Sports News Roundup: NHL-Rangers still most valuable team, first worth $2 billion - Forbes; Cricket-Warner burns England but late wickets leave Australia on 193-3 and more

The United States, Australia and Britain have said they will send no government officials to the Games to protest over China's human rights "atrocities" while other allies consider similar moves. Soccer-Toothless Barca crash out of Champions League with 3-0 loss at Bayern Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.


Reuters | Updated: 09-12-2021 10:36 IST | Created: 09-12-2021 10:29 IST
Sports News Roundup: NHL-Rangers still most valuable team, first worth $2 billion - Forbes; Cricket-Warner burns England but late wickets leave Australia on 193-3 and more
David Warner Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

NHL-Rangers still most valuable team, first worth $2 billion - Forbes

The New York Rangers are the National Hockey League's most valuable franchise for a seventh consecutive year and the first worth $2 billion, according to the annual list published by business magazine Forbes on Wednesday. The Rangers have missed the playoffs in three of the last four NHL seasons but their value shot up 21% compared to last year and they are worth more than double the average value of the league's 32 teams.

Cricket-Warner burns England but late wickets leave Australia on 193-3

David Warner marched to the brink of a century after being reprieved three times in the field but England grabbed late wickets to leave Australia 193 for three at tea on day two of the opening Ashes test on Thursday. Spinner Jack Leach removed Marnus Labuschagne for 74 and paceman Mark Wood dismissed Steve Smith for 12 just before the break, but Australia's batsmen came off with a 46-run lead over England's paltry first innings 147.

Olympics-IOC welcomes support for Olympic teams despite diplomatic boycott

The International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday it welcomed governments' support for their national Olympic teams for the Beijing 2022 winter Olympics despite some countries announcing a diplomatic boycott over China's human rights record. The United States, Australia and Britain have said they will send no government officials to the Games to protest over China's human rights "atrocities" while other allies consider similar moves.

Soccer-Toothless Barca crash out of Champions League with 3-0 loss at Bayern

Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season. First-half goals from Thomas Mueller and Leroy Sane put the Germans, who won all six matches to top Group E, firmly in the driving seat before Jamal Musiala tapped in the third just past the hour.

Brazil soccer legend Pele hospitalized again for colon tumor treatment

Brazilian soccer legend Pele was hospitalized to undergo treatment for a colon tumor, Sao Paulo's Hospital Albert Einstein said on Wednesday, adding that he is in stable condition and should be discharged in the next few days. The 81-year-old three-time World Cup winner underwent an operation to remove the tumor in September and spent nearly a month under care. The hospital said at the time he would need to undergo chemotherapy.

Sport-Fans must show vaccine pass to attend top-level games in England

Fans in England will need to show proof of double vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test to attend top-level sport after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed tougher COVID-19 restrictions in the country on Wednesday. The British government has made the NHS COVID Pass mandatory for any event with more than 10,000 people in a bid to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

UK, Canada join diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Games

Canada joined Australia, Britain and the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Wednesday, with China calling the boycotts "political posturing" and a smear campaign. The United States was the first to announce https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/us-officials-boycott-beijing-olympics-cnn-2021-12-06 the boycott this week, saying on Monday its government officials would not attend February's Beijing Olympics because of China's human rights "atrocities", weeks after talks aimed at easing tense relations between the world's two largest economies.

Motor racing-F1 on tenterhooks: History for Hamilton or victory for Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton will become either the first Formula One driver to win eight world championships or be dethroned by young nemesis Max Verstappen under the Abu Dhabi floodlights on Sunday. Either a record will be set, one surely destined to be longer lasting than Ferrari great Michael Schumacher's seven between 1994-2004, or Hamilton's long reign will end in a generational shift.

Tennis-No medical exemptions granted to Australian Open players -Tiley

No tennis players hoping to compete at the Australian Open have yet been granted medical exemption from vaccination, tournament director Craig Tiley said on Thursday, as he reiterated that everyone at Melbourne Park would need to be fully inoculated. Tiley also said that Novak Djokovic being named on the Australian Open entry list on Wednesday implied nothing about his COVID-19 vaccination status, which the world number one has declined to disclose, citing privacy.

Basketball-Reeve named head coach of U.S. national team

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve has been named head coach of the nine-times Olympic gold medal-winning United States women's national team, USA Basketball said on Wednesday. The three-times Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) coach of the year was previously an assistant for the national team and will serve in her new role through 2024, overseeing the Americans' bid for gold at the Paris Games.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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