The Guardian

The former tennis No 1 on the current dearth of top Australian players, the excitement surrounding Cruz Hewitt, and a newfound love of padel Pat Rafter is Australian sporting royalty. A man whose genuine friendliness still radiates into mid-life and whose looks once made him an underwear model, with a tennis career that took him to No 1 in the world. He is the kind of person anyone would want on …

We look at the best images from day eight in Glasgow, featuring athletics, track cycling and judo Continue reading...

Club escape suspended six-point deduction on appeal Owners admitted secret payments by previous regime Chelsea have been fined £10m and given a suspended two-window transfer ban after admitting breaches of agent rules, the FA announced on Friday. The breaches were self-reported by Chelsea following its takeover by Todd ⁠Boehly and ​private equity firm Clearlake Capital in May 2022. An earlier ind…

Infantino’s role as president under increasing pressure 143 of Fifa’s 211 members now stand against scheme Gianni Infantino’s authority has been dealt a fresh blow after Carlos Cordeiro, one of his senior advisers, resigned with immediate effect in protest at proposals to sell a stake in the World Cup. In the latest embarrassment for Infantino, who saw European FAs threaten to boycott future Fifa…

Charges relate to complaint upheld against former CEO Middlesex sacked Andrew Cornish in June Middlesex have been charged with misconduct for the third time in four years and face further off-field disruption after sacking chief executive Andrew Cornish in June. The charges brought by the cricket regulator are understood to relate to Cornish’s alleged behaviour towards another Middlesex employee,…

Midfielder may still fly to La Manga on Sunday Incoming head coach Jaissle to meet squad in Spain Bruno Guimarães was not on Newcastle’s flight to Murcia on Friday lunchtime as Eddie Howe’s former players prepared to meet their new head coach in southern Spain. As Guimarães, who is believed to be in Brazil, appeared to inch closer towards a transfer to Arsenal, Matthias Jaissle was completing his…

Centre-back defined era of hard Italian defending and collection of honours are eternal proof of his class There are very few players who become bywords for their position, who enjoy universal acclaim. But for anybody who watched football in the late 80s or early 90s, Franco Baresi was the central defender. He was unsurpassed, obviously the best in his position in the world, the definition of the…

England captain retired from international game in June Key says Fleming will start as Test coach in September Rob Key has opened the door for Ben Stokes to return to England’s Test team a month after the former captain’s shock international retirement , saying he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the 35-year-old decides to come back into a new-look red-ball set-up for next summer’s Ashes. England’s man…

Hull: ‘I think people need to lighten up’ Thitikul leads on -7; double major winner Ryu on -5 Charley Hull has delivered an emphatic, unapologetic response towards those who criticised a prank on the eve of the Women’s Open. Hull used pre-tournament media duties to reveal she bought fake scratchcards in a Blackpool joke shop, before using one to trick her caddie, Adam Woodward, into believing he …

Harry Kane, Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi are the frontrunners for the annual prize By WhoScored Seventy-three goals in 64 games for club and country – the second most prolific season by any player in history after Lionel Messi’s 82-goal campaign in 2011-12 – not bad for a man who once sat on the bench alongside Jamie Vardy in the Championship. Harry Kane was not a teenage p…

Emerging from this week with unity over Fifa’s World Cup sell off was quite an acheivement but Europe cannot rest on its laurels It was a phrase not always heard when Europe’s football associations discuss a pressing issue. “Touchingly unanimous,” was the assessment of a senior Uefa executive within moments of Thursday afternoon’s seismic decision to boycott Fifa tournaments unless Gianni Infanti…

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Updates from Friday’s live action around Glasgow Medal table | Campbell cooks up gold | Email Billy Athletics: It’ll be a tough one to take for England’s Ellis Kottas and Australia’s Mikaela Dingley who came away with silver and bronze after Wednesday’s original race but leave today empty-handed. Kottas finished 4th, 23sec out of the medals, and Dingley was over a minute slower in last. Woods get…

Dutch rider completed the set of Grand Tours by winning the Giro and is set on claiming a second title in France French pulses were set racing by Pauline-Ferrand Prévot’s win in the 2025 Tour de France Femmes, but the pragmatic choice of favourite for this year’s race, which begins in Lausanne on Saturday, is Demi Vollering. The 29-year old Dutch rider, leader of the FDJ United-Suez team and the …

Matt Ellis has transformed the club after spending £10m so far and they are now contenders to win Super League for the first time Matt Ellis is too young to remember the glory days of the club he has supported all his life and is now the proud custodian of, but he is reminded often enough to concede it serves as his greatest motivation to bankroll one of Super League’s sleeping giants. For suppor…