A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Indian football remained in a state of terminal decline after experiencing arguably its darkest phase in a year marked by severe administrative crisis, court hearings, financial issues, absence of domestic leagues, and a steep decline in performance of the senior men's team.
Records stretching back to 1947 suggest a consistent strategy by Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), of using terrorism as a state policy against India.
Messi's last visit with the Argentina team to India was back in 2011, when they faced Venezuela in a friendly match at Kolkata's iconic Salt Lake Stadium.
There was no money, sponsors didn't make a beeline and foreign tours were an ordeal, but there were women of steel who believed in the old adage that "the show must go on." And Nutan Gavaskar was the first among equals, one of the torchbearers of the women's cricket movement in India back then in 1973.
The IPL's overall valuation fell by 8 per cent to Rs 76,100 crore in 2025.
India won their seventh ICC trophy, while registering their third Champions Trophy triumph.
For spin great Neetu David it was a culmination of a lifelong dream -- to see the India women's team finally end their wait for a World title.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the RJD's past education policies in Bihar, attributing migration to the state's poor education system under their rule. He praised the current NDA government's efforts to improve education and development, launching several initiatives focused on youth skilling and education in the state.
A title sponsorship agreement between loss-making Malaysian-owned sportscar maker Group Lotus and Lotus F1 has been cancelled but the team will race on as Lotus, owner Gerard Lopez said on Friday.
Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the PCB chief, walked away with the Asia Cup trophy after India refused to take the silverware from his hands.
It was only in April that Byju's and BCCI had agreed on the extension of their partnership until the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India at a 10 percent increment.
Yogesh Kathuniya won yet another silver medal in the men's F56 discus throw event at the World Para Athletics Championships.
The BCCI invited bids for the Indian cricket team's title sponsorship rights after fantasy sports giants Dream11's pullout.
'The first professional Indian boxer to ever win a world title.'
IPL is the world's richest T20 tournament with an estimated brand value of $8.4 billion.
As many as 2,493 graves were identified as belonging to foreign terrorists who were killed in counter-insurgency operations.
These individuals often lacked identification to conceal their networks and maintain Pakistan's plausible deniability.
The inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League, which saw Indian business houses buying out all the seven franchises on offer, announced on Wednesday that it has roped in auto major Mahindra & Mahindra as the title sponsor.
Double Olympic-medallist Neeraj Chopra showed his generous and compassionate side, surprising a fan with an all-expense paid trip to watch the Neeraj Chopra Classic, to be held in Bengaluru next week.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season has been officially suspended due to escalating military tensions between India and Pakistan.
Former women's World champion Susan Polgar believes Indian chess is riding a wave of success and predicted a bright future for the sport in the country.
'Anybody who says one critical word can be branded as somebody who's glorifying terrorism.'
A BCCI official confirmed that Unacademy has picked up the bid papers but refrained from making any comments beyond that.
It was the Latvian's first title on clay since her 2017 French Open Grand Slam victory.
The club also handed coach Subrata Bhattacharya a one-year contract.
World Sport Group India (WSG), the sports marketing partner of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is in talks with three more sponsors, one each from the banking, petroleum and airlines industries to sign deals worth $200 million (about Rs 800 crore) for ground sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. These sponsors will have an opportunity to exclusively advertise their brands on the grounds for five years.
Beverage major PepsiCo, which pulled out as title sponsors of BCCI's Indian Premier League in October, on Thursday entered into a four-year partnership with the apex cricket body as an associate sponsor for all its international matches at home.
Dream11 had been the IPL title sponsors for the 2020 edition, winning the rights for Rs 222 crore
Tata group has been a constant in India's sporting landscape and the conglomerate's involvement only grew under Ratan Tata.
Soft drinks giant Pepsi is the new title sponsor of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. It won the bid for title rights for five years by paying a whopping Rs 396 crore. Pepsi pipped Aircel, which offered Rs 316 crore, in the bid for the title sponsorship of the Twenty20 tournament.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) moved the Delhi High Court on Thursday and accused an YouTube advertisement of disparaging its trademark.
Chinese mobile manufacturer Vivo will return to sponsor the IPL this season after its attempts to transfer the rights to another company failed to materialise as offers were not upto its "expectations".
Jay Shah will not step down from his current role as BCCI Secretary during the upcoming AGM, as he is scheduled to assume his new position only from December 1.
Reliance Industries Ltd has withdrawn its trademark application for the term 'Operation Sindoor' -- the codename for India's military strikes in Pakistan -- stating that it was inadvertently filed by a junior employee without authorisation.
Jaishankar said that the Pahalgam attack "was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed."
Earlier, describing the video advertisement, RCB's counsel said the cricketer could be seen running towards Bengaluru cricket stadium with an aim to vandalise the signage of "Bengaluru Vs Hyderabad", takes a spray paint and writes "Royally Challenged" before Bengaluru making it "Royally Challenged Bengaluru" which disparages RCB's mark.
"The premium global smartphone manufacturer bid Rs. 2199 crores, which is a 554 per cent increase over the previous contract. In the upcoming five IPL seasons (2018-2022), Vivo and IPL will have extensive cooperation in terms of sports events, on-ground activations and marketing campaigns," the BCCI said in a statement.
The tournament, which features the top 16 clubs of the country, gets underway on July 26.
Indian two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp Limited (HMCL) was on Monday named the title sponsor for the men's and women's hockey London Olympic qualification tournament, the first of which will be held in Delhi from February 18 to 26. The qualifiers, titled 'Hero FIH Road to London', will be played at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey National Stadium.
Richard Branson's Virgin Money has extended its sponsorship of the London Marathon until at least 2017, the banking group said on Monday after this weekend's race brought big crowds on to the city's streets.
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