News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The AFA thanked 58-year-old Sampaoli and his assistants, who have also left their positions, for their services.
England's Football Association, which has supported Platini's candidature, said on Friday it was among a number of other groups who had called for a FIFA crisis meeting where the election would be discussed.
Megan Rapinoe earlier won the women's Ballon d'Or after leading the United States to a record-extending fourth World Cup title in France this year as they retained the trophy.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) will formally introduce racial quotas at national team level, the board said on Tuesday. The organisation has come under fire from the South African government for a lack of transformation in its national teams, leading to a ban on bidding for international tournaments that will be reviewed next year. President Chris Nenzani said in a statement CSA will seek to "move with the times" and set a minimum number of black players to be selected in all their national teams.
Banned European soccer boss president Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy from the race for the presidency of soccer's scandal-plagued governing body FIFA, he told French sports daily L'Equipe on Thursday.
The Swiss lawyer heading up a committee charged with reforming the structure and management of world soccer body FIFA says major changes to the organization's voting structure and imposing term limits on executive committee members will be difficult to achieve in the short term.
The centre-back was at the Madrid Open earlier this week, reportedly to discuss a 16-team knockout tournament with ATP Tour chief Chris Kermode. It would potentially replace the former World Team Cup event on the ATP calendar that was played from 1975 to 2012 ahead of Roland Garros.
Russia could be banned from international athletics, including the 2016 Olympic Games, after an anti-doping commission report on Monday alleged widespread corruption and collusion that added up to a state-sponsored drugs culture in a sporting superpower.
FIFA presidential candidate Luis Figo will hope to convince delegates at this week's Asian Football Confederation Congress that a vote for him would boost the region's chances of more places in future World Cup finals.
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira brought an energetic jolt of Latina star power to Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show, delivering hip-shaking choreography and a medley of infectious hits to one of the world's glitziest stages. Latin artists Bad Bunny and J Balvin appeared as surprise guests in the extravaganza, which signaled its Latin American influences from the onset, when Shakira greeted the stadium audience in Spanish with "Hola, Miami."
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Two top sponsors of FIFA and its World Cup tournaments on Friday ratcheted up pressure on the global football body for major reforms as a corruption scandal casts a lengthening shadow over the sport.
Sepp Blatter could still perform a U-turn on his promise to stand down as FIFA president, a former adviser said on Monday, while FIFA did not directly deny the possibility.
Italian Bracciali banned for life, Starace for 10 years
When UEFA decided eight years ago to expand the European Championship from 16 to 24 teams, its then president Michel Platini promised the standard of the tournament would not drop.
The Australian government has demanded the country's most funded sports rein in gender discrimination for travel arrangements to major events or risk having their support cut.
In this pandemic, why can't we have multiple locations for various disciplines, all of it then merged into a virtual convergence called the Olympics instead of one massive event in one city, asks Shyam G Menon.
He finished the decade with 20,960 international runs -- 5,775 more than anybody else -- and 69 hundreds -- 22 more than anybody else. This is a player performing at an extraordinarily high all-format level unseen in the history of cricket.
Footballers who take part in match-manipulation risk losing their careers if caught but those who induce the players and set up the fix do so at almost no risk to themselves, according to FIFA's head of security Ralf Mutschke.
Everton have been handed the dubious distinction of being the 'dirtiest' Premier League team after a study on the all-time cards and fouls by www.dirtyteams.co.uk.
A round-up of all football-related news...
In an embarrassment to India, the country has been warned of heavy penalty by the Olympic Council of Asia if it withdraws from sending teams in a few disciplines in the upcoming Asian Games, a development which led to the IOA slamming some government officials for "ruining sport".
Cricket South Africa (CSA) have put in place racial quotas for the national team across all three formats of the game in an effort to increase the number of black players in a sport still dominated by whites.
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Illegal gambling on the cup is prevalent in countries like Thailand and Malaysia, where football is hugely popular, but which don't have legal betting alternatives, gambling industry experts say.
Match-fixing has become increasingly pervasive in recent years across a number of sports.
Praising the 'frank and business-like atmosphere' of the summit, the Russian leader said he considered the talks 'very successful and useful'.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Rediff.com gives you a quick flashback, in pictures of the month gone by...
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
'The Thai junta, who immediately took control of the operations in a military manner, took the decision to involve the best world professionals for the rescue.' 'This made a huge difference.' 'It is highly probable that in India, the authorities would have said, "We have the expertise, we don't need foreign aid",' says Claude Arpi.
Some of the big moments of the sporting world from 2010-2019!
A Las Vegas museum devoted to the exploits of Tommy gun-wielding mobsters will open a permanent display that explores the "rampant corruption" of global soccer's scandal-rocked governing body, which has drawn comparisons to organized crime.
The 36-year-old Jhajharia, who is the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals, was the first choice of the awards selection committee.
Goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon announced his retirement as the Azzurris unable to qualify for first time since 1958.
Some of the readings from athletes' blood tests leaked by a whistleblower for a report exposing suspected doping were so extreme they were 'downright dangerous', one of the experts cited in the report.
