If La Roja beat England, Spain’s apathetic media would finally have to take notice
Slicing sourdough on the stainless-steel counter of a London tapas restaurant, Ana Lorenzo hopes victory for La Roja will banish the sexism she says still stalks women’s football in Spain.
“It’s so sexist in Spain compared to here. The attitude to women’s football is many years behind. And despite doing so well, the women’s team hasn’t really gripped the media,” she says, shaking her head.
Continue reading...The Victorian premier last month announced Victoria would not host the games after a forecast cost blowout
The Victorian government has agreed to pay Commonwealth Games bodies $380m in compensation after cancelling the 2026 event, in what the premier, Daniel Andrews, is claiming as “the best outcome” the state could get.
Andrews made the shock announcement last month that Victoria would not host the Games as planned due to concerns they would far exceed initial cost expectations.
Continue reading...In the wake of the Matildas’ World Cup performance, the government will unveil new funding and changes to TV bidding rights for sporting fixtures
The Albanese government will promise $200m to improve women’s sporting facilities and equipment after the Matildas’ historic Women’s World Cup run sparked an unprecedented outpouring of support for women’s football.
As the Matildas prepare for their third-place playoff against Sweden in Brisbane on Saturday, the government will declare the national team had “changed sport forever”, while unveiling a new funding package and flagging moves to make more major events available on free-to-air television.
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Continue reading...Supermarkets, pubs and advertisers the winners as supporters prepare for match against Spain
Supermarkets, pubs and TV advertisers are preparing to enjoy a bumper weekend as football fans rush to celebrate the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday morning.
As many as 13.7 million people are expected to tune in when the Lionesses take on Spain in the highly anticipated fixture in Australia – the first time a senior England football team has appeared in a World Cup final since 1966.
Continue reading...Councils accused of downplaying women’s football compared with men’s, with scarcity of planned public viewing parties
The Lionesses drew an average of 4.6 million viewers during their World Cup semi-final, yet fans are disappointed that councils have failed to respond to the team’s success by putting on free public viewing parties for the final.
The BBC said a peak audience of 7.3 million tuned in to watch England beat Australia 3-1 on Wednesday, despite the time zone difference resulting in an 11am kick-off time.
Continue reading...Club says no decision has been made about future of footballer which is ‘subject of intensive internal deliberation’
Rachel Riley, the co-presenter of Countdown, has said she will stop supporting Manchester United if the club allows Mason Greenwood to return.
Manchester United said on Wednesday no decision had been made about the 21-year-old’s future, which it said is still the “subject of intensive internal deliberation”.
Continue reading...Bayern Munich fans delighted but commentators question price tag and Germany’s failure to nurture homegrown talent
There may have been tens of thousands of Harry Kane fans tracking his Cessna flight’s path to Munich on Saturday, followed by standing ovations when he finally appeared before Bayern Munich supporters – many already wearing “Harry Kane – 9” shirts – to the stirring strains of Rock You Like a Hurricane by German rock band the Scorpions, but scepticism about the wisdom of the Tottenham Hotspur striker’s £100m transfer was rife among German commentators.
The affection for the 30-year-old striker was not in doubt. “Citizen Kane is now officially a Bavarian!” ran one typical headline, and the greetings servus (hello) and willkommen (welcome) towards “Herry” (as some Germans pronounce it) came thick and fast at his first press conference, at which he was flanked by bottles of water and Bavarian wheat beer.
Continue reading...La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara lights up the internet seamlessly blending French with English with a few choice words
French may be the language of Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Voltaire, but sometimes it takes a rugby player from Cork to inject extra oomph.
Ronan O’Gara, a former Ireland international who coaches the French club La Rochelle, has lit up the internet with a pep talk to his team that seamlessly blended French with English swearing, graced with a Cork accent.
Continue reading...Gamblers Consumer Forum aims to derail planned betting reforms and claims to act on behalf of ordinary punters
The company behind a lobby group that wants to derail planned overhaul of UK gambling laws and claims to act on behalf of ordinary punters is co-owned by a consultant for the betting industry.
Ministers proposed a series of changes in April that they said would make gambling safer by imposing tighter regulations on online betting firms, though they added that further consultation was needed before a bill could be put before parliament.
Continue reading...Ex-president’s open criticism of team started in 2019, when Megan Rapinoe said she wouldn’t visit White House after winning
Less than 24 hours after the US women’s national team suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of their longtime nemesis Sweden in the second round of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Donald Trump gloated about the team’s elimination on social media.
The former president, a longtime vocal critic of the team, specifically Megan Rapinoe, a blue-haired talisman and outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate who missed a crucial penalty during the final moments of the game, said that the team’s loss is “fully emblematic of what is happening to our great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden”.
Continue reading...Fans gathered in Sydney were delirous as Australia’s 2-0 win over Denmark sent them into the quarter-finals of the World Cup
Foord and Raso keep Australian dream alive
They came in the thousands, armed with picnic blankets, umbrellas and deck chairs and adorned in green and gold.
Hours before the Matildas took to the pitch they were already gathering, a sea of supporters packed into Sydney’s biggest live site at Darling Harbour.
Continue reading...Offensive chants about tragedies such as Hillsborough can be public order offences under new guidance
Football fans in England and Wales could be banned from matches if they mock tragedies such as the Hillsborough disaster, under updated guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service.
The CPS guidance will state that actions such as singing, chanting or displaying offensive messages about disasters or accidents involving players or fans can be seen as a public order offence.
Continue reading...Announcement comes weeks after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games
The province of Alberta has withdrawn its support for a bid centred around Calgary/Edmonton to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, weeks after the Australia state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games.
Alberta’s tourism minister, Joseph Schow, said that cost was behind the decision.
Continue reading...Ramon Diaz says he was just 17 when Northwestern University upperclassmen shaved “Cinco de Mayo” onto the back of his head as the entire football team watched.
“The holiday itself has a significant meaning to me and my family and then the Latino community at large,” Diaz told the Associated Press. “I was mocked and ridiculed.”
In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Peter Bol has been “exonerated” and can now turn his full focus to the upcoming world athletics championships after Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) dropped its anti-doping investigation into the middle-distance star.
It ends a saga dating back to mid-January when the 29-year-old Australian was provisionally suspended after recording an elevated level of synthetic erythropoietin (EPO).
Continue reading...Olha Kharlan, competing at the world championships in Milan, refused to shake Russian rival’s hand after beating her
Ukraine’s government has called on the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to reverse its decision to disqualify a Ukrainian fencer for refusing to shake hands with her defeated Russian opponent.
The country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, called for Olha Kharlan to be reinstated in the fencing world championships in Milan, after she was excluded as a result of the aftermath of her victory over Anna Smirnova, a Russian competing as a neutral.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Billions deployed since early 2021 in a move critics say is an attempt to distract from human rights record
Saudi Arabia has spent at least $6.3bn (£4.9bn) in sports deals since early 2021, more than quadruple the previous amount spent over a six-year period, in what critics have labelled an effort to distract from its human rights record.
Saudi Arabia has deployed billions from its Public Investment Fund over the last two-and-a-half years according to analysis by the Guardian, spending on sports at a scale that has completely changed professional golf and transformed the international transfer market for football.
Continue reading...From Suffolk to Sheffield, youngsters inspired by England’s Euros triumph sat down before big screens to enjoy the side’s World Cup campaign
Ninety minutes before the Lionesses took to the pitch for their World Cup opener, the under-11s Hadleigh United girls’ team kicked off their own tournament – a mini World Cup five-a-side organised by coach Matt French. More than two dozen girls, representing global national teams, showed off their skills to cheering families and friends.
After the final whistle, it was time to head to the clubhouse to watch the England women’s team play.
Continue reading...Josh Hazlewood admitted he was crossing his fingers and hoping for rain at the end of another day of English domination, which ended with Australia 113 for four in their second innings, still 162 away from making England bat again.
The amount of rain likely to fall on Manchester over the weekend varies between forecasts, but all of them suggest Saturday’s play will be significantly affected, with parts of Sunday also in jeopardy. “I’d be very pleased if it rains,” Hazlewood said. “It’s obviously forecast, and forecasts can change all the time, but it would be great to lose a few overs – it would make our job a bit easier.”
Continue reading...The 2026 Games, which Daniel Andrews announced would be cancelled, was set to be held across Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton
Regional areas have been left “shocked and disappointed” after the Victorian government decided to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
On Tuesday the government announced it would cancel the 12-day event after the cost blew out from $2.6bn and could have reached $7bn, with the premier, Daniel Andrews, saying he did not want to take money from other areas of the budget to pay for the Games.
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