FOOTBALL
Cousins set for move
The first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period was a free-for-all frenzy, with teams making one big move after another, highlighted by Kirk Cousins’ decision to leave the Minnesota Vikings for the Atlanta Falcons. The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback and the Falcons agreed on a US$180 million, four-year deal with US$100 million guaranteed and a US$50 million signing bonus, a person with knowledge of the terms said on condition of anonymity because the deal cannot be signed until the new league year begins on today. Other major moves were Saquon Barkley to join the Philadelphia Eagles and Brian Burns is going to the New York Giants.
COMMONWEALTH
Malaysia given incentive
Commonwealth Games chiefs praised Malaysia’s “fantastic track record” after the country said it had been offered ￡100 million (US$130 million) to host the 2026 edition. The Commonwealth Games Federation is scrambling to find a host after the Australian state of Victoria abruptly pulled out in July last year, citing the cost. On Monday, the Olympic Council of Malaysia said that the federation had “offered Malaysia the opportunity to replace Victoria as hosts of the Commonwealth Games in 2026,” with the offer including “significant financial investment of ￡100 million to support the local delivery and legacy planning of the 2026 edition.” However, a federation spokesperson indicated that Malaysia was not the only country that could potentially stage the Games, as it was “in advanced, confidential discussions with potential hosts.”
RUGBY UNION
Australia fall to 10th
Australia have fallen to an all-time low of 10th in the world rankings after Italy’s victory over Scotland at the weekend bumped the Azzurri up to ninth. The Wallabies won only two of nine Tests under Eddie Jones last season and crashed out of the pool stage of the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks remained in third place in the rankings behind world champions South Africa and Ireland, despite England’s Six Nations win over the latter at the weekend.
CRICKET
Rishabh Pant fit for IPL
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is fit to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting this month after being seriously hurt in a car crash in 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket wrote on X yesterday. After an extensive 14-month rehab and recovery process, Pant “has now been declared fit as a wicket-keeper batter” for the T20 tournament, it said.
IDITAROD
Two dogs die while racing
Two dogs died over the weekend during Alaska’s annual Iditarod sled dog race, the first deaths during the race in five years. Bog, a two-year-old male on musher Issac Teaford’s team, collapsed on Sunday morning about 60m short of the checkpoint in the village of Nulato, 937km into the race. He died despite a veterinarian performing CPR for about 20 minutes. A second dog, George, a four-year-old male on musher Hunter Keefe’s team, also collapsed and died despite attempts to revive him, a race statement said. George died on the trail about 56km outside the village of Kaltag, which is 1,012km into the race.
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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