分类： sports

As the Iranian men’s national football team makes its final preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, a top Iranian football official has voiced strong confidence in the governance and security protocols laid out by global football’s governing body, even as lingering uncertainty over U.S. entry visas casts a faint shadow over the team’s preparations.

The Iranian squad touched down in Turkey on Monday to wrap up their pre-tournament training camp, a multi-week stay that will serve as their final tune-up before traveling to North America for the world’s biggest sporting event. This World Cup carries unusual geopolitical weight for Iran: the United States, one of the three co-hosts of this year’s tournament, has been engaged in active military conflict against Iran alongside Israel since late February, a confrontation that has ignited widespread instability across the Middle East.

Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, vice-president of the Iranian Football Federation and director of the national team program, shared his assessment with reporters on the sidelines of the team’s Turkish training session on Tuesday. Nabi insisted that all logistics for Iran’s participation would follow the formal rules and frameworks set by FIFA. “Everything will proceed properly according to the protocols and what FIFA has stipulated,” he said.

Nabi noted that U.S. organizers have already established dedicated working groups to handle tournament logistics, including a specialized security committee that coordinates closely with FIFA to manage safety for all participating delegations. Drawing on Iran’s history of competing in multiple previous World Cup tournaments, Nabi said the federation has full familiarity with how these security and operational systems function at the global event. “In past years we’ve experienced all of this and we’re fully informed about how these security committees operate at every World Cup we’ve participated in. In this regard, we’re very confident and we have a clear plan,” he added.

One key unresolved issue remains: entry visas for the Iranian squad and staff. Iranian officials confirmed earlier that none of the delegation have yet received their U.S. travel authorization, and the team is planning to submit visa applications through the Canadian embassy in Turkey, where they are currently based. Nabi acknowledged that there is no guarantee all members of the delegation will be granted entry.

However, he pointed to binding FIFA rules that place responsibility on host nations to accommodate qualified teams. “One of the rules that applies to the host country is that they must provide guarantees, according to FIFA’s statutes and the regulations of the competition. One of their commitments is the visas: they have to grant the necessary visa facilities to all the teams that have qualified for the World Cup,” Nabi explained. He added that FIFA has already taken steps to ensure the United States fulfills its obligations to facilitate entry for Iranian team personnel.

Iran has been drawn into Group G for the 2026 tournament, with a scheduled opening match against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles. The team will face Belgium in the same city next, before wrapping up their group stage play against Egypt in Seattle. Throughout the tournament, the Iranian delegation will be based in Tucson, Arizona, for their training and accommodation.

The St Kilda Saints have suffered another major injury set to their attacking lineup just days before a high-stakes away clash against the red-hot Fremantle Dockers in Perth, with three-time club leading goalkicker Jack Higgins ruled out of the fixture due to a swollen knee injury.

Higgins picked up the inflammatory knee issue during last weekend’s victory against Richmond, and the club confirmed he would not make the cross-country trip west to face a Fremantle side that has been climbing the AFL ladder in recent weeks. His absence adds to a growing injury crisis for the Saints, who already have key players including Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Max King, Mitch Owens and Liam Owen sidelined with different long and short-term injuries.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, St Kilda head coach Ross Lyon confirmed the decision to hold Higgins out of the match, noting the knee had flared up unexpectedly after the Richmond win. “(Higgins) won’t play, it’s sort of just flared up a bit, it’s just a bit swollen in the knee… he won’t play,” Lyon said.

For the club’s other high-profile injured star, Wanganeen-Milera, Lyon confirmed the club is taking a cautious approach to his calf injury, despite the player saying he feels fit enough to return. Wanganeen-Milera is currently listed as a two-week outs, and Lyon said the club would not risk rushing him back to avoid long-term chronic injury, pointing to a string of high-profile examples across the league where early returns from calf injuries derailed entire careers.

“As far as I know, he’s on track, pretty bubbly, he’d like to be playing, he says, ‘I feel a million dollars’,” Lyon said. “But sports science takes over and calves, you know, there’s been players if you get a chronic calf you’re gone. Like Dan Hannebery, Harley Bennell and Eric Mackenzie here, there’s probably a few others around the league. You’ve got to be cautious with them, which we will be.”

Heading into the Perth clash, St Kilda will look to replicate a dominant win they recorded against Fremantle last year at Marvel Stadium, when they ran out 10-goal winners thanks to a crushing midfield performance led by Jack Macrae. That day, the Saints won the clearance count 50-22 and dominated contested possessions 151-103 in one of their most complete performances of the 2023 season.

Lyon said that midfield battle will once again be the defining factor of this weekend’s clash, particularly when it comes to containing Fremantle’s star dynamic ruckman Luke Jackson, who Lyon labeled a “unicorn” for his unique mix of size and skill. Fremantle’s midfield also features star talents including two-time MVP contenders Andy Brayshaw and Caleb Serong, plus dangerous forward-midfielder Shai Bolton, making the Dockers one of the most well-rounded lineups in the competition this season.

“Our stoppage work is pretty good and clearly Rowan (Marshall) and TDK (Tom De Koning) as a combination are important to that,” Lyon said. “But we come up against the unicorn, right? You look at their midfield, they’re very good either end and well-led by their captain when he’s there. If you want to be the best, then you’ve got to beat the best… it’s an opportunity.”

Rugby league fans around the world can now lock in their travel plans for Sin City, after the National Rugby League officially announced the four competing clubs for its 2027 blockbuster annual triple-header at Las Vegas’ iconic Allegiant Stadium.

The 2027 installment of the NRL’s groundbreaking U.S. venture will feature the Melbourne Storm, Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Titans, marking the fourth consecutive year the league has brought elite rugby league to Las Vegas since the event launched in 2024. The only current NRL club yet to secure a spot in the showcase is the Dolphins, though the expansion side will not be left waiting long: league officials have already virtually guaranteed the club a berth in the 2028 event, which falls on the final year of the NRL’s existing partnership agreement with Las Vegas Tourism.

On match day, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 28 AEDT, the Melbourne Storm will square off against Wests Tigers, while the Eels will go head-to-head with the Gold Coast Titans. To round out the triple-header, two English Super League sides – the Bradford Bulls and Leigh Leopards – will also take the field, bringing their own passionate fan bases to add to the electric atmosphere of the entertainment capital.

The NRL’s high-stakes bet on Las Vegas has paid off dramatically in the years since its launch, quickly growing into one of the most anticipated marquee dates on the NRL calendar, and a bucket-list experience for die-hard fans across the globe. Official travel packages for the 2027 event are set to go on sale starting Wednesday morning, with additional details about full match scheduling to be released at a later date.

Club executives have already expressed overwhelming excitement for the global showcase. Parramatta Eels chief executive Jim Sarantinos noted that thousands of the club’s 37,000-plus members have already signaled interest in attending the event. “We’re expecting a huge blue and gold contingent in Vegas,” Sarantinos said. To welcome traveling fans, the club will host an exclusive Eels fan hub on the Las Vegas Strip, designed as a gathering space where supporters can connect and build memories throughout the week of the event.

The Storm-Tigers clash is already pegged as the weekend’s headline matchup, as all eyes will turn to Tigers star playmaker Jarome Luai, who will kick off his final NRL season before departing to join the Super Rugby Pacific side the Chiefs in 2028. The game will also put Melbourne Storm’s legendary undefeated round-one record under head coach Craig Bellamy to the test. For the Titans, the 2027 Vegas trip doubles as a celebration of the club’s 20th anniversary, with new head coach Josh Hannay looking to build on the team’s strong 2025 form on a global stage.

Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell called the opportunity a landmark moment for the Gold Coast club. “This kickstarts our 20-year celebrations on one of the biggest stages in the world,” Mitchell said, noting the natural synergy between the Gold Coast – a leading international tourist destination led by Mayor Tom Tate – and Las Vegas, the U.S.’s own iconic entertainment capital. Mitchell also praised the NRL’s global expansion strategy, highlighting the Vegas event as a foundational tool for growing the league’s audience and footprint in international markets. “We know there will be tremendous interest from our entire community to travel across and be part of the occasion, and we can’t wait to see Gold Coast Titans colours in Vegas in 2027,” he added.

After more than two decades of near misses and unfulfilled promise, Arsenal have finally reclaimed the English Premier League crown, their first top-flight title since 2002. The historic milestone was sealed not on the Gunners’ own pitch, but on the south coast of England, where Bournemouth held treble-chasing Manchester City to a dramatic 1-1 draw that mathematically ended Pep Guardiola’s side’s bid to retain the league crown.

The result means Mikel Arteta’s young Arsenal side cannot be caught at the top of the table with one match still remaining, bringing a close to a six-year trophy drought for the north London club. The Gunners had edged one step closer to the title 24 hours earlier, grinding out a narrow 1-0 victory over already-relegated Burnley that stretched their lead over City to five points. Having led the table for the vast majority of the 2024-25 campaign, Arteta’s men showed impressive mental resilience to bounce back from a costly defeat to City last month, reeling off four consecutive clean sheet victories to cruise over the finish line.

For City and Guardiola, the draw marks an underwhelming end to what was already a historic season. Just 48 hours before Bournemouth hosted City, Guardiola’s side had secured a domestic FA Cup and League Cup double, beating Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley to bring the Catalan manager’s trophy haul at the club to 20 major honors. But the final week of the season has been overshadowed by widespread reports that Guardiola will depart the Etihad Stadium at the end of his 10-year reign this weekend, ending the most successful managerial spell in the club’s modern history.

Guardiola had pre-emptively warned that fatigue and Bournemouth’s own high motivation would make the clash a major challenge. The Cherries came into the match on a 16-game unbeaten run, and already guaranteed their first ever spot in European football, with a potential Champions League place still on the table if results go their way on the final matchday.

The match played out exactly as the City boss feared: his side produced a flat, lifeless first half, with their only clear goal chalked off for offside. Bournemouth broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, when teenage forward Eli Junior Kroupi curled a sensational strike into the top corner, his 13th goal of the campaign – a new record for a teenager in their debut Premier League season.

City came closest to an equalizer just moments into the second half, but Nico O’Reilly’s close-range effort was saved by Cherries goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, leaving Guardiola watching pensively as his side’s title bid faded. Travelling City fans, desperate to convince Guardiola to reverse his decision to leave and extend his contract another year, chanted “One more year” early in the match, but their side could not find the spark needed to deliver the farewell win they craved.

Bournemouth twice hit the woodwork in the second half, and could have sealed all three points long before the final whistle. Erling Haaland finally found the net for City deep into stoppage time, but the equalizer came far too late to save their title challenge. The draw means Guardiola will finish his final season without a league title, the first time he has gone two consecutive campaigns without winning the top flight in his entire managerial career.

While the result ends City’s title hopes, it also has major ripple effects across the European qualification race. The point for Bournemouth cements their place in the Europa League next season at minimum, but moves Liverpool into a strong position to claim the final Champions League spot: the Merseyside club now hold a three-point lead and a six-goal advantage over the Cherries heading into the final matchday.

World No. 2 men’s tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has delivered a major blow to Wimbledon fans, officially announcing his withdrawal from the 2025 Grand Slam tournament on Tuesday, just weeks before the iconic grass-court event is set to kick off. The 23-year-old Spaniard, who already withdrew from the 2025 Roland Garros as the defending two-time champion, confirmed that his ongoing recovery from a wrist injury has not progressed enough to allow him to compete.

Alcaraz first sustained the injury during his first-round match at the Barcelona Open earlier this spring. The issue forced him to pull out of consecutive ATP tour stops in Madrid and Rome, before he confirmed he would miss the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris. Now, the injury has ruled him out of two of the most prestigious events on the tennis calendar: the Queen’s Club Championships and Wimbledon.

“My recovery is going well and I’m feeling much better, but unfortunately I’m still not ready to play, I am obliged to withdraw from both Queen’s and Wimbledon,” Alcaraz said in a statement released Tuesday. “These are two really special tournaments for me and I’ll miss them a lot. We’ll keep working to come back as soon as possible.”

The withdrawal ends Alcaraz’s bid to reclaim the Wimbledon title he won in 2023. Last year, he fell just short of defending his crown, losing a tight final to current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy. Alcaraz’s absence also pauses one of the most exciting young rivalries in men’s tennis, as the pair have traded major titles and top rankings over the past two years. With Alcaraz out, Sinner solidifies his position as the overwhelming favorite to claim both the 2025 Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles.

Despite the disappointing withdrawal, 2025 has still been a career-defining season for Alcaraz so far. In January, he became the youngest man in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam after claiming his first Australian Open title. He also picked up a tournament win in Doha earlier this year, holding an impressive 22-3 win-loss record across the season to date. This Wimbledon withdrawal marks only the third Grand Slam Alcaraz has missed since he made his main draw Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Australian Open.

At 41 years old, global football icon Cristiano Ronaldo has cemented another legendary milestone in his decades-long career, earning a selection to Portugal’s 27-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer. The announcement, made by Portuguese head coach Roberto Martinez on Tuesday, paves the way for Ronaldo to compete at a record-breaking sixth World Cup — a feat few players in the history of the sport have ever come close to achieving.\n\nCurrently plying his trade with Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr following stints at European giants Real Madrid and Manchester United, Ronaldo brings unmatched experience and goal-scoring pedigree to the Portuguese squad. As the all-time leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 goals to his name, the veteran striker has one major trophy missing from his extensive collection: a World Cup title. Ronaldo and Portugal have never advanced past the semi-final stage of the competition, leaving the five-time Ballon d’Or winner hungry to claim the sport’s biggest prize in what will likely be his final World Cup appearance.\n\nA storyline that has already captured global football fans’ attention is the potential reunion on the world’s biggest stage with Ronaldo’s long-time rival Lionel Messi. The Argentine great, who led his country to World Cup glory in Qatar 2022, is also set to compete at his sixth World Cup this summer, setting up the possibility of one more head-to-head clash between the two greatest players of their generation.\n\nRonaldo’s inclusion in the squad came as a mild surprise to some, after he was sent off for an elbowing incident in Portugal’s final qualifying match against the Republic of Ireland. The forward avoided a three-match suspension that would have ruled him out of the opening stage of the tournament, clearing his path to make history.\n\nCoach Martinez’s final 27-man selection held few major shocks outside of Ronaldo’s cleared suspension, with most of the nation’s top talent included in the roster. Joao Felix, Ronaldo’s teammate at Al-Nassr, earned a call-up, as did four Paris Saint-Germain stars: Vitinha, Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes and Goncalo Ramos. Manchester United’s creative playmaker Bruno Fernandes also made the cut, alongside Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, who form a solid core of Premier League-based talent.\n\nIn terms of pre-tournament preparation, Portugal will warm up for the World Cup with friendly fixtures against Chile and Nigeria before kicking off their official campaign against DR Congo on June 17. After the opening match, Portugal will face Uzbekistan in Group K on June 23, before wrapping up their group stage play against Colombia four days later on June 27.\n\nThe full 27-man squad includes four goalkeepers: Diogo Costa of Porto, Jose Sa of England’s Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rui Silva of Sporting Lisbon, and Ricardo Velho of Turkey’s Genclerbirligi. The defensive line-up features Diogo Dalot and Jonny Evans of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes of Manchester City, Nelson Semedo of Turkey’s Fenerbahce, Joao Cancelo of Spain’s Barcelona, Nuno Mendes of France’s PSG, Goncalo Inacio of Sporting Lisbon, Renato Veiga of Spain’s Villarreal, and Tomas Araujo of Benfica. Midfielders include Ruben Neves of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, Samu Costa of Spain’s Mallorca, Joao Neves and Vitinha of PSG, Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, and Bernardo Silva of Manchester City. The attacking corps is headlined by Ronaldo and Joao Felix of Al-Nassr, with additional options including Francisco Trincao of Sporting Lisbon, Francisco Conceicao of Italy’s Juventus, Pedro Neto of England’s Chelsea, Rafael Leao of Italy’s AC Milan, Goncalo Guedes of Spain’s Real Sociedad, and Goncalo Ramos of PSG.

After a decade of unprecedented success that transformed both Manchester City and the landscape of English football, Pep Guardiola is widely expected to bring his iconic reign at the Etihad Stadium to a close this weekend, leaving behind a legacy few managers in history can match.

While neither Guardiola nor the club has issued an official confirmation of his departure, multiple reports indicate Sunday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa will mark the Catalan’s final match in charge of the club. The 55-year-old, who still has 12 months remaining on his current contract, has dodged persistent questions about his future for months, even as City remains in the hunt for a rare domestic treble to cap his final campaign. Guardiola lifted his third FA Cup with the club at Wembley Stadium this past Saturday, and still holds out hope league leader Arsenal will drop points in the final stretch to hand City another league title.

Guardiola first arrived in Manchester in 2016, already established as one of the most sought-after coaching talents in global football after trophy-laden, era-defining stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Backed by the substantial investment of the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership, he turned a talented but underperforming City side into an unrelenting winning juggernaut in the world’s most commercially lucrative top division. Over 10 years, Guardiola has collected a staggering 20 major honors, including six Premier League titles – four of which came consecutively between 2021 and 2024, a feat never before achieved in English top-flight history. In 2023, he guided City to the first Champions League title in the club’s history, completing a historic treble of league, FA Cup, and European crown that mirrored his 2009 achievement with Barcelona. That triumph made City only the second English club ever to claim a continental treble, following Manchester United’s 1999 success, cementing a permanent power shift in Manchester.

Beyond silverware, Guardiola’s tenure is defined by his transformative impact on how football is played and coached across England. His signature brand of fluid, possession-focused football and unwavering commitment to building attacks from the back – even under intense high pressure – has been adopted at every level of the English game, from grassroots youth clubs to the top elite sides. A relentless innovator, he redefined tactical flexibility: in 2022, he won the Premier League using an unorthodox system without a recognized starting center-forward, regularly shifting players into unfamiliar hybrid roles to outthink opponents.

Guardiola’s influence also extends through a new generation of head coaches who cut their teeth under his tutelage. Arsenal’s title-chasing manager Mikel Arteta got his first senior coaching role as Guardiola’s assistant at City, while Enzo Maresca – the favorite to take over the City job if Guardiola departs – is also a former member of his coaching staff. Former City captain Vincent Kompany now thrives as manager of Bayern Munich, and new Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso worked under Guardiola during his time in Munich. His outsize impact on English football even led to brief speculation that he could be tapped to manage the English national team one day.

Off the pitch, Guardiola has never shied away from speaking out on pressing political issues: he is a public supporter of Catalan independence and has repeatedly advocated for Palestinian children, saying he feels a responsibility to use his high-profile platform to “speak up to be a better society.” A product of Johan Cruyff’s iconic Barcelona youth system, Guardiola played as a holding midfielder for Cruyff’s legendary “Dream Team” and still credits the late Dutch icon as his greatest mentor and inspiration. Rejecting comparisons between his own legacy and Cruyff’s, he noted: “Nobody is like Johan. It’s a big compliment you say that, but nobody is like him, the charisma, personality. He changed the mentality of two clubs — Ajax and Barcelona — as a player and as a manager with a charisma that’s impossible to replicate.”

Regardless of his own modesty, Guardiola has already secured a place among the greatest coaching talents the sport has ever seen. Manchester City’s scheduled end-of-season title parade through the streets of Manchester on Monday is widely expected to double as a public farewell to the most influential manager of his generation.

One of the most beloved subplots of Guardiola’s Premier League tenure was his era-defining rivalry with Jurgen Klopp, whose Liverpool side employed an explosive “heavy metal” style of play that pushed Guardiola’s City to consistently greater heights, widely regarded as one of the golden periods of Premier League competition.

As AFL club Essendon grapples with one of the most underwhelming opening stretches in recent club history, key defender Mason Redman has publicly stood behind embattled head coach Brad Scott, insisting Scott remains the right leader to turn the club’s flagging season around.

The Bombers have claimed just one victory from their first 10 matches of the 2026 campaign, leaving the side deep in the lower reaches of the premiership ladder and putting Scott under intense public and fan pressure. With two critical matches looming against Richmond and the West Coast Eagles in the coming fortnight, another slip-up—especially against an injury-ravaged Tigers side—would amplify the already growing scrutiny on Scott, just months after Essendon president Andrew Welsh publicly anointed the coach as the man who would lead the club to its next premiership.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the annual Dreamtime at the ‘G clash, Redman made clear the playing group has not lost faith in Scott’s direction. “I think as players we’ve never wavered off the track we’re on,” Redman said. “Obviously performances haven’t necessarily been at the level we’ve wanted them to be this year, sitting at 1-9. Brad fills us with belief week in, week out and he’s the man for the job so yeah that’s how I see it.”

Redman also addressed ongoing speculation surrounding star contracted midfielder Zach Merrett, who has been linked to a second move away from the club after an unsuccessful trade request to Hawthorn last season. Rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Merrett could renew his push for an exit, but Redman said he sees no indication that the club will entertain offers for the former captain, who remains on a binding contract with the Bombers. “I haven’t seen anything of the sort, I am sure Zach will cross that bridge when he gets to it,” he said. “Of course, he’s a contracted player so I imagine we’ll be looking at keeping him.”

The defender’s vote of confidence comes after a tight but ultimately losing effort against Fremantle last Sunday, where both Redman and Scott earned praise for their intensity around the contest. Rather than blaming the club’s current system or coaching staff for the poor start, Redman said it is the playing group’s collective responsibility to lift their individual performance, especially the club’s established leaders. “It falls on us as individuals,” he explained. “Me personally, I’ve got a contest that I’ve got to be better at as a leader, the young guys have to look to us as leaders of the football club. We’ve got to be cracking in, leading the way. We’ve got guys like Sully Robey, putting his head over the ball, first-year guy, super impressive. We’ve got to get in behind that and get after it.”