Sports News

Anticipation is building as a star-studded line up of talent heads to Birmingham’s Utilita Arena for the first showpiece event of the British Basketball calendar, the WBBL/BBL Cup Finals. Fans will be treated to two electrifying match ups and local pride is at stake as London Lions clash with Leicester Riders in both the men’s and women’s matches on Sunday January 29th. 

Celebrated broadcaster and Olympic athlete Dame Denise Lewis OBE has said more inclusion and representation at senior management and board level must occur in UK sport, whilst attending a graduation ceremony to receive an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University (BCU). The celebrated West Bromwich-born presenter, Gold Medal-winning heptathlete and President of Commonwealth Games England also gave an emotionally charged speech to graduates and academics, as the University’s highest accolade was conferred on her at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall – just days after it was announced Lewis would become a damehood in the New Year Honours list.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin thanked fans for their overwhelming love when he posted on social media for the first time since suffering cardiac arrest in an NFL game. The Bills said that Hamlin is making progress, yet remains in a critical condition.

The Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs showed support for Hamlin in the first game since his collapse. Players wore 'Love for Damar 3' T-shirts during their warm-ups.

This month's Para-snowboard World Championships in Spain have been postponed because of a lack of snow. The event, due to take place in La Molina in the Pyrenees from 21-29 January, has been rescheduled for 9-18 March.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said: "The unseasonable warm temperatures across much of central Europe over the holidays have created a current critical snow situation in La Molina, forcing the postponement of the competitions."

Schoolchildren have formed a guard of honour in memory of a footballer who was stabbed to death on a nightclub dancefloor on Boxing Day.

There was also a minute's silence for Cody Fisher at his club's match. The Stratford Town game was the first since his death at the Crane venue in Digbeth, Birmingham.

Rugby League action will be coming to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium complex after a partnership was agreed by the Midlands Hurricanes and Birmingham City Council.

The Hurricanes, who compete in League One, will play their home fixtures during the 2023 season at the Perry Barr venue – starting with a tie against Cornwall on February 19. 

As people were still trying to get their heads around his passing, former Sampdoria team-mate Graeme Souness was in tears as an interview with him was cut short during Gianluca Vialli tribute. They were both at the opposite ends of their respective football careers, but, even so, the impact that the young, thoughtful, Italian had the then 31-year-old medal-laden Scottish international will, as he said himself, remain with him for ever.

The ambitious plan for a pioneer top quality golf course built near the world-renowned Africa’s premier national park of Serengeti was unveiled, with an 18-hole golf course being constructed within 400 acres at Fort Ikoma, an area that serves as a buffer zone for Serengeti District and the Serengeti National Park. It will be among the world’s few golf courses within or near a national park.

Thousands of mourners lined the streets as Brazilian football icon Pele was laid to rest in Santos, the city of his former club.

Pele had been lying in state for 24 hours in the centre of the pitch at the club's Urbano Caldeira stadium for the public to pay their respects. People crowded the streets as his coffin was carried on a fire truck to a private family funeral.

Hundreds of thousands of highly emotional mourners gathered for the 24-hour memorial wake to pay their final respects to Brazil legend Pele who is lying in state at the Urbano Caldeira stadium – home of his former club Santos, in Sao Paulo.

His coffin was placed in the centre of the pitch as fans lined the streets to get inside the ground, with a procession through the streets of Santos to a private family burial set for today.

The Homeless World Cup is delighted to announce that the 2023 annual tournament will be held in Sacramento, USA. The Homeless World Cup will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year and it will be the first time that the tournament has been held in the USA.

California State University, Sacramento and national non-profit, Street Soccer USA, will host the tournament in July 2023 with the action taking place on campus at the iconic Hornet Stadium.

As we draw to the end of 2022, I wanted to take the opportunity on behalf of the team at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee to thank you for your fantastic support in helping make the Games so special.

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