News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Asia's representatives are once again heading home before the business end of the World Cup gets going.
Having started the year in the 129th position, the Sunil Chhetri-led team end the year at 105th spot in the FIFA rankings
Soccer highlights from across the globe.
Defending champions Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis crashed out of the Indian Wells Masters after suffering a shock straight sets defeat in the women's doubles event, in California, on Monday.
The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from the world's top sporting events for four years, a period that includes the next summer and winter Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for tampering with doping-related laboratory data. The sanctions against Russia, the host of last year's soccer World Cup, also bar it from hosting major sporting events for a four-year period or applying to host new events in that period.
Juventus rehire Allegri.
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.
'I have always believed in building a 'team for the future'. Eventually, in a few years, these guys will represent India National Team. My eventual goal is to unearth some talents who'll be ready for the senior national team'
World number three Karolina Pliskova overcame a stern test to reach the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday after edging French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 7-6(2), 7-6(5) at Indian Wells.
Defending champions Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis suffered yet another early exit on the American hardcourts as the world number one women's doubles pair crashed out of the Miami Open in the second round on Tuesday.
A decision to include Japan and Qatar as the invited sides to this year's Copa has also done little to generate faith in the new leadership, with the tournament usually featuring the 10 South American nations plus two invited teams, although they are generally from elsewhere in the Americas.
Images from the World Cup qualifying matches played on Wednesday night.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
India's ace cueist cruised into the semi-finals, beating Syria's Karam Fatima by five frames to nil, after a narrow victory earlier on Thursday in the last-16, where compatriot Ishpreet Chadha gave him a tough fight till the very last.
Rediff.com brings you some pictures that summarise the happenings in the sporting world in the week that was.
It was the first meeting between the countries in more than two decades and has been dubbed 'The Earth Derby' as it features nations that are home to a third of the world's population.
A preview of the line-up action in the English Premier League.
Images from Friday's proceedings at the World Athletics Championships, in Doha.
Manchester Utd's Fred receives racist abuse after defeat by Liverpool.
The French champions blew a 2-0 advantage in their last-16 second leg match against Manchester United in Paris on Wednesday, crashing out on away goals after being beaten 3-1 at the Parc des Princes.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has criticised the world governing bodies for basketball and men's tennis, saying they were preventing athletes from representing their countries at international events.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
An Afghan boy who became an internet sensation after pictures of him wearing an improvised Lionel Messi football shirt went viral finally got to meet his superstar idol on Tuesday. Murtaza Ahmadi met the Barcelona forward in Doha, where the Spanish league champions are due to play a friendly match against Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli later.
The 36-year-old Swiss master needs only to reach the semi-finals at the ABN Amro tennis event to overtake Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings and become world number one for the first time since November 2012.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Striker Yuya Osako scored twice in 11 second-half minutes to help send four-times champions Japan into the final of the Asian Cup with a 3-0 victory over tournament favourites Iran on Monday.
Iran took a significant step towards qualifying for next year's World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over China on Tuesday that pushed Marcello Lippi's team closer to the brink of elimination.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Novak Djokovic is finally set to return to action next week after six months out with an elbow injury and will then decide whether to take part in the Jan 15-28 Australian Open.
Portugal charged into the knockout rounds of the under-20 World Cup on Saturday with a 3-1 defeat of Colombia while Serbia also advanced after sending Mexico crashing out of the tournament.
Chasing a third successive Asian Games medal, Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) made a strong start, out-punching Pakistan's Tanveer Ahmed in his pre-quarterfinal bout in Jakarta, on Monday.
ICC says it will meet representatives of the channel that claims to have unearthed 'spot-fixing' and 'pitch-fixing' in Test matches t
Holders Iraq and secretive North Korea could face sanctions from the AFC for failing to send a player to their media conferences on Monday ahead of their opening Asian Cup matches.
India football captain Sunil Chhetri believes that the country's budding soccer players should get a chance to train in European academies in order to improve their skills. The man with 72 international goals described his stint with Sporting Lisbon as a 'great experience'.
Serena Williams withdrew from the Dubai Championships because of a lower back injury just minutes before she was due on court for a second round match against Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli on Wednesday.
Pedro extended his recent purple patch for Spain when he struck twice to help the world and European champions to a 3-1 win over Uruguay in a friendly in Qatar on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
North Korea and United Arab Emirates produced the first 0-0 draw of the Asian Cup on Tuesday after the Koreans missed a first-half penalty in an evenly-matched Group D match at the Qatar Sports Club Stadium.
The Taliban will view India through the eyes of the ISI and can be relied upon to undertake hostile actions against this country, warns Virendra Kapoor.
