SPORTS AGENDA: Police will step up their crackdown on tragedy chanting at football matches after a Burnley fan, 44, was charged for ‘mocking Munich air disaster’ at Old Trafford

Police are stepping up their crackdown on tragedy chanting. A Manchester United fan was fined and banned for mocking the Hillsborough disaster after his club’s FA Cup win over Liverpool, and officers made another arrest at Old Trafford on Saturday. 

This time it was a Burnley fan, with 44-year-old Nathan Rawlinson arrested in the away end for allegedly chanting about the Munich air disaster. Rawlinson, of Bacup, was charged under the Public Order Act and bailed. 

SKY LOSE KEY GO-BETWEEN WITH CLUBS 

In a considerable blow to Sky Sports, the highly rated Adam Craig is to leave — and join Gary Neville’s production company Buzz 16.

Craig has been at the network for 23 years and is their main point of contact with clubs. He is well regarded by officials at top-flight sides, with whom he liaises closely to improve Sky’s access before, during and after matches.

A Manchester United fan was also fined and banned for mocking the Hillsborough disaster in their FA Cup clash with Liverpool earlier this year

In a memo to staff, Sky hailed Craig’s influence and his ‘reworking of Section K’ — the media rights section of the Premier League rulebook.

‘He leaves behind a contacts book second to none,’ it added. Agenda understands Craig’s successor has yet to be chosen. 

FODEN’S STILL A HOME BOY AT HEART! 

A stunning season has made Phil Foden one of the favourites for the Footballer of the Year award but the Manchester City forward is not about to abandon his roots.

The 23-year-old England playmaker shunned swanky venues to host a recent baby shower in a venue close to Edgeley Park, in his home town of Stockport.

Foden, a certainty to be on the plane to Germany for the Euros, is expecting a third child with girlfriend Rebecca Cooke.

Phil Foden might be one of the favourites for the Player of the Year award but he has not forgotten his roots

MASTERS’ ‘TIPPING POINT’

It was interesting to hear Premier League chief executive Richard Masters condemn the increasingly congested fixture schedule, which he said had left the game and player welfare at a ‘tipping point’.

Masters was justified in pointing out that the top flight has not changed shape, unlike international and regional competitions. However, the exec did not use stats crunched by FIFA which show domestic leagues and cups make up 72 per cent of player workload compared to about 28 per cent for elite continental and FIFA competitions.

Some also wonder how the Premier League’s ‘summer series’, created last year and seeing a number of sides jet to the US for a pre-season tournament, impacts on this ‘tipping point’.

Richard Masters condemned the increasingly congested fixture schedule, which he claimed is left player welfare at a tipping point

BRAVE MOVE BY MCC’S NICHOLAS 

Mark Nicholas has told MCC members he will stand down as chairman of Southern Brave if he becomes the next MCC chairman. Members will be asked to support his nomination at the club’s AGM on Wednesday.

MCC president Nicholas is also in line for recognition in the King’s birthday honours in June for services to cricket, after playing, commentating, writing and co-founding the charity Chance To Shine.

 Russia’s response to the International Olympic Committee banning them from this summer’s Paris Olympics is to try to stage their own multi-sport Games for the world’s top athletes later this year. Laughably, the event is called the World Friendship Games.

To give this sham some credibility, Russia have created a global body called the International Friendship Association, based in Dubai. The secretary general of the IFA is none other than Jerome Valcke, who was secretary general of FIFA during their huge corruption scandals under Sepp Blatter. You could not make it up.

Team GB are bringing back a raft of legends for this summer’s Paris Olympics.

Having opened the doors of Team GB House — the team’s hospitality venue in Paris — to fans for the first time, a number of British Olympic greats are set to be announced as part of a new ‘evening with’ series.

Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is the first to be announced, hosting two nights at Team GB House, with others set to follow from the worlds of cycling, swimming and athletics.

Psycho is set to meet Johnny Rotten. Stuart Pearce, the former Nottingham Forest and England left back, is a huge music fan and loves attending concerts up and down the country. 

For his 62nd birthday, Pearce has been given a ticket for an audience with John Lydon, as the 68-year-old Sex Pistols front man heads out on a UK and US tour. 

Nottingham Forest legend Stuart Pearce has been given tickets for an audience with Sex Pistols front man John Lyndon

Now the dust has settled on this summer’s sports kit announcements, it’s clear that adidas have won the battle of the big two with Nike.

Having watched Nike’s issues with the Cross of St George on the England kit unfold, followed by a botched launch of the Team USA Olympic kit — with a less-than-flattering cut on the female athletics gear — adidas can quietly claim victory with their simple retro Team GB kit for this summer’s Olympic Games.