Photo: Arsenal’s German defender Shkodran Mustafi is closing in on a move to Galatasaray
(Credit: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency)

Athletics

Dalilah Muhammad has been named the female World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on December 2. The 29-year-old American broke the world record in the 400m hurdles twice last year, first with a 52. 20 performance at the US Championships in July to eclipse a mark which had stood since 2003. Muhammad broke it again at the World Championships Doha, clocking 52.16 in one of the championships’ most eagerly-awaited finals to claim the world title for the first time.

World record breaker Dalilah Muhammad crowned World Athletes of the Year (Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil CC)

British Olympic chiefs met the sprinter Adam Gemili on January 10 in an attempt to thrash out a compromise over the legal dispute over athletes’ commercial rights amid fears that the organisation’s income is under threat. Gemili is leading a group of athletes, who include Sir Mo Farah, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Laura Muir, who have threatened legal action against the British Olympic Association, demanding more freedom to publicise their sponsors around the time of the Tokyo Games this summer.

Cricket

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has agreed to a tour of Pakistan this year, including test matches, after its concerns over security were allayed. The Pakistan Cricket Board announced that the teams will play three T20 matches, a one-day international and two test matches. Reuters reported that the series is being split into three as part of security measures – the T20 matches will be in Lahore from January 24 to 27, the first test will be in Rawalpindi on February 7 to 11, and the One Day International (ODI) and second test will be in Karachi April 3 to 9.

Australia’s Usman Khawaja has taken a shot at selectors over his harsh axing from Australia’s ODI squad to tour India in January. Khawaja’s omission came despite him being the second-highest run-scorer in the one-day format, and his strong World Cup campaign.
“They can’t really tell me to score more runs because I’m one of the highest run-scorers in international cricket,” Khawaja said. The 33-year-old has averaged 49.31 with a strike rate of 84.89 in one-dayers this year, with Australian captain Aaron Finch the only man to currently hold better numbers. Meanwhile, Khawaja’s 398 runs at an average of 79.60 for the Bulls in the Marsh Cup were the fourth strongest figures in the competition.

Football

Liverpool star Sadio Mané has been named the African Footballer of the Year on January 7, beating team-mate Mohamed Salah to the award and winning it for the first time in his career. He also beat Manchester City ace Riyad Mahrez to the gong. The Senegal international was in sensational form in 2019 helping Liverpool to second in the Premier League and Champions League glory. Mane netted 22 Premier League goals in the 2018/19 season and shared the Golden Boot with Salah and Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Premier League (England): Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko has been ruled out until April after having knee surgery. Sissoko, 30, injured the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during Spurs’ 1-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year’s Day.  The France international has featured in 20 of Spurs’ 21 games this season, scoring twice. The club said his recovery will be monitored with “a view to returning to training in early April.”

Hamza Choudhury has admitted that the Leicester City squad are “scared to celebrate” thanks to the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to the Premier League. Three goals by Leicester were disallowed against Southampton, the team lost 2-1 to Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side on January 11. Everton have made Oumar Niasse (Senegal), Cuco Martina (Netherlands) and Cenk Tosun (Turkey) available to raise funds for new signings. According to the Daily Star, the Toffees are unlikely to spend big as they are expected to announce record losses and need to reduce the size of their squad.

La Liga (Spain): Zinedine Zidane cemented his place as Real Madrid’s most successful coach leading the club to a ninth final, and winning the Spanish Super Cup, beating Atlético Madrid 4-1 on penalties on January 10. The Frenchman has never lost a final during his managerial career – and won the three Champions League finals he oversaw, as well as two European Super Cup finals, two Club World Cup finals and one Spanish Super Cup. Zizou’s second Super Cup title is his tenth trophy with Real Madrid and puts him just four trophies behind equalling Miguel Muñoz’s record of 14 as the most successful coach in club history at Madrid.

January Transfers: Shkodran Mustafi could soon be on his way to Galatasaray with his agent set to fly to Turkey for talks with the club, according to reports. The Arsenal centre back has started just once this season, becoming the forgotten man at the Emirates after falling way down the pecking order. Former Gunners manager Unai Emery dropped the German after several error-strewn displays in the heart of defence last season as they missed out on top four once again, and Mikel Arteta has kept the centre back away from his starting XI too.

Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begović has joined Serie A side AC Milan on loan for the remainder of the season. Rotherham United have signed winger Hakeeb Adelakun from Championship side Bristol City on loan until the end of the season.

Bolton Wanderers have signed Muhammadu Faal from non-league club Enfield on an 18-month deal and brought in Manchester United’s Ethan Hamilton on loan.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp wants to sign £85 million (€100 million) rated Barcelona’s forward Ousmane Dembele, according to reports in Spain. The Frenchman has contended with injury problems during his time at Camp Nou since joining from Borussia Dortmund for £112. 5m in August 2017. Karim Benzema has signed a one-year contract extension with Real Madrid as the French striker commits his future at the Bernabeu.

Hockey

Pakistan men’s hockey team will participate in only two international events in the 2020, according to the recently published schedule by the Pakistan Hockey Federation.)
The two international tours include playing in the 29th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup from April 11-18 in Malaysia, while the second event will take place from November 17-27 in Bangladesh namely Men’s Asian Champions Trophy. Pakistani men’s team was unable to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo.

Mixed Martial Arts

UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman produced a dramatic late stoppage to defeat trash-talking challenger Colby Covington in the final minute of their main-event bout at UFC 245 in Las Vegas on December 12. After a breathless encounter, Usman finally broke down Covington in the last round, dropping him twice with two huge punches before forcing referee Marc Goddard to call off the contest as he unloaded a barrage of ground strikes. The build-up to the bout was an ill-tempered one, with Covington goading and insulting Usman over the past year. And while the pair scuffled in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas back in March, Usman maintained a composed exterior throughout fight week.

Squash

WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship (Dec 15-21), Washington DC, USA: Egypt have retained the world team title, fulfilling their top seeding by beating second seeds England in the final. It was the fifth final between the two powerhouse nations since 2005 – and the 2-0 victory brings the number of titles won by Egypt to five. 23 nations have been competing in the 26th edition of the championships, held in the US for the first time in the event’s 52-year history.