The Guardian

Manager claims City fans suffering more than players Captain Rúben Dias: ‘We’re calm. We trust the club’ Enzo Maresca has admitted he would describe Manchester City as “cheats” if he were a Manchester United or Arsenal fan. The manager’s comments came as he suggested it had been harder for City’s supporters to deal with the scandal surrounding the club than it had been for him or the players. Mar…

A handful of increasingly competitive teams are expected to at least provide intrigue in what is likely to be the best tournament the sport has witnessed Critics will dismiss the men’s Rugby League World Cup as a provincial oddity, or a forgettable postscript to a long NRL season. Worse, they will question its legitimacy. A “world” cup, they will taunt, pointing to participants hailing exclusivel…

Exclusive: Gambling firm working with AFL ‘on the evolving use of AI in our content’ as it deletes video depicting Lachie Neale saying ‘I want to thank me for believing in me’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The AFL has told its official gambling partner, Sportsbet, to stop featuring its high-profile athletes in AI-generated social media content without their permissi…

After every stunning Scott Boland performance of recent years, many of them in place of an injured Josh Hazlewood, a reasonable question does the rounds: why isn’t Boland the automatic pick in the Test side, and why does Hazlewood take precedence when fit? In truth, Hazlewood has given a dozen years of answers, but the fifth day of the Durban Test allowed him to provide one more reminder with a c…

The Women’s Asian Cup winners continue to punch above their weight thanks to innovative youth development Japan have constantly pushed the boundaries in women’s football, whether it be with regular success in Asia or their ability to beat the biggest nations in the world. Nadeshiko won the Women’s World Cup in 2011 and reached another final in 2015 , while more established countries fell by the w…

A seventh consecutive French title looks likely with lopsided odds again favouring Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles The world is currently awash with uncertainty but not, sadly, in the case of rugby’s Champions Cup. This season’s winners will be either Toulouse or Bordeaux-Bègles. Next question? Such is the French stranglehold on the tournament – six consecutive years and counting – that it grows eve…

Rider was to take part in track world championships British Cycling confirms Richardson was withdrawn Matt Richardson has been withdrawn from the Great Britain team for next week’s track world championships in Shanghai amid allegations of serious misconduct. The 27-year-old, who switched allegiances from Australia after the Paris 2024 Olympics, had been seen as one of Britain’s strongest medal ho…

Bethell returns after injury; Carse frozen out Four-week trip includes 3 ODIs and 5 T20s Eighteen-year-old Thomas Rew has earned his maiden call-up for England after being selected for the white-ball tour of Australia next month. Jacob Bethell is also fit to return after a knee injury but Brydon Carse remains frozen out. Coming after the upcoming tri-series in Pakistan, the four-week trip feature…

African Grand Prix will take place at new track near Kigali Stefano Domenicali: ‘Today is a landmark moment for F1’ Formula One has answered Lewis Hamilton’s call to have a race in Africa after the sport’s bosses announced Rwanda is set to join the calendar. The seven-time world champion Hamilton has long since challenged F1 to return to the continent, with the last race staged there in 1993. And…

Starting positions at centre-back and No 10 are up for grabs, while Sarina Wiegman’s future continues to be in the air England have two jobs to do on Tuesday. The first, avoiding an almighty upset and progressing past Greece on aggregate in their Women’s World Cup playoff to reach a final tie, should be a formality for one of the world’s best-resourced teams. The second, honing their style to pla…

United have endured worst league start since 1986-87 Trip to Atlético in Champions League awaits on Tuesday Manchester United have endured their worst league start in 40 years but Michael Carrick insists he is “loving it”. United arrived in Madrid without Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw, who both picked up knocks in the draw against Tottenham at the weekend, and with the coach admitting that his team…

France’s always-cool winger has crowds hanging on his every move – adulation that means more than any title could When I was younger, I wanted to be the captain on my football team because back then, I assumed that the armband was given to the best player. It was a goal of mine for so long that, even as my youth teams won tournaments and trophies, and I won top scorer and best player awards, I st…

The winger is 28, and younger teammates are rising into the high-pressure spots he has usually occupied Usually, the second weekend of October sees Christian Pulisic flanked by compatriots as the Star-Spangled Banner plays. Last year, he was involved in US friendlies against Ecuador and Australia. But this year, with Fifa having folded the October window into September, Pulisic didn’t have the ch…

Ruth Chepngetich’s failed doping test, five months after she obliterated the record in 2024, left the sport deeply uneasy but powerless to act When Ruth Chepngetich annihilated the women’s marathon world record in Chicago two years ago today, NBC’s commentators compared it to the moon landing . “Bring it on Neil Armstrong!” cried one. “She has done things in this sport that we have not seen,” sai…

Norway’s champions, who host Bayern Munich on Tuesday, have excelled under Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim and Morten Jensen. We paid them a visit “When we recruit players, we say something bold.” The morning’s training session at Lyse Arena has finished and, over lunch, Morten Jensen is explaining how he and Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim have propelled Viking Stavanger from mediocrity to an implausible place amon…