Report takes aim at Fifa and IOC over policies for athletes convicted of sexual assault

With the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup set to take place on Friday, a report examining the participation of athletes convicted of sexual offences at major sporting events has highlighted significant distrust of international sports governing bodies in how they deal with these situations.The report, titled No One Wants to Talk About It, is the result of interviews with elite athletes directly affected by sexual abuse and is intended to gauge attitudes around the eligibility and accreditation criteria for athletes with prior criminal sexual convictions and their participation at mega sporting events.The athletes highlighted “institutional inaction, silence, or complicity” in a lack of regulation by Fifa and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), among other organizations.The report is a collaboration between the Sports and Rights Alliance and Thomas More University in Belgium. The Sports and Rights Alliance is a coalition that includes Amnesty International, Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, and World Players Union as well as other trade unions and human rights groups

No ‘fire drill’ at TNT after painful loss of Champions League and England rugby | Matt Hughes

It has been a tough couple of weeks for TNT Sports, with the loss of three days of Ashes cricket due to England’s two-day defeat in Perth following on from some bruising rights negotiations.On the eve of the first Test, the Guardian revealed TNT had lost UK rights to the Champions League to Paramount+, with Sky Sports picking up the decent consolation prize of Europa League rights, while this week it emerged that TNT has also lost the rights to international rugby union with ITV having paid £80m for the inaugural Nations Championship.Senior figures at TNT are open about being “absolutely gutted” at losing the Champions League, which has been its biggest property since its predecessor BT Sport first bought the rights in 2013, but they do not regret the level of its bid, which was gazumped by Paramount. The value of the UK rights has increased from £1.2bn to £2

Lando Norris rules out asking McLaren for team orders to help F1 title bid

Lando Norris would not want McLaren to have to use team orders to aid him in winning his first world championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend. Both he and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, insisted they had not yet discussed the potential use of orders for the decisive grand prix.Norris goes into the 24th and final race of the season as favourite but still in a close, high-pressure fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Piastri, enjoying a 12-point lead on Verstappen and 16 on Piastri. Norris will take his first title if he finishes in front of both his rivals or claims third place or better. Verstappen would need to win and hope Norris finishes outside the podium places while Piastri would need to win and have Norris finish sixth or lower

Nathan Lyon in ‘filthy’ mood after Test omission as Crawley hails ‘phenomenal’ Root

Nathan Lyon admitted he was furious after being dropped by Australia for the first time in 13 years of home Tests as the battle for the Ashes got back under way in Brisbane on Thursday. In his absence Joe Root plundered the home side’s all-seam attack for an unbeaten 135 on the opening day at the Gabba, his 40th Test century and his first on Australian soil, an effort teammate Zak Crawley acclaimed as “one of his best”.Lyon, Australia’s all-time third-highest Test wicket-taker, described his mood as “absolutely filthy” as he came to terms with being snubbed. “I’m letting things settle down in my own head and trying to make sure that I’m doing whatever I can to make sure the guys representing Australia do the right thing and get the right result for us,” he said.“I’m not the first player to miss a Test match and I won’t be the last

Sublime Starc is last man standing after Australia’s mystifying call to leave out Lyon | Geoff Lemon

In the end it was Mitchell Starc saving the day in the second Ashes Test as he did the first. In a series supposed to be defined by Australia’s fast-bowling Big Three, he has done the work as the sole member to make the starting line. With one English wicket left to fall and his tally on six for 46, he was on the brink of the remarkable feat of recording career-best figures for the fourth time in less than 12 months. Joe Root and Jofra Archer swung a few runs away to void that statistical note, but it was still another day (and night) of heavy lifting for the man who so far in this series has carried Australia’s burden.Having passed Harbhajan Singh’s 417 Test wickets in the process Starc, who ended day one with figures of six for 71, is now in the top 15 wicket-takers on the Test all-time list, but the more significant milestone from the overtaking lane was the 414 of Wasim Akram, making Starc the most prolific left-arm quick of all

Zak Crawley’s handsome drives steady England ship and show power of perseverance | Simon Burnton

Anthems over, Zak Crawley left the field and took the water handed to him by Matt Potts. If he was a little dry of mouth it would hardly be a surprise – even without the burden of the brace of ducks he took from the first Test, the situation he was about to walk into might have verged awkwardly close to terrifying. He downed half the bottle, donned his helmet and turned back around.Mitchell Starc, the bowler who dismissed him in the opening over of each innings in Perth and is even more effective in these day-night games, dried his hands on the sun-baked turf as Crawley made his way to the middle, and picked up the new pink ball.Three slips set themselves for some catching practice