Sports

Former tennis world number one Rafa Nadal will return at the Brisbane International warm up event for the Australian Open in January.

Tiger Woods said he felt "mentally rusty" on his return to competitive golf on Thursday after the 15-time major winner carded a three-over-par 75 in the first round of the PGA Tour's Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Liverpool eased into the Europa League round of 16 with a 4-0 home win over Austria's LASK in Group E and Olympique de Marseille secured a top-two finish in Group B after a thrilling 4-3 win over Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday.

In a thrilling prelude to the Emirates Dubai 7s, captains of the world's top rugby 7s teams took the game to new heights to mark the start of the newly revamped HSBC SVNS Series in Dubai this week.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his side after they romped into the knockout stages of the Champions League by sweeping RC Lens aside 6-0 on a freezing night in north London on Wednesday.

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana made two bad errors as hosts Galatasaray twice fought back from two goals down to earn a thrilling 3-3 draw on Wednesday and leave the English side's hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 in serious doubt.

Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix scored in each half to earn Barcelona a 2-1 comeback win at home against Porto on Tuesday that booked their spot in the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time in three seasons.

Manchester City's Julian Alvarez scored in the 87th minute as the European champions clawed their way back from two goals down to beat RB Leipzig 3-2 and clinch top spot in Champions League Group G on Tuesday with one round of matches remaining.

Glenn Maxwell's blistering century trumped India opener Ruturaj Gaikwad's unbeaten 123 as Australia clinched a last-ball victory in a thrilling third T20 International to stay alive in the five-match series on Tuesday.

Al-Nassr said their forward Cristiano Ronaldo "showed a great deal of sportsmanship" after he urged the referee in Monday's Asian Champions League game against Persepolis to reverse a penalty decision given in his favour.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka and number four Elena Rybakina will open their 2024 seasons at the Brisbane International warm-up for the Australian Open, organisers said on Tuesday.

Alejandro Garnacho's spectacular strike for Manchester United on Sunday could well be the goal of the season, his manager Erik ten Hag said, but he said it was too soon to be comparing his young player with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Inspired Italian Jannik Sinner completed a perfect week by sealing his country's first Davis Cup title for nearly 50 years on Sunday, thrashing Australia's Alex De Minaur to complete a 2-0 victory for the Azzurri.

Terry Venables, the former manager of England's national football team and Tottenham Hotspur, has died aged 80 after an illness, his family said on Sunday.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold wants his side to grab all three points when they take on their opponents, but given Manchester City's form at home, he said Saturday's 1-1 draw is a step in the right direction.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the final pole position of the Formula One season on Saturday with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc joining the triple world champion on the front row at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit.

George Russell went fastest for Mercedes in final practice for Formula One's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday while triple champion Max Verstappen complained about the handling of his Red Bull.

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane tapped in from close range midway through the first half for a 1-0 victory at Cologne on Friday, stretching his sensational record scoring run in the Bundesliga while lifting his team provisionally to the top of the table.

Paris St Germain put on a scintillating performance to earn a 5-2 win over AS Monaco with five different scorers on Friday as the hosts strengthened their grip on Ligue 1's top spot.

Josh Inglis smashed Australia's joint-fastest century in Twenty20 Internationals before Suryakumar Yadav powered India to a two-wicket victory in a thrilling series opener on Thursday.

Novak Djokovic steered Serbia into the Davis Cup semi-finals with a straightforward 6-4 6-4 win over Britain's Cameron Norrie to give his team a winning 2-0 lead on Thursday.

Marlon Samuels has been banned from all cricket for six years after the former West Indies batter was found guilty of four breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board Anti-Corruption Code, the sport's governing body (ICC) said on Thursday.

LIV Golf unveiled the majority of its 14-event 2024 season schedule on Wednesday with at least half the tournaments being played outside the United States as the league continues its push to be a global series.

Premier League clubs will be able to take players on loan from associated clubs in the January transfer window after the top-flight clubs took part in a vote in central London on Tuesday. 

The start of the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina was delayed by half an hour on Tuesday after police clashed with fans at Maracana Stadium.

England suffered a frustrating conclusion to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign as they were held to a scrappy 1-1 draw by North Macedonia in Group C on Monday.

Novak Djokovic wrapped up his 2023 season by adding the ATP Finals trophy to the three major titles he won this year and the Serb immediately set the bar even higher for next season by targeting a 'Golden Slam'.

McLaren's Lando Norris assured fans he would be fine for Formula One's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after crashing and being taken to hospital in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Australia won a record-extending sixth 50-overs World Cup title after opener Travis Head smashed a magnificent century to fashion their six-wicket victory in Sunday's final against the tournament's form team India.

Nicolai Højgaard carded a 64 in a dramatic final-round to win the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday by two-strokes and take home the winner's cheque of $3 million and finish second in the Race to Dubai.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen sang "Viva Las Vegas" as he celebrated a record-extending 18th victory of the Formula One season on Saturday and joined Sebastian Vettel in third place on the all-time winners' list.

France recorded the biggest victory in European Championship qualifying with a 14-0 rout of 10-man Gibraltar on Saturday as Kylian Mbappe grabbed a hat-trick and Warren Zaire-Emery scored on his debut.

Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe said he would not let speculation over his future at the Ligue 1 club pollute his performances on the pitch.

Nicolai Højgaard will take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the DP World Tour Championship after a stunning finish to his second round at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Tahitian football club AS Pirae and French side US Thionville Lusitanos took going the extra mile to the next level when they undertook round-trips of around 33,000 km for their Coupe de France seventh round matches.

World number one Novak Djokovic beat ATP Finals alternate Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(1) 4-6 6-1 in their Green Group clash on Thursday and advanced to the semi-finals after Jannik Sinner edged Holger Rune 6-2 5-7 6-4.

Australia registered a hard-fought three-wicket win over South Africa to advance to the final of the 50-over Cricket World Cup.

Nicolai Højgaard produced a back-nine birdie blitz to join French duo Julien Guerrier and Matthieu Pavon at the top of the leaderboard after day one of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

South Africa were reeling at 44-4 in the second semi-final of the 50-overs cricket World Cup against Australia when light rain stopped play at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

Lionel Messi will be fit for Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil despite his lack of game time, coach Lionel Scaloni said on Wednesday.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on Wednesday heaped praise on India after losing the World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium, saying the unbeaten hosts were simply the best side around and were playing outstanding cricket.

India reached the final of the Cricket World Cup with a 70-run victory against New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday.

Babar Azam stepped down as Pakistan's cricket captain on Wednesday, days after a group stage exit from the World Cup.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz got back on track at the ATP Finals with a 7-5 6-2 win over Andrey Rublev to revive his hopes in Red Group.

India's Virat Kohli struck a record 50th hundred in one-dayers to power the unbeaten hosts to 397 for four wickets against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat in the first World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Long-time Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has been named as head coach of the United States women's national football team, tasked with righting the ship after the country's most disappointing Women's World Cup campaign.

Stefanos Tsitsipas retired after just three games of his Green Group clash against Holger Rune at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, handing the Danish debutant his first victory in the event.

Brazil forward Neymar is recovering well from the knee surgery he had after suffering an injury last month but there is still no forecast of when he will be able to return to action, national team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said.

A sluggish Carlos Alcaraz was beaten 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 by Alexander Zverev on the his debut at the ATP Finals on Monday to continue his end-of-year slump with a third straight defeat.

Manchester United great Bobby Charlton was remembered both as one of English soccer's finest players and a "humble" and "fantastic" man by the thousands of fans and some of the sport's biggest names who bid him a final farewell on Monday.

India coach Rahul Dravid described Shreyas Iyer as the backbone of their middle order after the batsman made an unbeaten 128 in Sunday's World Cup victory over the Netherlands to ensure the hosts won all nine of their group stage games.

England's managing director Rob Key said his decision to prioritise test cricket over one-day internationals played a role in the side's dismal World Cup campaign, adding that coach Matthew Mott has his "full backing".

Chelsea's rip-roaring 4-4 draw with Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday sent a resounding signal that Mauricio Pochettino's new-look side are finally finding their feet after a faltering start to the season.

Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool maintained their 100% winning record at Anfield this season with a 3-0 victory over Brentford on Sunday, their sixth successive Premier League win at home.

New Zealand's Ben Campbell sunk a 10-foot birdie putt at the last to win the Hong Kong Open by a shot from former British Open champion Cameron Smith in a dramatic finish to the Asian Tour event at Fanling on Sunday.

Brazilian duo Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo put on a show at the Bernabeu Stadium as they both scored twice to lead Real Madrid to a 5-1 thrashing of Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday.

Current champions England ended their dismal World Cup campaign with a 93-run victory over Pakistan on Saturday, denying the 1992 champions the miracle they needed to make it to the last four of the showpiece 50-overs tournament.

Mitchell Marsh blasted his second big century of the World Cup as Australia primed themselves for the semi-finals by cruising to their seventh straight victory with an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka will appeal over its suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC), sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe said on Saturday, following the national team's dismal World Cup performance.

Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans will be sidelined for the "next few weeks" due to a thigh strain he suffered in the first half of United's 4-3 Champions League defeat at FC Copenhagen.

Abu Dhabi has created sporting history by attracting the sailing regatta Cowes Week to its shores in January 2023, consolidating its position as the Middle East's sports capital.

Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit has outlined exactly why football is failing to properly address racism within the game in an exclusive interview with Off Script on Dubai Eye 103.8.