CNN – Sports

By Wayne Sterling, CNN Clark Gillies, a Hockey Hall of Fame power forward and four-time Stanley Cup winner with the New York Islanders, died Friday, according to the National Hockey League. He was 67. No cause of death was given. “The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Clark Gillies, a tower of strength on

By Ben Morse, CNN Stefanos Tsitsipas had to dig deep to beat Benoit Paire in the third round of the Australian Open — so deep that immediately after he’d won, he didn’t even realize the match had ended. Facing three match points, Paire could only hit his forehand into the net, meaning Tsitsipas had advanced

By Ben Morse, CNN Steph Curry has achieved a lot in his NBA career: multiple league titles, two-time Most Valuable Player awards and numerous All-Star nominations. But surprisingly, in his illustrious career, Curry has never hit a buzzer-beater to win a game as time expired. Per ESPN, he has hit seven shots to win games

By David Close, CNN The American Hockey League (AHL) on Friday suspended San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik for 30 games for directing a racist gesture toward Boko Imama of the Tucson Roadrunners during a game earlier this month. Multiple reports describe Hrabik imitating monkey-like movements in the direction of Imama, who is Black, during

By Jack Bantock, CNN Tongan Pita Taufatofua says his father is safely home after the Olympic athlete was unable to make contact him following the “devastating” tsunami that hit the nation on Saturday. Earlier this week Taufatofua, who became widely recognized after being his country’s flagbearer at the Summer and Winter Olympics, told CNN that

By Nadine Schmidt and George Ramsay, CNN A top women’s handball team in Germany says it is sticking together after two hidden cameras were discovered in the players’ locker room earlier this week. According to TuS Metzingen, which competes in the Bundesliga, an individual has since been placed under urgent suspicion and their association with

By Jack Bantock, CNN On Wednesday, the English Football Association (FA) announced that they were looking into a yellow card received by an Arsenal player following reports of suspicious betting patterns. Yellow isn’t the only type of card proving problematic for Arsenal at the moment. Thomas Partey’s red card in Thursday’s Carabao Cup semifinal defeat

By Ben Church, CNN Defending champion Naomi Osaka has been knocked out of the Australian Open by unseeded American Amanda Anisimova. Osaka, a two time Australian Open champion, had gone a set up in the high quality match on Friday but failed to close it out, with the 20-year-old Anisimova completing her comeback in a

By Matias Grez, CNN Emma Raducanu suffered a surprise defeat in the second round of the Australian Open, being beaten 6-4 4-6 6-3 by world No. 98 Danka Kovinic. The 19-year-old Brit appeared to struggle with a blister on her hand throughout the match and required treatment on several occasions from the court doctor. With

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN Three judges who unanimously rejected Novak Djokovic’s bid to stay in Australia to contest the Australian Open have revealed their reasons for the ruling. In a written statement, the judges said it was not irrational for Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to eject the Djokovic due to concerns the unvaccinated Serbian star

By George Ramsay, CNN NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom says he would accept a visit to China — as long as he gets to see “the real China,” rather than “propaganda.” On Monday, at a press conference in Beijing, former NBA player Yao Ming had been asked about Freedom’s recent activism. Yao, now president of

By Ben Morse, CNN Tiger Woods has named Aaron Beverly as the recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption which will grant him entry to the 2022 Genesis Invitational. The Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption is awarded annually and represents “the advancement of diversity in the game of golf.” Woods is the host of the Genesis

By Wayne Sterling, CNN Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson isn’t the anonymous T-Rex skull buyer. In October 2020, a 39-foot T-Rex fossil — nicknamed “Stan” in acknowledgement of its discoverer Stan Sacrison who excavated the remains in 1992 — was sold to an anonymous buyer at a Christie’s live auction for a $31,847,500 fee, according to

By Travis Caldwell, CNN Lusia “Lucy” Harris, a star in women’s collegiate basketball during the 1970s and the first and only woman ever to be officially drafted by an NBA team, died Tuesday, according to a statement from her family as well as Delta State University. She was 66. “We are deeply saddened to share

By Alex Stambaugh and Ben Morse, CNN A fundraising campaign set up by Tonga’s Olympic flagbearer Pita Taufatofua has raised over $310,000 after Saturday’s massive volcanic eruption. Widely known for bearing his oiled up chest during the opening ceremonies at both the Summer and Winter Olympics, Taufatofua established a GoFundMe fundraising page, which CNN has

By Amy Simonson, Tina Burnside and Kevin Dotson, CNN Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Malik McDowell was arrested Monday in Florida on charges of public exposure, battery on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of justice with violence for resisting arrest, according to an incident report. A Broward County sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of

By David Culver and George Ramsay, CNN American basketball player Sonny Weems has been subjected to racial abuse from fans while playing in China. In a video circulating on social media, fans can be heard repeatedly shouting the “N” word and “get out of China” at 35-year-old Weems, who plays for the Guangdong Southern Tigers

By Ben Morse, CNN The Golden State Warriors have distanced themselves from comments made by Chamath Palihapitiya, a part owner who said that “nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs.” Palihapitiya made the comment on the “All-in Podcast” on Saturday, after co-host Jason Calacanis brought up US President Joe Biden’s “very strong” stance on

By Ben Morse, CNN NFL veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford got his first career playoff victory on Monday night as the Los Angeles Rams comfortably beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-11. Stafford, who is in his first season with the Rams after spending his first 12 with the Detroit Lions, threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns

By Matias Grez, CNN Ksenia Efremova hadn’t even turned three years old and her mother already had the feeling her daughter was destined to become a star. One afternoon when her older brother was practicing on the tennis court, Efremova picked up one of his rackets — as she would often do — and began

By John Sinnott, CNN The organizer of the Australian Open says the organization deeply regrets the impact that the Novak Djokovic saga has had on players competing in the first grand slam of the tennis season. Djokovic arrived back in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Monday after his deportation from Australia ended the world No. 1

By Christina Macfarlane, CNN Video produced by Celine Ramseyer, CNN South Africa’s World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi remembers the sound of hunger gnawing in his belly when he was young. So, the man from the townships can certainly empathize with the pain lockdown is inflicting on the less fortunate in his country. Kolisi, who last

By Ben Morse, CNN The Dallas Cowboys’ 2021 season couldn’t have ended in a more heartbreaking manner for fans, and they wasted no time in expressing that frustration. Shortly after the Cowboys’ 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in the NFC Wild Card game, video captured fans throwing trash at players and

By George Ramsay, CNN There are just weeks until the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the second Games to be held in the middle of the pandemic after last year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games following its Olympic debut in

By Ben Morse, CNN Reigning Australian Open women’s champion Naomi Osaka said she’s been keeping a journal to document how she’s been feeling before defending her title. The 25-year-old couldn’t have hoped for a better script for any potential entry she pens for January 17 as she won her opening match 6-3 6-3 against Colombian

By Julia Hollingsworth, Hilary Whiteman, Angus Watson, Ben Church and Hannah Ritchie, CNN The saga around Novak Djokovic’s participation in this year’s Australian Open finally reached its conclusion on Sunday after days of confusion. The tennis star departed Australia on an Emirates flight bound for Dubai after losing his legal challenge against a decision to

By Phil Black, Hannah Ritchie and Ben Rothenberg, CNN Tennis star Rafael Nadal has said decisions have “consequences,” and while he respects his close rival Novak Djokovic, those in the public eye “need to be responsible.” In an interview with CNN on Saturday, the 35-year-old, who is in Melbourne ahead of next week’s Australian Open,

By Jeevan Ravindran, CNN Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has announced he will step down as the country’s Test captain, following a series defeat against South Africa. In a statement posted to social media on Saturday, the batsman said his seven-year tenure had been comprised of “hard work, toil and relentless perseverance to take the team

By Ben Church, CNN Manchester City stretched its lead at the top of the English Premier League to 13 points after a 1-0 victory against Chelsea on Saturday. It was talisman Kevin De Bruyne who made the difference with a beautifully crafted shot from the outside of the box after 70 minutes. City has now

By Ben Church, CNN With the year’s first tennis grand slam fast approaching, the saga surrounding Novak Djokovic‘s visa looks set to continue right up to the moment play is scheduled to start on Monday. While players have been putting together their final preparations ahead of the Australian Open, all the questions have been about

By Christina Maxouris, CNN Tennis legend Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam doubles titles in her career, said Friday she has been diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer. In a Twitter post linking an ESPN article Evert co-wrote with ESPN journalist Chris McKendry, Evert said she wanted to

By Ben Church and Aleks Klosok, CNN The ongoing saga surrounding Novak Djokovic‘s participation at this year’s Australian Open took another twist on Friday and the world has been reacting to the decision to revoke the Serbian’s visa for a second time. Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke chose to cancel Djokovic’s visa again in order

By Dalal Mawad, CNN A French mechanic died in an accident on Friday during the Dakar Rally held in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement by Dakar Rally organizers. The statement said the accident, which involved an assistance vehicle and a local truck, killed 20-year-old Quentin Lavalée on the assistance liaison route. The passenger, Belgian

By Ben Morse and Jason Hanna, CNN The Houston Texans fired head coach David Culley Thursday after one season in charge, leaving the NFL with just one Black head coach after years of expressing its desire to increase diversity in top sideline jobs. The Texans went 4-13 during Culley’s sole season at the helm, all

By Helen Regan, Hilary Whiteman and Hannah Ritchie, CNN Novak Djokovic will be placed back in detention by Australian authorities on Saturday after his visa was revoked for a second time. Immigration minister Alex Hawke announced the decision to revoke the tennis star’s visa in a statement on Friday after days of deliberation about whether

By CNN sports staff The Confederation of African Football (CAF), African football’s governing body, said Thursday it was gathering “all the necessary reports from officials” after Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) game between Tunisia and Mali ended in chaos. Zambian official Janny Sikazwe appeared to initially call full-time on the Group F encounter in

By Ben Morse, CNN Forget Netflix and chill — it’s time to pitch and putt with a new docuseries. The streaming service announced on Wednesday it will be teaming up with the PGA Tour and golf’s major championships to release an “immersive documentary series.” The series will follow the lives and stories of some of

By CNN staff The Australian Open draw took place after an unexplained delay of more than an hour on Thursday, with top seed Novak Djokovic facing fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round. Djokovic, looking to win his 10th Australian Open title in Melbourne this month, is waiting for Australia’s immigration minister Alex Hawke

By Matias Grez, CNN Federico Valverde’s extra-time winner gave Real Madrid its 100th El Clasico victory over Barcelona and secured passage through to the Spanish Supercup final. The 248th clash between these two great rivals was played in Riyadh — the first to be played outside of Spain — with the Royal Spanish Football Federation

By Eoin McSweeney and Bear Hutchison, CNN Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxer and now the mayor of Kiev, has sent a strong warning to Russia about the presence of its troops near the Ukraine border saying “we prepare for any case.” “If escalation goes up … We have to be ready to defend our

By Ben Church, CNN The African Cup of Nations game between Tunisia and Mali ended in chaos on Wednesday after the referee blew the full-time whistle too early. Zambian official Janny Sikazwe appeared to initially call full-time after 85 minutes before then deciding to resume play. He then blew his whistle again to end the

By CNN staff Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open participation has provided a tumultuous backdrop to the tournament. The Serbian world No. 1 was detained in Australia last week over a visa and vaccination dispute, and on Tuesday released a lengthy statement addressing his movements in December 2020. On Sunday, the tennis star left the country after

By Ben Morse, CNN Former Turkey international Ahmet Calik has died at the age of 27, his former club Konyaspor confirmed on Tuesday. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our football player Ahmet Çalik, who has won the love of our fans and our city since the first day he came to our

By Jack Bantock, CNN Ja Morant scored a game-high 29 points to help fire the Memphis Grizzlies to an NBA-best 10th straight victory with a 116-108 defeat of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. The 2020 Rookie of the Year added five rebounds and a team-best eight assists as the Grizzlies survived a third quarter

By Ben Morse, CNN Joe Judge became the fifth NFL coach to be fired after he was relieved of his duties by the New York Giants on Tuesday. The team announced the decision to dismiss Judge just a day after senior vice president and general manager Dave Gettleman announced his retirement. “[Giants chairman and co-owner]

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Tennis star Novak Djokovic on Wednesday admitted he did not immediately isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 last month — but denied knowing he had the virus when attending public events. In a statement published to social media, he also apologized for an apparently false travel declaration, saying it had been

By Ben Church, CNN Kelechi Iheanacho scored a goal of real quality as Nigeria won its opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations against Egypt. The Leicester striker scored the winning goal in the first half, firing his half-volley high into net after pivoting exquisitely on the edge of the box. Considering his form

By George Ramsay, CNN Even by the standards of Novak Djokovic’s eventful tennis career — replete with trophies and jaw-dropping performances, but also peppered with controversy — the circumstances ahead of this year’s Australian Open have been extraordinary. “I see life as a great learning curve,” Djokovic told CNN in an interview last year, “and

By Wayne Sterling, CNN Rachel Balkovec will become the first woman to manage a minor league team. Balkovec will manage the Tampa Tarpons, the New York Yankees’ Low-A affiliate, according to MLB.com. She confirmed the historic news to the website on Sunday night. “I’m not the first woman to have a position in baseball, but

By Steve Almasy, CNN The Georgia Bulldogs won their first Division I football title since the 1980 season, upsetting the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night in Indianapolis. Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett completed 17 of 26 passes and threw two touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs

By Ben Morse and Wayne Sterling, CNN As is now tradition, the end of the NFL regular season spells the end of the road for some coaches’ or executives’ with their now former clubs. The Denver Broncos were the first team to make a change as, after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday,

By Jack Bantock, CNN After 941 days away from the game, it took Klay Thompson just 40 seconds to exorcise the demons of a torrid, injury-ridden absence. The five-time All-Star shooting guard — back on court for the first time since tearing his ACL in Game Six of the NBA Finals in 2019 — made

By Ben Church and Amy Woodyatt, CNN Nick Kyrgios says he hopes to take part in the Australian Open despite testing positive for Covid-19. The 26-year-old added he is feeling “healthy at the moment with no symptoms” after confirming his result on Instagram and withdrawing from the Sydney Tennis Classic tournament on Monday. The Australian

By Ben Morse, CNN And so, there were 14. After a wild Week 18 of regular season NFL action, the playoff picture was confirmed with the lucky 14 teams learning their match-ups as the day developed. There were twists and turns, with surprise losses and overtime wins, before a classic between the Las Vegas Raiders

By Helen Regan and Jessie Yeung, CNN World tennis No. 1 Novak Djokovic should be allowed to defend his men’s singles title at the Australian Open in Melbourne this month, after a judge quashed the government’s decision to cancel his visa and ordered him to be freed. Following hours of deliberations, technical glitches and arguments

By Wayne Sterling, CNN History was made in Australia Friday as Genevieve Beacom became the first woman to pitch in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The 17-year-old left-hander took the mound in the sixth inning for the Melbourne Aces in the team’s Melbourne Challenge Series game against the Adelaide Giants. She pitched a scoreless inning

By Ben Morse, CNN And so, it all comes down to this: the Los Angeles Chargers at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football. The winner qualifies for the NFL playoffs. The loser has a long off-season ahead, filled with questions to be answered. And although there is a scenario where both teams can

By Hannah Ritchie, Ally Barnard and George Ramsay, CNN An Australian government request to delay Novak Djokovic’s visa hearing by two days has been rejected, according to court documents published on Sunday. Djokovic is confined to a temporary detention facility in Melbourne as he mounts a legal challenge against the cancellation of his visa ahead

By Ben Morse, CNN The NFL season has never been bigger. For the first time in its history, the 2021 season saw teams play 17 regular season games, adding one game from the 16 games played in recent years. There have been two Week 18’s before — one in 1993 and one in 2001 —

By Matthew Foster, CNN Away from questions about whether the upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) would take place amid the pandemic, the tiny archipelago nation of Comoros has been preparing for its debut on the continent’s biggest stage. The achievement of qualifying for Africa’s biennial football tournament is difficult to overstate given the size

By Hannah Ritchie, CNN Novak Djokovic was granted a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open as he had recently recovered from Covid-19, documents published on Saturday by Australia’s Federal Circuit Court show. The development comes as the tennis World No. 1 is confined to a temporary detention facility in Melbourne as he mounts

By Aleks Klosok, Ben Church and Amy Cassidy, CNN The Australian Border Force (ABF) have detained top-flight tennis player Renata Voráčová over visa disputes, as the fallout from the Novak Djokovic turmoil continues to cause controversy ahead of the Australian Open. “We can confirm that the Czech tennis player Renata Voráčová is in the same

By George Ramsay, CNN Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has criticized the “really bad” treatment of Novak Djokovic as the world No. 1’s visa saga rumbles on. Djokovic has been transferred to Melbourne’s Park Hotel, a detention facility for refugees and asylum seekers, after his visa to enter Australia was blocked, according to CNN affiliates

By Jack Bantock, CNN The New York Knicks’ RJ Barrett sunk a breathtaking three-point buzzer beater to complete a dramatic turnaround against the Boston Celtics on Thursday. Having trailed by 25 points with just under four minutes of the second quarter remaining, a roaring second half from the hosts teed up a grandstand finish —

By Ben Morse, CNN Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and star quarterback Tom Brady addressed Antonio Brown’s departure from the team following Sunday’s incident in which Brown dramatically walked off the field mid-game against the New York Jets. The team released Brown on Thursday, not long after the wide receiver said in a

By Niamh Kennedy and George Ramsay, CNN Novak Djokovic is being “treated like a prisoner” by Australian authorities, his mother, Dijana Djokovic, told reporters during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on Thursday. World No. 1 Djokovic is thought to have been transferred to the Park Hotel in Melbourne after having his visa to enter