Golden knight

IAAF President Sebastian Coe this evening announced the creation of the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque. Coe also opened a public competition to design the plaque and launched a dedicated plaque website section for the new award. Coe made the announcements while hosting 150 guests at an IAAF Heritage Legends Reception in the Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel, Monaco. The audience included representatives and family members of several deceased athletics legends including Paavo Nurmi, Jesse Owens, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Emil Zatopek. On stage, each family presented Coe with historic artefacts from their relatives’ famous careers by donation to the IAAF Heritage Collection. Coe commented: “The IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location-based recognition which highlights, celebrates and links together iconic and historic athletics competitions, careers, performances, cities, venues, landmarks and culture around the world.” A uniquely designed plaque will be permanently a...

The IAAF today announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO following approval by the IAAF Council on the first day of its 215th Council Meeting in Monaco. Ridgeon, 51, has spent his life in sport, starting out as an athlete competing in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles between 1984 and 1996. He is former British record holder and silver medallist in the 110m hurdles in the 1987 World Championships in Rome. He also represented Great Britain in two Olympic Games - Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta in 1996. Ridgeon has since set up and run successful businesses in sport, both in the commercial and event delivery fields across numerous sports. Ridgeon was also responsible for transforming British Athletics in 1998 to the most commercially successful athletics governing body in the world, which included brokering multi-million-pound sponsorship and broadcast deals. He was also one of the architects of the IAAF Diamond League Series. Commenting on the appointment, IAAF Pres...

Today in Monaco, the IAAF Council has made key decisions on the venue of the 2023 World Athletics Championships, the status of the Russian Federation and presented a new marketing opportunity for Member Federations BUDAPEST TO HOST 2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS The Hungarian capital Budapest has been awarded the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2023. Budapest is an experienced organiser of major athletics events, having hosted the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 1989 and 2004, one of just two cities to have staged the event twice. The city has also hosted the European Athletics Championships on two occasions, in 1966 and 1998. More recently, Budapest hosted the FINA World Swimming Championships and the World Judo Championships in 2017 and has been awarded the title of European Capital of Sport for 2019. "In the past 30 years Hungary has organised every single world and European Championships, indoor and out - on the road, cross country – available to us except for the W...

We're back in Premier League action against Manchester United on Wednesday evening and ahead of the game, we have an update from our medical team. Granit Xhaka Due to receiving his fifth domestic booking he receives a one-match suspension for Manchester United (a) on Wednesday, December 5. Mesut Ozil Back. Being assessed ahead of Manchester United (a) on Wednesday, December 5. Laurent Koscielny Right Achilles. Continues to complete his rehabilitation. Being assessed ahead of Manchester United (a) on Wednesday, December 5. Nacho Monreal Right hamstring. Being assessed ahead of Manchester United (a) on Wednesday, December 5.   Dinos Mavropanos Groin injury. Expected to return to full training in December. Danny Welbeck Right ankle. Recovering after surgery.

A north London derby win can do wonders for your reputation and it’s safe to say that Unai Emery’s stock has never been higher with Arsenal fans. His next mission? To orchestrate our first Premier League win at Old Trafford in more than 12 years. Unai had a brief window to bask in the afterglow of Sunday’s triumph - and he says he “enjoyed the moment” with friends visiting from Spain - but by Monday morning he was striding towards the training pitches in the rain, ready to get back to work. We’ve had some magical times at Old Trafford but zero joy there in the Premier League since 2006 when matchwinner Emmanuel Adebayor was still loved in the red half of north London. Now it’s Unai getting the adoration, and after a “good afternoon” against Spurs, he’s planning a “good evening” against United. If he can pull this one off, that reputation will soar even higher. You’re in the right place for a comprehensive pre-match briefing. Scroll down for the latest team news, classic go...

In a week in which another of his players has signed a new contract, Maurizio Sarri has discussed the situation regarding a possible fresh deal for Eden Hazard. Yesterday Cesar Azpilicueta put pen to paper on a four-year contract, and the Spaniard followed his team-mates Marcos Alonso and N’Golo Kante in extending their Stamford Bridge stay since Sarri’s arrival in the summer. Having commented on the possibility of Cesc Fabregas and David Luiz committing to the club beyond the end of this season, Sarri also considered the chances of Eden Hazard extending. ‘It’s up to him,’ Sarri said. ‘The club is available to sign a new contract immediately, but it’s up to him whether he wants to renew or not. ‘I want Eden here, of course, but I want Eden here if he wants to stay here. I know very well there is a discussion between the club and the manager of Eden, every week I think, so if there is something new the club will call me immediately. ‘I cannot speak with them [the players] a...

Eliud Kipchoge and Catherine Ibarguen have been named the male and female World Athletes of the Year at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018, held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Tuesday (4). Kipchoge underlined his status as the world’s most dominant distance runner. The 34-year-old Kenyan won the London Marathon in April in 2:04:17 to finish comfortably ahead of one of the deepest marathon fields in history. Five months later, he won the Berlin Marathon in 2:01:39 to smash the world record. His time in the German capital was 78 seconds faster than the previous world record, representing the biggest single improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967. Not content with being the best triple jumper in the world, Ibarguen also tested herself against the world’s best in the long jump this year – and consistently came out on top in that too. The34-year-old Colombian won both horizontal jumps at the Central American and Caribbean Games, the IAAF Continental Cup and at the ...

Liverpool can set a new club record for most points obtained after the opening 15 matches of a league season should they prevail against Burnley at Turf Moor tonight. Victory for the Reds will take them to 39 points, which is one more than they had at the same stage of 1904-05, 1978-79 and 1990-91 campaigns. Read on for more pertinent pre-match stats and facts ahead of the clash with the Clarets In the eight Premier League clashes between the teams, Liverpool has won six with a draw and a loss, scoring 16 times and conceding five. The Reds have lost only two of their last 11 league visits to Turf Moor. Prior to a 2-0 loss in 2016, they went down 2-1 on Boxing Day 1973 when a Peter Cormack goal wasn't enough to cancel out strikes from Ray Hankin and Paul Fletcher. Overall, Liverpool has lost three of the last 22 league clashes home and away against Burnley, scoring in eight of the last nine top-flight matches played. The Reds have not lost any of their 22 away matches in...

Manchester City’s unbeaten Premier League start continues after a 2-1 win at Watford on Tuesday. Club journalist Rob Pollard has taken a look back at a night of landmarks and milestones. WING TWINS There can be little count who City’s standout performers were against Watford. Leroy Sane on the left and Riyad Mahrez on the left gave the home side a torrid time all evening and both deservedly found themselves on the scoresheet. Sane’s pace is electric, and he now has five goals and four assists in his last six appearances after chesting home from Mahrez’s brilliant in-swinging cross. But it was the Algerian’s ability to beat defenders and deliver dangerous balls into the box that really stole the show. He capped his superb display with an emphatic left-foot finish in the second half. They were brilliant throughout IN  FORM City’s form is becoming almost unbelievable. The win at Watford maintained our unbeaten start to the Premier League season. It’s now 13 wins and tw...

The World Boxing Association (WBA) announced the rankings and recognition for the month of November. Oleksandr Usyk received the distinction of Boxer of the Month, while Dmitry Bivol received the Honorable Mention. Both fighters defended their belts successfully with outstanding performances in the process. The Ukrainian Usyk retained his WBA crown with a spectacular exhibition against Briton Tony Bellew on November 11th. The lefty who dominates the cruiserweights gave one of the most important knockouts of the year in the eighth round of the bout that took place in Manchester, England. Usyk remains unbeaten in 16 bouts with 12 knockouts and holds four crowns of the division. For his part, Bivol showed his class with a dominant win over the veteran Jean Pascal on November 24th by unanimous decision. The Russian got a wide unanimous decision to retain his WBA light heavyweight crown. The champion remains undefeated in 15 fights, of which he has won 11 by knockout. The rankings o...

Two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Boxing Council female middleweight champion Claressa Shields (7-0, 2 KOs) will face Femke Hermans (9-1, 3 KOs) from Londerzeel, Belgium, on  Saturday, December 8 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. The undercard will be televised live as the opening bout of the now triple headline on HBO Boxing After Dark Beginning at 10:20 p.m. ET / PT. The card, presented by Tom Loeffler’s 360 Boxing Promotions, is led by the # 1 pound-for-pound fighter and the undisputed welterweight world champion “First Lady”, Cecilia Braekhus (34-0, 9 KOs), defending her titles against the two-time world title challenger, Aleksandra Magdziak-Lopes, (18-4-3, 1 KO), from Gliwice, Poland. Tickets are still available with prices in dollars of $ 25, $ 50, $ 100 and $ 150. They can be purchased through AXS.

The World Boxing Council, its 167 affiliated countries and its President, Mr Mauricio Sulaiman, congratulate the President of the United Mexican States, Mr Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was inaugurated on December 1.  We wish him great success in all projects to benefit Mexicans. We also inform that we are united to the commitment to continue promoting the sport in all existing disciplines, particularly boxing, both amateur and professional. We also want to wish your collaborators success in their respective tasks.

Cesar Azpilicueta has today signed a new four-year contract at Chelsea, keeping him at Stamford Bridge until 2022. The defender has been captain for our Premier League games this season and is now just two appearances away from reaching 300 games in Chelsea blue. He will become only the seventh overseas player in our history to reach that considerable landmark. Upon signing the new deal, Azpilicueta said: ‘I am really happy to extend my stay here at Chelsea. Since I came, I felt the joy and responsibility to play for this club, these fans, and every time I go on the pitch I try to do my best. Hopefully, there is a lot to come and we can keep Chelsea where it belongs.’ Club director Marina Granovskaia added: ‘Cesar is one of our longest-serving players and has proven to be a fantastic acquisition over the past six years. His professionalism and consistency in that time have been second to none and he has also developed into one of the squad’s most influential players. ‘This new c...

"It's a unique feeling, it's has been a really great year for me", declared the Real Madrid midfielder. Luka Modric has tonight been crowned as the best player in the world, with the Real Madrid midfielder claiming the 2018 Ballon d'Or in Paris. France Football, who award the prestigious accolade, recognised the Croatian's outstanding year at an event attended by a large number of Real Madrid representatives, headed up by president Florentino Pérez. Modric saw off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé in votes cast by journalists from across the world. Since the last Ballon d'Or was an award, Modric has led Real Madrid to Club World Cup and Champions League glory. He produced two stellar performances in Abu Dhabi en route to clinching the tournament's Golden Ball award. In Europe's elite club competition he was instrumental in securing the club's thirteenth European Cup crown and was named as the competiti...

Mohamed Salah has been named the Football Supporters’ Federation’s (FSF) Men’s Player of the Year for 2018. The Liverpool forward was announced as the winner of a fans’ poll that attracted more than 366,000 votes during a ceremony in London on Monday. Salah topped a six-man shortlist that also included his teammate Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City duo Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling, Eden Hazard of Chelsea and Leicester City’s Harry Maguire. “Thank you for this award, it means so much to me because it was voted for by supporters,” said the Reds' No.11. “Usually I share any awards with my teammates and all the staff at Liverpool, but on this occasion, I would like also to dedicate it to the Liverpool fans for their incredible support. Thank you.” The Egyptian’s phenomenal form since joining the Reds in the summer of 2017 has led to him receiving a lengthy list of individual accolades, including the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Football Writers’ Footballer of...

Jose Mourinho will make at least one change to the starting XI on Wednesday night when Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford in the Premier League. That’s because Ashley Young is suspended for the 20:00 GMT kick-off, after the England international received his fifth yellow card of the campaign in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Southampton, meaning he will now serve a one-match suspension. Portuguese prospect Diogo Dalot could take Young’s place at right-back against Arsenal, after making his Premier League debut as a substitute at St. Mary’s following a period of injury.  Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the defence, it remains to be seen if Luke Shaw will be available after the left-back was replaced against his former club due to a suspected knock. In the centre, Victor Lindelof is unavailable with the injury that our latest Player of the Month suffered in the match against Crystal Palace on Saturday 24 November. Mourinho hopes the Swede can return at the end of this...

Michael Carrick visited the Street Reds projects organised by the Manchester United Foundation this week to give boots away to lucky youngsters. The current assistant coach and former club captain, who retired from playing earlier this year, set up his Boot Room initiative after forging a partnership with the Foundation and relaunching the Old Trafford Street Reds scheme in his name. ’Carrick’s Street Reds’ is being funded for the next three years by the Michael Carrick Foundation, through money raised from the ex-midfielder's testimonial match in June 2017 when a friendly between the Reds’ 2008 Champions League-winning side and an All-Star XI attracted a crowd of around 69,000 to the Theatre of Dreams. Through this partnership, children who attend Street Reds were the first to benefit from Carrick’s Boot Room, which has seen over 1,000 pairs of football boots donated across Greater Manchester to be given away to deserving young people.

Our international players have today (Sunday) discovered which countries they'll have to face as they bid to qualify for Euro 2020. England – for whom captain Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks have all featured to date – were first out of the hat in the draw, held in Dublin, and were pitted against Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo in Group A. Michel Vorm and Vincent Janssen's Netherlands have a tough task in Group C as they take on Germany, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Belarus, while Christian Eriksen and Denmark battle Switzerland, Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Gibraltar in Group D. Elsewhere, Ben Davies' Wales are in Group E along with Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan, while Hugo Lloris and Moussa Sissoko’s France go into battle against Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldova and Andorra in Group H. Our Belgian trio of Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen could face young winger Ant...

MILAN - Inter drew 2-2 with Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday, and in collaboration with Opta, here all the match stats. Inter played tonight their 2900th match in the Italian top-flight. AS Roma and Inter have drawn two successive Serie A meetings for the first time since 2009. Mauro Icardi has scored six goals in his last four Serie A appearances at the Olimpico (vs AS Roma and Lazio), after having failed to find the net in the previous seven. Inter have conceded six goals in their last two Serie A away games, as many as they had conceded in their previous 12. Icardi has been directly involved in six goals (five goals, one assist) during his last six league appearances against AS Roma. Six of the last seven Serie A goals scored by Mauro Icardi in the Italian top-flight have come away from home. Inter have now scored seven headed goals, which is more than anyone else in Serie A this season. Keita has scored 11 goals in his last 10 Serie A games played as a starter. Keita...

Liverpool's determination to maintain their place in the Premier League forced the dramatic winning goal against Everton on Sunday, according to Andy Robertson. Divock Origi was the hero for the Reds in the final seconds of a gripping Merseyside derby at Anfield, with the substitute converting from close range after Jordan Pickford pushed Virgil van Dijk’s looping effort back out. It was a moment few inside the stadium will ever forget, an incident of significant value – both in respect of the game itself and Liverpool’s ambitions this season. For Robertson, the conclusion provided more clear evidence of the spirit and resolve at the centre of the team’s 14-match unbeaten run in the Premier League. “What a finish. He just reacted so quickly. I’m not sure he knew what to do once the ball went in but it was a perfectly good goal and we got the three points,” the left-back told Liverpoolfc.com. “We knew we were coming up against a different Everton side. I know the manager w...

Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek both fired in their fifth goals of the season to separate the sides in this high-noon London SW6 derby. The opening strike came early in the game, after which Chelsea initially had all the chances. Olivier Giroud was denied on more than one occasion by the Fulham goalkeeper. The visitors’ attacking improved after half-time and we needed some sharp saves from Kepa Arrizabalaga to stay ahead. Our neighbours were doing well to stifle our creativity at that stage, and our set-piece taking was not good, but then the opportunities came late on in the game, with Eden Hazard much involved. The best chances fell to two substitutes and although Alvaro Morata could not take him, Loftus-Cheek found the back of the net to make it two wins in four days, the reaction Maurizio Sarri called for in the wake of the first Premier League defeat of the season the previous weekend. For his team selection today, Sarri made two changes from the side defeated at Tottenham. Gir...

Fabinho’s work at Melwood and his previously-productive partnership with Georginio Wijnaldum convinced Jürgen Klopp to start the Brazilian against Everton. The No.3 comes into the Reds’ XI for Sunday’s Merseyside derby as one of three changes from the midweek defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. And speaking pre-match, Klopp - whose midfield options were restricted by the suspension being served by captain Jordan Henderson - explained why he’d opted to select Fabinho. “It worked pretty well so far. When the two boys [Fabinho and Wijnaldum] played together they did really well to be honest, so that’s the only reason for that,” said the boss. “Fabinho is obviously rested and trained really good, Gini is in very good shape. That doesn’t say anything about the other players, to be honest - that’s my life, I have to make these decisions and in the best case, the other players don’t deserve sitting on the bench. “In our case, that’s how it is in the moment, but we still have to adapt to...

One Merseyside derby was enough for Mohamed Salah to understand its meaning. The Liverpool forward had his first taste of clashes with Everton just under a year ago, scoring a sensational goal that would later win the FIFA Puskas Award during a 1-1 draw at Anfield. Salah will run out against the Blues for a second time this evening, in the fixture’s 232nd edition, knowing exactly how crucial the outcome is across the city. Liverpool, the division’s only other unbeaten team this season, will look to respond against the Blues – and Salah believes such demands are bringing the best out of the Reds. “Man City put pressure on us and we put pressure on them so I think there is something healthy for all of us,” he added. “Each game, you must win because Man City will go to win and for them, it is the same because Liverpool will go to win. So that is something good for us, both teams.”

Our playmaker played a starring role when Tottenham visited Emirates Stadium last season, as we secured 2-0 victory over our rivals. Now, just over 12 months on he's looking for more of the same - but Ozil can still remember who first stressed the importance of this fixture following his arrival at the club in 2013. "It was the German guys, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski, who really told me about it in my first year," Ozil told the official matchday programme. "Before I signed, I didn’t realise how big the derby was. But I remember the first time I played against them, you could sense the feeling in the days before the game. "You’re not nervous about it, but you’re really excited, especially when the game is at the Emirates. Lukas and Per helped me a lot. "Derbies are always special. You’ll have loads of friends and family wanting to come and watch it. As a player, you’re excited. "It’s our job on the pitch to give everything to be succe...

Antonio Rudiger is looking forward to the chance to bounce back in the Premier League with a win over Fulham and feels the team just needs to keep doing the things that gave us such an impressive start to the season. In our last league game at Tottenham we suffered our first defeat of the season, but we returned to winning ways in emphatic style by beating PAOK 4-0 in the Europa League at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening, and now have the chance to do the same on the domestic scene when west London neighbours Fulham make the short trip to SW6. However, while Rudiger is keen to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes as we did against Spurs, the German international is quick to point out there is no need to make wholesale changes to how we are playing after such a good opening to 2018/19. ‘Just because of one game we don’t need to break our heads,’ said the defender. ‘We need to take positives because until that game we were still unbeaten and if anyone had said that this w...

The Whites begin December by playing host to opponents who are unbeaten in their last five LaLiga away games.  After sealing their passage into the last 16 of the Champions League as group winners in Rome on Tuesday night, Real Madrid returns to the Santiago Bernabéu nearly a month on from their last home outing, which was the LaLiga meeting with Valladolid back on 3 November. The Whites are back in action on home soil tonight with a blockbuster bout against Valencia (8:45pm CET).  This fixture sees the European champions open the final month of the calendar year, in which they will participate in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. What's more, this game is also the first of four matches that Real Madrid will contest across three different competitions at the Bernabéu in the space of just 15 days. "Valencia are  very well organised tactically   and we'll have to rely on our talent and be clinical", declared Santiago  Solari  in his pre-match press confer...

It may be viewed as one of football’s oldest clichés, but James Milner does believe the previous form counts for little in a derby clash. Liverpool meets Everton at Anfield on Sunday, with the former looking to maintain an unbeaten Premier League streak so far in 2018-19 and the latter hoping to build on an impressive run of their own under new boss Marco Silva and secure the first win across the park since 1999. It all makes for an intriguing encounter between the sides, but Milner feels results and performances so far this term will have no bearing on the outcome. “Whether the teams are fighting against relegation or fighting for the title, whether it’s a cup or league game, no matter what stage of the season a derby game is a one-off and has more of a feeling of a cup tie. “It’s for the bragging rights, so the form doesn’t come into it and looking at what teams have done before the game doesn’t really count. But we have performed well in the league this season and...