Matchday revenues across the five major European football leagues took a nearly 2 billion euro hit last season ($2.35 billion) after spectators were largely barred from attending matches due to the pandemic, a report by consultancy KPMG said Tuesday.

The projected revenue losses dwarf the 500 million euros that clubs in the leagues suffered in the 2019/20 season, when the virus first affected Europe and led to sport being suspended in March 2020, only resuming months later without spectators.

Gareth Bale is "ticking all the boxes" since returning to Real Madrid which is a boost for Wales ahead of their forthcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers said Welsh manager Robert Page.

Bale is back in favor at Real under new coach Carlo Ancelotti -- having been sent on loan to Tottenham Hotspur by his predecessor Zinedine Zidane -- and scored in their 3-3 draw with Levante last Sunday.

Ondrej Kudela was called up Tuesday to the Czech Republic squad facing Belgium in a World Cup qualifier next month after serving a 10-match UEFA ban over alleged racism.

UEFA banned the Slavia Prague defender from international competitions in April, following his alleged racist slur to Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara during a Europa League game the previous month.

Egypt's football association (EFA) said on Monday Liverpool had refused to release Mohamed Salah for the Pharaohs' upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Angola and Gabon due to UK quarantine regulations.

"The Association was informed by Liverpool of their regret of Mohamed Salah being unable to join the national team in their matches against Angola in Cairo and Gabon in Franceville as part of... the World Cup qualifiers," the EFA said in a statement posted on its social media.

The Afghanistan flag will be displayed in Tuesday's opening ceremony of the Paralympics even though the country's athletes were not able to get to Tokyo to compete.

Andrew Parsons, the president of the International Paralympic Committee, said Monday it will be done as a "sign of solidarity."

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka geared up for next week's US Open by climbing to second place in the WTA rankings published on Monday, nudging Naomi Osaka down to third. 

Neither Sabalenka, 23, nor Osaka made it to the latter stages of the Cincinnati Open which was won by Ashleigh Barty who keeps a firm grip on the number one spot. 

Fish dart across mosaic floors and into the ruined villas, where holidaying Romans once drank, plotted and flirted in the party town of Baiae, now an underwater archaeological park near Naples.

Statues which once decorated luxury abodes in this beachside resort are now playgrounds for crabs off the coast of Italy, where divers can explore ruins of palaces and domed bathhouses built for emperors.

Authorities in Nice have opened a probe into the incidents which caused the abandonment of Sunday's Ligue 1 match between Nice and Marseille, the local prosecutor's office told AFP on Monday.

"An investigation is underway, but no one has been taken into custody" at this stage, said the prosecutor's office.

German international Joshua Kimmich has signed an extension to stay at Bayern Munich until 2025, the club announced on Monday.

Kimmich, a versatile player, at ease in both defense and midfield, was under contract with the German champions until 2023.

Rafael Nadal will miss the U.S. Open after announcing on Friday that he is ending his season because of an injury to his left foot that has troubled him since his defeat in the semi-finals at the French Open in June.