Sports News

King Charles III had his first winner over the jumps in the Pertemps Qualifier at Wincanton on Boxing Day.

Steal A March saw off a strong field to finish first past the post, making it one of the favourites for the final of the Pertemps race at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

As Brazil woke up to its first day without footballing legend Pelé, his face shone on buildings across the South American nation and landmarks were lit up and fans took to the streets dressed in his iconic number 10 shirt in his memory.

With front pages in the country all talking about Pelé, the country’s government declared three days of national mourning.

The announcement that Brazilian, and world, football legend, Pele has died, has left a numbness that will be felt by people – in and out of the game – for generations to come.

Credited with scoring a world record 1,281 goals in 1,363 appearances during a 21-year career, including 77 goals in 92 matches for his country, he will always be ‘the greatest’, because he was the ‘first’.

According to a statement from the hospital where the 82-year-old Brazil legend is being treated, the world’s greatest ever footballer, Pele, is set to spend Christmas in hospital after medical reports showed that his cancer has worsened.

The three-times World Cup winner was hospitalized in November for doctors to re-evaluate his treatment. The Brazilian icon has been battling colon cancer since September 2021

England and Arsenal star striker, Beth Mead has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022.

She starred at this summer's Euro 2022, where she helped the Lionesses to glory at Wembley, England's first ever major women's football trophy. The 27-year-old becomes the first women's footballer to win the award.

With Lionel Messi finally achieved his dream, as Argentina won their third crown on penalties, in what was said to be one of the greatest finals in the tournament's history, it brought a fitting end to what was the first FIFA World Cup to be held in the Arab world, during what, for many countries, was the first to be held in the middle of a football season, which provided arguably the most open in its history.

Eight-time Olympic Gold medalist, Usain Bolt, is to receive the Lifetime Achievement award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022. The event takes place at MediaCity next week, with the Jamaican superstar saying: “I feel accomplished.

“I’ve accomplished all I wanted to in my sport, so it’s just a great feeling to know that with the determination and sacrifice that I put in that I could accomplish what I wanted to. I always try to motivate people and say listen, believe in yourself and just go out there and do your best.”

Japan’s stunning victory over Germany, in the group stages of the FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022, left their football fans in a state of joyous disbelief and got the rest of the world firmly behind them.

But it’s their supporters who are earning praise in Qatar for their off-pitch tradition that appears to be uniquely Japanese: Cleaning up stadiums after other football fans have left. In what was becoming an increasingly common sight, Japanese fans stayed behind after their team’s win and helped to clean up the Khalifa International Stadium.

West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite said he had full confidence in his young side, despite two crushing Test defeats to Australia, insisting they will learn from their mistakes.

The Caribbean team put up a fight in the first Test at Perth, taking it to a fifth day before losing by 164 runs. But in Adelaide, they were completely outclassed, being dismissed for just 77 in their second innings.

The FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup continues to throw up stories of ‘romance’, ‘shocks’, ‘tears’ ‘dejection’ and ‘celebrations’ as, following France’s place being the last to be booked for the semi-finals, this has, already, got to be the most open celebration of unpredictability of a tournament that has given loads.    

Baku City Circuit (BCC), Promoter of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, has confirmed a change to its senior management structure that sees Arif Rahimov leave his position as Executive Director of the organisation after seven highly successful years.

Magsud Farzullayev has been named as the new General Director and brings with him a wealth of experience delivering major sporting events to Azerbaijan.

Jess Warner-Judd has been chosen to captain the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at this Sunday’s European Cross Country Championships in Turin, Italy. The Olympian has been an ever-present in GB & NI cross country squads throughout her career, competing in every age-group team and in the mixed relay over the last 10 years.

UK Athletics has announced the cohort of athletes on the Olympic and Paralympic Futures Programme for 2022/23, which is supported by Nike.

The Programme is a key step in the pathway to support athlete and coach development with the aim of progressing to become a successful senior athlete, and transition onto the World Class Programme (WCP) in the next cycle.

Brazil are favourites to win the 2022 World Cup with Gracenote's updated predictions estimating a 25% chance of the team lifting the trophy on December 18. Argentina are the main challengers with a 20% chance of winning followed by Portugal on 13%, the Netherlands and France (both on 11%), and then England, estimated to have 10% chance of winning.

Brazilian great Pele's condition is improving in hospital, say doctors in Sao Paulo.

The 82-year-old world renounced legend was admitted last Tuesday, before, on Saturday, reassuring his fans that he was improving by the day and getting stronger and with a lot of hope.

Sydney McLaughlin and Armand Duplantis were named world athletes of the year at the World Athletics Awards.

American, McLaughlin, broke her own world record by almost three-quarters of a second as she won world 400m hurdles gold in July. She clocked 50.68 seconds in Oregon, where she also won 4x400m gold.