Women’s football to lift ban on drinking alcohol while watching matches January 9, 2025 Women’s football is relaxing its rules to let spectators drink alcohol while watching a match – starting later this month. A pilot scheme is being launched in the second-tier Women’s Championship which will see four clubs trial the arrangement for the rest of the season. Drinking alcohol within view of the pitch is banned in [...]
DCMS extends deadline for Grainger’s successor at UK Sport January 9, 2025 Dame Katherine Grainger is proving a hard act to follow as chair of UK Sport. DCMS had intended to close the application process to be her successor earlier this week but has now extended the deadline for the £40,000-per-year, part-time role until 15 January. The decision is understood to have been taken in light of [...]
Wada crisis: US Anti-Doping Agency backs government withholding funds January 9, 2025 The US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) has insisted it “fully supports” the US government’s call to withhold millions to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). Usada chief executive Travis Tygart said withholding the funds, given the US has been Wada’s biggest funder since its founding, was “the only right choice to protect athletes’ rights, accountability and fair [...]
Champions Cup: Le Showbizz Racing 92 must rediscover je ne sais quoi January 9, 2025 For all of the pizzazz, grandeur and elegance that comes with saying you’re a Racing 92 player, there’s little to show for it in the trophy cabinet. In the professional era the Parisian powerhouse have won just one major trophy, a 2016 Top 14 final against Toulon, and have lost three Investec Champions Cup finals [...]
Majority of Brits back England cricket boycott of Afghanistan match January 8, 2025 The majority of Brits have backed calls for England to boycott upcoming cricket matches against Afghanistan in protest of the Taliban’s gender apartheid. Research from YouGov shows just 14 per cent of Brits say England should continue matches against the nation, with the two teams scheduled to play each other in the Champions Trophy in [...]
UK Athletics faces £20m blow after manslaughter charge January 8, 2025 UK Athletics is staring down the barrel of a huge £20m fine after the cash-strapped track and field governing body was charged with corporate manslaughter. The Crown Prosecution Service charged UK Athletics over the death of Abdullah Hayayei, a Paralympian from the United Arab Emirates, after a metal throwing cage fell on him while training [...]
Potter to take charge at West Ham after Lopetegui sacked January 8, 2025 Former Chelsea and Brighton manager Graham Potter is poised to return to football at West Ham United after they sacked Julen Lopetegui. Potter is reported to have agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Hammers and is set to be in the dugout for Friday’s FA Cup third-round trip to Aston Villa. The 49-year-old has been [...]
Gloucester Rugby forced to pull Russia flag from player shirt January 8, 2025 Gloucester Rugby has been forced to remove a Russian flag from the shirt of one of their players after a complaint from a fan. The Cherry and Whites have operated a policy, since 2015, of rewarding their international stars with the flag of their Test nation on their club shirt. But Gloucester were forced to [...]
England star named world’s most valuable footballer January 8, 2025 England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has been named the world’s most valuable football player in a new independent ranking. Bellingham’s double-winning success with the Spanish side and leading role at international level have lifted his value to £210m, according to the CIES Football Observatory. That puts the 21-year-old ahead of record-breaking Manchester City [...]
Two F1 races hang in balance after Belgian Grand Prix fate confirmed January 8, 2025 Formula 1 has confirmed that the historic Belgian Grand Prix will stop being an annual race in 2027. Under a new deal announced today, Spa will host races in the next three seasons and then begin a period of rotation with other European dates. It will take place in 2029 and 2031 but make way [...]