SOCCER
Record TV deal for EPL
The English Premier League (EPL) on Monday announced that it had agreed a record £6.7 billion (US$8.46 billion) domestic television rights deal for a four-year period starting from the 2025-2026 season. The current deal is reported to be worth about £5 billion over a three-year cycle and covers 200 matches per season. Sky Sports and TNT Sports retained their rights to show live matches, with Amazon not part of the next cycle. Sky would screen a minimum of 215 live matches per season, while TNT would broadcast 52. BBC Sport is to broadcast highlights via its Match of the Day program. A Saturday afternoon blackout, designed to protect attendances in the lower leagues, would remain, but for the first time all matches outside of those scheduled for 3pm on Saturday would be screened live.
OLYMPICS
‘No plan B’ after attack
The French government still plans to hold next year’s Paris Olympics opening ceremony on the River Seine, even after a deadly attack in the French capital at the weekend amplified existing security concerns. French Minister of Sports and Olympic and Paralympic Games Amelie Oudea-Castera said that the plan could still be adapted, as media reports indicated grave concern within the security forces that the ceremony could be vulnerable to attack. A man known to the authorities as a radical Islamist with mental troubles on Saturday stabbed to death a German tourist close to the Eiffel Tower by the River Seine. “There is no plan B, we have a plan A within which we have several alternatives,” Oudea-Castera told France Inter radio. The “terrorist threat and in particular the Islamist threat exists,” she said. “It is not new and it is neither specific to France nor specific to the Games.”
ICE HOCKEY
Neck guards compulsory
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on Monday announced that it is making neck guards mandatory for all levels of competition in the tournaments it runs, including the Olympics and men’s and women’s world championships. The mandate would not apply to professional leagues, including the NHL. Any sort of mandate in the NHL would require an agreement between the league and players’ union. The IIHF’s move comes after the death of American Adam Johnson, whose neck was cut by a skate blade during a game in England in October. The exact date for the IIHF neck guard mandate to go into place is still to be determined.
RUGBY UNION
World Cup final ref quits
English referee Tom Foley, who received death threats after acting as television match official at the Rugby World Cup final, is to step away from officiating Test rugby for the foreseeable future. Foley was television match official for October’s final between South Africa and New Zealand in Paris, which the Springboks won 12-11. The 38-year-old said last month that death threats had been aimed at him and his family since the World Cup, and he had to warn his children’s school as a result. “While it is a privilege to be at the heart of some of the sport’s most iconic moments, the increasing levels of vitriol, when the demands and expectation are so high, have led me to this moment,” Foley said in a statement released by the Rugby Football Union on Monday.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said