Pakistan will have an audience with King Charles this week, days after a threat to cancel their tour of England was made because of an interview with the sons of Imran Khan.

During lunch on day one of the second Test, Sky Sports aired an interview with Suleiman and Kasim Khan, the sons of former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran.

Imran Khan has been in prison for the past three years on charges of corruption, which he denies.

Before the interview was aired, the Pakistan Cricket Board raised the prospect of not resuming the second Test at Lord’s and cancelling the remainder of the three-match series.

At the time, the England and Wales Cricket Board took government advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the King is expected to meet the tourists later this week in an engagement planned before the series began.

“His Majesty the King, as Head of the Commonwealth, will receive the Pakistan Men’s Test Cricket Team for an audience in the gardens of Clarence House, in the break between the second and third Test matches hosted in England over the summer,” said a statement.

It is understood His Majesty will spend around 15 minutes with the Pakistan team.

Legendary all-rounder Imran Khan, 73, had a 21-year international career for Pakistan and famously led his team to World Cup glory in 1992.

He served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and was jailed a year later.

In December of last year, Imran Khan’s sister appealed to King Charles in his position of head of the Commonwealth to speak out on the situation.

According to The Times, Aleema Khanum said: “Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

“Its key principles in the charter are rule of law, democracy, and human rights. A member nation is busy destroying all three fundamental principles.

“Member states, especially where King Charles is the head of the Commonwealth organisation, don’t speak out against fascism or military dictatorship? What is the point of just organisations then?”

The chairman of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, serves as interior minister for the current Pakistan government. The PCB has been contacted for confirmation Naqvi will be present for the audience with the King.

Before the interview with Khan’s sons aired, Sky received a complaint, yet pressed ahead with airing a version of former England captain Michael Atherton’s conversation with Suleiman and Kasim.

In the interview, Suleiman and Kasim expressed concerns over the treatment and security given to their father, as well as criticising the UK government’s response.

Despite the controversy caused by the interview, the Pakistan team returned to the field as scheduled after lunch on the opening day of the second Test.

At the close of play on the second day, Pakistan coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said he and his team did not know about the interview.

“I don’t know anything. I’m just focusing on the match,” said Sarfaraz. “You’re talking about the interview? We don’t know about the interview.”

In October, England will tour Pakistan for a one-day tri-series against the home side and Sri Lanka.

It will be England’s fourth separate tour of Pakistan in the past four years following a 17-year gap between visits to the country because of security concerns.

Wantaway Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez returned to group training on Sunday after recovering from the illness that kept him out of training earlier this week and Saturday’s 3-1 La Liga win over Sevilla.

With two days remaining before the transfer window closes at midnight Tuesday, the Argentina international is back with the squad as Barcelona continue to pursue his signature.

Atletico have repeatedly ruled out negotiating Alvarez’s departure to Barcelona, with director of football Mateu Alemany reiterating the club’s firm stance on Saturday.

“The club has been very clear and very firm,” Alemany told Movistar.

“The plan is very clear,” he continued. “(Alvarez) had a few days when he wasn’t feeling well, he already trained (by himself on Friday), and we hope he’ll reintegrate with us quickly and be available, I hope, for the next league match.”

Chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin said Thursday that Atletico would “not negotiate with Barcelona under any circumstances”, a position backed by the club’s board.

Spanish media have reported that a move to England could provide an alternative, although that option is not believed to appeal to 2022 World Cup winner Alvarez, who said this summer he would like to leave Atletico.

Alvarez was jeered by the club’s own supporters last weekend when he came on against Villarreal as a substitute, and he walked off down the tunnel by himself while his team-mates applauded Atletico’s fans.

Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the new Premier League season as they held on to defeat Brighton in an entertaining match at Stamford Bridge.

Romeo Lavia’s first goal in a Chelsea shirt handed the Blues a dream start in Xabi Alonso’s first home league game in charge.

Brighton were made to pay for a costly error inside four minutes as Mats Wieffer did well on the goalline to block Joao Pedro’s header from a corner but goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen then fumbled to allow an easy tap-in for Lavia.

Their lead was doubled 10 minutes later when Morgan Rogers got the better of Brighton’s record signing Luka Vuskovic on the left and crossed in for Pedro Neto to get in front of Ferdi Kadioglu and prod home.

The Seagulls were caught out again in the 32nd minute. This time left wing-back Jorrel Hato beat Wieffer for pace and found Joao Pedro to make it 3-0 against his former club.

But the visitors valiantly fought back to give themselves a glimmer of hope.

They pulled one back before the break as Chelsea debutant Emi Martinez came off his line to deny Charalampos Kostoulas and Malick Yalcouye volleyed in the loose ball.

Brighton started the second half strongly and reduced the deficit further in the 63rd minute when Yalcouye played in Pascal Gross, whose shot took a big deflection off Joao Pedro to beat Martinez.

Cole Palmer eased Chelsea’s nerves with a brilliant individual goal, curling past Verbruggen from outside the box to restore his side’s two-goal lead in the 74th minute.

Brighton found a third goal from virtually the final action of the game as Gross headed past Martinez, but Fabian Hurzeler’s side could not complete their comeback.

Alonso sprang a surprise by naming Martinez in the starting line-up – less than four hours after his £7.5m move was confirmed by the club.

It is a lifeline for Martinez, who turns 34 next week and fell out of favour at Aston Villa following a failed move to Juventus and the arrival of Japan’s Zion Suzuki as Unai Emery’s first-choice keeper.

The World Cup winner’s every catch was cheered on by the Stamford Bridge faithful during an assured display in goal, though he was unlucky to concede two of Brighton’s three goals, his save landing on the feet of Yalcouye for the opener and then getting undone by Joao Pedro’s own goal.

His best moment came just before Brighton’s second when he made a sharp diving save from Diego Gomez and he also denied Olivier Boscagli and Brighton a third, which would have levelled the score.

Chelsea have spent heavily across the pitch under their new ownership, but for many, a reliable goalkeeper was the missing piece.

Martinez’s performance on his debut suggests they might have a solution in the Argentine.

Meanwhile, there will now be question marks over Robert Sanchez’s future in west London.

The Spaniard, who had another error-strewn display during the 3-2 opening win at Fulham, was left out of the matchday squad completely as 21-year-old Belgian Mike Penders found a place on the bench as Alonso’s number two.

It might well be the case that Sanchez, who was a £25m signing from Brighton in 2023, now joins the long list of players Chelsea are looking to offload before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.

With an experienced shot-stopper in their ranks and the attack continuing to fire Alonso’s Chelsea could aim high this season, but their biggest test yet will come at champions Arsenal who they face next on Sunday, 6 September (16:30 BST).

Their emphatic 4-0 victory over Villa on the opening weekend set expectations high for another season under Hurzeler, who has steered Brighton to back-to-back eighth-placed finishes since taking charge in 2024.

But they were given a reality check by a Chelsea attack brimming with quality.

Brighton’s backline, including £46m summer signing Vuskovic, struggled to cope with the width provided by wing-backs Hato and Neto as well as the creativity of their front three of Palmer, Rogers and Joao Pedro in the first half.

Hurzeler will draw positives from a much-improved display in the second half as they went close to grabbing a point, despite the excursions of a midweek outing against Norway’s Tromso to book their Conference League place.

Yalcouye’s performance was a bright spot, with the 20-year-old Ivorian playing a key role in their first two goals.

He has spent the past two seasons on loan at Sturm Graz and Swansea City despite joining Brighton in 2024 but this display showed he can do a job at the Seagulls this year.

And for Hurzeler, the challenge will be to ensure the Brighton side that emerged after half-time is the norm rather than the one that was overrun in first half.