Bigger than ever, the European Championship kicks off in Paris on Friday with a four-week feast of football that promises to elevate the game above the corruption scandals and security fears that have overshadowed its build-up. All eyes will be on hosts France when they get the ball rolling against Romania in the Stade de France -- 210 days after suicide bombers at the same venue triggered a night of horror across the capital which killed 130 people.
The 2016 Euro moves to its knockout rounds with eight teams taking an early flight home. The group stages saw some memorable action in which many records broken. Rediff.com takes a look at the standout stats from the 36 matches in the preliminary round.
The thousands of Barcelona and Juventus fans streaming into Berlin's Olympic Stadium for the Champions League final later on Saturday were confident the showpiece would knock the FIFA scandal off the front pages and out of people's minds.
Roger Federer survived a stern test from Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, while top-seeded Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka was eliminated on his birthday.
Roger Federer became the latest big name to get sucked up by a whirlwind called Nick Kyrgios as the Australian tyro sent the Swiss top seed spinning out of the Madrid Masters in the second round on Wednesday.
'We have received around 1,000 participants from 20 countries, with 10 per cent being women.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Sumit Nagal lived a dream when he took on one of the greatest players of all time at a packed Arthur Ashe stadium in a US Open first-rounder.
Damp beach volleyball players and a bundled up crowd found out the hard way on Wednesday that grim rain and wind can even beat down on Rio's picture-perfect Copacabana beach.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal advanced to the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open.
The FIFA World Cup at Russia saw a variety of celebrations -- from the weird to some fancy dance moves -- Rediff.com has got it all covered here...
All the gold medallists from Saturday's action at the Tokyo Olympics.
Roger Federer's trademark serve-and-volley game makes him the bookmakers' favourite to seal his ninth Wimbledon title this year.
The suspicious van was wanted over the terror attacks and was taken into custody at Sungavila.
India, which was listed 78th last year, has improved its ranking, figuring at 75th position with a visa-free score of 51
Sindhu seeks improvement on fitness, defence in se
Continuing his giant-killing spree, Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene knocked out third seed and world number 15 Roberto Bautista Agut to set up the Chennai Open summit clash with top seed and defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from the action on Day 2 at the Australian Open.
The favourites to win next year's World Cup in Russia were given navigable paths to the last 16 with the coaches of Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain having reason to feel reasonably optimistic after Friday's draw.
Chasing a sixth US Open title, Federer needed just one hour and 46 minutes under a closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium to put away the 31st seed Lopez, leaving plenty in the tank after being forced to go the distance in his opening two matches.
Images from Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Bigger than ever, the European Championship kicks off in Paris next month with a four-week feast of football that promises to elevate the game above the corruption scandals and security fears that have overshadowed its build-up.
A long season took its toll on Roger Federer on Thursday as the Swiss was knocked out of the Paris Masters following a 7-6(3) 3-6 7-6(5) third-round defeat by big serving John Isner.
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer battled past in-form Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the last-16 at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
Russia's Elena Vesnina ousted German second seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Tuesday.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal powered to third-round wins at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Tuesday to set up a mouth-watering rematch of their recent Australian Open final.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer notched up contrasting victories to reach the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals on Thursday while David Ferrer fought back from a set down to knock out Andy Murray.
World number one Naomi Osaka was beaten in her opening match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday, losing to France's Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-3 on her return to competitive action after winning last month's Australian Open.
Mourinho praises Pogba, Shaw, Dalot after United Swiss stroll
Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic rallied to see off Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 in the Shanghai Open quarter-finals on Friday and world number one Rafa Nadal also booked his place in the last four.
Thirty-two countries, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, have declared interest in hosting matches at Euro 2020 which will be staged across the continent.
With rain having washed out Wednesday's play, Federer along with champion Rafael Nadal and top seed Novak Djokovic all face playing back-to-back matches on Thursday if they want to reach the quarter-finals.
The Indian won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes.
Chris Froome seized early control of the Tour de France, the 2013 champion snatching the yellow jersey after a crash-marred third stage won by Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez on Monday.
Osaka survives test to reach last 16
Serena Williams and Marin Cilic both survived third round scares on Friday to keep their US Open title defences on track but there was no escape for Rafael Nadal with the twice-winner going down in a late night thriller.
The consequences of failure are nowhere more devastating than at a World Cup, where two previous finals and five semi-finals have been decided by the gut-wrenching lottery of penalties.
World No 2 Rafael Nadal brushed aside American Jared Donaldson 6-1, 6-1 and will next face Diego Schwartzman after the Argentine beat Roberto Carballes 6-3, 6-1.
'I mean, that was one thing that I promised myself coming on to the court today, that I need to stay calm and composed, because I knew that the atmosphere would be as it was'
