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American on course for victory after short program21-year-old had disastrous sake at Winter OlympicsIlia Malinin bounced back from his disappointment at this year’s Winter Olympics by leading after the short program at the figure skating world championships on Thursday. Malinin, sporting a new haircut, gave fans what they expected from the defending two-time world champion at O2 Arena in Prague. The performance showed the Olympic failure was behind him. He will go to Saturday’s free skate with a massive lead of more than nine points after a personal-best 111.29 score in the short program.Known as the Quad God, Malinin opened with a quad flip and a combination of quad lutz and a triple toe loop. The only skater to have successfully landed a quad axel in competition performed only a triple version of his trademark jump. Continue reading...

Role as minority owner of Raiders causes problemsFormer QB says he is ‘very happily retired’Tom Brady says he explored the idea of making a return to the NFL as a player but the league “don’t like that idea very much”.Brady’s last NFL game came in a defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in January 2023. Since then he has become a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders as well as a television analyst for Fox. A spokesperson for the league said that Brady, who turns 49 in August, would need to divest his stake in the Raiders if he was to return to playing. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!It’s Geopolitics World Cup playoff day, dear reader, and Gibraltar are playing Latvia in a winner-takes-all clash. Sadly, for football romantics, that game is the first leg of a Nations League promotion/relegation playoff. Uefa’s scheduling feels a bit cruel, like making some poor flunky do the graveyard shift while Bacchanalia Revisited takes place on the floor above. And what a party it’s going to be. Sure, the process of qualifying has become so convoluted that even Bobby Seagull doesn’t fully understand it, but now we’ve reached the stage where everything is terrifyingly simple. There are no second chances any more, and the only guarantee is of thrills, spills and bellyaches. Sixteen European teams are involved in Thursday’s semi-finals; by Tuesday night, four will be on their way to the GWC and 12 will be wondering whether they can still legitimately cherish the memories they made en route to the playoffs.I’m so saddened by the news of John Toshack’s dementia diagnosis, the fate of too many from his era. He was my first footballing idol, a big handsome hero of the team I knew and loved as long as I’d lived. I would save a sweet for home-game Saturdays and ask my dad to pass it to him at half-time (of course a Kop season ticket didn’t preclude that!), and Dad always said Tosh had thanked me. It’s good to know he has detailed memories of his many days of glory, and I hope life is kind to him in those remaining” – Kathryn Nolan.Riccardo Calafiori complains that Italy gaffer Gennaro Gattuso calls him more often than his mum does (Wednesday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). What’s the problem? I’d be ecstatic if Gattuso called me more than my mother. It’d be terrific to talk about football with a World Cup, Big Cup and Serie A winner. My mother tends to focus more on weekend plans, the noise level in restaurants, and how often my kids do or don’t call her. No offence Mum, but I’d rather talk tactics than family stuff” – Mike Wilner.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...

Lens were opposed to moving the Ligue 1 gameThe top two sides will now play on 13 MayParis Saint-Germain’s visit to Lens, potentially a crucial encounter in the Ligue 1 title race, has been postponed to give PSG more time to prepare for their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool.The match between the top two teams in France’s top division – PSG lead Lens by a point – was scheduled for 11 April but will now take place on 13 May, three days before the final round of fixtures. Continue reading...

Lewis Hall, Luke Shaw and Nico O’Reilly are the three leading contenders for a position that remains up for grabsBy WhoScoredA year ago, when England began their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Albania, the prospect of Nico O’Reilly making the squad seemed very distant. He was yet to earn a cap and had played just 23 minutes of Premier League football. But he is now close to indispensable for Manchester City, having started 23 league games this season and earned two England caps in the process. Continue reading...

Our cartoonist steps into the mind of Gianni Infantino as Australia prepare to host the tantalising new global event Continue reading...

DSD athletes also face exclusion from future OlympicsIOC says move will protect ‘fairness and safety’The International Olympic Committee has banned transgender women and DSD athletes from the female category of events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games. Kirsty Coventry, president of the IOC, said: “It would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.”The IOC has also confirmed that all athletes wanting to compete in the female category at future Olympics will have to undergo a one-off SRY (sex determining region Y gene) gene screening to detect their biological sex. Usually that is done via a non-intrusive cheek-swab or saliva test. Continue reading...

Former world champion’s ultimatum blindsided me, but there are more serious issues than an F1 driver being cross with you for doing your jobIn the grand scheme of things I enjoy a remarkably privileged career, paid to cover Formula One, a sport I have loved since 1976. So I am loth to complain, but was deeply disappointed when Max Verstappen chose to eject me from his press conference on Thursday at the Japanese Grand Prix over a question asked at the end of last season.Our first face-to-face in 2026 came at Suzuka when it turned out the Dutchman had a positively elephantine recollection. When he saw me he stared, smiled and declared he would not speak until I left. In the course of a brief 30-second exchange, he told me to “get out”. I have never been asked to leave a press conference. It is an extremely rare occurrence for a journalist in F1, with barely anyone able to recall more than one or two examples. Continue reading...

Countdown to tournament begins in earnest with friendly against Uruguay so it’s time to forget other countries are good at footballIs it too early to start plotting England’s inevitable route to World Cup glory? If nothing else it’ll stop me refreshing the internet to find out if Tim Sherwood is going to manage Spurs for the next three games before Dave from Chas & Dave comes in for the final Hail Mary.Perhaps you’re focused on Arsenal coming second in everything, Everton finishing above Liverpool or the wild York/Rochdale title race in the National League. Take a weekend off and start dreaming of Gianni and Trump handing Harry Kane the trophy as the world burns. Continue reading...

Lawyer says witnesses clear player of wrongdoingReceiver was guilty only of ‘horseplay’, says lawyerStar Los Angeles Rams receiver Puka Nacua has been sued by a woman who says he made an antisemitic statement and bit her on the shoulder on New Year’s Eve. The civil lawsuit was filed this week in Los Angeles, according to TMZ. The suit also cites gender violence and negligence.Madison Atiabi and her attorney, Joseph Kar, claim Nacua said “fuck all Jews” during a New Year’s Eve dinner in Los Angeles last year. Atiabi is Jewish and says she “immediately felt uncomfortable and emotionally distressed” when the wide receiver made the comments. She says Nacua also bit her and left teeth marks on her shoulder later in the night. The lawsuit also alleges that Nacua bit Atiabi’s friend on the thumb “with such force that her companion screamed in acute pain”. Continue reading...