Lionel Messi
Why playing Premier League matches in the US is the last thing football needs
Even for football, it was a pretty brutal display of how these things actually work. Just on Friday, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the fixture calendar is at a “tipping point”: “There is too much football being played and there is constant expansion,” he said. Not even a week could go by without … Read more
Buying women’s tennis was Saudi Arabia’s obvious next step, but it brings new questions
Saudi Arabia will host the WTA Finals next season, which will feature the world’s eight best players (Getty) First there was boxing and Formula 1, the hardest punches and the fastest glamour. Then came the move for football, subtle enough to begin with, until Cristiano Ronaldo was sucked into the bottomless pits of money and … Read more
How Oliver Bearman went from Chelmsford to Formula 1 in record time
A star was born in Saudi Arabia: Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images Ollie Bearman is not your average 18-year-old. While his contemporaries at secondary school in Essex were studying for their A-levels, he was behind the wheel of a racing car, as a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. While … Read more
Pep Guardiola ‘honored’ by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s praise – now he wants to build Barcelona 2.0
Pep Guardiola would love to build a Manchester City Champions League-winning side dominated by academy graduates like Phil Foden – Adam Davy/PA Wire Pep Guardiola briefly basked in the praise of Manchester United’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe as he prepared for Sunday’s Etihad derby, although the City manager’s focus was on the future and … Read more