The ruling is a setback in the fight for LGBT rights in the country, human rights groups say.

Premier League clubs and other senior football figures have increased pressure on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport over state ownership in the English game, raising specific questions about whether a distinction will be drawn between revenue and equity when it comes to testing the liquidity of clubs. There is a feeling that a more general framing of the rules could have the unintended consequence of diminishing competitive balance, while also worsening the very issue the independent regulator is being set up to tackle. The Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United has made the majority of the Premier League clubs - sometimes described as “the other 18” in this context - more attuned to the potential issues that come with state ownership, and it is understood that the topic was constantly raised in the initial talks that informed the content of the landmark White Paper on football. The issue wasn’t even mentioned in the eventual document, though, despite it representing a significant factor that greatly influences all of the problems that the regulator is supposed to cover - primarily club sustainability and systemic sustainability - through the raising of the financial threshold. The absence of reference was largely put down to the Conservative government’s concern for geopolitics, and another example of how this is affecting the game. Scrutiny on the subject has continued into the formation of the independent regulator, with football officials pressing DCMS on exactly how the body will test the solvency of clubs. The White Paper has made the financial sustainability and resilience of the sport its “primary strategic purpose”. “To support this purpose, it will have 3 specific primary duties,” the paper read. “Club sustainability - the financial sustainability of individual clubs. Systemic stability - the overall stability of the football pyramid. Cultural heritage - protecting the heritage of football clubs that matter most to fans.” Within that, the regulator will be empowered to determine the liquidity requirements for clubs based on the business plans. Other football officials are concerned that, if the framing of the questions around club sustainability only go as far as liquidity and does not have more specific terms relating to whether potential income is revenue, it could end up favouring state-owned or state-linked clubs. The argument is that, since state-owned clubs would easily pass all the solvency tests due to the fact their ownerships have virtually unlimited money and no financial risk, it would further skew the market. They would have complete freedom, while rival clubs had to be more conscious of the parameters when it comes to spending. A fear is that rivals just won't be able to keep up. The issue of revenue and equity is covered by the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules, and has informed part of the charges against Manchester City, but club officials are insisting that the independent regulator should be just as rigid on this and ensure all regulations covering the game are as tight and consistent as possible. A comparison has been raised with a similar system in French football, where Paris Saint Germain’s mega sponsorship deal with the Qatar Tourism Authority saw the club easily pass the domestic rules, only for Uefa to subsequently write it down. One of the core issues in the City case is whether money from sponsors Etihad and Etisalat actually came from the owner, Sheikh Mansour, and consequently represented equity disguised as revenue. The case is ongoing as City insist upon their compliance with the rules. Many football figures also raised it as regards Newcastle United's new sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabian company Sela, pointing to a unique question that comes from states with such centralised structures. Read More Welcome to Wrexham’s biggest heroes are neither the A-list owners nor the players How the Champions League lost its spark and led to the end of an era European football is ignorant to the march of the Saudi Pro League Man City scandal is not about fair play – it’s about fraud UEFA warns clubs against overspending in ‘reckless pursuit of success’ Sportswashing is about to change football beyond anything you can imagine

Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning Argentina teammates are expected to draw almost 70,000 fans to Beijing Worker’s Stadium for an international friendly against Australia

Bernardo Silva has been offered a huge contract to join the mass exodus of players heading to the Saudi Pro League. The 28-year-old would prefer to stay in Europe at this stage, though, leaving Paris Saint-Germain leading the race ahead of Barcelona.

Russia has taken the wheel from Wagner as the Kremlin has recruited up to 100,000 prisoners to fight in Ukraine. The practice was a trademark move of the late mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who filled his group’s ranks with convicted criminals. The army unit, commonly known as Storm-Z, is reportedly seen as a disposable force in Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation”. It comes as the Russian prison population has dropped from an estimated 420,000 to around 266,000, according to deputy minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figures earlier this month. Russian state-controlled media reported that Storm-Z squads exist, that they took part in intense battles and some of their members received medals for bravery, but it has not disclosed how they are formed, or the losses they take. While the Russian defence ministry has never acknowledged creating Storm-Z units, the first reports of their existence emerged in April when the Institute for the Study of War cited what it said appeared to be a leaked Russian military report on the formation of the squads. RTVI, a Russian news website, said Storm-Z “is the same scheme as with the [Wagner] private military company. Prisoners sign contracts with the defence ministry, and after completing them they can go home or continue serving”. However, a Russian soldier who fought alongside members of the penal squad told Reuters that Storm-Z fighters “are just meat”. The soldier, from army unit no. 40318 who was deployed near Bakhmut in May and June, said he’d given medical treatment to a group of six or seven wounded Storm-Z fighters on the battlefield. In doing so, he had disobeyed an order from a commander - whose name he didn’t know - to leave the men. He said he didn’t know why the commander gave the order, but claimed that it typified how Storm-Z fighters were considered of lesser value than ordinary troops by officers. The soldier, who requested anonymity because he feared prosecution in Russia for publicly discussing the war, said he had sympathy for the men’s plight: “If the commandants catch anyone with the smell of alcohol on their breath, then they immediately send them to the Storm squads.” The UK ministry of defence addressed the emergence of the penal squads in its update on 24 October, saying: “Russia largely continues to rely on specially designated ‘Shtorm-Z’ units for local offensive operations in Ukraine.” It said: “Multiple accounts suggest the units are given the lowest priority for logistical and medical support, while repeatedly being ordered to attack.” The intelligence update added that the squads were “likely first fielded in 2022” and they highlight “the extreme difficulty Russia has in generating combat infantry capable of conducting effective offensive operations”. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Live updates | Israeli troops briefly enter Gaza as wider ground incursion looms Europe's central bank is set to halt rate hikes as the Mideast war casts a shadow over the economy Putin presides over rehearsals of 'massive' Russian nuclear strike

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