Sports, in brief

Alex Ovechkin, the Russian who has scored more regular-season goals than anyone in the history of the NHL, North America's top ice hockey league, said on Monday this season will be his last. [1][2]

He is 41 and has played all 22 of his seasons for the Washington Capitals. [1][3] He told his teammates before practice, two days before the Capitals' first home game, against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. [2][4]

He has 929 goals in regular-season games, 35 more than Wayne Gretzky's 894, the record Ovechkin broke in April 2025. [5][3] Gordie Howe is third with 801, and Jaromir Jagr fourth with 766. [3]

Counting playoff goals as well, Gretzky's total of 1,016 is still ahead. Sporting News puts Ovechkin 10 goals short of it, and the BBC 11. [6][3]

He signed a one-year contract in July. It pays $4.25m for certain, plus a $4.75m bonus once he plays his 10th game. [1][5]

A salary cap limits what each NHL team may spend on players' pay. The Athletic reports that Ovechkin's bonus-heavy deal helped the Capitals fit two new forwards, Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, under it. [4]

Tuch is signed at $10.5m a season for eight more seasons, and Kyrou at $8.125m for five, so the club has also built a team for after Ovechkin. [7]

His game has slowed. He averaged 17 minutes 27 seconds on the ice a game last season, the lowest of his career, though he still scored 32 goals in all 82 games. [1] In this season's first game he played just under 13 minutes, his lowest in a game where he was not hurt or sent off. [8]

Within an hour of the news, the cheapest resale ticket for the Capitals' last regular-season home game, on 4 April, nearly doubled, to $775. [5]

The Capitals missed last season's playoffs by three points, and after the summer's signings they are picked to challenge the champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. [7][9]

In the summer he appeared in an advert for United Russia, the party that backs President Vladimir Putin, and he says he will live in Russia when he retires. [4][8]

Gretzky said the farewell season would be great for the NHL. Crosby, the Penguins' captain, who entered the league in the same year, said years of being compared had turned into a friendship. [10]

Why it matters. Watch whether the Capitals, rebuilt to win this year, make the playoffs: until they are knocked out, nobody knows which game will be Ovechkin's last. [5]

The NFL suspended line judge Jeff Seeman for two games and referee Adrian Hill for one on Monday, for 'unprofessional conduct toward a player'. [19][20] Cameras showed Seeman swearing at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride during Sunday's loss to the New York Giants. [21][22] Hill shouted at Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson, who had bumped into him by accident and tried to help him up. [22] The last NFL official suspended was Roy Ellison, in 2018. [11] These suspensions are without pay, The Athletic reports. [21]

Why it matters. The players' union said players are punished when they treat officials this way, and asked the league to punish officials the same way. [22] The officials can still challenge the suspensions under the seven-year contract their union signed with the league in May. [19]

Daniil Medvedev, the Russian ranked fifth in the world, was disqualified from his China Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Beijing on Monday. [23] Losing 7-5, 5-3, he swatted a ball in frustration and it hit a man in the front row in the eye. [23][24] Medvedev said it was an accident and apologised. [25] A disqualified player loses his prize money and ranking points, here about $220,000 and 200 points. [26][27] Djokovic, thrown out of the 2020 US Open for hitting a line judge with a ball, plays Alex de Minaur in Tuesday's final. [28]

Why it matters. The lost points may cost him more than the money. Medvedev holds the last of eight places at the ATP Finals, the season's closing event, only 330 points ahead of de Minaur. [26][27] Andrey Rublev won back his prize money on appeal after a disqualification in 2024. [26]

BC Partners Credit, the lending arm of an investment firm, announced on Monday a first investment in LIV Golf, towards a target of $300m. [29][13] LIV, a breakaway men's golf tour, went bankrupt in September after Saudi Arabia's wealth fund stopped paying for it, having spent more than $5bn since 2022. [13][30] Under the plan the players would own most of the league. [29] LIV owes about $45m to current and former players, led by Jon Rahm at $7.5m. [29] A court hearing is due on Wednesday. [30]

Why it matters. The deal needs half of the golfers LIV owes money to, holding two-thirds of that debt, to sign by 25 October. [29] Without them there is no 2027 season, which LIV plans as ten events, half of them outside the US. [13]

David Berson, head of CBS Sports, will run sport for Skydance, the company formed by merging Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, Sportico reports. [17] The $110bn merger was due to close on 6 October. [17] It puts CBS's Sunday NFL games, men's March Madness college basketball, Europe's Champions League and the Masters golf under one roof. [17] Luis Silberwasser, who has run TNT Sports since 2022, told staff he is leaving. [17][27]

Why it matters. Sportico says the combined group also holds Major League Baseball, NHL and NASCAR rights, so one executive now oversees a large share of US sport on television. [17]

The International Cricket Council, which runs world cricket, will add no new events, such as a world championship for club teams, until 2031 at the earliest, the Guardian reports. [18] England, Australia and India said the calendar has no room unless existing World Cups are cut. [18] Those three already have series against each other booked to 2031. [18] India alone brings in about 70% of cricket's money. [18] The ICC wanted new events because it expects its Indian TV rights, most of its $3.5bn in TV income, to fall in value. [18]

Why it matters. Smaller cricket countries were interested in the new events, and now face five more years of the same calendar. [18] The ICC's members meet in Bali next month to settle the schedule. [18]

Saudi Arabia is quietly shelving a stadium it planned for the 2034 men's football World Cup, two sources told Reuters. [14] The 46,000-seat NEOM Stadium was to sit inside The Line, a 160km glass-walled city the country has scaled back. [14] MEED, a firm that tracks building projects, put its cost at $2.5bn and lists it as on hold. [14] Saudi Arabia's finance ministry expects a bigger budget gap this year after oil activity fell. [14]

Why it matters. Saudi Arabia is hosting the 2034 World Cup alone and is building or renovating 15 stadiums for it. [14] Its World Cup authority did not say what will replace the NEOM venue. [14]

Police occupied the headquarters of Djibouti's football federation on Monday as club presidents voted to remove its president, Souleiman Waberi. [31] Waberi sits on the council of FIFA, world football's governing body, and is a close ally of its president, Gianni Infantino. [31] The federation says the meeting broke its own rules and its decisions are void. [31] Waberi was arrested in 2024 in an inquiry into missing money, and denies wrongdoing. [31]

Why it matters. The federation has warned that police removing elected officials could get Djibouti's teams suspended from international football. [31] FIFA and Africa's football body give it more than $1m a year, and contractors say pitches and an academy it paid for were left unfinished. [31]

The Big Ten said on Monday that its officials wrongly handled a penalty at the end of Nebraska's 48-23 win over Maryland. [12] Nebraska's kicker missed an extra point after a 'roughing the snapper' foul, and by rule he should have kicked again. [12] Much of the same crew worked Michigan's disputed win over Western Michigan weeks earlier. [12] Nebraska's coach, Matt Rhule, said an official told him the kick had gone in. [12]

Why it matters. The mistake did not change the result, but it is the same crew's second public error in a few weeks. [12] The game had 28 penalties between the two teams. [12]

Coco Gauff, the American ranked fourth in the world, beat 16-year-old Sun Xinran of China 7-5, 6-1 at the China Open in Beijing. [32] At 4-5 in the first set Gauff raised her hand to stop a point because a light beside the court was flickering. [32] Sun thought she had already won the point, and some people online called Gauff a cheat. [33] Gauff said she received a huge amount of racist abuse, and that Sun had accepted her apology. [32]

Why it matters. Gauff said the rules let a player finish the point before asking for it to be replayed. [33] A report in July counted more than 12,000 abusive posts and messages aimed at women players in 2025. [32]

Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, will earn about $300m this season, more than any other footballer, by Sportico's count. [34] About $250m comes from his Saudi club, Al Nassr, and $50m from sponsors. [34] Lionel Messi is second on $150m and Kylian Mbappe third on $105m. [34] Mohamed Salah moved from Liverpool, where he earned about $35m, to Trabzonspor in Turkey, which guarantees him $19.7m a season. [34] He also gets 20% of the club's sales of goods tied to him. [34]

Why it matters. The top ten will earn $935m between them, only 1% more than last year, in a year when few top players changed clubs. [34] Trabzonspor pays Salah less for certain and more only if his shirts sell. [34]

An Ohio appeals court on Friday cancelled a temporary order that had let Xavier basketball player Filip Borovicanin and nearly two dozen others play this season. [35] They had used up the four seasons the NCAA, which runs US college sport, allows. [35] Judge Candace Crouse wrote that they had received the four seasons they understood they were entitled to. [35] Each ruling covers only its own area, so a court elsewhere can still decide the other way. [35]

Why it matters. A bill in the US Congress would set one national five-year limit and end these cases. [35] It passed the US Senate last month but faces an uncertain vote in the House of Representatives. [35]

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-2 on Monday to lead their best-of-five baseball series 2-0. [36] The Yankees made four errors, including three in one inning for the first time in a playoff game. [36] The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 and also lead 2-0, having won all four of their playoff games away from home. [37][38] A win at home on Wednesday would put the White Sox in the American League's final round for the first time since 2005. [37]

Why it matters. Since 1995, the team that won the first game of these series has gone on to win 73% of the time. [38] Sporting News calls the White Sox run one of baseball's most unlikely. [37]

The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints 45-24 on Monday night, 20 years after the Saints' first game back in their stadium after Hurricane Katrina. [39][40] Bijan Robinson ran for 145 yards. [39] It was Atlanta's highest score in a regular-season game since 2016. [39] The Falcons lost Za'Darius Smith, their leader in sacks, to a possible concussion in the first quarter. [41]

Why it matters. The night was planned to honour Steve Gleason, whose blocked punt in that 2006 game became a symbol of the city's recovery. [40] Gleason revealed in 2011 that he has ALS, a disease that destroys the nerves that move the muscles. [40]

The Seattle Seahawks, the reigning Super Bowl champions, are signing running back Joe Mixon after a workout on Monday, CBS Sports reports. [42] Their running backs Zach Charbonnet and first-round rookie Jadarian Price are both injured. [42] Mixon, 30, missed all of 2025 with a foot injury. [42] In 2024 he ran for 1,016 yards for the Houston Texans. [42]

Why it matters. Seattle have won three of four games, and Mixon has run for more than 1,000 yards in five of his eight seasons. [42]

England's rugby league coach, Brian McDermott, left Leeds Rhinos half-back Jake Connor out of his 23-man World Cup squad on Monday. [43] Connor was voted Super League's best player in 2025 and was also left out of England's series against Australia last autumn. [43][44] England lost that series 3-0. [44] McDermott picked Hull KR's Mikey Lewis, saying Connor missed out by a small margin. [43] The World Cup will be held mostly in Australia. [43]

Why it matters. McDermott says England must play differently to beat Australia and New Zealand, and picked players for that plan. [44] The squad has no player from Wakefield, the new Super League champions. [44]

Alex Scott, a Bournemouth midfielder, could be out for two months after playing on with a thigh problem in England's 7-0 win over Croatia. [15] He felt discomfort before the match and said no when asked if he wanted to come off. [15] England's coach, Thomas Tuchel, said the team took 'zero risk' with him. [15] Bournemouth have not won a Premier League game this season and also play in the Europa League. [15]

Why it matters. This was English football's first three-week international break, brought in partly to protect players, and several are going back to their clubs hurt. [16] Erling Haaland, Manchester City's striker, also limped off playing for Norway. [16]

Mary Fowler, one of Australia's best attacking players, has withdrawn from friendlies against Germany and Haiti for personal reasons, Football Australia said on Tuesday. [45] The decision came after talks between Fowler, her club Manchester City and the national team's staff. [45] Leah Davidson of Charlton replaces her. [45] Australia are already without midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross. [45]

Why it matters. The two games are part of Australia's preparation for next year's women's World Cup. [45] Germany are ranked third in the world. [45]

France came from behind to beat Belgium 4-1 in the Nations League, a competition between Europe's national teams, scoring four goals in 14 minutes. [46] Michael Olise came off the bench, set up one goal and scored two. [46] It was Zinedine Zidane's first home win as France's coach. [46] Italy beat Turkey 3-1, leaving France three points clear at the top of their group. [46]

Why it matters. Belgium had led and were heading for their first competitive win over France in 45 years. [46] France moved closer to the quarter-finals. [46]

Robert MacIntyre, Scotland's best golfer, says he may have played his last event of the season because of the conflict in the Middle East. [47] He finished tied sixth at the Dunhill Links in St Andrews on Sunday. [47] The European men's tour ends its season with events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in November. [47] MacIntyre says he will wait and decide close to the deadline. [47]

Why it matters. Matt Fitzpatrick has also doubted travelling there, while the world number two, Rory McIlroy, says he will play both. [47]

England's cricket board, the ECB, says it would 'look at' paying for a women's Test match in the West Indies next spring if that is needed. [48] Last week Cricket West Indies, the region's governing body, announced cuts, including to players' contracts. [48] Normally the home board pays the visitors' travel and hotels, and flying between Caribbean islands is expensive. [48] A women's Test the West Indies were due to host against Australia in March was cancelled. [48]

Why it matters. England want a long-format warm-up before the women's Ashes against Australia, which opens at Headingley. [48] The ECB paid Zimbabwe a touring fee to play a Test in England last year. [48]

Tottenham Hotspur's stadium in north London is the only one in Europe built to NFL standards, and the league helped pay for it, Sportico reports. [49] Tottenham's match-day income rose from $58.9m in 2016-17, before it opened, to $173.3m in 2024-25. [49] NFL games, concerts and attractions such as a go-kart track added $105.9m more last year. [49] Josh Harris, owner of the Washington Commanders, is studying it for their planned $3.8bn stadium. [49]

Why it matters. American owners of English clubs want grounds that earn money every day of the year, not only on match days. [49] Sportico values Tottenham at $3.5bn, tenth among football clubs. [49]

The New York Knicks, the NBA basketball champions, have sued people and businesses, many in China, who they say sell fake Knicks goods to Americans online. [50] The case, filed in a federal court in Illinois, says the sellers hide who they are. [50] The Knicks say sales of their real goods broke records after the title. [50] The NBA and NASCAR have brought similar cases over goods sold on shopping sites such as Temu and AliExpress. [50]

Why it matters. A registered trademark gives the club the only right to sell its logo, and a court can act on that. [50]

Premier League viewing in the US is up 20% this season among 18- to 34-year-olds, according to Nielsen data released on Monday. [51] The broadcasters NBC and USA Network average half a million viewers a game, up 3%. [51] Nielsen links the rise to the World Cup, which the US co-hosted this summer. [51] Tottenham's 2-0 home loss to Newcastle in August drew just over a million, the season's biggest US audience so far. [51]

Why it matters. Interest in Major League Soccer, the US league, rose 23% among 16- to 34-year-olds. [51]

LeBron James plays for the Philadelphia 76ers and is reported to live in New York, and he travels in a helicopter owned by Fanatics, a sports merchandise company. [27] His spokesman said the trading-card deal James signed with Fanatics in 2024 includes use of its aircraft. [27] A one-way flight costs about $4,000 to $10,000, and the helicopter made a dozen round trips in a week. [27] James will earn $3.87m from the 76ers this season, the lowest pay of his career. [27]

Why it matters. James has earned nearly $600m in NBA pay over 24 seasons, and now makes much of his money from deals such as Fanatics. [27]

Dave Portnoy, founder of the sports media company Barstool Sports, says Fox removed him from its college football show Big Noon Kickoff because Ohio State objected. [27] He says Ohio State told Fox it would not cooperate with the show if he was there. [27] He blames Ohio State's coach, Ryan Day, whom he has often attacked. [27] Fox executives were shown a 30- to 45-minute tape of him criticising the school, Portnoy said. [27]

Why it matters. If his account is right, a university decided who could appear on a national TV show. [27]

Detroit Red Wings fans chanted 'sell the team' at their first two home games, both lost. [52] The owner, Chris Ilitch, wrote on Monday that he recognises their frustration. [52] Dylan Larkin, stripped of the captaincy in September, has asked to be traded and was booed at the opener. [52] He had five years left on an eight-year, $69.9m contract when he asked. [52]

Why it matters. Sportsnet reports that defenceman Simon Edvinsson would also prefer a trade. [52] The club is starting its 101st season. [52]

John Tyson chairs the meat company Tyson Foods and gives big sums to Arkansas's football team. [53] He said he cannot fund the team the way Cody Campbell funded Texas Tech's. [53] 'He's got oil, and I've got chickens,' Tyson said. [53] Since US college players were allowed to earn money from their name, teams often rely on one very rich donor. [53] Arkansas spends just over $20m on its roster, while Texas Tech spends over $30m. [53]

Why it matters. Campbell, an oil executive, replied that coaching made the difference at Texas Tech. [53]