Category Archives: Sport

Betting firm logos shown on TV up to 3,500 times in Premier League matches, study finds

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Average was once every 16 seconds across 10 matches last season, with a total of 3,522 in West Ham v Chelsea

Betting company logos appear as often as 3,500 times during the course of a televised football match, the majority on pitchside hoardings, prompting renewed scepticism about top-flight clubs’ plan to give up front-of-shirt betting ads only.

A study led by psychology experts from four universities measured the volume of gambling adverts during 10 matches that took place last season, featuring every Premier League club.

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New headsets bring Wimbledon to life for visually impaired fans

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Device trialled at tournament captures images with camera and projects them into sight line

Rosie Pybus has been to Wimbledon several times and watched her first tennis match this year, thanks to a headset for visually impaired people. She told of the “exhilarating” moment she tested the innovative device, which allows users to watch live action from the stands.

Visually impaired tennis fans at SW19 have been trialling the headsets, which capture images with a camera and project them into a person’s sight line. Users can adjust the images with a remote control.

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Convicted abuser and ex-gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stabbed in prison – report

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Nassar reportedly in stable condition after becoming involved in an altercation in Florida prison and being stabbed multiple times

Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who was convicted of decades of abuse of women and girls under the guise of medical treatment, was reportedly stabbed at a federal prison in Florida on Sunday.

The Associated Press reported that Nassar was involved in an altercation with another person at United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida and was stabbed multiple times, including in the chest and back.

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Thunderbirds are go! Adelaide win first Super Netball title in extra-time thriller

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  • Adelaide Thunderbirds 60-59 NSW Swifts
  • Eleanor Cardwell stars in extra-time victory

In the cult TV series Ted Lasso, a football manager some like to mock hangs a simple sign in his new team’s changing room. It says “BELIEVE”.

And on Saturday at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena, it was old-fashioned belief – instilled by Tania Obst, a coach some have ridiculed, and her assistants Tracey Neville and Cathy Fellows – that was the driving force in the Adelaide Thunderbirds’ first Super Netball premiership win.

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Police using live facial recognition at British Grand Prix

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Northamptonshire force says technology adds ‘extra layer of security’ at Silverstone for F1 race

Police are using live facial recognition (LFR) to scan the faces of people attending the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend.

Northamptonshire police were deploying the technology on Saturday and Sunday to provide “an extra layer of security” at the Formula One race, which 450,000 people were expected to attend, the force said.

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No charges to be filed in altercation between Britney Spears and NBA player’s guard

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Pop-star had said she was struck by Victor Wembanyama’s security when she tried to approach the basketball player for a photograph

No charges will be filed following a brief investigation of the altercation involving pop star Britney Spears, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and a member of the basketball player’s security team, Las Vegas police said on Friday.

Spears said she was struck by a security guard as she tried to approach Wembanyama on the way into a restaurant in a Las Vegas casino complex on Wednesday night. Wembanyama said a person – he later was told it was Spears – grabbed him from behind.

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Andy Murray suggests loss to Tsitsipas may be his last Wimbledon match

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Emotional two-time champion says he doesn’t know if he will be back and ‘motivation is obviously a big thing’

An emotional Andy Murray hinted that he may have played his last Wimbledon match after his hopes of reaching the third round were dashed on Friday.

The two-time champion spoke of his disappointment after he was defeated by Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fifth seed, in five sets as the temperature soared to 29C.

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‘Stay in your crease’: Anthony Albanese offers Rishi Sunak advice following controversial Ashes dismissal

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  • Australian PM says he wishes his UK counterpart well
  • Rishi Sunak had claimed Australia contravened ‘the spirit of cricket’

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has offered some advice to his UK counterpart after Rishi Sunak weighed into the controversy over Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s on Sunday.

Mr Albanese said on Tuesday he understood Sunak’s disappointment.

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Saudi leader trying to avoid ‘pariah’ status with LIV-PGA merger, says rights group

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Mohammed bin Salman said to look to repair his reputation after 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul

The proposed merger between the Saudi-backed LIV Tour and the American PGA Tour marks the latest maneuver by Riyadh in its campaign to repair its reputation and head off the sort of blacklisting that occurred after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent advocate for democracy in the Middle East told the Guardian.

“This is a merger in name only. This is really about the Saudi government throwing a premium at PGA Tour that they obviously found too overwhelmingly tempting to resist,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn).

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US Senate asks governor of Saudi wealth fund to testify over LIV-PGA merger

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Invitation raises possibility Yasir al-Rumayyan could be questioned under oath about execution of Jamal Khashoggi

The powerful governor of Saudi Arabia’s state-backed investment fund has been invited to testify before a Senate committee in the wake of a proposed merger between the Saudi-backed LIV Tour and the PGA, raising the possibility the executive could be questioned under oath about issues ranging from the future of golf to the execution of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, was invited to testify on 11 July by the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, whose chairman, the Democratic senator Dick Blumenthal, is one of the toughest critics of Saudi Arabia on Capitol Hill.

This article was amended on 21 June 2023 to clarify that Yasir al-Rumayyan is the governor of Saudi Arabia’s state-backed investment fund, rather than the chairman.

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AFL and NRL teams pay tribute to Hunter Valley bus crash victims as nine people remain in hospital

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Sporting teams, friends and family used weekend to mourn the victims as fundraising effort tops $600,000

Nine passengers remain in hospital almost a week after the horror bus crash in the Hunter Valley as the fundraising effort to support victims and their families tops $600,000.

Sporting teams, friends and family used the weekend to mourn and pay tribute to the victims up and down eastern Australia.

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Indian wrestling federation chief charged with sexual harassment

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Charges follow months of complaints against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by country’s top wrestlers

Police in India have filed charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against the chief of the country’s wrestling federation, a member of parliament with Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), following complaints by female wrestlers.

The public prosecutor Atul Srivastav read out the charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at a court hearing in Delhi. If convicted he faces up to three years in jail.

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Oakland A’s fans stage ‘reverse boycott’ at plans to move team to Vegas

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  • Crowds demand owner sells team rather than relocate
  • Fans chant and throw garbage on to field in protest

Furious Oakland Athletics fans came en masse with a single message to owner John Fisher. “Sell the team!” they chanted thousands of times during the A’s 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Friends Brian Guido and Scott Finney of Sacramento left work early on Tuesday because they did not want to miss the festivities a couple of hours away in Oakland.

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Motorcyclist killed and athlete severely injured during Hamburg Ironman

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  • Head-on collision during race leaves 70-year-old rider dead
  • Athlete and camera operator treated after collision

The rider of a motorbike has died following a crash with a competitor in an Ironman European championship race on Sunday, police in the host city of Hamburg said.

Police said there was a head-on crash when a race support motorbike carrying a rider and a passenger collided with a triathlete who was cycling in the opposite direction.

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Fan arrested at Wembley for wearing shirt referencing Hillsborough disaster

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  • Police act after image of Manchester United shirt spread online
  • ‘He has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence’

A man has been arrested at Wembley after a picture emerged of a football fan wearing a jersey with what appeared to be a reference to the Hillsborough disaster printed on the back.

The Metropolitan Police Events Twitter account retweeted a picture of a man wearing a Manchester United shirt that had the number 97 on the back and the words “Not Enough”.

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Japan’s ageing footballers get their kicks in over-80s league

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Soccer for Life league in Tokyo has about 40 players, enough for three teams, playing 30-minute matches

There are mops of silver hair, Bobby Charlton combovers and a fair number of creaking knees. But the Red Star and Blue Hawaii football teams can be forgiven for the hesitant start to their match: every man on the pitch is older than 80. Within minutes, though, they are running freely – and moaning at the referee – as they roll back the years with every pass and tackle.

With a combined age in four figures, the 22 men are defying the passage of time in the Tokyo Soccer for Life league for the over-80s, a sporting expression of Japan’s status as a “super-ageing” society where the average male life expectancy is 85.

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Novak Djokovic defiant despite warning not to repeat political message

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  • French sports minister insists on ‘neutrality’ at Roland Garros
  • ‘I would say it again,’ says Serbian world No 3

Novak Djokovic has insisted that he would not hesitate to opine on Kosovo and the clashes between Kosovo authorities and ethnic Serbs again, even as the backlash to his comments continues to grow.

“I don’t mind saying that. I mean, I would say it again,” Djokovic said. “But I don’t need to because you have my quotes if you want to reflect on that. Of course I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is. It’s something that I stand for.”

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Treasury’s sanctions police ‘reviewing’ finances of Everton FC owner, Guardian understands

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Farhad Moshiri reportedly a ‘person of interest’ at special unit over links to sanctioned oligarch Alisher Usman

The Treasury’s sanctions police have been reviewing the finances of the Everton Football Club owner, Farhad Moshiri, the Guardian understands.

Moshiri appears to have become a person of interest to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) because of his links to Alisher Usmanov, the Russian-Uzbek billionaire who was sanctioned by the UK, the EU and the US after last year’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Elina Svitolina advocates for Ukraine on spectacular return

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  • Svitolina beats Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2
  • ‘These moments bring joy to people of Ukraine’

Sixteen months since Elina Svitolina last competed in a grand slam tournament, the Australian Open, life has changed significantly. She is now a mother, having taken maternity leave from the tour before giving birth to her first child, Skaï, with her husband, Gaël Monfils. Her country, Ukraine, has been invaded by Russia. She spent much of her time away from the sport, including during her pregnancy, advocating for her country’s cause.

On the court, however, not too much has changed. Svitolina returned to the French Open with a spectacular performance, dismantling the 26th seed, Martina Trevisan, a semi-finalist last year, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round. Trevisan is Svitolina’s first top‑30 win of her comeback.

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Jubilant Latvians given national holiday after shock ice hockey win over USA

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  • Team won bronze at ice hockey world championship
  • Members of parliament pass bill to commemorate win

Latvians woke up to go to work Monday morning, only to find they didn’t have to. Their parliament had met at midnight to declare a holiday after the national ice hockey team chalked up its best result at the world championship.

Latvia, where hockey is hugely popular, co-hosted the men’s championship with Finland, and the country’s 4-3 overtime victory over the United States for the bronze medal on Sunday was greeted with jubilation.

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