Striker Costa ends second spell at Atletico Madrid.
Cricketing world in shock over Phil Hughes' death.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
Unceremoniously dethroned as the world's top-ranked Test team, an embarrassed South Africa are in a race against time to find answers to their steady decline before they begin the final Test against England on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United battled back from two goals down to beat Newcastle United 3-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday as a 90th-minute winner from Alexis Sanchez completed a spirited comeback to ease the pressure on manager Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United kept up the positive momentum of their pre-season tour with a 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the International Champions Cup on Saturday in Santa Clara, California.
The 63-run win at the Wanderers ensured that South Africa cannot move ahead of India in the ICC Test Team Rankings at the 3 April cut-off date, even if they go on to win all four Tests against Australia in March.
Manchester City suffered their first home Premier League loss in eight months as a shock 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday left Pep Guardiola's champions trailing leaders Liverpool by four points.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) called for a government inquiry into racism in the English game following the match, which Chelsea won 2-0.
The pain of missing out on a first domestic league crown for 29 years will be eased by the knowledge that European glory could be on the horizon for Liverpool
Saudi club Al-Hilal have furiously demanded a formal probe into the appointment of the referees for the Asian Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Australia's Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Test cricket must adapt to survive in the face of the ever-tightening squeeze from shorter, more lucrative, forms of the game, both England and South Africa's captains said on Wednesday.
India midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi was named captain of Indian Super League side Mumbai City Football Club ahead of the tournament lung opener against Atletico de Kolkata at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata.
'Vigilance is the enemy of the virus.' 'We need to be alert all the time, about this, until we fully understand it.' 'And that's going to take years, actually.'
Bernardo Silva has made an encouraging start to the Premier League campaign and the Manchester City midfielder said that feeling more settled at his second season with the champions was a key factor in his performances.
With the batting firepower in Australia's ranks, they cannot be ruled out as contenders to grasp it at the sixth attempt.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City overcame a spirited Bournemouth side 3-1 on Saturday to maintain their unbeaten streak and extend their lead at the top of the English Premier League to five points.
Eric Choupo-Moting scored his third Ligue 1 goal of the season on Sunday but the Paris St Germain forward's incredible miss later in the game was the moment that will be remembered from his performance in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Racing Strasbourg.
Premier League clubs Watford and Hull City, and Championship side Leeds United paid the penalty for fielding weakened teams when they were all knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Sunday -- but holders Manchester United won comfortably.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said his team will step on the field for the Boxing Day Test match against India with an aim to set right its poor record in Durban, having lost their last four games at the venue.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
After Ambati Rayudu failed the Yo-Yo test, the selectors turned to Suresh Raina for the ODI series in England.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been named Sweden's footballer of the year for the ninth time and although his eighth victory in a row came as no shock, his acceptance speech showing a more sensitive side surprised many.
AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis struck sublime centuries as South Africa chased down a massive score to beat Australia by seven wickets in the second One-Day International of the triangular series on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City claimed the win required to finally end Liverpool's relentless attempt to dethrone them as Premier League champions as they hit back from a goal down to crush Brighton and Hove Albion on the south coast on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas gave his manager a reminder of his talents by scoring twice in extra time as they fought back from two goals down to knock Premier League champions LeicesterCity out of the League Cup 4-2 on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Humans rarely get to glimpse the animal kingdom up-close. But, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest, which is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London, offers a peek into the lives of species around the world. The competition has just revealed the shortlist of 25 photos for the LUMIX People's Choice Award. Voting is open until February 4, 2020, and the overall winner will be announced in February.
It was an eighth ODI victory in a row for South Africa and an 11th win in succession at home as they showed form in the build-up to the Champions Trophy in England in June.
'The war against ISIS is what earned the Kurds global recognition of being some of the best fighters that overshadowed regular armies,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
We take a look at the amazing things that Scott Kelly experienced as he hovered 400 kilometres above the earth zipping around it at 17 thousand miles per hour for nearly an year.
