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The great old warhorse of British boxing, who faces his 50th and final bout on Saturday, reflects on retirement, Deontay Wilder and his friendship with the Reform leader“Nigel’s here,” Derek Chisora says as he gives me a nudge when we walk into a restaurant called Boisdale in Belgravia. The great old warhorse of British boxing and I have been ambling around this stretch of London in search of a place where we can sit down and talk. He settles on Boisdale, which tags itself as “a British restaurant” and “a carnivore’s delight”.Even though we are not dropping in for lunch Chisora has enough of a swagger to blag us a private room to chat. We look more ragged than the diners, including Nigel Farage, and I’m not sure that the seemingly bewildered staff have a clear idea who Chisora is but we sweep through the restaurant, climb the stairs and find ourselves in a discreet room. After Chisora orders a bottle of water for us to share he asks the waiter to let Farage know that he is here. Continue reading...

Forward sustained muscle problem against GalatasarayAlisson still a major doubt for game on SaturdayLiverpool are hopeful that Mohamed Salah will return from injury in the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City on Saturday as the Egypt international prepares for his emotional farewell tour.Salah missed Liverpool’s defeat at Brighton before the international break with a muscle problem sustained in the Champions League rout of Galatasaray. The 33-year-old forward, who announced last week that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, was also forced to miss Egypt’s friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Spain. The Pharaohs face the latter in Barcelona on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Football federation president on the run with wife and sonConviction in absentia of wide-ranging corruption chargesAuthorities in Congo-Brazzaville have applied to Interpol for an international arrest warrant against Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas, the president of the country’s football federation, Fecofoot, after he was convicted of embezzling $1.1m in Fifa funds.Mayolas is on the run with his wife and son after they were all sentenced to life imprisonment this month for embezzling funds provided by world football’s governing body as part of its Covid-19 relief plan in February 2021. As the Guardian revealed last year, that included almost $500,000 earmarked for the Congo women’s team. Continue reading...

The expansion of this summer’s 48-team tournament mean Tuesday’s games will be the best we see until the round of 16Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereLive in a World Cup host city? Tell us your storiesThere is always a slightly odd rhythm to the World Cup. The final round of qualifying games is almost invariably more exciting than the early games at the tournament itself, and now with 32 teams making it through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, that is likely to be even more true for the 2026 edition. Those final qualifiers in November were thrilling and meaningful – Troy Parrott’s hat-trick! Scotland scoring two absurdly good goals in the same game! DR Congo beating Nigeria on penalties as bottles rained down from the stands! Honduras failing to score against Costa Rica! – and Tuesday will be too as 12 teams battle for the six remaining slots.But for those not involved in World Cup playoffs, there is an unsatisfying phoniness to the friendlies they must play instead, with experimental line-ups and weary players going through glorified training exercises. While it’s never good to be letting in five goals, neither the USA nor Ghana should be too concerned about the defeats to Belgium or Austria. Continue reading...

Next racing at the famous venue will be in October after work is done around a hole that appeared in JanuaryIf you were planning a day at Cheltenham before the end of the jumps campaign, think again. The home of National Hunt racing said on Monday it will not stage another fixture until autumn, having taken the unprecedented decision to cancel its three remaining meetings in order to start major drainage works on the home straight over the summer months.The two-day meeting scheduled for 15-16 April and the track’s traditional season finale, a hunter-chase fixture and concert on 1 May, attracted a combined total of nearly 25k spectators in 2025. That is a long way short of the 56k daily average at the festival this month, but will still represent a significant loss in ticket sales and race-day revenue from food, drinks and betting. Continue reading...

College basketball has transformed almost beyond recognition over the las decade. But Sunday’s game provided welcome nostalgiaUConn’s shock win over No 1 seed Duke on Sunday night to advance to the Final Four connected two disparate eras of college basketball. Not only did the game produce one of the greatest endings in NCAA Tournament history, it was also a reminder of college basketball’s enduring appeal despite the huge changes that have transformed the sport over the past decade.Freshman Braylon Mullins’s three-point heave from well beyond the arc – after he had moments earlier stolen the ball from Duke guard Cayden Boozer – sealed the 73-72 victory. It was a shot that will forever torment Duke fans: the Blue Devils had led by 19 points in the first-half, and No 1 seeds had been 134-0 when leading by 15 or more points in NCAA Tournament history. That mark now stands at 134-1. Continue reading...

French court rules against club in damages claimSala died in 2019 plane crash on way to WalesA commercial court in France has dismissed Cardiff’s claim for more than £100m compensation after the death of Emiliano Sala. Seven years after the plane crash that killed Sala, Cardiff were seeking €122m (£106m) for loss of income and other damages from the player’s former team Nantes.Rulings by Fifa, the court of arbitration for sport and Switzerland’s supreme court have gone against Cardiff in their legal dispute with Nantes since Sala died in January 2019. Continue reading...

F1 has five weeks before the next race in Miami and they will need every minute to fix a hugely complicated problemOliver Bearman emerging unhurt from a huge accident at the Japanese Grand Prix was considered a lucky escape. Formula One must think it is catching a break given there is a full month to work out how best to reduce the chance of such an incident happening again. F1 is going to need every minute of that time given the complexity of the problem.Bearman’s Haas car was travelling at 307kph (191mph) when he was forced to veer off‑track as he came up behind the relatively slow moving Alpine of Franco Colapinto. The closing speed between the two cars was 50kph, a frightening pace. The scenario was one many had been warning about before the season had even begun. With the deployment of electrical energy, and its subsequent recovery now an integral part of F1, Bearman was using his boost mode while Colapinto was recovering energy, hence the big difference in speed. Continue reading...

Group says US is facing a ‘human rights emergency’ICE director said agency will play ‘key part’ at tournamentAmnesty International has warned that the World Cup, spread across three North American countries, risks becoming a “stage for repression”. The human rights organisation published a report on Monday – “Humanity Must Win” – calling on Fifa and the host countries, the US, Canada and Mexico, to take urgent action to protect fans, players and other communities.Fifa has promised a tournament where everyone “feels safe, included and free to exercise their rights”. But Amnesty said that pledge sat in “stark contrast” to conditions in all three host nations, especially the US, which hosts three-quarters of the 104 matches. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul Watson and Jacob Steinberg after a disappointing England performance against Uruguay and Igor Tudor leaving Spurs.Subscribe to The Guardian Football Weekly ► https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast?sub_confirmation=1On the podcast today; England draw 1-1 with Uruguay in their penultimate friendly ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s final World Cup squad selection. The panel debate who performed well enough to further their chances of inclusion.Elsewhere, a look ahead to the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, Paul Watson takes us further afield with stories from Sudan, Rwanda and New Caledonia.Plus, Igor Tudor departs Spurs after 44 days, Roy Hodgson returns to Bristol City after 44 years and we’ll answer your questions.Chapters:00:00 - Coming up01:00 - England v Uruguay - the worst match ever?17:40 - Japan beat Scotland21:29 - World Cup qualifiers preview27:14 - Barry reflects on Ireland's loss29:20 - The Paul Watson World Tour37:27 - Igor Tudor departs Spurs - what next?47:57 - Roy Hodgson is BACK51:24 - Keysey's Christmas Day54:01 - Football Weekly and International DiplomacySupport the Guardian ► https://support.theguardian.com/Guardian Football Weekly podcast:Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/football-weekly/id188674007Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/6w8qWe0kjgHEHSWDSDGoLW?si=231c666f7f5a4453Follow Guardian Football Weekly:Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/guardian_footballweekly/TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian_footballweekly#footballweekly #england #thomastuchel #spurs #igortudor Continue reading...