Divvys Blog

Video Assistant Referees (VAR) technology will be used in the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League and Europa League competitions.

European football’s governing body confirmed the move following the meeting of its executive committee in Dublin.

VAR will also be used at next summer’s Nations League Finals – which will feature England as well as Portugal, Holland and Switzerland.

The Champions League last 16 gets under way in February next year.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “We are ready to use VAR earlier than initially planned and we are convinced that it will be beneficial for our competitions as it will provide valuable help to match officials and will allow to reduce incorrect decisions.”

Beyonce's brilliance continues sailing new heights ... it's the only way to describe her performance Sunday honoring the late Nelson Mandela.

The Queen brought the crowd to its feet and even triggered tears -- presumably of joy -- from thousands of fans who watched her perform at the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

The event honored Mandela's 100 years since the South African president's birth. Jay-Z also headlined the event but no doubt the show belonged to his wife. You can see her jam out with Ed Sheeran ... and the crowd -- treated to the free concert -- ate it up.

Before the event, Bey wrote a letter dedicated to Nelson saying, in part, "Your kindness and gratitude for every experience, and your ability to forgive are lessons I have learned and will pass on to my three children. My entire family holds you in high regard."

Mark Hughes has been sacked by Southampton after Saturday evening's 2-2 draw with Manchester United.

The Saints have won just one of their last 12 games in all competitions; a penalty victory over Everton in the League Cup back in October.

Hughes' side were 2-0 up on United over the weekend, before surrendering their advantage. The draw lifted the south coast side to 18th in the table, now a point above basement side Fulham.

"Southampton Football Club can today confirm it has parted company with First Team Manager Mark Hughes," said a club statement.

"Assistant First Team Manager Mark Bowen and Assistant First Team Coach Eddie Niedzwiecki have also left the club. We would like to express our thanks to Mark and his staff for all of their efforts during their time at St Mary’s. The search for a new manager to take the club forward is already under way."

First Team Assistant Coach Kelvin Davis will take charge of the team for Wednesday’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.

Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis will be hoping the new man in charge will give him more game-time. The 33 year-old has played just a handful of minutes of Premier League football this season, making only his second substitute appearance of the campaign against United as he was brought on in injury-time. Davis has made just one start in all competitions, against Brighton in the League Cup back in August.

View this post on Instagram

vintage Paris Hilton vibes

A post shared by Kendall (@kendalljenner) on Nov 3, 2016 at 8:24am PDT

In fact, Kendall's dress was a 'lewk' that she had directly copied from Paris Hilton, as the heiress wore an identical design to her own 21st birthday, party back in 2002.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang warned his Golden Boot rivals his best is still to come, after scoring twice in Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Tottenham.

The forward now tops the Premier League scoring charts with 10 goals.

In the previous four seasons, the Premier League Golden Boot has been dominated by Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah — and Aubameyang believes he is on the same level as his rivals.

Told that he is the first player to score with 10 consecutive shots on target in the Premier League since Blackburn’s Benni McCarthy in 2007, Aubameyang said: “Wow, not bad, eh? And I think I’m not at 100 per cent. I’m really happy because my best form is coming. Yesterday I felt very good on the pitch.

“I hope I’m at the same level [as Kane, Aguero and Salah] and I think so, yes. 

“It’s early in the season. We have good strikers in the Premier League, so it will be tough [to finish as top scorer]. But I’m happy we won yesterday. The most important thing is the team.”

The Gabonese has switched between centre-forward and the  left wing under Gunners coach Unai Emery and he believes the key to his form has been a return to the middle, having started centrally against Bournemouth last weekend and Spurs.

“Everybody knows it — I like to  play up front, where I know that I  can help the team. Sometimes the coach puts me on the left side but centre-forward is my favourite position,” said Aubameyang, who joined Arsenal last January from Borussia Dortmund.

“Of course, I expected this [form]! Because the team have helped me to settle in good. It [my move to Arsenal] has gone well. I’m really happy here. We played like a team and we did well yesterday.”

In another testament to the change in mood at the club under Emery, Aubameyang said he had never experienced the Emirates Stadium as loud as it was for yesterday’s victory over their north London rivals which took Arsenal into the top four.

“It’s the first time it has been like that [for me],” said the 29-year-old, who opened the scoring yesterday with a penalty and then made it 2-2.

“Okay, against Atletico Madrid last season [in the Europa League  semi-final first leg] was really nice but yesterday was the best atmosphere I’ve experienced on the pitch.

“That’s what I like about the Premier League, of course. I think it’s the greatest league in the world — it’s a great challenge for me and I’m happy to score goals. I think it’s good for us. 

“We knew that if we won this game we’d be in the top four. It’s great now. We have to look forward because we have an important game on Wednesday [against Manchester United]. We know that it’s tough to stay in the top four.”

The parents of a little girl found out she had cancer after a cute photograph of her falling asleep in a swing turned out to be a deadly symptom. 

Dave Fletcher, 39, thought he was capturing a cute moment when he pictured daughter Izzy dozing off at a playground when she was 23-months-old. 

But just a few weeks later Dave and wife Vicky, 37, discovered their toddler daughter’s tiredness turned out to be a sign that she had leukaemia.

The now three-year-old has since undergone 570 doses of chemotherapy and is receiving maintenance therapy in a bid to stop the cancer returning. 

Dave said he thought nothing of it at first when he snapped Izzy nodding off in the swing at a park near their home in Claines, Worcestershire.

He is now warning other parents to be vigilant and look out for the tell-tale signs. Dave said: ‘It was just an afternoon pop out to the swings. She was swinging away – I turned around and she had dropped off. 

‘She was drowsy and fell asleep but I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was a cute moment and just took a picture of her as you do. ‘It was only afterwards we realised it was all part of the symptoms and what I’d captured was her displaying signs of something more sinister. 

‘She had been tired, had had a few colds or viruses, and quite a bit of bruising on her legs. But we put all this down to normal childhood bumps and minor illness.

‘You get a bit sentimental, looking at pictures of her before she was ill – you just realise how much she’s been through since at so young.’ The couple first took Izzy to a GP in January last year after a strange rash appeared on her leg.

By the next morning, Izzy’s rash had spread and she then developed a temperature, so her parents took her to Worcester Royal Hospital. 

She was diagnosed with leukaemia the same day and began a course of chemotherapy the following week. Dave added: ‘She has grown up very quickly and been subjected to medicine she doesn’t like but has taken everything in her stride so far. 

‘When she was diagnosed it came out of the blue. We were both in real shock as it happened so fast.

R‘It was a big unknown. A family member died of leukaemia five years ago, so it was a scary time. ‘We didn’t know what was going to happen at that stage or what the future held.’ Brave Izzy has now received a Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens Star Award in recognition of what she has been through. 

Vicky, 37, said: ‘Izzy was so excited to receive her award. It was a nice positive experience that rewarded her for struggling on with her treatment.’

Jane Redman, spokesperson for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens in Worcestershire, said: ‘Cancer can have a devastating impact on their lives and many of those who survive may live with serious long-term side effects from their treatment. 

‘Our mission is to fund research to find new, better and kinder treatments for young cancer patients. ‘We want to bring forward the day when every child and young person survives cancer and does so with a good quality of life.’

Piers Morgan didn’t hold back as he weighed in on the picture of David Beckham kissing his daughter Harper on the lips. 

Fans came to the footballer’s defence after he shared the sweet photo of himself giving his seven-year-old daughter a peck on the lips. But Piers is firmly on the opposite side of the debate, labelling the kiss ‘weird’. Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, he said: ‘If the kid’s seven you don’t kiss them on the lips. 

‘My sons got a firm handshake or the 50 Cent shoulder thing, or a full manly hug. ‘I think it’s weird.’ He also criticised David for sharing the photo of his daughter in the first place. Piers Morgan slates David Beckham for kissing Harper Play Video Loaded: 0% 0:00Progress: 0% PlayMute Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:59 Fullscreen