Qatar’s beIN Sports wins LA 2028 media rights in buildup to 2036 Olympics bid

• Qatar still has infrastructure from 2022 World Cup

• Ahmedabad, India likely to be other host candidate

Qatar’s bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games has received a boost with the state-owned broadcaster beIN Sports concluding a media rights deal for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

It is understood that beIN has won the rights to broadcast LA 2028 in the Middle East and north Africa (Mena) region, with the contract signed by the International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, and the beIN chair, Nasser al-Khelaifi, over the last few days at the Winter Games in Milan Cortina.

Published: February 11, 2026, 8:00 am

ICE director refuses to commit to pausing operations for 2026 World Cup

• Acting director Todd Lyons called ICE ‘key’ to security

• 2026 World Cup takes place this summer in 11 US cities

The acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told a congressional committee on Tuesday that his agency is a “key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup” and refused to commit to pausing operations near games at this summer’s tournament.

The 2026 World Cup will be hosted this summer by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with 78 of the 104 games taking place in the US. Various entities have estimated that up to 10 million people could visit the 11 US host cities for the quadrennial tournament. However, ICE’s role in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown – including an extended and widespread operation in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area in which two people were killed by federal agents – has raised serious concerns among fans.

Published: February 10, 2026, 9:33 pm

Welcome to the Dark Side: Seattle’s brutal, Super Bowl-winning defense is here to stay

The Seahawks’ Legion of Boom terrorized opponents in the 2010s. Now a new unit has taken up the mantle – and delivered another title

Super Bowl LX was a two-score game with less than five minutes remaining. New England had the ball on the Seahawks’ 44-yard line and – after reaching the end zone in the fourth quarter, finally – that familiar sense of possibility. But that quickly vaporized when Devon Witherspoon knifed in on a corner blitz and jarred the ball loose from the Patriots quarterback, Drake Maye, mid-throw. Uchenna Nwosu snatched it in stride and rumbled 45 yards to the end zone, sealing Seattle’s 29‑13 victory.

That the league’s top defense was able to punctuate this moment, more than a decade in the making, with an interception as the Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler looked on made the Seahawks’ revenge all the sweeter. “They lived up to the Dark Side today,” the Seattle head coach, Mike Macdonald, said of his defense. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”

Published: February 10, 2026, 10:00 am

Sesko rescues late point for Manchester United to deny West Ham precious win

Stop all the clippers, don’t cut off the barnet: United’s winning run is over. Frank Ilett, the man who pledged never to visit a barber again until Manchester United won five matches in a row, may have been denied a viral haircut, but United’s resilience came to the fore here to deny the Hammers what would have been a deserved victory deep into added time.

A studded finish from the fan favourite Tomas Soucek was cancelled out by an impressive, instinctive strike from Benjamin Sesko to leave this match honours even. United lacked energy and snap, West Ham saw two precious points fall away at the last; both sides will leave frustrated but not disconsolate. The Hammers remain in 18th place, United stay in fourth, their contrasting objectives remain in play.

Published: February 10, 2026, 10:20 pm

Keion White becomes second 49ers player shot in San Francisco in 18 months

• Lineman shot in ankle hours after Super Bowl

• 27-year-old’s injuries are non-life threatening

Keion White, a defensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers, has undergone surgery after he was shot in the ankle early on Monday morning.

The shooting happened in San Francisco hours after the end of the Super Bowl, which was played at Levi’s Stadium in nearby Santa Clara.

Published: February 10, 2026, 2:10 pm

Jordan Stolz: the American speed skater who could define the Olympics

The 21-year-old has dominated speed skating for three years running. In the next 11 days, he could become not just an Olympic champion but the face of the Winter Games

Each Winter Olympics produces one or two figures who come to define it. The stars whose performances transcend result sheets and medal tables and settle into memory as shorthand for the event itself. For decades, America has waited for their next one: someone capable of cutting through the noise of the crowded sports landscape and centering themselves in the national conversation.

Jordan Stolz may be him.

Published: February 11, 2026, 7:00 am

Norwegian biathlete wins Winter Olympics bronze and then tells TV interview of affair

• Sturla Holm Lægreid stuns viewers watching in Norway

• ‘Three months ago I made the mistake of my life’

The Norwegian Sturla Holm Lægreid broke down in tears after winning bronze in the men’s 20km biathlon, apologising for having an affair and saying: “It has been the worst week of my life.”

Johan-Olav Botn won gold, with the Frenchman Éric Perrot in second, but it was Lægreid who stunned television viewers in Norway after opening up to the broadcaster NRK about his private life over the past six months.

Published: February 10, 2026, 3:33 pm

Australian snowboarder Cam Bolton airlifted to hospital after breaking neck at Winter Olympics

• Veteran sustains serious injury during Winter Olympics training

• Athlete in good spirits says chef de mission Alisa Camplin

Australia’s Olympic team has been rocked with Cam Bolton airlifted to Milan after breaking his neck in training, ending the veteran snowboarder’s Winter Games campaign.

Competing at his fourth Olympics, the 35-year-old suffered a crash on Monday while training for the snowboard cross event but woke up with worsening pain in his neck the following day.

Published: February 10, 2026, 9:50 pm

USA dominate short-handed Canada to close out women’s hockey group play

• Hannah Bilka scores twice in 5-0 shutout win

• Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin out with injury

• US will face Italy in quarter-final on Friday

Hannah Bilka scored twice, and the United States’ youth and speed overwhelmed a Canadian women’s hockey team missing their captain in a 5-0 win at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday.

The lopsided victory in Milan clinched first place for the US in Group A entering the quarter-finals, and continued confirming why the Americans entered the tournament as favorites. Team USA swept all four preliminary-round games by a combined score of 20-1 and brought back memories of how a Canadian team in their prime rolled to winning gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Published: February 10, 2026, 10:32 pm

‘My needles are waiting’: Ben Ogden credits knitting habit after cross-country silver

• Vermont native ends US men’s 50-year medal drought

• Result continues strong showing at Milan-Cortina

• Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo wins seventh gold

Ben Ogden delivered the most significant result in US men’s cross-country skiing in decades on Tuesday afternoon, winning Olympic silver in the men’s sprint classic at the Milano Cortina Games to end a 50-year medal drought. And afterwards he credited the relaxation he finds in knitting.

The mustachioed 25-year-old finished in 3min 40.61sec after surging through the final with his trademark classical technique, less than a second behind Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who secured the seventh Olympic gold medal of his career in 3:39.74. Klæbo’s teammate Oskar Opstad Vike took bronze after climbing from 20th in qualifying to the podium.

Published: February 10, 2026, 3:55 pm

Roberto De Zerbi leaves Marseille after PSG hammering and Champions League exit

• Marseille beaten 5-0 by PSG and 3-0 by Club Brugge

• De Zerbi joined as head coach in 2024 after Brighton exit

Roberto De Zerbi has left Marseille in the wake of a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. The nine-time French champions said on Wednesday that they had ended “their collaboration by mutual agreement.”

The heavy loss Sunday at the Parc des Princes restored PSG’s two-point lead over Lens after 21 rounds, with Marseille fourth. De Zerbi’s team also endured an embarrassing 3-0 loss at Club Brugge two weeks ago that resulted in Marseille exiting the Champions League.

Published: February 11, 2026, 8:31 am

Infantino dogged by threat of Russia and fear of Trump as he heads to sweet-talk Uefa

Fifa president will be under major scrutiny when he goes to Brussels to address the Uefa annual congress on Thursday

Assuming Gianni Infantino turns up on time, he is expected to make his customary address to Uefa’s annual congress on Thursday. The couple of hours spent in Brussels Expo Hall 3 will be largely procedural but the Fifa president’s messaging will be worth delegates’ attention. Even by the standards of relations between football’s major governing bodies, the past 12 months have been fractious. The fault lines hardly get narrower and there is certainly no reduction in the number of thorny issues simmering away.

At last year’s edition, in Belgrade, Infantino used the gathering of European football’s great and good to make a caveated case for Russia’s return to competitive action. If that was a rolling of the pitch, his comments on the matter in an interview last week amounted to letting the sprinklers loose. Infantino said the ban on Russian sides should be reassessed, at least for age-group teams, but there is little chance of his views gaining weight around Europe even if he elects to revisit the argument.

Published: February 10, 2026, 8:00 am

Four players ejected after brawl breaks out during Hornets-Pistons game

• Police briefly enter court as tempers flare, benches clear

• Hornets coach Charles Lee later tossed for arguing call

A fight between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets in the third quarter of Monday night’s game resulted in four player ejections.

Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges were tossed, along with Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Hornets coach Charles Lee was ejected in the fourth quarter after he had to be restrained from going after an official while arguing a call.

Published: February 10, 2026, 2:16 pm

Thomas Frank sacked by Tottenham after eight months as head coach

• Club five points above drop zone after Newcastle defeat

• Spurs have not won in the Premier League in 2026

Thomas Frank has been sacked by Tottenham, the final straw for the head coach coming on Tuesday when his team lost at home to Newcastle, leaving Spurs 16th in the Premier League, five points above the relegation zone.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd again rebelled against Frank, booing him and chanting that he would be sacked in the morning.

Published: February 11, 2026, 10:06 am

Sesko’s nonchalance late strike show of resilience that enhances Carrick’s cause | Barney Ronay

The winning run may be over but his Manchester United team showed fight until the end against West Ham

On nights such as these it can feel as though football is choosing to remind you of its true nature. Which is, it turns out, the most gloriously perverse, slow-burn, 400‑miles‑from‑home, 10.15pm on a Tuesday, waving your arms in the air, gripped‑with‑final‑plot‑twist-ecstasy pursuit ever devised.

For Manchester United’s travelling support this game must have felt like a slow-motion strangulation. Your team have had two shots on target all night. They’re 1-0 down against relegation-haunted West Ham – 95 minutes have passed. Narratives are being muddled. Arcs of hope reined in.

Published: February 11, 2026, 12:00 am

Erling Haaland should not put pressure on himself to score, says Guardiola

• City manager blames fixture schedule for striker’s fatigue

• ‘Intelligent’ Abdukodir Khusanov also earns praise

Pep Guardiola has insisted Erling Haaland should not put too much pressure on himself to constantly score for Manchester City.

Haaland’s stoppage-time penalty against Liverpool on Sunday not only sealed a 2-1 victory for City but was also only his third goal in 10 appearances, with only one of these from open play. Afterwards, Haaland stated he must improve his output and refused to blame fatigue for his form. Guardiola, though, has praised the contribution of the 25-year-old, who has 28 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions for the club this season.

Published: February 10, 2026, 10:30 pm

What is the most expensive combined substitution in football history? | The Knowledge

Plus: a perfect hat-trick of assists, more almost-one-club players and Oxford’s penalty drought

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“In their Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven, Bayern Munich made four substitutions in the 62nd minute,” writes Stephan Wijnen. “The four players entering the pitch together had a combined estimated value of €265m (Harry Kane, Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies). Is this the most expensive combined substitution ever?”

Before we go any further – a player’s estimated value is not an objective measure, but using transfer fees doesn’t necessarily work, with some players moving for no fee (Kylian Mbappé, for example). Like Stephan in his question, we are going to use Transfermarkt’s valuations in a bid for consistency, and will focus on the value of players coming on.

Can you do any better? Email us with your answers

Published: February 11, 2026, 8:00 am

Okafor grabs comeback draw for Leeds as wasteful Chelsea’s bad habits return

Chelsea’s habit of squandering leads did not leave with Enzo Maresca. The lapses in concentration have piled up and there was another to add to the list after Stamford Bridge witnessed an inexplicable collapse against Leeds, who took another step towards staying up fighting back from 2-0 down to keep themselves six points above the bottom three.

The turnaround was not on the cards when Cole Palmer, who had earlier collected his first assist in the Premier League this season, extended Chelsea’s advantage by scoring from the spot for the third time in two games. By the end, though, Liam Rosenior was ­watching the prospect of an eighth win in 10 games slip away. The implosion was staggering. Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor had capitalised on dreadful defending to make it 2-2 and, while Chelsea rallied, their hopes of a late winner ended when Palmer produced a contender for miss of the season.

Published: February 10, 2026, 9:53 pm

Pitch Points: Tottenham’s relegation chances; Could Ronaldo leave Saudi Arabia?

The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. In today’s column, we endeavor to answer three of them

Last season’s 17th place finish was meant to be rock bottom for Tottenham Hotspur; A nadir for the North London club in the Premier League era that was awkwardly offset by glory in the Europa League. There is, however, no glory in what Spurs are going through this season and no guarantee that rock bottom isn’t still around the corner.

Published: February 11, 2026, 10:00 am

Fabian Hürzeler running out of time to turn Brighton’s ailing fortunes around | Ed Aarons

The clamour for change is growing on the south coast and the pressure is growing on the Seagulls’ young head coach

When Paul Barber referenced “growing fan impatience across large parts of the football landscape” in his programme notes before Sunday’s game against their arch rivals Crystal Palace, the Brighton chief executive must have feared what was to come.

The clamour for change on the south coast that began as a murmur last spring after Fabian Hürzeler’s side had collected one point from four Premier League matches and been knocked out of the FA Cup in the sixth round has been steadily building ever since. Despite recovering from a slow start to this season, a second successive December without a victory has been followed by more disappointment in the first few weeks of 2026 to heap pressure on the German head coach’s slender shoulders.

Published: February 11, 2026, 8:00 am

Women’s Champions League playoffs to test WSL teams’ depth and new format’s value

Arsenal and Manchester United face familiar opponents in a revamped competition that has so far proven more competitive

The next phase of the new Women’s Champions League format gets under way on Wednesday and Thursday, when the four playoff first legs take place. Arsenal and Manchester United are among eight teams vying to join Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, who automatically qualified for the quarter-finals as the top four in the league phase.

As in the men’s competition, a switch from a group stage to the league format has been made. However, with the UWCL group stage having been introduced only for the 2021-22 season, there was scepticism about a change coming so soon, with the group stage viewed as a big step forward and in its relative infancy.

Published: February 10, 2026, 7:54 pm

Australia v Ireland: T20 World Cup – live

• Updates from the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo

• Start time is 3pm local/8.30pm AEDT/9.30am GMT

• Any thoughts? Email James

2nd over: Australia 12-1 (Inglis 5, Green 0) Cameron Green joins Inglis in the middle. Ireland buzz around but Inglis calms a few nerves with a languid back cut for four through the off side.

Head is run out! Squirts a shot behind square and sets off for as dodgy single, doesn’t get there and is gone!

Published: February 11, 2026, 11:24 am

South Africa edge T20 World Cup thriller with Afghanistan after double super over

• Scores tied following remarkably dramatic final over

• Stubbs and Miller break Afghanistan hearts

South Africa emerged victorious after an astonishing T20 World Cup nailbiter against Afghanistan, which ended with scores tied and a double super over.

The Proteas posted 187 for six batting first but a remarkable solo assault from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who hit 84 from 42 balls, put Afghanistan on track.

Published: February 11, 2026, 10:55 am

‘It is hard to forgive’: former girlfriend of Norwegian Olympic biathlete responds to apology for affair

• Sturla Holm Lægreid opened up after winning bronze

• Woman thanks family and friends for support received

The former girlfriend of the Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid has responded to his public apology for having an affair, saying it “is hard to forgive” what he did.

It was after Lægreid had won bronze in the individual 20km on Tuesday that he, unprompted, opened up on what he described as the “hardest week of my life,” saying: “Half a year ago I met the love of my life. The world’s most beautiful and nicest person. Three months ago I made the mistake of my life and cheated on her, and I told her about that a week ago. This has been the worst week of my life.”

Published: February 11, 2026, 10:14 am

Revealed: Spurs paid £6.7m to bring Thomas Frank and his staff from Brentford

• Accounts indicate what was paid in compensation

• Frank sacked with Spurs five points above drop zone

Tottenham paid Brentford £6.7m in compensation to secure the services of Thomas Frank last summer. The head coach was sacked on Wednesday morning, eight months later.

Confirmation that Tottenham paid such a large fee for Frank was revealed in Brentford’s 2024-25 accounts published on Wednesday. Spurs fans called for the Dane to be sacked during and after Tuesday night’s 2-1 home defeat by Newcastle.

Published: February 11, 2026, 10:01 am

Ashes fallout continues as Seven faces $7m revenue hit from two-day Tests

• Unusually brief series affects broadcaster and Cricket Australia

• Southern Cross Media Group reports 2.1% revenue drop on last year

The Ashes hangover continues after Channel Seven partly blamed a $7m revenue shortfall on the pair of two-day Tests during the Australian summer, which were triggered by England’s capitulation in Perth and a pitch in Melbourne that proved too difficult for both sides to subdue.

The impact of the unusually brief series is still rippling through the game, leaving lower-than-expected returns for the cash-strapped sport and even Australia’s players, who have a revenue share agreement with the governing body.

Published: February 11, 2026, 6:28 am

Socceroos striker Mohamed Toure nets hat-trick in first start for Norwich

• Australian 21-year-old has now scored four times in two games

• Forward makes case for selection in Popovic’s World Cup squad

Socceroos striker Mohamed Toure has made a remarkable starting debut for Norwich, scoring a historic hat-trick as the Canaries hammered Oxford United 3-0 in the Championship.

Toure recently moved to England on a $5m deal from Danish top-flight club Randers and it’s already looking like a great decision for Norwich, Australia and the 21-year-old forward.

Published: February 11, 2026, 1:50 am

Thomas Frank ‘convinced’ he is still right man for Spurs job despite Newcastle loss

• Tottenham manager ‘1,000% sure’ he should carry on

• Fans booed and jeered the Dane once again during defeat

Thomas Frank remains convinced he has the support of the Tottenham board and will continue in his job as manager, arguing that the club’s problems run deeper than him. The Dane watched his team lose 2-1 at home to Newcastle on Monday night; they have won just twice in 17 Premier League games and lag 16th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.

It was another night when the Spurs fans booed and jeered him. At one point, they sang for Mauricio Pochettino, their former manager, who is now in charge of the USA national side, while they also told Frank towards the end of the game that he should be “sacked in the morning”.

Published: February 10, 2026, 11:53 pm

Winter Olympics 2026: gold medals up for grabs in skiing, figure skating, luge and more – live

• Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing
• Follow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch! Mail Tanya

The riders are having to squint into the sun to see their scores come up. There’s lots of USA support on the slopes, first for 19-year old Bea Kim, who looks happy to settle into fifth, then for the queen of half pipe, Chloe Kimm, who is aiming for her third consecutive gold medal in this discipline. Oh and she’s also just finished a degree at Stamford. It’s a cracking start – a big backside 720, frontside 900, and something floaty and turny which the commentators describe as “the penny black” of halfpipe. She immediately settles into first.

Women’s halfpipe qualifying: Thinking about my attempts to stand on a skateboard as young women in baggy snow trousers zig-zag and float across the halfpipe.

Published: February 11, 2026, 11:22 am

Winter Olympics 2026 day four: Slovenia win ski jumping gold as Sweden’s Wranå siblings star – as it happened

• Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing

• Follow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch! Mail Geoff

Ooooh, Ariane Raedler of Austria, eighth in the individual event, nails 1:35.65, a time that would’ve been good enough for bronze; she takes the lead, giving Katharina Huber, her partner, a chance in the second portion.

Miradoli of France lays down a quicker time than she did coming 16th in the individual downhill, 1:37.37; I guess she’s used to the course now. Our big names, though, don’t come out for a while: Goggia, who took bronze in the individual event is ninth, Aicher who claimed silver, is doing the slalom portion, and Johnson is 14th with Srobova, Vlhova’s partner, going 28th and last.

Published: February 10, 2026, 8:44 pm

Prediction market Kalshi reached $1bn in trading volume during Super Bowl

Kalshi says ‘incredible weekend’ after $145m in bets on Bad Bunny’s opening song and guests during half-time show

Online prediction market Kalshi hit a daily record on Super Bowl Sunday, surpassing $1bn in trading volume, the company announced on Tuesday.

Kalshi’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, called it an “incredible weekend”, telling CNBC that “Kalshi was the biggest brand of the Super Bowl this year, without running a Super Bowl ad”.

Published: February 10, 2026, 6:28 pm

Mikaela Shiffrin’s Winter Olympics drought continues after slalom slump in team event

• American wastes strong downhill leg from Johnson

• Slalom standout missed out on medals in 2022

• Raedler and Huber win gold for Austria

• Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results

Mikaela Shiffrin extended her Olympic slump with a fourth-place finish in the new team combined event at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday after partner Breezy Johnson led the opening downhill leg.

Shiffrin, the most successful World Cup racer of all time with a record 108 victories –71 of them in slalom, also a record – has now gone seven straight Olympic races without a medal.

Published: February 10, 2026, 4:23 pm