American billionaire Shahid Khan withdrew his offer to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association on this day in 2018. The proposed deal was worth £900million and the FA was planning to spend the money on transforming grassroots facilities across the country over the next 20 years but the idea of selling the stadium, which cost £757million to build, proved to be controversial with many in the game. The owner of Fulham and NFL side the Jacksonville Jaguars felt his offer to buy Wembley proved more divisive than initially anticipated and decided to pull out. In a statement, FA chief executive Martin Glenn said: “Shahid Khan has informed us today that he will be withdrawing his offer to buy the stadium – and we fully respect his decision. “At a recent meeting with Mr Khan he expressed to us that, without stronger support from within the game, his offer is being seen as more divisive than it was anticipated to be and has decided to withdraw his proposal.” The proposed deal had the support of the FA’s senior leadership, including Glenn himself, and was also backed by the government but there were significant doubts elsewhere, most notably at the grassroots level itself. Khan’s intention was to eventually use Wembley as a home for his relocated Jaguars but was also willing to agree on several highly restrictive conditions on how he would run the national stadium, one of them being to keep the venue for all of English football’s biggest games. However, wider concerns about whether the FA was selling the family silver too cheaply, its ability to spend the money wisely and Khan’s long-term plans for the stadium all led to the downfall of the sale. In a statement, Khan, 68, said: “I’ve been clear publicly as well as in my correspondence with the FA Council that it would require a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved, to maximise the benefits to the FA and game of football. “At this moment, following last week’s FA Council hearing, it appears there is no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal, subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FA Council, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA chairman has required. “The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English game and brings people together, not divide them. “Unfortunately, given where we are today, I’ve concluded that the outcome of a vote next week would be far from sufficient in expressing the broad support favoured by the FA chairman to sell Wembley Stadium. “I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium.” Read More Dallas Cowboys bounce back to edge past Los Angeles Chargers Eddie Jones commits his coaching future to Australia Stephen Kenny focused on fixtures instead of future after Ireland beat Gibraltar David Brooks looks to impress for Wales at a major tournament Northern Ireland U21s lose late on against Serbia I quite like the noise – Ellis Genge ‘fuelled’ by England’s critics

Newcastle defender Dan Burn had no complaints over Arsenal’s streetwise tactics after a tooth-and-nail Premier League battle at St James’ Park. The Gunners emerged from Sunday’s fiercely-contested encounter on Tyneside with a 2-0 victory on an afternoon when anything less would have all but handed the title to leaders Manchester City. In doing so, they dealt a blow to the Magpies’ Champions League qualification hopes in a game punctuated by frequent delays in play and ill-tempered confrontations which prevented the home side from establishing a rhythm, something they themselves had been accused of doing in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium in January. But, asked about Arsenal’s approach, Burn said: “Of course it’s frustrating, but that’s what they said we did at their place. We get a lot of stick for slowing the game down, which I don’t know if we intentionally do all the time. “They did that, but it’s part and parcel of football. We can’t do it and then complain when it happens to us. “A lot of teams tend to do that now when they feel the energy of the crowd, they try and stifle it a little bit. “When a team like Arsenal is coming here and doing that, it’s a compliment.” Newcastle set off with high hopes of repeating their 2-0 home win over the Gunners last season and might have been on their way in front of an expectant home crowd had Jacob Murphy’s early shot not come back off a post or had referee Chris Kavanagh not been advised to review his decision to award a penalty for handball against Jakub Kiwior. In the event, they were undone by Martin Odegaard’s first-half strike and Fabian Schar’s unfortunate own goal. Burn said: “We knew it wasn’t going to be the same as last season, where we played them off the park. They’re a lot better this year and they’ve shown that all season. “They’ve been unlucky that City have overtaken them, but they’re a very good team who caused us problems, especially at home. We’re just unfortunate we couldn’t get the win.” We’re disappointed, but we’ve got four games to go and it’s still in our hands Newcastle defender Dan Burn Manchester United’s defeat at West Ham means Newcastle remain two points clear in third place with four games remaining, although with Liverpool and Brighton making concerted bids to reel them in. Burn said: “We’re disappointed, but we’ve got four games to go and it’s still in our hands.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Lionel Messi back in training with PSG after ban for Saudi Arabia trip ‘It’s in our hands’: Erik Ten Hag not panicking over Man United’s top-four hopes Michael Flynn named new Swindon manager on two-year deal

The trend of Girl Measuring everything is a little weird, but it makes sense. Whether you’re debating if a bowl of popcorn counts as Girl Dinner or justifying buying a dress based purely on its resale value, the math is mathing. And truly, no one understands Girl Math more than a beauty aficionado.

The department’s pension data show that a total of 2,516 NYPD cops have returned their badges this year

Global investors including BlackRock Inc. and Allianz SE may be key stakeholders to watch in Country Garden Holdings

Sasol Ltd. said energy operations and technology executive Simon Baloyi will take over as chief executive officer of

Marcus Thuram scored late and Inter Milan beat Roma 1-0 to move back atop Serie A

Allianz SE Chief Executive Officer Oliver Baete plans to push deeper into alternative asset classes such as real

Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey flaunted their remarkable exercise regimen in collaboration with a fitness brand

WASHINGTON The U.S. plans to increase monthly production of 155 millimeter artillery shells over the coming years to

Catriona Ní Ghribín is working to record at-risk traditional songs from north-west Donegal.

Tiger Global Management LLC is falling short in attracting cash for its latest venture-capital fund, with investors so