分类： sports

One of the most high-profile legal battles in sports history, a lawsuit brought by hundreds of former rugby players alleging long-term brain injury caused by inadequate safety protections from the sport’s global and national governing bodies, is currently on the edge of collapse after critical procedural failures from the claimants’ original legal team. The 561 claimants, a mix of retired professional and amateur athletes, have brought claims against five leading rugby organizations: World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU), the Rugby Football League, and the British Amateur Rugby League Association. The players allege these governing bodies breached their legal duty of care to protect athletes from avoidable head trauma, arguing the organizations knew or should have understood the risks of repeated concussions but failed to implement adequate protective policies or warn players of the long-term neurological dangers.

The case has already dragged on for six years and cost millions of pounds in legal fees, but it now faces a devastating procedural hurdle: the presiding senior master at London’s High Court, Jeremy Cook, is currently weighing whether to dismiss 95% of the first batch of claimants over their failure to comply with a court order requiring full disclosure of all existing neurological test documentation. In his assessment of the situation, Cook clarified that the fault for the procedural failure lies entirely with the claimants’ former lead legal representative, Richard Boardman of law firm Rylands Garth, not with the former athletes themselves. Cook emphasized, “The only complaint in this case is against the way Mr Boardman has handled the material. No claimant in this case can be said in any way, shape or form to be responsible for the deficiencies in the way this case has been presented.”

Following the procedural breakdown, the claimants voted unanimously to end their working relationship with Rylands Garth, and Boardman has formally notified the court of his intention to step down from the case. The claimants are now actively searching for new legal representation to take over the complex litigation, but it remains uncertain whether any firm will agree to take on the high-stakes, years-long case. Cook has openly expressed sympathy for the former athletes whose claims hang in the balance, drawing a parallel to the situation: “We have got three buses full of passengers going to the same destination. The first bus, the driver drives them off a cliff and the result is that they don’t get to the destination. The other two get to the destination. What of those on the first bus?”

Many household names in British and Irish rugby are among the claimants, including England Rugby World Cup winners Steve Thompson, Mark Regan and Phil Vickery, and former Wales internationals Colin Charvis, Gavin Henson, Ryan Jones and Lee Byrne. One of the most prominent claimants is Alix Popham, a former Wales flanker who was diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2020 at the age of 40. CTE is a progressive, degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head impacts and concussion episodes, and many of the claimants report living with a range of neurological conditions including early-onset dementia and CTE-related cognitive decline. Popham defended the decision to replace legal representation, noting that the “scale and complexity” of the ground-breaking case required new leadership. He added, “We hope it will help provide the momentum required to move the proceedings forward as efficiently as possible”. All five named governing bodies have denied any wrongdoing and are actively defending themselves against the claims.

The 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), the continent’s flagship biennial women’s football tournament, is set to kick off this Sunday in Morocco, with two major high-stakes rewards on offer for competing teams: direct qualification to the upcoming 2026 FIFA Women’s World Cup and a record-breaking $2 million first-place prize purse.

This year’s edition marks a historic expansion of the tournament, growing from 12 participating nations at the previous tournament to 16 teams, all vying for continental glory. As 10-time WAFCON champions and the defending title holders, Nigeria’s Super Falcons enter the competition as the clear pre-tournament favorites, carrying the momentum of a dramatic 2022 final victory that saw them come back from a two-goal half-time deficit to beat host nation Morocco 3-2 with a late winning goal from midfielder Jennifer Echegini.

Echegini, who plies her trade at Paris Saint-Germain, returns to the squad this year alongside the other two goal scorers from that iconic final: Canada-based forward Esther Okoronkwo and Chinese Super League attacker Folashade Ijamilusi, all hungry to add another continental title to their resumes. For the Super Falcons, the roadmap to success starts with securing one of four automatic World Cup qualification spots reserved for African semi-finalists, according to head coach Justine Madugu.

“Our first priority is reaching the semi-finals and clinching one of four World Cup places automatically reserved for Africa,” Madugu told reporters ahead of the tournament opener. “Our second goal is to defend the trophy and bring it back to Nigeria. We know it will not be easy because every other nation wants to depose us. We have in our possession something precious that everybody else wants. However, we will remain resolute and focused and try to achieve both objectives.”

Madugu has assembled a 25-player roster that blends veteran experience with emerging young talent, drawn from clubs across the globe ranging from Mexico and Israel to China. The squad includes just one home-based player, goalkeeper Fatima Oloko of Abia Angels, while the Super Falcons will be captained by Rasheedat Ajibade, Echegini’s PSG teammate. The team also boasts Chiamaka Nnadozie, the Brighton & Hove Albion shot-stopper widely recognized as the top women’s goalkeeper on the continent. One notable absence from the 2022 winning squad is defender Ashleigh Plumptre, the England-born Al-Ittihad player who has been ruled out of the tournament with an injury.

Drawn into Group C, Nigeria will face a challenging opening round that includes strong contender Zambia, disciplined Egypt, and first-time WAFCON participants Malawi. Zambia boasts two of the most dangerous attacking players in African women’s football: Racheal Kundananji, who made headlines in 2024 when she transferred from Madrid CFF to America’s Bay FC for a then-world record transfer fee, and consistent goal scorer Barbra Banda. While Malawi enter the tournament as underdogs, they field a formidable attacking pair in the Chawinga sisters: Tabitha of Lyon and Temwa of Kansas City Current.

Across the four groups, the tournament features a mix of continental powerhouse and rising contenders. In the 13 editions of WAFCON held since 1991, only two other nations have lifted the trophy besides Nigeria: Equatorial Guinea, which won twice, and South Africa, which claimed the 2022 title. Equatorial Guinea failed to qualify for this year’s tournament, while South Africa enters as the top seed in Group B, where they will face Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

Host nation Morocco, which finished as runner-up in both of the past two WAFCON tournaments it hosted, will kick off Group A play against Algeria, Senegal and Kenya. The July 30 matchup between Morocco and Algeria is already expected to be a tense affair, carried by the long-standing strained political relations between the North African neighbors, rooted in the disputed phosphate-rich Western Sahara territory and historical border disagreements.

Group D is rounded out by 2022 bronze medalists Ghana, three-time tournament runners-up Cameroon, and first-time qualifiers Cape Verde, who will look to replicate the incredible success of their men’s national team at the 2024 FIFA World Cup.

A total of 34 matches will be hosted across five stadiums, with three venues in the capital city of Rabat and two in Morocco’s commercial hub Casablanca. The tournament also includes two classification matches between quarter-final losers, which will decide which African team earns a spot in the inter-continental World Cup play-offs.

A rising star of Australia’s men’s national soccer team, the Socceroos, finds himself at the center of a drug and driving scandal following two high-speed traffic stops in central Sydney that ended with an alleged positive cocaine test. Twenty-two-year-old midfielder Cristian Volpato, who recently switched his international football allegiance from Italy to Australia ahead of the latest World Cup, was first pulled over by New South Wales Police on the Anzac Bridge just after 11 p.m. local time this past Thursday.

Law enforcement officials confirmed that Volpato was driving a BMW Coupe through a 60km/h zone at speeds between 86 and 94km/h when he was stopped. A standard roadside breath alcohol test came back negative for the 22-year-old, but officers let him go only to pull him over again less than two hours later in the same speed-restricted zone. This second stop found Volpato allegedly speeding at 109km/h, and a follow-up oral fluid test returned a positive result for the presence of cocaine.

In immediate sanctions issued following the second stop, New South Wales Police issued Volpato a formal speeding infringement notice and suspended his international driver’s license for a six-month period, barring him from operating any vehicle within the state for the duration of the ban. Authorities confirmed they have sent a second oral fluid sample for independent laboratory testing, and that the investigation into the incident remains open as they await the confirmatory test results.

Volpato’s career has made rapid progress in recent years: he came up through Italy’s youth international setup, only committing to represent Australia’s senior national team in May, just weeks before the Socceroos finalized their World Cup squad. He went on to feature in three of Australia’s four matches at the tournament, where the team advanced to the round of 32 before being eliminated by Egypt in a penalty shootout. At club level, Volpato has been a regular fixture for Italy’s top-flight Serie A side Sassuolo since joining the club in 2023. He notched 24 league appearances for the club during the 2024-2025 season, helping the team finish 11th in the league table.

As of the publication of this report, BBC Sport has reached out to both Football Australia, the governing body for soccer in the country, and Sassuolo’s club management to request comment on the allegations against Volpato. Neither organization has issued a public response at this time.

One of the National Rugby League’s most decorated playmakers has opened up about the tricky personal factors complicating his upcoming contract decision, as his Penrith Panthers side notched a hard-fought win and locked in a new club record on Thursday night.

28-year-old Nathan Cleary, the four-time premiership-winning halfback and New South Wales State of Origin hero, is currently contracted to Penrith through the end of the 2027 season, but the sport’s November 1 free agency window is fast approaching. If he declines to re-sign with the Panthers before the deadline, Cleary is widely expected to draw offers that shatter NRL salary records from a host of suitors across the globe.

Potential destinations for the star playmaker have been heavily speculated in recent weeks. The newly proposed Bears and Chiefs expansion franchises have been cited as keen suitors, with the Papua New Guinea-based franchise able to offer extraordinary tax incentives that would outstrip any competing deal, even when third-party sponsorship agreements are added to other clubs’ offers. Overseas options have also been floated: a move to the European Super League or a switch to professional rugby union would allow Cleary to live closer to his partner, footballer Mary Fowler.

Yet a return to the club where he debuted in 2016 remains a very real possibility, even after his father Ivan Cleary, the Panthers’ long-time head coach, steps down from his role at the end of the 2025 season.

One reported move that Cleary has all but ruled out, however, is a shift to the New Zealand Warriors. Cleary, who spent much of his childhood in Auckland and grew up supporting the club, explained that a jump to the Warriors would put his younger brother Jett’s first-grade NRL dreams at risk.

21-year-old Jett Cleary, who has not yet made his senior NRL debut, currently plays for the Warriors’ reserve side. Last season, he helped lead the team to both NSW Cup and State Championship titles, and is under contract with the Auckland club for another 12 months. With two other playmakers, Luke Metcalf and Luke Hanson, set to depart the Warriors at the end of the current season, Jett Cleary is on the cusp of earning his first senior call-up. Nathan Cleary noted that his arrival at the club would block that hard-earned pathway.

Speaking to reporters Thursday night after Penrith’s win over Parramatta, Cleary said he is still weighing all his options and has not made a final decision on his future.

“I still don’t know. I’m still in the process of thinking it over. I’m not sure yet,” Cleary said. “I wasn’t born in Auckland, but I grew up a fair bit there and I will admit I was a Warriors fan growing up. But at the end of the day, even if that was an option, I’d be blocking my little brother’s pathway. I’m not too sure about that. I want to put a bit more thought into it. The last few weeks there has been a bit of a comedown from Origin, and I’ve been trying to get back into routine with the boys and get back into consistent training. That sort of (contract) stuff will work itself out in the background.”

Beyond Cleary’s contract update, Thursday’s match was a historic night for the Panthers. Winger Tom Jenkins scored his 26th try of the 2024 season, breaking a 21-year-old club record set by club legend Rhys Wesser, who notched 25 tries in the Panthers’ 2003 premiership-winning campaign. Jenkins still has a slim chance of breaking the all-time NRL single-season try record of 38, set by Dave Brown all the way back in 1935.

Penrith ground out a gritty 14-12 win over Parramatta despite spending extended periods of the match with two players sin-binned. Ivan Cleary praised Jenkins’ historic achievement after full-time, highlighting the winger’s underrated all-around game that has allowed him to hit the record mark.

“It’s a very, very good record. ‘Milky’ (Jenkins) has been amazing,” the Panthers head coach said. “Dyl (fullback Dylan Edwards) was saying a couple of weeks ago that his defence doesn’t get much recognition compared to the tries he scores, but his all-round game this year has been very consistent, and that’s probably why he’s been getting the tries. Rhys Wesser is a try machine and a bit of a legend in our club, so it’s pretty cool.”

Right now, Cleary and the Panthers are fully focused on adding another premiership title to their already decorated collection, with contract talks set to play out behind the scenes in the coming months.

As 27-year-old Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogacar stands on the cusp of matching the all-time record of five Tour de France titles, a fierce debate has broken out across the global cycling community over one pressing question: does his unprecedented dominance of the sport’s most prestigious race make professional cycling boring to watch?

The conversation is not a new one, either. Periods of prolonged dominance by all-time greats have sparked the same discussion for decades. When Spanish legend Miguel Indurain claimed five consecutive Tour de France titles between 1991 and 1995, and when British star Chris Froome took four wins in five editions from 2013 to 2017, critics leveled the exact same accusation that is being aimed at Pogacar today. Interestingly, both Indurain and Froome were 27 and 28 respectively when they claimed their first Tour titles, putting Pogacar’s trajectory in a striking historical context.

What makes Pogacar’s run even more remarkable is that according to conventional cycling wisdom, the 27-year-old is only just entering what should be his physical peak. That means fans could be looking at several more Tour de France titles from the Slovenian in the coming years. For his part, Pogacar makes no apologies for loving the feeling of crossing the finish line first. “Winning is nice. I will never deny it’s a nice feeling to cross the line first,” he told reporters this week.

Not everyone in the peloton sees his dominance as a bad thing, however. Pogacar’s top rival, 26-year-old Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel, who currently sits second in the general classification after Thursday’s 18th stage, says racing against the Slovenian superstar is anything but boring. Evenepoel, who has pushed Pogacar hard in this year’s race, earning back-to-back stage wins on a mountain top finish and an individual time trial, says he views Pogacar’s historic performances as a benchmark to aspire to.

“I see it as being super impressive, the performances that he’s putting out,” Evenepoel said. “I’m looking up to that, I try to learn from that and I try to reach that level as well. He’s a superstar, he’s the best rider ever, so I don’t think people should consider it as boring. I understand if you watch television and he goes whenever he wants, it looks boring. But for us, it’s a challenge and it’s a big honour to race against a champion like that. You should not forget, we are witnessing history.”

Evenepoel’s admiration is shared by veteran cycling journalist David Walsh, who has covered the sport since the 1980s and witnessed first-hand the dominant eras of Indurain, Froome, and the drug-fueled reign of Lance Armstrong. Walsh, who famously exposed Armstrong’s decades-long doping scheme, says he has no doubts about the legitimacy of Pogacar’s success, and argues that the Slovenian makes domination feel exciting, unlike past dominant riders.

“There were Tours where other riders were just as dominant,” Walsh told AFP. “Laurent Fignon for example in 1984 was really dominant. In a much less exciting way Miguel Indurain was dominant in the early 90s. That left me a little bit cold. This one doesn’t. Pogacar makes domination exciting.”

Walsh drew a comparison to tennis legends Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, noting that unlike those two greats, who struggled on certain court surfaces, Pogacar wins across every type of terrain, even on routes that experts argue should not play to his strengths. “He’s a generational talent and my argument would always be, enjoy him because we shall almost certainly not see his like again,” Walsh added.

Other outlets have offered a different perspective on the root of the perceived boredom. British publication *Cycling Weekly* argues that it is not Pogacar’s aggressive, high-risk riding style—marked by daring long-range attacks and superhuman uphill acceleration—that makes races feel dull, but rather the unmatched strength of his UAE Emirates-XRG team, which controls races from start to finish to support their star leader.

French journalist Alexandre Roos of *l’Equipe* offered a historical perspective, noting that what feels boring to contemporary viewers often becomes legendary when viewed through the lens of history. Roos pointed to Eddy Merckx’s iconic 1969 stage 17 victory on the route to Mourenx, a ride that was dismissed as boring by spectators at the time but is now celebrated as one of the greatest performances in Tour de France history. “The stage to Mourenx was boring,” Roos said. “But almost 60 years later, we still talk about that stage to Mourenx as a legendary Tour stage.”

As the 2024 Tour de France heads into its final stages, all eyes remain on Pogacar as he chases history, and the debate over whether his dominance is a curse or a gift to cycling looks set to continue for years to come.