Category Archives: Sport

Salford museum pays £7.8m for LS Lowry’s Going to the Match

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Purchase of 1953 painting beloved by football fans made possible by gift from charitable foundation

A painting by LS Lowry beloved by football fans and art enthusiasts has been bought by the Lowry museum and gallery in Salford, saving it from disappearing into a private collection.

The museum paid £7.8m including fees for Going to the Match, painted in 1953, at an auction on Wednesday evening. The purchase was made possible by a gift from the Law Family charitable foundation, which was set up by the hedge fund manager and Conservative party donor Andrew Law and his wife, Zoë. The painting had been estimated to fetch £5m-£8m.

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Brittney Griner sends message from Russian prison on birthday: ‘Thanks for fighting to get me home’

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Basketball player, who was arrested at Moscow airport after authorities found vape canisters, thanks supporters

Brittney Griner thanked her supporters from a Russian prison where the detained basketball athlete spent her 32nd birthday on Tuesday.

In a statement released by her lawyers and reported by CNN, Griner said: “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me.”

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Slimmed down Boris Becker reportedly teaching yoga in prison

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Former Wimbledon champion trains at Huntercombe prison where he is serving time for hiding assets, German tabloid reports

Boris Becker is reported to have lost weight and won friends in the UK prison where he is serving a sentence related to his 2017 bankruptcy, according to a German newspaper.

The former Wimbledon champion was transferred from Wandsworth prison to Huntercombe prison near Nuffield, Oxfordshire, in May. In April he was jailed for two and a half years for concealing £2.5m of assets to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy.

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Missing Iranian climber dropped headscarf by mistake, Instagram post claims

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Friends of Elnaz Rekabi have been unable to contact athlete since Sunday, while embassy says she returned home with rest of team

A female Iranian climber who competed in an international tournament without a hijab did so because her headscarf had dropped by mistake, a post on her Instagram account has claimed.

Footage of Elnaz Rekabi, 33, scaling a wall without her head covered during an international tournament went viral, coming amid big female-led demonstrations against Iran’s clerical rulers sparked by strict Islamic rules on women’s clothing.

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Putin aide says release of Brittney Griner is not a priority for Russia

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  • Olympic champion serving nine-year sentence on drug charge
  • Biden administration says it wants to bring player home

The difficulties involved in freeing Brittney Griner from her imprisonment in Russia were brought into stark relief this weekend when a senior aide to Vladimir Putin said the issue is not a priority for the Russian president.

In August, the basketball star was given a nine-year prison sentence for bringing a small amount of cannabis oil into Russia. The 31-year-old said she uses the drug to treat pain and has lodged an appeal against her sentence.

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Qatar World Cup imposes ‘chilling’ restrictions on media

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Rules ban BBC, ITV and other broadcasters from filming near government buildings and migrant workers’ accommodation

International television crews in Qatar for the Fifa World Cup will be banned from interviewing people in their own homes as part of sweeping reporting restrictions that could have a “severe chilling effect” on media coverage.

Broadcasters, such as the BBC and ITV, will also be forbidden from filming at accommodation sites, like those housing migrant workers, under the terms of filming permits issued by the Qatari government.

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‘Now is the time’: Richard Marles has met NRL to push for Papua New Guinea team

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On visit to Port Moresby, defence minister says ‘it would be so meaningful’ for PNG to become National Rugby League’s 18th team

Australia’s deputy prime minister has held talks with National Rugby League officials to push the case for a Papua New Guinea team, declaring “now is the time” to expand the competition.

Richard Marles, visiting PNG in his capacity as defence minister, said on Thursday that he had “personally spoken with the NRL a number of times about this”.

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Hockey Canada’s board and CEO resign amid fallout from sexual abuse scandal

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  • Ice hockey body had secret fund to deal with abuse allegations
  • Politicians and sponsors have attacked handling of claims

The head of Hockey Canada and its entire board of directors have resigned amid a growing scandal over how the sport’s governing body failed to address allegations of sexual assault.

On Tuesday morning, Hockey Canada announced its CEO, Scott Smith, was leaving the embattled organization.

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Indonesian football fans set aside fierce rivalries after stadium disaster

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After 131 lives were lost at a match, supporters have come together to offer support and seek answers

In Indonesia, football fan culture is vibrant, and its rivalries intense. Animosity between opposing teams is so strong that away fans are generally banned from attending games, as was the case at the time of the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster, when only home Arema supporters were allowed tickets.

Rivalries have descended into violence in the past. Before the Kanjuruhan disaster, 78 people had died in football-related accidents over the last 28 years, according to government figures. It is common for away players to be escorted to and from matches by armoured vehicles.

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More sports could be free to watch on Australian TV as anti-siphoning review kicks off

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Streaming services on standby as review expected to recommend changes to the number of games broadcast on free-to-air television

More elite sports could end up on free-to-air television in Australia and streaming services such as Stan or Kayo could face increased regulation when bidding for broadcast deals, as the federal government looks to modernise rules governing which events can be shown on Foxtel pay TV.

“Every Australian deserves the chance to enjoy live and free coverage of events of national significance, regardless of where they live or what they earn,” the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said.

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Trudeau intervenes as sexual abuse scandal rocks Canada’s ice hockey body

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Prime minister hints at setting up new governing body after major firms pull support for Hockey Canada over handling of allegations

Justin Trudeau has warned Canada’s ice hockey governing body that it has “lost the confidence” of Canadians and could be easily replaced by a new organization, amid growing outcry about its handling of a string of sexual assault allegations.

The prime minister’s comments come as a wave of major companies publicly pulled support for the embattled organization on Thursday.

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‘I helped out security’: the backstory behind Bobby Wagner’s viral NFL hit

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Video of NFL star taking out animal rights demonstrator who interrupted game against San Francisco 49ers went viral

National Football League linebacker Bobby Wagner laid one of the season’s most jarring hits this week on an animal rights advocate who ran on to the field of a game to protest about criminal charges filed against two other activists.

“I just saw somebody running on the field, and [it looked like] he wasn’t supposed to be on the field,” Wagner, who plays for the Los Angeles Rams, said when reporters asked him about tackling the protester on Monday night. “I saw security was having a little problem, so I helped them out.”

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Andrew Thorburn resigns as Essendon CEO after one day over links to controversial church

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Essendon says City on a Hill’s values are in ‘direct contradiction’ with its own, as Daniel Andrews labels its views on homosexuality and abortion ‘appalling’

Andrew Thorburn has resigned as Essendon chief executive 24 hours after being appointed because his links to a church condemning homosexuality and abortion were in “direct contradiction” to the values of the AFL club.

The Bombers announced on Tuesday afternoon that Thorburn, despite not holding the same personal views as the City on the Hill movement for which he is chairman, felt he could not serve in both roles and had offered his resignation.

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Indonesia football stadium disaster: police chief sacked as investigation launched

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Officers investigated after teargas fired and at least 125 people, including 32 children, killed in crush

An Indonesian police chief and nine elite officers were removed from their posts and 18 others were being investigated for responsibility in the firing of teargas inside a soccer stadium that led to a crush, killing at least 125 people, officials said.

Indonesian police are facing increasing pressure over their management of crowds during the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster.

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Football Australia under pressure to issue lifetime bans for Sydney fans who made Nazi salute

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Sydney United 58 supports ejected during Australia Cup final with video now being reviewed to uncover others who displayed ‘vile symbols and salutes’

Football Australia is trawling through video footage of the crowd at Saturday night’s Australia Cup final in Sydney after some fans “displayed the Hitler salute”.

The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies has called for Sydney United 58 fans who displayed Nazi symbols and salutes at the match to be given lifetime bans.

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Jeff Kennett says Hawthorn racism allegations a ‘bump along the highway’ as WorkSafe investigates claims

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Outgoing president insists AFL club is not in crisis as WorkSafe urges anyone who experienced or witnessed ‘health and safety concerns’ to contact them

Outgoing Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says the leaking of racism allegations at the AFL club is “unfair” and he hopes the issue can be resolved by the end of the year as WorkSafe Victoria announced it was investigating the claims.

Kennett said on Saturday night the club was not in crisis and he described the serious allegations as a “bump along the highway”. Kennett was speaking at the club’s best and fairest awards function.

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125 dead after crowd crush at Indonesian football match

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Police and match organisers under scrutiny after officers fired teargas in response to rioting fans

At least 125 people have been killed and around 320 injured at a football match in Indonesia in one of the world’s worst ever sports stadium disasters.

Police used teargas in response to a pitch invasion by rioting fans, causing a crush among panicked spectators.

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Brazil football star Neymar backs far-right Bolsonaro days before election

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Paris Saint-Germain forward posts video in support of far-right president, who is trailing badly in polls ahead of Sunday’s vote

The Brazilian football star Neymar has come out in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, three days before the far-right leader looks set to lose a bitter re-election race against his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Lounging in a gaming chair, the Paris Saint-Germain forward recorded a video singing along to a Bolsonaro jingle and making V signs with both hands to signify 22, the number of Bolsonaro’s party as it appears on Brazil’s electronic ballots.

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Qatar ‘calling diplomats home’ for military service at World Cup

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Hundreds of conscripted civilians to operate checkpoints, source says, showing challenge faced by tiny state

Qatar has called up hundreds of civilians, including diplomats summoned back from overseas, for mandatory military service operating security checkpoints at World Cup stadiums, according to a source and documents seen by Reuters.

The deployment of conscripts, some of whom would normally defer national service because their work is considered vital, highlights the logistical challenge faced by the tiny Gulf Arab state hosting one of the world’s biggest sports tournaments.

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Mathieu van der Poel: Dutch cyclist pleads guilty to common assault of girls on eve of world championships

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Van der Poel flies out of Australia after being fined A$1,500 in local court but lawyer says his client will appeal convictions

Dutch cycling star Mathieu van der Poel will attempt to overturn a conviction for assaulting two teenage girls in a Sydney hotel the night before the men’s world championship road race.

The Tour de France stage winner was arrested hours before Sunday’s race in Wollongong where the 27-year-old was one of the favourites.

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