Kazuki Higa made history as the first golfer from Japan to win the Asian Tour order of merit after finishing seventh at the season-ending Saudi Open.
Higa carded a four-under-par 68 in Saturday’s final round at Dirab Golf and Country Club, near Riyadh, to finish on 16-under, seven behind the winner Bjorn Hellgren of Sweden.
It was enough to see Higa top the standings ahead of Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent.
“I am so, so happy. This is a great honour,” said the 30-year-old Higa.
“I just love playing golf. That’s what it’s about. I can’t wait to get home to see my family.”
Higa also earned an exemption into the British Open for his achievement.
The ultra-consistent Higa started the year with three top 10s in the Philippines, India and New Zealand.
But it was back-to-back wins in September at the Shinhan Donghae Open in South Korea and the Yeangder TPC in Taiwan that shot him up the standings.
A tie for second at the International Series Philippines in October propelled him to the top of the order of merit and he never looked back.
“I have worked very hard for this,” Higa said. “I felt that last year changed things, all the hard work started to pay off and it’s amazing to see it all pay off this week.” (JapanToday)
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a “monumental betrayal” after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
The governing body allocates 8% of tickets to national associations for games involving their team to sell to the most loyal fans.
And a list published by the German soccer federation revealed prices ranged from $180-$700 for varying group stage games. The lowest price for the final was $4,185 and the highest was $8,680.
Those group-stage prices are very different from FIFA’s claims of $60 tickets being available, while the target from United States soccer officials when bidding for the tournament seven years ago was to offer hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games.
Fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described the current prices as “extortionate.”
“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,” it said in a statement.
The English Football Association shared pricing information with the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) on Thursday evening, which showed that if a fan bought a ticket for every game through to the final it would cost just over $7,000.
FIFA said in September that tickets released through its website would initially range from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the final. But those prices are subject to change as it adopts dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup.
FIFA tickets are available in four categories, with the best seats in Category 1.
In the price list published by the German federation, there were only three categories.
The lowest priced ticket was $180 for Germany’s opening group game against Curacao in Houston. The lowest price for the semifinal was $920 rising to $1,125.
The FSE called on FIFA to immediately halt ticket sales via national associations “until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.”
The Associated Press approached FIFA for comment.
FIFA launched its third phase of widespread ticket sales Thursday, with fans now able to apply for specific matches for the first time through its “Random Selection Draw.”
Following last week’s draw for the 2026 tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, an updated schedule has been published.
That means fans know when and where the likes of Lionel Messi and Argentina will play. Previous ticket ballots were blind as the qualification period had not even been completed and the draw was yet to take place.
Now participating nations have been placed in groups, with their paths through the tournament determined. For instance, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could go on to meet in the quarterfinals in Kansas City if both Argentina and Portugal top their respective groups.
Not that fans are guaranteed to get tickets to the games they apply for.
The draw opened Dec 11 at 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT) and closes Jan 13, 2026.
FIFA says ticket applications can be made at any point during this window and the timing of entry will not impact the chances of success. Fans can apply via FIFA’s website for a maximum of four tickets per household per match and a maximum of 40 tickets throughout the tournament.
Fans will need a FIFA ID to apply for tickets and can pick which matches and which pricing category they want to apply for.
Successful applicants will be notified by email in February and charged automatically.
The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994 prices ranged from $25 to $475. In Qatar in 2022 prices ranged from around $70 to $1,600 when ticket details were announced.
Tickets for the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19 are already going for in excess of $11,000 on secondary resale sites.
For this tournament FIFA has also set up its own resale platform where it charges a 15% fee based on the total resale price.
FIFA said that closer to the tournament any remaining tickets will go on general sale on a first-come, first-served basis.
It did not reveal a time frame for the release of those remaining tickets. (JapanToday)
Three skiers from Russia and six from Belarus — including former Olympic and world champions — were approved Wednesday to compete in qualifying events for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games in February.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said it cleared the applications of the nine to get neutral athlete status and return to competitions for the first time since the full military invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago. FIS did not state if it rejected some applications, or how many.
Athletes and their entourages must not have publicly supported the war and not have ties to military or state security agencies.
Freestyle skier Hanna Huskova took gold in women’s aerials for Belarus at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and silver four years later in Beijing.
Anastasia Tatalina was a Big Air world champion for Russia in 2021, and was fourth in freeski slopestyle at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Russian cross-country skiers Savelii Korostelev and Dariya Nepryaeva also got neutral status ahead of World Cup races this weekend at Davos, Switzerland.
The Russian ski federation and athletes won a ruling last week at the Court of Arbitration for Sport forcing FIS to start processing applications for neutral status.
Russian athletes and team officials could face challenges getting visas to enter some countries that host qualifying events on the World Cup circuits in Alpine, cross-country and freestyle skiing, and snowboarding. (JapanToday)
Lionel Messi’s much-hyped tour of India got off to a rocky start Saturday with angry fans throwing bottles and attempting to vandalize a stadium after many of them failed to get more than just a glimpse of their hero.
The Times of India reported that many ticket-holders said that they failed to see Messi at all — either in person or on the stadium’s big screens — despite waiting for hours.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee apologized to the Argentine soccer star for the “mismanagement” of the event.
“I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium,” Banerjee wrote on social media, where she also apologized to fans who had expected more after paying for tickets.
Banerjee said a committee would be constituted to “conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident, fix responsibility, and recommend measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.”
Messi’s three-day “GOAT India Tour” was to bring the World Cup winner from Kolkata to Hyderabad and then Mumbai before concluding in New Delhi on Monday. He was joined by longtime teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul.
Earlier Saturday, Messi remotely “unveiled” a 21-meter statue of himself in Kolkata. (JapanToday)
Erling Haaland scored his 34th goal for club and country this season to give Manchester City a 2-1 win at Real Madrid on Wednesday as Arsenal maintained their perfect group stage record with a 3-0 victory at Club Brugge .
It was a second successive home defeat for Real following their 2-0 reverse against Celta Vigo at the weekend and heaped more pressure on coach Xabi Alonso, whose side have won just two of their last eight in all competitions.
For Haaland, though, this was a 21st goal in 21 City games this season and a 51st in 50 Champions League starts, while Nico O’Reilly scored his first goal in the competition.
Rodrygo gave Real, who were missing Kylian Mbappe, the lead just before the half-hour mark with a crisp shot across Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner.
But academy product O’Reilly equalised just seven minutes later, reacting quickest to prod home the loose ball from inside the six-yard box after Thibaut Courtois had saved Josko Gvardiol’s header.
And Haaland was able to fire City in front from the penalty spot on 43 minutes after VAR intervened to punish Antonio Rudiger for wrestling the Norwegian forward to the ground to prevent him reaching a cross.
It could have been worse for Real but Courtois redeemed himself somewhat for flapping at Gvardiol’s header with a crucial double save to deny Haaland and Rayan Cherki in quick succession as the half drew to a close.
It was a breathless end-to-end second half and Jude Bellingham could have done better than chip over the bar with only Donnarumma to beat, while Courtois made a fingertip save to deny Jeremy Doku.
Vinicius Jr. had a late chance to equalise but skied his volley after Donnarumma had come for and missed an inswinging corner.
Substitute Endrick also clipped the top of the bar with a header as Real pushed for a late equaliser.
Noni Madueke’s double helped Arsenal win a sixth straight Champions League match this season and close in on the last 16.
The Premier League leaders already have more points (18) than was needed last season to secure a top eight spot and direct qualification for the last 16, and they have two matches still to come.
Madueke’s two goals could not have been more different.
The first was a wonder goal in which he beat two players and thrashed in a long-range strike.
For the second he was teed up by Martin Zubimendi for a simple finish.
Brugge had put the Gunners under fierce first-half pressure but they crumbled after the second goal as Gabriel Martinelli added to their misery, bending the ball around the goalkeeper from outside the box.
Elsewhere, reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao but stayed third, behind only Arsenal and Bayern Munich, with City fourth.
Weston McKennie and Jonathan David scored the goals as Juventus overcame Pafos 2-0, while Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle shared a 2-2 draw, as did Borussia Dortmund and Bodo/Glimt.
Goals from Richard Rios and Leandro Barreiro gave Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s Napoli in a battle of the former Chelsea bosses.
Oscar Gloukh scored a brace as Ajax hit three late goals to claim a 4-2 win at Qarabag to finally open their account in the competition this season.
Victory took them off the bottom of the table and kept alive their slim hopes of making the play-offs, while Villarreal slumped to last position after a 3-2 home defeat to FC Copenhagen. (JapanToday)
Cremonese striker Jamie Vardy has been named as the Serie A player of the month for November, becoming the first English player to win the award.
The former Leicester City captain played three matches in the Italian top flight last month, scoring one goal against Juventus.
Fellow nominees for the award, which combines fan votes with statistical data, included AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, Napoli winger David Neres, Genoa’s Leo Ostigard and Nicolo Zaniolo of Udinese.
“Vardy is truly a player from another era,” Serie A chief executive Luigi de Siervo said.
“His arrival at Cremonese was greeted with great enthusiasm by all Serie A fans, and Vardy is repaying them with top-level performances, innate leadership and important goals, the result of the competitive spirit and shooting skills that have always distinguished him.”
In total, Vardy has scored four goals in 10 appearances for promoted Cremonese, who are ninth in Serie A.
He netted nine times in 35 Premier League games last season for Leicester as the Foxes were relegated to the Championship.
The Serie A player of the month award was introduced in 2019, with the winner decided using a rating system that uses data tracking software.
“This makes it possible to analyse crucial aspects such as movement without the ball and thus optimal movements, game choices, and the contribution to the technical and physical efficiency of the team,” a Serie A statement explained.
Other Englishmen to have played in the league since the award was introduced include AC Milan duo Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, former Manchester United captain Ashley Young and Tammy Abraham. (BBC)
Hours after announcing his defection to the Accord Party, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has been cleared for the gubernatorial primary election.
The Guardian reports that delegates are converging at the Oasis Event Hall in Osogbo for the primary of the Accord Party, of which Adeleke is expected to participate.
On Tuesday night, Adeleke announced his movement to the Accord Party, days after resigning his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, in a statement by Ibe Thankgod, the Chairman, Screening Committee of Accord, on Wednesday, Adeleke was said to have been screened and cleared for its governorship primary that is holding today.
The chairman of the committee, who is also the National Organising Secretary of the party, Thankgod, said the governor has fulfilled all the requisite requirements for nomination and participation at the primary.
“He said the committee subsequently cleared Governor Adeleke as the sole aspirant for the party’s governorship ticket and concluded all required documentations with relevant bodies.
The committee chairman then presented a certificate of clearance to the governor, hailing him as a worthy gubernatorial aspirant of the party.
Responding, Governor Adeleke expressed appreciation to the screening committee and the entire party leadership, noting his preparedness to lead the party to victory in 2026.
“I am ready for the primary and I am ready for the general elections. We are winning by God’s grace”, Governor Adeleke affirmed.
Other members of the committee included Abdurahaman Muhammed, Abdulahi Sani Muhammed and Mrs Awogbade Rachael,” the statement obtained in Osogbo noted.
Similarly, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Tuesday defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He announced his decision during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Fubara joins several governors who have also switched to the APC this year.
Recently, 17 members of the House of Assembly, loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike and led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, announced their defection from the PDP to the APC, thereby altering the balance of power in the legislature.
Meanwhile, the Kabiru Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the defection of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the move as a “self-inflicted injury” and a culmination of choices the governor “willingly embraced.”
In a statement issued Tuesday night by National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the PDP said Fubara’s exit merely affirmed the legal maxim volenti non fit injuria “to one who is willing, no harm is done.” (Guardian)
Liverpool snatched a 1-0 win away to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday without unsettled star Mohamed Salah, while Chelsea slipped to defeat against Atalanta and Barcelona overcame Eintracht Frankfurt.
Dominik Szoboszlai scored a late penalty as Liverpool snapped Inter’s 18-game unbeaten home run in Europe despite the absence of Salah, who was left out of the squad after his extraordinary public criticism of manager Arne Slot.
Szoboszlai drilled his spot-kick past Yann Sommer two minutes from time at the San Siro after Alessandro Bastoni was punished for tugging the shirt of substitute Florian Wirtz, clinching a much-needed win for the troubled Premier League champions.
“Huge result. We knew we were coming to a tough place, to a team that’s in a good moment. We had to show fight and dig in,” Liverpool defender Andy Robertson told Amazon Prime.
A fourth victory in six Champions League games bumped Liverpool up into the top eight to keep them in the hunt for direct qualification to the last 16 as they contend with the fallout of Salah’s weekend outburst.
The Egyptian forward said he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool during the club’s dip in form and no longer had a relationship with Slot.
“A tough situation. We’re talking about one of the greatest players to play for this club,” said Robertson. “Whatever has happened, happened. Internally, we’re all together.”
Chelsea lost 2-1 at Atalanta despite taking a first-half lead when Joao Pedro poked in a cross from Reece James.
Gianluca Scamacca headed Atalanta level after half-time and Charles De Ketelaere, who set up the equaliser, smashed in the winner for the Bergamo-based side on 83 minutes.
“We need to learn. We’re disappointed but we have to be focused on the next game,” Joao Pedro told TNT Sports.
“In the Champions League, if you concede one goal, and then another (soon), it is difficult to come back.”
Atalanta are third with 13 points, two adrift of leaders Arsenal and Bayern Munich, while Chelsea dropped down to 11th place.
Bayern came from behind to beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 as they bounced back from a loss to Arsenal last month.
Hosts Bayern fell behind to a Joshua Kimmich own-goal in the second half but Serge Gnabry and 17-year-old Lennart Karl led the fightback.
Gnabry swept in a corner from close range to equalise and Karl fired Bayern ahead as he controlled a pass and shot past Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva from a tight angle. Jonathan Tah bagged a third to seal the win.
Jules Kounde emerged as the unlikely hero for Barcelona as the France defender scored a pair of headers in a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Ansgar Knauff sent the visitors into a surprise lead but Kounde’s brace early in the second half swung the game in favour of Barcelona in their first Champions League match at Camp Nou since 2022.
“We wanted to start at the Camp Nou with a win, it was a tricky game,” Pedri told Movistar.
“We came back in the end, got the three points and we’re happy.”
Tottenham eased to a 3-0 home win against Slavia Prague courtesy of penalties from Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons after David Zima’s 26th-minute own-goal in north London.
Spurs climbed up to ninth and sit just a point behind Liverpool.
Mason Greenwood struck twice as Marseille held on to beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-2 in Brussels, while Folarin Balogun scored the only goal as Monaco edged Galatasaray 1-0.
Atletico Madrid won 3-2 at PSV Eindhoven with goals from Julian Alvarez, David Hancko and Alexander Sorloth.
Olympiacos earned their first win of the competition as Gelson Martins was on target in a 1-0 victory away to Kairat Almaty, who have just one point in their debut campaign. (JapanToday)
Roma missed the chance to join Inter Milan at the top of Serie A on Sunday after losing 1-0 at Cagliari, as Napoli host Juventus aiming for the summit.
Down to 10 men for most of the second half after Zeki Celik brought down Michael Folorunsho as the Cagliari midfielder bore down on goal, Roma left Sardinia with nothing due to Gianluca Gateano’s neat finish at a corner in the 82nd minute.
A second straight defeat leaves Gian Piero Gasperini’s fourth-placed team three points behind Inter who thumped Como 4-0 on Saturday night, and that gap to top spot could grow before the end of the day.
Napoli take on fierce rivals Juve with the chance to go one point ahead of Inter and deal a blow to former hero Luciano Spalletti.
The reigning champions face Spalletti, now Juve coach, in Naples for the first time since he led Napoli to a first league title in over three decades in 2023. (Guardian)
Iran and Egypt have both objected to plans by local organisers in the United States to brand their 2026 World Cup group-stage match as an event supporting the LGBTQ community.
The organising committee in Seattle, Washington, where the fixture is scheduled to take place next year, had previously announced its intention to hold a “Pride Match” coinciding with the northwestern city’s Pride Weekend in late June.
Following last week’s FIFA tournament draw, Egypt and Iran are now slated to face off in Seattle on June 26, the Friday before.
The head of Iran’s Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, was quoted by local news agency ISNA as saying that Tehran and Cairo had both raised “objections against the issue”, which he labelled an “irrational move that supports a certain group”.
Taj did not mention the specific branding of the fixture.
On Monday, Iranian state television said Tehran would “appeal” to FIFA over the matter.
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran under Islamic law and can be punishable by death.
In a statement, the Egyptian Football Association said it had sent a formal letter to FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, rejecting “in absolute terms” any activities linked to LGBTQ support during the match.
The EFA said such initiatives would clash with “the cultural, religious and social values” of both Egypt and Iran and urged FIFA to ensure the match would remain focused solely on football.
In Egypt, homosexuality is not expressly outlawed, but is often punished under loosely worded laws prohibiting “debauchery”.
The EFA cited FIFA’s statutes on political and social neutrality, arguing that matches should not be used to promote causes that are “sensitive or of a contentious nature”.
The 2026 World Cup will mark Iran’s seventh participation in the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since 1980, following a hostage crisis in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran had initially opted out of Friday’s draw to protest the US refusal to grant visas to several members of its delegation but eventually reversed the decision.
On Tuesday, Taj said some Iranian players might face visa problems over their service in the Iranian military, which includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — designated a “terrorist organisation” by the US in 2019.
“For the World Cup, we must work on having replacement options, and we have already started that,” he said. (Punch)
English