Match of the Day: Audience peaked at 2.8m after BBC Lineker row while ITV’s Six Nation coverage tops 5m March 20, 2023 Two million viewers tuned in to watch Match Of The Day (MOTD) Live after Gary Lineker’s return to the BBC. The corporation said the coverage of the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, which was hosted by the 62-year-old presenter, saw an average of 2.1 million viewers based on overnight figures. An audience peak of 2.8 [...]
Chelsea could move to Premier League rivals and rugby stadium while Stamford Bridge is rebuilt March 19, 2023 Chelsea could ground-share with west London rivals Fulham and play big games at Twickenham Stadium while the club’s new owners press ahead with plans to rebuild Stamford Bridge. Blues chairman Todd Boehly has informally approached his fellow American Shad Khan, the Fulham chairman, about moving the majority of home games to Craven Cottage, according to [...]
Ain’t Patrick’s Day: Crystal Palace sack manager Vieira March 17, 2023 Crystal Palace have sacked manager Patrick Vieira after a run of one win in 14 Premier League games. The Eagles are just three points above the relegation zone. Palace chairman Steve Parish told the club website: “It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made. “Ultimately, results in recent months have placed [...]
African migrants, Donald Trump and ‘Today I feel gay’: Gianni Infantino’s 10 most outrageous quotes as Fifa president March 16, 2023 What Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s utterances lack in self-awareness they make up for in bombast and questionable parallels. From praising President Trump, Russia and Iran to comparing his career with Rwanda’s recovery from genocide, Infantino’s speeches and other public pronouncements rarely fail to raise eyebrows. To mark his re-election, City A.M. has compiled 10 of [...]
Women’s golf, prize money and the fight for equal pay: Is the sport heading in the right direction? March 16, 2023 As women’s world No1, Lydia Ko is accustomed to breaking new ground and last month was no exception. At Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, the New Zealander became the first Aramco Saudi Ladies International champion to receive equal prize money to the winner of the equivalent men’s tournament, Abraham [...]
Lineker row offers the BBC a chance to reflect on how it does sport March 16, 2023 National treasuredom isn’t codified. It is a status that creeps up on individuals, usually as they enter their twilight years. It does not reflect universal approbation, but certainly requires dissenters to be in a dwindling minority. Gary Lineker is clearly too divisive a figure to be considered a national treasure just yet, but the past [...]
Aramco Team Series 2023: How does the format work, where is it being held and who are the past winners? March 16, 2023 The $5m Aramco Team Series returns for 2023 this week, when dozens of the world’s top women’s golfers will play for individual and team prizes in Singapore. Here is all you need to know about the series. How the Aramco Team Series format works Aramco Team Series events follow a unique format comprising both individual [...]
Manchester United bidders heading for Old Trafford talks this week March 15, 2023 Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest men and a hopeful buyer of Premier League outfit Manchester United, is set to appear at Old Trafford tomorrow to receive a presentation on the potential sale of the club. In addition to Ratcliffe’s appearance tomorrow, representatives of Shaikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani – the man behind [...]
Women in Football will ‘probably’ write to Culture Secretary over White Paper diversity concerns March 15, 2023 Campaign group Women in Football says it is likely to raise concerns with Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer about the White Paper on football governance. Women in Football director Jane Purdon said the blueprint for an incoming football regulator appeared to have “stripped out all mention of diversity” targets for a sport already lagging behind. “I [...]
LIV Golf League’s best kept secret: Why half of the field are at risk of being ditched March 15, 2023 It wasn’t the start to the LIV Golf League that Lee Westwood would have wanted but there were no consequences for the Englishman finishing 41st of a 48-man field in Mexico last month as the big-money tournaments on the upstart circuit famously have no cuts. No cuts, that is, until the end of the season, [...]