Barcelona's all-time leading goal scorer Lionel Messi says he is staying because it is "impossible" for any team to pay his release clause and he does not want to face "the club I love" in court.

The Argentine, 33, sent a fax to the club saying he wanted to exercise a clause in his contract which he said allowed him to leave for free. But they said his 700m euro (£624m) release clause would have to be met.

The legendary maestro said: "I thought and was sure that I was free to leave.

"I told the president and, well, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he did not keep his word. Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the 700m clause, and that this is impossible."

Messi, whose contract expires next summer, says the fact he did not tell Barca he wanted to leave before 10 June was crucial, and had he done so his release clause would not have had to be met.

He added: "Now they cling to the fact that I did not say it before 10 June, when it turns out that on 10 June we were competing for La Liga in the middle of this awful coronavirus and this disease altered all the season.

"There was another way and it was to go to trial. I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived. It is the club of my life; I have made my life here."

His father Jorge had held talks in Barcelona this week and insisted his son could leave for free, only for La Liga to back Barca's stance over the release clause.

Manchester City were among the clubs linked with Messi when he made clear he wanted to end his 20-year stay at the Nou Camp, nine days after an 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

That result meant Barca ended the season with no silverware, and they replaced manager Quique Setien with former Everton and Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman.
Messi is yet to train with his team-mates since Koeman's arrival and admits the club's lack of recent success influenced his decision to ask to leave.

"I looked further afield and I want to compete at the highest level, win titles, compete in the Champions League," he said. "When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama.

"The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools.
"I love Barcelona and I'm not going to find a better place than here anywhere. Still, I have the right to decide.

"I was going to look for new goals and new challenges. And tomorrow I could go back, because here in Barcelona I have everything."

The African Union Commission in collaboration with the Republic of Algeria, the Chair of the Bureau of the Specialized Technical Committee on Youth Culture and Sport, recently convened a Ministerial Virtual Forum which brought together the Ministers of Sport, Sport Movement and other stakeholders in Africa to deliberate on sport responses in mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on the continent.

A total of eight-six participants which included Ministers from five of the ten African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Member Countries attended the meeting. Ministers of sport from Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa attended on behalf of AUSC Region 5. 

Sport in Africa has been adversely impacted by the spread of the corona virus. The conference of ministers therefore sought to explore the potential of sport to provide unique solutions in these unprecedented periods.

The importance of remaining physically active and ensuring regular exercise and physical activity for African citizens is regarded as fundamental towards sustaining people’s physical health and well-being. The direct contribution of sport towards improvement of immunity as well mental health has been confirmed by many studies.

The conference of Ministers therefore convened to explore ways of motivating people confined in their homes due to covid-19 inspired travel restrictions to be able to enjoy good health and well-being through sport and recreation. 

In their deliberations, the African Ministers of sport placed emphasis on the need for governments to provide realistic guidelines on how people can remain active under such a fractured and decimated sporting environment. In addition, the Ministers deliberated to find solutions on how to deal with the growing anxiety regarding the post Covid-19 period as most people mainly athletes keep speculating on whether sport, which is already under financed, will be prioritized for support post covid-19 in Africa.

It was in view of these challenges that, the conference of African Ministers of sport sought to draw deliberate and collective action to mitigate the spread of the virus and to develop a strategy for African sport during and post Covid-19 period.

The Ministers further sought to develop a continental response on current and post Covid-19 period for sport in African. The indaba also created a platform for exchange of best practices and experience sharing by Member States and the African Sports Movement. 

In the presentation on behalf of the AUSC Region 5 Council of Ministers, Honourable Likeleli Tampane, the Lesotho Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation, in her capacity as the Region 5 Council of Ministers Chairperson raised a number of suggestions to be considered as Africa’s response to Covid-19.

She noted that the impact of Covid-19 had been experienced at four levels being, Participation in organized sport and physical activity; Social impact, inclusion and equality; Economic development and employment and at Governance of sport level. “Africa needs a risk adjusted strategy to balance between saving lives and sustaining livelihoods in all considerations for return to sport while ensuring that sport satisfies health protocols and requirements of experts to avoid spiking new waves of infections,” said Honourable Tampane.

The AUSC Region 5 Council of Ministers recommended the need for African Member States to consider developing responses at Systems and population level, Institutional level and Community level.

“As Region 5 Council of Ministers, we recommend with strong conviction the need for African responses to address prevention and containment measures; advocacy and communication; advice and guidance on staying active; economic support packages and return to sport planning,” Honourable Tampane emphasised. 

The Conference was officially opened by the African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, Her Excellency Amira Al Fadil. The indaba was chaired by Algeria Minister of Sports and Youth Sid Ali Khaldi and in attendance were African Ministers of sport, the African Union Sports Council Coordinator Dr. Hikabwa Chipande, African Sports Development Regions Presidents and Secretaries General, Continental Sports Confederations, the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), the African Women in Sport Association (AWISA) as well as the World Anti-Doping Agency Africa among others. 

The Conference resolved to introduce numerous responses among them being advocacy and awareness campaigns to heighten knowledge about the pandemic.

Ministers also resolved to ensure that Governments prioritise sport through sustainable funding and creating a conducive environment for sport to thrive during and post covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, Governments and the sports movement was implored to provide stimulus response packages to mitigate the covid-19 induced stress and anxiety on athletes and sports bodies.

Further more, the African Ministers of sport resolved to institute research to gather empirical evidence and document the contribution of sport towards economic resilience as well as the extent of the impact of the pandemic on the sports industry. 

British Athletics has today announced Christian Malcolm as the newly appointed Olympic Programme Head Coach.

Malcolm, who since January 2019 has been Head of Performance and Coaching at Athletics Australia was appointed following an open recruitment process and will take up his post later this year. As Head Coach Malcolm will work alongside athletes and coaches to support performances across all disciplines and event groups, as well as lead the Great Britain & Northern Ireland senior teams at major championships.

Following an impressive competitive career from which he retired in 2014, Malcolm had previously been British Athletics technical lead for sprint relays, a position he held from March 2015 to December 2019. The highlight of that was the double sprint relay medals won by the 4x100m teams at the home World Championships London 2017. The women’s team won silver, whilst the men’s 4x100m team won a global gold sprint relay medal for the first time since the Athens Olympics in 2004.

This achievement saw Malcolm named jointly Coach of the Year at the 2017 BBC Sports Personality awards, alongside Stephen Maguire and Benke Blomkvist.

As a coach to individual athletes he has also enjoyed success in the para athletics programme, most notably in his role as a Performance Coach at Disability Sport Wales for just under three years. He coached Jordan Howe to T35 100m silver and Rhys Jones to a personal best - finishing fourth in the T37 100m - at the World Para Athletics Championships London 2017.

Before his 2014 retirement Malcolm had represented Great Britain & Northern Ireland to the highest level. His World junior sprint double gold in 1998 heralded his credentials to the sport, going on to compete in four Olympic Games. With European Indoor gold and silver, World Indoor and European Championship silver, Commonwealth silver and bronze, as well as two World bronze medals as part of the GB & NI 4x100m relay team, his competitive career has certainly helped underpin his success in the coaching ranks.

At Athletics Australia Malcolm was tasked with ensuring the coaching structures were world class, working with the high-performance team to support elite athletes and their coaches towards major championships.

Christian Malcolm said: “Words can’t describe how excited I am to have the opportunity to take this role on and be part of a new start for British Athletics. As an athlete I knew I wanted to give back to the sport when I finished competing.

“In all my coaching and advisory roles so far, I have wanted to help athletes avoid the errors I made and support them and their coaches to get the best out of themselves. I’ve worked with some world class coaches throughout my career whilst competing, as part of the GB relay set up and whilst at Athletics Australia. They’ve all helped me to grow in various ways, but I know my first coach Jock Anderson would have been the most pleased to see me take this role and use all that he taught me about helping athletes prepare.

“I’m very excited to be re-joining British Athletics at this time. Jo (Coates) and Sara (Symington) have a great outlook as to what the sport can achieve from playground to podium. There is a new energy and drive and I’m looking forward to helping athletes and coaches towards success in Tokyo, Paris and beyond.”

British Athletics CEO Joanna Coates said: “I am really pleased to appoint Christian to this role. His credentials are numerous but most impressive was the energy and vision he had for the Head Coach role during the recruitment process.

“The panel were incredibly impressed by both his technical knowledge and approach to high performance – putting the athlete first, championing welfare and also a change in culture that will really enhance the World Class programme.

“Alongside Sara, Christian will bring a fresh new approach to the performance team as we head towards Tokyo and future Olympic cycles.”
 

Lewis Hamilton paid a touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman after dedicating his Belgian Grand Prix win to the late Black Panther star who died aged just 43 after a four-year secretive battle against colon cancer.

The Mercedes driver performed the iconic Wakanda - arms crossed over his chest - salute from the franchise blockbuster on the podium after what he describe as an 'emotional weekend'.

He then posted a picture of him taking a heartfelt moment of reflection at Spa and also uploaded a photo of his pre-race stance in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.

He wrote: 'I want to dedicate this win to Chad and his family, he was such an inspiration and his legacy will live on.

'I'm posting this image because we must continue to fight for equality, nothing has changed yet and the battle continues.'

Hamilton led from start to finish in the race to record his 89th career win, and fifth triumph of the season in a performance was made even more impressive after the tragic news surrounding Boseman's shock passing broke. 

The six-time world champion led the way in sharing messages for the actor before he sealed pole position in qualifying at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. 

“That ones for Chadwick”, he tearfully screamed after taking the chequered flag.

On Twitter he wrote: 'I woke up today to the sad news, our super hero passed away.

'I'm so grateful I got to meet you brother. Thank you for all you have done for us.

'Rest in Power, you were the best of us and will never be forgotten. Love, light and prayers I send to you and your family.'
 
Boseman was best known for playing real-life figures, including professional baseball player Jackie Robinson in the biopic, ‘42’, James Brown in ‘Get On Up’, and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in ‘Marshall’. 

He passed away at his home in Los Angeles with his wife and family by his side. 

Having secured a record-extending 93rd career pole, Hamilton went to his 89 wins - his fifth win from seven races - and is only two behind Michael Schumacher's Formula One record of 91.

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out has revealed a 42% increase in reports of discrimination in English professional football last season, which it describes as "shocking". They says reports it received rose from 313 in 2018-19 to 446, despite some games being behind closed doors.

Reports of racism in the professional game rose 53% and those of abuse based on sexual orientation increased by 95% with a poll also finding that 71% had seen players targeted by racism on social media.

The YouGov poll of 1,000 fans, commissioned by Kick It Out, also showed that 30% of fans had heard racist comments or chants at a match.

The chair of Kick It Out, Sanjay Bhandari, said football had "responded positively" to the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd in the United States, which led to global protests.

But he added: "Beneath the surface, hate and division in society remains a lurking pernicious threat. Our reports indicate a steep rise in discrimination reports over the last two years, which reflect the hate crime statistics from the Home Office that show marked national increases over the last four years.

“We know that reports to Kick It Out are just the tip of the iceberg. We only report what is reported to us."
When the Premier League and Championship resuming in June without fans in stadiums, there were still instances of players being racially abused on social media, with Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha and Sheffield United striker David McGoldrick among those targeted.

The poll also found 32% of fans said they had heard homophobic comments at a football match last season and, of those, 41% of respondents have witnessed homophobic abuse aimed at footballers on social media.
Before fans were denied access to stadiums last season, there were several instances of homophobic chants at Premier League games.

Bhandari added: "Social media can be a battleground of hate. We need to work together across society to win this battle.
"We need better regulation and enforcement and we need social media companies to be part of the solution. We need clubs and governing bodies to continue to lobby for change, sanction offending supporters and support law enforcement processes with the provision of evidence.

“We need players to continue to use their powerful voices. Kick It Out will play its part with campaigning, education and talent programmes that diversify the face of football. But this is everyone’s responsibility. We all need to take a stand."

In the grassroots game, reports of discrimination fell by 14%, although amateur seasons were cancelled in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic. When comparing like-for-like time periods to the previous season, there was an 11% rise.

Paul Elliott, chair of the Football Association's inclusion advisory board, said: "The FA has made huge strides in recent years to ensure that English football is a diverse and inclusive game, but we know there is more to be done.

"We strongly condemn all forms of discrimination and, while only participants fall under the FA's jurisdiction, we investigate all reported forms of discriminatory abuse in English football at every level of the game, and work closely with the relevant authorities to ensure matters are dealt with appropriately."

Jamaican former sprinter gold medallist Usain Bolt is awaiting results of a recent coronavirus test while self-isolating.

The 34-year-old revealed on social media he will "stay at home" as a precaution despite not having any symptoms.

"Just to be safe, I'll quarantine myself and just take it easy," he said.

He held a birthday party in Jamaica which is understood that Manchester City and England forward Raheem Sterling was one of the guests.

"I did a test on Saturday, because I have work," Bolt added. "I'm trying to be responsible, so I'm going to stay in and stay here for my friends.

"Also I'm having no symptoms, so I'm going to quarantine myself and wait on the confirmation to see what is the protocol on how I should go about quarantining myself from the Ministry of Health."

The sprinter retired from athletics in 2017 following the World Championships in London.

He began training with Australian club Central Coast Mariners in 2018 but did not pursue a career in football.

England are due to play Iceland in the Nations League on Saturday, September 5, before taking on Denmark on Tuesday, September 8.