SPORTS

Lord Cooper said: “The problem with that figure – the £4,300 – was firstly it sounded implausibly large to the ears of most people. Secondly it sounded strangely specific…The figure was sort of humanely phased out because we found when we tested the reaction in focus groups, we found people just rejected it. They didn’t believe it.” Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of Vote Leave, said he feared that the death of the Labour MP Jo Cox a week before polling day could have ended his campaign, when news broke shortly after the UKIP leader Nigel Farage had launched a controversial poster on immigration. But Mr Elliott said that the UKIP poster had little impact on the Vote Leave campaign because he had distanced the official Leave campaign from UKIP. Nicholas Watt was reporting for Brexit Britain – a BBC Newsnight special one month on from the referendum result. A day of discussion and debate is being held in collaboration with Intelligence Squared at the Royal Geographical Society in London, from 13:00 BST on Saturday 23 July, followed by a special programme on BBC Two at 18:00 BST and afterwards on iPlayer. The hashtag for the event is #BrexitBritain.

Dutch international Georginio Wijnaldum’s eye-catching performances for Newcastle in their failed battle against relegation last season saw Premier League giants Liverpool sign him for a reported £25million on Friday. The 25-year-old, who scored 11 goals in 38 Premier League appearances for the Magpies last term after signing from PSV Eindhoven, said he was delighted to be joining such a historic ...

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Allardyce named England manager

Sam Allardyce has been appointed England manager. The 61-year-old signed an initial two-year deal after compensation was agreed with Sunderland, whom he steered to Premier League safety last season. He succeeds Roy Hodgson, who quit after England were knocked out of Euro 2016 in the last 16 by Iceland. Allardyce, whose first game in charge will be a friendly at ...

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Zesco prepare for Asec game in Lusaka

Zesco United will switch camp from their Ndola base to Lusaka this weekend for three days, before facing Asec Mimosa in a Group A away clash next Wednesday on match-day-three of the 2016 Caf Champions League. Zambia’s Caf Champions League representatives will train on an artificial pitch this weekend in Lusaka, to adopt to the Stade Robert Champroux surface in ...

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Zambia face Kenya in Cosafa U17 opener

Zambia Under-17 begin their Cosafa Cup title defence on Friday in a Group B opener against Kenya in Port Louis, Mauritius. Young Chipolopoplo are gunning for an equaling second title to tie with record winners South Africa. Coach Oswald Mutapa’s team also heads into the tournament facing its first competitive test under the new boss who is deputized by his ...

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New sponsor for African tournaments

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has signed a new main sponsor for its top club and national team competitions for the next eight years. The new deal with French oil and gas company Total will begin with the 2017 Africa cup of Nations finals in Gabon. For the time being the value of the deal has not been revealed. ...

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Zambia U17s confident of defending title

Zambia are confident of defending their Cosafa Under-17 title in Mauritius this weekend. Young Chipolopolo left for Mauritius on Tuesday to defend the Cosafa title they won in 2014 in Zimbabwe. “We have prepared adequately for the tournament. I know it will be tough but we are ready to do our best so that the trophy comes back to Zambia,” ...

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss Manchester United’s pre-season tour of China as the Sweden striker takes an extended break following Euro 2016. Ibrahimovic joined Jose Mourinho’s side on a free transfer after leaving French champions Paris Saint Germain at the end of last season, but the Premier League club’s legion of fans in China won’t get a first glimpse of the ...

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Russia must wait to learn Olympic fate

Russia must wait to learn if it can send a team to next month’s Olympics after calls for it to be barred from the Rio Games for operating a four-year, state-sponsored doping programme. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it will “explore the legal options” before deciding whether to implement “a collective ban” on all Russian competitors for the global ...

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Ronaldo vows to come back stronger

Cristiano Ronaldo said on Monday that he intends to come back stronger for the upcoming season despite the injury he sustained while playing for Portugal in their victorious Euro 2016 final. The Real Madrid striker, who played a key part in leading his country to a maiden major title, limped off in tears with a knee injury in the first ...

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Russia doping ‘across Olympic sports’

Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme for four years across the “vast majority” of summer and winter Olympic sports, claims a new report. It was “planned and operated” from late 2011 – including the build-up to London 2012 – and continued through the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics until August 2015. An investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) says ...

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