Russia has been handed a four-year ban from all major sporting events by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

It means the Russia flag and anthem will not be allowed at events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics and football's 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

But athletes who can prove they are untainted by the doping scandal will be able to compete under a neutral flag.

Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said the ban was part of "chronic anti-Russian hysteria".

Efrem Gidey won a European Cross Country Championship medal for Ireland on Sunday less than three years after living in a refugee camp in Calais.

The 19-year-old's unexpected third place in the opening men's Under-20 race in Lisbon kick-started the most successful ever European Cross Country Championships for his adopted country as they finished the day with two individual bronze medals and two team silvers.

Formula 1 teams have unanimously rejected the tyres proposed by supplier Pirelli for the 2020 season.

The Italian company had hoped the new design would be a step forward in plans to introduce less sensitive tyres, on which drivers can push and race harder.

But at a test in Abu Dhabi last week, teams preferred the 2019 tyres.

Pirelli said it was convinced of the changes in the 2020 tyres but understood that other factors were involved.

Joe Calzaghe believes Anthony Joshua needs to fight fellow heavyweights Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in order to secure his legacy in boxing.

Calzaghe, a former two-weight world champion who retired undefeated, thinks boxing is suffering unless Joshua fights the winner of Fury's proposed February bout with WBC champion Wilder.

"They are the three main heavyweights and they need to get in the ring to see who is the best," Calzaghe explained.

"It should be one name, one champion."

World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps has extended his France contract until the end of the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Deschamps took over in 2012 and led France to the Euro 2016 final before their victory at the 2018 World Cup.

The extension means the 51-year-old will become France's longest-serving coach, surpassing Michel Hidalgo's eight years and six months in charge.

French football president Noel Le Graet called it "logical decision".

British heavyweight Dillian Whyte has been formally reinstated as the mandatory challenger for Deontay Wilder's World Boxing Council world heavyweight title.

It comes after Whyte, 31, had a doping violation charge dropped.

In June, he had provided a sample that contained traces of a banned steroid, but UK Anti-Doping has withdrawn the charge as the levels were "very low".

Whyte could now fight the winner of Wilder versus Britain's Tyson Fury.

Gennaro Gattuso: Napoli name former AC Milan boss as Carlo Ancelotti's successor

Gattuso won 40 of his 83 games in charge of AC Milan
Napoli have appointed Gennaro Gattuso as the Italian club's new head coach following the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti on Tuesday.

Ancelotti was sacked just hours after taking Napoli into the Champions League last 16 with a 4-0 win over Genk.

Gattuso, 41, previously managed AC Milan but left the Serie A club at the end of last season.