Category Sports News

Before the 2025 World Cup, Wales head coach Sean Lynn removed Hannah Jones from the position of captain.

Before the world championship and the two-game World Cup warm-up tour to face Australia in July and August, Jones, 28, has been let go of his position.

Before the 2023 Six Nations, when Wales finished third, the center became the center’s captain. He has won 65 caps.

In addition to Jones’ contract dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in 2024, Wales finished third in the next two competitions.

“This is a new chapter for the team,” said Lynn, “and I’m determined to influence the changes we need with the squad, coaches, and staff to build real success on solid foundations.”

WRU members admitted to serious errors during a drawn-out negotiation process, during which players had to endure ultimatums and threats to withdraw from major tournaments.

While Ioan Cunningham, the WRU head coach, left with mutual consent, the organization apologised and conducted an independent review.

After winning three consecutive league titles with Gloucester-Hartpury, a team that included Jones, Lynn was appointed as Wales’ head coach.

He made the initial decision to retain Jones as his skipper, with the addition of flankers Alex Callender and scrum-half Keira Bevan as vice-captains, but he has since made the switch.

We will call for a fresh voice in a deliberate effort to develop the leadership within the squad, according to Lynn, who performed a professional job in difficult circumstances that have been well documented.

When I was hired by the WRU, Lynn stated that the job I had always wanted was the one I wanted, and that I needed the authority to establish new team standards and challenge coaches, players, and staff to build a team that would inspire pride.

“Developing more leaders is one of the many steps on that journey, and we will all do that together.”

In order to emphasize his desire to change in the senior national squad, Lynn has named a 45-member summer training squad that includes a number of brand-new faces.

Before traveling to Brisbane on July 26 and then Sydney on August 1, the coach wants to reduce his squad to 30 players.

In a warm-up at Rodney Parade in September, Wales defeated Australia for the first time in their history before suffering a crushing defeat at WXV2 a week later.

Wales will have three weeks to recover from their jet lag before the 10-year-old Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will take place at eight different locations in England.

Due to the number of teams playing in Europe, fans have been given a warning by the Premier League that matches may be moved “relatively quickly” next year.

In the 2025-26 season, a record nine top-flight organizations qualified for Uefa competitions.

Fans should take this into account when planning their attendance to games, according to the Premier League, which stated there is an “increased likelihood” that games will be rescheduled if English teams advance to the latter stages.

Next year, the Champions League will feature players from Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Tottenham.

While the Premier League is appreciative of this accomplishment, the Premier League’s statement read, “While it will come with an impact on the scheduling of league games.”

If our clubs advance to the knockout rounds of these competitions, there is a greater chance of Premier League games moving on relatively short notice, according to the statement.

The Premier League made the fixture list for the 2025-26 season’s schedule announcement on Wednesday.

On Friday, August 15, Liverpool, who won the league in Arne Slot’s first year in charge, will kick off their title defense at Anfield.

Sunderland, who have been newly promoted and are now back in the top flight for the first time since 2016-17, face West Ham at home the following day.

Everton, the champions of the championship, travels to Elland Road for the Monday night game, while Burnley, who was first promoted to the top flight after asking, travels to Europa League champions Tottenham, who will be led by Thomas Frank for the first time in a league game.

Fans of Everton will have to wait until the second round of fixtures before watching them face Brighton at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

With a strong debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will hope to resurrect their infamous trophyless season.

The 380 games that will be played over 33 weekends and five midweek rounds will come to an end on May 24.

The Premier League stated that the maximum player rest time is allowed at the start of the 2024-2019 season, which will be 82 days after the 15 August launch.

Clubs will not be required to play twice in less than 48 hours during the holiday season.

Depending on the live broadcast selection, some games may be moved to Boxing Day even though there are no games listed for December 26.

Some clubs will be without players for six Premier League matchweeks due to Morocco’s 21 December to 18 January, which will result in the African Cup of Nations.

The US, Canada, and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup just 18 days after the season is over.

All times BST

Friday, August 15

Liverpool v Bournemouth (20: 00)

On August 16th,

Aston Villa v Newcastle (12: 30)

Brighton v Fulham (15: 00)

Brentford vs. Nottingham Forest (15:00)

Sunderland v West Ham (15: 00)

Tottenham v Burnley (15: 00)

Manchester City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers (17: 30)

Sunday, August 17

Chelsea v Crystal Palace (14: 00)

Arsenal vs. Manchester United (16:30)

18 August, Monday,

The first five games for each team are difficult, according to data from Opta.

Manchester United have the toughest start, according to their “power rankings” data, where they have lost three of the top four of the previous season in their first five games.

With games against holders Liverpool and Manchester City, who have already won the previous four titles, Arsenal are expected to have the next toughest start, as they look to strengthen their three consecutive second-place finishes.

Despite facing Champions League opponents Newcastle in their opening game, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are said to have had the simplest start to the campaign.

Sometimes, the devil can be found in a set of fixtures in the details.

How will England’s Thomas Tuchel react if he discovers Liverpool must play Arsenal at home, Chelsea away, and then Old Trafford rival Manchester City away from home just before the September, October, and November international window openings?

With nine teams in Europe and six in the Champions League, the Premier League confirmed in their fixtures announcement that “there is an increased likelihood of Premier League fixtures moving at relatively short notice, after our fixture announcements, if our clubs progress to the knockout rounds of these competitions.”

Before that, there may need to be some juggling when the first expanded lot of TV fixtures are released, either later this month or early in July, so no one will be aware that any of England’s Champions League representatives will be playing on a Tuesday and cannot therefore take the coveted Sunday TV slot from the previous weekend.

After five of their first six Champions League matches, Manchester City will play at home, which can irritate managers after a protracted midweek away trip. Instead, they will face four away games right away.

Chelsea has five away games before those first ten Champions League games, which can be grating for managers after a protracted midweek break (basically managers moan), but they do have five at home.

Manchester United’s form from the previous season might not be as good as it once was, but they will face Manchester United in the one weekend between matchdays seven and eight, so manager Mikel Arteta may hope that his team’s fate will be in the league by then.

Given that their matchday five European opponents will fall between a north London derby with Tottenham and a similarly high-energy trip to Chelsea, Arteta will likely be interested in finding out who they face on Tuesday.

Although the late kick-off will be what will really cause a stir, Newcastle and Manchester City will travel to Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, respectively, in the 27 December fixtures.

Given that lengthy trips for Burnley, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Brentford, and Chelsea have been confirmed, the Premier League’s holiday season is well and truly over by January 3.

After their incredible Europa League victory over his old club Lyon, Manchester City new boy Rayan Cherki will not have to wait long for a chance to carry out his stated desire to “kill” Manchester United. On September 13, Ruben Amorim’s side travels to the Etihad Stadium.

In the second round of Champions League qualifying, Rangers and Panathinaikos were faced.

The first leg of the Scottish Premiership will take place on July 22 and 23 and then go to Greece the following week.

The winners of the first-round matchup between Linfield-champions of Northern Ireland and their Republic of Ireland counterparts Shelbourne and Qarabag from Azerbaijan will face off.

The New Saints, the Welsh champions, will face FCSB of Romania or Inter Club d’Escaldes of Andorra if they beat Shkendija of North Maceonia in a tie.

Russell Martin’s first competitive game as the Rangers head coach will be against Panathinaikos, and the former Southampton boss has been given the toughest draw of their possible draws despite having the Ibrox side seeded.

In their respective domestic leagues, all three potential opponents were runners-up, just like Rangers, but Swiss Servette are 139th (one place behind Heart of Midlothian) and Norwegian Brann is 189th, while the Greek side is 111th in the European club rankings, just 86 places behind Rangers.

After capturing AEK Athens after the division split, the side led by former Egypt and Benfica head coach Rui Vitoria finished 16 points behind Olympiakos in the Greek Super League last year.

In four meetings with Rangers, two with Motherwell, and one with Aberdeen, the Panathinaikos have won four of their seven games and never lost to Scottish foes over 90 minutes.

Rangers, however, made progress when they last faced the Ibrox side.

After drawing 1-1 at home in Athens in the round of 32 following a 0-0 draw in Glasgow, the Greeks lost on away goals after defeating Aberdeen 3-0 at home in the 2007-08 Uefa Cup group stage.

In their most recent encounter with a Scottish side in 2012, they defeated Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox and draw 1-1 at home in the Champions League group stage. They also defeated Motherwell 5-0 on aggregate in their most recent encounter in the Champions League third qualifying round.

Since 2010-11, the Panathinaikos haven’t qualified for the Champions League properly, and their last season started with a win over Botev Plovdiv before falling to Ajax to advance to Conference League by defeating Lens.

They finished 13th overall, defeated Vikingur Reykjavik in the knockout phase, lost to Fiorentina in the final 16, and lost 4-1 at home to eventual champions Chelsea.

Under Philippe Clement’s leadership last season, Rangers lost their opening Champions League qualifier to Dynamo Kyiv. By the time interim head coach Barry Ferguson was in charge, Rangers had already advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals.

Georgia Stanway, a midfielder for England, said that helping their families pay for the expenses associated with watching the team at the upcoming Euro 2025 in Switzerland is “putting our hands in your pockets.”

Switzerland has five of the top ten most expensive cities, making Zürich, Lausanne, and Geneva the top three cities in the world for living costs.

The US Virgin Islands are the only country that Switzerland’s Cost of Living Index reaches in 2025.

According to BBC Sport, all 23 players in Sarina Wiegman’s squad will receive funding from the Football Association to fund travel and lodging for their loved ones in Switzerland.

The cost is comparable to the cost for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and it is in line with what England’s men’s players receive, but it is unknown.

A small number of match tickets are also given to players.

Family, friends, and supporters are much more likely to be able to attend Euro 2025 than England’s final major sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere.

Players are required to contribute in addition to what the FA provides to help their loved ones follow the tournament due to the high costs in the nation.

Stanway, who left Manchester City for Bayern Munich in 2022, said, “I’m aware that Switzerland is a very expensive country.” Just for hotels and flights, really. We understand how much money fans are spending there because the cost of living is so high.

We want to help and support as much as we can, even with our own families, so that’s challenging.

City of Manchester have signed Canada defender Jade Rose on a four-year deal.

The 22-year-old is City’s first summer signing since Harvard University.

Since making her senior debut in 2021, the versatile defender, who can play at both centre-back and full-back, has played 28 games for Canada.

“I’m just super excited to start,” I said. Rose stated, “I’m ready to win every trophy that exists,” and to win the Champions Leagues.

Rose joined Harvard for the 2021-22 school year after working for Unionville-Milliken SC, NDC Ontario, and FC Premier Women.

Rose defended her choice to attend Harvard, noting that education has always been a significant component of her life and journey. Being a female football player is important because I value it having something to back up on.

City finished fourth in the Women’s Super League (WSL) last year, 17 points clear of Chelsea, who had already knocked them out of the Women’s Champions League in the quarter-finals.

“I’m very excited for the WSL because it’s such a competitive league.” I’m excited to play alongside and compete against some of the world’s best footballers, Rose continued.

Therese Sjogran, the city’s women’s football director, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Jade in. She’s a talented young player we’ve been monitoring for a while.”

She has a lot of club and country experience under her belt, and she will definitely have the chance to showcase her abilities here at City.

As they attempt to “future-proof” the Commonwealth Games’ uncertainty, World Netball has announced plans for the World Cup to take place every two years.

Netball has relied on the Commonwealth Games to present the sport to a wider audience since 1998 as an official sport since 1998.

The next World Cup event is scheduled to take place in Australia in 2027, following a four-year cycle.

Due to cost increases, it is unclear how the Commonwealth Games’ long-term future will develop.

A men’s World Cup competition will also be introduced by World Netball.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the Commonwealth Games after 2026, World Netball CEO Fiona Harold remarked on the decision to make the World Cup a biennial event. “We need to be proactive about future-proofing ourselves.”

“These choices give us more control over our destiny,” says the president, “and that’s good news for everyone.”

It is our responsibility as the International Federation to maintain and advance the game over the long term.

The governing body states that all upcoming World Cups will take place in November to ensure consistency and prevent divisional rivalries from deteriorating.

A new biennial event that won’t take place in non-World Cup years will be introduced from November 2028.

Australia submitted an application to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, but it withdrawn due to budget constraints in July 2023.

Due to rising costs, the government of Alberta withdrawn support for a bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games just one month later.

Glasgow has agreed to host the next year’s event, but only after being assured that a smaller version will be available with 10 sports scheduled to take place at four different city locations.

The environment is becoming more challenging, according to Harold, “but international netball has never been more competitive.”

World Netball must support its members and provide solutions that ensure the ecosystem’s benefit for all.

Men’s netball is “gaining momentum” quickly, according to the governing body, and plans to introduce a World Cup to help that growth.

After only seven months, the formation of England’s first international team came to an end in October 2022.

Australia has been organizing a men’s and mixed netball championship for more than 40 years and is a dominant force in both men’s and women’s netball.

Men’s national teams and clubs are still active in all of Africa’s regions of New Zealand, the Caribbean, and the Americas.

This is a really positive step, especially as we continue to work hard and make our case for inclusion at the Olympic Games, according to Harold, who received overwhelmingly positive feedback from many stakeholders in the game.