Patrick Vieira has been sacked as Crystal Palace Football Club manager. He was sacked after a string of poor performances. The club confirmed the sack on its website on Friday. The statement reads below: Crystal Palace Football Club can confirm that Patrick Vieira has left his post as First Team Manager. Three members of Patrick’s coaching staff – Osian Roberts, Kristian Wilson and Saïd Aïgoun – have also left the club. Chairman Steve Parish said: “It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made. Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status.”That said, Patrick’s impact since joining us in the summer of 2021 has been significant, and he is held in the highest regard by myself, and all of his colleagues. He led the team to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and respectable 12th placed finish last season playing some exciting football, which was a challenging and crucial campaign for the club given the changes we made to the squad prior to his arrival.”Patrick has given his all to the club, and we all thank him and his team for their service.“We also wish Patrick, Osian, Kristian and Saïd the very best for their futures.” The process to appoint a new manager is underway, and we will provide an update in due course. Dean Kiely will remain as goalkeeping coach.

The United States has told China-based ByteDance to sell its shares on the TikTok app or risk a national ban, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.The concern here ramped up earlier this year after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down in US airspace.The White House last week welcomed a bill that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.A bipartisan bill “would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services… in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” Sullivan said.The Senate bill and the backing of the White House accelerated the political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of a separate piece of legislation in the US House of Representatives.Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden’s Democratic Party holds a majority.TikTok claims it has more than a billion users worldwide including over 100 million in the US, where it has become a cultural force, especially for young people.

The current World, Commonwealth and African champion in the 100 m hurdles, Tobi Amusan has given an insight into her successful stink on the track last year.The 25-year-old hurdler had a triumphant outing in 2022 and became the first Nigerian world champion in an athletics event, when she won the 2022 World Championships 100m hurdles gold medal and setting the current world record of 12.12secs.In a video chat with Justin Tuckey, the Ogun-born hurdler said she trained hard and prepared herself mentally before any race, noting that it helped her stay focused.“We put our bodies through six hours of training every day for six days a week. And you can be the fittest person in a race and mentally you just get distracted by the other runners on the tracks. A few moments of that ruin everything. And with my kind of event, you need 100 per cent focus,” Amusan said.So, the mental part is just as important, if not more, because you have done the work by training hard and now you show up at the track. Sometimes, it’s not about who is the toughest. I have been in every championship finals and it’s not about the toughest, but who wants it and can relax and execute in most of the race scenarios.“Most times when I train, I do my little talking in my head to prepare myself mentally. What I do in training is what I do on the tracks. So, when you see me out there, I am not crazy, I do this every day, especially when I have lots of hurdle practices.“I say to myself, ‘you are the best, you have to do it.’ That self-affirmation, like talking in your head, kind of gets you going, but the time you get on the track, I know what to say to calm myself down and not put myself under unnecessary pressure. It’s really important to be mentally tough.”