NFL offseason storylines: Pro Bowler trades, the draft and some big quarterback moves

After the league gathered for the combine, we look at the plots that will dominate the news cycle in the coming weeks and months

Barring a gas mask situation, we know who will be the No 1 overall pick in the draft. The Raiders need a viable long-term solution at quarterback after Geno Smith flamed out last year. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner and national champion, is the top quarterback on the board and will be the first named called on 23 April. After Mendoza, the real intrigue begins.

Published: March 3, 2026, 10:00 am

A potential strike and a season at risk: why the WNBA’s labor battle is nearing its 11th hour

The league and its players, locked in a contentious 17-month standoff, must agree to new CBA terms by 10 March or threaten not starting the season on time

It’s not dramatic to say the labor negotiations between the WNBA and its players feel like an old-timey western standoff. The opposing sides have been holding in a quick-draw stance over a new collective bargaining agreement for the past 17 months, passing proposals back and forth that contain what each side envisions for the future of the league. But with less than 70 days until the 30th WNBA season is supposed to tip off, there’s still no resolution.

The two sides blew past the original deadline of 31 October 2025 and the 9 January extension, entering a “status quo” period. The league said that if a term sheet hasn’t been agreed to by 10 March, the 2026 season is at risk of not meeting its planned 8 May start.

Published: March 3, 2026, 1:00 pm

Trae Young gets ejected before even making his Washington Wizards debut

• Point guard argues with official during team’s loss

• Four-time All-Star arrived in January trade

Trae Young has managed to earn an ejection before even stepping on the court for his new team.

The four-time NBA All-Star guard, who was acquired by the Washington Wizards from the Atlanta Hawks in early January, is not set to make his debut for the Wizards on Thursday night against the Utah Jazz. However, he still found a way to be ejected for leaving the bench area in Washington’s 123-118 loss at home to the Houston Rockets.

Published: March 3, 2026, 1:03 pm

Luke Kornet says Atlanta Hawks’ theme night with strip club Magic City objectifies women

• Club is popular with athletes and rappers

• Kornet says night helps objectify women

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet has called on the Atlanta Hawks to abandon their collaboration with a famous strip club.

Magic City is an Atlanta institution and been mentioned in a string of hip-hop records, and has hosted rappers such as Drake, Lil Yachty, Migos, Jack Harlow and Future. It is also popular with athletes: past visitors have included Michael Jordan, and MLS’s Atlanta United celebrated their title at the club in 2018. Magic City gained widespread attention in 2020 when the Los Angeles Clippers’ Lou Williams visited the club after leaving the NBA’s quarantine bubble during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Published: March 3, 2026, 2:39 am

Iran’s women’s team decline to sing national anthem before Asian Cup tie

• Players silent before loss to South Korea in Australia

• Game is Iran’s first since war in Middle East began

Iran’s women’s football team declined to sing their national anthem ahead of their opening match of the Asian Cup in Australia on Monday, their first fixture since the war in the Middle East began.

Every member of the team stood silently, facing straight ahead, during the anthem prior to kick-off in their Group A match against South Korea, who went on to win 3-0 at the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland. Iran’s head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, and her players declined to comment on either the war or the death of their long-serving leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when asked by the media.

Published: March 3, 2026, 10:23 am

David Squires on … Gianni Infantino’s accomplishments in 10 years as Fifa supremo

Our cartoonist on a decade of magic moments in the big job for world football’s leading ‘man of the people’

• Buy a cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Published: March 3, 2026, 11:19 am

Commanders pay $1m settlement over claims former ownership lied to team’s fans

• Team previously beset by sexual misconduct claims

• Team was sold to new ownership in 2023

The Washington Commanders have agreed to pay $1m to the District of Columbia to settle a lawsuit from 2022 that alleged the team’s previous owners lied to fans about an inquiry into sexual misconduct and a persistently hostile work environment.

DC attorney general Brian L Schwalb announced the settlement on Monday.

Dan Snyder owned the team at the time of the lawsuit, before selling to Josh Harris’s group in 2023 for $6.05bn. The league fined Snyder $60m after an independent investigation found he sexually harassed a team employee and oversaw executives who deliberately withheld millions of dollars in revenue from other clubs.

Published: March 2, 2026, 8:47 pm

Everton fans left in the dark with need to find home comfort at new stadium

Dockside site will transform club’s finances, but fans are frustrated with kick-off times and results at venue so far

David Moyes has numerous theories on why Everton do not yet feel completely at home at Hill Dickinson Stadium, beyond the fact that change is inevitably strange after 133 years at Goodison Park. Wins would be instrumental, but his team have managed only five in 16 matches. Supporters connecting to the magnificent venue through a new matchday routine would help too, but for many that is proving nigh on impossible.

One season-ticket holder, who lives in the south of England, said on social media recently that they expect to miss seven or eight home games this season owing to the curse of the modern fixture schedule. The club are aware that this is not an isolated case. The problem is not new nor confined to Everton, who of course reap the benefits of every game that is switched for live television purposes and, let’s be frank, have not held as much appeal for broadcasters in recent years as they do this season. But in their inaugural campaign at a new home, Everton’s schedule has proved to be peculiar and, in turn, detrimental to fans adapting to new surroundings.

Published: March 3, 2026, 7:00 am

Getafe deal blow to Real Madrid’s La Liga title hopes with Bernabéu victory

Martín Satriano’s superb first-half volley earned Getafe a shock 1-0 victory at Real Madrid in La Liga on Monday, a result that left Barcelona four points clear at the top.

Real dominated possession from kick-off and controlled the game but failed to turn pressure into goals, squandering several chances in an ill-tempered contest. Álvaro Arbeloa’s side were left exposed in the 39th minute when a half-cleared cross dropped on the edge of the box and Satriano struck a fierce volley into the top left corner.

Published: March 2, 2026, 11:14 pm

Jennifer Echegini: ‘Winning the Wafcon is on another level. The pride I felt’

The midfielder on her nomadic life, experiencing Nigerian celebrations and the national team’s World Cup prospects

Being an integral figure in the distinguished history of Nigeria’s women’s team is an experience that will never dim in the mind of Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini. Seven months on from beating the hosts Morocco in a pulsating Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final at Rabat’s Olympic Stadium, in the process winning a record 10th African title, “Joe”, as her Paris Saint-Germain teammates call Echegini – an acronym of her three initials – is yet to come down from her career high.

“Winning the Wafcon is on another level, you know?” the 24-year-old midfielder says from Paris. “The pride and the achievement that I felt … when you’re playing with a group of girls that you love and care for, it makes it even more special.”

Published: March 3, 2026, 11:44 am

Macclesfield FC’s ground targeted in suspected arson attempt

• Emergency services respond to assist after fire

• No casualties but locals told to ‘keep windows shut’

Macclesfield FC have claimed that someone tried to burn down their stadium on Monday night, two months after the club pulled off the biggest upset in FA Cup history by knocking out the holders, Crystal Palace, there.

The “suspected arson attempt” on Leasing.com Stadium took place overnight and there were no casualties, the club said. “Emergency services have responded immediately and are on site tackling the blaze in the affected areas,” Macclesfield said in a statement .

Published: March 3, 2026, 12:27 pm

Ian Holloway: ‘If you can’t hear other people, you are isolated from the world’

To mark World Hearing Day, the Swindon manager talks about wearing hearing aids, his family’s experience of deafness and communication in football

Ian Holloway is talking about one of the telltale signs, away from frontline management, that led to him wearing hearing aids. “I became more and more aware how loud I was having to put the volume on the telly,” he says, before delivering the punchline. “My neighbours must be delighted.” The other giveaway came courtesy of his wife, Kim. “How often I had to say: ‘Sorry? Pardon?’ It started to really annoy both of us. At first I thought I was just deliberately not listening after 37 years of marriage.”

This Saturday, when his Swindon side visit Crawley hoping to maintain their League Two promotion push, Holloway, who turns 63 this month, plans to wear his hearing aids at a game for the first time. “Unfortunately ageing happens to all of us – your body does deteriorate – so put the ego down and get the best hearing you can. I want to be the best I can be for as long as I can be.”

Published: March 3, 2026, 7:00 am

Targett double sets Middlesbrough on the path to victory against Birmingham

Matt Targett’s first-half double helped Middlesbrough return to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Birmingham and further boost their hopes of promotion to the Premier League.

Third-place Millwall’s triumph against Preston at the weekend cut the gap to just the one point coming into the match, but Kim Hellberg’s side responded to restore their four-point advantage in second place. Birmingham lost just their second league game at St Andrew’s since May 2024, meaning their chances of finishing in the playoffs have slipped further away. They remain eight points off the top six.

Published: March 2, 2026, 10:39 pm

‘Our first No 7’: Lynda Hale, pioneer who scored in England’s first women’s match, dies

• Southampton winger won Women’s FA Cup seven times

• Lionesses will wear black armbands against Ukraine

Tributes are being paid after the death at the age of 72 of the trailblazing footballer Lynda Hale, who scored in England’s first official women’s international fixture.

Hale, who was also a seven-time winner of the Women’s FA Cup as part of the Southampton Women’s FC side that dominated the English game throughout the 1970s, started the Lionesses’ first formal game, against Scotland in November 1972.

Published: March 2, 2026, 9:25 pm

Sam Curran insists India T20 World Cup semi-final holds ‘no fear’ for England

• All-rounder ‘excited for the challenge’ of facing hosts

• ‘Baz and Brooky are keeping the group nice and calm’

England have pledged to go into Thursday’s T20 World Cup semi-final against India with no fear, with Sam Curran describing the fixture as “a dream” and “a brilliant opportunity” about which they are feeling “hugely confident”.

On the face of it the challenge England face is daunting. Though they won all three games in the Super 8 stage to ease into the semi-finals those matches were played in Sri Lanka, where they now have a 100% record in six outings this year. They have since returned to Mumbai, where they were so nearly beaten by Nepal in their tournament opener and then actually beaten by West Indies, and where they can expect nothing but hostility from a sold-out crowd of 33,000.

Published: March 3, 2026, 2:00 pm

Racing’s crisis intensifies as Lord Allen quits BHA role after just six months

• Labour peer leaves sport facing governance troubles

• Major tracks call for urgent review of their association

The British Horseracing Authority confirmed on Tuesday morning that Charles Allen has resigned as chair of the sport’s ruling body after just six months in the role. The news followed weeks of speculation that Lord Allen’s position had become untenable, due to his failure to get a final sign-off on plans to create a fully independent BHA board.

Allen said in a statement on Tuesday that “horseracing is an amazing sport with great potential and over the last year [since his appointment was announced in late 2024] I have met some incredibly passionate people who love the sport who believe to survive and prosper change is needed. I also want to pay tribute to the hardworking and dedicated BHA team. I wish the sport well for the future.”

Published: March 3, 2026, 10:12 am

Arne Slot admits he does not enjoy watching most Premier League matches

• He points to narrowing gap and reliance on set plays

• Liverpool head coach will not change his team’s style

Arne Slot has admitted he does not enjoy watching most Premier League matches but says he will not change Liverpool’s philosophy. The head coach feels the narrower quality gap between top and bottom and a growing reliance on set plays have reduced the entertainment.

“Most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch,” Slot said. “But it’s always interesting because it’s so competitive and that is what makes this league great – because there’s so much competitiveness.

Published: March 2, 2026, 11:02 pm

Borthwick plans England overhaul with Fin Smith expected to start against Italy

• Back-line may feature one survivor from Ireland defeat

• Ben Spencer, Cadan Murley and Seb Atkinson in frame

Steve Borthwick is ready to radically overhaul his misfiring England side for the Six Nations clash against Italy on Saturday, with Fin Smith expected to be handed the No 10 jersey.

The Northampton fly-half sat out training on Monday because of illness but England have been quick to allay fears that his participation against Italy is in doubt. Provided he recovers, Smith is expected to start at fly-half in place of George Ford.

Published: March 2, 2026, 7:18 pm

Improve your discipline or you’re out of the team, Liam Rosenior warns Chelsea players

• Pedro Neto red card at Arsenal was club’s ninth of season

• ‘I need to see improvement. I need to adjust my selection’

Liam Rosenior has warned his Chelsea players that he will not pick those he cannot trust to stay out of trouble with referees. Rosenior is losing patience with his squad’s discipline problems and has indicated that selection will be based on who is improving their behaviour.

Chelsea’s discipline is back under the spotlight after Pedro Neto’s red card during the 2-1 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday. The winger’s dismissal was their ninth of an erratic campaign and left Rosenior deeply unimpressed.

Published: March 2, 2026, 4:55 pm

Uefa hits Spurs with suspended one-match away fan ban over Nazi salutes

• Three fans found to have made gesture in Frankfurt

• Club impose indefinite bans on individuals involved

Tottenham have had a one-match ban imposed on their away supporters in Europe, suspended for a year, after three of them were found to have directed Nazi salutes at their Eintracht Frankfurt counterparts during the Champions League game between the clubs in January. Spurs have given the trio indefinite bans and described their behaviour as “utterly abhorrent”.

Uefa announced the punishment on Monday, saying it had also fined Spurs €30,000. If there is any repeat offence within a year, the club’s fans will serve a one-game away ban.

Published: March 2, 2026, 4:55 pm

Arsenal players can feel fans’ anxiety and must learn to handle it, says Timber

• Defender felt crowd’s tension against Chelsea

• ‘It is something we need to work on and talk about’

Jurriën Timber says Arsenal’s players can feel the anxiety of the Emirates Stadium crowd and must find a way to handle it as they chase a first Premier League title since 2004.

The defender gestured for calm in the stands after 63 minutes of Sunday’s game against Chelsea with the score at 1-1; he would score what proved to be the winner three minutes later. The fans’ nerves did not ease – even after the Chelsea winger Pedro Neto was sent off in the 70th minute – and Timber felt them particularly strongly in the closing stages.

Published: March 2, 2026, 2:00 pm

Iraq or UAE could take Iran’s World Cup finals spot due to Middle East crisis

• Fifa regulations vague on issue of replacing any teams

• Withdrawal would be first since France and India in 1950

Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are viewed as the most likely beneficiaries should Iran withdraw from the World Cup. Fifa’s general secretary, Mattias Grafström, said on Saturday that “our focus is to have a safe World Cup with everybody participating”, but the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, has raised doubts over his country’s participation by saying: “After this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”

Fifa has not commented since Grafström spoke and remains determined to ensure the World Cup, which starts on 11 June, goes ahead as planned, but several sources have said that if its hand were forced by Iran’s withdrawal the replacement will probably come from the Asian Football Confederation.

Published: March 2, 2026, 5:59 pm

MLS weekend wrap: teenagers are taking over, and Messi goes full Florida Man

The days of the retirement league trope appear to be ending, while Inter Miami’s star had an outstanding – and amusing – game against Orlando City

Even before David Beckham swapped Madrid for Los Angeles, MLS had harbored a reputation as a “retirement league.” The notion is well worn in banter circles. It’s tired, and also at least a little bit true.

Robbie Keane. Kaká. David Villa. Andrea Pirlo. Didier Drogba. Wayne Rooney. Zlatan Ibrahimović. All of them – and many others – enjoyed late-career stops in the United States. Today, three of the 11 players named to Fifa’s Dream Team after the 2014 World Cup play in the league: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Thomas Müller (Vancouver Whitecaps) and James Rodríguez (Minnesota United). When Son Heung-min (33 years old) joined Los Angeles FC after his decade with Tottenham, he reunited with longtime Spurs teammate Hugo Lloris (39), and ensured derby days against the LA Galaxy’s Marco Reus (36).

Published: March 2, 2026, 12:47 pm

Colorado and Deion Sanders in mourning after QB Dominiq Ponder dies at 23

• Ponder loses control of Tesla on Sunday morning

• Coach Sanders mourns ‘one of my favorites’

Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder died early Sunday morning in a single-car crash in Boulder County, police said. He was 23.

Ponder lost control of his Tesla on a curve and hit a guardrail, according to the Colorado State Patrol. The car then struck an electrical line pole and rolled down an embankment before it caught fire. Ponder was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said a preliminary investigation “shows that speed is suspected as a factor”.

Published: March 2, 2026, 3:22 am

USWNT top Argentina 2-0 as Trinity Rodman goes down with back injury

• Lindsey Heaps and Jaedyn Shaw score for US

• US continue SheBelieves Cup v Canada on Wednesday

• Rodman has dealt with back problems

Lindsey Heaps and Jaedyn Shaw scored as the US women’s national team defeated Argentina 2-0 in their opening match of the SheBelieves Cup in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday.

Heaps made it 1-0 in the 19th minute, and Shaw doubled the count in the 56th.

Published: March 2, 2026, 1:06 am