Icons like Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba have made a name for themselves playing overseas.
Yuri Kochetkov/EPA
Africa is perfectly capable of competing with the rest of the world on fields and tracks, and in organisational terms too.
Galen Rupp embraces Coach Salazar after winning the 10,000-meter event last year.
Reuters
The unfolding doping scandal involving Alberto Salazar and the Nike Oregon Project follows the same plot as that of Lance Armstrong and the US Postal Service cycling team.
“I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining”
David Davies / PA Wire/Press Association Images
It was designed as a way of achieving a result from rain-affected matches, but the Duckworth-Lewis method is not fit for purpose. Here’s a suggested replacement.
Ouch.
Shutterstock
Drug testing has improved but athletes are finding new ways to get around the rules and the technology.
Does training relentlessly and regularly lead to greatness?
"Nine" via www.shutterstock.com
Parents want to simultaneously support and push their kids. But when it comes to sports, this mentality can backfire in subtle ways.
Millions tune in to the Women’s World Cup, but how many follow teams at the club level?
Ina Fassbender/Reuters
The Women’s World Cup has become a hugely popular, global event. But what’s happening at the club level?
Even for middle-class families, the growing costs of youth sports can be a huge burden.
'Baseball' via www.shutterstock.com
In a $5 billion industry, there’s no longer a level playing field.
At the youth level, the long-term effects of football hits aren’t known.
Brian J. McDermott/flickr
When pro football players like Chris Borland quit, it should send a strong message to parents. But there are a host of issues, besides health, to consider.
The FBI’s net may fail to ensnare FIFA’s “teflon don,” but it could inspire other probes.
Reuters
Corruption at the pinnacle of sports sets a tone for all the rest. Targeting its roots is the right thing to do no matter what comes of the FBI’s investigation.
Looks pretty bad from where we stand.
EPA/Justin Lane
Football is a huge deal in Europe but less so in the states. So why did it take action from Loretta Lynch to topple FIFA?
How long before we start designing our future athletes from scratch – before they are even born?
A breakthrough in genetic of the human embryo raises the question of whether we want to create designer babies with greater athletic abilities.
It’s hard for a human to keep an eye all the players’ performance in any game, such as this typical AFL match at the MCG in Melbourne. So let the machines do all the work.
Flickr/Sascha Wenninger
When it comes to keeping an eye on all the action in sport a coach can only see so much. But machine learning can crunch all the data and look for improvements.
The Green’s need to be more radical with their plans for sport.
Peter Byrne/PA
The potential of sport is overlooked in the Green’s manifesto.
The NFL’s winning formula has made it the most popular and profitable professional sport.
Football closeup via www.shutterstock.com
It turns out, there are few benefits to remaining nonprofit, but many reasons to give it up.
Floyd Mayweather, Jr and Manny Pacquiao will face off on Saturday.
Steve Marcus/Reuters
A perfect storm of personalities, demand and money has created unprecedented hype. How should the media respond?
A judge has claimed bridge exercises the “brain muscle”.
European Bridge League/flickr
A recent court ruling paved the way for the card game bridge to be classified as a sport. But don’t rely on the judge’s understanding of biology.
Lib Dems keep sport on the sidelines.
Paul Townsend
Lib Dems want to “build a healthier society”, but hardly address physical activity.
The real game gets filtered by the imaginary.
OlegDoroshin / Shutterstock.com
Football games are now watched through a haze of statistics, generated by betting, fantasy football and video games.
Bend it like Miliband.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
Labour hasn’t made any new evident spending pledges for sports. Is it failing to see sport as a crucial part of culture?
The SNP manifesto only mentions sports in two places.
Chris Radburn/PA
The SNP should acknowledge the role sport could have in many of their manifesto pledges.