GENEVA, Switzerland -- Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified from the 2022 Olympics on Monday, almost two years after her doping case caused turmoil at the Beijing Games.

The verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Russians are set to be stripped of the gold medal in figure skating's team event. The United States finished second and is set to be named Olympic champion instead.

The International Olympic Committee decided not to present any medals for the event in Beijing, where the then-15-year-old Valieva was the star performer hours before her positive test for a banned heart medicine was revealed.

CAS said it upheld appeals led by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which asked the court to disqualify Valieva from the Olympics and ban her. A Russian sports tribunal had cleared her of any blame.

The CAS judges banned her for four years, through December 2025 - about seven weeks before the next Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The U.S. team took silver in Beijing and should be upgraded to gold. Japan took bronze and Canada placed fourth.

The IOC is responsible for reallocating medals and its executive board is next scheduled to meet in March.

Valieva's legal team said it is reviewing the CAS decision before deciding whether to appeal to the Swiss supreme court, lawyer Andrea Pinna said in a statement. Pinna, who is based in Paris, led the skater's defense at the appeal hearings in September and November.

Appeals to the Swiss supreme court can be made on narrow procedural grounds, not the merits of the case.

Valieva's lawyers had argued she was contaminated by traces of the trimetazidine medication they said her grandfather used.

"Having carefully considered all the evidence put before it," the court said in a statement, "the CAS panel concluded that Ms. Valieva was not able to establish, on the balance of probabilities and on the basis of the evidence before the Panel, that she had not committed the (doping violation) intentionally."

The judges decided that, according to Russian anti-doping rules, Valieva could not benefit from having been a minor at the time of the positive test.

There was "no basis under the rules to treat them any differently from an adult athlete," said the court, which did not publish its detailed verdict pending a review of confidentiality issues.

The case provoked legal chaos at the Beijing Olympics because Valieva's sample, taken six weeks earlier at the Russian national championships, was not notified by a laboratory in Sweden until hours after she competed in the team event on Feb. 7, 2022.

Valieva continued to skate at the Olympics after rulings by a Russian tribunal and a separate CAS panel did not hold her responsible as a minor.

The intense scrutiny on Valieva led to an error-filled skate in the individual event, where she had been favored for gold but dropped to fourth place.

The drama continued when she left the ice. The reaction of her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, was fiercely criticized by skating experts and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

Bach said in Beijing one day later he had been "very, very disturbed" to watch the "tremendous coldness" of Valieva's entourage.

The case came to CAS to challenge a Russian anti-doping tribunal verdict in late 2022 that Valieva was not at fault. That ruling suggested disqualifying her only from the national championships and letting her keep her Olympic results and gold medal.

WADA asked CAS to impose a four-year ban and to disqualify Valieva from the Olympics. The International Skating Union requested a two-year ban and disqualification.

Valieva, who turns 18 in April, has not competed internationally since the Beijing Olympics.

Four days after the closing ceremony, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and five days after that, the International Skating Union banned Russian skaters from its events. That ban is still in place.

Since the Olympics, Valieva has skated on an expanded Russian national competition circuit and in various TV events and ice shows. She is no longer the near-unbeatable skater she appeared to be before the Beijing Olympics and has twice been beaten at the Russian nationals by younger skaters from the same training group under Tutberidze.

Although scores at nationals are often inflated, Valieva's 237.99 points - third at the Russia championships - would have been the best in the world by more than 10 points this season.

When an athlete 16 or younger tests positive for a banned substance, international rules require an investigation of their entourage. Both the Russian anti-doping body and WADA were expected to look into the case but neither has published any findings and there is no indication anyone else is facing anti-doping charges in the case.

American ice dancer Evan Bates said this past weekend at the national championships getting a team medal with partner partner Madison Chock will be particularly meaningful to them.

"I say, you know, we're the only two athletes from the Beijing team that are still competing - every single one of the rest of us has moved on," Bates said. "I think two years is too long that it's taken for this decision to be made. We're just looking forward to getting some closure after a long waiting period."

England want to draw inspiration from the men's cricket team to "put smiles on fans' faces", says new captain Jamie George.

The 33-year-old admires their message to be "entertainers" and wants his side to do the same after only two wins from their past five games at home.

"I'm not saying we are going to go all out on attack," George told BBC Sport.

"But what I am saying is Ben Stokes talks a lot about expressing themselves and the fact that they are entertainers.

"Something at the forefront of our mind, especially at the minute, is how we can put smiles on people's faces, how we can bring Twickenham back to that fortress we want it to be."

Since taking charge of England, head coach Steve Borthwick has suffered a record home defeat by France and a first ever defeat by Fiji, which was also at Twickenham.

England travel to Italy on Saturday for their opening game of this year's Six Nations before their first game at Twickenham - since that Fiji defeat - against Wales on 10 February.

'It should be the best time of your career'

Hooker George was named England captain for the campaign in the absence of Saracens team-mate Owen Farrell.

Farrell, who will leave Saracens to join Racing 92 in July, has captained England since 2019 but ruled himself out of the tournament to prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) does not allow players based abroad to be selected for England, meaning George could likely be England's new long-term captain.

Despite playing under Farrell at both Saracens and England, George says he is "very comfortable" in the role.

"In terms of style, I am a people person. I care about relationships, I care about people loving their time playing for England," the 33-year-old said.

"I have been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride - some of the best times of my life have been playing for England, but I have had some difficult times while playing for England also.

"For me, and I said it to the boys, that was one of the first things I said, being in this environment and playing for England, should be the best time of your life, it should be the best time of your career.

"And am very passionate about making sure people are in a position to do that."

Three important football coaches announced their impending departures across the past few days: Sven-Göran Eriksson, Jürgen Klopp and Xavi Hernández.

The former two were greeted by waves of emotional disbelief and gushing appreciation as a vast range of people said, explicitly and implicitly: "We love you, we respect what you've done. This is going to leave a chasm in our lives."

Xavi's shock announcement that he feels beaten up, blamed and nearly broken, causing him to walk away from his Barcelona contract in five months at the latest, was pretty much greeted with criticism, impatience, schadenfreude and a boorish: "OK, he's gone ... who's next?"

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Naturally there are some differences between the three situations.

"Svennis" is a kind, gentle, interesting and extraordinarily successful Swede who won three European trophies (with IFK Göteborg and Lazio), was runner-up in three more including the 1990 European Cup final against AC Milan, won the Italian Cup four times with three different clubs (Sampdoria, AS Roma, Lazio) and made Benfica champions of Portugal three times.

Eriksson, a man who when I visited him in his lakeside home in southern Sweden was housing a family of Afghan asylum seekers in a cottage in his garden, has announced that not only is he dying of incurable cancer but that his remaining timespan is a year at best.

The feedback on how he's viewed reached a peak at the Swedish Sports Gala in Stockholm last week when the great and the good stood and just kept on applauding when he took the stage, to the point that a smiling, bashful Eriksson had to shush them and, as he usually does, play things down rather than play to the gallery.

Back to Sven in a moment.

Klopp's "farewell" was because the 56-year-old German wanted to take charge of his destiny, to be honest and open with people long before his ebbing energy reached anything like debilitating, threatening levels.

Again there was a wholly justified and often quite moving explosion of disbelief, disappointment, adoration and -- crucially -- respect.

Klopp has set renewed standards at Liverpool, infused the club with his personality, and only a miser or a liar could disagree that he has been immensely good for football in England. He'll be badly missed when he departs in June.

Xavi's announcement, the reasons and the reception were all noticeably different from the other two.

Recent times have seen not only a roller coaster of football action (five matches in 13 days with a gross total of 29 goals, two wins and three defeats), they've produced a nose dive in emotional strength and positivity from the Catalan who "celebrated" his 43rd birthday in the midst of that hellish onslaught of competitive action during which his squad exhibited constant frailty.

From telling local journalists that he started every day full of optimism, that he always saw the glass half-full, that he took all the criticism, the mocking, the attacks, the memes with good humour, he suddenly chose the afternoon before this weekend's excruciating 5-3 defeat at home to Villarreal to say: "Perhaps I'm the only one to really understand the reality of this club's situation."

The words of someone who felt alone.

Once his team lost 5-3 having led 3-2 with six minutes of normal time left, the mood changed radically. During the match he was once again booked for his protests. He went and found a TV camera lens and said, directly down the barrel, that the refereeing team not awarding a penalty to Barcelona at 3-3 in the 89th minute was "shameful."

Please note, the refs were right and Xavi was wrong.

Then, after the match, the Barça coach not only announced that he had decided to quit a year earlier than summer 2025, which is when his contract ends -- a deal which Barcelona renewed, improved and extended only 127 days previously -- he used some very revealing and, in my view, damning phrases.

While saying that he was making this announcement to try to change the team dynamic, to try to kick-start a big finale to the season and so on, he added: "The sensation of being Barcelona coach is disagreeable and cruel -- you almost always feel a lack of respect, that your efforts are not valued and that this job is a tremendous drain on your mental health. It's a drain on your energy and, while I'm a really positive guy, it gets to the stage where you decide that it makes no sense to continue."

Now, listen to me closely. No playing legend ever deserves a "free pass" at a club once he becomes the coach or president or whatever. And it's not in any way unfair to put Barcelona's most recent months with Xavi in charge under the microscope of constructive criticism -- not at all. But this is a guy who was not only an inspirational linchpin during several years of the greatest, most successful football Barça has ever played, he also returned, dragged the training ground culture out of the gutter, restored competitive aggression, won the title, met his primary target this season of getting through the Champions League group stage and has a very positive "net" record in Clasicos.

Those facts should all demand that, whether or not his coaching performance has either levelled off or dropped off since winning two trophies last season, respect, fairness, decency and patience should all be 100% guaranteed in how he's treated and spoken about.

The general tone of the reaction to his news and to his words, on radio, television, newspapers and social media, was horrible: dismissive, disdainful, critical and included most of the elements Xavi had despaired of during those last couple of news conferences.

In summary, across the reactions, the messages were that he had reacted immaturely, in the heat of the moment. That if his intention was to help the squad by leaving in summer then why not just leave now. That he'll probably be sacked at the first mishap in the team's performances going forward. That the players won't take his authority seriously anymore. And of course then there was the vulture speculation, across a host of names, as to who might be next -- whether that's immediately or in summer.

Very little time was spent really "hearing" what Xavi had expressed, or appreciating him, or trying to balance out that, perhaps, his problems in recent months are very far from his own making.

I link Xavi's decision, and how it has been received, to Klopp's and Eriksson's announcements because the three men are united in the outrageous treatment they've had to suffer at one time or another.

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They're emblematic of the disgusting trend in which media, fans and even some in their own industry will treat top sportsmen and sportswomen as feelingless, expendable commodities -- until they die, retire or win a big award or trophy. Then, and only then, everyone gushes.

Eriksson, particularly in England, was relentlessly portrayed as a feckless playboy. His private life became fodder for not only the front pages of tabloids but began to dominate the back pages, too. I know, because we talked about it, that he felt embarrassed, humiliated, betrayed by some people around him, hounded.

Klopp, because under his guidance Borussia Dortmund and then Liverpool lost two Champions League finals, a German Cup final, a Europa League final and a League Cup final in the space of five years between 2013 and 2018, was regularly branded as a bottler, a loser and someone who didn't quite have the "right" stuff. It was ridiculous, vindictive and intemperate. And wrong.

The German has been derided and mocked for his relentless unwillingness to drop or to tone down his answers on specific subjects when he thinks that he, his players or his club are being ignored on certain serious issues about which he and they have strong feelings.

Now, after he suddenly revealed that his Auf Wiedersehen moment is imminent, everyone seems to have got things into focus: Klopp is legendary, impressive, era-marking ... a behemoth of the modern game in England.

The pendulum bashes high-profile people while they are doing their jobs, and then swings back when, as I say, they are ill, dying, dead, retiring, winning or leaving in triumph. Mass hypocrisy.

Xavi added something else; he argued that Barcelona have a particular form of this sickness: disparaging anyone when they are there (he named Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and former coach Ernesto Valverde) and then appreciating or missing them only once they leave. He knows that Pep Guardiola, too, left the club unhappy, burned out, feeling deeply bruised and underappreciated.

So, just to wrap this up by using some emphasis: The coach of Spain's reigning champions, winners of the most surprising and against-the-odds LaLiga title I can ever remember, who met the first of this season's objectives set by his employers, who was offered and signed better, longer contract terms four months ago, has decided to quit because of how poisonous, vindictive and unappreciative the environment around him is.

Journalists, editors, media bosses, fans, ex-players and coaches have joined in making manager sackings an "entertainment" industry in itself -- something that is becoming a daily "trending topic," something which coaches are forced to talk about and, worse, worry about weekly. A blood sport.

I, for one, find it disgusting. And whether Xavi is or isn't the right man for Barcelona's current needs, I fundamentally object to all the things which have combined to make him say that he'd had enough.

I think that were you to ask Klopp and Eriksson whether or not they agreed with me, their answers would be firm and clear.

Scotland international Cameron Redpath has signed a new contract to stay at Bath until 2027.

The 24-year-old centre has made 55 appearances since moving to The Rec from Sale Sharks in 2020.

Redpath has been selected in Scotland's Six Nations squad, which begins this weekend.

"I am buzzing. It's been a good couple of years since I joined," he said.

"Obviously at the start of my career here it was a bit tough through injury and a few things that kept me on the sidelines for a while but the last year-and-a-half for me has been really good.

"I am really enjoying my rugby, and enjoying the group that we've got here, whether that's the coaches, the staff, the players and the fans.

"It's a great place to be and I am loving it. I feel that we've got a really good chance of winning something, so I am really happy and really enjoying what we are building here."

Bath are third in the Premiership on 37 points, level with second-placed Harlequins.

There will be no Premiership fixtures in February as the Six Nations begins, with Redpath travelling to Cardiff for Scotland's opener against Wales on Saturday.

Former NBA point guard Ricky Rubio will start training with Barcelona on Tuesday, the Catalan club said on Monday, as the Spaniard prepares to return to the basketball court after announcing that he is entering the final phase of his mental health recovery.

Rubio, who missed most of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers recovering from a torn ACL, retired from the NBA earlier in January after he had stepped away from the franchise in August to concentrate on his mental health.

"After several weeks of thinking and dedicated work on both my mind and body, I see myself with the desire and strength to see how I react with a ball in my hands," Rubio, 33, said in a post on social media platform X.

"My next step has been to ask FC Barcelona if I could, with no obligations and without interrupting their plans for the season, train with them."

Born in El Masnou in the province of Barcelona, Rubio played 140 competitive matches for Barca from 2009 to 2011, helping them to two Spanish Cups, one league and one EuroLeague title.

Northampton Saints have mixed feelings about taking an enforced break after achieving their 10th win in a row, says scrum-half Tom James.

But the upcoming Six Nations means they will not play again in the league until they visit Bristol on 22 March.

"The boys are feeling it, you're body's going to thank you for it [the break]," James told BBC Radio Northampton.

"On the flip side, we have so much momentum at the moment you feel like if we keep going, we're going to keep winning.

"It is what it is, we'll have a nice break, and I'm sure we'll be firing when we come back after that Six Nations block."

James scored one of six tries against Newcastle although Saints were not always at their fluent best, with seven players away on England duty.

He said: "We probably didn't move the game up the pitch how we wanted to in the first half, and that invited a bit of pressure.

"Credit to them, they stuck at it and really went after our breakdown which slowed us down a bit - but it's still a five-point win, and we still put some good rugby out there, so lots of positives.

"I don't think we approached it with any complacency. They're a team desperate for a win in the league, so they were never going to let us have it [all] our own way."

Fly-half Charlie Savala converted three of the tries, his first points since joining Saints on loan from Edinburgh in November, having had to wait for his chance because of the form of England's Fin Smith.

"It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. I played 20-odd games for Edinburgh last season and enjoyed my time there, then a new head coach came in and things didn't work out," he said.

"Fin's been unbelievable, hasn't he? I hope he gets an opportunity in the Six Nations."

Saracens chief executive Lucy Wray has announced she is stepping down from her role at the Premiership title holders after four years.

Saracens have won the Premiership and Championship during Wray's tenure.

She said: "Now is the right time for a new adventure and to put myself and my family first, albeit this has been a difficult decision to make.

"I have been so honoured to be responsible for this incredible club.

"I have grown up with Saracens as part of me and I will never stop wanting the club to thrive."

The Wray family have been involved with Saracens since 1995, when Nigel Wray first invested in the club.

Lucy Wray took over the role in early 2020, not long after her father, Nigel Wray, stood down after 25 years of involvement at the club.

He resigned from his role of chairman and chief executive shortly after the Rugby Football Union announced Saracens had been found guilty of breaching the Premiership's salary cap in the previous three seasons, and would be relegated to the Championship the following year.

Edward Griffiths took over the role on an interim basis but stepped down after less than a month, with Lucy Wray replacing him.

The club won the Championship in their only season in the second tier, to secure promotion, and won the Premiership last season, beating Sale Sharks in the final at Twickenham.

The final match in Wray's tenure was Saturday's 40-22 victory over Exeter Chiefs, which moved them up to fourth in the Premiership table.

The news comes a week after Racing 92 announced the signing of England and Saracens captain Owen Farrell, who has played his entire professional career at StoneX Stadium.