The Guardian

With Oceania praising Fifa on Friday, all six confederations have finally had their say on the fallout from the World Cup sell-off plan The Oceania Football Confederation’s (OFC) decision to belatedly issue a statement following this week’s executive committee meeting praising Fifa’s “progress achieved over the last decade” means all six continental confederations have finally had their say on th…

Swiss runner sets 1:54.81sec championship best Femke Broeders-Bol secures bronze in 1:55.54 The 800m European women’s final we all hoped for delivered as Switzerland’s Audrey Werro led from the front to win a classic for the ages. But it was a close run thing as Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson pushed her all the way to take silver. However, Werro proved too strong as she came through in a championship…

Raúl Jiménez marked his return to Wolves with the stoppage-time equaliser that saved them from an embarrassing start to their return to the Championship. The Mexico striker, who scored against England during the World Cup finals, retained his composure to convert a penalty given for handball by Rayan Alebiosu that would have had VAR questioning whether the defender was in the area when Jackson Tc…

Manager’s deal expires at end of the new season ‘They don’t have to worry … I want to be here’ Mikel Arteta has said he is relaxed about his Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the new season and believes his side will need to be better than last year to defend their title successfully. The Premier League champions will face Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on…

Seven-time major champion beaten 6-2, 6-2 Williams, 46, loses 11th match of the season Tsitsipas advances as Dimitrov squanders lead Colombian Emilia Arango handed Venus Williams a 14th straight loss dating to July of last year, defeating the fading seven-time grand slam champion who is currently ranked 615th in 66 minutes by 6-2, 6-2 at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters. The 46-year-old Williams wa…

American wins second straight Masters 1000 title Shelton improves to 6-0 against fellow American Norrie advances as Draper falls in Cincinnati Ben Shelton broke onto the scene by winning his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 championship a year ago in Toronto. He earned his second crown at that level ⁠by successfully defending his Canadian title on Thursday, defeating fellow American Brandon Nakashima …

Pole wins her first title in 11 months ‘Sometimes we need to fight things we shouldn’t’ It came as no surprise that almost a year of pent-up emotion exploded from Iga Swiatek the moment she slotted her final backhand winner to clinch the Canadian Open title by defeating Elena Rybakina in two clean sets on Thursday night. As she screamed towards her team members on her corner of the court, pointed…

Ultimatum issued hours before plan was scrapped European Football Clubs demanded Infantino back down Europe’s leading clubs threatened not to participate in future Club World Cups unless Gianni Infantino withdrew his Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme, issuing their ultimatum hours before the plan was scrapped. In a letter to the Fifa secretary general, Mattias Grafström, seen by the Guardian, the in…

With Marco Silva leaving after five years, can the club take advantage of the links their new coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, has with Real Madrid? Guardian writers’ predicted position: 15th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Last season’s position: 11th Continue reading...

Former international sprinter not been for two months Situation ‘very worrying’, says former teammate Mystery surrounds a highly regarded British Athletics coach who has not been heard from since visiting Morocco around two months ago. Leon Baptiste, 41, who coaches a number of elite athletes including the Paris Olympic 4x400m relay bronze medallist Charlie Dobson, is believed to have gone to Mor…

Teenager involved in an accident in Portugal Rider’s NSN Development Team ‘heartbroken’ The British cyclist Finlay Tarling, 19, has died following an accident that occurred ⁠during the eighth stage of the Volta a Portugal race. Tarling ⁠was ​a Welsh time-trial specialist who had joined the NSN Development Team last ⁠year. Continue reading...

Confirmed deal values club as a whole at £5.5bn Amit Bhatia will become club’s new vice-chairman Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, has confirmed it has agreed the sale of 30% of the club to a consortium including Amit Bhatia, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The deal is understood to be worth £1.65bn, valuing Liverpool at £5.5bn, and will see Bhatia…

Bundesliga club want at least €50m for England defender Gunners remain interested in Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa Arsenal have opened talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a move for Jarell Quansah as they intensify efforts to bring in cover for William Saliba and Jurriën Timber. The England defender, who left Liverpool last summer for an initial £30m and was part of Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, has b…

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With the Hall of Fame game done, and the second round of preseason games underway, let’s look at the storylines that could dominate the coming weeks Winning the Super Bowl back in February puts the Seattle Seahawks in line to become the 10th team, and the ninth franchise, to repeat as champions (the Pittsburgh Steelers went back-to-back twice in the 1970s). While a lot of Super Bowl winners exper…