Category: 6. Sports

What is the format for the 2025/26 UEFA Women’s Champions League?

The new format for the upcoming campaign will see clubs participate in a 18-team league phase containing all qualified sides, as opposed to split into groups.

Under the new format, teams will now play six different teams, with half at home and half away.

The sides who finish in the top four will automatically qualify for the knockout rounds, which begins with the quarter-finals, while the following eight teams will compete in a two-legged play-off to progress to the next stage.

Places 13 to 18 will be eliminated.

From the last eight onwards, it will continue in its existing format of two-legged ties up until the final.

Nine teams have already been confirmed for the league phase, which are:

• Arsenal
• Lyon
• Paris Saint-Germain
• Bayern Munich
• Wolfsburg
• Barcelona
• Chelsea
• Benfica
• Juventus

The nine other spots will be taken up by those who are successful in the third qualifying rounds. Manchester United, Real Madrid, Paris FC, Eintracht Frankfurt are all in the mix to book their spot in the league.

Lausanne, Switzerland – 25 August 2025 — The International World Games Association (IWGA) is pleased to announce the seven athletes who have been elected to serve on the IWGA Athletes Committee for the 2025–2029 term.

Following the voting period held during The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China, from 3–16 August, accredited athletes from across the Games cast their votes online to select their representatives.

This election reinforces the IWGA’s ongoing commitment to athlete inclusion and participation in the governance of The World Games.

The seven elected members of the Athletes Committee are:

• Xaioxaio (Sunny) Lai (CHN) – Wushu
• Sandra Sánchez (ESP) – Karate
• Petra Senánszky (HUN) – Underwater Sports
• Catherine Phillips (AUS) – Flying Disc
• Andrea Busa (HUN) – Kickboxing
• Yves Martial Tadissi (HUN) – Karate
• Max Poschart (GER) – Underwater Sports

These athletes were chosen from a pool of 20 candidates representing a wide range of sports and countries, all nominated by their respective International Federations. Their election ensures a diverse and experienced Committee that can effectively represent athlete interests across the IWGA Family.

In line with the IWGA Constitution, up to two additional members may be appointed by the IWGA President by October 2025 to ensure balanced representation in terms of gender, sport, and geographical diversity.

Once the final composition of the Athlete Committee is confirmed, the first meeting of the new Athletes Committee will be held, during which the members will elect their Chair. The elected Chair will also serve as a member of the IWGA Executive Committee for the duration of the term, from 2025 to 2029.

José Perurena, IWGA President and Chair of the Electoral Committee, commented on the outcome:

“I extend my congratulations to the seven elected athletes and thank all the candidates who stood for election. The strong engagement of athletes during the voting period shows how important this Committee is for the future of The World Games. We look forward to working closely with the newly elected members.”

Jan Fransoo and John Liljelund, members of both the IWGA Executive Committee and the Electoral Committee, added:

“This election has once again underlined the importance of athlete input in shaping the direction of our organisation. The Athletes Committee serves as a vital bridge between the IWGA and the competitors who bring the Games to life. We’re excited to collaborate with this new group over the coming years.”

The IWGA thanks all 20 candidates for their dedication and willingness to serve, and applauds all participating athletes who exercised their right to vote.

The Indian badminton players had a smooth passage through the earlier rounds.

They opened with a 21-12, 21-6 win over Cameroon’s Michel Henri Assembe and Félix Michel Kemene Atangana, before brushing aside the UAE’s Dev Ayyappan and Dhiren Ayyappan 21-15, 21-10 in the quarter-finals.

In the semis, they beat fellow Indians Hari Bharathi Baskaran P and Bharathsanjai S 21-14, 21-15.

The Cameroon International is a BWF International Series event – grade 3, level 2 – part of the Continental Circuit of badminton tournaments.

Among other Indian results at the Cameroon International, Anmol Kharb finished runner-up in women’s singles after losing 21-11, 21-19 to Indonesia’s Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan in the final.

Aakarshi Kashyap was ousted in the semis by Wiryawan while Tanvi Sharma’s run ended in the quarters.

In men’s singles, India’s Alap Mishra and Laskhay Sharma both made the top four but neither managed to progress to the final.

Dhruv Rawat, with Maneesha K, bowed out in the mixed doubles semis and so did Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Radhika Sharma.

TALLINN (Estonia) – Estonia revealed their final 12-man roster for FIBA EuroBasket 2025 with Kristian Kullamae and Henri Drell as the biggest names.

Head coach Heiko Rannula’s plans took a major blow as star starting center Maik-Kalev Kotsar could not be included due to a shoulder injury.

Estonia had a mixed bag of results in the preparations, going 3-2 including a final loss at home in Tallinn against Great Britain. They did beat Israel, Georgia and Sweden after an opening defeat in Lithuania.

The absence of Kotsar, who led Estonia in scoring and rebounds in the Qualifiers, leaves Matthias Tass as the only real big man on Rannula’s team.

Kullamae and Drell will be needed even more to pick up the scoring responsibility while captain Siim-Sander Vene, Artur Konontsuk and Kaspar Treier are also key players who will need to step up their game.

Estonia start Group A play campaign against Serbia on Wednesday, August 27, at 20:15 CET, followed by games against hosts Latvia, Czechia, Türkiye and Portugal.

FIBA

South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma has admitted that his team had ‘no answers’ to a dominant Australian display in the third ODI of the three-match series. They had already clinched the series with wins in the first couple of games, but the Australian side went all guns blazing in the series finale at the Great Barrier Reef Arena to sign off the series on a high. The 276-run loss in Mackay was South Africa’s heaviest defeat in their ODI history.

The Proteas captain further went on to acknowledge that they needed to find the correct measure while trying to play an assertive brand of cricket in the third and final match of the series. He was also positive that this heavy defeat would help them introspect and better themselves for the future. 

“We were under the pump from the first ball today. They put us under pressure and we had no answers. They made it look like a very good surface which I think it was. Yeah, they were far better than us. (Missed the experienced bowlers) in terms of assessing the conditions and adjusting to them. It’s a big learning curve for all of us. We need to find the balance between playing high-risk and batsmanship. Can only get better from here,” stated Bavuma during the post-match ceremony.

Bavuma complimented his side’s overall effort of coming out on top in terms of the result of the series. However, he reiterated that there were certain aspects which the team would be aiming to enhance while keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind, which is set to be hosted in Africa.

“We are not close at the moment from the team being a complete package. We didn’t play close to our hundred percent. But it was a good effort to come out on top and win the series. We need to keep learning from our mistakes, we are still making them in batting and bowling. We do have to work on a few things with the one-day World Cup in a couple of years. So, we need to keep getting better,” he added.

South Africa were thoroughly battered on Sunday by record-shattering centuries from Australia’s top three (Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green) before getting bowled out for 155 in 24.5 overs, with Cooper Connolly securing his maiden five-wicket haul in the 50-over format. The next assignment for the Proteas will be the white-ball series against England on their tour of the United Kingdom.

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

Bukayo Saka is set to miss Arsenal’s game at Liverpool on Sunday as well as England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia next month.

The 23-year-old went off with a hamstring injury in Saturday’s home win against Leeds United and it is estimated the forward will be unavailable for up to four weeks.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is doubtful for the match at Anfield as a result of a shoulder injury suffered in the victory against Leeds.

Odegaard looked in pain as he was replaced in the first half of the 5-0 win and the former Real Madrid attacking midfielder is understood to have left Emirates Stadium with his shoulder in a sling.

The Norway playmaker has not yet been ruled out of the game against the Premier League champions and there is optimism at Arsenal that neither the 26-year-old or Saka will be long-term casualties.

There is particular relief regarding Saka, who missed three months of last season with a hamstring injury.

Arsenal have a much deeper pool of attacking talent this season though, having signed Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze this summer.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta also has Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman to mitigate the absences of Saka and Odegaard.