BERLIN – International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced landmark hosting decisions this Wednesday, granting France the right to stage the 2031 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup, while Japan will welcome the world’s top women’s basketball teams for the 2030 Women’s World Cup. The announcement positions emerging basketball superstar Victor Wembanyama to potentially compete for a world title on home soil in eight years’ time. In its official statement, FIBA highlighted that both nations boast a proven track record of delivering world-class international sporting events, having successfully hosted the last two Summer Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 for Japan and Paris 2024 for France. Wembanyama, the rising San Antonio Spurs star, emerged as one of the biggest breakout names of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he carried the French men’s national team to a silver medal finish, putting up an impressive 26-point performance in the gold medal match against the dominant United States squad. For the 2031 men’s tournament, three French cities will serve as host venues: Lyon, Lille, and Paris. The 17-day competition is scheduled to run from August 29 to September 14, with all knockout round matches and the final itself set to be held in the French capital Paris. This will mark the first time France has ever hosted the FIBA Men’s World Cup as the sole host nation. For Japan’s 2030 women’s tournament, the entire 13-day event will be centered in Tokyo, running from November 26 to December 8. Similar to France’s men’s team at Paris 2024, Japan’s women’s national team claimed a silver medal on home court at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, adding extra local excitement to their upcoming hosting role. Japan is no stranger to FIBA’s flagship events, having previously hosted the men’s world championship (the tournament’s former name) back in 2006, and served as a co-host for the 2023 Men’s World Cup alongside the Philippines and Indonesia. Looking ahead to the near future, the next edition of the Women’s World Cup is set to tip off this coming September in Berlin, Germany, while the 2027 Men’s World Cup has already been assigned to Qatar, continuing FIBA’s rotation of global hosting across different regions of the world.
分类： sports
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‘I cried so hard’ – the Kenyan WNBA star who beat US visa heartbreak
Against all odds, 21-year-old Kenyan basketball prodigy Madina Okot has etched her name into history as the highest-drafted Kenyan player in WNBA history, earning a first-round 13th overall selection by the Atlanta Dream in the April 13 draft held in New York. What makes her fairytale ascent even more extraordinary is that she has reached the pinnacle of women’s professional basketball just six years after picking up a basketball for the very first time.
Okot’s journey to the WNBA started in humble surroundings, in the western Kenyan town of Mumias, where she grew up as the fifth of eight children. She first found athletic success on the volleyball court at Kakamega County’s Bishop Sulumeti High School, before a life-changing opportunity in 2020 pulled her toward basketball: an invitation to join Kaya Tiwi Secondary, a renowned coastal basketball academy near Mombasa that has spawned many of Kenya’s top basketball talents. “I was almost scared to try basketball at first,” Okot shared in an interview with BBC Sport Africa. “But the second I started playing, I fell in love with the game instantly.”
Her raw, unpolished talent quickly caught the attention of national selectors, and she worked her way up through Kenya’s youth national team ranks. A breakout performance at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 3×3 basketball tournament put her on the radar of U.S. college scouts, opening the door for a move stateside. But that next step would test Okot’s mental resilience like never before: she faced four consecutive visa rejections when applying to study and play at Troy University in Alabama and later Eastern Michigan University, a stretch that left her on the brink of walking away from her dream.
“It was unbelievably tough. There were so many moments I felt like just giving up,” Okot recalled. “After the second, third, and fourth rejections, I cried so hard. I walked out of the interview with a security guard escorting me to my taxi, and I just felt completely defeated.” It was unwavering support from her family and her own quiet determination that kept her going. In a moment that feels straight out of a Hollywood script, Okot finally received her visa approval on her birthday in August 2024. “That was without a doubt the best birthday gift I have ever received,” she said, grinning. “I’m so grateful to my parents and everyone who kept telling me to keep trying.”
Fifth time lucky, Okot finally made it to the U.S., first joining Mississippi State for the 2024-25 season before transferring to the University of South Carolina last April. This past collegiate season, she dominated the paint, leading her conference in rebounds with an average of 10.6 per game, and was a key anchor for the Gamecocks as they fought their way to the NCAA national championship final in Phoenix earlier this month, where they fell to UCLA in front of nearly 16,000 fans.
Now, Okot is preparing to make her professional debut with the Atlanta Dream when the new WNBA season tips off on May 8, where she will share the court with star players including two-time All-Star Angel Reese. “I’ve watched Angel play since I was in high school,” Okot said. “I know she’ll be like a big sister to me, and I can’t wait to learn everything from her. My main goal right now is just to keep growing my game and absorb as much as I can from the more experienced players on the team.” She will also have the support of another African player on the roster: Malian center Sika Kone, who is entering her fourth WNBA season.
Standing 6-foot-6, Okot brings elite size, physicality, and strong defensive instincts to the professional league, and she is under no illusions about the steep learning curve that comes with competing at the sport’s highest level. But beyond her on-court contributions, Okot is acutely aware of the role she can play as a trailblazer for young female athletes across the African continent. “It’s such a huge honor to get to represent everyone back home,” she said. “I just want to show young African women that we belong on every single stage. If you put in the work and keep believing, your dream can come true.”
Okot is the third Kenyan player ever to be drafted into the WNBA, following Josephine Owino’s third-round selection in 2009 and Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s second-round pick in 2022, making her the highest-ranked draft pick from the East African nation to date. Off the court, the soft-spoken 21-year-old still holds tight to her Kenyan roots: she loves the traditional East African staple ugali, favors the colors pink and white, listens to gospel music, and still can’t quite believe her journey from a small-town volleyball player to a WNBA first-round pick.
Her breakthrough comes at a time of global growth for women’s sport, but barriers around access to resources and opportunities still remain disproportionately high for female athletes in Africa. For Okot, that makes her story even more important as a message of hope for young girls starting out with limited resources. “You don’t need perfect facilities to start chasing your dream,” she said. “Just stay focused and never stop chasing. I want to be the kind of player that young girls look at and think, ‘If she can do it, I can too.’ Opportunities come when you put in the work — there’s always someone watching, and that’s how dreams come true.”
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‘Hoodoos’: Souths aim to end crazy losing streak in Melbourne against Storm side that is in all sorts
In the brutal, unpredictable world of National Rugby League, few hoodoos loom as large or as unbreakable as the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ staggering 20-match losing streak against the Melbourne Storm on Melbourne home soil. Yet, as the two clubs prepare to clash on Anzac Day, the Bunnies find themselves presented with the best possible opportunity to finally slay this decades-long ghost, taking on a Storm side mired in a five-match losing slide and lingering near the bottom of the 2026 NRL ladder.
The grim numbers behind the streak paint a picture of complete dominance from the Storm across every era and venue in Melbourne. Across seven clashes at the old Olympic Park stadium, Melbourne outscored South Sydney by a lopsided 288 points to just 42. Since the Storm moved to AAMI Park, the result has remained the same: the Rabbitohs have dropped all 13 matches played at the venue, with three of those losses coming by a single, devastating point that has only added to the curse’s reputation.
Despite the weight of this historic failure, South Sydney’s leadership and playing group say they have deliberately avoided discussing the streak inside the change rooms, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand rather than the ghosts of matches past. Fresh off a dominant victory over the St. George Illawarra Dragons, where star fullback Latrell Mitchell turned in a career-defining performance with four tries, captain Cameron Murray says he refuses to give the hoodoo any extra mental weight.
When asked what could finally make the unwanted streak change on Saturday night, Murray downplayed the significance of past results, pointing to the New Zealand Warriors’ recent end to their own 17-match losing skid against the Storm as proof that old records can be broken. “I honestly try not to think too much about records or any hoodoos or anything like that,” Murray told reporters. “It’s always a big challenge going down to Melbourne. They’ve been the top team, the pinnacle of this competition for a long time. Playing them in their backyard has proven to be a little bit extra hard coming up against a team like that. They’re always strong, Melbourne. We always have to be on our A-game and we have to be ready to work hard for a win.”
While the Storm’s aura of invincibility appears to have fractured in the 2026 season, ravaged by a long list of key injury absences that have left the perennial powerhouse sliding down the ladder, Murray warned against underestimating Craig Bellamy’s side. He noted that the 2026 NRL season has been the most competitive in recent memory, with any side capable of pulling off an upset on any given weekend, rendering traditional form guides all but useless.
“I haven’t been keeping too close an eye on how they’ve been going, but the competition’s hard now,” Murray said. “It’s probably more even than it has been in the past, and we’ve always maintained the fact that any NRL team who turns up on their day is a hard team to beat. I guess that’s just proven this year with the mixed results. Staying true to that mentality, Melbourne have got the talent and the skill across the park to be dangerous regardless of how they’ve started the season. They’ve got some world-class players in that team, so we certainly won’t be taking them lightly and we’ll certainly be preparing for a good Melbourne team.”
For the Rabbitohs, one bright spot heading into the clash is the incredible try-scoring form of record-breaking winger Alex Johnston against the Storm. Across 15 career matches against Melbourne, Johnston has crossed for 17 tries, a haul that most strike forwards would envy over an entire career. Like his captain, Johnston says he has no interest in dwelling on the club’s historic losing streak, focusing instead on executing South Sydney’s game plan to get the win.
“That’s the past and we’re here to do a job this week,” Johnston said. “It should be a good little trip down there and we’re in a good space. We’ve just got to focus on playing good footy ourselves. We haven’t spoken about it until now when you brought it up. We haven’t really spoken about it and we’re just here to play and focus on ourselves and play good footy.”
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‘She’s insane’: NSW squad unveiled for State of Origin opener, with star making shock move to forwards
The New South Wales Blues have dropped a major selection bombshell for the opening match of the 2024 State of Origin women’s series, with superstar outside back Tiana Penitani Gray set to make an unprecedented positional shift to the forward pack. The announcement, made by head coach John Strange at the iconic Sydney Opera House, has turned pre-series expectations on their head just one week out from kickoff in Newcastle.
Strange said the call to move Penitani Gray into the starting second row was anything but a gamble. The coach revealed it took just 13 minutes of an internal trial for him to be convinced that the versatile Sharks star, who has previously played wing, centre and five-eighth for NSW, had all the tools to excel in an unfamiliar forward role. Calling the selection a “no-brainer”, Strange pushed back on any criticism of his unorthodox approach to team selection, noting his eye for matching player attributes to untraditional positions has worked in the past.
“I know I look at football differently to most coaches and most people, but I just look at the physical attributes they’ve got and the mindset they have,” Strange explained. “If you sit down and put all those down on a list, she ticks every box to be an outstanding back-rower. We’ve seen her in the centres, she loves running lines, which is a courage thing that not everyone has. She’s also a great defender, a really good communicator – which you need in the back row to coordinate the middle and edge on defense – and she’s incredibly aggressive.”
Strange pointed to his successful conversion of former sevens winger Yasmin Meakes into a top-tier back-rower during his time coaching the Roosters as a precedent for the shift. “I did the same with Yasmin Meakes when I coached her at the Roosters,” he said. “I just said to her one day, ‘I’m going to put you in the back row because I think you’re going to be very good there because of those personal characteristics and a mindset’. Tiana, it’s a no-brainer for me. I think she’ll be outstanding there.”
To accommodate Penitani Gray’s promotion to the starting forward line, Strange moved veteran edge forward Kezie Apps to an interchange spot. He also passed over the chance to select his own daughter Jasmin, who participated in the squad’s six-week pre-series camp, in favour of the high-risk, high-reward move for Penitani Gray.
Another major feel-good story in the 17-person squad is the return of front-rower Millie Elliott, who is back in the Blues side 12 months after stepping away to give birth to her first child, Gigi. Elliott, who missed last year’s victorious series, has impressed throughout pre-selection camps, with NSW captain Isabelle Kelly revealing her fitness testing results are already identical to her pre-pregnancy levels.
Rounding out the squad is young speedster Teagan Berry, who will make her State of Origin debut off the interchange bench. Berry earned her call-up after a stellar NRLW season with the Dragons, where she notched a prolific try-scoring record to catch the selectors’ eyes. Aside from Penitani Gray’s positional shift, the squad remains largely settled, retaining most of the core group that secured a 2-1 series win over Queensland last year.
Kelly, who has played alongside Penitani Gray for years, has thrown her full support behind the positional experiment, saying the team’s vice-captain has all the qualities to thrive in the new role. “I think wherever ‘T’ plays, she’s incredible,” Kelly said. “I spoke to her as soon as the selection started… I just said, ‘Hey, big back-rower!’ There’s no one else I’d rather trust there. When you see the way T plays and how she can run the ball with the strength and the physicality that she has, it’s second to none. She’s a vice-captain to me and really helps me out with a lot of leadership skills, and I think when she plays, she showcases why she’s such a great leader. So no matter where that girl plays, she’ll always be incredible.”
Of Elliott’s return, Kelly added: “She’s insane. We had a few compulsory sessions for the Roosters leading back in the back end of last year when she started with a lot of testing, and I’m pretty sure her testing results were the same before she went away to have the baby, so she’s insane. I think Millie’s mindset is something that’s very unique. She’s able to push herself in the times that a lot of people can’t and finds those one-percenters to be better every single time. I think her hard work and how many minutes she can play at that intensity is something that can help us really out there. She’s going to be great, and she’s got that extra motivation now with Gigi and wanting to be performing at a high level as well to showcase to her when she’s eventually older what she can do.”
The first game of the 2024 State of Origin women’s series will kick off next Thursday in Newcastle, with the Blues looking to defend their 2023 title against a yet-to-be-announced Queensland side.
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How Sheila the three-wheeler dodged danger on a record 14,000-mile journey to tip of South Africa
For most adventure seekers, a cross-continental road trip requires a sturdy, four-wheeled vehicle built to handle punishing terrain and extreme conditions. But for British car enthusiast Ollie Jenks and his Canadian friend Seth Scott, the appeal of their latest challenge lay in its sheer absurdity. What started as a wild proposal from Scott quickly became a once-in-a-lifetime expedition that would push the pair, and their vintage three-wheeled car, to the absolute limit.
The pair’s bold plan? Drive a half-century-old British-built Reliant Robin — a tiny three-wheeled vehicle originally designed for 1970s local grocery runs — from London all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. The 14,000-mile route would cut through 22 countries, traversing tropical jungles, rugged mountain ranges and scorching deserts along the way, all in pursuit of a new world record for the longest journey ever completed in a three-wheeled vehicle. For Jenks, the ridiculousness of the idea was exactly what made it impossible to turn down. “It was so ridiculous I couldn’t say no,” Jenks recalled of Scott’s initial pitch.
The Reliant Robin holds a unique cult status in British culture. Though production of the model ended in the early 2000s, it remains a beloved icon, largely thanks to its famous role as the Trotter brothers’ beat-up yellow van in the hit UK sitcom *Only Fools and Horses*. Even so, the small, underpowered vehicle is widely considered one of the least suitable cars for a multi-thousand-mile transcontinental expedition — and that was exactly the point for Jenks and Scott.
Dubbed “Sheila,” the silver Reliant they selected for the trip was one of the last models ever produced, acquired specifically for the adventure. When the pair set off in October, they brought little more than a spare can of fuel, a handful of essential supplies strapped to Sheila’s tiny roof, and a healthy dose of blind optimism that they would somehow reach South Africa. In a blunt assessment of the vehicle’s capabilities, Jenks noted: “No power steering, no air con, and it doesn’t do well up hills or down them. It is the most unsuitable car for probably any journey. We made friends with the designer of this car, and he’s scared to take it any more than 20 miles.”
Undeterred by warnings from even the car’s own designer, Jenks and Scott pressed ahead with the four-and-a-half month expedition, which cost an estimated $40,000 to $50,000, funded through a mix of sponsor support and crowdfunding. The pair documented every step of the journey on their Instagram page, fittingly titled “14,000 miles, 3 wheels, 0 common sense,” which quickly attracted a following of nearly 100,000 people tracking their progress.
The journey was far from smooth. The pair arrived in Benin in the middle of an attempted coup d’état, passed through northern Nigeria just as the U.S. launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in the region, and required a 300-mile military escort through a separatist conflict zone in Cameroon. “Imagine this car in a military convoy,” Jenks joked.
Beyond political and security hazards, the pair faced constant danger on the road, including a heart-stopping moment when an overtaking bus nearly crushed Sheila against a Congolese cliff face. True to the Reliant’s reputation for unreliability, the vehicle suffered countless breakdowns across the continent’s rough, unpaved roads. Wheel springs needed replacing within the first two weeks of the trip. The gearbox failed in Ghana, leaving the pair stuck with only fourth gear for hundreds of miles. Clutch and distributor issues plagued the vehicle in Cameroon, before the expedition nearly ended entirely when Sheila’s engine blew out.
Against all odds, the kindness of local strangers and global Reliant Robin enthusiasts kept the dream alive. A local contact arranged for a new gearbox to be shipped to Ghana, while UK-based Reliant fans sourced and sent a replacement engine to Cameroon. On multiple occasions, locals helped tow the broken-down car to garages, often on improvised vehicles like cattle trucks. Mechanics across Africa spent hours welding, hammering and repairing Sheila to keep her running, many shaking their heads at the sheer madness of the pair’s mission.
For all the hardship and setbacks, the journey also delivered the breathtaking moments the pair had dreamed of. Sheila crawled across towering mountain passes and vast arid deserts, traversing terrain no Reliant Robin had ever reached. The three-wheeler even joined a safari, rolling alongside galloping giraffes, passing endangered rhinos, and posing for photos beside a massive African elephant.
More than 120 days after setting off, Sheila rattled into Cape Town last month, her engine having overheated in the Namibian Desert and running on borrowed power for the final 1,000 miles of the trip. For onlooker Graeme Hurst, a South African car enthusiast who followed the expedition on Instagram and traveled to see the pair arrive, the journey is a modern underdog story. “I see the farcical kind of comical nature of it … but also the sheer admiration. I mean, they have utter tenacity,” Hurst said.
In Cape Town, Sheila was given a temporary spot in a luxury car showroom, where she drew more attention than the gleaming Porsches and Mercedes parked around her, her broken side window, petrol-stained windshield, bent rims and countless dents and scratches a testament to her incredible journey. For now, Sheila will rest in South Africa for a full, well-deserved servicing before her final voyage: she will be driven to Kenya, shipped to Turkey, and eventually transported back to the UK, where she will take up permanent residence at the London Transport Museum.
After arriving in Cape Town, Jenks said he felt a deep sense of triumph, mixed with overwhelming relief to finally escape the car’s tiny two-seat cabin. “It was like driving a motorized coffin,” he joked.
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PGA Tour mulls pathway back for golfers as LIV plots survival
The global golf landscape has been thrown into fresh turmoil in recent days, following widespread reports that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the primary backer of the breakaway LIV Golf circuit, will only guarantee financial support through the end of the current season. With an estimated $5 billion already poured into the four-year-old tour, a major funding gap would open if the circuit continues operations beyond this point, sparking intense speculation over LIV’s long-term future and triggering parallel moves from both LIV and its rival, the PGA Tour.
Amid this uncertainty, the PGA Tour has confirmed it is actively exploring pathways to allow players who defected to LIV Golf to return to the premier tour. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp shared details of the ongoing discussions during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show Monday, noting that the organization has already approved the return of five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who rejoined after reaching out to request reinstatement once his LIV contract concluded.
“Brooks came back onto the tour because he made a phone call and said, ‘Look, I’m out of my contract. I’m ready to come back,’” Rolapp told listeners. “So we’re thinking about it. We’ll react when we have an opportunity to react. I’m interested in whatever makes the PGA Tour better.”
The question of return looms largest for marquee LIV players whose contracts are set to expire soon, including two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau. It remains unclear whether DeChambeau would opt to return to the PGA Tour, given the steep financial penalties the tour has imposed on returning players like Koepka. The popular star, whose YouTube channel regularly draws more than two million views per video, could also choose to only compete in golf’s four major championships, which grant eligibility to top-ranked players regardless of tour affiliation. According to a recent report from The Athletic, DeChambeau is demanding as much as $500 million to renew his contract with LIV, a asking price that underscores the high stakes of LIV’s current fundraising push.
For its part, LIV Golf is scrambling to implement a survival strategy as it confronts the potential end of Saudi backing. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil has reaffirmed to staff that the circuit will continue operations at “full throttle” through the current season, while acknowledging that the organization will almost certainly need to secure new external funding to continue long-term.
One of the central strategies O’Neil has promoted is selling minority equity stakes in LIV’s 12 existing franchise teams, a move designed to unlock new capital while deepening local connections to fan bases and sponsor networks. This week, LIV took another step in that localization strategy with a high-profile rebrand: the team formerly led by Brooks Koepka, Smash GC, has been renamed “OKGC” to align with new captain Talor Gooch, a native of Oklahoma City.
A LIV Golf statement called the rebrand “a significant step in LIV Golf’s strategy to connect its teams to home markets, creating stronger identities and deeper relationships with fans, partners and communities. As the league continues to grow globally, OKGC highlights the growing impact of localized, domestic team identities within the LIV Golf franchise model.” This follows earlier rebrands that tailored teams to specific regional markets, including the Korea-based Korean Golf Club and South Africa’s all-local Southern Guards.
Even with this plan, however, analysts note that selling team equity is unlikely to come close to covering the massive spending LIV has drawn from Saudi backers to date. In January, Bloomberg reported LIV was targeting valuations as high as $300 million per team, but no public valuation of the franchise roster has been released, leaving the actual amount of capital that could be raised through equity sales uncertain.
O’Neil has outlined other potential avenues to sustain the circuit, including forming strategic partnerships with established national open tournaments and doubling down on high-growth regional markets where LIV has drawn record crowds, most notably Australia and South Africa. In the United States, the circuit still retains high-profile backing, with its next tournament scheduled to take place at Trump National Golf Club, the owned course of former U.S. President Donald Trump, located just outside Washington, D.C.
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‘We go off early on young blokes’: Benji Marshall perfect man to help rising star Heamasi Makasini
When 18-year-old NRL rising talent Heamasi Makasini was left out of Wests Tigers’ line-up to face the Canberra Raiders, initial speculation swirled that the omission was a disciplinary drop following a rocky performance against the Brisbane Broncos over the weekend. But the real reason for his absence has come to light: a nagging foot injury, paired with a strategic planned rest to reset the young centre after a meteoric rise to the top flight of Australian rugby league.
Wests Tigers head coach Benji Marshall confirmed Wednesday, on the eve of the Tigers’ clash with the Raiders at Leichhardt Oval, that Makasini has been diagnosed with bone bruising in his foot that would have ruled him out of selection this week regardless of form. Marshall added that the injury actually created a timely opportunity to pull the teen prospect out of the intense NRL spotlight, allowing him to heal physically and rebuild his confidence after a tough outing against Brisbane.
The young outside back made his NRL debut in 2023, and catapulted into public consciousness during pre-season trials when a barnstorming, try-scoring run that steamrolled Penrith Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards drew immediate comparisons to All Blacks rugby legend Jonah Lomu. This season, the still-growing 18-year-old has held his own against far more experienced, older opponents, while adjusting to the pace and physicality of top-tier rugby league. While Makasini posted solid offensive stats against Brisbane, he was let down by four costly unforced errors—including two late in the match that contributed to the Tigers’ one-point loss. The rough outing has left the young talent grappling with a dip in confidence.
Marshall, who burst onto the NRL scene as a teenage prodigy with Wests Tigers himself decades earlier, says his own early-career experience puts him in the unique position to support Makasini through this growing period. The coach has been quick to defend the young star, pushing back against unfair early comparisons to sporting legends that pile unneeded pressure on teen prospects, noting that the NRL’s high-stakes environment already brings enough pressure for young players new to the league.
“He’s got a bit of bone bruising in his foot, so he wouldn’t have been available this week anyway,” Marshall told reporters ahead of the team’s captain’s run. “But it was probably timely because I think he was ready for a rest. But one thing I will say about Heamasi is he’s such a bright talent and he’s got a great future ahead of him, and he’ll just get some confidence back and come back into the team.”
Marshall went on to praise Makasini’s start to the 2024 season, noting that starting out as an 18-year-old centre—one of the most defensively demanding positions on the field—was no small feat. “Part of my job as a coach is also to know when to take the pressure off him,” he added. “I just felt like he’s been up for so long with his intent and his enthusiasm, and players have been actually going after him, that it was a timely rest.”
Makasini is only expected to miss one top-flight game, but Marshall has not ruled out a stint in the lower-tier NSW Cup to help the teen rebuild his confidence before returning to the NRL lineup, with experienced centre Starford To’a set to step back into the side this week after his own period of time gaining match fitness in reserve grade. Marshall pushed back on the common perception that a spell in reserve grade is a demotion or punishment, framing it instead as a strategic opportunity for young players to reset and refine their skills away from the glare of first-grade scrutiny.
“A lot of people sometimes look at reserve grade for example, and if someone goes back to reserve grade, it’s looked at as a punishment,” Marshall said. “Sometimes it’s actually the best thing for you to go and learn your trade, get some confidence. Like for Starford’s case, going and getting some game time and some match fitness. So it’s not always a demotion, sometimes it’s what’s best for you at the time. And Heamasi is no different.”
Marshall stressed that the club views Makasini as a core long-term talent for the franchise, and he is confident the young prospect will bounce back from his current confidence slump once he has had time to rest and reset. “He is a unique talent and someone we see as a long-term future for us,” Marshall said. “He’s having a bit of confidence issues at the moment, but he’ll bounce back.”
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New batch of World Cup tickets to go on sale
Fifty days before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across North America, soccer’s global governing body has announced that a fresh batch of tickets for all 104 tournament matches will become available to the public this Wednesday.
In an official statement released Tuesday, FIFA confirmed that seats for matches hosted in 16 venues across the United States, Mexico and Canada will go up for grabs at 15:00 GMT exclusively through FIFA’s official website, with purchases allocated on a strict first-come, first-served basis. Beyond this immediate release, the organization added that additional ticket inventory will be rolled out incrementally through the tournament’s final match on July 19, as long as seats remain available.
The announcement comes on the heels of comments from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who revealed that more than five million tickets have already been sold for the tournament, which opens its doors on June 11. This early sales figure shatters the previous all-time World Cup sales record: the 1994 edition, the last time the U.S. hosted the tournament, sold just 3.5 million tickets in total. Overall, around seven million tickets are projected to be available for the 2026 tournament across the 16 host stadiums, meaning the event is already on track to far outpace any prior World Cup in terms of ticket volume.
Despite the historic demand, the tournament has faced growing criticism over exorbitant ticket pricing. The most expensive seat for the 2026 final exceeds $10,000 before accounting for secondary resale markets, a price point that has drawn widespread pushback from fans. Organizers have pushed back against the criticism, with Infantino arguing that the high prices stem from “crazy” consumer demand. FIFA has employed a dynamic pricing model for the tournament, which automatically raises prices for matches that see higher fan interest.
Controversy flared again this week after U.S. outlet The Athletic reported Tuesday that sales were sluggish for the U.S. men’s national team’s high-priced opening match against Paraguay in Los Angeles. FIFA was quick to dispute that claim, however. In a comment to Agence France-Presse on Tuesday, a FIFA spokesperson reaffirmed that sales across all matches remain robust, saying “Ticket sales for the FIFA World Cup remain strong with a high degree of interest for all matches.”
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A new ‘Rafa’ rises in Spain as Rafael Jódar storms into top 50 before Madrid Open debut
Even at just 22 years old and already established as one of the world’s top tennis talents, Carlos Alcaraz is paving the way for a new wave of elite Spanish men’s tennis prospects — and two rising stars are ready to seize their moment at the 2024 Madrid Open after Alcaraz was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury.
Nineteen-year-old Rafael “Rafa” Jódar, a prospect sharing a first name and nickname with Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal, has captured global tennis attention over the past 12 months with one of the fastest ranking climbs the ATP Tour has seen in recent years. Just one year ago, Jódar sat outside the ATP’s top 600. By March 2024, he had cracked the top 100, and the latest ATP rankings released ahead of the Madrid Open pushed him all the way to world No. 42, booking him a spot in his first ever main draw at the Madrid-based ATP Masters 1000 event.
Jódar’s rapid ascent hit new milestones earlier this spring: he notched three straight-set wins to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, took home his first career ATP tour-level trophy at the Morocco Open earlier this May, and booked a spot in Spain’s 2024 Davis Cup training squad. A former US Open junior boys’ singles champion, Jódar spent 2023 competing collegiately at the University of Virginia before making the decision to turn professional. For the Madrid native, this week’s tournament carries extra personal meaning: he attended the event as a young spectator growing up, and will make his Madrid main draw debut against Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong, ranked world No. 109.
Speaking ahead of his debut, Jódar emphasized his calm approach to the sudden attention and pressure that has come with his breakout run. “I try to handle the pressure as I have done since I was little. I’ve always been a very calm person both on and off the court. I know there’ll be moments when things don’t go as well as they have in recent tournaments. In those moments, you prove whether you’re mentally strong. Those moments will also make me stronger,” he said. Rather than setting rigid long-term ranking targets, Jódar said he plans to focus on gaining experience in his first full season on tour: “I’ve never set myself a goal. I have to take it tournament by tournament, it’s my first year on tour. I think I’m still a young player and I’m discovering a lot at these tournaments. I need to gain experience, compete against these kinds of players. I don’t set targets for the future, just take it tournament by tournament and do my best.”
Joining Jódar as a hometown fan favorite in Madrid is 20-year-old Martin Landaluce, another top Spanish prospect who recently earned his own place in the ATP top 100, entering the tournament ranked world No. 99. Like Jódar, Landaluce is a former US Open junior boys’ singles champion, and he trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy. Landaluce notched his best ever ATP Masters 1000 result earlier this spring, reaching the Miami Open quarterfinals before falling to Czech player Jiri Lehecka. Both Jódar and Landaluce competed at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals, the annual showcase for the tour’s top players under 20 years old; Jódar defeated Landaluce in their head-to-head matchup, though neither advanced past the round-robin stage.
Reflecting on his breakthrough into the top 100, Landaluce said the milestone has only motivated him to reach higher. “It’s very special to see myself there (in the top 100). It’s something we’ve all wanted to achieve since we were young. I’ve never set a specific ranking goal, but now that I’m in this position, I believe I can go further, and that’s what I intend to do,” he said.
Alcaraz, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 2 who was forced to pull out of Madrid to recover from his wrist injury, has already thrown his full support behind the two rising stars, saying the pair will push each other to new heights in the coming years. “The two of them will mutually help each other to keep improving and reach the top. They have a great future,” Alcaraz told the ATP Tour. He praised Jódar specifically for his rapid adjustment to the top level of tour tennis, calling him “an outstanding player” who “has broken into the tour really quickly.” Alcaraz also spoke highly of Landaluce after recently practicing with him, describing the 20-year-old as “an incredible player.”
Jódar and Landaluce are far from the only Spanish men ranked inside the ATP top 100 ahead of the Madrid Open. They join Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (No. 24), Jaume Munar (No. 38), Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 93) and Pablo Carreño Busta (No. 94) in the top tier of men’s tennis, signaling a continued era of depth for Spanish men’s tennis.
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Young talent time: Maroons name five rookies for women’s Origin opener as life begins without the legendary Ali Brigginshaw
The Queensland Maroons are entering an unprecedented new chapter of women’s State of Origin rugby league, headlined by the selection of five first-time contenders for next week’s opening series clash in Newcastle. The major squad shake-up comes as the side adapts to life without Ali Brigginshaw, the legendary playmaker who defined a generation of Maroons football and retired from the Origin circuit this offseason, compounded by a season-ending knee injury to star half Tarryn Aiken that forced new head coach Nathan Cross to make sweeping, high-stakes selection calls.
Stepping into the critical playmaking roles left vacant by Brigginshaw are experienced utility Lauren Brown and exciting young rookie Chantay Kiria-Ratu, tasked with steering Queensland’s charge to reclaim the State of Origin shield. Brown, who stepped into the halfback role for the third and final match of last year’s series, retains the number seven jersey – a position she has already delivered iconic results in, slotting a match-winning field goal in wet, challenging conditions during 2024 to secure a critical victory for the Maroons. Her veteran leadership will be paired with Kiria-Ratu, who turned heads with a standout 2024 NRLW season for the Cronulla Sharks and now faces the biggest test of her fledgling professional career on rugby league’s biggest women’s state stage.
Cross’ appointment itself marks a break from the Maroons’ recent past, taking over from long-serving coach Tahnee Norris after Queensland surrendered the series title to New South Wales last year. Along with the new-look playmaking duo, four other new faces will get their chance to shine: winger Phoenix-Raine Hippi is named in the starting 17 for her Origin debut, while forward Otesa Pule will make her first Queensland appearance from the interchange bench. Young talents Ivana Lolesio and Destiny Mino-Sinapati round out the five rookies, earning spots in the 20-person extended squad as the side chases an upset to end NSW’s growing dynastic ambitions.
Star power remains at the core of the Maroons’ lineup, with Brisbane Broncos standouts Tamika Upton and Julia Robinson named in the starting side, forming a dangerous attacking edge that looms as the primary threat to NSW’s hopes of back-to-back series titles. The full Queensland squad will assemble for pre-match camp this Thursday, as Cross and his group look to prove that a youth-focused rebuild can deliver immediate results on the Origin stage. The full 20-person squad for game one is: 1. Tamika Upton, 2. Julia Robinson, 3. Rory Owen, 4. Shenae Ciesiolka, 5. Phoenix-Raine Hippi, 6. Chantay Kiria-Ratu, 7. Lauren Brown, 8. Makenzie Weale, 9. Jada Ferguson, 10. Jessika Elliston, 11. Sienna Lofipo, 12. Romy Teitzel, 13. Keilee Joseph, 14. Emma Manzelmann, 15. Otesa Pule, 16. Chelsea Lenarduzzi, 17. Brianna Clark, 18. Ivana Lolesio, 19. Destiny Brill, 20. Destiny Mino-Sinapati.