The Olympic torch relay will now start its journey March 25, 2021, from the J-Village national training centre in Fukushinma prefecture, and then transverse all 47 prefectures across Japan over

Spain’s 12-time champion Rafael Nadal encountered few problems as he started the French Open with a three-set win over Belarusian Egor Gerasimov. Nadal, 34, wrapped up a 6-4 6-4 6-2

Thiem took the upper hand in his match against former world number three Cilic when he broke in the ninth game on his way to sealing the first set. Cilic,

Liverpool’s new £45m signing Diogo Jota grabbed a home debut goal as the champions demonstrated their determination to retain an iron grip on their Premier League crown by coming from

Lionel Messi scored a penalty as Ronald Koeman’s era as Barcelona boss began with a comfortable La Liga win over Villarreal. Ansu Fati was the game’s outstanding player and scored

Frank Lampard ordered Chelsea to cut out the mistakes as his side scored a 93rd-minute equaliser to complete an astonishing comeback after trailing West Brom 3-0 at The Hawthorns. The

Nigerian-born New Zealander, Israel Adesanya, on Sunday shut his opponent and critics up, after a commanding victory in his UFC 253 middleweight title match against Brazilian Paulo Costa. Adesanya and

Real Madrid won a five-goal thriller with Real Betis in La Liga as the video assistant referee took centre stage. Federico Valverde put Madrid ahead from close range but Aissa

Reigning African champions Algeria have replaced Cote d’Ivoire as the opponents of the Super Eagles in the first of two international friendly matches arranged by the Nigeria Football Federation to

UEFA will allow up to five substitutions to be made by teams in all European club and international matches this season, it announced Thursday, although a decision has yet to

Javi Martinez scored the winner in extra time to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup in Budapest on Thursday. Bayern were taken to

Anthony Joshua will vacate his WBO belt if that meant a fight with Tyson Fury was easier to facilitate, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, announced Thursday. The Sagamu-born British heavyweight boxer

Leicester City Manager, Brendan Rodgers, is yet to come to terms with the recent groin injury that will keep Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, out of action for almost 12

Rafael Nadal, who is seeking a record-extending 13th French Open title and a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam singles crown, was handed a relatively tough path to this year’s final at

AC Milan have confirmed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has tested positive for Covid-19 and will be taking in a period of quarantine. The 38-year-old must self-isolate after seeing it revealed that

Chelsea have announced the signing of Edouard Mendy from Rennes, with the goalkeeper joining on a five-year deal at a cost of £22 million ($29m). The move has been in

Ferdinand Duruoha Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been excluded in the final shortlist for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award for first time in 10 years, with

Serie A side AS Roma have been penalised with a 3-0 defeat for irregularly fielding player Amadou Diawara in the 0-0 draw against Hellas Verona last weekend, the league said

Tyson Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has suggested the trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder could yet take place outside of the UK and USA. The third WBC heavyweight championship fight between

Ansu Fati has signed a new long-term contract at Barcelona which includes a €400 million (£367m/$468m) buy-out clause. Fati, who will now wear the No.22 shirt vacated by Arturo Vidal,