Sports News

While some of the big hitters and tournament favourites are heading home, Jamaica, South Africa and Morocco are taking their places in the first round of knock-out competition in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, as a new world order is taking place during this tectonic shift in the game.

Olympic champions Canada, plus much-fancied Brazil and Germany failed to get past the first-round group stage, whilst names like the Reggae Girls’ Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, the Banyana Banyana’s Thembi Kgatlana and the Lionesses of Atlas’ Anissa Lahmari created a new narrative in the game for country’s whose positions in the world game was never anywhere near the main pages of the sports media. That has, however, changed massively

Birmingham Phoenix Women have name Eve Jones as their new captain. The opener replaces Ellyse Perry as skipper, following her withdrawal from the competition with a knee injury.

Perry, named captain earlier this summer, has also been replaced by Australian all-rounder Tess Flintoff. Flintoff, 20, holds the record for the fastest fifty in the Women's Big Bash League and has already arrived at Edgbaston.

When Vita Vea was drafted into the U.S. National Football League in 2018, the Tongan American credited his parents with teaching him the work ethic and perseverance to succeed.

“They didn’t have family out here or anything so they had to work from the get go,” Vea said, of his parents who immigrated to the United States from Tonga. “Nothing was ever given to them.”

KP Snacks, the Official Team Partner of The Hundred, teamed up with Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh to launch an initiative funding brand new community cricket pitches as part of KP Snacks’ initiative to give back to local communities and encourage more people to get active through cricket.

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary (19-27 August) has been announced by UK Athletics. The team has been selected to fulfil the aim of the policy for these championships; to optimise medal success and the number of top eight placings.

The full team will be finalised once UK Athletics has received World Rankings invitations from World Athletics next week. Subject to invites being received, those athletes who have met the UKA qualification standard and demonstrated current form will be selected.

Madrid was home to a world premiere between 21 and 23 July that will revolutionise the world of sport. From the quarter finals, the games at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup were no longer contested on hardwood parquet, but on the ASB GlassFloor, a high-tech video floor for sport made of glass.

German company ASB GlassFloor revealed a new dimension in presenting a sporting event through its "GlassCourt OS" application especially developed for the purpose. In the battle for Olympics relevance and the coming generations of sports fans, the new technologies open up opportunities for many sports to position themselves for the future. Players, fans and FIBA were all enthusiastic.

England will start their five-Test tour of India next year on 25 January in Hyderabad. India's cricket board (BCCI) has published the schedule for the series and the other Tests will take place in Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala.

The fifth Test will start on 11 March and England captain Ben Stokes' side will be hoping to win in India for the first time since 2012. When India last hosted England in 2021, they won the series 3-1.

Edgbaston Stadium is set to stage its first sustainable international match day after announcing the sold-out Men’s Vitality IT20 against New Zealand on Sunday 3 September as its Go Green Game.

The stadium has underlined its green credentials in the last 12 months after reducing waste by a third, running kitchens on 80 per cent locally sourced produce, rolling out a low-energy LED light project, and continued use of e-cups that’s prevented 562,000 plastic alternatives being wasted.

The deaths - so soon between each other - of two great stalwarts of Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday sent studders of sadness and disbelief around the East Midlands and South Yorkshire - and far beyond.

Former player, then player/manager Trevor Francis passed away after suffering a heart attack – at the age of 69. Only hours later, fellow ex-Forest and Wednesday player, Chris Bart-Williams also passed away. He was just 49.

Led by Zharnel Hughes’ (GBR, coach: Glen Mills, club: Shaftesbury Barnet) astonishing take down of the long-standing British 200m record, the world’s best showed up in style on a day of world-class athletics at the sold-out London Athletics Meet in Stratford, London.

On a day which once again showed that London helps athletes bring their very best, continent records also fell in the women’s 400m hurdles, men’s 200m, women’s 5000m and women’s 800m ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month. And as one of the most-discussed races pre-meet, the men’s 200m lived up to its billing in some style, with each of the top three producing astonishing runs of their own.

There was plenty of suspense in this year's voting for the audience award of the German Football Ambassador 2023. Dzsenifer Marozsan and Melanie Leupolz were in a neck-and-neck race for the coveted trophy until the very end. Well over 5,000 fans took part in the vote and chose Dzsenifer Marozsan of Olympique Lyon with 31.77% ahead of Melanie Leupolz of Chelsea FC with 31.13% as this year's German Football Ambassador and thus Ilkay Gündogan's successor.

The 2026 Commonwealth Games are in doubt after the Australian state of Victoria cancelled its plans to host due to budget blowouts. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) struggled to find a host before Victoria volunteered in April 2022.

But the premier said the projected cost had now tripled and become "well and truly too much" for the state to bear. CGF called the decision "hugely disappointing" and said it is "committed to finding a solution". Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto called the decision a massive humiliation for the state and hugely damaging for its reputation as a global events leader.

Qatar Airways presented its world-class hospitality and commitment to excellence as the Official Airline Partner for the highly anticipated 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup Final. The thrilling match took place on 16 July at the SoFi Stadium in California, USA.

In a remarkable showcase of talent, the Final crowned the men’s national team champion of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with Mexico emerging victorious, defeating Panama with a scoreline of 1-0.

UK Athletics have appointed Sportsbeat and PRTNR Strategies to deliver a comprehensive content, digital, communications and PR brief, in an exciting new partnership for the sport. The two agencies, both part of Beat Media Group, work with some of the biggest names and brands in sport, including Team GB, The Open, FIFA, Six Nations Rugby and the National Lottery, as well as a host of other national and international governing bodies. 

The 2026 Commonwealth Games are in doubt after the Australian state of Victoria cancelled its plans to host due to budget blowouts. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) struggled to find a host before Victoria volunteered in April 2022.

But the premier said the projected cost had now tripled and become "well and truly too much" for the state to bear. CGF called the decision "hugely disappointing" and said it is "committed to finding a solution". Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto called the decision a massive humiliation for the state and hugely damaging for its reputation as a global events leader.

Aled Davies (coach: Ryan Spencer-Jones, club: Cardiff) completed a decade of dominance in the men’s F63 shot put at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, becoming the ninth British athlete to win gold while a trio of bronze medals from Danny Sidbury (Chris Parsloe, Sutton & District), Kevin Santos (Mike Utting, City of Norwich) and Maria Lyle (Team East Lothian) ensured the British team end with a total of 29 medals.

Davies, competing in the shot put for just the fourth time this year and fifth time since retaining his Paralympic title in Tokyo September 2021, won his fifth successive world title in the event dating back to Lyon in 2013, with a fifth-round best of 16.16m on his return to France.