Sport

The governing body of women's tennis took the decision after Peng made an allegation of sexual abuse against a Chinese official. WTA chairman Steve Simon said he worried about player safety at tournaments in China.

Mercy Tchawalla gives sports classes and advises overweight women in Lome. She helps women build self-esteem.

A video distributed by the International Olympic Committee is not enough to reassure the tennis world. The Women's Tennis Association is suspending all tournaments in China until it is sure that doubles star Peng Shuai is safe and sound, following the 35-year-old Peng's quickly deleted post on Chinese social media last month denouncing sexual assault by a former vice premier. How far will the ripple effects go?

England chalked up their biggest ever competitive victory with a 20-0 humiliation of Latvia in a Women's World Cup qualifier as Ellen White broke the Lionesses's scoring record on a busy night for the scorekeeper at the Keepmoat Stadium on Tuesday. White bagged a hat-trick to take her tally to 48 from 101 caps for England, beating Kelly Smith's mark by two goals. Ten different players found the back of the net in a one-way encounter with 21-year-old Lauren Hemp striking four times for her first goals with England.

Argentina's Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world for a record-stretching seventh time on Monday (November 29), beating Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho to lift soccer's most prestigious trophy yet again. The forward added to his 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019 trophies after winning the Copa America for the first time with his country last July. Messi, who joined Paris St Germain on a free transfer from Barcelona during the close season after finishing as La Liga's top scorer with the Spanish club, collected 613 points, with Bayern Munich's Lewandowski, named best striker on Monday, getting 580.

Novak Djokovic's father Srdjan does not think that his son will compete at the Australian Open because of COVID-19 vaccination rules in Australia.

Napoli unveiled a statue of club great Diego Maradona to mark the first anniversary of his death at the start of their Serie A match against Lazio on Sunday. Napoli put on a dazzling display, storming to a 4-0 win over Lazio on Sunday to move three points clear at the top of Serie A. Maradona died on Nov. 25 last year and to mark the anniversary, Napoli unveiled a statue inside the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium pre-match and wore shirts with the Argentine's face on them for the Lazio clash.

After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, thousands of people were evacuated to Europe. Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Nilofar Bayat and her husband are now living in the Spanish city of Bilbao - making a fresh start on the court.

Manchester United have made contact with former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde about becoming the club's interim manager, according to media report. United are looking for an interim manager to suceed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Valverde, 57, is one of a few candidates being considered. Valverde has been out of work since leaving Barcelona in January 2020.

France and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema was found guilty of complicity in the attempted blackmail of a former international team mate over a sex tape on Wednesday and sentenced to a one-year suspended jail term. He was also fined 75,000 euros ($84,170). Benzema's lawyer said the player would appeal against the verdict.

Crowd problems put future of French football at risk, says minister

FIFA held an official ceremony on Sunday (November 21) to mark one year to go until the opening match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the tournament, played for the first time in a northern hemisphere winter, rapidly taking shape. The opening match will take place on Nov. 21 in the 60,000 capacity Al Bayt Stadium. Kickoff will no doubt come as some relief to organizers as the football takes centre stage, shifting the limelight away from the numerous off-pitch issues, such as labour rights for migrant workers, that have surrounded the event.