Iran beat North Korea 2-0 in Pyongyang in a match that ended with angry scenes on Wednesday to take the outright lead in their World Cup qualifying group.
Goals in each half from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic earned defending champions Chelsea a solid 2-0 first-leg victory over Lille in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.
Football's ruling body plans to impose a three-and-a-half-week break for players ahead of the next World Cup finals in 2006.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
As another eventful year draws to a close, Rediff.com gives you a pictorial look back at the best and worst moments that shaped the sports stories this year.
Free-flowing France blew away in-form Switzerland with a three-goal first-half barrage en route to a thumping 5-2 World Cup Group E victory on Friday that virtually assures them qualification to the second round.
The ban was imposed by ICC Match Referee John Morrison and means that Rayudu will miss the match against Pakistan on 29 February.
Dinesh Karthik, Sunny Singh and Suresh Raina were found guilty of appealing in an aggressive manner in the group match against Bangladesh.
New Zealand beat Bangladesh by two wickets with four balls to spare in the Under-19 World Cup.
AIFF secretary Kushal Das molested employees at work place, alleges former owner of I-League team Minerva Punjab.
China saved a second half penalty then scored a fortuitous goal that took a wicked deflection off a defender to upset Saudi Arabia 1-0 at the Asian Cup on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and persons in the news on Saturday.
Dharamsena had signalled to add six runs to England's total, instead of five, when Martin Guptill's throw from the deep raced to the boundary ropes after being deflected off the bat of a diving Ben Stokes.
Javagal Srinath believes India need to identify its frontline pace attack who can take wickets upfront during their title defence at the ICC Cricket World Cup starting next month.
India have won the Asia Cup six times, Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan have won it just twice. As the 14th edition of Asia's own trophy gets underway on Saturday, Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the 13 editions so far.
A little under two weeks ago Neymar netted the goal that wrapped up Barcelona's UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus but his needless sending off at the Copa America on Wednesday means the Brazil forward may have played his last game at the tournament.
From a bloodied face of Spanish club Atletico's Madrid's Mario Mandzukic, to Australia's ICC World Cup triumph, Sania Mirza's fabulous run and more scintillating moments are frozen in time in this beautiful photo-feature.
Neymar wasted little time in living up to his billing as Brazil's World Cup spearhead when he scored twice to lead the host nation to a 3-1 comeback victory over Croatia in a terrific opening game of the tournament on Thursday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday night.
Ronaldo threw off the captain's armband and headed for the tunnel when his effort was cleared by Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic after it had crossed the line
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho also singled out Maguire, "normally a very honest guy...for diving in the box.
France striker Kylian Mbappe went off nursing a shoulder injury as they beat Uruguay 1-0 with an Olivier Giroud penalty in a rematch of their World Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.
Llong reportedly lost his cool after being confronted by Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Kohli over a contentious no ball call against Sunrisers Hyderabad during an IPL match on Saturday in Bengaluru.
Sri Lanka fast bowler Suranga Lakmal was fined for firing two successive beamers at England's Jos Buttler, an action for which he showed "no remorse", the International Cricket Council said.
Argentina's star player Lionel Messi on Monday announced his retirement from international football after missing a penalty in the team's 2-4 defeat against Chile in the Copa America Centenario final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Following Messi's retirement from international football, Rediff.com lists the highs and lows from the player's Argentina career...
Arsenal fielded a strong team with Ozil installed as captain and the Premier League side soon took control against weakened opposition, given the time and space they will not be afforded when the domestic campaign kicks off in August.
Two of Australia's greatest top-order batsmen, David Boon and Matthew Hayden, and the brilliant women's all-rounder Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the 2017 Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A text message saying "goal" sent to the referee's watch will end disputes over whether the ball has crossed the line in the English Premier League this season.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to preserve Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga with a sensational late equaliser in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the runaway leaders came back from two goals down in the space of a minute.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
France coach Didier Deschamps was relieved to come through his side's 2-0 quarter-final win over Uruguay without losing any of his players to an unnecessary suspension, he said after Friday's match in Nizhny Novgorod.
Netherlands revived bitter Spanish memories from last year's World Cup finals when they beat a second-string La Roja 2-0 in a friendly.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Atletico Madrid slumped to a 3-0 defeat at resurgent Real Sociedad on Thursday which means Barcelona need one more victory to wrap up a 25th Spanish La Liga title while Malaga were relegated after losing 1-0 at Levante.
Defender Diego Godin scored a dramatic goal nine minutes from time to send Uruguay through to the World Cup last 16 after a 1-0 win over Italy, on Tuesday, which sent the four-times champions home.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan slammed the International Cricket Council over the suspension of fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, saying it is 'sheer injustice' to ban a key player in the middle of an important tournament like the World Twenty20.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
