Sports News

The 2022 Vitality Netball Superleague season will start with the traditional 'Season Opener' double-header weekend, at Birmingham's Resorts World Arena.

England Netball has announced that the 2021 champions Loughborough Lightning will kick-start proceedings against London Pulse, before all 11 teams take their place on court across the course of a 10-game opening weekend – with fans due back in venues.

Essex chairman John Faragher has resigned following an allegation he used racist language in a 2017 board meeting.

Faragher strongly denies the allegation but Essex say they will review why the matter was not fully and independently investigated at the time. He stood down from his post following a board meeting on Thursday.

Organisers have said that the new aquatics centre, set for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, is on track.

The £73m building in Smethwick, West Midlands, will host 66 medal events - more than any other venue - and will be complete by spring next year. So far, 163,000 tiles have been laid and the movable floor and diving tower are finished.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s new chair Lord Patel has said that former player, Azeem Rafiq, should be praised for his bravery and he should never have been put through the club’s racism scandal.

Lord Patel said Yorkshire has settled the employment tribunal after he (Rafiq) was a victim of racial harassment and bullying there. The club said it would not discipline anyone.

Tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams have said that their mantle must be taken up moving forward.

The sporting sisters were asked whether they saw players like Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu facing similar barriers to the ones they had to overcome.

It has been reported that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan is a second player to allege racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. It follows chairman Roger Hutton, and several board members, who resign over the club's response to racism experienced by Azeem Rafiq.

The club has launched an investigation after the former player alleged he was subjected to repeated racial abuse.

Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson will take on the world at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham on Saturday 19 February 2022. The British 800m record holder is the first leading athlete to announce their intention to compete at the event, which returns to the Utilita Arena Birmingham in the new year.

Star-studded fields are set to align for the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event, one of seven marquee indoor events across the globe, with Hodgkinson to the fore.

Yorkshire County Crick Club have been suspended from hosting England matches following the fallout from the club's investigation into racism allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq.

The investigation found former spinner Rafiq had been a victim of racial harassment and bullying - but the club said it would take no action.

Following the news that MPs are investigating claims of institutional racism at Yorkshire Cricket Club, leading sponsors Emerald Publishing and Yorkshire Tea have severed their ties with Yorkshire Cricket Club.

This latest fall-out comes as news came out that former player, Azeem Rafiq, will be giving evidence in person (to MPs) into a report about allegations of racism he made against the club.

Leading athletes have joined hundreds of mourners at the funeral of Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in her home.

Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, appeared in court as a suspect in her killing. Ms Tirop was being buried at her parents' home in Nandi County, Kenya, on what would have been her 26th birthday.

Jamaica's first Olympic gold medallist was a life-long learner and an establishment rebel, his daughter has said. Dr Arthur Wint was 28 when he won gold in the 400-metre dash at the 1948 London Olympics.

Dr Wint said: "He always wanted to better himself, expand his mind and use that to better other people's lives, that's his legacy."

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) virtually conducted the official final draw for the expanded 12-team AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, with the host, India, are the hosts, being automatically drawn in Group A. The tournament is set to begin on January 20, 2022 and will be played across three venues in the country, with defending champions Japan in Group C along with Korea Republic, Vietnam and Myanmar.

The latest and final venue for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been confirmed, with Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre revealed as the official finish area for the Marathon which will be held on Saturday 30 July 2022.

The square will be a welcome sight for the finishers in all four races that will be held on the first Saturday of the Games, with the men’s marathon, women’s marathon and the men’s and women’s T53/T54 events all taking place on the same course which will start at Smithfield, another Birmingham city centre venue that has previously been announced as the home of beach volleyball and basketball 3x3 and wheelchair basketball 3x3 during the Games.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club say they will not be taking disciplinary action against any player, employee or executive after a report found former player Azeem Rafiq had been a victim of racial harassment and bullying whilst at the club.

Last year Rafiq made said institutional racism at the club left him close to taking his own life.

UK Athletics (UKA) and its four partner Home Country Athletics Federations (HCAFs) has officially launched the Coaching Strategy for the sport of athletics in the UK. The formation of the strategy – a significant milestone – has been led by UK Athletics’ Interim CEO and Director of Development Mark Munro and new Head of Coach Development Jackie Newton, along with the respective HCAF coaching leads and follows a period of listening to the coaching community and detailed consultation across the sport.

Over the course of the pandemic the global community has seen the true extremity of disparities that pre-dated and were exacerbated by Covid-19. This included key events such as the death of George Floyd and subsequent worldwide outrage that brought the Black Lives Matter movement to a boiling point. A universal point of reflection and action was required, this stretched to individuals, institutions and sectors; including the sport and physical activity sector.