China’s footballers may be struggling on the pitch but its companies are proving to be a big player, signing sponsorship deals with FIFA as the giant Asian nation looks to boost its chances of hosting the World Cup. In the space of a year, football governing body FIFA has gained three major Chinese sponsors in … Read more
England were hit with a horror World Cup draw alongside France and Argentina on Wednesday in a devilishly tricky bracket that French coach Guy Noves called a “death group”. The 2003 champions were handed the toughest assignment of rugby’s top nations, with holders New Zealand drawing South Africa and Italy in Pool B. Two-time winners … Read more
Uefa has achieved its stated aim of 16 slots. Its president, Aleksander Ceferin, made it clear that would be his demand in return for supporting an expanded tournament. Ratification will be straightforward given the heads of the confederations have carved this up between them. The play-off tournament is a new idea. It may sound the … Read more
Global football federations are “overwhelmingly in favour” of plans for a 48-team World Cup, Fifa president Gianni Infantino says. The head of football’s governing body outlined his vision for an expanded tournament comprising 16 groups of three teams earlier this month. The top two teams in each group would progress to the knockout rounds. A … Read more
Brazil has been banned from international basketball tournaments for “serious” rule breaches, the sport’s world governing body FIBA said on Monday. In a statement, FIBA said the Brazilian Basketball Federation (CBB) “failed to comply with its obligations” to send youth and senior teams to international competitions. The entity said Brazil was also penalized for cancelling … Read more
Kwesi Nyantakyi and his FIFA Council colleagues ended their first meetings over two days on Friday. The new composition discussed a series of issues relating to the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process, women’s competitions, the FIFA Football Awards 2016, the venue for the 67th FIFA Congress and FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future … Read more
European countries will not be able to host the 2026 World Cup because of Fifa’s rotational policy. It means the previous two host confederations – Europe in 2018 and Asia in 2022 – are barred from bidding. The 2026 tournament could involve 40 or 48 nations after world governing body Fifa agreed to study in … Read more
Britain’s most successful Olympic track and field athlete of all time. Farah won in 13 minutes 3.30 seconds as Scot Andrew Butchart finished sixth. “It shows I didn’t just fluke it in London. To do it again is incredible. I can’t believe it,” said Farah. Farah’s was Britain’s 27th gold in Rio and their 65th … Read more
Usain Bolt won the men’s 200m to claim his second Rio 2016 gold, his eighth at an Olympics, and keep alive his hopes of an unprecedented ‘treble treble’. The Jamaican ran 19.78 seconds to come home ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse and France’s Christophe Lemaitre. Britain’s Adam Gemili clocked the same time as Lemaitre, … Read more
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt became the first athlete to win three Olympic 100m titles by beating American Justin Gatlin to gold at Rio 2016. Bolt, 29, ran 9.81 seconds in his final Olympics to replicate his success at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Gatlin, twice banned for doping offences, finished 0.08 seconds behind Bolt to take … Read more