Mesut Özil is slowly disappearing from China. An online forum dedicated to him has closed. He has been scrubbed from the version of Pro Evolution Soccer, the video game, that is available in the country. Arsenal’s last Premier League game, at home to Manchester City, was not broadcast on Chinese television. It is not clear, […] More
DOHA, Qatar — Finding a way to accommodate soccer’s free-flowing, alcohol-infused fan culture with the traditions and religious beliefs of an overwhelmingly Muslim country like Qatar remains one of the significant challenges facing the emirate as it prepares to host soccer’s World Cup in 2022. Just ask Walid Shafiey. A Muslim who is strict about […] More
The explosion of young black quarterbacks with phenomenal athletic ability and passing acumen has become the rage of the N.F.L. As defenses in the league have become more athletic, offenses have made an adjustment at the sport’s most important position. Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award last […] More
With the N.F.L. schedule shifting from one game on Thursday to three games on Saturday, the shape of Week 16 is a bit different from the rest of the season, and the stakes are awfully high for the teams still trying to make the playoffs. Eight of the 12 postseason teams are already known, but […] More
DOHA, Qatar — To make it to the big game, the Saudi soccer fan resorted to unusual measures. He first flew to Kuwait, where he told his parents he was going on vacation. Then he boarded a plane to Qatar, the site of a major soccer tournament this week. Officially, it was a forbidden journey: […] More
CARSON, Calif. — It is the second quarter of the Los Angeles Chargers’ home game with the Minnesota Vikings and the fans are a cheering, chanting, delirious mass. One of their defenders has just scooped up a fumble and rumbled into the end zone for a touchdown. The defender runs to the stands and jumps […] More
The Jacksonville Jaguars fired their top executive, Tom Coughlin, on Wednesday, parting ways with him a little more than a day after the N.F.L. players union won a fight to overturn millions of dollars in fines he had imposed. Coughlin — who spent most of his career as a coach, winning two Super Bowls at […] More
One of the world’s most-watched soccer matches was played amid heavy security Wednesday night as the Spanish authorities sought to keep Catalonia’s separatist movement from disrupting the game between host Barcelona and Real Madrid. While the game in Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium began without incident, some riot police clashed with protesters in the streets outside, […] More
