Sports

Russia and Slovakia clinched qualification for Euro 2016 on Monday as reigning continental champions Spain and England both ended their campaigns with victories. Russia’s turnaround in form under Leonid Slutsky continued as they beat Montenegro 2-0 in Moscow to take the second automatic qualifying spot in Group G behind Austria and condemn Sweden to a play-off. The veteran right-back Oleg ...

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza arrived in her hometown Hyderabad in the wee hours of Monday after winning the China Open 2015 with her doubles partner Martina Hingis. The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair bounced back brilliantly from their first-set defeat to claim a 6-7 (9-11), 6-1, 10-8 win over the Taiwanese pair of Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan in the ...

England’s batting consultant Mahela Jayawardene urged his new charges to keep things simple while countering Pakistani spinners and tough conditions in the three-match Test series starting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The 38-year-old former Sri Lankan captain was hired to fast track England’s preparation for the challenging series. Jayawardene said he was sharing his experience in the sub-continent, boasting of ...

Bangladesh on Monday promised Australia the top-level security and is now anxiously waiting for the Australian response to end the ongoing confusion regarding the arrival of Australia cricket team for the two-Test series in October. Visiting Cricket Australia anti-corruption and security officer Sean Carroll spent a busy day on Monday holding series of meetings with security officials and top authority ...

FIFA has banned former vice president Jack Warner for life over misconduct following an investigation into the bidding contest for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The decision Tuesday by FIFA’s ethics committee comes as Warner fights extradition from Trinidad on U.S. charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. After being implicated in an earlier bribery scandal, Warner quit ...

The Indian cricket ‘A’ team claimed an eight-wicket win over touring South African side in a T20 warm-up match in New Delhi on Tuesday. Opting to bat first, the tourists posted a daunting target of 190, thanks to JP Duminy’s unbeaten knock of 68 off 32 deliveries. Captain Faf du Plessis was forced to retire hurt after scoring 42, while ...

Lionel Messi suffered a knee injury early in Saturday’s La Liga game at home to Las Palmas and could now face six to eight weeks on the sidelines, according to unconfirmed local reports. The incident happened inside the opening stages at the Camp Nou, when Messi cut inside from the right wing, and his left footed shot was blocked by ...

The former agent of Barcelona star Neymar has responded to the embargo the Brazilian suffered due to tax issues in his home country, ironically suggesting that his ex-client would enjoy a quieter life if he moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid. Brazilian authorities moved against the forward on Friday, freezing assets worth £33.1 million. Neymar is accused of evading 63m Brazilian ...

Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney has denied talk of him handing in an official transfer request to his club on two previous occasions, once in 2010 and the second time in 2013. The 29-year-old revealed that he told former manager Sir Alex Ferguson that he would leave the club if he was not allowed to play, but never made his ...

The BCB has expressed surprise at Cricket Australia’s decision to delay its team’s departure for the tour of Bangladesh. The Australian board had been in touch with the BCB on Friday night ESPNcricinfo has learned, informing the BCB of the Australian government’s latest travel advisory and asking it to look into the situation in Bangladesh. The BCB said it found ...