Archive December 10, 2025

Nine Russian and Belarusian athletes have been granted permission to compete in qualifying events for next year’s Winter Olympics as neutral athletes.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) had initially banned them from taking part but the ban was overturned by a sports court last week.

The select athletes have now received Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) status after meeting the International Olympic Committee’s (ICC) eligibility criteria, but will not be able to compete under the flag of their country.

In October, the FIS council had voted against Russians and Belarusians competing in its qualification events for the Games in Milan and Cortina, which starts on 6 February.

The Russian Ski Association (RSF), the Belarusian Ski Union (BSU) and 17 athletes from the countries made appeals against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) which partially upheld them, clearing the way for previously banned athletes to take part in the Games.

Belarusian freestyle skiing aerialist Hanna Huskova, who won gold at Pyeongchang 2018 and silver at Beijing 2022, headlines the initial list alongside Russia’s Anastasia Tatalina, who took gold in the women’s ski big air at the 2021 World Championships.

More athletes could also now be granted permission to compete.

“Over the course of the upcoming days and weeks, as more eligibility reviews are conducted and more decisions are made, FIS will publish updated versions of the AIN list,” the sport’s governing body said in a statement.

Athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports have been banned from many sports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In September the IOC said it would allow neutral athletes to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics under the same conditions they did at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but that the final decision would rest with individual sports federations.

Christmas trees are going up, the days are getting shorter and festivities are almost in full swing.

It can only mean one thing – the darts is back.

The PDC World Darts Championship begins at the iconic Alexandra Palace on Thursday.

World ranking: 11 First match: Gemma Hayter (Afternoon session – Friday, 19 December) Best World Championship finish: Last-16 (2023)

Ever since he burst onto the scene when he won the World Youth Championship in 2022, Josh Rock has been tipped as a player to win some of the biggest events in darts.

The 24-year-old made his World Championship debut in 2023 and reached the fourth round, but was shocked by qualifier Berry van Peer in his opening match in 2024 and he faced a third-round exit at the hands of Chris Dobey last year.

While Rock has not managed as many individual titles in 2025 as he did in 2024 – when he won his first European title at the Dutch Masters and two Players Championship Series titles – he did win the World Cup of Darts in June alongside Daryl Gurney for Northern Ireland after a dramatic final with Wales.

The Broughshane player also reached the semi-finals of the World Matchplay, World Series Finals and UK Open, so the potential is there.

He heads into the 2025 World Championship as the 11th seed, and faces debutant Gemma Hayter in the opening round.

Drawn in the fourth quarter, Rock has a tricky path that could see him face Niko Springer in the second round, and then either Gurney, highly-rated Beau Greaves or Callan Rydz if he can make it to the third round.

Former world champions Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright are all in the same bracket, as is in-form Dutch player Danny Noppert – one of the dark horses for the tournament.

World ranking: 22 First match: Beau Greaves (Evening session – Friday, 19 December) Best World Championship finish: Quarter-final (2017, 2021)

Daryl Gurney is a two-time quarter-finalist at the World Championship, but hasn’t been able to hit the same heights since he last reached the last eight in 2021.

The 38-year-old has an incredibly difficult first-round tie against the exciting Beau Greaves, who will make her debut at the PDC World Championship.

After that, the path through the rest of the tournament is similar to Rock, with several big names to watch out for in the bottom quarter of the draw.

Along with Rock, the highlight of Gurney’s year was winning the World Cup of Darts, which for Gurney came at the ninth time of asking.

Despite falling outside the top-20, ‘Superchin’ reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship and Players Championship finals, and the semi-finals of the Flanders Darts Trophy in Belgium in August.

World ranking: 39 First match: Tavis Dudeney (afternoon session – Monday, 15 December) Best World Championship finish: Quarter-final (2019, 2024)

Brendan Dolan reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship as recently as 2024, when he lost to a 16-year-old Littler who had burst onto the scene.

However, his form has tailed off since, and he was beaten in the third round of last year’s tournament by Michael van Gerwen.

He reached the final of the Players Championship round in Hildesheim in May but was convincingly beaten by Ross Smith.

Dolan will start his 2025 World Championship against England’s Tavis Dudeney on Monday, and if he can win that then Ryan Searle is a possible second-round opponent.

If he wants to go deep into the tournament then he will have to battle past the likes of Michael Smith, Johnny Clayton and number four seed Stephen Bunting, who are all in his quarter.

World ranking: 45 First match: Leonard Gates (afternoon session – Friday, 19 December) Best World Championship finish: Last-64 (2013, 2015, 2021, 2023, 2024)

Mickey Mansell will make his 10th appearance at the World Darts Championship, but has never progressed past the second round at the Ally Pally.

The 52-year-old will face Leonard Gates of the USA in the opening round after being drawn in the third quarter.

If Mansell can negotiate that round, he would either play Nathan Aspinall, one of the favourites for the tournament, or Lourence Ilagan in the second round.

Last year, the Dungannon player reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts but was knocked out of the World Championship by Wales’ Clayton in the second round.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is a target for clubs in the Saudi Pro League, confirmed its chief executive Omar Mugharbel.

The 33-year-old was left out of the squad that travelled to Inter Milan for Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win after publicly falling out with manager Arne Slot and the club.

Following Saturday’s 3-3 Premier League draw at Leeds, Salah said he has been blamed for Liverpool’s poor form and his relationship with manager Slot had broken down.

While the Reds boss denied that and said Salah could still return, Mugharbel said clubs in Saudi Arabia are keen to sign the Egypt international.

“For sure Salah is one of them [a target].”

There have been reports Salah, who signed a two-year contract extension in April, could leave the Anfield club in January.

Saudi interest in Salah has long been known, with a reported £150m bid from Al-Ittihad rejected by Liverpool in September 2023, but this is the first time a league official has gone on the record about the player since his outburst.

Not every Saudi club will be interested, with Al-Kholood chairman Ben Harburg calling Salah “a bad fit” and suggesting Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr would be a better signing.

“There’s already, even among the public, much more apprehension around his coming into the league,” Harburg said.

“He’s 33 years old, he got paid a boatload [at Liverpool] and has underperformed massively since then.

“I’m sure some people like his star power, he’s from the region, but my sentiment is that he is not a fit for our league. If it were between him and Vinicius, I’d take Vinicius.

“I’m hoping we go after those 25-year-old next-wave players rather than guys like Salah, who definitely this would be the last stop of his career.”

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who left the club in 2015, said Salah was a “bit emotional and a bit hasty” in giving the controversial interview on Saturday, where he felt he had been “thrown under the bus” after being dropped to the bench.

Gerrard told TNT Sports: “He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect.

“A couple of lines about throwing people under the bus were wrong. [He] needs to reverse a little bit away from that, he needs to deal with that with the manager. We’ve all had head loss as players. We’ve all done emotional things.

“I know in time when this all calms, Mo will go, ‘I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I was a bit emotional, I was a bit hasty’.”

Gerrard compared the situation to former Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez and manager Brendan Rodgers, who fell out in 2013 when the Uruguay forward tried to force a move away from Anfield.

Suarez was made to train alone but returned to the squad and stayed for one more season before joining Barcelona.

“I’ve seen this and I’ve lived it with Suarez when he fell out with Brendan face to face. I’ve been there and done it myself,” added Gerrard.

Since arriving from Roma in 2017, Salah has played a key role in Liverpool’s two Premier League titles and 2019 Champions League triumph.

But he has scored only four goals in 13 Premier League games this season, with the defending champions 10th in the table – but only three points off fourth-placed Crystal Palace.

Liverpool host Brighton on Saturday at Anfield – two days before Salah joins Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament.