzig to the final in 2019.

During the 2010-11 season he guided Schalke to the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they lost 6-1 on aggregate to United, who were then beaten by Barcelona in the final.

United are eighth in the Premier League and Solskjaer, who scored the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final for the club, was dismissed following an embarrassing 4-1 loss at Watford.

Since then, caretaker Michael Carrick, Solskjaer's assistant, took charge of United on Tuesday for the 2-0 win at Villarreal, a result that ensured they would finish top of their Champions League group.

- BBC

Rassie Erasmus won't appeal ban

South Africa's director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has withdrawn his appeal against a two-month ban and apologised to referee Nic Berry for his 62-minute video critique of the match official after the first test against the British & Irish Lions in July.

Erasmus was found guilty of misconduct by an independent committee last week and suspended from all rugby for two months - and all match-day activities until 30 September 2022 - while South African Rugby were fined $26,630. The latter have also withdrawn their appeal against their sanction.

"SA Rugby and Rassie Erasmus wish to apologise to the match officials appointed to the first test of the Springboks Series against the British & Irish Lions," SA Rugby said in a statement.

"We also confirm that SA Rugby and Erasmus have advised World Rugby that they withdraw their Notice of Appeal and will not lodge an appeal against the sanctions imposed by the Judicial Committee.

"This has been a highly stressful and charged environment with unusual pressures placed on all concerned and we have no wish to prolong that experience for anyone.

"We have drawn a line under the incident and only wish to look forward. We will respect the outcomes of the hearing, allowing our national teams and rugby operations to plan with clarity for the coming months."

Erasmus' two-month ban will have little material effect for the Boks as they are not in action again until the visit of Wales for three tests in July next year.

His match-day suspension does not prohibit him from helping to prepare the team for games, along with head coach Jacques Nienaber, but he will not be able to perform his controversial role of water carrier.

Erasmus was found guilty of all six charges brought by the governing body for various breaches of World Rugby Regulation 18 (Misconduct and Code of Conduct), and could have faced a much tougher sentence.

- Reuters

Lyon endorses Cummins and Smith for captaincy

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon has endorsed Pat Cummins as the test side's next captain and Steve Smith as the fast bowler's deputy while ruling out himself as a potential leader for the team.

Both Cummins and Smith have interviewed for the captaincy, with Cummins expected to replace Tim Paine after he stood down from the role over a 'sexting' scandal less than three weeks before the start of the Ashes.

Lyon said he was impressed with New South Wales team mate Cummins' leadership when he took the reins of the state's one-day side last year.

"The two guys who are being interviewed by Cricket Australia for the roles are probably the two best candidates in my eyes," Lyon said.

"I think (Cummins) did a really good job (at NSW), to be honest with you.

"I know it's kind of a different kettle of fish. But he's got a lot of senior players around him to support (him) if he does get the nod.

"But then you look at Steve Smith, I think he's up there with the best batters in the world.

"He's got a great cricket mind and I've got no dramas with both of them putting their hand up for the captaincy."

- Reuters

Social media abuse mostly directed at female athletes

Women were the target of 87 percent of the social media abuse that a sample of athletes faced during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to a World Athletics study.

The research, carried out in collaboration with data science company Signify Group, found that the abuse included sexist, racist, transphobic and homophobic content, as well as unfounded doping accusations.

The study included a sample of 161 Twitter handles of current and former athletes (81 women, 80 men) involved in the Tokyo Games, from a list of 200 athletes selected by World Athletics.

Of the 23 athletes who received abuse in the posts identified by the study, 16 were women while 63 percent of the total abuse was directed at two Black female athletes.

The study identified 132 discriminatory posts, while 10 percent of abuse consisted of transphobic (9 percent) and homophobic (1 percent) material.

"When we published our Safeguarding Policy earlier this month, I said athletics clubs, schools and community sports environments should be safe and happy places for those in our sport," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

"This research is disturbing in so many ways but what strikes me the most is that the abuse is targeted at individuals who are celebrating and sharing their performances and talent as a way to inspire and motivate people."

World Athletics added that it would be conducting further research in this area to introduce an online abuse framework for its own social media channels in order to create a safer environment for athletes.

- Reuters

Sri Lanka spin past West Indies

Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva offered brief resistance but Sri Lanka flexed their spin muscles to crush West Indies by 187 runs in the opening test and take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Chasing an improbable victory target of 348, West Indies' defeat looked just a matter of time after they finished day four on a precarious 52-6 at the Galle International Stadium.

Both the overnight batsmen Bonner, who made 68 not out, and Da Silva forged a century stand to frustrate Sri Lanka amid a rain forecast for Thursday.

Once left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya (5-46) broke that stand by removing Da Silva for 54, West Indies collapsed in a heap.

Embuldeniya and his spin colleagues Ramesh Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama shared 18 of the 20 West Indies wickets among themselves.

"It's a great test for me," said home captain Dimuth Karunaratne who was adjudged man-of-the-match for his 147 in Sri Lanka's first inning total of 386.

"We need to carry on the good work and I have some targets to achieve and I'm glad that we're playing well as a unit."

His counterpart Kraigg Brathwaite said the tourists were on the back foot after managing 230 in their first innings.

"I always believe the first innings score was important and we fell short," the opener said after West Indies were all out for 160 in their second innings.

The second and final test is also scheduled at Galle from Monday.

- Reuters

Diamond League returns to China

The Diamond League announced a provisional calendar for the 2022 season which begins in May and ends with the finale in September, with athletes set to compete in China for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

The season begins in Doha on May 13 and ends in Zurich on Sept. 7-8 while China hosts meetings in July and August. The two meetings in China this year were cancelled due to strict travel restrictions amid the pandemic.

"Athletes will compete for points in 13 series meetings from May to September, with the most successful qualifying for the two-day season finale in Zurich and a shot at the prestigious Diamond Trophy," organisers said in a statement.

"The calendar remains subject to changes depending on the global health situation in 2022, as organisers continue to prioritise the safety of athletes and fans while delivering high-quality competitions."

- Reuters

Djokovic still uncertain for Australian Open

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley expects up to 95 percent of professional players will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the time of the Grand Slam in January but is unsure whether Novak Djokovic will be among them.

Tiley said Victoria state's strict vaccination mandate had motivated players to get their shots before Melbourne Park, where fans and staff will also be banned if unvaccinated.

Tiley also said he had spoken to world number one Djokovic, the Australian Open men's champion, but was none the wiser as to the Serbian's vaccination status.

Tiley said there were "one or two players" who had medical exemptions from vaccination but the exemptions were in line with Victoria's health rules.

"And so it should be, because there shouldn't be any preferential treatment coming into the state compared to what the regular community is going through," he said.

Djokovic has declined to disclose his status, saying it is a matter of personal choice, and was non-committal about defending his Australian Open title when asked about it at the ATP Finals.

"Novak has won nine Australian Opens, I'm sure he wants to get to 10," said Tiley.

"He's on 20 Grand Slam titles as is Rafa Nadal, who is coming, and Roger Federer.

"One of them is going to surpass the other and I don't think Novak would want to leave that ... to someone else."

Though massively successful at Melbourne Park, Djokovic has rubbed local fans the wrong way at times and was pilloried in January for trying to secure better quarantine conditions for players as they isolated in the lead up to the 2021 tournament.