SPORTS AGENDA: Trent Alexander-Arnold hits back in £50,000 padel court row at his Cheshire home, Qatar fire shots at Germany... while police are left stretched in Gelsenkirchen

Trent Alexander-Arnold built a £50,000 padel court at his Cheshire home However, the Liverpool defender built the court without planning permission LISTEN: Join us as we debate the BIGGEST talking points on It's All Kicking Off! EUROS DAILY. Available wherever you get your podcasts 

Trent Alexander-Arnold has returned serve in a row over an unauthorised padel court at his Cheshire home.

A £50,000 facility was built at the bottom of the England defender's garden without planning permission. And Alexander-Arnold, 25, could be forced to demolish it.

The Liverpool man has agreed to tear down four floodlights and has hired landscapers to plant trees and hedges and provide screening. However, the parish council have raised objections over noise at the £5million mansion Alexander-Arnold bought from Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling in 2022 — and they have been backed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Now, planning agents have hit back on the footballer's behalf. They say the court causes 'no unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the countryside' and there is 'therefore no basis to refuse planning permission'.

They also point out that no objections have been made over noise by the council's environmental health department. A decision is due later this month and there have so far been no objections from neighbours.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has hit back in a £50,000 padel court row at his Cheshire home

Alexander-Arnold (right) built the padel court at the bottom of the garden of the house he purchased off his former England team-mate Raheem Sterling (left) for £5million in 2022

Qatar fire shots at Germany 

Qataris have wasted no time in firing shots at Germany over what they see as a flawed tournament. The Germans were among the fiercest critics of hosting the World Cup in the Arab state two years ago and media there are responding in kind.

They have highlighted myriad transport issues, torrential rain drenching fans in stadiums, excessive littering and fights between fans as problems that were not experienced when they hosted the World Cup.

Qataris have wasted no time in firing shots at Germany over what they see as a flawed tournament at Euro 2024, with Germany among the fiercest critics of the 2022 World Cup

Famous faces forced on to rainy streets 

Not the greatest of starts to Sunday for many of those in Germany to cover England. A breakfast fire alarm at the NH Hotel in Essen sparked an evacuation and forced a host of famous names on to the rainy streets.

The likes of Joe Hart, Mail Sport's Martin Keown and Stephen Warnock struggled to find cover while four fire engines and police raced to the scene.

If nothing else, the alarm — triggered by a guest smoking in their room — shifted drug dealers who were using the area to peddle their wares.

Joe Hart was among the famous faces forced onto the rainy streets after an early fire alarm

Police stretched in Gelsenkirchen

A busy weekend for German police in Gelsenkirchen, with England playing Slovakia clashing with the annual conference of the far-Right Alternative for Germany party.

Tens of thousands opposed to the AfD gathered in nearby Essen, with officers drafted from across the country to keep the peace.

Two officers were kicked in the head and seriously injured amid violent scenes. The AfD came second in recent European elections, grabbing 16 per cent of the vote.

It was a busy weekend for German police in Gelsenkirchen, with England's last-16 clash against Slovakia clashing with the annual conference of the far-Right Alternative for Germany party

Shreeves and Darke see into the future 

Geoff Shreeves and Ian Darke, both in Germany for US broadcaster Fox, used their ability to see into the future to win themselves a couple of glasses of red wine.

The pair were in the Fox hub in Cologne before Albania v Italy with a colleague, who declared that Italy would run out easy winners. The commentators remarked that Italy were notoriously slow starters and bet their colleague that the Albanians would score in the first two minutes.

When that duly unfolded, their stunned co-worker headed to the bar to fetch their winnings. It was only after taking a sip that Shreeves confessed the feed they were watching was on delay, and that they had seen the goal on their phones under the table prior to making the wager.

Geoff Shreeves and Ian Darke (not pictured) managed to win themselves a glass of red wine

Early Olympic gaffe for BBC 

The bungling BBC have come under fire for a mistake-laden preview of their Olympics coverage.

The names of medal hopefuls Molly Caudery and Kye Whyte were both spelled incorrectly, Laura Kenny was quoted as spelling her own son's name wrong and Sky Brown was listed as a chance in surfing despite not qualifying for the event.

The bungling BBC have come under fire for a mistake-laden preview of their Olympics coverage, which included medal hopeful Kye Whyte (pictured) seeing his name spelt wrong

Euro 2024 group stage goes green 

UEFA say the group stages brought a 75 per cent decrease in flights taken by participating teams compared to 2016, with more sides using buses and trains.