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In the world of football, the Premier League has agreed a new record making £6.7 billion domestic television deal with Sky and TNT to show Premier League matches for four years. On the heels of his tennis return in Brisbane next month, Rafael Nadal spoke about how everything else worries him except for his hip, which he injured last year, causing him to stay on the shelf for the better part of the year. Anju Bobby George, the senior Vice President of the AFI confirmed that they are interested in bidding for the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Football
Premier League agrees record £6.7 billion domestic television deal
The English top flight football competition, the Premier League, has agreed to a new record making £6.7 billion domestic television deal with Sky and TNT to show up to 270 matches live in a season. The deal, which will run for four years from 2025-26 onwards, is called the “largest sports media rights deal ever concluded in the UK,” wherein the BBC will continue to show highlights on Match of the Day.
Jude Bellingham receives Europe’s 2023 Golden Boy award in glittering ceremony
The midfielder for England and Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham, received the prestigious 2023 Golden Boy award, which recognises the best Under-21 player across the top club football leagues in Europe, in a glittering ceremony. The 20-year-old has reportedly earned a whopping 485 points out of possible 500, voted by 50 top journalists of the continent, to pip Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich and Lamine Yamal of Barcelona.
Manchester United takes action against media organisations for publishing stories
In a big development, Manchester United have confirmed to the journalist Fabrizio Romano that the club had taken action against organisations in the media for publishing stories without first contacting them to give an “opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise.” It was revealed that Manchester United are not too bothered about publishing stories they don’t like, but they want to respond to them first.
Manchester City get charged by FA for players behaving in improper manner
The Football Association (FA) has charged Manchester City after their players had surrounded the referee Simon Hooper for blowing the whistle to award a free kick rather than letting Jack Grealish continue to play advantage when he was through on goal. Just a couple of days after the match against Tottenham ended on 3-3, the FA released a statement in which they stated that Manchester City "failed to ensure their players do not behave in a way which is improper," and they have until Thursday, December 7 to respond to the charge.
Some major results in football are as under:
FA Cup 2023-24
AFC Wimbledon 5-0 Ramsgate
La Liga 2023-24
Celta Vigo 1-1 Cadiz
Bundesliga 2023-24
Torino 3-0 Atalanta
Hockey
India men’s team kick start their FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup with 4-2 win over Korea
The Uttam Singh-led Indian men’s team secured a victory over Korea in their first match of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2023 in Malaysia. The side, who are placed alongside Canada, Korea and Spain will next play Spain on December 7 at 5:30 PM IST to continue their winning run in the tournament.
Tennis
Novak Djokovic ends year as World No. 1 for record eighth time
Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic finished the 2023 season as World No. 1 for record eighth time. The 24-time Grand Slam champion took home three out of the four Grand Slams in 2023, including the Australia Open, French Open and US Open. He finally replaced Carlos Alcaraz after his dominating US Open and ATP Finals in Turin, also winning the latter for the eighth time.
What worries me the most is not the hip: Rafael Nadal ahead of Brisbane International return
Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion from Spain, spoke at length about his impending return to the professional tennis circuit at the start of 2024 season in Brisbane after a year’s absence. The 37-year-old, who had undergone surgery for his injury in the summer, admitted that what worries him about the return is not the hip but everything else.
Athletics
India to bid for 2029 World Athletics Championships
India has shown interest to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. Anju Bobby George, former long jumper and senior Vice President of the Athletics Federation of India confirmed this development on the sidelines of the AFI Annual General Body meeting. “Yes, we are interested in bidding for the 2029 World Athletics Championships,” she told PTI.
Neeraj Chopra shares advice for Jasprit Bumrah to increase pace
Neeraj Chopra, the reigning Olympic and world champion, who watched the ODI World Cup 2023 final, spoke about his experience at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The 25-year-old also named Jasprit Bumrah as his favourite fast bowler before commenting that he should lengthen his run-up to add more pace.
Others
Gold Coast withdraws bid to host 2026 Commonwealth Games
Australia’s coastal city of Gold Coast has withdrawn its bid to host the next Commonwealth Games, set to take place in 2026. The decision to withdraw come after the authorities cited lack of government support, both from the state as well as the federal. “We did our best and that’s all people can expect,” said Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate in a statement.
