Sponsors and sports must do more to protect the mental health of athletes like Naomi Osaka June 2, 2021 Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open on mental health grounds should come as a surprise to no one, given the conversation around the wellbeing of elite athletes. The four-times grand slam winner may be one of the more reserved tennis players on the women’s circuit, so to speak openly about her depression and anxiety [...]
Champions League: Portugal warns Chelsea football fans to watch for Covid symptoms May 31, 2021 All those who got up close to Champions League celebrations in the city of Porto should monitor for Covid-19 symptoms and avoid close contact with others over the next 14 days, Portugal’s northern region health authority warned this morning. Watch the full report.
Championship Play-Off Final: £170m prize at stake for Brentford and Swansea in football’s most lucrative match May 29, 2021 Saturday’s Championship Play-Off Final is worth £170m to the winning team, making it football’s most lucrative match, according to Deloitte. The Wembley fixture, to decide which team gets the remaining place in next season’s Premier League, is this year between Brentford and Swansea City. “Promotion to the Premier League remains the most valuable prize in [...]
Chris Froome on his quest for a fifth Tour de France, why he loves watching Roger Federer win, and his investment in cycling tech company Hammerhead May 28, 2021 When Chris Froome talks about fighting back from the 2019 crash that threatened one of cycling’s most decorated careers, he speaks of “putting the blinkers on”. He’s referring to his attempt to stay single-minded; to block out any nagging doubts that the toll the sport has taken on his body might deny him the fifth [...]
Leicester City title hero Christian Fuchs explains why he is auctioning his viral video of the team’s Premier League celebrations as an NFT May 28, 2021 Former Leicester City player Christian Fuchs is auctioning his viral video clip of the team celebrating the Premier League title as part of an NFT (non-fungible token). Fuchs shot the clip of the moment Leicester became champions on his mobile phone and shared it on Twitter, where it has received 12m views. The defender is [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Castore eyes Chinese market with Wolves kit deal; Rosberg signs up IG Prime to Extreme E team; Koepka does rival DeChambeau a favour May 27, 2021 Change is in the air at Wolves, and not only because manager Nuno Espirito Santo departed this week. The Black Country’s finest have also signed a new kit deal with fast-growing premium British sportswear brand Castore. Castore has been canny in its choice of sportspeople and teams to get behind, from Andy Murray to Owen [...]
Britain looks bound for swimming success at Tokyo 2020 Olympics – and that can get a generation that has been left behind back in the pool May 26, 2021 The British success at the European Championships in Budapest last week was amazing to see, with 26 medals – including 11 gold – picked up in swimming alone, and so many names stepping up ahead of Tokyo 2020. I’ve seen some great British swimming line-ups over the years, but I think this is the most [...]
Six Nations to remain free-to-air as BBC and ITV ink new deal May 21, 2021 The Six Nations is set to remain free-to-air after the competition reached an agreement in principle to renew its broadcasting deal with the BBC and ITV. The new agreement will run for four years from 2022 until after the championships in 2025. For the men’s competition, ITV will show all of England, Ireland, Italian and [...]
Premier League deal: Fast-growing sportswear brand owned by Andy Murray signs up Wolverhampton Wanderers May 21, 2021 Fast-growing UK sportswear brand Castore, which is part owned by Sir Andy Murray, has agreed its first kit deal with a Premier League club. The company will now supply Wolverhampton Wanderers in a multi-year partnership thought to be worth several million pounds. It comes less than a week after it was disclosed that the Liverpool-based [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Bitcoin plunge hits chess grandmasters; ‘Stamford Beach’ stunt recalls Chelsea row; and Hundred teams get new spinners May 20, 2021 When is a $100,000 bonus not worth $100,000? That is a conundrum for the chess grandmasters taking part in the FTX Crypto Cup. The tournament, which features world champion Magnus Carlsen and starts this weekend, is offering a $320,000 prize to the winner – a record for an online chess event. But $100,000 of that [...]