Super League club Salford Red Devils lost its appeal "against a six-point deduction" imposed for breaching salary cap regulations. An independent Rugby Football League tribunal "ruled on charges brought in April." An independent body has upheld the verdict, which also saw Salford fined £5,000 ($6,500) for "seeking to avoid declaring payments" to one player and "non-declaration of benefits" to two others. After the announcement, club Owner Marwan Koukash said, "It's very disappointing" (BBC, 7/7).
Jose Mourinho has told ManU’s England players that "they will be expected to travel to China" on the club’s preseason tour later this month -- despite only exiting Euro 2016 10 days ago. While the likes of Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Marcus Rashford "were absent due to post-Euro 2016 holidays," the England trio will travel to the Far East when ManU departs for its two-game tour of China on July 19. The club will face Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on July 22 before facing Man City in Beijing three days later. But while Rooney, Smalling and Rashford will be on the plane to China, Mourinho "insists it will be as a squad bonding exercise rather than for action on the pitch." He said, "I'll take them (Rooney, Rashford and Smalling), but I'm not going to play them" (London INDEPENDENT, 7/7).
