Get the latest updates on your favorite sports, from thrilling matches and championship events to player transfers and team rivalries. Dive into insightful analysis, expert opinions, and behind-the-scenes stories that bring you closer to the world of sports.
Despite retaining Mateta, who is Palace’s top scorer with eight league goals this season, the Eagles paid a club record fee to sign striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves.
Palace were also on the verge of bringing in Everton winger Dwight McNeil until the deal fell through late on deadline day.
Glasner said he had “learned to accept situations” after Palace were also unsuccessful in finding a replacement for captain and centre-back Marc Guehi, who joined Manchester City earlier in the window.
“At the end of it, the club tried everything with huge offers and huge bids for a Marc Guehi replacement, but clubs said they don’t sell on deadline day,” Glasner said.
“Credit to the club that without getting any money for Mateta they still spent a big fee on Strand Larsen.
“On the other side, McNeil was the last one we thought we could finalise, but in the last minutes the terms of the deal changed again and the deal failed. I expected him and planned for him in the next day’s training.”
McNeil’s partner, Megan Sharpley, criticised Crystal Palace on social media for the way they handled the situation.
Everton boss David Moyes said the breakdown had “nothing to do” with his club and insists McNeil is “fine”.
“He’s in and he’s training as well, so Dwight’s OK,” Moyes said.
“We understand exactly where it went wrong, how it broke down. He knows everything about it and there’s no problems there.
“We had given permission for Dwight to go and have a medical and do all of the things required for it, so it was very hard to do much more than we have done.”
MILAN — Alysa Liu glided past her boards and held her hand out. She high-fived her coaches with a wide smile on her face.
She was ready.
Liu calmly skated through minor technical missteps on two jumps in her short program of the team competition at Milano Ice Skating Arena to finish second and earn nine points for the United States that leads the team competition after the first day.
Led by 10 points from rhythm dance leaders Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the United States has 25 points entering Saturday’s men’s short program to lead over second-place Japan (23 points) and third-place Italy (22). Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto finished first with a score of 78.88 ahead of Liu’s 74.90.
After the men’s short program, the top five teams advance to the long program portion. The United States selected two-time world champion Ilia Malinin to skate in the men’s short program.
Liu, competing in her second Olympics, was selected for the team competition for the first time. The reigning world champion worked through slight errors, including on her tricky triple lutz, triple loop combination. Her coach Phillip Diguglielmo grabbed the arm of choreographer Massimo Scali nervously as Liu floated through the air on the crooked loop. When she finished her program to a loud ovation, Diguglielmo wiped his brow in relief.
Liu was the second world champion competing for the United States on Friday. Chock and Bates edged out French pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron by less than two points in an early showdown of individual gold medal contenders.
In March 2025, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron rocked the ice dance world by announcing their partnership. He was the reigning Olympic champion. She was a former Canadian champion. But it wasn’t just that the pair became instant gold medal contenders 11 months before the Olympic Games. The reason for the sudden pairing caused a stir.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. finished first in the ice dance portion of the team competition Friday.
(Stephanie Scarbrough / Associated Press)
In October 2024, Fournier Beaudry’s partner Nikolaj Sorensen was suspended by Skate Canada for at least six years for alleged sexual assault. The pair competed for both Denmark and Canada over their decade-long partnership, winning three Danish championships and a Canadian national title and placing ninth in the 2022 Olympics.
Cizeron hadn’t skated since 2022. He and his ice dance partner of 20 years Gabriella Papadakis announced their retirement in December 2024, but wanted to return to competition. He had trained in Canada for more than a decade and maintained a friendship with Fournier Beaudry. The opportunity was open, but it would be complicated.
After pairing with Fournier Beaudry to launch Cizeron’s comeback, the new team expressed support for Sorensen in an interview with Canadian French-language newspaper La Presse. Fournier Beaudry continues her romantic relationship with Sorensen.
When asked of the allegations Friday, Fournier Beaudry said she did not have anything to add to her previous comments. The pair proceeded through the mixed zone.
Since teaming up, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have won five of six competitions, a nearly inconceivable rise for such a new pair. The only blemish is a silver medal finish at the Grand Prix Final.
Chock and Bates’ 15-year partnership has yielded three world championships, a record seven U.S. titles and four trips to the Olympics. On one of the most talented teams the United States has ever sent to an Olympic Games, Chock and Bates still stand out for their experience. Of the 14 other U.S. figure skaters, only Liu has participated in the Games before.
“I think we have the best generation of figure skaters within the U.S. right now,” said pairs skater Danny O’Shea, who finished fifth with his partner Ellie Kam to earn six position points toward the team total. “Amazing people helping each other, supporting each other, and Madi and Evan leading the charge being the just experienced elders.”
O’Shea, making his Olympic debut at 34, laughed as he clarified Chock, 33, is younger than him.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher says the death of Diogo Jota means performances and results at his old club are not quite as important this season.
Jota scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the Reds, helping them win the FA Cup and League Cup in 2022 and the Premier League title last season.
Liverpool are currently sixth in the Premier League – 14 points behind table-topping Arsenal – in what has been a testing season for the club on the pitch.
The 27-year-old said that for his former club it was “more about them personally and mentally” than anything else this season.
“Obviously, football is a massive sport and people have an opinion, which is natural. People expect you to move on quite quickly, and I don’t think that’s the case,” Kelleher said.
“I find it a bit strange and a bit difficult when I hear people speaking about the players at Liverpool and the performances, because I don’t think this season is even important from a football aspect for them.”
Those remarks came in the wake of an emotional post-match interview from Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson after Scotland had qualified for the World Cup.
Robertson said he had “been in bits” because he “couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head” in the build up to a thrilling victory over Denmark which clinched their spot at the tournament.
Kelleher, who made 67 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool, having joined the club’s academy in 2015, said coming to terms with Jota’s death had been “a bit easier” since he was no longer at Anfield.
“I stay in touch with some of the guys there, I have a lot of good friends there. It’s a very difficult time for them, a difficult season, with circumstances that people probably aren’t taking into account too much,” explained Kelleher.
“But it’s probably been a bit easier for me, being away from it, and not being in such close proximity to it every day.
“From an individual aspect, for me to leave and play first-team football was obviously right, never mind the tragedy that happened. “
MILAN — History didn’t begin in Italy, but it made a number of significant advances there. The foundations for representative government, the 365-day Julian calendar, modern sanitation, newspapers, roads and the postal system were established in Rome.
Centuries later, the rest of the world is still doing as the Romans do.
But if Rome is Italy’s past, Milan is its present and future.
It is the country’s financial center, home to the Italian stock exchange. It’s the world’s fashion center, home to luxury brands including Prada, Versace, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana. And it has one of the largest concentrations of millionaires in the world, one for every 12 of the city 1.37 million residents.
“It’s a city that’s becoming more global and global,” said Giorgio Ricci, the chief revenue officer for Inter Milan, the city’s top soccer club. “Milano is now a real ambassador of that Italian culture, from lifestyle to design to food and whatever.”
And now, like Rome in the summer of 1960, it also has the Olympic Games.
The Milan-Cortina Games are the first Olympics officially shared between two host cities and the most logistically complex Winter Games ever, taking place over 8,500 square miles of northern Italy. And though most of the medals will be awarded in the surrounding mountains at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme, Milan will be the beating heart of the Games, much as it is the beating heart of the country.
The main opening ceremony will take place at San Siro, the 75,000-seat stadium that is home to the city’s two first-division soccer teams, Inter Milan and AC Milan. Figure skating, speedskating and men’s and women’s hockey will also be held at four other venues across the city.
San Siro in Milan will host the opening ceremonies for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
And that will happen, organizers say, whether the venues are ready or not — and one of them is not. The 11,800-seat Unipol Dome, which will be known as Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena during the Olympics, is one of just two competition venues that had to be constructed for the Games. It played host to the first games of the women’s hockey tournament Thursday despite the fact that construction crews were still administering the final touch-ups outside the building as Sweden was beating Germany in the opener.
“Do we have every area of that venue finished? No,” said Christophe Dubi, the International Olympic Committee‘s executive director for the Olympic Games said earlier this week. “Is it absolutely necessary for the Games? No. Everything that is public-facing, whether for media or athletes, will be first-class.”
Organizers certainly hope so because there’s a lot riding on these Games. If Milan can pull off an efficient, modern, sustainable and technologically “smart” event, it will reinforce the city’s status as one of the world’s top-tier global capitals, one with financial roots and a trendy multicultural image.
Fail in any one of those categories and Milan could suffer significant financial and reputational damage.
A singer busks late at night in Piazza del Doumo in Milan ahead of the Winter Olympic Games.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The competition is expected to draw 2.5 million people to Milan — many of them first-time visitors — while generating more than $7 billion in economic activity. Much of that spending went to upgrade the city’s and regional rail lines, which are expected to be overwhelmed given the spread-out nature of the Games.
Days before the Olympic torch was lit at San Siro, Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, which fronts the city’s elaborate Gothic cathedral, was packed with Olympic visitors, many wearing sweatshirts and jackets bearing the flags of their homelands. NBC will anchor its 700 hours of linear TV coverage from a temporary studio tower built in the square, with the iconic church as its backdrop.
Around the corner along the Via Orefici, which dates to the Middle Ages, many of the neighborhood’s trendy boutiques have hung neon signs with the Games logo, proclaiming themselves proud sponsors of the Olympics. At night, a singer who calls herself Anna Soprano performs a solo street opera.
However many locals have failed to catch Olympic fever with high ticket prices and fears about traffic, security measures and crowded Metro trains dampening enthusiasm.
An opera singer performs in Milan ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Buried beneath Milan’s rush to the modern from the Middle Ages — just beyond the Duomo Cathedral, which was begun in 1386, is the massive 15th Century Sforza Castle — lies a more recent history the city would just as soon forget. Milan was Italy’s Munich, the birthplace of Benito Mussolini’s fascist movement.
Yet it later became the center of anti-fascist resistance, with partisans seizing control of the city in the final days of World War II and executing Mussolini, hanging his corpse from the roof of an Esso station in the Piazzale Loreto. Milan marked that day by naming a prominent square in the city’s center April 25 Plaza for the day the uprising that liberated Milan began.
If Milan is modern Europe, some of the competition clusters outside the city, spread from Valtellina on the Swiss border in the north to Cortina d’Ampezzo, 27 miles south of the Austrian border, represent both the rustic and gentrifying Italy.
The scenic Fiemme Valley, site of cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined , is made up primarily of three small villages — Carano, Daiano and Varena — in the Dolomites mountain range. Despite a history of human activity that dates back more than 6,000 years, the area wasn’t officially established as the municipality of Val di Fiemme until the three townships merged in January 2020.
Today it is a major outdoor-sports destination, having played host to the FIS Nordic World Ski championship numerous times; in the summer it is a favored destination of hikers.
Valtellina, a 75-mile-long valley that runs along the Swiss border, will be the site of Alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle skiing and the debut sport of ski mountaineering. The region is known as the heart of the Alps and is a premier Alpine wine area, famous for the elegant reds that come from grapes grown on steep, terraced vineyards.
Cortina d’Ampezzo in northern Italy will host multiple events during the 2026 Olympics.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, meanwhile, is a breathtakingly beautiful ski resort and outdoor sports paradise about 35 miles from the Austrian border. Unlike Valtellina and Val di Fiemme, which are rustic and traditional, Cortina is one of Europe’s most expensive ski towns, its streets lined with high-end stores, luxury hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants. For year-round residents, property prices are the highest in the Italian Alps.
It was scheduled to host the 1944 Winter Olympics before World War II intervened, delaying the its arrival until 1956, when 32 nations — the largest to attend a Winter Games at the time — competed in four sports and 24 events. This month it will be the site of the biathlon, Alpine skiing, curling and sliding sports (bobsled, luge and skeleton).
The new $140-million Cortina Sliding Centre, the second Olympic venue whose construction fell well behind schedule, was completed days before the opening ceremony but a cable car intended to carry spectators to the women’s ski events was not expected to be finished in time. That could lead to traffic jams since visitors will have to take their cars more than a mile up the mountain.
Very few, if any, of their attackers will get 270 minutes over the three games and those that own the injured Bukayo Saka should make the switch to 90-minute man Declan Rice without hesitation.
Triple Arsenal defence is also an option with Gabriel, Jurrien Timber and goalkeeper David Raya a high risk, high reward play.
Elsewhere, midfielder Enzo Fernandez has four goals, one assist in his past six league games and has become Chelsea‘s most reliable asset.
His busy schedule shouldn’t put you off buying him in a week when boss Liam Rosenior has praised his athleticism, leadership and recovery time. A visit to Wolves followed by home games against Leeds and Burnley puts Chelsea top of the fixture ticker over the next three.
Veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford confirmed he will keep playing for at least one more season after being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the first time.
The Los Angeles Rams star was the slight favourite for the award and beat New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye by one first-place vote.
The 37-year-old became the oldest quarterback to win the MVP for the first time and it is the 13th straight win by a QB.
Stafford had been rumoured to be considering retirement and while on stage with his four daughters in San Francisco, said: “I’ll see you guys next year.”
“It’s something I’d been thinking about, whether I wanted to keep playing or not,” he added.
“I ended the season on a healthy note, had a bunch of team-mates in the crowd and my daughters with me, so it felt like the right thing to do in the moment. I’m happy to be coming back.”
Stafford was unable to register a play-off win in 12 years with the Detroit Lions, but after being traded to the Rams in 2021, he won the Super Bowl in his first season and has now been named MVP.
The former first overall draft pick is just the second quarterback after Tom Brady (2007) to lead the NFL in touchdown passes, passing yards and touchdown-interception ratio over the past 50 seasons.
He led the Rams to the NFC Championship game but the Seattle Seahawks won to book their spot in Sunday’s Super Bowl, where they will face the Patriots in Santa Clara.
Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba was named Offensive Player of the Year at the NFL’s end-of-season awards night after leading the league for receiving yards.
New England’s Mike Vrabel won Coach of the Year having led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in his first season as their head coach.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in three years after claiming the single-season sack record.
Ruthless France inflict more pain on Ireland as the Six Nations holders open their title defence with a bonus-point victory at a buoyant Stade de France.
SAN FRANCISCO — Matthew Stafford’s name is already all over the NFL record book.
Add another milestone to the Rams quarterback’s achievements.
On Thursday night, Stafford was announced as the NFL most valuable player during NFL Honors at the Palace of Fine Arts.
The 17-year veteran finished ahead of New England quarterback Drake Maye in balloting by a panel of 50 journalists who regularly cover the NFL. The panel is assembled by the Associated Press. Los Angeles Times reporters do not participate in voting for awards.
During his acceptance speech, Stafford thanks his wife, Kelly, and daughters along with teammates, who he pointed at some in the audience and said he looked forward to playing with them again next season.
Stafford, who turns 38 on Saturday, passed for a league-best 46 touchdowns and 4,707 yards.
Stafford led the Rams to a 12-5 record and directed an offense that led the league in scoring and yards per game. He was voted first-team All-Pro.
“He’s the epitome of an igniter,” Rams coach Sean McVay said this week. “He’s just this incredibly humble superstar that has the ability to make everybody feel better when you’re around him. … I know I’m biased, but I can remove my bias and say I think he was the best player in the NFL this year.”
Stafford, the top pick in the 2009 draft, played 12 seasons for the Detroit Lions before he was traded to the Rams in 2021 for Jared Goff, two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick.
Stafford ranks sixth all-time in completions (5,562), yards passing (64,516) and is seventh in touchdown passes (423).
Maye, 23, is a second-year pro who will play against the Seahawks on Sunday in Super Bowl LX. Maye led the Patriots to a 14-3 record — including an 8-0 road mark — and completed a league-leading and franchise record 72% of his passes. He passed for 31 touchdowns, with eight interceptions, and also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell admits his side have a lot of work to do following their 36-14 defeat against France in the opening match of 2026 Six Nations.
A college hockey star expected to be one of the top picks in this year’s NHL draft has been charged with felony assault after allegedly striking another man in the face during an altercation last weekend in State College, Pa.
Penn State freshman Gavin McKenna, 18, was arraigned Wednesday and released on $20,000 unsecured bail, according to the State College Police Department.
He is charged with first-degree felony aggravated assault — which in Pennsylvania is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 in fines — as well as simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.
According to police, the incident occurred around 8:45 p.m. Saturday near the Penn State campus. The man allegedly struck by McKenna suffered facial injuries that required corrective surgery, police said.
Earlier that day, McKenna had a goal and two assists during the Nittany Lions’ 5-4 overtime loss to Michigan State in an outdoor game played in front of 74,575 fans at Beaver Stadium, home of the Penn State football team.
McKenna is tied for the team lead with 32 points this season. He has 11 goals and a team-high 21 assists. His availability for the Nittany Lions’ next game, Feb. 13 at Michigan, is unclear.
“We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment,” Penn State said in a statement emailed to The Times on Thursday morning.
A native of Whitehorse, Yukon, McKenna had four goals and 10 assists to help Canada win the bronze medal at the 2026 World Junior Championships, played from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Minnesota. He is listed as the No. 1 North American skater on NHL.com’s midseason draft prospect rankings and is said to be making around $700,000 in an NIL deal this season at Penn State.
MILAN — Laila Edwards finally got out from under the spotlight and onto the ice for the U.S. women’s hockey team Thursday. It was a simple act, but one that made history.
Yet for Edwards, it was just another day at the office.
“It didn’t feel different at all,” she said. “It’s still hockey at the end of the day. Even though it’s the highest level, it’s still hockey.”
With her first shift in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Czechia, on the first day of hockey at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, Edwards became the first Black woman to play for the U.S. national team in an Olympic tournament. On a team full of record-breakers, it was a significant milestone, one that has become a storyline for the world’s top-ranked team.
“Cameras constantly in her face. She does a good job of whatever she needs to do,” said teammate Tessa Janecke, who had two second-period assists. “It’s very inspiring for us as her teammates, but as well as the next generation.”
And that, of course, is the point.
“Representation matters,” Edwards said. “There’s been a lot of young kids or parents of young kids who have reached out or I’ve run into that say, ‘You know, my daughter plays sports because of you. And she feels seen and represented,’ and that’s just really motivating.”
Just 22, Edwards is already accustomed to breaking barriers and being the youngest this or the first that.
In 2023, she became the first Black player on the women’s senior national team in any competition; a year later, she became, at 20, the youngest player to win the MVP award in the World Championship.
But if doing that has been easy, talking about it has taken some work.
“I could not do interviews or not talk about it, but then the story doesn’t get out there,” she said. “And maybe a little girl doesn’t see me, who looks like her. So I think that’s what’s more important.”
On Thursday, playing before Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a packed house at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, Edwards marked her Olympic debut by helping put the Americans ahead to stay, feeding Megan Keller in the high slot for a slap shot that Alex Carpenter redirected in a first-period power-play goal.
Second-period goals from Joy Dunne and Hayley Scamurra — both on assists from Janecke — and third-period goals from Scamurra and Hilary Knight, sandwiched around one from Czechia’s Barbora Jurickova, accounted for the final score in a game in which the top-ranked Americans outshot the fourth-ranked Czechs 42-14.
Still, the night belonged to Edwards, a player Knight calls “the future of the sport.” But she’s doing pretty well in the present too, having already won two national championships with Wisconsin and two world championship medals with Team USA.
Edwards started skating shortly after she learned to walk, then switched to hockey before starting kindergarten, when her father Robert, who played the game as a child, enrolled her and three siblings in a youth hockey program. By 8, she was so advanced she was playing with boys’ teams and for high school she left her native Cleveland Heights, Ohio, for the elite girls’ hockey program at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, N.Y.
Although she was a high-scoring forward in high school and college — she led the nation with 35 goals as a junior at Wisconsin — she’s proven versatile enough to play on the blue line in the Olympics. That’s a little like playing a running back at right guard.
“I couldn’t even imagine that,” forward Abbey Murphy said of Edwards, who skated a team-high 25 shifts Thursday. “She took it and she just kind of ate it up and she made defenseman look easy. She’s magic on the blue line.”
At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds — making her the biggest and most physical player on the U.S. team — Edwards was well-suited for the move.
“She’s so dynamic, so athletic, you could put her in goal and she would perform,” said Caroline Harvey, a teammate in high school, college and now with the national team. “She’s just adjusted so well. It’s seamless. It doesn’t even seem like she’s switched positions.”
Edwards hasn’t made her journey to the Olympics alone, however, a fact she acknowledged after Thursday’s game. Although her father is responsible for her start in hockey, it looked like he wouldn’t be able to travel to Milan to see his daughter make history. So Edwards’ parents started a crowdfunding campaign to pay for flights and accommodations.
Jason and Travis Kelce, brothers and former Super Bowl players who also grew up in Cleveland Heights, learned of the campaign and quickly kicked in $10,000, allowing 14 members of Edwards’ family to come to Italy — where their cheers were audible every time her name was announced.
“They show support,” Edwards said. “And they’re really cool guys.”
After her Olympic debut Thursday, there are a lot of little girls who can say the same about Edwards.
Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.
Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.
Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.
The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.
If players are level on points after the 16 weeks then places are decided by nights won and then matches won.
With Farrell rolling the dice in his selection – dropping James Lowe as well as giving Cian Prendergast a rare start – there were interesting subplots aplenty as the game neared.
Such was the nature of the Paris performance, however, that few such themes could be given fair scrutiny.
Ireland had picked a team to compete in the air but rarely challenged in that regard with the new-look back three of Jamie Osborne, Tommy O’Brien and Jacob Stockdale largely on the periphery.
While the loss of both usual starting props to injury, as well as two back-ups on the loose-head side, was unwanted, it gave the opportunity for others to step up and show what they can do, yet the set-piece was rendered a virtual non-factor.
Indeed, Ireland won a scrum penalty in the 45th minute but, such was the lack of pressure elsewhere, it was the first time Les Bleus had drawn a whistle from Karl Dickson.
Discipline had been a key area to improve after the autumn but, while Ireland did concede only six penalties, with 38 missed tackles across the game they frequently did not get close enough to infringe either.
Ireland’s failure to get to grips with the non-negotiables – what Farrell called the “main part of the game” – left little point in sifting through much else.
“I think you make your own luck in this game,” said Farrell.
“Without the ball, I thought we lost that battle in the first half. The things like the high ball and winning the scraps on the floor, running through tackles or missing tackles etc – that’s the main part of the game.
“We certainly came off second best in that regard in the first half. Our response was gallant, but that’s not what we want to be, we don’t want to be a responding team. We needed to show it from the get go.”
The Rams, who last year were designated the home team for the first NFL game in Australia, will play the NFC West-rival San Francisco 49ers, the league announced Thursday during “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN. Australian actor and conservationist Robert Irwin, son of the late Steve Irwin of “Crocodile Hunter” fame made the announcement.
The NFL has not announced a date for the game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but it almost certainly will be in the first week because of the 19-hour time difference and the length of travel for both teams.
“As we make history with the NFL and bring the first regular season game to Australia, we are pleased to take our annual matchup against our NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers to the MCG,” said Rams president Kevin Demoff in a statement. “Since we first secured marketing rights to the country in 2021 and more recently since the announcement of this game last year, we have seen tremendous excitement for our team from fans both in Australia and also across the world. We look forward to spending this offseason continuing to deepen our connection with the Melbourne community leading up to the game this fall.”
As part of the process for International Series games, the NFL allows designated home teams to protect two of its scheduled home games from being played abroad.
With the game against the 49ers, which annually draws tens of thousands of 49ers fans, being played in Australia, the Rams’ home opponents at SoFi Stadium next season will be the Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and the Chargers.
As part of the NFL’s Global Markets Program, the Rams in the last decade were granted rights in Mexico, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
Since returning to Los Angeles in 2016, the Rams have played four International Series games, all in London, including a victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars last October.
In 2026, in addition to the game in Australia, the NFL has confirmed three games in London and one each in Rio de Janeiro, Munich, Madrid and Paris.
Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali is a target for Juventus, Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has a release clause in his Al-Nassr contract and Napoli are set to hold talks to extend Scott McTominay’s contract.
Barcelona are considering offering 37-year-old Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, whose deal with them runs out in the summer, a contract extension for another season but on reduced wages. (ESPN), external
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Al-Nassr is in doubt and the 41-year-old has a £44m release clause in his contract with the Saudi Pro League club. (Athletic – subscription required), external
Scotland international Scott McTominay and Napoli are set to hold talks about extending the 29-year-old’s contract beyond 2028, with the Serie A club keen to secure the midfielder to a new deal until 2030. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external
Colombia striker Jhon Duran, 22, is set to join Zenit St Petersburg on loan after ending his season-long stint at Fenerbahce from Al-Nassr.(Talksport) , external
Feyenoord are among the clubs to have explored a move for England forward Jesse Lingard, who is available on a free transfer after leaving FC Seoul. The 33-year-old’s former Manchester United team-mate Robin van Persie is in charge of the Dutch club. (Mail), external
Leeds Unitedare reportedly targeting a new goalkeeper in the summer transfer window. It is understood Daniel Farke has been underwhelmed by summer signing Lucas Perri, who arrived at Elland Road in July 2025 for £13.9m. (Teamtalk), external
Tottenham‘s 22-year-old Argentine striker Alejo Veliz, who is on loan at Rosario Central, is set to join Brazilian club Bahia in the summer in a deal worth 9m euros (£7.8m) plus add-ons. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Atletico Madrid showed an interest in Spain’s 23-year-old attacking midfielder Gabri Veiga in the last couple of days of the winter transfer window but Porto rejected the La Liga club’s approach. (Fabrizio Romano), external
The Clippers have acquired high-scoring wing Bennedict Mathurin, center Isaiah Jackson and two draft picks from the Indiana Pacers for center Ivica Zubac, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said Thursday.
Los Angeles will receive Indiana’s protected 2026 first-round draft pick and a 2029 first-round pick. This year’s selection is protected if the Pacers have a top four selection or if it falls between selections 10 and 30.
The Pacers get the center they’ve needed since losing Myles Turner in free agency last summer. Zubac, who will turn 29 next month, is signed through the 2027-28 season and was a second team Allll-Defensive team selection last year. He’s averaging 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 61.3% from the field.
Mathurin, 23, was set to become a restricted free agent next summer, and it wasn’t clear if the Pacers could afford to keep him. He recently returned from toe and thumb injuries that kept him out for most of January. He’s averaging 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds this season and has improved significantly as a defender during his fourth season.
Jackson has started 14 times in 38 games this season and is averaging 6.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 58.2% from the field.
The move comes just days after the Clippers also traded James Harden to Cleveland for Darius Garland in a swap of point guard and adds more draft picks to Los Angeles’ growing stockpile of selections.
MILAN — Alysa Liu wore a hollow smile on the ice. She had achieved a dream, skating at the Beijing Olympics at just 16, but in a mostly empty arena, few were there to see the moment.
Perhaps that was what Liu secretly wanted.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to be seen,” Liu said. “It’s just I had nothing to show.”
The 20-year-old now proudly presents Alysa Liu 2.0.
Four years after shocking the sport by retiring as a teenage phenom, the Oakland native could win two gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. She is a title contender in her individual event that begins Jan. 17 as the United States tries to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought in women’s singles figure skating, and she will skate Friday in the women’s short program of a team competition the United States is favored to win.
Armed with a new perspective from her two-year retirement, Liu now smiles genuinely on and off the ice, no matter if there’s a medal around her neck or not.
“I have so much I want to express and show, whether that’s through skating or just through my presence,” said Liu, who placed sixth in Beijing. “It’s exciting to think about that being seen.”
When she made her Olympic debut, Liu didn’t feel like her career belonged to her. Her father, Arthur, was a driving force in her skating career. In a sport where coaches and choreographers often call the shots for young athletes, Liu entered the Olympic stage with programs she didn’t like and clothes she didn’t pick. She was behind a mask and couldn’t express herself. She barely knew how to.
Skating had consumed her entire life. She felt “trapped and stuck” in the sport. So she left.
After retiring following the 2022 world championships — where she won a bronze medal — Liu got her driver’s license. She hiked to Mount Everest base camp with friends. She went shopping for not-skating clothes, played Fortnite until 4 a.m. with her siblings and enrolled at UCLA. She loved studying psychology.
“I found what I like and what I didn’t like,” said Liu, who took time off from UCLA to prepare for the Olympics but hopes to return before her friends graduate. “Really got to know myself, because [when] I had skating, I didn’t really know myself. I couldn’t know myself. I only ever did one thing.”
Alysa Liu practices in Milan on Thursday ahead of the Olympic team competition, which starts Friday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After a casual ski trip reminded her of the joys of skating, Liu made the decision to return to the sport that shaped, and nearly stole, her childhood. But she would only do it on her terms.
The choreography, the music and the costumes would all be her choice. She doesn’t compete to win. She skates to show her art, she said.
In the process, she’s winning more than ever.
She won the world championship in 2025, becoming the first U.S. woman to win the world title since 2006. She won the Grand Prix final in Japan in December, the last major international competition before the Milan-Cortina Games to announce herself as a potential Olympic champion.
The day before her last performance at the U.S. championships, the final competition that would decide her Olympic bid, Liu ran to a St. Louis salon to dye her hair to match a new skating dress. Unbothered by the pressure of the moment, she debuted a Lady Gaga free skate that brought fans to their feet and earned her a silver medal.
“When you are an Olympic athlete that has a chance in front of the world every four years, it literally is your life’s work that’s on the line,” NBC analyst and two-time Olympian Johnny Weir said. “And she has found a way to compartmentalize that and put it down. … I just think it’s so wonderfully healthy and brave and strong to be doing what she is, because it takes a lot of bravery to put down the pressure that the sport naturally has.”
Liu is just a natural talent in the sport, 2022 Olympian Mariah Bell said. Bell remembered during the Stars on Ice tour in 2022 when the skaters rolled into a new city, tired, groggy and sore from the long bus ride, Liu, dressed in a baggy hoodie and billowing sweatpants, could go on the ice and throw perfect jumps without warning. Bell stood in awe.
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu practices on Thursday in Milan.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After Liu’s short program at the U.S. championships last month set a national championship record, Bell was blown away for different reasons.
“She’s so sophisticated and mature and emotional,” Bell said. “When she was younger, she was incredible. But when you’re 13, you don’t skate the way that you do like how she did the short program [at the U.S. championships].”
Skating to Laufey’s “Promise,” a haunting piano ballad, Liu glided through a flawless short program that she said nearly moved her to tears. Fans showered her with stuffed animals.
Liu has always commanded attention in the sport. She was the youngest skater to perform a triple axel in international competition at 12, became the youngest U.S. champion at 13 and followed with another national title at 14. She was the first U.S. woman to complete a quad lutz in competition, doing so in the 2019 Junior Grand Prix in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Six years later, back in that same arena for Skate America in 2025, Liu told her coaches she didn’t remember her historic accomplishment.
“It feels like I’m watching or I got someone else’s memories,” said Liu, who had similar, disconnected, but overall positive memories of her Olympic experience in Beijing. “It feels like a totally different person, but we are definitely the same person.”
U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu practices in Milan on Thursday as she prepares for the team competition, which starts Friday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Exchange the delicate, ballerina-like skating dresses with bold, modern asymmetrical designs. Undo the tight, slicked back bun and bring in halo dyed hair, dark eyeliner and the piercing she did herself on the inside of her upper lip. With three horizontal stripes dyed into her hair, each layer represents a year of the new life Liu is finally happy to put on display.
“I want to be seen more because I like what I have going on,” Liu said. “I like what I’m doing.”
