Picture Credit: Twitter
The world of sports witnessed several major developments around the globe. Talking about next year's Olympics, Greek rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos has been named the first torchbearer for the event. Continuing around Europe, snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan has threatened retirement if denied permission to play in China.
Whereas across football, several qualifying games took place for major tournaments in the coming years. India lost to Qatar while Kuwait took down Afghanistan in Asian FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. In the realm of kabaddi, the official broadcaster of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Star Sports, has unleashed a campaign to mark the arrival of the tenth season.
Here are the major developments in the sports around the world:
Olympics:
Greek rowing champion Ntouskos named first Paris 2024 torchbearer
Greece's Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos will be the Paris 2024 Olympics relay’s first torchbearer after next year's lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia. The Greek Olympic Committee (HOC) shared the development on Wednesday. The Olympic flame will be lit in Greece's Olympia on April 16 in a traditional ceremony.
Formula 1:
Mick Schumacher to represent Alpine in world endurance
German driver Mick Schumacher will drive for Alpine in the world endurance championship next season while being Mercedes F1’s reserve driver Alpine announced the 24-year-old on Wednesday as one of six drivers competing for them in two A424 Hypercars. Schumacher will join Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin from France and Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg.
Snooker:
Ronnie O'Sullivan threatens retirement if not allowed to play in China
Seven-time world snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has threatened retirement if prevented from playing in non-tour events in China. O'Sullivan had pulled out of several major events around Europe. Now, the 47-year-old risks sanctions from the World Snooker Tour if he misses tournaments in China. "I have no option now," O'Sullivan told the BBC. "If I can't go out and do what I need to do - which is play a lot in China - then I won't ever play again.”
Football:
UEFA fines Celtic F.C. for Palestinian flags during UCL match against Atletico
Celtic have been fined 15,200 pounds ($19,000) after the Bhoys’ supporters brought out Palestinian flags during their Champions League match against Atletico Madrid last month in Glasgow. UEFA released a statement calling these flags to promote "provocative messages of an offensive nature." Celtic are last in their Champions League Group E with one point after four games.
US Court rejects Kathryn Mayorga’s plea against Cristiano Ronaldo’s hush money settlement
A US court rejected a woman’s plea against footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to pay her more than the hush money in Las Vegas rape case. A woman named Kathryn Mayorga and her lawyer tried to force the football star to pay her more than $375,000 in hush money he paid her after she accused him of raping her in 2009. Maygorga’s court had asked the court to overturn the federal judge's dismissal of the case in Las Vegas in June 2022 and reopen the case she filed back in 2018.
Major football results:
FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers:
Asia:
India vs Qatar: 0 - 3
Afghanistan vs Kuwait: 0 - 4
South America:
Brazil vs Argentine: 0 - 1
Euro 24 Qualification:
Ukraine vs Italy: 0 - 0
Greece vs France: 2 -2
North Macedonia vs England: 1-1
AIFF signs MOU with Odisha Government on FIFA-AIFF Academy
The AllIndia Football Federation signed an MOU with the Government of Odisha to set up the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy at the Odisha Football Academy in Bhubaneswar. The MOU was signed on November 21, Tuesday, in the presence of Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development. In the ceremony, the AIFF Chief, Kalyan Chaubey, said, "I thank the Government of Odisha and FIFA President for his support to Indian Football in every possible way. The result of that is the presence of the legendary Mr. Arsène Wenger today in India.”
Badminton
Satwik-Chirag get nominated for Player of the Year Award by BWF
The Indian ace shuttler duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got nominated for the Player of the Year Award by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Satwik-Chirag’s long list of achievements includes the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal, the 2022 Thomas Cup title and the 2022 World Championships bronze. Not only this, but they also won the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the Republic of China.
Tennis
I hope this girl beats me so I don't have to be here anymore: Naomi Osaka on quitting tennis
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka revealed had thought about quitting tennis to live a calmer life, amid her mental health crisis, as per a new biography. Tennis journalist, Ben Rothenberg, wrote a biography and titled it, 'Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice.' Daily Mail quoted an excerpt from the book as, "I just woke up one day in Charleston before one of my matches thinking what is the point of my life.”
The journalist went on to quote her, “I was thinking, should I just go buy a farm and grow crops. And then I had to go play my match and I was thinking in my head – like, wow, I hope this girl beats me so I don't have to be here anymore."
Kabaddi
Star Sports launches ‘India ki har saans mein Kabaddi’ with Balakrishna, Sudeep and Tiger
The official broadcaster of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Star Sports, has unleashed a campaign to mark the arrival of the tenth season. The campaign film is titled ‘India Ki Har Saans Mein Kabaddi' and features a trio of stars from Bollywood, Tollywood and Sandalwood. The star-studded campaign features Nandamuri Balakrishna, Kichcha Sudeep and Tiger Shroff together in a ‘battle of breaths’.
