分类： sports

One of South Africa’s most legendary competitive swimmers and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Tatjana Smith, has announced she is coming out of retirement to chase a new dream: qualifying for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. At 29 years old, Smith already holds the status of South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, holding an unmatched medal haul from the previous two Games. She walked away from competitive swimming shortly after wrapping up her participation at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but a persistent pull back to the pool has changed her plans. In an emotional statement shared with media, Smith opened up about her decision, explaining that she has found herself missing the routine, competition and connection to the water that defined her career for more than a decade. “This return feels a little crazy, a little scary and very exciting all at once,” she said. Smith’s decorated Olympic resume already speaks for itself: at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, she claimed gold in the 200m breaststroke and silver in the 100m breaststroke, then followed that historic performance with another outstanding showing in Paris, taking home gold in the 100m breaststroke and silver in the 200m breaststroke, bringing her total Olympic medal count to two gold and two silver. For her upcoming comeback attempt, Smith is stepping into uncharted territory: she will target the newly added 50m breaststroke event, an Olympic distance she has never raced before at the Games. Framing the comeback as a fresh start both for her athletic career and personal relationship with the sport, Smith noted that this time around, the choice to compete is entirely her own. “It’s definitely a new challenge, a new event, a new race, but also a new me,” she said. “For the first time, I am choosing swimming and I am choosing the event and I am choosing a new event, that has no history but to try and write some new history.” While Smith has named the 2028 Los Angeles Games as her clear end goal, she was quick to emphasize that nothing is guaranteed. She will need to rebuild her race strategy, regain top competitive form, and earn her spot on South Africa’s Olympic team through qualifying events before she can step onto the starting blocks again. A former world record holder in the 200m breaststroke, Smith previously opened up about losing her passion for competitive swimming in the lead-up to her retirement, making her voluntary return to the sport all the more notable for fans across the globe.

A high-profile former Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been handed a six-month driving disqualification after failing to cooperate with police over a speeding incident involving his luxury Rolls-Royce, court officials have confirmed.

The case dates back to March 27, just three days after Salah confirmed his departure from Liverpool following a storied nine-year tenure with the Premier League club. On that date, a speed camera caught the vehicle travelling at 36 miles per hour in a 30mph zone in Wilmslow, a market town in Cheshire, north-west England.

When police sent an official inquiry asking Salah to identify who was operating the car at the time of the offence, the 34-year-old Egypt international did not respond to the request. He also failed to enter a plea to the charge of failing to provide driver identification information, which was brought by Cheshire Police.

In a hearing processed under the Single Justice Procedure – a system that allows magistrates to handle minor offences without a public courtroom hearing – Salah was convicted on the charge. In addition to the six-month driving ban, Warrington Combined Court ordered the footballer to pay a total of £1,044 in fines and court costs.

Salah’s departure from Liverpool was officially announced by the club on March 24, 2026. Over his nine seasons with the Merseyside club, the Egyptian attacker cemented his status as one of the most accomplished players in the club’s 140-plus year history, scoring 257 goals across 442 appearances in all competitions. He completed his transfer to Turkish top-flight side Trabzonspor at the end of the 2025-26 domestic season.

At the 2025 World Road Running Championships held in Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-year-old Kenyan long-distance runner Agnes Ngetich delivered a historic performance that etched her name into the record books. Ngetich claimed the women’s gold medal in the half marathon with a blistering time of one hour, five minutes and 15 seconds, shaving one full second off the previous women-only half marathon world record set by her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir, who set the former benchmark when she won World Half Marathon gold back in 2020.

It is important to note that Ngetich’s record only applies to women-only competitions. Ethiopia’s star runner Letesenbet Gidey still holds the overall women’s half marathon world record (which includes mixed-gender races) with a time of 1:02:52, a mark that remains one of the most impressive in all of distance running.

This historic breakthrough in Copenhagen is far from the first time Ngetich has redefined what is possible for women’s distance running. In 2024, she made history at a mixed road race in Valencia, Spain, when she became the first woman ever to complete a 10km race in under 29 minutes, crossing the line in 28:46 to break the existing world record. Just one year later, in April 2025, she did it again: she set a new 10km world record for women-only races, clocking 29:27 to become the first woman to break the 30-minute barrier in an all-women’s 10km event.

In a post-race interview with reporters, Ngetich expressed her overwhelming joy and gratitude for the milestone victory, crediting her coaching team for believing in her potential when others doubted it. “My coach believed in me and told me that I could do it, that I could win the gold medal,” Ngetich said. “So, I am very happy and very grateful to now hold the world half marathon record, too.”

Looking ahead to the next chapter of her already decorated career, Ngetich has already set a new, ambitious goal that she is determined to achieve. The Kenyan star says her next focus is preparing for the 2027 World Athletics Championships, where she plans to make her mark on the track rather than the road. “I am now going to discuss with my coach what is ahead of me. But I know I am coming back to track races in 2027, because there is a World Athletics Championships,” she explained. “It is my dream to win a gold medal on the track. It is the only one I am missing.”

In the men’s half marathon competition at the same Copenhagen event, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren also turned in a record-breaking performance to take the men’s gold medal. Almgren crossed the finish line in 58:06, breaking his own previously held European record by an impressive 35 seconds to claim the top spot on the podium.

The 2027 Men’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) is locked into its scheduled timeline, Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe has confirmed, even as he pushes co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to ramp up preparation work ahead of critical upcoming deadlines. This edition of the continent’s flagship football tournament will mark the first time the competition has returned to East Africa in 51 years, with the opening match set for June 19, 2027 and the final scheduled for July 17 the same year.

During a multi-country inspection tour completed last week, Motsepe told BBC Sport Africa that while overall development has been encouraging, urgent progress is needed to hit upcoming infrastructure milestones. With just nine months remaining before the tournament kicks off, Motsepe emphasized that all host venues must be ready for mandatory operational testing this coming January, leaving zero margin for further delays. “Even though we’ve got nine months, we need to start using those stadiums in January next year to test them and to see what further improvements are required,” he explained after wrapping up his inspection of Kenyan venues.

Motsepe acknowledged that the three co-hosts have made “very good progress” on overall preparation, but was clear that some existing facilities still fail to meet CAF’s strict world-class standards. The governing body requires top-tier infrastructure across all touchpoints of the tournament, from match venues and training pitches to hospitality, transportation and broadcast facilities. “We’ve got very high standards in terms of our expectations of the infrastructure, the facilities and the stadiums, the hotels, the roads, the football pitches where training takes place,” the South African football leader said. “We require those facilities to be world class.”

Despite the existing gaps in some construction and renovation projects, Motsepe stressed that postponement of the 2027 tournament is not being considered at any level. “There isn’t the slightest consideration of a postponement,” he said. “There should be no need because there’s a deep amount of commitment” from the co-host nations, he added. During his visit to Nairobi, Motsepe held formal talks with Kenyan President William Ruto to align on preparation goals.

The inspection tour began in Tanzania before moving to Kenya, where Motsepe assessed two key Nairobi venues: the existing Kasarani Stadium, currently undergoing major renovations, and the newly built 60,000-seat Talanta Stadium, purpose-constructed for the 2027 tournament. Multiple sources familiar with Kenyan preparations tell BBC Sport Africa that the most significant pressing concern centers on Kasarani Stadium and its attached training facility.

Kasarani is already set for a major global sporting milestone even before Afcon kicks off: earlier this week, Nairobi was awarded the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships at the venue, beating out competing bids from London and Rome. During CAF’s last major inspection in mid-February, local organizers were given a target to have all venues and training facilities at least 80% complete by August this year. But Kasarani has seen only limited progress over the past seven months, with multiple critical systems still unfinished. The playing surface has yet to be laid, and work remains incomplete on broadcast cabling, floodlighting, and premium sky box suites. Motsepe also noted that security and seating plans for visiting heads of state and hundreds of other VIPs require a reworking of original stadium design layouts.

“Security issues in relation to where the special guests, particularly the heads of state, will be seated requires a revision of the original plans,” the 64-year-old CAF chief explained.

Kenyan Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya has given formal assurances that all preparation work will be completed on schedule, telling reporters that work will be accelerated to wrap all projects by December. That timeline will allow for test events to be held across all venues ahead of Motsepe’s next scheduled assessment visit in January. “I assure CAF and Kenyans we will accelerate the preparations for Afcon 2027,” Mvurya said. “We will conclude everything by December to be sure we can have test matches in the various facilities.”

The call for urgency comes amid a recent pattern of tournament postponements across CAF competitions, which has raised external scrutiny of the 2027 preparation process. This year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations was postponed just 12 days before its planned March kickoff, eventually moving to July. The 2024 African Nations Championship, originally scheduled for February 2025 in the same three East African co-hosts, was pushed back to August 2025 to allow for infrastructure completion — a decision made just 18 days before the tournament was set to begin. The 2023 men’s Afcon in Ivory Coast was also shifted from its original date to early 2024 over concerns about rainy season disrupting matches.

CAF has long struggled with scheduling conflicts amid a crowded global football calendar: two years ago, Motsepe’s former deputy Veron Mosengo-Omba acknowledged the organization faced a “scheduling nightmare” fitting its regular biennial tournaments into the global match calendar. Many industry analysts believe this challenge is the core driver behind CAF’s decision to shift the men’s Afcon from a quadrennial to a biennial tournament after 2028.

Even with this history of delays, Motsepe has repeatedly reaffirmed that the 2027 timeline is non-negotiable. “There’s no plan B, there’s no plan C,” he said.

For Kenya, successful delivery of the 2027 Afcon carries far broader national importance beyond football, as it already helped the country secure the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. “One of the reasons why Kenya won the 2029 World Athletics Championship bid is because we are hosting Afcon. Therefore this is a legacy,” Mvurya said. The tournament is also framed as a catalyst for broader national economic transformation, with tourism expected to be a major long-term beneficiary. “Sport is not just entertainment, it is livelihood, it is economic transformation,” Mvurya added. “Therefore we are aware the opportunity to host Afcon will be key for our economic inspiration. Our tourism will be a big beneficiary. As government, we are confident we will host a successful Afcon.”

The next three months will prove the most critical period for turning that promise into a reality, as construction teams race to hit the December completion target ahead of January’s high-stakes CAF assessment.

In a landmark moment for Senegalese football, legendary former French international midfielder Patrick Vieira has been officially unveiled as the new head coach of the Senegal men’s national team, marking his first role in international management and a emotional homecoming to the country of his birth. The 50-year-old, who lifted the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 UEFA European Championship during a glittering playing career with France, described the appointment as a profound honor and a decision rooted in personal connection.

“Being head coach of the Senegal national team is an absolute dream,” Vieira shared at his introductory press conference in Dakar on Friday. “I was born here, my parents were born here, and this really is a homecoming. From my very first discussions with the Senegal Football Federation president, I accepted this challenge immediately, because we have an exceptional generation of players here. I understand the expectations of all 20 million Senegalese people, and with my experience and determination, I will see this project through.”

Vieira steps into the role following the dismissal of predecessor Pape Thiaw, inheriting a Senegal squad that has already established itself as one of African football’s leading forces. The Teranga Lions claimed a dramatic 1-0 extra-time victory over Morocco to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) title in January, though the final destination of the trophy remains unresolved pending a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The dispute stems from a temporary walk-off by Senegal players and staff in protest of a controversial late penalty decision in the final, which led tournament organizers to award the title to Morocco in March.

Against this backdrop, Vieira emphasized that Senegal’s standing in global football has shifted dramatically in recent years, raising expectations for consistent results. “Senegal is among the major nations in world football now,” he said. “Its objectives are not what they were 10 or 15 years ago. On the back of strong recent results, Senegal has moved forward and reached new levels, so the demand for results has also increased. We need to lay solid foundations to meet these new standards.”

The new head coach outlined his vision for the team, planning to build a cohesive unit with a clear tactical structure that plays with high intensity and aggression, while stressing he will not discard the existing strengths the squad has built. “What matters to me isn’t starting again from scratch,” he explained. “It’s about respecting what the federation has put in place over the last few years, and building the next stage, opening a new chapter. My job isn’t to tear everything down; it’s to keep this team’s core strengths: its identity, its unity, its ability to grind through tough moments together. To make this project succeed, I need the entire nation united behind us, and I will work heart and soul to restore the team’s pride.”

Vieira is set to begin his tenure immediately, with 2027 Afcon qualifiers already underway. His first match in charge was originally scheduled to be a home fixture against Mozambique in Dakar on September 25, but the venue was reversed due to ongoing preparations for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in the Senegalese capital. “Of course I would have preferred to play my first match here in Dakar, but we all agreed this was the best decision,” Vieira noted. “These are the difficulties we will accept and work through.”

The squad heading to Mozambique, followed by a September 29 away fixture against Ethiopia, will be missing several key first-team players. Long-time starting goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has recently announced his international retirement, and star talisman Sadio Mané will sit out the fixtures with a minor physical injury. Vieira moved quickly to quash retirement speculation surrounding Mané, confirming the 34-year-old former Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward will surely be included in future selections once he regains full fitness. Other notable absentees include out-of-contract right-back Krepin Diatta, and forward Ismaila Sarr, who is sidelined by a groin injury amid ongoing transfer uncertainty.

Vieira’s playing career is defined by trophies at the highest club and international level, but his managerial career has yet to replicate that consistent success. After previous stints with MLS side New York City FC, Ligue 1’s Nice, Premier League club Crystal Palace, Ligue 1’s Strasbourg, and Serie A’s Genoa, Vieira has been out of work since being sacked by Genoa in November 2025, when the club sat bottom of the Serie A table after a poor run of results to open the season. Despite these setbacks, Vieira said he has grown from every experience and feels ready to meet the expectations of Senegalese fans.

“When you look at my coaching career and the experience I’ve gained, I’ve always stayed positive,” he said. “You learn from every challenge, and there are always positive takeaways. I’m a better coach today than I was during my time at Genoa, because that experience helped me grow and understand things more clearly. With the experience I have now, I have no doubt about my ability to deliver for the fans.”

Vieira received a warm welcome from supporters when he arrived in Dakar on Thursday evening, with social media footage showing the new head coach holding a Senegalese flag aloft while greeting hundreds of fans gathered at the capital’s airport. “I couldn’t have asked for a warmer welcome,” he said. “I saw the supporters’ enthusiasm, and I thank them for it. Taking charge of this national team isn’t just a new stage in my career — it’s coming home.”