LONDON: Two adjacent transparent bins in London became the venue for a silent but heated debate in 2015, with smokers depositing their stubbed-out butts to settle a burning question: who was the best soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? As a way to encourage people to use bins for their butts, the biggest career rivalry in …

LONDON: Sporting Kansas City announced a mutual parting with interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin on Tuesday. Zavagnin, a former player and assistant coach who has been with the team for 26 seasons, took over when Peter Vermes was fired on March 31 after an 0-5-1 start to the 2025 season. Zavagnin, 51, and Sporting KC finished the season in last …

LIVERPOOL: Troubled Liverpool’s miserable season spiralled further into turmoil as PSV Eindhoven swept to a stunning 4-1 win at Anfield in the Champions League on Wednesday. Arne Slot’s side trailed to Ivan Perisic’s early penalty and Dominik Szoboszlai’s equaliser did nothing to galvanise the Reds. Second-half goals from Guus Til and Couhaib Driouech, who netted twice, condemned the woeful Premier …

DOHA: Max Verstappen is seeking a hat-trick of wins at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend as this year’s Formula One world championship reaches boiling point in the Arabian Gulf. But he will know, better than most, that even with luck on his side he is unlikely to overhaul a 24-point deficit that separates him from McLaren’s Lando Norris as …

In a bittersweet moment for Pakistan sport, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi formally announced his retirement from professional tennis on Monday night, during the opening ceremony of the ATP Challenger Pakistan in Islamabad. The first ATP Challenger tournament ever held in the country. Qureshi, 45, who also serves as president of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), said staging the international event on home …