RUGBY UNION
Contepomi replaces Cheika
Felipe Contepomi on Monday was named to replace Michael Cheika as Argentina’s head coach. The former Argentina fly-half, who played 87 times for Argentina, moves up from the national staff to the top job at the age of 46. “The Argentinian Rugby Federation [UAR] announces that Felipe Contepomi will be the new head coach of the Pumas, continuing the work begun with Michael Cheika in 2022,” the federation said in a statement. Australian Cheika led the Pumas to the semi-finals at this year’s Rugby World Cup in France, where they lost heavily to New Zealand. Argentina went on to lose a hard-fought third-place playoff against England. Contepomi played in four World Cups and was a key figure in the Argentina team who in 2007 finished third after beating France 34-10 in the playoff.
BOXING
Wilder slams Joshua camp
Former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder said the main reason he has not fought Anthony Joshua yet is because the British boxer’s promoters are afraid of losing their “cash cow.” The pair are to fight separate opponents on the same bill at a mega-show in Riyadh on Saturday, with former WBC title holder Wilder taking on Joseph Parker and Joshua, the former WBA, IBF and WBO champion, facing Otto Wallin. Wilder and Joshua could fight each other next year if both win at the weekend, but while previous negotiations between the two camps reportedly broke down due to financial issues, the American said that was not the case. “Money hasn’t been the issue,” he told BBC Sport. “It comes with not having the heart, the will, the courage to step in the ring. I don’t really just blame it on Joshua. I blame it on his handlers, on his promotion and his management, because let’s face it, Joshua is the cash cow of the company,” he said. “Without him, no money is drawn into Matchroom. Not only do I feel Joshua is intimidated of me, but I feel his promoter is as well.”
OLYMPICS
Coe drops Russian hint
Russian competitors remain banned from track and field events at next year’s Paris Olympics, but Sebastian Coe on Monday said that “the world changes” and the situation was being monitored. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier this month said that athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus would be able to compete in Paris as neutrals, outside of team events and as long as they did not support the war in Ukraine. That move changed the position of their original blanket ban following Russia’s invasion last year. However, World Athletics president Coe said after the IOC’s move that his sport would not allow Russians or Belarusians to compete in Paris — and in a conference call he said that position had not changed. “There is no change,” Voe said. “The most important thing is that everybody is beginning to recognize that the autonomy and independence of international federations to make these judgements is really important. We made a judgement which we believe was in the best interest of our sport.” However, “the world changes every five minutes, the situation could change,” Coe added. “We do have a working group that is monitoring the situation within the sport and it will advise and guide the council on what circumstances might need to exist for any exclusion to be lifted.”
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
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