Champions a plenty at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham

There were 18 national champions crowned and eight athletes automatically qualified for the World Athletics Indoor Championships after two days of the UK Athletics Indoor Championships were celebrated in Birmingham.

With championship records set and another equalled, competitors really rose to the occasion, and nowhere was that more evident than on the sprint straight, with the men’s 60m proving to be a top-class affair, fans were treated to some high-quality competition at the Utilita Arena Birmingham, as athletes were able to secure their places at next month’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in the process.

Champions League final to move after Russian invasion

Uefa will be taking the 2022 Champions League final away from St Petersburg following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The decision will be made at Friday's emergency meeting of European football's governing body.

Following Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s, launch of a military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, world football's governing body Fifa met - with Russia and Ukraine both scheduled to play in World Cup play-off matches in March.

Champions League witnessed a record 3.26 goals-per-game in the group stage

The new format of the Champions League group stage has proved to be a hit with fans. Furthermore, the group stage culminated this week and resulted in a record number of goals.

Champions Qatar to meet Jordan following thrilling semi-final win

Hosts and defending champions Qatar beat Iran 3-2 in a thrilling AFC Asian Cup semi-final at Al Thumama Stadium after striker Almoez Ali scored the winner to set up a mouth-watering title clash set for this weekend.

Champions, England, draw France, the Netherlands and Wales in Euro 2025 group

European champions England will renew their rivalry with France and the Netherlands and also clash with debutants Wales in the group stage of the Women's Euro 2025 tournament after the draw was made in Switzerland yesterday.

Chance to see stunts and tricks at exciting BMX Freestyle competition in Wolverhampton

A major international sports event is coming to Wolverhampton, and it’s completely free for everyone to attend.

Change of venue for Müller Anniversary Games

An agreement has been reached between LLDC and UK Athletics for the Müller Anniversary Games to be moved away from the London Stadium in 2021.

A spokesperson for LLDC commented: “This event is an important part of London Stadium’s summer schedule and will remain so in future years.

“However, because of the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on other events at the stadium, in particular the usual concert programme, it was important to reach an agreement with UK Athletics to remove the need to reconfigure the Stadium for one event. We are grateful that UK Athletics have agreed to a revised proposal that covers the costs of relocation and disruption to their plans.”

Joanna Coates, Chief Executive of UK Athletics added: “Our priority has been to stage the event at the London Stadium. Unfortunately, that has proven impossible.

“As a result, we have agreed to a settlement that allows us to mitigate losses and invest significant resource into the sport to help our athletes succeed. We will now be putting on a world class event at another UK stadium and will be announcing further details in the near future.”

Changing the face of Scottish sport: sportscotland and Sporting Equals deliver Scottish LeaderBoard

For the first time in Scotland, sportscotland and Sporting Equals are delivering a programme to diversify the boardrooms of Scottish sport.

Charl Schwartzel resorts to prayer to cope with the wind in International Series Qatar

At a windswept Doha Golf Club today, Charl Schwartzel stood up to the challenging conditions firing in an opening 70 leaving him just one shot from the lead after round one in the International Series Qatar.

Teeing up for the third consecutive week on the Asian Tour, the 2011 Masters champion first played in the country 20 years ago. Reminiscing about his Doha debut, he said: “I’ve been coming here since I first got my tour card in 2003, which was my first full year out.

Chebet breaks women's world 5k record in Barcelona

Kenya's Beatrice Chebet broke the women's world 5km record at the Cursa dels Nassos road race in Barcelona.

Chelsea fans revealed as the most hostile in the Premier League with 19.2 arrests per 10,000

New research has revealed the most hostile Premier League fans, and Chelsea fans top the list with the most arrests per 10,000 supporters.

Chelsea great, Dider, donates hospital for Covid-19 screening

Didier Drogba, one of the greatest strikers in the history of the Premier League, has donated his foundation’s medical facilities to his home land Cote d’Ivorie (Ivory Coast) government, to aid their fight against the county’s coronavirus crisis.

The Laurent Pokou Hospital - which was built from funds donated by the former Chelsea player – in Attecoube Abidjan, is named after the country’s former player and coach who died in 2009.

Drogba made the donation to the government in the presence of the Major of Abidjan, Vincent Toh Bi Irie and Mariam Breka, who is the director of the Drogba Foundation.

The Ivory Coast recorded 566 Covid-19 cases – the second highest in West Africa - with a registered total of four deaths.

Toh Bi Irie said: “We thank Didier for his donation, which is seen as a huge act of patriotism.

The hospital is yet to be fully completed, but the government is expected to make it fully functional for purpose very soon.

In the wake of the worldwide pandemic, Drogba, the west London club’s record goal scorer, made a scathing indictment of French doctors.

Along with other African footballing legend, including; Ghanaian international Christian Atsu, Cameroon great, Samuel Et’o and former Senegal star, Demba Ba, he denounced remarks made by two leading French medical experts who suggested that any first testing for any anti-coronavirus drugs should be carried out in Africa.

The football legends were incensed by the remarks that were made on French TV.

Responding to the denunciation, Newcastle United winger, Atsu, posted on his twitter: “During the programme on French television station LCT, professor Jean-Paul Mira, head of the intensive care unit at Cochin Hospital (Paris) and professor Camille Locht, research director at Inserm suggested the effectiveness of the vaccine should be tested in Africa.”

On his twitter, Drogba posted: “It is totally inconceivable we keep on cautioning this. Africa isn’t a testing lab. I would like to vividly denounce those demeaning, false and most of all deeply racist worlds. Help us save Africa with the current ongoing COVID 19 and flatten the curves.”

Chelsea seal world record fee for USA star, Girma

USA defender Naomi Girma has agreed terms to join Chelsea on a long-term deal for a world record transfer.

Cherry Alexander to re-join UKA

UK Athletics is pleased to confirm that Cherry Alexander OBE is re-joining the organisation as the UK Athletics Major Events and International Relations Lead.

The appointment will see the highly regarded athletics organiser return to the governing body with immediate effect after departing her role as Major Events Director in November 2020.

Chess player Koneru Humpy voted Indian Sportswoman of the Year

Chess player Koneru Humpy has won the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award for 2020, following a public vote. The 33-year-old beat sprinter Dutee Chand, airgun shooter Manu Bhaker, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and India hockey captain Rani Rampal to the award.

Humpy is the World Rapid Chess champion having won the title in December 2019 after a two-year maternity break. In 2020, she won the Cairns Cup, an elite-level tournament for the top female players.

She said: "Being an indoor game, chess doesn't get as much attention as sports like cricket gets in India. But with this award, I hope the game will draw people's attention." She added: "I won over the years because of my willpower and confidence. A female player should never think about quitting her game. Marriage and motherhood are just a part of our life and they should not change the course of our lives."

Born in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Kuneru was identified as a chess prodigy at an early age by her father. She lived up to the reputation by becoming the youngest female grandmaster, aged 15, in 2002 - the record was broken by China's Hou Yifan in 2008. She received the Arjuna Award, one of India's top sporting honours, in 2003, and India's fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 2007.

The BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year initiative was launched in 2019 to celebrate female achievements in sport and highlight the issues and challenges faced by women and girls in India.

Former long jumper Anju Bobby George was given the Lifetime Achievement award for her contribution to Indian sport. She remains the only athlete to win a World Championship athletics medal for her country.

In the run up to the event a 'Sports Hackathon' was held, with the aim of adding more information about Indian sportswomen to Wikipedia in Indian languages. The project focused on athletes about whom there was minimal or no information available on the online encyclopaedia.

More than 300 entries of 50 Indian sportswomen were added into the site in collaboration with 300 journalism students in 13 universities across India.

Chicago Bears celebrate Flag Football growth with championship event in Birmingham

The Chicago Bears and Britain’s first female coach in the NFL, Phoebe Schecter, hosted the championship event in Birmingham for their historic Chicago Bears NFL Girls Flag Football League.

Chiefs beat 49ers to win third Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs fought back to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime and win their third Super Bowl in five years.

Child sprint prodigy makes history at Millrose Games

In a remarkable display of talent and determination, eight-year-old Jamaican sprinter Bella Brown has captured the spotlight at the Millrose Games in New York, solidifying her place among the fastest young athletes in the world.

Children to no longer be allowed to head footballs

Children aged 11 and under in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will no longer be taught to head footballs during training.

This comes as new Football Association guidelines for coaches also puts limits on how much heading older children should do.

The ruling follows Glasgow University research that showed former footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die from brain disease.

The English Football Association of Wales said its guidance for coaches on children heading the ball was currently under review with the findings being made available later this year.

In a joint announcement from the FA, Scottish FA and Irish FA, coaches were advised that there should be "no heading in training in the foundation phase" - which covers primary school children, or under-11 teams and below.

There are also new rules for age ranges up until 18, with headers being kept a "low priority" and gradually becoming more frequent in training until the age of 16.

There will be no changes to heading in youth matches, where the FA said headers are rare.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "This guidance is an evolution of our current guidelines and will help coaches and teachers to reduce and remove repetitive and unnecessary heading from youth football.

"It is a responsible development to our grassroots coaching without impacting the enjoyment that children of all ages take from playing the game."

An inquest into the death – in 2002 - of ex-West Bromwich Albion and England striker Jeff Astle found heading heavy leather footballs repeatedly contributed to trauma to his brain.

His daughter, Dawn Astle, who has campaigned for changes in rules over headers, said she was "pleased" with the ruling and that it was "sensible" following the research.

Published in October last year, the University of Glasgow study found that former professional footballers were more likely to die of degenerative brain disease - and five times more likely to die from Parkinson's disease.

There was no evidence in the study that linked incidences of the disease with heading the ball, but the FA said the new guidance had been issued to "mitigate against any potential risks".

Ms Astle added that there should now be guidelines for training for footballers aged 18 and over.

Children's grassroots sport to be halted

Children's grassroots sport played outside of school will be suspended during England's four-week lockdown, says culture secretary Oliver Dowden. There were calls for youth sport to be exempt when the new restrictions come into effect from tomorrow. But Dowden confirmed it would only be permitted in school.

"Unfortunately we need to pause grassroots sport outside school to reduce the transmission risk from households mixing," he tweeted. "As soon as we can resume this, we will."

Elite sport can continue behind closed doors during the lockdown.

Former Wales midfielder Robbie Savage, who coaches a junior team, criticised the decision to suspend children's sport in a series of tweets.

Quoting Dowden's tweet, he said: "Have you or any of your senior government officials been to a grassroots game since lockdown? Do you have any idea what it's like for thousands of grassroots volunteers? Do you know the impact of this decision on youngsters' mental and physical wellbeing?"

Youth Sports Trust chief executive Ali Oliver earlier said that under a quarter of secondary schools do not offer physical education.

"To lose some grassroots clubs will leave us with a legacy of a generation who are inactive and unable to find a way into sport," she said. Former Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee chair Damian Collins had written to Dowden asking the government to allow youth sport to continue in England after 5 November.

He called on the government to extend the definition of elite sport to include academy players at Premier League clubs and those in development centres such as the England Rugby developing player programme and Sport England's talented athlete scholarship scheme.

"Young people will currently be allowed to continue with sport at school, and we believe that the risks to the spread of the coronavirus from outdoor grassroots youth sport would be minimal," he said, in a letter also signed by former sports ministers Tracey Crouch and Helen Grant.

"There would, however, be clear and lasting benefits for these young people if the government could support this." Leisure centres and gyms will close, as will other indoor and outdoor leisure facilities.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that there would be no exemptions.