One little secret about 2025 Minnesota Vikings football? Veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau held up quite nicely when Jeff Okudah sustained two concussions (and generally stunk) in the CB3 role. Now, according to Pro Football Network, Moreau might be a fit for the Dallas Cowboys in 2026.

Minnesota has a few cornerback questions left to solve, and last year’s solution could head to Dallas.

Moreau is not an overly hot NFL commodity, but when the dust settles on roster-building after the draft, PFN’s Alex Kennedy claimed the Cowboys could come calling.

The Cowboys Could Peek at FA CB Fabian Moreau

Moreau has a few seasons left in the tank.

PFN: DAL Makes Sense for Moreau

Somehow, Moreau made Kennedy’s list of the NFL’s best remaining free agents. Moreau doesn’t typically earn that kind of respect in 2026.

Kennedy explained nevertheless, “Projected Contract: 2 years, $9.4 million AAV. In his last two years as a Viking, Fabian Moreau hasn’t started a game, serving in a heavily rotational role for Minnesota’s secondary. That said, he’s provided quality depth as an outside cornerback for their defense, allowing a passer rating of just 57.6 in 2025.”

“Moreau’s ball production doesn’t jump off the page because of his smaller sample size compared to other cornerbacks on this list. But he’s been quite efficient on the field, adding a No. 33-ranked 79.5 CBi score in 2025. He’s a high-level depth piece who could slide into a stopgap starting role if need be. Potential Landing Spots: Vikings, Cowboys.”

To date, there have been no serious rumors or steam about Moreau returning to Minnesota after spending the 2024 and 2025 campaigns on Kevin O’Connell’s team.

The Cowboys’ CBs in Late March

Dallas added Cobie Durant as its free-agency splash this month at cornerback, but may still need oomph, including exploring another player at the position in the draft. Here’s the full CB group right now on Jerry Jones’s team:

• Daron Bland
• Cobie Durant
• Shavon Revel Jr.
• Caelen Carson
• Trikweze Bridges
• Reddy Steward
• Josh Butler
• Derion Kendrick
• Corey Ballentine
• Zion Childress

The Cowboys notably cut ties with Trevon Diggs last year, who remains a free agent, and he held down the CB room for years.

Moreau in 2025

Entering the 2025 season, Minnesota’s cornerback depth was a concern. Isaiah Rodgers, Byron Murphy Jr., and Jeff Okudah headlined the position, while Dwight McGlothern and rookie Zemaiah Vaughn were on the practice squad, their potential still largely unknown.

Moreau was also on the roster at the start of the season. When Okudah suffered a concussion, the Vikings elevated Moreau from the practice squad rather than McGlothern.

Moreau then performed exceptionally well, earning a 70.9 PFF grade and allowing a mere 47.4 passer rating on 19 targets. In essence, he provided solid, dependable play at a position that appeared problematic in August. Although his playing time was limited, he consistently performed well when given the opportunity.

That performance could be valuable heading into 2026. While Moreau is 31, he remains capable of handling CB3 or CB4 duties, either in Minnesota or elsewhere.

Ultimately, Moreau provided the Vikings with exactly what they needed from a depth cornerback: calm, reliable coverage that provided stability amidst injuries.

The Vikings’ Plan without Moreau

Moreau could still rejoin the Vikings sometime this spring or summer, but for now, the club has given his CB3 roster spot to a new man, free-agent James Pierre from the Pittsburgh Steelers. At 6’2″ and 190 pounds, Pierre is the tallest veteran cornerback expected to get playtime for the Vikings in 2026, which is a big change from the team’s smaller cornerback lineups of the past few years.

Besides his size, Pierre’s got some connections, too. He’s Lamar Jackson’s cousin, and Brian Flores adjacently coached him back in 2022 when Flores was the linebackers coach in Pittsburgh. Having spent most of his career with the Steelers, Pierre brings a solid foundation of trust and familiarity.

Here’s his Pro Football Focus scorecard since 2020:

The Vikings, too, may draft a corner early in the draft; players like Avieon Terrell (Clemson) and Jermod McCoy (Tennessee) are no strangers to the purple mock-draft process.

The Cowboys’ defense ranked 32nd in the NFL last year per EPA/Play. Dead last. Most mock drafts currently connect Dallas to LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane, the aforementioned McCoy, safety Dillon Thieneman of Oregon, and CJ Allen, a linebacker from Georgia. The Cowboys have two 1st-Rounders from the Micah Parsons trade.

Reigning world indoor 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson is among Manchester United’s high-profile fans in other sports

Olympic champion and Manchester United supporter Keely Hodgkinson has taken a pop at West Ham United over a stadium dispute. The Hammers play at the London Stadium, site of the athletics portion of the 2012 Olympics, with their stewardship reportedly standing in the way of the UK’s hopes of hosting the World Championships.

The worlds could return to Europe in 2029 after back-to-back championships in Asia. Tokyo hosted the 2025 edition, while it will go to Beijing next year.

However, this could be scuppered by the Hammers’ reluctance to allow their stadium to be used for athletics during the football season. The World Championships have been held in September in recent years, potentially clashing with the London club’s league and cup commitments.

Hodgkinson, who recently won 800m gold at the World Indoor Championships in Poland, joked about the relative successes of Team GB and West Ham when commenting on the matter on social media. “The GB team will bring back more medals to that stadium than West Ham have seen in their entire history,” the 24-year-old wrote.

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Hodgkinson’s response got a mixed reception, with one suggesting she was “going in Marco Boogers style” – a reference to a West Ham striker famously shown a red card against United. “As a West Ham fan I am deeply offended by the truth in your comment,” joked another.

Not all of the comments were positive, though. “Show some respect to West Ham which is a fine institution with the decent folk who support them. Cheap laugh and not a good look,” one football fan wrote.

“Not sure what your point is? West Ham have every right to say no,” wrote another.

West Ham moved into the London Stadium in 2016, four years after the London Olympics. The stadium hosted the World Championships in 2017, with the competition held in early August and not clashing with the football season, though IAAF president Sebastian Coe played down suggestions the World Championships could be moved to earlier in the year in 2019.

“I can’t speculate about that. That would then be a council judgment. We have a pretty clear, stated position that we want our world championships to finish as the conclusion of a season,” he said, per The Guardian “Why did we do that? Well, the reason is that, for a lot of our fans, it was confusing.

“They didn’t quite know why somebody would come out of a world championships or an Olympic Games and then go: ‘OK, I know they won whatever it is, in the world championships, and then four days later they’re in the Diamond League final.’ And particularly when you have a very cluttered sporting calendar across winter and summer sports, we just felt we needed to do everything just to make our sport a little more understandable.”

England’s 2026 World Cup kits

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England and Nike have launched the new home, away and goalkeeper kits to be worn at this summer’s FIFA World Cup. You can get free delivery on all orders with the code: ENGFREEDEL

Prem Rugby clubs will be required to meet a minimum salary cap spend of £5.4m under new plans to expand the league’s commercial profile and competitiveness.

The English top-flight is moving away from a traditional promotion and relegation model to an expansion league, with expressions of interest and a tender process opening next season as it works towards a goal of adding two new teams by 2030.

As part of that move, the existing 10 clubs in the Prem will have to meet a “salary floor” in a drive to ensure close competition across the division while ensuring financial sustainability.

The move comes with the Prem actively seeking investment into both existing sides and possible new franchises, and follows major moves by Red Bull at Newcastle and James Dyson at Bath in recent months.

The salary cap is currently set at £6.4m, with a number of credits and exclusions meaning clubs can spend up to £7.8m plus one excluded player salary. While a number of clubs in the league spend close to the cap, some others are understood to currently fall short of the £5.4m figure.

While the salary floor still needs regulatory approval, it has been approved in principle by clubs following a consultation process. It will be introduced next season, although clubs will not be punished for failing to meet it until the 2029/30 season.

Any new club into the Prem shall be permitted a transition year whereby it shall be permitted to spend 25 per cent on the condition that it can present a clear plan to spend at least the full in its second Prem season.

Simon Massie-Taylor, the Prem Rugby chief executive, cautioned that the league are not necessarily looking to increase the cap in the near future.

“Our vision is to be the best league in the world,” Massie-Taylor explained.

“We are on a journey to define exactly what that means, but it doesn’t mean we are going to spend beyond everyone else and create wage inflation around the world, paying so all the Galacticos turn up. There are other aspects in terms of how we can define ourselves as the best league in the world for fans and players. Once distributions from Prem Rugby get to a certain level, then that will allow us to increase that in a sustainable way.”

The Prem’s plans were unveiled ahead of their “Big Match Bonanza” this weekend, with games being held at the Principality Stadium, Villa Park and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

The hope is to hold up to 10 of these spread across the season in the future, with the possibility of taking the league’s semi-finals to larger, neutral venues by 2029.

“Big games are really important, as they make games bigger, and appeal to a wider fanbase.” Massie-Taylor added. “Our ambition is to have ten big games by 2030, and that includes the final and the potential for neutral playoffs.

“We see that adding to the narrative, and the general scale of the league. Big games are hard to do, so we as a league need to provide more support on that and to help market it to a wider audience. We need to manage the calendar of big games too.

“The reason you do it is because of scale. They are big games and you want to make them bigger. France do it. They’ve created a moment there and we want to explore it. It allows us to take the game on the road, and that’s what we’re seeing with Gloucester hosting a game in Birmingham this weekend, it’s a big undertaking but a big step in building a new market.

“England have a game against Fiji at the Hill Dickinson Stadium up in Liverpool, which is a great new 55,000 seater stadium, and in an area where there is clearly demand, as people are buying tickets to England-Fiji. Is that a good example of where we could host a playoff event? Maybe. There are lots of options. We’re intending to do this in 2029, deliberately because it takes time to secure venues, and find the right spot and build demand.”

Transgender women athletes are now excluded from women’s events at the Olympics after the IOC agreed to a new eligibility policy on Thursday which aligns with US President Donald Trump’s executive order on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females,” the International Olympic Committee said, to be determined by a mandatory gene test once in an athlete’s career.

It is unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level. No woman who transitioned from being born male competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, though weightlifter Laurel Hubbard did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without winning a medal.

The eligibility policy that will apply from the LA Olympics in July 2028 “protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,” the IOC said.

“It is not retroactive and does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programs,” said the IOC, whose Olympic Charter states that access to play sport is a human right.

After an executive board meeting, the International Olympic Committee published a 10-page policy document which also restricts female athletes such as two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, or DSD.

The IOC and its president, Kirsty Coventry, have wanted a clear policy instead of continuing to advise sports’ governing bodies who previously have drafted their own rules.

“At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, said in a statement. “So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.”  She set up a review of “protecting the female category” as one of her first big decisions last June as the first woman to lead the Olympic body in its 132-year history.

Female eligibility was a strong theme in a seven-candidate IOC election last year – held after a furor around women’s boxing in Paris – when Coventry’s main rivals pledged a stronger policy to leading on the issue.

Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, three top-tier sports – track and field, swimming and cycling – excluded transgender women who had been through male puberty. Semenya, who was assigned female at birth in South Africa and has high natural testosterone levels, won a European Court of Human Rights judgment in her years-long legal challenge to track and field’s rules which did not overturn them.

The IOC document details its research that being born male gives physical advantages that a working group of experts believes are retained.

“Males experience three significant testosterone peaks: In utero, in mini-puberty of infancy and beginning in adolescent puberty through adulthood,” the document said.

It added this gives males “individual sex-based performance advantages in sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance.”  The IOC said its expert group agreed the current gene test is “the most accurate and least intrusive method currently available.” It screened for “the SRY gene, a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development in utero and indicates the presence of testes/testicles.”  Still, the mandatory gender screening – already conducted by the governing bodies of track and field, skiing and boxing – is likely to be criticized by human rights experts and activist groups.

One of the two women’s boxing gold medalists at the center of the gender controversy in Paris, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, has passed her gene test and can return to competition, the World Boxing governing body said last week.

In the U.S., President Trump signed the executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in February last year, and pledged to deny visas to some athletes attempting to compete at the L.A Olympics. The order also threatened to “rescind all funds” from organizations that allowed transgender athletes to take part in women’s sports.

Within months the US Olympic body updated its guidance to national sports bodies citing an obligation to comply with the White House.

Michigan State has arrived to the NCAA Tournament in Worcester, Massachusetts as a No. 1 seed, looking to pave their way to the Frozen Four for the first time in the Adam Nightingale era in East Lansing. The road starts with the Spartans facing off with the No. 4 seeded UConn Huskies, the champions of the Hockey East Conference.

With the afternoon game opening the tournament, the Spartans will look to survive and advance. Follow along with updates between the Spartans and Huskies:

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Oleksandr Usyk has stated that he has three fights remaining in the sport, with his final intended opponent being a familiar foe in Tyson Fury, who he defeated twice during 2024. Although, the unified heavyweight ruler has revealed another name whom his career could now culminate against.

Earlier this month, the undefeated Ukrainian unveiled a three-man hit list, beginning with his showdown at the Pyramids of Giza against Rico Verhoeven, then against the winner of Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois and finally a trilogy contest with ‘The Gypsy King’.

However, fans were quick to point out that two major names were not present in Usyk’s plans – top-rated prospect, Moses Itauma, and WBC Interim champion and mandatory challenger, Agit Kabayel.

As a result, Usyk received some criticism for targeting a third fight with Fury and avoiding those who had earned a shot at the heavyweight throne, with Kabayel deemed by some to be the heavyweight division’s best chance of dethroning Usyk, with Fury himself backing the German to ‘take over’ the division.

In response, 39-year-old Usyk has told Daily Mail that he is open to a clash with Kabayel, with that fight potentially replacing Fury in his three-fight plan.

“I understand the Agit fans are saying you must fight him, you must fight him, but I don’t have to fight him.”

“Maybe I will fight Kabayel – maybe I don’t face Tyson Fury for a third time and I fight Kabayel instead.”

“I must live my life, I must look after my team, my children. As for fighting, I just work hard and my opponents work hard. Look, maybe it’s possible I fight Agit. All I can say is he’s a great fighter and he’s very smart.”

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Before Usyk can look too far into the future, he must overcome Verhoeven and defend his WBC heavyweight crown on Saturday, May 23.

Following the controversial final in Rabat – in which Morocco and Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz missed a Panenka penalty to win the match in the 114th minute – the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) immediately lodged a complaint with Caf and Fifa, claiming that Senegal leaving the field of play “greatly affected the normal course of the match and the players’ morale”.

Caf’s disciplinary committee initially rejected that appeal, instead issuing sanctions against both sides, including a five-match ban for Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw, on 29 January.

The FRMF said those original penalties did not “reflect the seriousness of the incidents”, and Caf’s appeal board agreed, releasing a statement on 17 March which said Senegal had contravened articles 82 and 84 of competition regulations.

Article 82 states that if a team “leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee”, they are eliminated.

Senegal’s government responded by calling for an investigation into “suspected corruption” at Caf, a claim rebuffed by the governing body’s president, Patrice Motsepe, who has been at pains to point out the appeal board’s independence.

“It is important that the decisions of our Caf disciplinary board and the Caf appeals board are viewed with respect and integrity,” he said.

The final decision on who claims the 2025 Afcon title now rests with Cas, sport’s highest judicial authority.

“To wage this moral and legal crusade, we have appointed a team of seasoned professionals with undeniable expertise,” Fall announced in Paris, flanked by members of the FSF legal team.

One of them, lawyer Seydou Diagne, called the decision to strip Senegal of their title “so blatant, so absurd, so irrational”.

“The decision of the appeals jury cannot even be considered a true decision of sporting justice,” he added.

“It is an unacceptable and intolerable attack on the fundamental rights of our national Football Federation.”

Fellow lawyer Juan Perez said: “A match that was over, whose result had been decided by the referee, now being re-refereed, administratively – that’s unprecedented. You haven’t seen anything like it. It could change the world of football.”

Caf recently updated the Afcon 2025 review on its website to list Morocco as winners, although that page now appears to have been taken down.

With Senegal refusing to relinquish the trophy, and with Saturday’s planned parade a sign of their contempt, the battle to be crowned African champions is far from over.

Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to rematch Floyd Mayweather in September, but his preparations may have already been hindered, following complications regarding his planned ‘tune-up’ fight.

Pacquiao made his professional comeback to the sport back in July, where he fought to a draw against then WBC welterweight champion, Mario Barrios.

‘Pac Man’ had been in hot pursuit of another shot at world honours, with plans to break his own world record as the oldest ever welterweight world champion, but he has now put that on ice to agree a lucrative rematch with Mayweather.

Ahead of their second encounter, Pacquiao also signed to face former WBO super-lightweight world champion Ruslan Provodnikov in a 10-round exhibition bout on Saturday, April 18, in Las Vegas.

Steve Kim recently reported that the event has been postponed and will instead take place in June. However, in an interview with Fastbreak, Pacquiao admitted that he is uncertain as to whether the contest will take place at all.

“Not sure yet… even if it’s just a tune-up fight.”

Whilst Provodnikov has not fought professionally since defeat to John Molina Jnr almost a decade ago, ‘The Russian Rocky’ has boxed in exhibitions, with his most recent outing taking place last May against a 51-year-old Jose Luis Castillo.

Mayweather is poised to fight exhibitions against heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and then Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis, before facing off with Pacquiao in less than six months’ time.

Fans are skeptical about any of the above taking place before the two icons reignite their rivalry, with the Netflix-backed event at The Sphere, Las Vegas sure to take precedence. It seems it is not worth risking a poor performance, or injury, ahead of that.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to commence on June 12, 2026, in Mexico City, with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa in the opening game of the tournament. However, months ahead of the official start, FIFA has surprised many fans by cancelling 2,000 hotel bookings in Philadelphia, which is one of the host cities of the tournament.

While cancelling hotel bookings in such large numbers might sound concerning from the outside, in reality, it is nothing more than a standard practice by FIFA. But why exactly were the bookings cancelled? Take a look.

FIFA trims excess bookings after initial over-allocation

The governing body had initially reserved close to 10,000 hotel rooms in Philadelphia to accommodate match officials, staff, and technical personnel. However, after reviewing its final requirements, FIFA has released a portion of these bookings back into the market.

Move termed standard procedure, not a scale-down

FIFA has said that the cancellations should not be interpreted as a reduction in planning or scale. Instead, it is part of a structured process followed in the lead-up to major tournaments.

By initially blocking a higher number of rooms, organisers ensure flexibility in accommodating various contingencies, including late additions to staff and logistical teams. The latest round of cancellations reflects a transition from provisional planning to confirmed allocations.

Philadelphia hotels absorb short-term impact

The decision has had a noticeable impact on the city’s hospitality sector, particularly in central areas. According to Ed Grose, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, four Centre City hotels were the most affected by the cancellations.

However, Grose clarified that the process was carried out within contractual agreements, with no penalties imposed on FIFA. While the development was not ideal for hotels, it does not significantly alter the broader business outlook tied to the tournament.

Fan demand expected to fill vacant inventory

Industry stakeholders remain optimistic that the released rooms will be quickly taken up by travelling fans. With the World Cup expected to draw large crowds from across the globe, demand for accommodation is likely to surge as match dates approach.

“These are rooms that will go back into the marketplace and be sold to fans,” Grose noted, indicating confidence in strong occupancy levels closer to the event.