Sports, in brief

Cristiano Ronaldo said on Thursday he will not play for Portugal again. [1] He is 41, and he played for them for 23 years. [2]

He leaves with 146 goals in 234 games, both men's international records. [2]

He walked away after a fall-out with Portugal's coach, Jorge Jesus, who had kept him on the bench. [1]

Ronaldo is a Portuguese forward who has won the Ballon d'Or, a prize for the world's best player, 5 times. [2]

A small country found a way to be noticed, says the BBC's writer. [4] For two decades he was its face. [4]

A generation of Portuguese players grew up in a dressing room where he set the standard. [4]

Sports scientists track an ageing curve: speed fades before skill does. [8]

At this summer's World Cup, Ronaldo broke clear against Spain, lacked the pace, and had to turn back. [8]

An older player in a school kickabout still finds the goal, but the younger ones now reach the ball first.

Two readings of his last years disagree. [8] The Guardian's Jonathan Wilson says he held Portugal back for at least 3 tournaments. [8]

The BBC counts 28 goals in 37 games under his previous coach, Roberto Martinez. [4] It calls that statistically his best period. [4]

Wilson also says a cabinet minister once said Ronaldo could not be dropped, because of the revenue he brought in. [8] He does not name the minister. [8]

Ronaldo plays on at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, on 985 career goals in his chase for 1,000. [1]

Jesus was due to name his squad on Friday, for Nations League games against Denmark and Wales. [2]

Portugal's coach, Jorge Jesus, stopped treating Cristiano Ronaldo as an automatic starter, and Ronaldo left the team rather than accept it. [4]

A big record makes criticism sound like disrespect: the BBC says that in Portugal, criticising Ronaldo got harder as time went by. [4]

Whether Ronaldo would have been picked for Denmark and Wales.

Jesus said the door was open, and the BBC can say only 'possibly'. Ronaldo quit before the squad was named. [4]

LIV Golf's lawyers told a US bankruptcy court on Thursday that the tour will wind down instead of starting again. [18]

LIV must file its wind-down plan by Monday. [18]

LIV is the breakaway tour that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, PIF, paid for from 2022. [18]

Only 15 players, led by Bryson DeChambeau, agreed to stay on. [22] The Financial Times reported that only 4 of them signed contracts. [22]

Europe's DP World Tour now expects an influx of LIV players next year. [22]

DeChambeau has until 16 November to use an option to join it that major winners get. [22]

The US-based PGA Tour keeps a ban of 12 months from a player's last LIV event. [22]

Players left under contract face uncertain futures. [22] Australia's Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman have not yet said what they will do. [23]

Bankruptcy law calls this a wind-down: a firm stops trading and sells what it owns to pay what it owes. [18]

PIF controlled LIV's bankruptcy because it was the largest creditor, the one owed the most. [18]

When a shop closes for good, it sells its shelves, and whoever it owes the most has the loudest say.

The hearing gave no names of who signed, and no figures for what smaller creditors are owed. [24]

The next hearing is on 24 November, before Judge Michael Kaplan. [18]

Players who need somewhere to play now have to come to it, on its terms, and its new invite policy fills smaller events with bigger names. [22]

They now face uncertain futures, and some cannot join the PGA Tour for a year. [22]

How much Saudi Arabia's fund really spent on LIV.

Front Office Sports says more than $5bn, and the Guardian says more than $7bn. [18][22] The hearing gave no figures for what smaller creditors are owed. [24]

France pulled its para hockey team out of next month's World Championship in Mexico on Thursday. [11]

World Para Ice Hockey had scheduled France to play Russia there. [11] The event runs from 8 to 13 December. [11]

France's federation cited the heavy toll on its athletes, and said conditions could not guarantee a proper tournament. [11]

It warned its women's team could also miss the 2027 top-level world championship. [11]

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, overturned the 2022 ban on Russia last week. [11] It defended that ruling on Thursday. [11]

Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia and the Czech Republic have refused to play Russia, 6 countries in all. [11]

Canada has barred Russian and Belarusian teams from the World Junior Championship in Alberta. [11]

French para players will now miss next month's event because of the row. [11]

Lawyers call CAS's job arbitration: a private court settles a dispute inside a sport. [25]

Its order told the federation to let Russia back in. [25] Each country's team can still refuse to take the ice. [25]

A referee can let a player back on the pitch, but cannot make his team-mates pass to him.

The international federation says it disagrees with the ruling, and World Para Ice Hockey did not immediately answer Reuters. [11]

What happens to teams that refuse to play Russia.

Reuters lists who refuses, and says the international federation disagrees with the court; it does not say what punishment, if any, could follow. [11]

Australia's men's footballers, the Socceroos, want their 17 November friendly in Amman, Jordan's capital, moved or put back. [21]

Their union said the players "overwhelmingly" want the match rescheduled or relocated. [26]

Football Australia delayed naming its squad from Friday to the weekend. [26]

Indonesia has already cancelled its own 13 November friendly in Amman. [26]

A security officer was stabbed to death in Amman on Thursday, in a suspected terrorist attack. [21]

Less than 2 weeks earlier, gunmen killed 9 people at a funeral in the south of Jordan. [21]

The games were booked to prepare for the Asian Cup, which has been put back to December 2027. [21]

The friendlies no longer serve as key preparation, which makes some players less willing to go. [26]

Governments grade travel risk by level, and Australia's publishes its advice for each country. [21]

Australia's government puts Qatar at level 2, and the players are comfortable going there. [21] It puts Jordan at level 3: reconsider your need to travel. [21]

A school trip can go ahead to one town and be cancelled for the next, because the warnings differ.

Jordan's football body says the game is "still scheduled". [21] Winger Awer Mabil says he will go if picked. [26]

Whether Australia play in Jordan at all.

The players' union wants the match moved, and Jordan's football body says it is still on. Football Australia has not yet decided in public. [21]

A judge in St Louis ruled on Thursday that forward Robbie Avila can play a fifth college basketball season. [9]

Judge Jason Sengheiser also gave Saint Louis University a 16th roster place for him. [9]

Avila is 23, and was Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10 league last season. [9]

This year the NCAA, US college sport's ruling body, gave athletes 5 seasons over 5 years. [9]

It did not cover the 2022 class who had used up their time. [9] That set off a wave of lawsuits. [9]

Also on Thursday, RJ Godfrey sued the Arizona Board of Regents, which runs his university, and not the NCAA. [27]

Chauncey Wiggins of Gonzaga filed his third attempt, in Spokane, citing more than 50 rulings for athletes. [10]

Judges have split: one in Waco, Texas, refused Wiggins and others. [10] So who plays can turn on which court hears the case. [10]

Lawyers call Avila's order a preliminary injunction: it holds until the full trial. [9]

Avila's trial could be several months away, so the order in effect clears him for the whole season. [9]

A pupil sits an exam while a complaint is checked, and the exam is over before the answer comes.

A Georgia appeals court has already paused an earlier win for Godfrey, leaving him ineligible. [27]

Players and coaches fear that NCAA appeals could undo these wins too. [9]

It gets a star back without losing a place, because the judge added a roster spot for him until trial. [9]

Whether college players who won in court stay eligible.

The NCAA can appeal, and a Georgia court has already paused one win, so a season could change under a player. [27]

Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are on trial in Brooklyn over alleged bribes to rig pitches. [13]

Both have pleaded not guilty. [13] They are on unpaid leave from the club. [13]

Clase is accused of rigging 18 pitches over 3 seasons, and Ortiz of throwing 2 in June 2025. [28]

The indictment says gamblers won at least $460,000 on the speed and outcome of pitches. [13]

Opening statements came on Wednesday. [28] The prosecutor told the jury that "Clase and Luis Ortiz are cheaters". [28]

A DraftKings investigator testified that 161 bets from the accounts were placed in Clase's home. [28]

The defence says a gambler, Enoc Pena, used them and sold guesswork as inside tips. [28]

Their careers, and possibly their freedom, are at stake. [13]

Betting firms call it a prop bet: a stake on one small detail inside a game. [13]

A bet on one pitch needs only one pitcher to fix it. [13] His team can still win the game. [13]

You could lose one point in a game on purpose, and your friends would still win and never know.

Prosecutors gave Pena a deal to testify, then told the judge they no longer plan to call him. [28]

The trial is expected to last about a month. [13]

Why prosecutors dropped Enoc Pena as a witness.

They told the judge they would not call him, despite his deal, and The Athletic reports no reason. [28]

Manchester United's co-owner Avram Glazer told financiers that clubs at United's level do not depend on results for commercial power. [15]

He spoke in September, at Deutsche Bank's sports investing conference in London, The Athletic reported on Thursday. [15]

Commercial power means income from sponsors and partners. [15] United's rose from 152 million pounds in 2012-13 to 276 million in 2017-18. [15]

It has since flattened, to 317 million in 2025-26. [15]

United last won the league in 2013, and fell as low as 17th in the Premier League this autumn. [15]

Glazer compared United to the New York Yankees, last champions in 2009, and the Dallas Cowboys, last champions in 1995. [15]

Forbes valued United at $7.2bn in May, third in football, behind Barcelona's $7.5bn and Real Madrid's $9.5bn. [15]

A club whose income holds up whatever the results is easier to sell to investors, The Athletic says. [15]

Marketers call it brand equity: the value a name keeps from its past, whatever happens this season. [15]

United's 20 league titles still draw sponsors, so one poor season does not wipe out the deals. [15]

A famous old restaurant stays full for years after the food has slipped, on its name alone.

Industry people told The Athletic that lucrative deals are harder to strike during a slump. [15]

The Athletic's sources think Glazer was showing United in the best light to possible investors. [15]

Why a player can be worth more to a team's brand than to its results

A team has 2 aims: win its matches, and earn its money

Sports economists call them win maximising and profit maximising

Most days they point the same way, because winning sells tickets and shirts

A famous name can keep selling after he stops helping the team win

So the coach counts results, and the people selling the team count fans

Whoever has the last word decides which aim comes first

A team's most valuable player and its most useful player can be two different people.

Manchester United's income from sponsors and partners. The club's last league title was in 2013, the start of this chart.

He told investors that results do not set a club's commercial power, while his own team has fallen as low as 17th, so the money aim and the winning aim are running apart.

The county keeps its old name for its long-time members and gives its T20 side a new one for new buyers, because its T20 ticket money is falling.

The schedule was built for the TV sale, so Fiji played a "home" game in Cardiff and England flew 25,000 miles.

The two aims can split only for a while: people in the business told The Athletic that big deals get harder to strike during a slump, so losing does cost money in the end.

A fan in Tashkent who bought a Ronaldo keyring got what he paid for. A Portugal team-mate waiting for a quicker run did not.

Avram Glazer, co-owner of Manchester United, told investors that results do not set his club's commercial power, and his team has since fallen as low as 17th in England. [15]

FIFA, world football's ruling body, wants talks with the International Olympic Committee on an under-23 limit for Olympic women's football. [29]

The reason given is too many matches, and the workload on senior players. [29]

It could not start before Brisbane in 2032, because the rules for Los Angeles 2028 are already set. [29]

No formal proposal has been made. [29]

Men's Olympic football has had an under-23 limit since 1992, under pressure from FIFA. [29]

FIFA insisted on keeping the World Cup as the top prize. [29] The women's event has never had a limit. [29]

A limit could provoke a backlash from top players, for whom the Games are a highlight of the calendar. [29]

Sports governors call it fixture congestion: more events than the players' year can hold. [29]

FIFA runs its own World Cup and Club World Cup. [29] So the event it asks to change is the IOC's. [29]

Two teachers set big tests on one day, and each tells the other to move theirs.

FIFA itself put the Women's Club World Cup in an Olympic year: 5 to 30 January 2028. [29]

That is 6 months before the Games. [29] The IOC may resist, as Los Angeles will have 16 women's teams and 12 men's. [29]

Rugby Australia's chair said this week that the players' union's proposals "threaten the future of the game". [20]

The old pay agreement between the two sides has now lapsed. [20]

Rugby Australia also wrote straight to its players, going around their union. [20]

The union's president, Tom Robertson, wants career-ending injury cover and fair terms for men and women. [20]

Australia's men, the Wallabies, play England at Twickenham on Sunday. [20]

Rugby Australia had a A$37m yearly deficit only 2 years ago. [20] It hopes to save much of a near-A$100m fee for hosting next year's World Cup. [20]

Rugby league can already pay young players more, and its 7-year, A$5.3bn TV deal should lift that further. [20]

So young players in Australia can be drawn away to the other code. [20]

Labour law gives this moment a name: with an agreement lapsed, players can take industrial action. [20]

That can mean media boycotts or protests. [20] In 2023 rugby league players taped over the league's logo on their shirts. [20]

Workers whose deal has ended can stop doing the extras until there is a new one.

Both sides said this week they think a solution can be found. [20]

The Nations Championship, rugby's new tournament, resumes with Ireland against Argentina in Dublin on Friday. [17]

It replaces this year's old-style autumn tours, with matches over the next 3 weekends. [17]

The finals are 6 games in 3 days at Twickenham, from 27 to 29 November. [30]

The organisers must sell half a million tickets. [17] Fans will not know who plays when until 6 days before. [17]

Rugby's unions and their investors built it after Covid left them with big debts. [17]

Players carry the travel. [17] England flew 25,000 miles to play 3 games in 3 weeks. [17]

Economists call it a trade-off: having more of one thing means having less of another. [17]

The schedule was built for TV. [17] So Fiji played a "home" game against Wales in Cardiff. [17]

A school fair puts its main stage where the cameras can reach, even if the crowd walks further.

These complaints come from a Guardian column, and no organiser answers them in it. [17]

A deal to stage the second edition in Qatar has just fallen through, the column says. [17]

The schedule was built for the TV sale, so Fiji played a "home" game in Cardiff and England flew 25,000 miles. The players and fans pay for the money aim in travel.

A tournament designed for TV gives them a package to sell after the debts Covid left. [17]

They cannot know who plays when until 6 days before the finals, so a trip is hard to plan. [17]

The Golden State Warriors have stopped paying their center Kristaps Porzingis, league sources told The Athletic. [31]

He has been away from the team since late September. [31]

He signed a 2-year, $40m contract last summer. [31] Based on that, he is losing about $218,000 a game. [31]

Porzingis, 31, has said he has POTS, an illness first thought to be behind his absence. [31]

The Warriors say he has not been excused for this absence. [31]

Neither he nor the players' union plans to challenge the decision for now. [31]

The Warriors lost their first 3 games and have since won 5 in a row without him. [31]

Contract law treats pay as a swap: money for the work the contract names. [31]

The Warriors say he is not giving the services in his contract, so they stop the money. [31]

A shop stops paying a worker who has not come in, and it turns on whether the absence was excused.

The team first called it "a health-related matter", and unnamed sources now say it is not excused. [31]

Golden State plans to trade him for a center, the sources said. [31]