REUTERS SPORTS SCHEDULE AT 7.30 p.m. GMT/2.30 p.m. ET.

Here are the top sports stories and upcoming coverage plans for Reuters text service as of 7.30 p.m. GMT/2.30 p.m. ET. For a full schedule of news and events, go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning. TOP STORIES

SOCCER-ENGLAND-MCI City CEO says allegations untrue and "about politics"

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano says the allegations made against his club, which have led to a two year ban from European football by UEFA, are untrue and politically motivated. MOTOR-F1-TESTING

Hamilton top in testing as Vettel calls off sick Six-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton lapped fastest as Mercedes dominated the first day of pre-season testing in Spain on Wednesday while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel called off sick.

TENNIS-DUBAI Top seed Halep survives Jabeur scare to advance in Dubai

Top seed Simona Halep survived an early scare and saved a match point to beat Tunisia's Ons Jabeur 1-6 6-2 7-6(7) in the last 16 of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. UPCOMING

SOCCER SOCCER-ENGLAND-MCI-WHU/REPORT (PIX) (TV)

Soccer - England - Premier League - Manchester City v West Ham United Manchester City face West Ham United in the Premier League. This match was rescheduled from February 9 due to Storm Ciara. The post-match news conference will be the first time Pep Guardiola will speak to the media following UEFA's decision to ban Manchester City from European competition for two years.

19 Feb 14:30 ET / 19:30 GMT SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ATT-VAL/REPORT (PIX)

Soccer - Champions League - Atalanta v Valencia Atalanta host Valencia in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.

19 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-TOT-RBL/REPORT (PIX)

Soccer - Champions League - Tottenham Hotspur v RB Leipzig Tottenham Hotspur face RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

19 Feb 15:00 ET / 20:00 GMT SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ATM-LIV/

Soccer-Klopp hits out at Atletico's negative play after defeat Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp railed against Atletico Madrid's negative tactics and gamesmanship after the holders fell to a 1-0 defeat away from home in a tense Champions League last-16 first leg in the Spanish capital on Tuesday.

19 Feb 17:00 ET / 22:00 GMT SOCCER-RECOPASUDAMERICANA-INV-FLA/REPORT (PIX)

Soccer - Recopa Sudamericana - First Leg - Flamengo v Independiente del Valle Independiente del Valle host Flamnego in the first leg of the Recopa Sudamericana

19 Feb 20:30 ET / 01:30 GMT SOCCER-ITALY/PREVIEW

Soccer- Italy - Serie A preview Preview of the weekend's Serie A matches

20 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT SOCCER-SPAIN/PREVIEW

Soccer - Spain - La Liga preview A preview of the weekend's action in La Liga.

20 Feb 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT SOCCER-EUROPA/WRAP

Soccer - Europe League - Round of 32, first leg wrap Wrap of the evening's Europa League round of 32, first leg matches

20 Feb 12:55 ET / 17:55 GMT BOXING

BOXING-HEAVYWEIGHT-WILDER-FURY/ (PIX) (TV) Boxing - Fury and Wilder hold final news conference before fight

Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury hold their final news conference ahead of their WBC Heavyweight title rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 19 Feb 16:30 ET / 21:30 GMT

OLYMPICS OLYMPICS-2020/SURFING-IGARASHI (PIX) (TV)

Olympics - Surfs up, Igarashi riding wave of Olympic opportunity Kanoa Igarashi was born and grew up in California but the pro surfer will represent Japan - his parents' homeland - at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Iagarashi, who was the first Japanese to win a World Surf League (WSL) Championship event is being tipped as a contender for the gold medal as the sport makes its Olympics debut.

19 Feb 18:00 ET / 23:00 GMT OLYMPICS-2020/FUGU (PIX) (TV)

Olympics-Japan's deadly fish: dreams of Olympic revival Every year, about one person in Japan dies from consuming the deadly delicacy fugu (blowfish). But in Shimonoseki, a harbour city on the southern tip of Honshu, the delicacy is one that holds a deep meaning for the locals – both for its deliciousness and the strong cultural meaning it holds in the area – despite the annual fatalities and numerous victims to the fish's strong poison. The city has Japan's only fugu auction market, and numerous fugu restaurants dot the streets.

20 Feb RUGBY

RUGBY-UNION-NATIONS/ Rugby-Wide open weekend epitomises Six Nation appeal

The Six Nations returns this weekend with three games that look impossible to predict - a timely reminder of the enduring appeal of the great championship 20 Feb 05:00 ET / 10:00 GMT

RUGBY-UNION-NATIONS-WAL-FRA/ Rugby - Wales name team to face France in Six Nations

Wales coach Wayne Pivac will name his side to face France in their Six Nations encounter at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. 20 Feb 07:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

RUGBY-UNION-NATIONS-WAL-FRA/ Rugby - France name team to face Wales in Six Nations

France coach Fabien Galthie will name his side to face Wales in their Six Nations encounter at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. 20 Feb 07:30 ET / 12:30 GMT

GOLF GOLF-MEXICOCITY/ (TV)

Golf - PGA Tour - World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship Day one of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship, Mexico City, where a field of 64 players will compete in the Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City for a purse of $10,500,000

20 Feb 12:00 ET / 17:00 GMT TENNIS

TENNIS-DUBAI/ Tennis - WTA Premier 5 - Dubai Tennis Championships

Day four of the Dubai Tennis Championships - a WTA Premier 5 tournament. 20 Feb 05:00 ET / 10:00 GMT MOTOR RACING

MOTOR-F1-TESTING/ (PIX) (TV) Motor racing - Formula One - Pre-season Testing

Day two of the first round of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 20 Feb 03:00 ET / 08:00 GMT

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE FOOTBALL-NFL-NOTEBOOK - Field Level Media

NFL notebook Wrapping up the day in NFL news and notes.

20 Feb 20:45 ET NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

BASKETBALL-NBA-NOTEBOOK - Field Level Media NBA notebook

News and notes from around the NBA. 20 Feb 21:00 ET

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)