European football to rebel over winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia December 10, 2024 European football leagues are set to rebel against plans to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup in Saudi Arabia in the winter. The Middle Eastern kingdom is set to be officially confirmed as hosts for the 2034 edition of the World Cup on Wednesday at a Fifa congress meeting. The move could see Saudi Arabia [...]
Credit ratings agency tips more top football clubs to ‘do a Tottenham’ December 10, 2024 More European football clubs will follow Tottenham Hotspur’s lead by investing in stadiums as broadcast revenues plateau, credit ratings agency Morningstar DBRS has forecast. After decades of strong growth, most top leagues have seen a fall or only marginal increases in the value of their TV contracts – the source of the majority of their [...]
Khan’s Global Fighters’ Union wants TV cash to fund ‘Fair Fight’ mission December 10, 2024 Amir Khan’s Global Fighters’ Union has called for broadcasting revenue to fund better working standards for boxers, mixed martial artists and other competitors in combat sports. The Global Fighters’ Union is seeking a similar arrangement to the Professional Footballers’ Association, which receives a £25m annual subsidy from the Premier League’s TV contracts. Khan’s union, which [...]
How Playtomic surfed – and fuelled – tidal wave of interest in padel December 10, 2024 The platform now boasts 1.4m active users in Europe, up 40 per cent on last year.
Premier League referee Coote sacked after X-rated Klopp diatribe December 9, 2024 Premier League referee David Coote has been sacked by officials’ body PGMOL after an investigation found him to be “in serious breach” of his contract. It comes four weeks after he was suspended following the emergence of a video in which Coote made highly derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Days later further [...]
Major bank sponsor follows Carlos Sainz from Ferrari to Williams December 9, 2024 Spanish banking group Santander has switched its Formula 1 team sponsorship from Ferrari to Williams after driver Carlos Sainz Jr made the same move. Williams said the partnership was a “multi-year” agreement, believed to be in line with Sainz’s contract at the Oxfordshire-based team, which runs until 2026 with the option of an extension. Santander’s [...]
Biggest contract in sport history tempts baseball star to join city rivals December 9, 2024 Major League Baseball star Juan Soto has agreed sport’s biggest ever contract, worth $765m (£599m), to join the New York Mets. The Dominican’s 15-year deal eclipses Shohei Ohtani’s $700m contract with the LA Dodgers, signed last year, although that is worth more per season. Soto, a free agent after leaving the New York Yankees, is [...]
Team GB star tipped to end 20-year wait at Sports Personality of the Year December 9, 2024 Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson is tipped to become the first female track and field athlete to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year for two decades after the shortlist was announced on Monday. Team GB’s golden girl of middle distance running is the odds-on favourite with bookmakers to claim the prize, which is decided [...]
Top 14 comes up trumps again in as Investec Champions Cup kicks off December 8, 2024 Anyone hoping for an end to the dominance of French clubs in the Investec Champions Cup, look away now. Holders Toulouse and Bordeaux-Begles both won their opening pool games on Sunday, making it six wins out of a possible eight from representatives of the Top 14 over round one of the competition. The league that [...]
Hamilton rolls back the years on Mercedes farewell in Abu Dhabi December 8, 2024 Lewis Hamilton was delighted to finish on a high after he defied starting from the back end of the grid to pip teammate George Russell to fourth place in his final race for Mercedes. Lando Norris won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to ensure McLaren held off Ferrari and won their first Formula 1 [...]