The draw for the Champions League group stages will take place on Thursday, Aug. 29 in Monaco and is expected to begin at noon ET / 4 p.m. GMT.

Teams will appear below. Please refresh the page to see the latest content.

GROUP A:
GROUP B:
GROUP C:
GROUP D:
GROUP E:
GROUP F:
GROUP G:
GROUP H:

Follow the draw LIVE with ESPN here.

11.45 ET: Welcome to the coverage of today's live draw.

Holders Liverpool will join Europa League winners Chelsea among the eight seeds, along with Barcelona (La Liga), Manchester City (Premier League), Juventus (Serie A), Bayern Munich (Bundesliga), Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1), Zenit Saint-Petersburg (Russian Premier).

Meanwhile, Pot 2 includes Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Ajax and Benfica.

Continuing down the line, Pots 3 contains Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Red Bull Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Brugge, Valencia, Inter Milan and Dinamo Zagreb.

Finally, Pot 4 features Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta and last but not least, Lille.

One team from each pot will be drawn into a group, making eight groups of four clubs.

In addition to the 2019-20 Champions League draw, the winners of the UEFA Men's Player of the Year, UEFA Women's Player of the Year and top goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward awards of the 2018-19 UCL season will be announced this evening in Monaco. With all that said... let's begin!

12:00 ET: That sweet intro music means only one thing... it's time for the Champions League. But before the matches of the Champions League proper begin on Sept. 7, we must first find out where and who each of the 32 remaining clubs will be playing. Welcome to the Champions League Draw and Award Show from Monaco!

India men's allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and women's wristspinner Poonam Yadav were presented with the Arjuna Award, an honour bestowed by the Indian government to recognise outstanding individual achievement in sports.

While Jadeja, currently on tour in the Caribbean, wasn't there to receive the award in person, Poonam received hers from the president of the country, on Thursday, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi.

Jadeja, 30, and Poonam, 28, were among four cricketers - Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah being the others - recommended for the award by the BCCI in April. They were the only cricketers among the pool of 19 athletes to receive the award this year.

Poonam Yadav receiving #ArjunaAward at National Sports Awards Function 2019.
Such a proud moment

Congratulations @poonam_yadav24!
Credits @ddsportschannel pic.twitter.com/CB2gAEgN4c

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 29, 2019

Currently on tour in the Caribbean, Jadeja occupies the fourth place on the ICC rankings for Test allrounders. He also struck a half-century and picked two wickets in India's 318-run victory against West Indies and during the World Cup last month, he almost carried India to the final with a flamboyant 59-ball 79 against New Zealand.

Poonam, meanwhile, is India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is and is ranked No. 2 by the ICC. She was the world's T20I leading bowler last year with 35 wickets in 25 innings at an average of 14.91 and strike rate of 15.4, including a career-best 4 for 9 in the final of the Asia Cup, which India last off the last ball.

Earlier this year, she was promoted to BCCI's Grade A contracts list, having been part of the Indian sides that finished runners-up in the 2017 ODI World Cup in England and the T20 World Cup in November last year.

Jadeja is the latest Arjuna Awardee among an elite list of former and current men's cricketers that include Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Virat Kohli among others.

Poonam, meanwhile, is the third India women's cricketer - and 11th overall since 1976 - to win the award, following T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and opener Smriti Mandhana.

Hardik Pandya is back in India's 15-man T20I squad that will play three matches against South Africa starting September 15. His addition, in place of fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, is the only change India have made from the squad that won the T20Is against West Indies.

MS Dhoni continues to be absent from the T20I squad, and so does Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested from India's white-ball leg of the Caribbean tour.

The absence of Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah means that India have an inexperienced fast-bowling line-up that includes only 11 T20Is between the trio of Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed. Among the spin options, India have named left-arm spinning allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Krunal Pandya, offspinner Washington Sundar and legbreak bowler Rahul Chahar.

Hardik was rested from the tour of the Caribbean from all three formats, after a long season that included tours of Australia and New Zealand followed by the Indian Premier League and the Men's World Cup. Hardik's workload management had been a concern for the team ever since he picked up a stress-fracture injury at the Asia Cup last year and the lower-back stiffness that forced him to miss the ODIs against Australia at home in March.

Among the batsmen, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer keep their spots along with KL Rahul. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and the captain Virat Kohli complete the squad.

India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini

The season opener between Florida State and Boise State is expected to be moved from Jacksonville to Tallahassee because of the impending threat of Hurricane Dorian, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.

Dorian is expected to impact the East Coast of Florida, and DeSantis has already declared a state of emergency. The schools were scheduled to kick off in Jacksonville on Saturday night.

Tallahassee, which is located 160 miles west of Jacksonville, is not expected to feel effects from the storm on Saturday.

"I think they are going to go forward with the game but they are not going to do it in Jacksonville," DeSantis said during a news conference. "hey are going to do the game in Tallahassee and I think they will have more details for everybody who is interested in that going forward."

Two years ago, Florida State postponed a home game against Louisiana-Monroe and rescheduled a game against Miami because of Hurricane Irma.

Ryan Russell is a three-year NFL veteran. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015 after a successful college career at Purdue. He played one season with the Cowboys and two for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He started seven games for the Bucs in 2017. This is his story, in his own words.

IN EARLY AUGUST, I met with an NFL team that was interested in signing me as a free agent for the upcoming season. This was a big moment for me because, other than the love for my family, playing football again in the NFL is my dream. The team invited me to meet with their front office and members of their coaching staff because, even though I missed all of the 2018 season after suffering a shoulder injury in 2017, I feel the organization believes I have the skills and character to contribute to their success. What they know about me, they like -- but there was one very important detail about my life they weren't familiar with.

My performance in the interviews and workouts was first-rate. Coaches saw that I still have the kind of speed and agility to pressure quarterbacks that prompted the Dallas Cowboys to choose me in the fifth round of the 2015 draft and enjoy two successful seasons in Tampa Bay. Execs and I discussed the legacy of the organization and the culture they are trying to build to achieve success at the highest level. Though the team didn't ultimately need help at my position, I feel positive about how I presented myself that day: A hardworking, coachable, accountable and trustworthy player whose priorities are in the right place. I've never felt more confident that if I continue to train and value the right things, I can add to the winning culture of an NFL team.

But for all the encouraging feelings about the visit, I do have one strong regret that has inspired me to make a promise to myself: This is the last time I will ever interview for a job as anything other than my full self. Out of love, admiration and respect, I want the next team to sign me valuing me for what I do and knowing who I truly am.

Have I lied to teammates, coaches, trainers, front-office executives and fans about who I am? Not exactly. But withholding information is a form of deceit. And I want the next part of my career -- and life -- steeped in trust and honesty. During the season you spend more time with your team than with your own family; truth and honesty are the cornerstones of a winning culture. My truth is that I'm a talented football player, a damn good writer, a loving son, an overbearing brother, a caring friend, a loyal lover, and a bisexual man.

Today, I have two goals: returning to the NFL, and living my life openly. I want to live my dream of playing the game I've worked my whole life to play, and being open about the person I've always been.

Those two objectives shouldn't be in conflict. But judging from the fact that there isn't a single openly LGBTQ player in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball or the NHL, brings me pause. I want to change that -- for me, for other athletes who share these common goals, and for the generations of LGBTQ athletes who will come next.

GROWING UP, I always felt as though my existence slipped between the cracks of two worlds. I wasn't flamboyant, tidy, or any other stereotypes kids are forced to construct their world around. I wasn't straight, hyper-masculine or aggressive; I cried quite a bit, and, as a young black man, I didn't fit the bill. I played football -- so I put that in the straight column. I wrote poetry and romance stories -- so I put that in the gay column.

Over time, I came to build two worlds. There was football, the drive to play at a professional level, a place that catered to my competitive instincts. Football was a world of opportunity where, if I performed well, I could earn a scholarship, support my family and build a life for myself long after I stopped playing. Then there's my personal world, which probably isn't much different from most people who are figuring out who they are in adulthood. It's a world of relationships, inner thoughts and off-the-field interests. For me, that's my mom and brother, hometown girlfriends, guys I spent time with in my early 20s, and my best friend Joe, a teammate from Purdue who died last year. It's my poetry, my bouts with depression, my love of Tarantino films and my passion for Hemingway. For me, the beauty of life can be found in a simple walk on the beach, the thrills of traveling to new places and the savoring of delectable cuisine. I attempt to capture life between the pages of my journals and sometimes the words are the truest form of soul.

Pursuing a career in the NFL is such an intense challenge that I began to compromise my personal world -- and my personal happiness. Though I confided in close friends and family and gave myself permission to date both men and women discreetly, I deprived myself the basic privilege of living an open life. That meant I had to be strategic and cautious about meeting guys or getting involved with them during the regular season. It also meant that even though I was building important friendships on my team, I couldn't be authentic or honest about who I am or what was going on in my life. I wasn't always fully present in the locker room. Being an NFL-quality teammate takes more than just excelling on the field. It comes with common trust built by knowing your teammate is physically and mentally fortified. You know the man next to you as well as you know yourself and you, in turn, trust him irrevocably. If you aren't fully present and authentic in the training facility, you simply can't be a standout teammate.

After my first season, a well-known blogger messaged me. He had come across an Instagram story of a man I was dating that included a quick snippet of me in the background. Even though the man and I were never in a post together, the dates, times and similar locations were enough evidence for the blogger to deduce that we were an item. The blogger could have revealed I was in a gay relationship. My professional world and personal world were colliding with me caught in the cataclysm. I panicked, then wrote back, reminding him that there were implications about his actions he didn't fully understand. If the blogger outed me, I was sure that would kill my career, one that was supporting not just me, but my mother and grandfather. He'd eradicate a childhood dream that was the product of years of work and sacrifice.

After hearing me out, know what that blogger told me? That he would grant me this favor, but that I should be more careful.

Let that sink into your brain: Even though openly LGBTQ people are thriving in every area of public life -- politics, entertainment, the top corporations in America -- they are so invisible in pro sports that a gossip blogger is doing a favor for a bisexual football player by not disclosing that he happens to date men. Nobody should need a favor to live honestly. In nobody's worlds should being careful mean not being yourself. The career you choose shouldn't dictate the parts of yourself that you embrace.

UNTIL RECENTLY, I didn't love myself enough to live openly and honestly. I was ashamed of who I am. I prayed countless nights for God to take away this part of me. I was ashamed to love women because I knew I could also love men. I stayed up so many nights in fear of being found out, in fear that the professional sports world would reject me for the way I was born. I lied to myself every chance I could. I looked in the mirror and lied, got into relationships and lied, woke up every morning and went to sleep every night lying about the fullness of my soul.

During my first few seasons in the NFL, I rationalized my fear because it was easy to convince myself that hiding who I was made the most sense. The competition is so stiff to stay in the league, that any small mark can lead a front office to choose another guy for your job. Whether you're gay or straight or bisexual, you're always making sacrifices for the sake of your career, whether it's not going out during the season, or working out during your downtime. For me, not publicly acknowledging my sexuality became one of those sacrifices, just one of those hundreds of little interests or passions a pro athlete puts off until their playing days are long gone. But after my departure from the Dallas Cowboys, confiding in a few loved ones about who I am, and getting a new chance to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I started feeling the freedom of transparency -- even if it was small at first -- and the fear of people finding out and rejecting me slowly dissipated. Being more comfortable in my own skin made me a better teammate. I was able to play and start at the highest level in the world, and felt like I belonged.

With football, no matter the topic, there is criticism and scrutiny. I took on the mantra, "If you don't know me personally, I don't take what you have to say personally." I began to apply the same idea to outside opinions of my sexuality.

Brooklyn Nets forward Wilson Chandler is facing a 25-game suspension for testing positive for PED use, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday.

The NBA is expected to make an announcement later Thursday.

Chandler, 32, averaged 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds while playing in 51 games for the Philadelphia 76ers and LA Clippers last season. If suspended, he would be allowed to participate during training camp and play in preseason games for the Nets.

The Nets signed Chandler as a free agent in July, hoping he could bring a veteran presence to their frontcourt rotation.

The 25-game suspension would result in a loss of $582,898 -- $23,316 per game -- for Chandler, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

If suspended, he would start the regular season on the active list and move to the suspension list after the fifth game (Nov. 1), which would allow the Nets, who have 15 guaranteed contracts, to add a 16th player after that game.

Brooklyn plays the following night (Nov. 2) at Detroit.

Chandler would be eligible to be taken off the suspension list for the Dec. 15 game vs. Philadelphia.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Darius Miller is expected to miss seven to eight months after suffering a ruptured right Achilles tendon, a source told ESPN's Malika Andrews.

The Pelicans announced Thursday that Miller had undergone surgery in New York City earlier in the day for the injury.

The source told Andrews that Miller suffered the injury while playing 3-on-3 basketball. He is scheduled to begin rehab next week and start practicing in five to six months, the source said.

Miller averaged 8.2 points in 69 games for the Pelicans last season.

Oakland Athletics star third baseman Matt Chapman is not in the lineup against the Royals on Thursday afternoon after being hit in the head by a pitch in Oakland's previous game.

A's manager Bob Melvin told reporters that Chapman was not experiencing any concussion symptoms but that he woke up Thursday morning with a mild headache.

Melvin said that the A's would proceed cautiously with Chapman but that they hoped to have him back in the lineup for Friday's series opener in New York against the Yankees.

Chapman was hit in the helmet by a pitch from Royals starter Jakob Junis in the first inning Wednesday night, then was checked by a trainer and initially stayed in the game.

However, after playing third base in the bottom of the inning and making it through his second at-bat, Chapman exited the contest.

Chapman, 26, is batting .259 and leads the A's with 30 home runs and 74 RBIs this season.

Is it unfair to judge trades after one month? Absolutely not! Not when it's trade deadline deals we're judging. Look, obviously it can take years to truly evaluate these trades. After all, you never know if some kid in rookie ball will blossom a mere three years later into one of the best rookie sluggers in the game's history: That's Yordan Alvarez, whom the Astros acquired from the Dodgers at the 2016 trade deadline for Josh Fields.

For playoff contenders, however, it's all about the short-term window. These deals are made to enhance the odds of making the postseason or improving a team's chances of winning it all. Let's consider some of the significant deadline trades from the contender's perspective and the returns after the first month.

Deals that are definitely helping contenders

Astros acquire Zack Greinke from Diamondbacks: Greinke is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his four starts, so it's hard to beat that. More important, the A's have continued to play well and put just enough pressure on the Astros -- Oakland cut the division lead to 6½ games Aug. 17 -- to make Houston a little nervous. So Greinke has meant more than just an additional weapon for the postseason; he has helped the Astros maintain a comfortable lead in the American League West as well as keep pace with the Yankees for home-field advantage.

One caveat to all that: Greinke hasn't pitched quite as well as he did with Arizona. The numbers:

Diamondbacks: .220 BA, .259 wOBA, 24% SO rate, 3.7% BB rate, 3.19 FIP

Astros: .276 BA, .312 wOBA, 14% SO rate, 6.5% BB rate, 3.99 FIP

Greinke hasn't really changed anything in his pitch selection and has allowed a higher BABIP with Houston (small sample size alert), but the drop in strikeout rate is at least something to watch over the final month. Against power-hitting lineups such as the Twins and Yankees in the postseason, it's going to be hard to succeed with a 14% strikeout rate and no pitchers batting.

Cubs acquire OF Nicholas Castellanos from Tigers: Don't blame Castellanos for the Cubs falling behind the Cardinals in the National League Central race. When the Cubs made the trade, it seemed like a bit of an awkward fit as they already had Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber in the outfield corners, but Castellanos has started all 25 games for the Cubs in August -- mostly in right field, with Heyward sliding over to center. The defense has been weakened with both Schwarber and Castellanos out there, but Castellanos is playing every day because he keeps raking, hitting .365/.400/.712 with the Cubs, including nine home runs after hitting 11 in 100 games with the Tigers. He's seventh in the majors in wOBA in August.

Braves acquire relievers Chris Martin from Rangers, Shane Greene from Tigers and Mark Melancon from Giants: OK, on the surface it doesn't look like the Braves improved their bullpen:

Greene: 5.11 ERA
Martin: 5.40 ERA
Melancon: 6.10 ERA

That's a combined 5.51 ERA over 34⅓ innings. And, yes, there were a couple of memorably bad performances right after the trades were made. But the trio has settled down and all the peripheral numbers are solid: 41 strikeouts, five walks and three home runs over those 34⅓ innings. Bottom line: The Braves have gone 17-9 in August in part because the bullpen is now much deeper than it was in the first half. Yes, the ultimate test will come in October, but the Braves' chances to make a World Series run have increased.

A's acquire Tanner Roark from Reds: This trade was a Billy Beane special, an under-the-radar deal that came in late on deadline day and was lost in the dust of the Greinke deal. Roark is 2-1 with a 3.30 ERA in five starts -- his start Wednesday, a no-decision in which he allowed four runs in six innings, has been his worst -- and he has beaten the Cardinals and Yankees and held the Astros to two runs in six innings (and the A's won that game as well).

Deals that look better than they did at the time

Indians acquire Yasiel Puig from Reds and Franmil Reyes from Padres: The most interesting deal of the deadline was this three-team trade that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Reds prospect Taylor Trammell to the Padres. While everyone understood the reasoning behind trading Bauer -- the Indians needed some offense, Bauer is a pain in the butt to be around and would have been traded anyway in the offseason with just one year left before free agency -- the trade was risky because Bauer chewed up quality innings in a Cleveland rotation that included two rookie starters.

Puig and Reyes haven't been great -- Puig is hitting .284/.357/.455 and Reyes .205/.261/.470 -- but they've delivered some big hits and have combined for 29 RBIs in the month as the Indians have gone 15-11 to stay close to the Twins. Meanwhile, rookies Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale have continued to pitch well, so the rotation has survived even without Bauer and Corey Kluber (who suffered an oblique strain in his first rehab start). Don't forget that the Indians also acquired lefty Logan Allen, who should battle for a rotation spot in 2020.

Mets acquire Marcus Stroman from Blue Jays: It was a big head-scratcher when the Mets acquired Stroman on July 28, when they were five games under .500, but New York immediately went on a big run to turn into wild-card contenders, going from 50-55 on July 28 to 67-60 after sweeping the Indians last week. Now the Mets have lost five in a row again and are about to head out on a crucial road trip to Philadelphia and Washington.

Stroman is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA with the Mets after posting a 2.96 ERA with the Blue Jays, so he hasn't been particularly stellar, with just one of five outings registering as a quality start. The Mets have won four of his five starts, however, as he has kept them in the game. Plus, this trade was as much about 2020 as 2019 because Stroman is under team control for another season. Of course, this deal could backfire in the long run if young right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson blossoms with the Blue Jays. They promoted him to high-A ball after the deal and he has pitched well there as an 18-year-old.

Nationals acquire relievers Daniel Hudson from the Blue Jays and Hunter Strickland and Roenis Elias from the Mariners: OK, two out three isn't bad. Hudson (1-0, 1.35 ERA, one save) and Strickland (2-0, 1.64 ERA) have pitched well while Elias strained a hamstring while batting in his first game and remains on the injured list. The problem is the bullpen still has a 5.62 ERA in August, as the guys other than Hudson and Strickland have had issues, including closer Sean Doolittle, who landed on the IL with a sore knee after two monumental blown saves this month. Still, the Nationals are 17-7 in August and you wonder where they'd be without Hudson and Strickland putting up some solid innings.

Phillies acquire OF Corey Dickerson from Pirates: Has anybody been less predictable over the past few seasons than Dickerson? He was an All-Star with the Rays in 2017, hitting home runs and spending a lot of time at designated hitter since he wasn't so hot in the outfield. He went to the Pirates in 2018 and hit fewer home runs, but also hit .300 and won a Gold Glove. He missed time this year with an injury and he has maintained the .300 batting average with a lot of doubles, but his defensive metrics are terrible again. In 21 games with the Phillies, he's hit .280/.286/.585 with five home runs, six doubles, two triples and 23 RBIs.

Twins acquire Sergio Romo from Marlins: The veteran slider-slinger has filled a big role in the Minnesota bullpen, saving three games and picking up eight holds as all but one of his appearances have come in the eighth or ninth innings. His fastball averages 86 mph and he throws almost 60% sliders, but batters are still chasing that Frisbee out of the strike zone after all these years.

Deals that look worse than they did at the time

Twins acquire Sam Dyson from Giants: Dyson had been one of the top setup men in the majors with the Giants, with a 2.47 ERA in 51 innings and nifty peripherals (47-7 SO-BB ratio, just three home runs allowed). In his first game with the Twins, Dyson allowed three runs without getting an out as Minnesota blew a 4-1 lead in the ninth and eventually lost to the Marlins. In his second game, he allowed three runs again, although the Twins held on for the victory. Then he landed on the injured list with a sore biceps. He was back after 10 days and has allowed one run in 7⅔ innings since then, so the two-month review might end up looking better than the one-month review.

Astros acquire Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini from Blue Jays: Everyone loved this deal for Houston, as the Astros gave up only a fourth outfielder type in Derek Fisher to take a chance on the hard-throwing Sanchez, the former ERA champ who had struggled with the Blue Jays but is still under team control through 2020. Then Sanchez went out and threw six no-hit innings in his first start and it appeared the Astros had immediately fixed him.

Or maybe not. Sanchez beat the Orioles, then the A's roughed him up and then he left a start and landed on the IL with a sore right pectoral muscle. Even if he returns in mid-September, that's limited time for the Astros to find out if he'll be able to contribute in October, most likely as a reliever. Biagini, meanwhile, has allowed 14 hits, five walks and two home runs in 8⅔ innings, and at this point would be off the playoff roster.

Deals we can already declare failures

Giants acquire Scooter Gennett from Reds: It seems like only last year that Gennett was an All-Star. It was last year! The Giants tried to play it both ways at the deadline, trading away Melancon and Dyson (plus Derek Holland and Drew Pomeranz), but adding Gennett and keeping Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith. The Giants released Joe Panik soon after the Gennett trade, but Gennett hasn't been an upgrade and has 41 strikeouts and two walks on the season between the Reds and Giants. It was a roll of the dice hoping Gennett would find his 2018 swing, but it hasn't happened and the Giants released him this week.

Diamondbacks acquire Mike Leake from Mariners: With Greinke on the way to Houston and still on the periphery of the wild-card race, the Diamondbacks added Leake and Zac Gallen from the Marlins (that was more of a prospect trade, as shortstop Jazz Chisholm went to Miami). Leake is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA in five starts with Arizona, allowing 41 hits and eight home runs in just 28⅔ innings. The Mariners and Cardinals will pick up most of the $20 million still owed Leake, but at this point it's not even clear he'll be in Arizona's 2020 rotation.

Israel Folau claims Rugby Australia's termination of his contract over a social media post is an "unreasonable restraint of trade".

The former Wallabies full-back, 30, is suing the governing body after being sacked in April for writing "hell awaits" gay people.

RA said Folau committed a "high-level" breach of its players' code of conduct.

Folau is seeking £5.6m (AU $10m) in compensation, an apology and a return to the national side.

A 26-page statement of claim has been filed this week by Folau's legal team to the Federal Circuit Court of Australia in which he denies breaching his £3.15m (AU $5.7m) contract.

"Mr Folau can no longer play rugby union at an international level (because he is only eligible to play for the Wallabies) or for an Australian team in the Super Rugby competition and (it) is therefore an unreasonable restraint of trade, contrary to public policy and void," the court document said.

The document claims the social media posts by the born-again Christian were "substantively unrelated to rugby union" and "the conduct occurred on Mr Folau's own time and not in the workplace".

Furthermore, it denies Folau is homophobic and "communicated the social media posts because of his belief that they represented the word of God and that he has a mission to and duty to spread what he believes to be the word of God".

The case will be heard in February 2020 unless it can be settled through court-directed mediation in December.

Folau, who signed a four-year deal with Sydney-based Super Rugby side the Waratahs in March, and had a contract with Rugby Australia until 2022, escaped punishment for similar anti-gay comments last year.

He has won 73 caps and was expected to play at this year's World Cup in Japan.

Rugby Australia declined to comment when approached by BBC Sport.