Tottenham Hotspur forward Mathys Tel said he would not allow the racial abuse directed at him online following his side’s UEFA Super Cup defeat by Paris St-Germain to bring him down.

Spurs said they were “disgusted” by the abuse aimed at the 20-year-old Frenchman, who missed a spot-kick during their penalty shootout defeat by PSG in Italy last Wednesday.

“I was also disappointed about Wednesday night, but racism has no place in our society,” Tel posted on social media on Tuesday.

“I know where I come from, where I started, and none of this will bring me down. With work and humility, respect reigns.”

Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo was also subjected to racist abuse during his side’s 4-2 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield on Friday.

A 47-year-old man from Liverpool, who was arrested on suspicion of racially abusing Semenyo, has been conditionally bailed and banned from attending soccer matches.

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Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been crowned the Professional Footballers’ Association Men’s Player of the Year for 2025, becoming the first player to win the award three times.

Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers was named Young Player of the Year, while former England boss Gareth Southgate received the PFA Merit Award for his contributions to football and achievements with the national team.

PFA disclosed this on its website on Tuesday.

Salah, 33, played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s Premier League title triumph last season, finishing as the league’s top scorer with 29 goals and 18 assists.

Reflecting on his journey, he said, “Of course I wanted to be a football player and I wanted to be famous and provide for my family, but you don’t think about the big stuff when you are still in Egypt.

“When you grow, you start to see things differently and you start to have ambition and you start to see the bigger picture.”

The Liverpool star had already scooped the 2024-25 Premier League Player of the Season and the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year awards, completing a remarkable personal campaign.

Other nominees for the PFA award included Reds teammate Alexis Mach Allister, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, Chelsea forward Cole Palmer, and Arsenal’s Declan Rice.

England have named a powerful, unchanged starting XV for Friday’s opening game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup against the United States in Sunderland.

Head coach John Mitchell has stuck with the same side that started the victory over France on 9 August, which was the Red Roses’ last warm-up game before the tournament.

Mitchell enjoys unrivalled strength in depth and has put out an uncompromising team with Zoe Harrison’s strategic smarts at 10.

Captain Zoe Aldcroft will lead the side out at a home World Cup from blind-side flanker, with 2014 World Cup-winner Alex Matthews starting at number eight.

Among the replacements is another World Cup-winner, Emily Scarratt, who could become the first English rugby union player to play in five World Cups, having made her debut the last time England hosted the tournament in 2010.

Scarratt’s inclusion in place of Helena Rowland is the only change to the matchday squad that ran out 40-6 winners in Mont-de-Marsan.

Holly Aitchison, Harrison’s rival for the fly-half role, is unavailable through injury as is wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald and versatile back Rowland.

All three could return in time for England’s second pool game against Samoa.

Loughborough Lightning’s Sadia Kabeya starts at open-side flanker instead of former captain Marlie Packer, who misses out on a place in the 23 despite serving her one-match ban.

Even without Packer, it is a squad full of experience, with 1,159 caps between them.

“Ultimately we are trying to build cohesion, we are coming out of pre-season, not like the southern hemisphere teams who have played a lot of rugby,” said Mitchell.

“We are just building and it is really important to make sure you create combinations that players are familiar with.

“With the number of caps spread among that group of girls that is a lot of experience and belief. You have to play those cards in a tournament like this.”

A record crowd for a Women’s Rugby World Cup opening match is expected with more than 40,000 tickets sold for the game at Stadium of Light.

The attendance could even surpass the record of 42,579 for a Women’s Rugby World Cup match, which was set at the 2022 final.

England, who are favourites to win the tournament, are on a 27-game winning run, with their last defeat coming against New Zealand in that final three years ago.

Locks Abbie Ward and Morwenna Talling continue in the second row, with Hannah Botterman, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir making up the front row.

Vice-captain Megan Jones starts alongside established midfield partner Tatyana Heard, while Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison are again the preferred half-back combination.

Jessica Breach, Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne scored a combined 18 tries in last year’s Six Nations and form a lethal back three.

Kelsey Clifford, Maddie Feaunati and Emma Sing are set for their World Cup debuts from the bench.

After their Pool A opener against the US, England’s campaign continues with matches against Samoa in Northampton and Australia in Brighton on 30 August and 6 September respectively.

Aldcroft says the tournament can be a catalyst to take the game to new areas of the country and the world.

“For women’s rugby it could be the starting point to ‘boom’ the game all over the world,” she said.

“The ticket numbers are absolutely incredible, it is set to be an incredible tournament and hopefully we can get the momentum behind women’s rugby and women’s sport after the Lionesses’ [European Championship] win.”

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