分类： sports

AFL club St Kilda has publicly reaffirmed its full commitment to star forward Max King, with senior coach Ross Lyon pushing back against widespread external speculation to promise the injury-stricken player the club remains “all in” on his long-term future at the club.

King’s long-awaited return to competitive AFL action last week, which came after two full years sidelined by a brutal run of soft tissue injuries, ended in devastating disappointment: the 24-year-old reinjured his hamstring during the third quarter of his comeback game, where he recorded just two disposals (one kick and one handball). The setback sparked intense media scrutiny, with questions raised over King’s future at the club and Lyon’s handling of the situation after the coach left Marvel Stadium earlier than the rest of his playing group post-match.

Addressing the controversy at a press conference on Wednesday, Lyon opened up about the emotional toll of King’s latest setback, acknowledging the forward’s utter devastation after putting in months of relentless preparation to earn his comeback spot. “If you’ve given everything and it doesn’t work out, well, you are devastated,” Lyon said. “I’ve been there on grand final days. In Max’s case, he’s given everything, given himself the best chance and then because you are emotionally vulnerable, you’ve left nothing on the table.”

Lyon also pushed back against criticism over his early exit from the stadium after the match, joking that while some expected him to rush straight to King’s Brighton home immediately after the final siren, skipping the post-match press conference was never a realistic option. The coach added that he and King had already held a constructive, honest conversation on Monday, where he pledged the club’s full support through another grueling rehabilitation process.

King’s injury nightmare stretches back across two years, with the forward undergoing three knee surgeries in 2025 before suffering calf and hamstring strains earlier this 2026 season. After escaping Melbourne’s strict pre-season training bubble to accelerate his recovery with specialized work on the Gold Coast, the latest hamstring tear has forced him back into another extended rehabilitation period. But Lyon pushed back against framing the setback as a career-altering catastrophe, pointing to a long list of elite AFL players who have overcome repeated hamstring issues to return to top form.

“Charlie Curnow played two games in two years, so is it ideal? No. Will we get him right? Yes,” Lyon said. “His knee is in great shape, what’s good is we all saw what he looks like and what it feels like, he smelt it. Mate, we’re on our knees, but we’re not bowed, we’ll be back and I’m with you, we’re not trading you.”

Lyon emphasized that only the club’s board, the coaching staff, King, his family and his management have a say in the forward’s future, dismissing all outside speculation as unhelpful “noise”. “Those with a seat at the table – our board, me, Max, his parents and his manager – we’re all in. Everyone else is just making noise. You haven’t got a seat at the table, you have no influence, you have no say. We’re in it together with Max and we’ll get through this.”

To give King the best possible chance of a full and lasting recovery, Lyon confirmed the club is willing to explore every available option, including sending the forward overseas for specialized rehabilitation. Potential destinations include high-altitude training hubs in Dubai and the elite Red Bull training facility in the United States, which has previously been used by star AFL players Christian Petracca and Travis Boak to accelerate recovery from long-term injuries.

King was already meeting with a specialist to assess his injury on Wednesday, when Lyon spoke to the press. The coach explained that the root of King’s repeated injury issues stems from deconditioning after knee cartilage repair surgery, which left the forward out of full training for four months before his comeback. “The real issue is the underlining deconditioning of an athlete after repairing cartilage, four months of no work, build him up for four months and then it tears,” Lyon explained. “All players will tell you, if you get in the main program you become bulletproof almost, and if you’re out of it like this, it’s like a yoyo and you just need a bit of luck to get continuity.”

Lyon added that the extended rehabilitation window will now allow King to complete a full off-season pre-season program, putting him on track to be ready for the first day of pre-season training ahead of next year’s AFL campaign. The coach also addressed growing concerns over King’s mental health, noting that stepping away from the constant media spotlight will give the forward space to focus on his recovery without additional pressure.

Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games delivered a night of unforgettable drama and historic performances on Tuesday, as persistent torrential rain turned the Scotstoun track into a slippery, challenging battleground that tested every athlete’s resolve. Despite the hazardous conditions that forced delays to field events and reshaped race strategies, two 100m sprinters rose to the occasion to claim the sport’s most prestigious gold medals, while Australia continued its dominant run across swimming and athletics.

Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, a late bloomer who only began his track and field career eight years ago at age 24, defied all expectations to storm to victory in the men’s 100m final. Crossing the line in a blistering 9.83 seconds, the 32-year-old shattered a Commonwealth Games record that had stood for 28 years, previously held by Trinidadian sprint legend Ato Boldon from the 1996 Kuala Lumpur Games. “That was a crazy race! I’m surprised at the time,” Eseme told reporters after the win. Acknowledging the difficult conditions, he added: “The weather I didn’t want to be a setback, you know, because we’re all competing in the same environment, so I can’t have a complaint.”

In the women’s 100m, New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the Games, surging out of the starting blocks and holding off pre-race favorites to claim gold. Both Hobbs and her top two challengers — England’s Amy Hunt and Australia’s Torrie Lewis — finished the race under 11 seconds, a rare feat that highlighted the intensity of the competition. Hobbs, who clocked a new personal best to take the win, described the moment as surreal. “I mean it’s a dream scenario to walk away with a PB and a gold medal. It was just surreal,” she said. “You can see it in my eyes. I’ve probably got mascara all over my face but I just need time to process what’s happened.”

The persistent rain had a more pronounced impact on distance events, shaking up the men’s 10,000m podium. Australia’s Ky Robinson claimed gold, followed by India’s Gulveer Singh and the Isle of Man’s David Mullarkey, with traditional long-distance powerhouses Kenya and Ethiopia failing to place any athletes on the podium. Other athletics results saw Canada’s Olympic champion Camryn Rogers secure a dominant win in the women’s hammer throw, finishing more than five meters ahead of her nearest competitor. The women’s high jump, delayed for hours by wet conditions, stretched over three hours before Australia’s Eleanor Patterson edged out teammate Nicola Olyslagers to take gold.

In the swimming pool, Australia continued its unprecedented dominance, matching its total gold medal haul from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (28 golds) with one full day of competition still remaining. Distance star Lani Pallister added an 800m freestyle gold to her earlier titles in the 400m and 1500m, breaking the Commonwealth Games record in the process. “It’s been incredible. I think we’ve really shown our depth and dominance this week in Australian swimming,” Pallister said.

Jenna Forrester claimed her third gold of the Games in the women’s 200m individual medley, while Flynn Southam took top honors in the men’s 100m freestyle. Australia also set a new Games record to win gold in the men’s 4x100m medley relay. The standout swimming story of the night, however, belonged to Filip Nowacki, who won Jersey’s first ever Commonwealth Games swimming gold medal in the 200m breaststroke. Nowacki, who also took silver in the 100m breaststroke ahead of British star Adam Peaty, said: “Coming from an island like Jersey and competing against athletes from Australia, Canada, England and the other home nations is very special.”

On the final day of gymnastics competition, Canada’s Felix Dolci capped off a phenomenal Games, adding two more golds and a bronze to bring his total medal haul to six, including four gold medals. The 24-year-old already won gold in the team event and rings final, before adding titles in the vault and horizontal bar. When asked about his celebration plans, Dolci joked: “Definitely a couple of beers, some great food and maybe a little dessert, why not?” Wales’ Ruby Evans closed out the gymnastics competition with gold in the women’s floor final, saying she had “come out fighting” after a turbulent Games to claim the top prize.

When Victoria, Australia announced its withdrawal from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games earlier this year, hundreds of Australian athletes were left reeling, their dreams of competing for glory on home soil dashed. But for 20-year-old backstroke specialist Iona Anderson, the last-minute relocation to Glasgow, Scotland has turned into a fairy tale run that blended career-first success with a long-awaited family reunion.

Named after the Scottish Inner Hebrides island of Iona, the rising swimming star stormed to her first senior individual international gold medal in the women’s 100m backstroke at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre on Sunday. Just two days later, she followed up the historic win with a silver medal in the 50m backstroke, cementing her status as one of Australia’s breakout talents of the Games.

Waiting to wrap Anderson in a celebratory hug immediately after her gold medal win was her grandmother Pam, who alongside Anderson’s grandfather lives in Grangemouth, Scotland, just 20 miles west of Glasgow. The moment, captured by Swimming Australia photographers, has become one of the most heartwarming images of the 2026 Commonwealth Games so far.

Speaking to BBC Scotland News after the win, Anderson joked about her grandmother’s overwhelming excitement: “I think my mum was having a heart attack worrying gran was going to get too excited watching it. It was really emotional – there weren’t a lot of words said when I went over, just a lot of emotion and a big hug.”

Anderson, who was born in Australia to parents with deep Scottish roots – her mother’s side of the family hails from Grangemouth, while her father’s relatives are from Dumfries and Galloway – said she carried extra pressure into the race because she wanted to perform well for the family members who rarely get to see her compete. “I was so psyched. I maybe put extra pressure on myself beforehand as I wanted to do them proud, but it was so great to hug her as I don’t get to do that often.”

This trip to Scotland marks only the fourth time Anderson has visited the country of her family’s origins, and it is just the second time many of her Scottish relatives have gotten to watch her race in person. Despite the limited number of visits, Anderson says she has always felt a deep connection to her Scottish heritage, even going so far as to paint her competition nails in a green and gold tartan design to celebrate the Games’ host nation. She also quipped that she has embraced local culinary traditions, saying “I do like black pudding and link sausages when here, they’re much better than what you get back home. I know they might be unhealthier too!”

Anderson joked to Australian media after her gold medal win that the switch to Glasgow turned out better than hosting the Games in her home state of Victoria would have been, noting that the close proximity of the cheering crowd to the pool at Tollcross gave her an extra burst of energy during her race. The young swimmer added that bouncing back from the high of winning gold to compete in the 50m backstroke heats just one day later was a surprising challenge. “It’s been a whirlwind of emotions,” she laughed. “My roommate got bronze in the 1,500m on Sunday [Molly Walker] and we kind of pinged off each other a bit – so getting to sleep was pretty hard. But it’s a great atmosphere and that gets you going.”

Anderson’s success comes as the Australian team continues to dominate the swimming competition at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, with multiple medal wins across individual and relay events in the first week of competition.

As the 2026 Commonwealth Games prepare to kick off in Glasgow, a startling incident has put a temporary spotlight on athlete security, after Australian middle-distance runner Olli Hoare encountered a person brandishing a knife during a pre-competition training run in the city centre.

Initial reports incorrectly linked Hoare’s experience to the fatal stabbing of 44-year-old Paul McMinigal, who was found dead on Burgher Street in Glasgow’s east end the day before the runner’s sighting. That early narrative was later corrected following a review of GPS data from Hoare’s smartwatch, which confirmed the knife incident he witnessed took place the day after McMinigal’s death, at a separate location in the city.

Following the incident, circulating reports claimed that Australian team officials had ordered all athletes to only train in small groups and avoid wearing the team’s iconic green and gold uniform during outdoor runs. However, BBC Scotland has since clarified that this guidance is not a specific response to the Glasgow incident, but rather standard security protocol implemented for all major international championships.

Despite the unsettling encounter, Team Australia, which currently sits atop the Commonwealth Games medal table, has stated it holds no major concerns over athlete safety for the duration of the event. A spokesperson for the Australian delegation confirmed that organisers and team officials are working in close coordination with Glasgow 2026 planning committees to prioritise the wellbeing of all athletes, coaches, officials, and visiting family members.

“Our regular Games security briefings are keeping us comprehensively informed on potential risks across the city, and we’re sharing applicable information with Team Members to ensure their awareness and safety,” the spokesperson added in an official statement. After the incident, team welfare officials checked in with Hoare to confirm his wellbeing, and confirmed there are no ongoing safety issues linked to the encounter.

Hoare is still set to compete as scheduled in the highly anticipated men’s mile event at Scotstoun Stadium this Saturday, where he will face off against a stacked field of top Scottish competitors. The race is expected to be led by current world record holder Josh Kerr, who enters as the favourite for gold, alongside former 1500m world champion Jake Wightman and Neil Gourley, a decorated athlete with both world and European indoor 1500m medals to his name. Rising Australian track star Cameron Myers, who set a new under-21 1500m world record in July, will also join the starting line-up.

This article has been corrected from its original publication, which misattributed Hoare’s sighting to the aftermath of McMinigal’s killing, following the emergence of new GPS evidence that clarifies the timeline and location of the two separate incidents.

Global football’s governing body FIFA has ignited a fierce debate across the sport after officially confirming plans to offload a minority stake in the commercial operations of its flagship competitions, including the World Cup, through a newly created semi-private subsidiary. The announcement, made Tuesday, came just hours after details of the confidential proposal were leaked to British newspaper *The Times* by two anonymous sources, forcing FIFA to break its silence on the initiative early.

Under the plan, FIFA will retain a majority controlling share in the new entity, named FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). The organization aims to raise $4.2 billion by the end of 2021 by selling non-controlling minority stakes to pre-vetted long-term investors, with an projected initial equity valuation of $20 billion for FFE, per FIFA’s internal estimates. In an effort to build buy-in across its global membership, each of FIFA’s 211 national member associations will be offered the opportunity to purchase a $20 million one-off stake. While that holding amounts to just 0.1% of FFE’s total equity, FIFA notes the sum could represent a transformative financial opportunity for leaders of smaller or lower-income member federations. The governing body added that the proceeds from the stake sale, when combined with existing development programs, would push its total planned global football development funding past $10 billion over the next four years.

FIFA has moved quickly to address concerns over loss of governance control, emphasizing in its official statement that it will “retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions.”

The leak published by *The Times* painted a far more controversial picture of the plan, however. The report alleged that FIFA president Gianni Infantino, 56, stands to personally benefit from the scheme after his current expected term ends in 2031, when he could take on a leadership role as FFE commissioner. The newspaper also named early parties that have already held preliminary discussions with FIFA, including Joshua Kushner — brother of Jared Kushner, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law — and an investment division of JPMorgan Chase, the American bank that infamously tried to finance the collapsed 2021 European Super League breakaway. *The Times* quoted one unnamed senior football industry figure calling the FFE plan “potentially much worse than the European Super League,” arguing it would reshape the foundation of football at every level globally. A second anonymous source added that the structure creates “unacceptable” conflicts of interest for both FIFA and Infantino personally.

UEFA, European football’s governing body and a longstanding critic of Infantino’s leadership, was among the first to issue a sharp rebuke of the plan following the report’s publication. “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously,” the organization said in a statement. “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

The FFE proposal is not Infantino’s first attempt to bring large-scale private capital into FIFA’s top competitions. In 2019, a FIFA stakeholder committee rejected an Infantino-supported plan to secure $25 billion in private investment for an expanded Club World Cup, with reported backers including Japan’s SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Despite that rejection, FIFA still moved forward with expanding the Club World Cup from 7 to 32 teams, set to launch in 2025. *The Times* speculates that the creation of FFE could open the door to further expansion of both the World Cup and Club World Cup, as well as pressure to hold the tournaments more frequently than the current four-year cycle.

FIFA, a not-for-profit organization formally owned by its member associations and holds tax-exempt status in its home base of Switzerland, has a history of past complications with spinning off commercial rights to private partners. In 2001, the collapse of International Sports Licensing (ISL), the firm that negotiated World Cup broadcast rights deals for FIFA, left the governing body with losses estimated between $30 million and $115 million.

In recent months, FIFA has already signaled soaring expected revenues amid ongoing World Cup expansion: earlier this June, ahead of the 2026 men’s tournament — the first to feature 48 teams, up from 32 — Infantino announced that FIFA projected 2026 full-year revenues would surpass a record €7 billion ($8 billion), and confirmed early discussions have already begun about expanding the 2030 World Cup field to 64 teams.