Top Kiwi ref to take charge of Gloucester vs Leicester in Premiership January 21, 2025 New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe will take to the whistle in the Premiership this weekend in preparation for reffing England at the Six Nations, City AM can reveal. The Super Rugby official, who has officiated on a British and Irish Lions Tour, will take charge of Gloucester’s Premiership fixture against Leicester Tigers on Saturday at [...]
‘A fantastic milestone’: Haas appoints F1’s first female race engineer January 21, 2025 Equality in motorsport campaigners have welcomed Laura Muller’s appointment by Haas as the first female race engineer in Formula 1. German Muller, who has previously held other engineering roles with Haas, will work closely with French driver Esteban Ocon, including advising him during races on the team radio. Team principal Ayao Komatsu said: “Her work [...]
Wales seek Six Nations boost from Principality Stadium roof decision January 21, 2025 Wales have attempted to draw a line under rugby’s roof rows of the past ahead of the Six Nations by announcing that the Principality Stadium will remain covered for all of the team’s home matches until at least 2027. Previously, opponents have had to agree to the roof being closed at the 74,000-seater venue but [...]
Paris 2024 Olympic medals to be replaced after they flake and rust January 21, 2025 Red-faced Olympics chiefs have pledged to replace defective medals from the Paris 2024 Games after more than 100 athletes complained that they have begun to flake and rust. Just days after the closing ceremony, disgruntled athletes began sharing pictures of their damaged medals on social media and demanding they be replaced. American skateboarder Nyjah Huston [...]
Northampton Saints England’s best hope in Investec Champions Cup January 21, 2025 It wasn’t in the 66 points that came before full-time, nor in the sledging match in the stands that decided an all-time epic between Northampton Saints and Munster in round four of the Investec Champions Cup. Instead it was the colossal mitts of one Henry Pollock, the East Mids star quickly forming a rugby reputation [...]
UK motorsport businesses missing out on corporation tax relief January 21, 2025 The heart of the UK’s Formula 1 and motorsport hub could be paying unnecessarily high tax rates because they’re unaware of free relief available to them, a new study has revealed. Less than 10 per cent of firms are claiming Patent Box relief in the motorsport corridor of the UK, which houses the likes of [...]
Investec Champions Cup: Benetton shine and Castres shock January 20, 2025 Nearly 50 matches after we began, the great and good of European rugby have been whittled down to 16 teams. The Investec Champions Cup round of 16 will see a number of firsts for the game intertwined with some classic fixtures synonymous with the competition. Because after the four rounds of pool games, South African [...]
Football regulator: Tory peers right to question changes, says Collins January 20, 2025 Former Culture, Media and Sport select committee chair Damian Collins has defended Conservative peers’ thorough questioning of the Labour government’s beefed-up plans for an independent football regulator. Sport Minister Stephanie Peacock last week accused some Tory peers of submitting amendments “cynically designed to dither, delay and block” the progress of the Football Governance Bill through [...]
Fifa boss Infantino on Trump: ‘We will make entire world great again’ January 20, 2025 Fifa chief Gianni Infantino has hailed his “great friendship” with US president-elect Donald Trump and vowed that they will “make the entire world great again”. Infantino has forged close connections with Trump and the US, which will host the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup this summer and co-host the men’s World Cup [...]
Iga Swiatek: Wada decision clears Pole to continue Australian Open bid January 20, 2025 No2 seed Iga Swiatek has been cleared to continue her quest for a first Australian Open title after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) ruled out pushing for a longer ban. Swiatek, 23, served a one-month ban last year after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that her positive test for trimetazidine was a result [...]