AHEAD OF THE GAME: Rishi Sunak will send the Government’s most senior gay minister to the World Cup

Rishi Sunak is planning a show of solidarity with gay England fans travelling to the World Cup by sending the Government’s most senior gay minister to Qatar as part of the official party. 

While the precise details of the Government delegation are still being finalised, Stuart Andrew is set to attend the tournament in his dual ministerial role as Sports Minister and Minister for Equalities.

Andrew is likely to take a different approach to Qatar’s ban on homosexuality — with sanctions ranging from seven years in prison to the death penalty for Muslims who are prosecuted under Sharia law — to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who was strongly criticised last month for urging gay fans to show a ‘little bit of flex and compromise’ and to ‘respect the culture of your host nation’.

Rishi Sunak (left) will send the Government’s most senior gay minister, Stuart Andrew (right), to Qatar as part of the official party

Southgate’s pain over Kane

Antonio Conte’s decision to start Harry Kane in Tottenham’s Carabao Cup third-round defeat by Nottingham Forest earlier this week did not go down well with England manager Gareth Southgate, who was hoping his captain and leading scorer would be given a rare night off ahead of the World Cup.

Kane has now started 21 successive matches for Tottenham, which will no doubt become 22 when Leeds visit this afternoon, although his side’s 2-0 defeat at the City Ground means he will at least be spared playing a fourth-round tie three days after the World Cup final.

Gareth Southgate will not have been happy to see Harry Kane starting in the Carabao Cup

Palace owners on red alert 

David Blitzer and Josh Harris’s commitment to Crystal Palace will be tested again with Liverpool now openly for sale.

The Philadelphia 76ers owners provided the majority of the funding — and made clear they were willing to dump their Palace shares had they been successful — in a failed attempt to buy Chelsea earlier this year and Liverpool is in some ways a more attractive proposition, given the expansion of Anfield to a 61,000-capacity stadium is almost complete.

Blitzer and Harris held a controlling stake in the Chelsea bid fronted by Sir Martin Broughton, a former Liverpool chairman who was involved in selling the club to the Fenway Sports Group, and would be well placed to broker another deal.

Burnley look to borrow again 

Burnley are planning to pay off the remaining £32.3million outstanding from their £65m loan from MSD Holdings and secure fresh borrowing from an alternative source. Aldermore Bank have been identified by the club as preferable lenders, as they have a specialist football finance division and have provided more than £200m in lending to clubs — including Leeds and Brighton — since their launch in 2017.

Burnley are understood to be seeking a larger, long-term loan from Aldermore after relegation to the Championship triggered early repayment clauses in their deal with MSD, which had they stayed in the top flight would have been interest-only until 2026. The club made three repayments to MSD of £15m, £5m and £12.3m in the summer and are now seeking to refinance completely.

Burnley, who top the Championship under Vincent Kompany, are looking for fresh borrowing

Tan’s had enough of Cardiff 

Cardiff owner Vincent Tan is considering putting the club up for sale because they are haemorrhaging his money and facing another battle to avoid relegation from the Championship. Cardiff’s most recent accounts, published last summer, revealed debts of £109m, with £54m owed to Tan, and club executives forecast that they will record more losses this year.

Tan received several expressions of interest in Cardiff earlier this year without getting a formal offer, and the Malaysian businessman may look to be more proactive over the coming months by engaging someone to sell the club.

Vincent Tan is considering putting Cardiff up for sale, with the club in a relegation battle