Syrian athletes train twice as hard for Olympics due to COVID-19 restrictions, sanctions

Libya’s national team slid in the ranks in the group stage for the World Cup qualifiers after suffering a 3-0 defeat against Egypt on Monday. Fans packed squares in the country’s east and west, heartbroken as a defeat on the home front was sealed by a third goal from Ramadan Sobhi in the second half. Egypt scored twice near halftime in Benghazi through Ahmed Fotouh and Mostafa Mohamed, the team’s second straight win over Libya at the start of new coach Carlos Queiroz’s tenure.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro says he was prevented from seeing a football match in the city of Peruibe when he could not provide a Covid pass. The mandate applies for access to popular tourist spots and other public spaces such as cinemas, theaters, gyms, museums, sports stadiums and conference venues -- but not restaurants, bars or shopping malls. Brazil had a late start with coronavirus vaccination but is now the country with the fourth-most doses administered.

Thirty-one-year-old Lina Fayyad jabs and sprawls with a male Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter as she prepares for her upcoming match in the UAE Warriors Arabia Championship. As the only professional female MMA fighter in Jordan, Fayyad is a member of an all-men's team, 'Gladiators', with whom she trains and competes in regional and international championships as she has no local counterparts. The young fighter, dubbed as the "fierce savage" has been engaging in combat sports since 2012 thanks to the support of her father - a former boxer - who encouraged her to pursue it.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will assess the need for harsher sanctions in response to a racist incident in Ukraine and plans to pressure leagues around the world to amend their rule books to define sanctions for racist behaviour, the new IIHF president said. Luc Tardif took office as head of the IIHF a day before the hockey world was rattled by footage of Andriy Deniskin, a forward at HC Kremenchuk in the Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL), taunting HC Donbass defenceman Jalen Smereck, who is Black, by pretending to peel and eat a banana. Smereck, 24, took a leave of absence after the incident. HC Donbass announced on Sunday it had reached a mutual agreement to terminate the American's contract.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday. ⁣

Chinese and foreign figure skaters train ahead of the 2021 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy, which will be held in Beijing this week as a test event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. All journalists and Winter Olympics staff are required to wear masks inside the stadium as Covid-19 prevention measures.

Three sisters of Diego Maradona - Claudia Nora 'Cali' Maradona, Ana Estela Maradona and Rita Mabel 'Kitty' Maradona - were summoned to testify as witnesses Wednesday at the office of Argentine prosecutors, who are investigating the cause of the soccer star's death, the judicial sources told EFE.

Thirteen couples competed in the North American Wife Carrying Championship on Sunday in Newry, Maine, in which husbands run a 278-yard (254 meters) obstacle-filled course carrying their wives, in hopes of winning the wife's weight in beer and five times her weight in cash. The winning couple, Jerome and Olivia Roehm, took home the prize for the third consecutive time. "This year it was a really tough. We went up, I think, higher than we've done in the past, so running up that hill was tough," said Jerome. In addition to the beer and cash, the two were entered into the world championship held in Finland next summer.  

Egyptian female soccer coach, Farida Salem, started her own academy to help aspiring women footballers achieve their dreams and challenge stigma and social boundaries in a male-dominated sport.

Allyson Felix says she is proud of fellow sports stars speaking out on mental health issues, although more has to be done to support athletes including those with young children. Felix was speaking shortly before being confirmed as Sportswoman of the Year at the Annual Salute to Women awards in New York. Tennis player Naomi Osaka, who spoke about her mental health problems earlier this year, was given the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. Felix, 35, is now the most decorated female track and field athlete of all time at the Olympics, and no American has won more than her 11 medals, which included a gold and a bronze in Tokyo.

Amid reports that EA may be severing ties with FIFA, and are looking to rename their annual football series, it has come out that FIFA are asking for more money to retain the license.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Saturday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.⁣