Sports

Naoya Inoue targeted for super fight by pound-for-pound star: “He’s the biggest challenge”

Published

5 hours ago

5 March 2026

Naoya Inoue is regarded by many to be the pound-for-pound king, but now there is a fellow multi-divisional world champion who is eyeing up a fight with the Japanese phenomenon, even targeting a clash with his brother first.

Inoue has ruled supreme in four weight classes but it is his recent efforts at bantamweight and super-bantamweight, where he became a two-division undisputed world champion, that have forced the world to take notice.

After claiming all four belts at 118lbs, he stepped up to 122lbs in 2023 and needed just two bouts to dethrone both unified titleholders and become the second multi-weight undisputed champion of the four-belt era.

Now, ‘The Monster’ is set for his toughest task to date, as he takes on unbeaten countryman Junto Nakatani on Saturday, May 2, at the Tokyo Dome in a historic event for Japanese boxing.

Should he come through that test unscathed, unified super-flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez told The Ring that he is willing to face both of the Inoue brothers in the near future, ahead of a move up to bantamweight.

“The best fight to make for Bam at 118 right now is against the WBC champion, Takuma Inoue.
“That would be very exciting, to beat Takuma and then face the brother, Naoya, in a big fight.
“That’s a great fight and a great plan to look forward to and very well could be a possibility.
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“The biggest challenge for Bam in the future is Naoya Inoue. He’s not going to hold back too long before going up against someone like him.”

Takuma Inoue won the vacant WBC bantamweight title with a victory over Tenshin Nasukawa in November, and a clash against Rodriguez could indeed pave the way to a future battle between ‘Bam’ and Naoya Inoue. Boxing News understands that Takuma is set to fight on the Inoue-Nakatani undercard against Kazuto Ioka.

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Imports Augustus and Desert Hero debut at 2026 Flemington Australian Cup Prelude

Published

6 minutes ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Flemington’s Australian Cup Prelude trails behind the day’s prominent fixtures in significance, though it might spotlight contenders for greater achievements later on.

In Saturday’s 2000m showdown, Ciaron Maher intends to debut two gallopers from abroad – Augustus and Desert Hero.

Having already raced locally, Desert Hero journeyed from the UK with William Haggas to contest last year’s Sydney Autumn Carnival.

In comparison, the German-bred Augustus was last victorious at Hamburg in the middle of last year and is co-owned by Australian Bloodstock, who previously sourced Melbourne Cup winners Protectionist and Gold Trip to Australia.

Maher commented that Augustus somewhat resembles Gold Trip, securing his debut Melbourne Cup win in 2022.

“He flicks his action a little bit like Gold Trip,” Maher said.

“He’s got good, strong formlines coming across.

We opted not to bring him out in quarantine. We opted to give him a break and let him furnish and he’s certainly done that.

I think he’s come up super.”

Augustus prepared via a jump-out and 1500m trial ahead of his Saturday reappearance, partnered by Mark Zahra.

“Mark rode him the other day at Caulfield (Heath) and he liked what he felt,” Maher said.

“I think Flemington will suit, a big, open galloping track. I think he will be a horse we will see more of in these better staying races.”

Augustus faces a limited autumn program under Maher before spring pursuits such as the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup pair.

“He’ll probably have a couple of runs and whether he goes to Queensland, we’ll work that out with the Australian Bloodstock boys, but he’s impressed me with what I’ve seen,” Maher said.

Post his April Randwick start, Desert Hero showed once more, fourth in Caulfield Heath’s 1500m trial with Augustus second.

Maher revealed Desert Hero received an extended holiday after Sydney, spending time in New Zealand.

“He’s got a good solid base. He prepped up over in New Zealand,” Maher said.

“He had a long break, which I think he needed and he’s come up well also.

He’s been out of form for a little while, so he needs to find form, but looking at the way he is, he should hit the line well also.”

Find competitive betting sites offering racing odds for the Australian Cup Prelude.

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2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational Friday tee times: Round 2 pairings

Published

19 minutes ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

The second round of the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational begins Friday morning, March 6, at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla. You can find full Arnold Palmer Invitational tee times for Friday’s second round at the bottom of this post.

Featured tee time for Round 2

Scottie Scheffler was asked about his slow starts to tournaments this season in his pre-tournament press conference at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He was quick to remind reporters that in four starts, he’s really only had three bad rounds.

That tracks when you look at Scheffler’s record heading into Bay Hill. In addition to his American Express victory, the World No. 1 has two other top-4 finishes. His worst result is a T12. Not bad.

And Scheffler looked strong to start his opening round on Thursday as he vies for his third-career Arnold Palmer victory. The four-time major champion made two birdies over his first four holes in Round 1.

Scheffler will get his second round started on Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET alongside Russell Henley.

You can watch Friday’s second round of the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational from 2-6 p.m. ET on Golf Channel. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will provide exclusive streaming coverage starting at 7:30 a.m. ET on Friday, as well as featured group and featured hole coverage all day.

Check out the complete Round 2 tee times and pairings for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Hoping to wager on the Arnold Palmer Invitational? Sign up for Fanatics Sportsbook with code “SUBPAR” to receive a special welcome offer.

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2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational tee times for Friday: Round 2 (ET)

Tee No. 1

7:40 a.m. – Nicolai Højgaard, Austin Smotherman
7:50 a.m. – Si Woo Kim, Bud Cauley
8:00 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Ryo Hisatsune
8:10 a.m. – Ryan Gerard, Jason Day
8:20 a.m. – Taylor Pendrith, Denny McCarthy
8:30 a.m. – Kurt Kitayama, Pierceson Coody
8:40 a.m. – Jordan Spieth, Sam Stevens
8:50 a.m. – Jake Knapp, Matt Fitzpatrick
9:05 a.m. – Sam Burns, Sungjae Im
9:15 a.m. – J.J. Spaun, Nick Taylor
9:25 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Maverick McNealy
9:35 a.m. – Ben Griffin, Tommy Fleetwood
9:45 a.m. – Nico Echavarria, Ludvig Åberg
9:55 a.m. – Jacob Bridgeman, Chris Gotterup
10:05 a.m. – Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama
10:20 a.m. – Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland
10:30 a.m. – Rickie Fowler, Michael Kim
10:40 a.m. – Chris Kirk, Sahith Theegala
10:50 a.m. – Joel Dahmen, Daniel Bennett
11:00 a.m. – Jhonattan Vegas, Tom Hoge
11:10 a.m. – Ryan Fox, Billy Horschel
11:20 a.m. – Brian Campbell, Patrick Rodgers
11:35 a.m. – Matt McCarty, Max Greyserman
11:45 a.m. – Taylor Moore, Andrew Putnam
11:55 a.m. – Daniel Berger, Alex Noren
12:05 p.m. – Min Woo Lee, Michael Thorbjornsen
12:15 p.m. – Harry Hall, Corey Conners
12:25 p.m. – Cameron Young, Sepp Straka
12:35 p.m. – Harris English, Patrick Cantlay
12:50 p.m. – Andrew Novak, Robert MacIntyre
1:00 p.m. – Brian Harman, Akshay Bhatia
1:10 p.m. – Collin Morikawa, Justin Rose
1:20 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Shane Lowry
1:30 p.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley
1:40 p.m. – Aldrich Potgieter, Adam Scott
1:50 p.m. – J.T. Poston, Keith Mitchell

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He was an Arnold Palmer fanatic. But he became so much more

Published

32 minutes ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

There is no settled case law, or the golf-history equivalent, for the exact definition of the Big Three. Harry Vardon, J.H. Taylor, James Braid: a threesome for the ages. Arnold, Big Jack, Gary Player, the same. And then (of course) this trio: Dr. George Franklin Grant; Dr. Cary Middlecoff; Dr. Howdy Giles. Another Big Three, at least under the popular game-show category Notable Golfing Dentists.

Dr. Grant invented the wooden golf tee (U.S. patent number 638,920).

Dr. Middlecoff won two U.S. Opens and one Masters tournament.

Dr. Giles was Arnold Palmer’s dentist and unofficial photographer.

Howdy Giles took thousands and thousands of photographs of Arnold over the years. The basement of his home in Wilmington, Del., was a sort of Arnold Palmer museum, and the house itself (per Arnold’s longtime aide-de-camp, Doc Giffin) was done in Early, Middle and Late Palmer. Howdy didn’t push Wake Forest, Arnold’s alma mater, on his two daughters — but they did wind up there. Howdy had a ball marker made out of one of Arnold’s old gold fillings. It hardly needs to be said that Howdy published a book called “The King and I: An Unlikely Journey from Fan to Friend.”

Golf has lost a true original. Howdy died last month at age 84. This is the first Arnold Palmer Invitational without him.

Forgive the personal intrusion here: On a weekday in May in 1987, early in my nine-year stint as a reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I visited the Chester Valley Golf Club, where a senior event was being played. Arnold was 57, silver-haired and tan, baking in the afternoon sun as he sat on a golf cart behind the driving range, chatting casually with a couple people. I was loitering with intent. A man, unknown to me but seeing my press button, asked me if I wanted to interview Arnold Palmer.

That would be swell.

I fumbled my way through the interview. I wrote up something. I drove to New York City and had what turned into my first date with the woman who became my wife. I know exactly what I wore, interviewing Arnold that afternoon and then at dinner, because of Howdy. Howdy made the introduction, then took a photo of me interviewing Arnold. Later, with no advance notice, Howdy printed up the photo and mailed it to me. As I type this, that photo, and a matchbook from the Lion’s Rock (316 E. 77th Street), are on my desk. I remain stunned by his generosity and effort.

Over the past nearly 40 years, I saw Howdy dozens of times. On several occasions, when Arnold was coming to greater Philadelphia for a banquet dinner or to greater Wilmington to have his teeth checked, Howdy brought me in. Howdy was a part-owner of a restaurant called Stanley’s Tavern in Wilmington, and I once had meal with Arnold and Howdy there. When Arnold flew into the Wilmington on a new plane, Howdy invited me to come for a look-see.

Arnold gave me a tour of the plane. He noted the cashmere blankets on each seat that, Arnold said, he got for his wife, Winnie. When I left Arnold and Howdy that afternoon, I must have noted that my wife and I were looking to buy a new (that is, new to us) car. Arnold, devoted to Cadillacs for reasons both personal and professional, said, “Well, I hope it will be a G.M. product.” You can’t buy a moment like that. Howdy made it possible.

Howdy, as all true originals do, made a lot of his own moments. I recall being greenside on Father’s Day at Baltusrol in 1993 when Lee Janzen won the U.S. Open. When the putt dropped, there were four people on the green: Janzen, Payne Stewart, their caddies. Then came a fifth — Howdy, camera in hand. He was so earnest, unassuming and nice nobody could ever say no to him.

I just went to look at the USGA’s highlight reel from that Sunday, available on YouTube, hoping I might see a glimpse of Howdy. I didn’t, but Arnold, the longtime and ultimate USGA ambassador, opens the show by offering some straight-to-the-camera welcoming remarks, in that foghorn voice. Howdy was a USGA rules official. They were both members at Pine Valley. Howdy once showed me a Golf Digest cover from 1957 that showed Arnold in full smile. “I shaved this tooth down a little bit,” Howdy said, pointing to a dangler. “It had a little bit of a fang to it.”

Howdy, a competitive swimmer at the University of Delaware, fell into Arnold’s spell through the magic of TV in the 1960s. To the amusement of his fellow dental-school students at Temple University in Philadelphia in the late 1960s, Howdy started buying his clothes out of the Arnold Palmer line at the legendary Philadelphia department store, Wanamakers. (A quote with legs from Howdy: “They’d say, ‘Hey, what’s with all the Palmer gear?’ But who has the last laugh now?”) When they were dating, Carolyn Boddorff gave her boyfriend a set of Arnold Palmer clubs. Needless to say, they had a long and happy marriage. (The two daughters married Arnold-o-philes; the four grandchildren are all getting inculcated.) When Howdy joined Bay Hill in the mid-1970s and met Arnold’s dentist, Benny Tacke, Howdy said it would be his dream to be Arnold Palmer’s dentist. “Arnie’s a lousy patient,” Dr. Tacke said. “When I die, you can have him.” Two years later, Dr. Tacke died and Dr. Giles had a new patient.

The last time I saw Howdy at Bay Hill was during the 2024 tournament, the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Carolyn had died three years earlier and Arnold had died a half-decade before that. Howdy, curiously, had developed the same kind of walk that Arnold had when he was in his early 80s, where the left shoulder dips left on the left step and the right shoulder dips right on the right. He was warm and engaging as always but time had taken its toll. He had lost his two great partners.

Howdy once described the first time he played with Arnold at Howdy’s home course, the Wilmington Country Club, mid-spring, 1976:

“Sixteenth hole, par 5, 603 yards. The caddie bets Arnie that he can’t get home in two. The bet is for a beer. Arnie hits driver, driver, chips in with a sand wedge from 15 yards off the green for a three. Gets a six-pack for the caddie and signs the cans. Budweiser. Shoots 67. Amazing. My idol comes to Wilmington to play golf and have his teeth checked. He stays at our home and I drive him to the airport. As he flew off in his jet, I had tears in my eyes.”

Maybe you’ve seen the photo of Arnold that adorns cans and jugs of the AriZona Arnold Palmer half-and-half concoction. Arnold is maybe staring off at a distant green that just might be reachable. He’s well into his senior career. The old caddies had their own nickname for Arnold, Bull, for his flaring nostrils, particularly in the heat of battle. They’re on full display in this Howdy Giles snap for posterity. Do you think Howdy asked for anything, for the use of this photo? There’s not a chance.

Arnold once introduced Howdy to George H.W. Bush. Arnold said, “Mr. President, I want you to meet Howdy Giles, my dentist, my photographer and my good friend.”

“Oh sure,” President Bush said. “We were talking about you at dinner last night.”

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

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William Osula Delights Fans with Premier League Goal and Ogbono Skills

Published

47 minutes ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Newcastle United’s striker William Osula stole the show last night against Manchester United, not just on the pitch but in the kitchen too.

The 22-year-old came off the bench to curl a stunning goal past Manchester United’s keeper and secure a win for the home side. But Osula’s Nigerian roots shone off the pitch, too. A video has surfaced showing him making Ogbono soup from scratch, a traditional South-Eastern Nigerian dish made from ground wild African mango seeds.

Teammate Joe Willock also shared in the feast, praising Osula’s cooking skills as they enjoyed the meal together. Fans were quick to celebrate not only his goal but his mastery of the popular Nigerian soup.

Osula, who calls himself a ‘naija boy’ and even speaks a bit of pidgin, seems to be winning hearts both on and off the field.

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Why Fujikura’s new Ventus TR Blue+ shaft is picking up steam on Tour

Published

59 minutes ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

The winningest driver shaft family from last season has a new member — and it’s already starting to pick up steam.

Fujikura’s new Ventus TR Blue with VeloCore+ launched on worldwide tours in mid-January, but it’s already found its way into the bag of PGA Tour pros.

Danny Walker and Kensei Hirata were some of the earliest adopters of the new shaft. More recently, Harry Hall and Rafael Campos added it to the bag. That doesn’t include the numerous players testing the new shaft (like Nicolai Hojgaard).

While it might seem quiet so far, Fujikura Tour rep Marshall Thompson says the new TR Blue is actually ahead of schedule compared to the rollout of the first Ventus shafts to get VeloCore+ two years ago. A lot of that had to do with timing.

“It’s much better. It’s much more received,” Thompson told GOLF. “When we launched [the previous one] it was the middle of the year, the middle of July. A lot of guys aren’t really doing testing, and a lot of guys by July are already locked in for the year.”

This time, Fujikura launched the new shaft in January, right when pros were figuring out their bags with a deluge of new products from the OEMs.

That’s led to the quicker adoption, but there’s still probably more to come.

“These rollouts always take some time,” Thompson said. “There are shafts that I build up for certain players where I think it’s got a really good chance of going in, and then I don’t see it for five weeks. Then all of a sudden that player brings it out of the garage and says, ‘Okay, now I’m ready to actually take it to the course.’”

Thompson pointed to the 2024 rollout of the first Ventus with VeloCore+ as appearing slow, but now dozens of players have the updated versions, including U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun and recent converts like Min Woo Lee and Tony Finau.

And while the name is the same as its predecessor, switching into the new version might not exactly be plug-and-play. Thompson said the Fuji team knew how good the original Ventus TR line was and wanted to improve it without straying too far.

By adding VeloCore+ to the shaft, the new TR Blue has an increased torsional stability (a resistance to twisting), which promotes stability throughout the shaft and center-face contact.

Fujikura 2026 Ventus TR Blue Wood Shaft (Velocore+)

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That additional stability meant engineers could reorient the Spread Tow fabric in the handle section of the shaft — the material that differentiates the Ventus and Ventus TR lines — to make the handle stiffer.

The result is a slightly stiffer handle with a slightly softer mid-section while retaining the same ultra-stiff tip. Thompson said they’ve noticed the tighter handle allows players to feel like they can go after the ball a bit more, while the softer mid creates a smoother feel throughout the swing.

That’s led to much tighter downrange dispersion for many players.

“When I can see 60 to 70 percent of players gaining and standard deviations getting tighter across the board, I know we’ve got a really good shaft,” Thompson said.

In my own personal testing, my first experience with the new TR Blue+ was on a day when I couldn’t find the face to save my life with my OG TR Blue gamer. We switched to the new shaft and instantly the sound changed, and I was finding the middle of the face with ease. On a Foresight GC Quad, I recorded a shot exactly out of the middle of the face.

Thompson feels confident about the rollout, especially this season, where the new drivers from the OEMs are more competitive than ever. There’s still plenty of testing going on.

“Even on tour, these non-contract guys still have four or five headcovers in the bag and they’re trying different options,” he said. “And we’re already into the Florida swing.”

Want to find the best driver shaft for your game in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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Women’s Bracketology Bubble Watch: Clemson takes down Virginia for crucial win

Published

1 hour ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Conference tournaments are underway in women’s college basketball this week, and some teams’ bubbles are already beginning to burst. In total, six of the 12 bubble teams listed in CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel’s latest bracket played on Wednesday. Three of those teams lost: Stanford, Texas A&M and Mississippi State.

Due to those losses, Stanford and Texas A&M went from being among the First Four Out into the Next Four Out, while Mississippi State remained in the Next Four Out. Stanford’s overtime loss to Miami in the ACC tournament was the biggest story of Wednesday, as it all but guaranteed the Cardinal will miss the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, Arizona State, BYU and Utah all moved up slightly on the bubble after winning first-round games on Wednesday, but all three teams likely still have work to do to secure an invitation. Notably, this was the first Big 12 tournament win for the BYU Cougars since they joined the conference in 2023.

What does Thursday have in store? Eight bubble teams will be in action in conference tournaments today, and then Richmond joining the action on Friday. Notably, Clemson and Virginia — the top two teams on the Last Four In group — faced off in the ACC Tournament. Clemson pulled away for a 13-point win, a result that should make the Tigers feel comfortable about making the NCAA Tournament. Virginia, meanwhile, might be sweating it out on Selection Sunday.

Here is Groel’s updated bubble after Wednesday’s games and when to catch each team in action.

Last Four In

Clemson (beat Virginia, 63-50, in ACC Tournament)
Virginia (lost to Clemson, 63-50, in ACC Tournament)
Colorado (vs. Kansas, R2 of Big 12 tournament; Thursday at 9:00 p.m.)
South Dakota State (vs. Kansas City in QF of Summit League tournament; Thursday at 1:00 p.m.)

First Four Out

Richmond (vs. TBD in QF of A10 tournament; Friday at 7:30 p.m.)
Arizona State (vs. Iowa State in R2 of Big 12 tournament, Thursday at 6:30 p.m.)
BYU (vs. Utah in R2 of Big 12 tournament, Thursday at 2:30 p.m.)
Utah (vs. BYU in R2 of Big 12 tournament, Thursday at 2:30 p.m.)

Next Four Out

Stanford (lost to Miami 83-76 in R1 of ACC tournament)
Texas A&M (lost to Auburn 50-49 in R1 of SEC tournament)
Mississippi State (lost to Florida 86-68, R1 of SEC tournament)
Kansas (vs. Colorado in R2 of Big 12 tournament, Thursday at 9:00 p.m.)

Before 2025, Stanford had appeared in the Big Dance for 36 consecutive years, dating back to 1987 under Tara VanDerveer. The Cardinal won three national championships during the VanDerveer era, with the most recent one happening just five years ago. Long-time associate head coach Kate Paye took over after VanDerveer retired, but the former Pac-12 powerhouse has not yet found success as a member of the ACC conference.

Similarly, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are likely done after a loss to Florida, especially since they have gone 4-12 in their last 16 games and only have three wins against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. Texas A&M was one of the most intriguing bubble teams heading into conference play after a late-season surge that saw the team finish the regular season with five consecutive wins, including victories over Tennessee and Ole Miss. But the one-point loss to Auburn in Greenville will leave the Aggies on the outside of the madness looking in.

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Wikki Tourists Appoint Evans Ogenyi As New Technical Adviser

Published

1 hour ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Nigeria Premier Football League side Wikki Tourists have appointed Coach Evans Ogenyi as their new Technical Adviser as the club tries to improve its performance this season.

Ogenyi replaces former Technical Adviser Abdu Maikaba, who stepped down from the position last month.

The experienced coach is expected to bring stability and fresh ideas to the Bauchi-based club. He previously worked as the head coach of Kano Pillars and also served as an assistant coach at Rivers United during his coaching career.

Wikki Tourists have struggled in the current league campaign, winning only two of their last 15 matches. The poor results have placed the team in a difficult position on the league table.

The Bauchi Elephants are currently in 16th place with 32 points from 28 matches, raising concerns about their chances of avoiding relegation.

Club officials hope the arrival of Ogenyi will help improve the team’s form and guide them away from the relegation zone as the season moves into its final stage.

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Salute replaces silence for Iran after ‘message from home’

Published

2 hours ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

As the first notes of “Mehr-e Khavaran (Eastern Sun)” rang out at the Gold Coast Stadium, nearly 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) from Tehran on Australia’s east coast, the Iranian women’s national team raised their hands to their temples in salute. Most also appeared to sing along to their national anthem before the Asian Cup match against Australia.

Three days earlier, the same players had made headlines around the world by staying silent during the playing of their anthem before their opening match against South Korea. While it’s difficult to be certain, it seems likely that the players came under pressure from authorities to toe the line in the interim.

“Whether they were saying their prayers, or mouthing the anthem, it was clear to anyone watching on that the players had received the message from home that they needed to demonstrate symbolic solidarity with their homeland, currently under siege” Catherine Ordway, an Australian lawyer, academic and sport integrity consultant who has worked with numerous international sporting bodies, told DW.

The images from Australia brought to mind Iran’s men’s team at the World Cup 2022. They too refused to sing their anthem in their opener against England in Qatar before mouthing it ahead of their next match against Wales. That was in the wake of anti-government protests in their home country focused on women’s rights while the current disquiet relates to the US-Israeli war with Iran and the Islamic Republic’s retaliation.
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‘Brave dissent’ as strain shows

“Seeing the Iranian women’s team choosing silence during the anthem and loosening their headscarves was a profoundly brave form of physical dissent, especially given the heightened danger for women in Iran and the regime’s long history of punishing symbolic resistance,” Ordway said.
That has been the tightrope the squad and management have had to walk in the Asian Cup so far. They have, understandably, closed ranks to the media with only the mandatory press conferences taking place and reporters under strict instruction to only focus on the football.
But Sara Didar, a 21-year-old striker, spoke of the strain the players and staff are under in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“Obviously we’re all concerned and we’re sad at what has happened to Iran and our families in Iran,” she said, holding back tears.
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“I really hope for our country to have good news ahead. And I hope that my country will be strongly alive.”
Protestors gathered outside the Gold Coast Stadium before Thursday’s match, while fans have flown the Lion and Sun flag in the stands. This was the flag used by Iranians before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Other banners supporting human rights and backing Iran’s players have also been seen in the stands, while some in attendance at the protest were opposed to Australia’s support of the US-Israeli attack.

Athlete persecution commonplace for Iranians

Sport is one of the few areas where Iranians who still reside in the country have the opportunity to present themselves to an international audience. But any show of dissent comes with real dangers.
The list of recent cases is long. Perhaps most famous is that of the so-called Blue Girl Sahar Khodayari, who set herself on fire in protest at the ban on women watching football in 2019. She later died of her injuries while awaiting sentencing. Navid Afkari, one of Iran’s highest-ranked wrestlers was executed in 2020 after being convicted of murdering a security guard during anti-establishment protests two years earlier. Kimia Alizadeh, Iran’s only female Olympic medalist, is one of countless athletes who fled the country due to oppression.
“The Iranian authorities use sport to enforce moral codes and suppress dissent, even for female spectators [women have only been permitted to watch certain football matches very recently],” said Ordway.
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“Women athletes face additional layers of surveillance and punishment because their bodies are politicized, controlled, and heavily policed.”

Unpacking Iran’s ‘existential crisis’ in war with US, Israel

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Sporting protests carry real risk

After 4-0 and 3-0 defeats to Australia and South Korea so far, Iran’s next match against the Philippines on March 8 is unlikely to offer them a path to the knockout stages. But their presence, silence and salutes have all been significant.
The world will soon find out whether any other Iranian athletes will show discontent. The sole Iranian Paralympic athlete, Aboulfazl Khatibii Mianaei, is on the starting list for the men’s Para cross country skiing, which starts next week while, as things stand, Iran’s men will play at least three matches in the US in World Cup 2026 later this year.
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“I would expect to see further subtle, deniable gestures from Iranian athletes on field and in press conferences, but overt protest is unlikely due to heightened surveillance and risk,” concluded Ordway.
“However, diaspora Iranians and international athletes may show more visible solidarity.”
Edited by: Chuck Penfold

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F1 season prix-view: Is 2026 the year for Ferrari?

Published

2 hours ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

It’s the dawn of a new era in Formula One, with sweeping rules changes for the 2026 season that could set a hard reset for the field.

• The cars are slightly slimmer.
• Active aerodynamics will allow drivers to toggle between corner mode and straight mode, essentially replacing the drag reduction system (DRS) that could only be activated under certain conditions, with something available at more points along the track, and for all drivers on every lap.
• Battery management — when to harvest, and when to deploy overtake or boost mode for extra power — will also be crucial.

On top of these changes, Cadillac has joined as an 11th constructor while Sauber has completed its transformation into Audi’s factory team. Red Bull and sibling team Racing Bulls are now using their own in-house power units through a partnership with Ford, as Honda has now linked up with Aston Martin. Alpine has also joined the likes of McLaren and Williams as Mercedes customers.

There wasn’t a free-agent frenzy during the off-season, although there are a few notable moves. Familiar faces Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez have rejoined the grid with Cadillac. Isack Hajdar earned a promotion from Racing Bulls to Red Bull, with Yuki Tsunoda sticking around as a reserve driver. Filling Hajdar’s old seat at Racing Bulls is Arvid Lindblad, who is the lone rookie to start the season.

Will all of this lead to a change of the guard or a shuffling of the deck? Pre-season testing saw the usual suspects at the top of the speed charts, but we will not know the pecking order for sure until the lights go out for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix (late Saturday or early Sunday, depending on your time zone).

Here are some storylines to follow as the season gets underway in Melbourne.

Does Mercedes have the new car to beat?

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were among the fastest in pre-season testing and logged the most miles. Although they struggled with their practice starts compared to Ferrari, they can overcome that with performance and reliability.

While McLaren has two No. 1s potentially stealing points from each other, Russell is the clear top driver at Mercedes, for now at least. Antonelli is moving into his sophomore season, so don’t be surprised if he begins to make a bigger push. The 19-year-old had consistency issues during his rookie year, but he scored his maiden podium at the Canadian GP and added another third-place finish in Las Vegas.

It wouldn’t be the first time Mercedes has been the big winner from rule changes. They absolutely nailed the configurations for 2014, leading to eight straight constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ titles. There was also 2009 when Mercedes-powered Brawn GP swept both titles, with Jenson Button winning six of the first seven races and holding on through the second half of the year.

Can McLaren repeat as champions?

McLaren is looking to keep the good times rolling. Lando Norris became the first McLaren driver to win the drivers’ title since 2008, and the team repeated as constructors’ champion for the first time since 1991.

McLaren’s reign could be short with the new regulations hitting the refresh button. Until we actually see how each team performs in a race setting, McLaren is still the king until proven otherwise. If Mercedes is earning rave reviews for its power unit, its No. 1 customer will certainly reap the benefits.

Although Norris was crowned champion, teammate Oscar Piastri led the points for a chunk of the season before slipping to third by the end of the year. McLaren was unwilling to choose a favourite, opting to let the drivers settle things on the track — “papaya rules” — even if it would have cost them the drivers’ championship.

Norris and Piastri are back on even ground, with a new season and a clean slate in the standings. Expect “papaya rules” to remain in place unless one of them gives McLaren boss Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella a reason to change their minds.

Will Red Bull return to the top?

Max Verstappen came oh so close to clinching a fifth consecutive drivers’ championship last season, winning the final three races and closing within two points of snatching the title from Norris.

Verstappen has been outspoken about his dislike of the new car, likening it to “Formula E on steroids.” It’s not like Verstappen hasn’t overcome challenges before. He called his car a monster in previous years and tamed that beast. He’ll be fine. It’s his new teammate Hadjar who you might have to be worried about.

The second Red Bull car is more cursed than starting in net for the Edmonton Oilers, with Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Tsunoda all falling out of favour. Hadjar now steps up after a promising rookie season with sibling team Racing Bulls, finishing 12th in the standings and scoring a podium finish at the Dutch GP.

Red Bull finished third in the constructors’ championship last season, with Verstappen accounting for 93.3 per cent of the team’s points. Sure, he accumulated more points than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton combined, but to overcome McLaren and Mercedes, he can’t do it alone and needs Hadjar’s help.

Is this the year for Ferrari?

The hope that next season will be the season for Ferrari is always strong, even though the team hasn’t won the constructors’ title since 2008 or the drivers’ title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

The start of a new era also brings extra optimism, but think back to 2022 when Ferrari looked like the team to beat out of the gate with Leclerc winning two of the first three races. That was before Red Bull found its wings and absolutely dominated, leaving Ferrari in the dust as they failed to keep pace.

Leclerc topped the charts to finish pre-season testing in Bahrain, and Ferrari’s practice starts were drawing attention, so maybe there is ground for hope this time. Just forgive us if we’re a little sceptical.

Questions also continue to surround Hamilton after the winningest driver in F1 history went winless during his first season with Ferrari. Hamilton didn’t even place on the podium once. Sure, Hamilton was victorious during the sprint in China, but the team’s double disqualification after the actual race overshadowed that result. Hamilton finished sixth in the standings, 86 points behind his teammate Leclerc and only six points ahead of Antonelli, his successor at Mercedes.

The irony of F1 is that your teammate is also your greatest rival. They’re the ones in equal machinery and your closest comparable. Hamilton outscored Leclerc only three times (out of 24 GPs) last season. That wouldn’t be so bad if they were first and second in the standings, but they were fifth and sixth.

It’s the year of the horse in the Chinese zodiac, but will 2026 be the year of the prancing horse?

What’s going on with Aston Martin?

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll has made his intentions clear since acquiring Aston Martin to turn the team into a powerhouse. Stroll has spared no expense, bringing in the legendary Adrian Newey, who was responsible for designing championship-winning cars at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, funding a new wind tunnel and switching from being a Mercedes customer to essentially a Honda factory team as the lone outfit on the grid with their power units.

The first sign of trouble came in pre-season testing when driver Lance Stroll told formula1.com that their car was “four seconds off the top teams, four-and-a-half seconds” and teammate Fernando Alonso added they were “a little bit on the back foot.”

As bad as that was, it’s actually way worse. Newey told reporters ahead of the Australian GP that Alonso said he will not be able to do more than 25 laps without risking nerve damage, with Stroll putting that number at 15. That’s not good for business, or for anyone, when not only do your drivers think they will not be able to finish the race, but your car could cause permanent injury.

“That vibration (from Honda’s power unit) into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems,” Newey said. “Mirrors falling off the car, tail lights falling off, that sort of thing, which we are having to address. But the much more significant problem with that is that that vibration is transmitted ultimately into the driver’s fingers.”

We should have seen this coming. The last time Alonso drove a Honda-powered car was with McLaren in the mid-2010s. The “McHonda” was a complete failure, one that the two-time world champ dubbed in an infamous on-track outburst as a “GP2 engine,” comparing it to the feeder series. Alonso’s teammates during those years were Stoffel Vandoorne (Aston Martin’s current reserve driver) and Jenson Button (who was recently hired as a team ambassador). The F1 stars are aligned.

The 44-year-old Alonso deserves better as he enters his 23rd season in F1. To put that in perspective, roughly one-third of the grid — Piastri, Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Hadjar, Lawson and Lindblad — weren’t born yet when Alonso made his F1 debut. More mind-blowing: Lindblad wasn’t even alive when Alonso won his last world title.

What are the expectations for Cadillac?

Here comes a new challenger: Cadillac enters the field as the first new F1 team since Haas in 2016. Expectations should be cautiously optimistic.

Cadillac is completely fresh, so think of them like an expansion franchise. It’s going to take time and growing pains before they get up to speed (pardon the pun). What does help is they’ll be using Ferrari power units for the near future rather than their own out-of-the-box contraption – although that also depends on the reliability of Ferrari’s power units. The team plans to deploy its own power unit by 2029.

Cadillac will start with veteran drivers Bottas and Perez — both proven winners with their past teams. Neither raced in F1 last year and may have something to prove. Keep in mind, Perez struggled during his final year at Red Bull, while Bottas failed to score a single point with Sauber in 2024.

The first goal should be not finishing last (which might not be difficult given Aston Martin’s current status), and then take it from there.

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Sports

No. 18 St. John’s seeks share of Big East title at Seton Hall

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2 hours ago

5 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Jan 20, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm forward Dillon Mitchell (1) celebrates in the direction of Seton Hall Pirates guard A.J. Staton-McCray (14) in the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

No. 18 St. John’s is on the verge of clinching at least a share of the Big East Conference regular-season title.

Seton Hall’s improvement is so drastic from last season that it earned a bye in next week’s Big East tournament and is seeking a signature win to enhance its bubble status for the NCAA tournament.

All that is on the agenda Friday night when the regional rivals meet in the regular-season finale in Newark, N.J.

St. John’s (24-6, 17-2 Big East) will end the regular season before No. 4 UConn (27-3, 17-2) faces Marquette on Saturday. If the Red Storm and Huskies finish tied, the Big East said the NET ranking will determine the top seed. As of Wednesday, UConn was No. 8 and St. John’s was No. 22.

“It would mean everything,” center Zuby Ejiofor said after scoring 23 points to help the Red Storm overcome a 12-point deficit in the second half in Tuesday’s 72-69 win over Georgetown.

“We’ve put our heart and soul into every day, every practice, every game,” Ejiofor said. “More than anything, I want the guys to experience that moment of winning a championship because they deserve it. That’s what they came here for. They came here for a reason. They came here to win big.”

St. John’s can clinch a share of the regular-season title for the sixth time in school history and the first time in consecutive seasons since 1984-85 and 1985-86.

The Red Storm have followed up their humbling 32-point loss at UConn on Feb. 25 with a lopsided win against Villanova and the comeback against Georgetown.

In the final 14:08, St. John’s outscored the Hoyas 36-21 as Joson Sanon scored all 15 of his points in that span. Dylan Darling added 12 points, including the tiebreaking layup after a steal with 6:43 left.

“We had to really dig deep … and that’s what it’s all about with a good basketball team, digging down,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “We did a lot of good things with 10 minutes to go in the game to come away with a victory.”

Picked last in the conference’s preseason poll, Seton Hall (20-10, 10-9) will finish fourth after going 2-18 in the Big East last season.

The Pirates are 0-3 this season against St. John’s and UConn with the losses by a combined 14 points, including a 65-60 loss at St. John’s when Seton Hall lost a 15-point lead in the second half on Jan. 20.

The Pirates are 4-2 in their past six games. Seton Hall rebounded from last weekend’s four-point loss at UConn with a 77-68 win at Xavier. Adam Clark scored 16, although he injured his quad, according to coach Shaheen Holloway.

“Obviously, it’s a good accomplishment, but there’s a lot of work still to be done,” Holloway said on his postgame radio interview. “We’re fighting for something. Like I told these guys: Nothing else matters right now except Friday night, making sure our seniors go out on a good note.”

–Field Level Media

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