Author: robin24

Malaysia’s football federation suspended its secretary-general Friday and said it would establish an independent committee to probe an ongoing eligibility scandal involving seven foreign-born players. Earlier this week, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) appealed against a FIFA decision to ban the seven players after the world body accused it of submitting doctored or false documents claiming the players had Malaysian ancestry. FIFA said an investigation showed none of the players — who helped Malaysia to a 4-0 drubbing of Vietnam in June in an Asian Cup qualifier — had a parent or grandparent born in the Southeast…

Oscar Piastri snatched pole position Saturday for the Dutch Grand Prix, locking up the front of the grid with his teammate Lando Norris as McLaren maintained their dominance of Formula One. Piastri clocked a lap record time of one minute 8.662 seconds, 0.012 seconds ahead of Norris to give himself a valuable advantage for Sunday’s race. It was the fifth pole position of the season for the Australian driver, who is seeking to extend his nine-point world championship lead over Norris. Norris had had the edge over the Australian in all three practice sessions so far, but Piastri…

Novak Djokovic said Thursday that talk about reorganising the tennis schedule has been going on for at least 15 years and his fellow players are “still not united enough”. The amount of tennis the elite play was thrust back into the spotlight this week after world number one Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters to rest and there were a raft of injuries at the China Open. Alcaraz and fellow Grand Slam champions Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek all took aim at the tennis calendar this week and railed against the number of tournaments they play.…

Axar Patel (R) alongside Travis Head (L) ahead of the ODI series between Australia and India in Perth. (Image: BCCI) Indian spinner Axar Patel believes the presence of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will help newly appointed ODI captain Shubman Gill develop as a leader, speaking at a joint press interaction with Australian opener Travis Head in Perth on Friday ahead of Sunday’s first ODI.Gill has taken over the ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma, who led India to the Champions Trophy title in March. Neither Rohit nor Kohli have played for India since that tournament.Massive crowd for Virat Kohli,…

France: Scotland ground out a 2-1 home win over Belarus on Sunday to stay in contention for automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup, while the Netherlands closed in on securing their berth at the tournament with a win over Finland. Steve Clarke’s Scotland sit joint top of Group C with Denmark, after the Danes beat Greece 3-1 with Rasmus Hojlund opening the scoring for the home team. Denmark are first in the pool on goal difference but their win in Copenhagen ensured Scotland of at least a play-off spot as they bid to make a first World Cup…

Oscar Piastri powered to victory at an incident-packed Dutch Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, with home favourite Max Verstappen claiming second place as Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris suffered a dramatic breakdown late in the race. Piastri led from pole to chequered flag at the Zandvoort circuit in a race that saw the safety car deployed several times to stretch his lead over Norris to 34 points in the championship race. Racing Bulls’ 20-year-old French rookie Isack Hadjar finished third to become the fifth youngest podium finisher of all time. It was Piastri’s sixth Grand Prix victory…

Novak Djokovic said he had to “fire up all engines” as he overcame a stodgy first set to reach the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Friday, beating fellow veteran Marin Cilic 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. The 38-year-old Serb is chasing a record-extending fifth title in Shanghai, where he was greeted by rapturous cheers as he entered a stadium packed with adoring Chinese fans. The combined age of Djokovic and Cilic — 75 years and 139 days — was the oldest between two opponents in an ATP Masters 1000 main draw match.  “I did enjoy it, but I…

Rohit Sharma (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil) Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has shared his views on Rohit Sharma’s removal as India’s ODI captain before the upcoming three-match series against Australia.India’s recent leadership change saw Shubman Gill replacing Rohit Sharma as ODI captain after the first Test victory against West Indies, where India won by an innings and 140 runs.”Rohit being axed as captain was an interesting move from afar. After such a great win in the Champions Trophy, I suppose the selectors are purely looking at the numbers. At 38, with a couple of years to go before the World Cup,…

Mohammed Kudus scored as Ghana beat Comoros 1-0 in Accra on Sunday to win Group I and become the fifth African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup after Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Cheered on by a capacity 40,000 crowd, Ghana dominated first half possession and territory, but slow, predictable attacks meant Comoros goalkeeper Adel Anzimati-Aboudou was seldom troubled. However, the home side wasted little time after the interval in taking the lead as Tottenham midfielder Kudus struck on 47 minutes. Comoros only partially cleared a goalmouth scramble and when the ball was crossed low into the six-yard box,…

Oscar Piastri powered to victory at an incident-packed Dutch Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, with home favourite Max Verstappen claiming second place as Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris suffered a dramatic breakdown late in the race. Piastri led from pole to chequered flag at the Zandvoort circuit in a race that saw the safety car deployed three times to stretch his lead over Norris to 34 points in the championship race. Racing Bulls’ 20-year-old French rookie Isack Hadjar finished third to become the fifth youngest podium finisher of all time. It was Piastri’s sixth Grand Prix victory…