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As Glasgow prepares to welcome a newly condensed Commonwealth Games, the head of global Commonwealth sporting governance has defended the event’s enduring value, framing it as a critical launching pad for emerging athletic talent even after a major host crisis threatened the future of the 96-year-old competition.

Commonwealth Sport President Dr. Donald Rukare shared his perspective in an interview with AFP, just days ahead of the opening ceremony for the 2024 Games, which will see King Charles declare the event officially open. The Games were pushed into uncertainty last July, when the Australian state of Victoria pulled out as the originally scheduled host, citing ballooning costs that made the original event model unfeasible.

Stepping in at short notice, Glasgow — which previously hosted the event 12 years ago — stepped up with a practical solution: a scaled-back format that repurposes existing venues to cut down on public spending and keep the Games alive. This year’s competition will feature just 10 core sports and six para-sports, a significant reduction from the 19 sports and eight para-sports offered at the 2022 Birmingham Games. Despite the slimmed-down structure, Rukare emphasized the event’s core mission remains unchanged.

“We had that dark cloud over us in terms of having no Games, but Glasgow stepped in. Scotland the brave as we say,” Rukare noted.

First launched in 1930 as the British Empire Games, the modern Commonwealth Games now brings together 74 nations and territories, most of which have historical ties to the British Empire. Positioned every four years, two years on either side of the Olympic Games, the event has long served as a key developmental milestone for up-and-coming athletes preparing for top-tier international competition.

“It’s about the athletes,” Rukare added. “For some of the athletes, they’re going to be representing their countries, their territories, for the first time and we believe that the Commonwealth Games is where champions are made.”

To make hosting more accessible for future organizers, governing bodies have already restructured the event’s requirements: now, only swimming and athletics are designated as compulsory sports, giving potential hosts far more flexibility to design a programme that fits their infrastructure and budget. Rukare said he is optimistic about the event’s trajectory, pointing to already confirmed future host plans as evidence of growing stability.

India’s Ahmedabad has already been locked in as the host of the 2030 centenary Commonwealth Games, while multiple countries including New Zealand have expressed formal interest in hosting the 2034 edition. Rukare confirmed that the 10-sport model used in Glasgow is not a permanent change. “It won’t remain at the 10 sports for sure, but we’re looking at probably something in the range of between 15 and 18 sports going forward,” he said. “At the end of the day, what we’re looking for is how do we have a sustainable, smart, agile model, but also responding to the needs and aspirations of the athletes.”

The 2030 Ahmedabad Games marks a pivotal moment for the future expansion of the Commonwealth Games, which has been largely concentrated in a handful of countries over recent decades. Six of the last seven editions have been hosted by either the United Kingdom or Australia, and the event has only been held in Asia twice in its history. Notably, it has never been hosted on the African continent, despite dozens of African nations being part of the Commonwealth sporting family.

For India, hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad is widely viewed as a critical stepping stone to the country’s ultimate goal of securing the 2036 Olympic Games. Indian authorities hope a successful Commonwealth Games will establish the world’s most populous nation as a global premier sporting destination.

Rukare, a Ugandan sports administrator, highlighted that expanding hosting across the full Commonwealth membership aligns with the event’s core identity as a celebration of global diversity. “We’d like to see that the Commonwealth family, Commonwealth Sport, reflect the diversity, the multicultural cultures that we have,” he said. “Going to one of the biggest countries in the Commonwealth, building on from Delhi 2010, there’s no doubt that India now is a different place. They are ready to go.”

He added that a successful 2030 Games in India could pave the way for even more geographic diversity in future, including a future Games hosted on the African continent. “We’d like to see how India will definitely put on a good show, maybe down the road sometime in the future, Africa could host the Games. So we’re really trying to commit to the Games right across the Commonwealth, to be able to show the whole mosaic of the culture and beautiful tapestry that we have of all our 74 territories.”

After more than two years on the sidelines battling a devastating string of injuries, star St Kilda Football Club spearhead Max King is just one final training session away from making his long-awaited return to senior Australian Football League (AFL) action. Head coach Ross Lyon confirmed Friday that the 204cm, 102kg key forward is set to take the field against North Melbourne this Sunday, barring any unexpected physical setbacks from his final pre-match training run.

King’s multi-year injury nightmare has included successive problems with his knee, calf, and most recently a hamstring injury that cut short a comeback attempt through the lower-tier Victorian Football League (VFL) earlier this season, when he suffered the setback against Carlton’s reserve side. But Lyon said King has put in the hard yards to earn a senior recall this weekend, noting that the forward has fully returned to the match fitness and running volumes he recorded in 2023, and is entering the coming contest in far better physical and mental condition than he was during his earlier VFL comeback attempt.

“As long as he gets through training, he’s done an enormous amount of work. Every time he stepped up his preparation, he built a bigger and stronger base, which has set him up for a sharper return,” Lyon told reporters Friday. “He’s certainly back to 2023 volumes and running numbers and he looks strong and fit, so we expect him to get through tomorrow and play. It’s not going to be easy, we get that, but he’s just in such better physical and mental shape this time around.”

Lyon explained that the club’s decision to fast-track King’s senior return comes down to a calculated risk-reward analysis: the Saints fielded the AFL’s shortest average team last week, and King’s imposing frame will add critical size and forward presence against North Melbourne. “We’re really respecting the level, we understand what Aidan Corr and Charlie Comben bring to North Melbourne, they’re a very good side, so we’re certainly not being flippant about this call,” Lyon said. “We just see the risk versus reward, and we just think he really helps us. Max is 204 centimetres and 102 kilos, he’s going to help, he’s a big man.”

While King’s return is all but confirmed barring injury, Lyon has backed off his earlier optimistic timeline for star ruckman Tom De Koning, who suffered a rib injury in a match against the Western Bulldogs last month. Lyon said he overestimated how close De Koning was to a return ahead of last week’s clash, and the big man is now unlikely to feature Sunday, though he retains an outside chance of a last-minute comeback.

The coach also fired back at recent comments from Geelong star Bailey Smith this week, after St Kilda defeated by a Smith-inspired Geelong last Thursday night at GMHBA Stadium. Smith had 35 disposals, kicked one goal, and ran riot in the first three quarters before the Saints assigned defensive midfielder Marcus Windhager to tag him, holding him to just 10 disposals in the final term. After the match, Smith argued Windhager was wasted in a tagging role, a comment Lyon dismissed Friday as self-interested and impulsive.

“Well it’s interesting, (Windhager) has been playing halfback, I think he’s had two tagging jobs all year,” Lyon said. “Bailey was running rampant with no one on him, then Windy put him to sleep, so there’s probably … the horse trying the hardest in the race is self-interest, right? Bailey often talks without thinking, doesn’t he? At least he’s not sending emojis out on texts this time.”

South Sydney Rabbitohs head coach Wayne Bennett has delivered a firm rebuke to calls for injury-linked performance clauses in star centre Latrell Mitchell’s next contract, while maintaining cautious optimism that the representative rugby league superstar will take the field again before the end of the current National Rugby League (NRL) season.

Mitchell, 29, has not appeared in a match since the Rabbitohs’ Round 11 defeat to the Dolphins. What started as a lower-back injury has since been compounded by a persistent calf issue that forced the superstar to cut a recent training session short. Last week, Mitchell consulted a specialist neurologist to pinpoint the root cause of his ongoing injury troubles, and his availability remains assessed on a weekly basis as South Sydney fights to secure a place in the NRL finals.

Addressing media, Bennett pushed back against speculation that Mitchell’s season is already over. “We don’t know that (if he’s played his last game this season). It’s a week-by-week proposition,” the coach said. “He’s back running now which is good, so we’ll see how that goes. Of course I do (hope that we get him back this year) and he does too because he wants to play. It’s not like he’s trying to avoid playing. It’s something we have no control over. We have good people around him with experts in their field, so we’ve just got to wait and see now.”

While Bennett joked that Mitchell could avoid injury by switching to the low-impact racket sport pickleball, he turned serious when discussing public calls to structure the centre’s next contract around match availability. Mitchell has one year remaining on his current deal, with industry speculation projecting his next contract could carry a salary cap value of roughly $1.4 million per season.

Widely regarded as the most destructive active player in the NRL when fully fit, Mitchell has only featured in 31 first-grade games since the start of the 2024 season. This high rate of injury-related absence has led some pundits and fans to argue the Rabbitohs should add incentive-based clauses to his next deal, that would tie his salary directly to the number of games he plays. A similar structure was previously floated for Manly Sea Eagles star Tom Trbojevic, who has dealt with repeated hamstring injuries throughout his career.

Bennett rejected the proposal outright, calling it a bad idea that undermines the fundamental nature of player contracts. “It’s a terrible idea and I’m not interested in it,” Bennett said. “It’s just a bit of misfortune that creates the problem. It’s not because him or Tom or others don’t do all the work and all the training. You’ve either got a contract or you haven’t. We’re not going to make one up based on how many games you played. That’s not going to happen, not at the good clubs anyway.”

In other team news ahead of the Rabbitohs’ Friday night clash against the Melbourne Storm, forward John Radel has been named in the starting line-up after star forward David Fifita received a two-match suspension from the NRL judiciary. With starting lock Cameron Murray and young forward Tallis Duncan both sidelined by injury, Thomas Fletcher has been elevated to the game day bench.

Amid swirling speculation that Hawthorn Football Club has secured a commitment from one of the Australian Football League’s top attacking talents, head coach Sam Mitchell has kept his demeanor light while declining to reveal details of the club’s off-season forward line plans. Just 24 hours after Hawthorn locked in new contracts for established key forwards Jack Gunston and Mitch Lewis, multiple reports emerged indicating star Gold Coast Suns forward Ben King has selected the Hawks as his desired destination when free agency opens. The 20-something Victorian-born talent has long been tipped to leave the Gold Coast to return to his home state, with industry sources suggesting King has fewer than five weeks remaining as a contracted Gold Coast player.

When pressed by reporters on Thursday morning about the ongoing Ben King rumors, Mitchell leaned into his familiar running joke about AFL’s mandatory player contract announcement timing, dodging a direct answer with characteristic humor. “Is there speculation about that? I hadn’t heard that one,” Mitchell joked when asked directly about King’s potential move. “I think 6.20 in six months’ time, that’s when you’ll find out about what we’ll do with the forward line. Whatever it looks like, there’s so much water to go under the bridge between now and whatever that looks like next season. First and foremost we’ll be very heavily focused on the players that are within these walls right now, making sure we can get the best out of them in the finals campaign in front of us.”

The recent double re-signing of Gunston and Lewis, paired with the potential addition of King, has pushed exciting young development prospect Calsher Dear further down the club’s forward line depth chart. But Mitchell has pushed back against any concerns about the 20-year-old’s future, urging patience for the rising talent while highlighting his consistent strong work and development progress at the reserve level.

“I mean his game on the weekend was really good,” Mitchell said of Dear. “We’ve been working on a few things and there’s always a lag effect to learning and when you try some things with a player like Calsher. He’s 20 years old as a key forward, I’m really pleased with his progress and he jumped out of the blocks as an 18-year-old. Then he’s had some injury and hasn’t done a full pre-season, so with someone like him he’s every chance coming in as soon as this week. But his form on the weekend was a big step in the right direction for what we’re after from him, so I’m pleased with how he’s developing.”

Hours after unsubstantiated media reports claimed two of the Argentine Football Association (AFA)’s most senior leaders were detained by U.S. authorities following the 2026 World Cup final, the governing body has issued a forceful rejection of the claims, while confirming an ongoing federal investigation targeting an unaffiliated third party with loose ties to the organization.

The rumors, which spread rapidly across global sports media this week, alleged that AFA President Claudio Tapia and Treasurer Pablo Toviggino were taken into custody for questioning at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Reports further claimed the pair had their electronic devices seized and were ordered to appear in court in connection with disputes over the AFA’s international sponsorship and commercial contracts. The alleged incident was said to have occurred as the Argentine national team prepared to fly home following its final match against Spain, which Argentina lost on Sunday.

In an official statement released Wednesday, the AFA dismissed every element of these reports as “absolutely false.” A senior anonymous source within the organization confirmed the denial to Agence France-Presse (AFP), simply calling the claims “all lies.” When reached for comment on the allegations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declined to provide any official statement on the matter.

While the AFA pushed back hard on claims of detaining its top leaders, it did confirm that a Florida district court has issued a summons for an unnamed third party with connections to the federation. According to the AFA’s statement, this individual has been called to appear before a federal grand jury and submit documentation and communications that may involve multiple people, including current AFA officials.

Tapia, a former trade unionist who has led the AFA since 2017, already faces multiple ongoing investigations into the governing body within Argentina’s domestic legal system. One open probe centers on allegations of money laundering tied to AFA operations, while a second investigation is focused on claims of unreported income and tax evasion.

Beyond legal challenges, Tapia’s leadership has also put the AFA at odds with Argentina’s new far-right presidential administration led by Javier Milei. Relations between the two sides have grown increasingly strained in recent months, largely due to Tapia’s vocal opposition to Milei’s signature policy proposal to privatize all professional football clubs across Argentina. The current controversy comes as the AFA navigates both domestic political upheaval and new international scrutiny from U.S. law enforcement.

Belgian cycling star Jasper Philipsen finally snapped a frustrating run of near-misses to claim a dominant sprint victory at the 17th Alpine stage of the 2025 Tour de France on Wednesday, marking his 11th career stage win at cycling’s most prestigious grand tour. The 28-year-old, who claimed the sprinters’ green jersey at the 2023 edition of the race, entered the 174.7-kilometer route from Chambery to Voiron under intense self-imposed pressure, having notched five top-five finishes across earlier sprint stages in this year’s competition but failed to seal a win.

Philipsen opened up about the mental weight of his dry spell before Wednesday’s race, describing the opening weeks of this year’s Tour as “horrible.” “I couldn’t find myself, I couldn’t find the form I was hoping for,” he told reporters after the finish. While his Alpecin-Deceuninck team never publicly demanded a victory, Philipsen acknowledged that expectations ran high for the squad’s dedicated lead-out train, which is built specifically to deliver stage wins rather than compete for the overall general classification. “When I don’t deliver, of course they’re not gonna shoot me or anything but… that builds a lot of pressure on me. It’s just something hard to deal with sometimes,” he added.

A key factor in his eventual win was the world-class lead-out from team-mate Mathieu van der Poel, who corrected timing missteps that had plagued the pair in earlier sprint finishes this year. In previous near misses, Van der Poel had launched Philipsen’s sprint just a fraction too early, allowing rival Tim Merlier to overtake the Belgian before the line. But Merlier was forced to abandon the Tour days earlier after struggling to keep pace on a punishing mountain stage, clearing a major path for Philipsen to victory. When the reduced main bunch caught the last breakaway rider with less than 4 kilometers remaining, Van der Poel—himself a former world champion and one of the most decorated one-day classics riders in modern cycling—held the front of the group to block late attacks, then still had the power to launch Philipsen to the line. The 28-year-old surged several bike lengths clear of second-place Mauro Schmid and third-place Olav Kooij, both of whom had already claimed stage wins in this year’s race.

Wednesday’s win extends Philipsen’s incredible Tour de France streak: he has now won at least one stage in each of the last five editions of the race. He also noted that getting a lead-out from a rider of Van der Poel’s caliber comes with extra motivation to deliver. “When Mathieu van der Poel does a lead-out for you, you want to deliver, you want to win because… not many guys have the privilege to have a lead out guy like him,” Philipsen said.

Beyond the stage win, the 50 points Philipsen earned have overhauled his position in the green jersey classification, pulling him to within just seven points of current leader Mads Pedersen, another former world champion. Pedersen, who joined the early 174-kilometer breakaway to chase intermediate sprint points, won the intermediate sprint but was eventually reeled in by the chasing sprint group alongside the other breakaway riders.

For overall race leader and defending champion Tadej Pogacar, the stage passed without major disruption to his general classification lead, as he finished safely in the main peloton just under nine minutes behind Philipsen. However, the Slovenian’s title defense faces a minor setback: key mountain lieutenant Adam Yates of UAE Emirates-XRG suffered a severe stomach bug overnight and struggled through the entire stage, finishing more than 26 minutes behind the winner, putting his continued participation in the race in question.

The 17th stage was defined by chaotic, aggressive racing from start to finish. It took more than 100 kilometers for a breakaway group to stick, after repeated attacks from riders looking to escape the peloton. Eventually, a six-man break including Pedersen formed and opened up a sizeable gap on the main field. After Pedersen claimed maximum intermediate sprint points 27 kilometers from the finish, fellow breakaway rider Jasper Stuyven launched a solo attack and held his lead all the way until the final 4 kilometers, when he was finally caught by the chasing sprint group led by Alpecin-Deceuninck.