Vehicle belonging to motor neurone disease fundraiser was targeted on Friday evening in West Yorkshire
The former rugby league star Rob Burrow’s wheelchair accessible van was vandalised while his family were out for a Christmas meal, his father has said.
Geoff Burrow said his son, who played for Leeds Rhinos between 2001 and 2017, had been out in Castleford, West Yorkshire, on Friday when the vehicle was targeted.
Continue reading...Seven or Nine would have to partner with Fox to compete with bid, but they are talking up their ability to promote the game
In the life cycle of a Cricket Australia administration, nothing matters more than the home broadcast deal. There is prize money, ICC distributions, overseas broadcasts, but the value of showing the major summer sport to an Australian audience dwarfs the lot. Everything that CA does depends on that cashflow, as well as keeping cricket in front of as many people as possible. The current contract has another season to run, but with channels Seven, Nine, Ten, and Fox Sports all keen for a slice next time, everyone wants a deal done now.
Last time, in 2018 in the dying months of James Sutherland’s time in charge, was a landmark missed opportunity. Channel Ten had spent the preceding years making a success of the Big Bash League, and with the backing of US giant CBS, offered $960m to put every Australian cricket match on free-to-air. That meant domestic men’s and women’s games, boosting the Sheffield Shield and the 50-over competitions along with internationals and the BBL. But CA wanted to top a billion dollars, and after a verbal agreement with Ten, reneged to split the rights between Seven and Fox for a relatively small increase to $1.18bn, with plenty of that value in contra advertising rather than in cash.
Continue reading...Arnold to meet Football Australia chiefs in early January as L’Equipe puts him in top spot following last-16 achievement
Graham Arnold will sit down with Football Australia chiefs in early January to thrash out a new deal that is expected to see him remain in charge of the Socceroos, with the coach’s bargaining power having received a fillip after he was named the best coach of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Highly regarded sports newspaper L’Equipe put the out-of-contract Australian in top spot on its rankings, above the likes of Lionel Scaloni of Argentina and France’s Didier Deschamps.
Continue reading...The split comes seven months after federal investigators issued a subpoena to the firm for its prescriptions of controlled substances
Superstar US gymnast Simone Biles and tele-health provider Cerebral have ended an endorsement partnership, the company announced Tuesday, bringing to a close a deal in which the 25-year-old Olympic champion used her own mental health experience to promote the controversial mental health start-up.
Biles became Cerebral’s “chief impact officer” three months after her dramatic withdrawal from individual competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 saying she was “not in the right head space” to compete.
Continue reading...Former Wimbledon champion tells German broadcaster he learned a hard lesson and experience was ‘worthwhile’
Boris Becker has given his first interview since leaving prison in the UK and being deported back to Germany earlier this week, telling German viewers: “In prison I was a nobody.”
The former Wimbledon champion, appearing slimmed down and sporting a new hair colour and style, told the broadcaster Sat 1 that as an inmate he was not called by his first name, and “no one gave a shit” about his champion status.
Continue reading...Two Melbourne Victory fans involved in the AAMI Park pitch invasion that resulted in Melbourne City goalkeeper Thomas Glover being injured have received life bans from Football Australia.
Saturday night’s violence forced the abandonment of the A-League Men derby.
Continue reading...Melbourne Victory could be hit with heavy sanctions for the behaviour of their fans
Victoria Police have charged three men in relation to the mass pitch invasion at the A-League Men Melbourne derby on Saturday.
All three of the men, aged 23, 19 and 18, presented at police stations on Monday, Victoria Police said in a statement.
Continue reading...Streets of central Buenos Aires are a cacophony of yelling and horns after shootout victory against France
If there’s one thing Argentina fans have learned in this World Cup, it’s that you can’t rest on your laurels when you’re 2-0 up. But after a dramatic penalty shootout, there was delight in Buenos Aires that Argentina will be bringing home football’s most coveted trophy.
In La Puerta Roja, a bar in the downtown San Telmo district, so many people packed in early to watch the final that there was a queue outside an hour and a half before kickoff. The air smelled of adrenaline and the commentators could barely be heard over the din of yelling, hands banging on tables, and the occasional glass smashing.
Continue reading...Patrons of French capital’s bars go through gamut of emotions as Argentina eventually win out on penalties
It was a rollercoaster. By the end they were standing on the tables outside, roars of “allez les Bleus” and “liberté, égalité, Mbappé” rising hoarsely into the freezing early evening air, hugging each other fiercely, cheering on their heroes.
It was standing room only in le Napoléon and le Mondial cafes, facing each other across the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in Paris’s 10th arrondissement – both rammed to the rafters inside with flag-waving, face-painted, red-white-and-blue bewigged fans.
Continue reading...In the capital, where Maradona is worshipped as a god, World Cup victory would take on a spiritual dimension
In June, Tomás Kuklis visited family in his native Argentina from his home in New York. When conversation turned to the upcoming World Cup, it brought back the happiest memories of his childhood. He was rocked by a wave of nostalgia for friends and food, but especially for his lifelong passion: football.
So, he took a bold decision: he would sell all his things and move back to Buenos Aires to watch the tournament. It was a choice some might consider radical. But in this South American country where football is arguably a spiritual experience, it felt like keeping the faith.
Continue reading...Victoria police is reviewing footage of the pitch invasion during Saturday’s A-League Men’s Melbourne derby and has vowed officers will be “knocking on doors very soon”.
Three alleged assaults are under investigation – to City’s goalkeeper, Thomas Glover, a referee and a Channel Ten camera operator.
Continue reading...Australian football has reacted with a mixture of shock, anger, sadness and disbelief to the chaotic and violent scenes that resulted in the abandonment of the A-League men’s Melbourne derby on Saturday night.
City’s goalkeeper, Thomas Glover, was left bloodied after he was hit by a metal bucket allegedly thrown by a Victory fan as supporters stormed the pitch midway through the first half of the match at Aami Park.
Continue reading...A shattered Isaac Cooper fought back tears after he was cruelly denied a backstroke world short course swimming gold medal in bizarre circumstances after the final had to be re-run.
Cooper was first home in the 50m final in Melbourne on Friday night but less than half the field completed the race after an alarm sounded due to a “technical error”.
Continue reading...Lacklustre festive sales leaving retailers low on funds needed to cope when shoppers traditionally tighten belts in new year
The high street could face a “flurry of business failures” in the new year, as a lacklustre Christmas sales period is leaving retailers low on the funds needed to cope when households tighten their belts after the festive season.
“We can expect more consolidation and high street casualties as we head into the new year. It will be yet another tough year for retail and a case of survival of the fittest,” said Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG.
Continue reading...Excitement builds for final against Argentina as spectators, some draped in French and Moroccan flags, praised play of both teams
Amid a cacophony of beeping car horns, fireworks, and people hanging from car windows waving flags, cheering football fans poured on to Paris’s Champs-Élysées on Wednesday night to celebrate France beating Morocco to reach the World Cup final, hoping it would become the first country in 60 years to retain the title.
“We’re in the final!” yelled Romain, 16, who had high school the next day but was planning a late night celebrating. “When France won the World Cup in 2018, I was 12 and couldn’t really celebrate in the streets,” he said. “It feels brilliant tonight, but facing Argentina will be close, nail-biting.”
Continue reading...Morocco’s national airline said it was cancelling all flights it had scheduled for Wednesday to carry fans to Doha for the World Cup semi-final, citing what it said was a decision by Qatari authorities.
“Following the latest restrictions imposed by the Qatari authorities, Royal Air Maroc regrets to inform customers of the cancellation of their flights operated by Qatar Airways,” the airline saidt.
Continue reading...Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid offense, has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said on Tuesday. He was 61.
Leach, who was in his third season as head coach at Mississippi State, fell ill on Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mississippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles away.
Continue reading...Baird will take over from February with his predecessor stepping down and taking the chief executive’s job with HBF
Former New South Wales premier Mike Baird has been appointed as the new chair of Cricket Australia.
Baird will take over as the organisation’s new boss from February, with his predecessor Lachlan Henderson stepping down after moving back to Perth.
Continue reading...Like the players, brands have in the end shied away from confrontation with the hosts during the World Cup
More than £100m will be spent by brands hoping to cash-in on World Cup fever, but when it comes to taking host Qatar to task over its human rights record protest marketing has taken a back seat to sales targets.
In the run-up to kick off of the football tournament in Qatar criticism of the gulf state was akin to shooting at an open goal.
Continue reading...Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
The American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the US early on Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange from nearly 10 months in detention in Russia.
The deal, in which she was swapped for the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for Joe Biden. But Washington failed to win freedom for another US citizen, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.
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