Ed Warner: London 2012 convinced us that Para sport was moving forward, but it isn’t Opinion There are 363 days until the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Tickets go on sale on 9 October. The most expensive events are €100, a sliver over a tenth of the price of the best seats for Olympic athletics. I can guarantee there won’t be only one tenth of the enjoyment. You might [...]
London tops British entries in top 100 sports cities index two from five London and Manchester have been named in the top five of a list of the top 100 sporting cities, according to recent data. The BWC 2023 Ranking of Sports Cities placed London in third and Manchester in fifth on the 100-city list. The capital was second on the list in 2021 and third in 2022 [...]
Ed Warner: Rugby, boxing, netball, Para sport – what should Saudi Arabia buy next? Opinion Challenge accepted! A reader last week asked what the most investable sports worldwide are from the perspective of a sovereign wealth fund such as Saudi Arabia’s PIF. He had rugby union in mind, but wanted a long train journey to dredge up others. A return trip on Avanti West Coast to the first Ashes Test [...]
Tanni Grey-Thompson: Brands hold key to realising potential of disabled people in sport January 2, 2023 London 2012 changed perceptions around disabled people in sport but brands can help increase participation, writes Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson. Ten years after the London Olympics and Paralympics, disabled people are still facing massive barriers to sports participation. While 2012 created a benchmark for future events, it didn’t result in an influx of disabled people taking [...]
London 2012 Paralympics: Why the legacy of the Games has fallen short August 29, 2022 Ten years on from the London 2012 Paralympics, Helen Rowbotham assesses the Games’s legacy. Sport should be accessible to everyone, irrespective of race, gender, economic background or whether you are disabled or not. It’s not new to say that participation is a good thing and leaving a sporting legacy was a big part of what [...]
England’s outgoing Commonwealth chief still sees future for Games August 24, 2022 Team England’s outgoing chief executive insists there is a future for the Commonwealth Games despite debate surrounding where a multi-sport tournament rooted in Britain’s former Empire sits in the 21st century. Paul Blanchard is preparing to leave his position at the head of the team who hosted this year’s competition in Birmingham games after seven [...]
A green and gold decade: Australia prepares for spell as host of sport’s biggest events August 15, 2022 The sun-kissed nation of Australia is about to embark on a decade-long installation as the centre for world sport. Although it was beaten by Qatar to the rights to stage the men’s football World Cup later this year, the country is set to co-host the women’s equivalent as well as Rugby World Cups, a second [...]
Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Amanda Staveley should have waited to buy Chelsea instead March 10, 2022 I can’t help thinking that Amanda Staveley and her consortium have bought the wrong football club. Had they waited just five months they could have had Chelsea FC rather than Newcastle United. A mooted £3bn price tag may be 10 times the price paid for the Magpies, but still well within the means of Saudi [...]
Russian athletes banned from Winter Paralympics after rivals threaten boycott March 3, 2022 Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been banned from the Beijing Winter Paralympics after other nations, including Britain, threatened a boycott. The move represents a swift U-turn from International Olympic Committee, which had on Wednesday said they could compete as neutrals when the Games begin on Friday. It is the latest sporting sanction to hit [...]
Ed Warner: Sport needs a united front against Russia, not patchwork of policies March 3, 2022 On the opening day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the Polish wheelchair rugby team decided not to take to the court in their Euros group match against Russia in Paris. A classy move. If only others were so decisive. The leaders of world sport are already divided in their response to Vladimir Putin’s war. It [...]