Nat’l Sports Headlines

Barcelona says it “categorically denies” responsibility for the publication of Lionel Messi’s $672 million contract, which was reported by Spanish newspaper El Mundo. The contract would make Messi the highest paid athlete in sports history. The club also said it will take legal action against the newspaper “for any damage that may be caused as

Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to defy the aging process as the 39-year-old striker scored the 500th and 501st goals of his club career in AC Milan’s Serie A win over Crotone on Sunday. The evergreen Swede — along with the likes of Tom Brady, 43, and Serena Williams, also 39, this weekend — is proving that

Talk about a roller-coaster performance — Ilkay Gundogan provided the dictionary definition on Sunday for Manchester City against Liverpool. The Germany international was the subject a heavy challenge inside the first two minutes, blazed a penalty way over the bar just before half-time before scoring twice in Manchester City’s 4-1 victory at Anfield. After Gundogan

Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana has vowed to prove his innocence and clear his name after UEFA on Friday handed him a 12-month ban following a doping violation. Onana failed an out of competition doping test in October last year after Furosemide was found in his urine. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Cameroon international

It looks as if it’s all systems go for the Australian Open next week after all players forced into a recent quarantine returned negative results, organizers announced on Friday. Earlier this week, more than 500 Australian Open players and staff went into quarantine after a hotel worker tested positive for Covid-19, causing play to be

The sports world is rightly raving about Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for reaching his 10th Super Bowl this Sunday against Patrick Mahomes and the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. But when Brady — who seeks his seventh ring in a surefire Hall of Fame career — trots off the field at

Could you imagine if several of the Kansas City Chiefs — including quarterback Patrick Mahomes — had not been able to practice or play in Super Bowl LV against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of a haircut? The Chiefs got a Covid-19 scare a week before the Super Bowl when it was learned that a

A letter signed by more than 180 campaign groups calling for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing warns the Games could “embolden” human rights abuses in China. The letter was put forward by “a coalition of Tibetan, Uyghur, Southern Mongolian, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese Democracy, and human rights campaign groups” as

A single case of Covid-19 at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne has forced organizers of the Australian Open to quarantine 507 players, officials and support staff, just four days before the tennis championship is set to begin. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said late on Wednesday evening that a 26-year-old volunteer firefighter who had been working

French sailor Clarisse Cremer made history at this year’s Vendée Globe by becoming the fastest solo woman to ever complete the round-the-world race. The 31-year-old finished on Wednesday in a time of 87 days, 2 hours and 24 minutes, smashing Dame Ellen MacArthur’s previous record of 94 days and 4 hours, set in 2001. Cremer

A single case of Covid-19 at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne has forced organizers of the Australian Open to isolate 507 players, officials and support staff, just four days before the tennis championship is set to begin. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said late on Wednesday evening that a 26-year-old volunteer firefighter who had been working

Stuart Baxter has been sacked from his position as manager by Indian Super League club Odisha after making comments about rape during a post-match interview. The British former professional footballer made the comments about refereeing decisions during his side’s defeat to Jamshedpur on Monday. “You need decisions to go your way and they didn’t,” Baxter

Roger Federer will make his long-awaited return to tennis following double knee surgery at an ATP tournament in Doha, Qatar in March, his agent has confirmed to CNN Sport. The 39-year-old, who is level with Spain’s Rafa Nadal on 20 grand slam titles, has not played a competitive match since losing to Novak Djokovic in

It’s the kind of footage that wouldn’t look out of place in any family’s video archive, a toddler taking her first tentative steps at the playground. But for the 14-year-old American Minna Stess, the grainy, early footage signals something more momentous. It shows her cautiously trying to climb onto a skateboard, only for it to

Chelsea has called on social media platforms to do more to tackle racism online after defender Reece James was subject to abuse on Friday. The 21-year-old said “something needs to change” after he posted a screenshot of abusive messages he received via Instagram. His club said it was “disgusted” by the abuse and condemned all

Liverpool showed glimpses of last season’s title-winning pedigree to return to winning ways on Thursday, beating Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 in the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp’s side had previously been winless in its past five league games, which culminated in a home loss to Burnley last week, ending its 69-game undefeated run at Anfield.