Category Archives: Sport

Football Australia expects rainbow symbol clearance at Women’s World Cup

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  • Armbands could highlight LGBTQ+ issues and Indigenous rights
  • James Johnson ‘pretty confident’ after ‘good dialogue’ with Fifa

The chief executive of Football Australia has told the Observer that he is “pretty confident and optimistic” players will be allowed to wear rainbow armbands at the Women’s World Cup, after holding talks with Fifa. In a highly significant development, James Johnson said there had been “meaningful dialogue” between the hosts and football’s governing body and that it was likely to lead to players having greater ability to express themselves.

In an exclusive interview, Johnson also revealed that discussions had taken place over permitting Indigenous First Nation flags to be flown inside stadiums at July and August’s competition in Australia and New Zealand, saying it was an important issue for his country and its team.

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Disgraced former NRL player Jarryd Hayne sentenced to four years and nine months in jail

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Hayne was found guilty of assaulting a woman in her suburban Newcastle home on NRL grand final night 2018

Disgraced former NRL star Jarryd Hayne has been jailed for at least three years after sexually assaulting a woman in her home.

The 35-year-old was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent on 4 April and taken into custody 10 days later when his bail was revoked.

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‘If you win: housewife’: Spanish women’s race sorry after winner given food processor

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  • Organisers of Carrera de la Mujer apologise after backlash
  • Spain’s secretary of state for equality offers criticism

The organizers of a women’s race in Spain has apologised after the winner was offered a food processor to take home, something that has sparked accusations of sexism.

The 7km Carrera de la Mujer issued a statement on Twitter saying it hadn’t considered the kitchen appliance – donated by a sponsor – would have sexist implications.

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India’s female wrestlers threaten to hand back Olympic medals in harassment row

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President of Wrestling Federation of India accused of sexually harassing seven young female wrestlers

They were the first women to bring Olympic glory in the wrestling ring to India. But last week several of India’s top female wrestlers threatened to hand back their medals, accusing the authorities of ignoring their allegations of sexual harassment against the sport’s top official.

For the past 15 days, top wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have staged a protest in the centre of Delhi, sacrificing their rigorous training schedules, sleeping in the rain and facing beatings by police.

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Wrexham AFC and Hollywood owners celebrate promotion with bus parade

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Thousands line route as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney join men’s and women’s teams on open-top bus tour

Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Wrexham AFC’s staff and players celebrated the team’s promotion with an open-top bus parade on Tuesday evening.

Thousands of fans lined up along a 3.5-mile route in the north Wales city as three buses left from the club’s Racecourse ground carrying the team that won the National League title and promotion back to the English Football League after a 15-year absence. The women’s side also clinched promotion to the Genero Adran Premier by winning their playoff final.

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Sam Kerr to lead party of prominent Australians as flag bearer at King Charles’s coronation

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Matildas captain will join delegation including Anthony Albanese, Nick Cave and Adam Hills at London ceremony next week

Footballer Sam Kerr will lead a contingent of prominent Australians at King Charles’s coronation next week after being named as the official flag bearer for the ceremony in London.

The Matildas captain will lead a delegation that includes the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the governor general, state governors and a number of other representatives at the event at Westminster Abbey.

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AFL ‘not doing enough’ to manage concussion and brain trauma effects, wife of late coach tells inquiry

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Anita Frawley tells parliamentary inquiry the AFL was ‘fantastic’ in caring for her family but needs to do more for other players

The AFL is not doing enough to manage concussion and the long-term effects of brain trauma, Anita Frawley, the widow of AFL player and coach Danny Frawley, has told a parliamentary inquiry.

Giving evidence at a hearing of the federal senate committee inquiry into concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports, Frawley described the circumstances of her husband’s suicide in 2019, and the posthumous finding that he had suffered from stage two chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the debilitating neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma which is increasingly linked to long-term exposure to contact sports.

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Police issue arrest warrant for Nate Diaz after New Orleans street brawl

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  • Video emerged of weekend fight with YouTube personality
  • Police say former UFC star faces battery charge

Police in New Orleans have issued an arrest warrant for former UFC star Nate Diaz after a brawl in the city on Saturday night.

The 38-year-old faces a charge of of second-degree battery after video spread on social media of Diaz apparently choking YouTube personality Rodney Petersen unconscious during a fight in the city’s popular Bourbon Street.

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Bobby Moore’s ex-wife urges return of lost shirt from 1966 World Cup final

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Tina Moore unsure how red England shirt left her possession but it is now in hands of mystery private buyer

It is the most famous moment in English football. Bobby Moore, the England captain, hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates, holding the World Cup trophy aloft in 1966.

While the moment was captured on camera and preserved for posterity, the red England shirt the centre-half was wearing, with the number six on the back, has been lost – and Moore’s ex-wife is urging its current owner to return it.

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Are we facing a summer of sporting protests? – podcast

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High-profile protests at the Grand National and the World Snooker Championships made headlines around the country; the London Marathon could be next. Sean Ingle and Damien Gayle report on what sporting stunts can achieve – and whether the authorities can stop them

It began with a protest at Britain’s biggest horse racing event. Members of the activist group Animal Rising scaled the fences at Aintree and attempted to stop the Grand National. As stewards and fans intervened, the protest managed only to delay the race for 14 minutes. As if to help prove the protesters’ point, one of the horses in the race was killed in a fall.

As chief sports reporter Sean Ingle tells Nosheen Iqbal, it was followed just days later by a stunt by another activist group. This time the target was the World Snooker Championship; play was postponed when a Just Stop Oil protester managed to clamber on to the the snooker table and launch an orange powder bomb over proceedings. This weekend, all eyes will be on the London Marathon.

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Calls for jump-racing ban after Grand National horse deaths

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Animal rights group Animal Aid says change needed after ‘brutal horrors’ at Aintree as three horses die during festival

Animal rights campaigners have called for jump racing to be banned and “much more stringent” safety measures put in place for the sport after three horses died at the 175th annual Grand National festival.

The third fatality, Hill Sixteen, is said to have suffered a broken neck at the first fence at the Aintree racecourse in Liverpool before being put down.

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Swimming Australia CEO Eugenie Buckley resigns with immediate effect

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  • SA on search for third chief executive in less than two years
  • National championships start on Monday on the Gold Coast

Swimming Australia is searching for another new chief executive after the shock resignation of Eugenie Buckley with immediate effect on Friday.

With less than 18 months to go to the Paris Olympics and the national championships starting on Monday on the Gold Coast, Buckley has left “to take up opportunities outside of the sport”, after taking over the top job in swimming in late 2021.

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

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Mayan ball game scoreboard thought to be over 1,000 years old found in Mexico

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The circular carved stone, unearthed at the Yucatán’s Chichén Itzá complex, displays hieroglyphic writing and two game players

A stone scoreboard used in an ancient ritual ball game has been discovered at the famed Mayan Chichén Itzá archaeological site on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula.

The circular piece, measuring just over 12.6in (32cm) in diameter and weighing 88lbs (40kg), displays hieroglyphic writing surrounding two players standing next to a ball, according to a statement from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

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Boris Becker: UK prison sentence was ‘brutal’ experience

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Three-times Wimbledon champion describes eight months in jail as ‘very, very different experience to what you see in the movies’

Boris Becker has spoken of his “brutal” prison experience in the UK, adding that during his incarceration he had to surround himself with “tough boys” for protection.

The three-times Wimbledon men’s singles champion served eight months of his two-and-a-half-year sentence for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans in a bankruptcy fraud case. He was released from prison in December and deported from the UK.

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Angel Reese says LSU will not visit White House after Jill Biden comments

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  • First lady appeared to extend invite to rivals Iowa
  • Reese says team wants to meet Obamas instead

College basketball star Angel Reese says she and her LSU teammates will not visit the White House in the aftermath of comments made by first lady Jill Biden.

LSU won their first-ever national title on Sunday with victory over Iowa. It is traditional for national champions in the US to meet the president, but on Monday Biden said she would be happy for Iowa to join LSU.

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White House appears to walk back Iowa’s ‘joke’ invitation after NCAA loss

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  • Tradition is for national champions to visit with President
  • Iowa v LSU game has provoked debate on social media

Jill Biden’s press secretary has walked back comments the first lady made about inviting Iowa’s women’s basketball team to the White House after their loss in the NCAA championship game on Sunday.

Biden watched LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa from the stands at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday night. National champions often visit the White House after title victories, but Biden broke with tradition when she suggested Iowa could too.

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Lions coach Chris Fagan believes Gabba power outage gave Melbourne ‘unfair advantage’

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  • Brisbane 14.9 (93) v Melbourne 13.4 (82)
  • Play halted in final quarter after stadium blackout

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan believes Melbourne were given an “unfair advantage’ as the AFL scrambled to restart their round-two game after a power outage.

The Lions’ 40-point lead was slashed to 11 when Friday night’s contest resumed after a long delay, with the Demons booting five unanswered goals once the lights were turned back on.

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NHL’s Blackhawks will not wear Pride jerseys due to Russian anti-LGBTQ laws

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  • Team says wearing jerseys could endanger Russian player
  • Pride jerseys have sparked debate among NHL teams

An NHL team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who have an additional two players with connections to Russia, will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver because of security concerns involving the law, which expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ rights. Vladimir Putin signed the law in December.

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Alan Shearer talks of ‘difficult week’ as he and Gary Lineker return to MotD

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Presenters back to cover FA Cup quarter-final after row that nearly cost BBC director general and chairman their jobs

Gary Lineker returned to presenting Match of the Day on Saturday evening after a row that threatened to topple the BBC chairman and director general.

As the former England international introduced live BBC coverage of the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Burnley, pundit Alan Shearer touched on the recent controversy.

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Elena Rybakina overwhelms world No 1 Iga Swiatek to set up Indian Wells final with Aryna Sabalenka

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  • Kazakhstan’s Rybakina beats Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 in semi-final
  • Belarusian Sabalenka cruises past Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3

Elena Rybakina has knocked out defending champion Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-2 semi-final victory at Indian Wells on Friday to set up a clash against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Two months after Rybakina knocked Swiatek out of the Australian Open in the fourth round, the Wimbledon champion once again put in an impressive display against the world No 1.

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