Sports

Saudi Arabia's enormous investment in everything from football to snowboarding has been one of sport's major themes in the last decade. The oil-rich Gulf state offered astronomical wages to footballers in the twilight of their careers, won the right to host football's World Cup after developing strong ties with FIFA, bought a Premier League club, split the golf world and sought to host all manner of events, from snooker, through women's tennis to wrestling. The splurge was tied to the country's recently adjusted Vision 2030, a strategy to diversify its interests away from oil, and is widely considered to be a form of sportswashing, by which a country uses sports to distract from allegations of human rights abuses.  Which sports has Saudi Arabia withdrawn from? The most high-profile wit...

Strolling out to Notorious B.I.G.'s Hypnotize for his matches, Hossein Vafaei looks right at home on snooker's biggest stage.  It's been a long time coming.  For years, diplomatic red tape stalled his career, but he's now making up for lost time at the age of 31.  At the 2026 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, England, he became the first Iranian to reach the quarterfinals of the sport's top tournament, stunning world No.1 Judd Trump along the way before bowing out on Wednesday.  "I wasn't nervous, I enjoyed every moment. I was born for these kinds of situations," he said.  "I'm looking forward to playing anyone, I'm not scared of anyone and all of them know that. There’s no pressure, so why should I be worried?"  While that confidence is a new addition, his ability was never i...

After years of fleeing, fighting, advocating and training, Afghanistan's women have won the right to compete for football's biggest prizes as their country's official national team. An unprecedented decision made by world football's governing body, FIFA, in Toronto on Tuesday paves the way for the current squad to try to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and then future World Cups and Asian Cups. It is another huge step for a team who have had to fight for their right to play, with the Taliban-run football association refusing to sanction an Afghanistan national women's team. "It's something really huge for us, to show the world that Afghan women and girls are capable of doing amazing things," national team goalkeeper Elaha Safdari told DW.  "It's a hard slap to the face of t...

While the impact of last week's new "Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women's) Category in Olympic Sport" has focused largely on trans athletes, medical experts and Olympians say the impact of the ban will be felt more keenly by those with differences in sexual development (DSD).  New Zealander Laurel Hubbard is the only recorded trans athlete in Olympic history. The weightlifter failed to record a successful lift in the women's +87 kilograms weightlifting in the delayed 2020 Olympics and crashed out early. South Africa's Caster Semenya was not at those Games in Tokyo to defend her 800-meter title from Rio in 2016 and London 2012. She fell foul of a tweaked World Athletics (then the IAAF) policy that female athletes must lower their testosterone levels below the prescribed 5 nmol/...

The outcome was decided in the penultimate round. A draw against his closest rival, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, was enough for Javokhir Sindarov to win the World Chess Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. "Every round was very, very tough, and the past week was the hardest of my life," the new chess superstar said after his breakthrough victory. "I slept really badly and I'm glad it's over." Winning the Candidates Tournament means Sindarov, 20, will now face the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh of India for the World Chess Championship title in late 2026. With Gukesh just 19, it will be a duel between two young stars from the emerging chess nations of India and Uzbekistan. Chess stars reaching peak earlier Sindarov, who became a grandmaster at the age of 12 and has been in impre...

A little tired but with a smile on her face, Kathrin Marchand arrives for her first training session of the day. Together with her rowing partner Valentin Luz, the para-athlete will spend the first few hours of the day on the water in a double scull. A few quick stretches, and then they're off. "Five years ago, I never would have thought I'd be rowing this much again," Marchand told DW. "I consider it a privilege that I can still compete at the elite level." Now 35, Marchand made her Olympic debut in 2012 in London as part of the German women's eight. Four years later, she competed for the second time at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Marchand made her Olympic debut at the London Games in 2012 (seen here) and also competed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016Image: Rainer Jensen/dpa/picture a...