Page 1874 - Sports

Hrubesch named interim coach of Germany women's football team

Former Germany international Horst Hrubesch is stepping in as interim head coach of the women's national team after the dismissal of coach Steffi Jones, the German football association (DFB) announced on Tuesday.

Despite political turmoil, Italy mull bid for 2026 Olympics

Italy are considering a push to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, two years after Rome's major scuppered the city's bid for the 2024 Summer Games. In 2016, major Virginia Raggi's anti-establishment Five Star Movement killed off the Italian capital's bid to host a first Summer Olympics since 1960. But M5S party founder Beppe Grillo, a former stand-up comedian, has since done a U-turn and believes "the Olympic Games are a great occasion for Turin and for the Movement". "We will prove we can have zero debts and (host) in a sustainable way," said Grillo. Turin's M5S mayor Chiara Appendino wants the northern Italian city to issue a "manifestation of interest" to the International Olympic Committee. Meanwhile, the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, of the right-wing Lega Nord party, has put forward the hypothesis of a candidacy of the Dolomites. Milan is also being considered. "There is a beautiful fight for positions," said Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Giovanni ...

New Zealand's Wright returning to Derbyshire

Former New Zealand and India coach John Wright is to return to Derbyshire to oversee their upcoming campaign in English domestic cricket's Twenty20 Blast competition, the Midlands county announced today. Wright knows Derbyshire well, having played for the club during his career as a New Zealand batsman. Last season saw Wright guide Derbyshire to their first Twenty20 quarter-final in more than a decade before they were undone Pakistan star Shahid Afridi's blistering 42-ball century for Hampshire. Wright will be back working alongside former Derbyshire and England seamer Dominic Cork. "We saw great progress in the shortest format in 2017, securing a home quarter-final for the first time and playing a positive brand of cricket throughout the competition," said Derbyshire cricket advisor Kim Barnett. "John, Dominic and all the players are determined to build on the successes from last summer and continue our progression in this format," the former Derbyshire captain added. "Our ultimate ..

England cricket hopefuls Barbados-bound

Forget net sessions in cold indoor schools in Bradford or Bristol -- some of England's most promising cricketers will instead prepare for the upcoming English season with a series of matches in Barbados starting later this week. This will be the second edition of a one-day series that pits representative teams from northern and southern counties against each other, following the South's 3-0 series sweep in Dubai and Abu Dhabi last year. The aim is to develop England's white-ball depth ahead of the country staging next year's 50-over World Cup. But long-format county players will also be on show in Barbados with the first-class match between MCC and the champion county, once a staple of the Lord's fixture list, moving from its recent home in the UAE to the Kensington Oval. As a result, Essex, the 2017 county champions, will also be heading to the Caribbean. "We introduced the North-South Series last year as part of a concerted attempt to emphasise the importance of 50-over cricket in ..

PSG president visits injured Neymar in Brazil

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has visited injured superstar Neymar at his luxury home in Brazil amid rumors swirling about the striker's intention to quit PSG. The star's father, Neymar Santos Sr, posted pictures late Monday of the meeting on Instagram. "Visit of the day at @neymarjr! Thanks @PSG," he wrote. In one picture, Neymar gives the thumb's up, flanked by Al-Khelaifi and his father. Another picture shows the club president with Antero Henrique, sports director at PSG, and Jean-Martial Ribes, the club spokesman. Today they were expected to visit Neymar's charity center, the Neymar Junior Institute, in Praia Grande, Sao Paulo state. The world's most expensive player broke a bone in his right foot on February 25 and faces weeks of recuperation following surgery in early March. Unconfirmed media reports are swirling in Europe that Neymar has also grown disenchanted with PSG, who crashed out of the Champions League as the forward missed the second leg on March 6,

Greek football club president apologises after gun incident

The president of Greek club PAOK today apologised after storming onto the pitch with a holstered gun tucked in his belt, an incident that prompted the indefinite suspension of the championship. "I am very sorry over what happened. I clearly had no right to enter the field of play in this fashion," Ivan Savvidis said in a statement. Savvidis, a Greek-Russian businessman with extensive holdings in Greece and rumoured to be close to the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, has been on the run since an arrest was issued for his arrest on Monday. He denied claims that he bickered with the referee and an official from the opponents, AEK Athens, and claimed his foray onto the pitch at PAOK's Toumba stadium was aimed at preventing violence from breaking out. "My only aim was to protect tens of thousands of PAOK fans from provocation, clashes, human victims," he said. The 58-year-old tobacco industrialist, a former lawmaker with the party of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is ...

Run Adam Sports ropes in Anand as brand ambassador

Run Adam, an analytics-based sporting platform, has roped in five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand as part of its sports experts board and also as brand ambassador. Anand has been signed up as as a part of the Run Adam Sports Experts Board and also as advisor, said a press note here. Ace cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is already a part of the expert board and a mentor with Run Adam. Anand expressed happiness at being signed up by Run Adam and said he hoped to mentor chess aspirants through the app. My association with Run Adam will be an important milestone in chess coaching approach. The app enables me to mentor chess aspirants who find coaching access difficult. The struggle of many budding hopefuls will be fulfilled by Run Adam through such an initiative," he said. "Here I will be teaching Run Adam subscribers what I know about the game and will also share my personal experiences. I hope to be able to combine my passion for chess with the reach of Run Adam platform to ..

Gurpreet Sandhu signs new 5-year contract with Bengaluru FC

Indian football team's number one goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has signed a new contract of five years with the Bengaluru FC after playing a key role in the side's campaign in the ongoing Indian Super League. The Blues, who have made it to the March 17 ISL summit clash at their home ground in Bangalore, decided to retain the former Stabaek FC goalkeeper who has been impressive under the bar in this ISL. "Yes, we have offered a five-year contract to Gurpreet and he has signed on the dotted lines. We are happy to have retained him as our goalkeeper. His contract will now run till May 2023," an official of the club told PTI on the condition of anonymity. The official, however, refused to divulge any financial details regarding the contract. The 26-year-old Punjab-born goalkeeper is already one of the highest paid players in the ISL. Gurpreet returned to India last year after spending three years at Norwegian club Stabaek during 2014-17. He made just three first-team appearances for ..

I-League: Minerva promises to clear dues, likely to participate in Super Cup

Surprise I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC on Tuesday said they will pay salaries of domestic players as soon as they receive their dues from the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Bengaluru FC take on Abahani Dhaka in AFC Cup opener

Bengaluru FC will aim to get their AFC Cup 2018 group stage campaign off to a winning start when they host Bangladesh's Abahani Dhaka in a Group E encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Wednesday.

Over 2,000 Sevilla fans fill Old Trafford with dreams of qualifying

The stands of Old Trafford stadium on Tuesday were abuzz with around 2,200 Sevilla fans, fervently hoping for an away win in the second leg game against English football giants Manchester United in the Champions League round-of-16.

Goalkeeper Gurpreet signs on with Bengaluru FC for 5 more years

Bengaluru FC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has signed a new deal which will keep him with the Blues until May 2023, the club announced on Tuesday.

IPL: This is the best squad we have now, says Sehwag

Kings XI Punjab mentor Virender Sehwag on Tuesday rated the new-look Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise as the best of all seasons.

Warne will bring best out of the squad, says Kaif (With photo)

Having played in the first Indian Premier League season under legendary leg spinner Shane Warne -- now the team coach, Mohammad Kaif is confident that the Australian will bring out the best from the current squad.

Mumbai T20: Lions roar, tame Triumph Knights; Dubey shines

Shivam Dubey put up a fine all- round show to guide Shivaji Park Lions to a seven-wicket victory over Triumph Knights Mumbai North East in the T20 Mumbai League today. Dubey first arrested the Knights' progress with a three-wicket burst on way to take a five-wicket haul for 24 runs. Then he wielded his bat like a sledgehammer when the game was delicately poised, striking three sixes in the last two overs. Thanks to Dubey's whirlwind 47 in 24 balls, and Bravesh Shetty's steady 60 not out in 51 balls, the Lions overhauled Knights' total of 152 with five balls to spare. Triumph Knights got off to a superb start before Dubey removed the top three batsmen. The pacer, who made his Ranji Trophy debut this season in the quarter-finals in Nagpur against Karnataka and picked up a fifer, nipped the first wicket stand between Praful Waghela (42) and Sumit Ghadigaonkar at 70 by dismissing the latter for 36. Then he trapped the free-stroking Suryakumar Yadav in front for 35 after the

Minerva hasn't pulled out yet, but doing so will bring game into disrepute: AIFF

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) today said that it has not been informed by Minerva Punjab their intention to pull out of the upcoming Super Cup but warned that the newly-crowned I-League champions may have to face consequences if they decide to do so. AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das insisted that the Punjab-based team has not mentioned anything about pulling out of the tournament but has only requested for more financial support. But Das made it clear that if Minerva pull out of the Super Cup it will "bring the game and the AIFF into disrepute". "I don't know what has been put out in the media but officially Minerva Punjab has sent a letter to the AIFF and in that he (owner Ranjit Bajaj) said his club wants to play in the Super Cup but they don't have the budget. In the letter, he has said nothing about pulling out of the tournament. He has only asked the AIFF for increased financial support to be able to take part in the Super Cup," Das told PTI. "We have forwarded the ...

Ashwin banking on tips from Yuvi, Sehwag on IPL captaincy

Ravichandran Ashwin says leadership tips from Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh will help him immensely in his maiden captaincy stint in the upcoming Indian Premier League. Ashwin will captain the Kings XI Punjab, who will also have the services of mentor Sehwag and senior player Yuvraj. "For me, it is all about incorporating whatever I have learnt over the years. I have played under lot of captains including Viru paaji. My focus is on being strategically ahead of other captains," said Ashwin on the sidelines of KXIP's jersey launch here today. "Both Yuvi and Viru paaji have been my captains at different stages of my career. I played under Yuvi paaji in my first Challenger Trophy and he has played a big role in whoever I am today. Learning from experiences and taking advice is something I am never be averse to," the off-spinner added. Ashwin has captained his state side Tamil Nadu in the past (leading them to Vijay Hazare triumph in 2009) but it will be the first time he will lead a ...

RCB players to don green jerseys against RR on April 15

Skipper Virat Kohli and his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammates will don 'green' jerseys as a part of 'Go Green' initiative in their Indian Premier League home match against Rajasthan Royals on April 15. This 'Go Green' initiative takes place every season where Kohli gives a small plant to the opposition captain and the names of the players on the jerseys are replaced by their Twitter handles. This was announced during RCB's tie-up announcement with Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd who are now the principal partner of the team and will occupy the solus position in the back of the jersey with their brand Duraguard Cement. "We also support the green initiative and this year the match will be on April 15," Madhumita Basu, chief of sales marketing and innovation told reporters during RCB's jersey unveiling here. "We salute RCB's sustainability approach of playing one game each season with a green jersey made of recycled plastic. Incidentally, Duraguard Cement is also available in Green bags." "We

2nd Division I-League to kick off tomorrow

Century-old Mohammedan Sporting Club will play host to Jamshedpur FC Reserves when the second Division I-League 2017-18 will kick off at the Barasat Stadium near Kolkata on Wednesday.The opening match will be followed by Langsning FC squaring off against Chennaiyin FC Reserves.18 teams will be plying their trade in the league this year, a rise of 50% from last season's 12.Teams traversing the length and breadth of the country will take part in the league. There are also three teams who will be making their debut this season, in the form of TRAU FC from Imphal, Manipur, FC Kerala from Thrissur, Kerala and Madhya Bharat FC from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.In the preliminary phase, the teams have been divided into three groups of six. The teams will take on each other on a home and away basis with the top two from each group qualifying for the six team Final Phase. The winner of the Final Phase will then be promoted to the top tier of Indian Football.Although the top two sides from the ...

KP chides Rabada's two-Test suspension

A day after Kagiso Rabada was handed a two-Test suspension, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has slammed the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision against the South African star speedster.Rabada was suspended for South Africa's remaining two Tests of the four-match series against Australia after being found guilty of a Level 2 ICC Code of Conduct offence of 'inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player'.The incident happened in the 52nd over of Australia's first innings of the second Test, when moving towards the slips, Rabada made physical contact with Steve Smith, with his shoulder.He has received a fine of 50 percent of his match fee and three demerit points after a disciplinary hearing following his denial of the charge.Rabada had accepted a second charge under 2.1.7 of the code - using language, actions or gestures which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his or her dismissal,Sport24 reported.Taking to his official Twitter ...