Tickets for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will only be on sale for people residing in mainland China while any unvaccinated athletes arriving in the country will need to remain in quarantine for 21 days, organizers have said.
After consultation with local authorities, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) outlined measures on its website which will apply to fans, athletes and any others associated with the Games, which run from February 4 to 20 in the Chinese capital.
“Tickets will be sold exclusively to spectators residing in China’s mainland, who meet the requirements of the Covid-19 countermeasures,“ the IOC said, signaling a similar ban on foreign fans to the one seen at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
“Specific requirements on Covid-19 countermeasures for spectators from China’s mainland and the details of ticketing arrangements are under discussion and development, and will be released to the public in due course once they are finalized,” it added.
Two big developments regarding Beijing Winter Olympics. 1) foreign spectators will not be allowed, but tickets will be sold to Chinese fans. 2) any Games participants who are NOT fully vaccinated must serve a 21-day quarantine upon arrival. https://t.co/3jTNUs5nVU
Regarding vaccines for athletes, the IOC website said: “All athletes and Games participants who are fully vaccinated will enter the closed-loop management system upon arrival.
“Games participants who are not fully vaccinated will have to serve a 21-day quarantine upon arrival in Beijing.
“Athletes who can provide a justified medical exemption will have their cases considered.”
Further details on Covid countermeasure will be released in the form of ‘Playbooks’ in late October and December, the organization added.
ESPN host Sage Steele has branded the media company’s mandating of the Covid vaccine for its employees ‘sick’ and ‘scary’, and said she received her jabs purely to remain in her role on Sportscenter.
On the Uncut with Jay Cutler podcast hosted by the former Chicago Bears quarterback, Steele took the opportunity to rage against her employers, who like many others in the US are making their staff receive their Covid vaccines.
“I work for a company that mandates it and I had until September 30th to get it done or I’m out,” Steele revealed.
“I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is sick and it’s scary to me in many ways,” she added.
“I just, I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, I mean a global company like that,” Steele admitted, in regards to the entertainment conglomerate that owns ESPN.
The 48-year-old confirmed that she had her jabs but “didn’t want to.”
Another colleague, however, Allison Williams, who reported on college sports from the sidelines, had to walk away from her position this season as she said taking the vaccine “is not in my best interest” while trying to conceive a second child with her husband.
This will be the first fall in the last 15 years I won’t be on the sidelines for College Football. My heart hurts posting this but I’m at peace with my decision. pic.twitter.com/np5V3gdrfW
Yesterday, Steele retweeted a statement regarding vaccines from NBA star Jonathan Isaac, who took offense to a Rolling Stone article that dubbed him anti-vax and wrote that: “Misrepresentation only allows for others to attack straw men, and not reason with the true ideas and heart of their fellow man. It helps no one!
“True journalism is dying! I believe it is your God given right to decide if taking the vaccine is right for you! Period!,” the Orlando Magic power forward concluded.
Misrepresentation only allows for others to attack straw men, and not reason with the true ideas and heart of their fellow man. It helps no one! True journalism is dying! I believe it is your God given right to decide if taking the vaccine is right for you! Period! More to follow
Thank you!! I just wanted to show how badly I was misrepresented/ share my views on things. To see that many share my opinion is encouraging! Whether you are vaxxed or not you’re free to your own convictions And I stand with you and against bullying! Keep the faith and God bless! https://t.co/zLvVCJbxJm
Issac, who has contracted Covid once already, has been outspoken regarding his reluctance to take the vaccine as vaccination rates in the NBA stand at 90%.
On Wednesday, the league’s executive vice president of communications Mike Bass announced that any player “who elects not to comply with local vaccination mandates will not be paid for games that he misses.”
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship president Dave Feldman has said he ‘would love’ former UFC pin-up Paige VanZant to continue with the organization ahead of a sit-down with the fighter and her team to discuss their future.
Leaving the UFC last year after four defeats in her previous six octagon outings, the 27-year-old signed a four-bout deal with BKFC reportedly worth over $1 million.
Losing to Britain Hart via unanimous decision on her debut at Knucklemania, VanZant then dropped another L in the same manner to a foe she had previously beaten in the UFC, Rachael Ostovich, and has shown an interest in returning to MMA via a promotion such as Bellator.
With two fights left to run in her agreement with BKFC, however, Feldman is keen to see her stay put and will fly out to Florida to touch base with VanZant and her team to see how they plan to move forward.
“We spoke to her management team and honestly it’s up in the air,” Feldman said, according to MMA Fighting.
“We’re not 100% sure she’ll be back with BKFC. It looks like she will but at the end of the day, if her heart and her passion is [that] she wants to give MMA another shot, we may give her that opportunity.
“I’m not here to hold anybody back,” Feldman claimed.
“We’d love to have her back,” Feldman confirmed, though.
“But at the end of the day, if her heart’s not in it – and I’m not saying that it’s not – but if her heart’s not in it, and she wants to try something else, who are we to stop her from advancing her career or trying something else new with her career?
“‘Cause we thought we could give her a great opportunity and we did and she’s been great to work with. We’ll know a lot more after this week. I’d love to put her on the KnuckleMania card again as well. So we’ll see what happens with that this week,” he concluded on that specific topic.
BKFC is currently planning a second KnuckleMania show for February 11 next year, but Feldman can see the appeal of a return to MMA and specifically Bellator, where VanZant’s husband Austin Vanderford plies his trade.
“She started in MMA,” Feldman pointed out.
“Her husband fights for Bellator. If she wants to go fight with her husband … like I said, we’ll see what happens. I know that she definitely wants to go back to MMA. She always did.”
“Even when she came over to bare-knuckle, I knew that was going to come up, and with her not able to taste victory yet in BKFC, maybe she wants to go over there.
“Like I said, we’re going to know a lot more in the next two days. Hopefully she comes back, and if not, we’ll wish her the best,” Feldman finished.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck a winner deep into injury time to give Manchester United a 2-1 Champions League win over Villarreal at Old Trafford, on what was a landmark appearance in the competition for the Portuguese superstar.
Making a record 178th Champions League appearance – moving him ahead of former Real Madrid teammate Iker Casillas on the all-time list – Ronaldo pounced in the 95th minute to fire home a strike from a tight angle via the hand of despairing Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
The goal was Ronaldo’s second in the Champions League since rejoining United and a 136th overall in the competition he reigns over as top scorer.
On netting the late, late winner in front of a jubilant Old Trafford, the musclebound 36-year-old whipped off his shirt before being engulfed by his teammates.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was no less ecstatic on the touchline after watching his team labor for much of the match against wily opposition managed by Unai Emery, who had beaten the English giants on penalties in last season’s Europa League final.
After the hosts were indebted to goalkeeper David de Gea in the first half, it was Villarreal who took the lead in the 53rd minute when Arnaut Danjuma drove past Diogo Dalot down the left flank, turning the ball across the face of the goal for Paco Alcacer to poke home.
Villarreal deserved to go ahead, with their goal coming from a predictable source after Danjuma had run Dalot ragged for much of the night.
United finally roused themselves, equalizing seven minutes later thanks to a sweetly hit volley from Alex Telles after he was cleverly teed up by a free-kick from Bruno Fernandes on the opposite side of the box.
Alex Telles' goal from the stands, taken by the one and only Usain Bolt!
United pressed and were rewarded for their efforts when Ronaldo – a largely peripheral figure until that point – sent a header towards substitute Jesse Lingard in the Villarreal box.
Lingard was unable to collect the ball but his touch sent it back towards Ronaldo, who drove it low and into the net via the hand of Villarreal’s Rulli.
The goal sent supporters in the stands wild – including watching sprint king Usain Bolt and veteran United boss Sir Alex Ferguson – while fans online saluted Ronaldo for being the match-winner on yet another Champions League night.
“Cristiano Ronaldo’s career is scripted, he’s inevitable,” gushed one fan, while transfer guru Fabrizio Romano hailed CR7’s late, late show, writing: “If you’ve [got] Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s never over.”
Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League:
⚽️ Most goals in history (136) Most appearances (178) Most goals in a season (17) Most goals in knockout stages (67) Only player to score in 11 straight games Only player to score in 3 finals#UCLpic.twitter.com/SyRXiouyhH
.@Cristiano#Ronaldo now has 12 career goals in the 90th minute or later in the Champions League (including extra time), double any other player in the competition's history.
The defeat gave United a first win in this season’s competition, after their shock opening Group F defeat against Young Boys in Switzerland.
“Now everything is possible, everything is open, and we believe we will go through,” Ronaldo remarked to BT Sport following his heroics.
“This is why I came back, I missed this club a lot. I made history in this club, and I want to do it again.”
“I have to say thank you to all of them [the fans], not just for me, but [for pushing] the team which will be very important especially this season,” he added.
Worth every penny of his lofty wages thus far, Ronaldo has scored five times for United in five games since rejoining the club from Juventus in a late summer transfer move.
Next up for the evergreen Portuguese five-time Champions League winner and his team is a Premier League meeting with Everton on Saturday.
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has admitted to being ‘p*ssed’ that Anthony Joshua blew their best of British box office clash by losing to Oleksandr Usyk, but has offered advice to his rival on how to turn the tides.
Fury has his own dangerous assignment to deal with on October 9 when facing Deontay Wilder, in a trilogy bout which was rescheduled after the Brit contracted Covid.
Dethroning the Alabama native in February last year with a stunning TKO stoppage following a controversial draw in December 2019, The Gypsy King vowed to “smash Deontay to bits again just like I did in our second fight”.
“But I’m the only man who has done this and the only one who can do it,” he stressed, while taking time out from his training camp to conduct a barechested press conference via video link.
“He would do the same to Usyk, Joshua and all the others in the heavyweight division,” Fury said of his next foe, who might not be the most technically gifted of pugilists yet boasts devastating knockout power.
“Wilder is the most dangerous heavyweight in the world. One punch from him in any round can end your career.”
“I never take any opponent for granted, big or small, and certainly not this one,” he stressed.
That being said, it is pretty much common knowledge in the boxing world that had Joshua gotten past Usyk before Fury potentially sees off Wilder, the Brits’ promoters would have headed back to the negotiation table to try and finally arrange a pair of blockbuster clashes between them in Saudi Arabia and the UK which have now decreased in both interest and value.
Despite admitting his frustration, though, Fury refused to pile on Joshua.
“Did I watch the fight? Yes, I did. Was I absolutely wounded that [Usyk] won? Yes, I was. I was hoping Joshua could win the fight, but he couldn’t – and that’s none of my business.
“Usyk did his job well and good luck to him. I’m not saying much about Joshua because I don’t like beating up on people when they’re down.”
“It ain’t my style. I like to pick on someone who is doing well, successful, on top of the game – I don’t like picking on people who are down and probably at their lowest point and probably mentally unstable and unwell with a big loss after such a long reign.
“Was I p*ssed that he lost before our big fight? Yes, I was. But if he’s going to get revenge he’s going to have do something very different in the rematch,” Fury pointed out.
“The only chance he has of getting his vengeance is to come out swinging, leave nothing in the ring, give it everything he’s got and hope that’s enough.”
“Who knows? But what I do know is that whatever happens between them I am the only heavyweight who will get all the belts. Always have been. Always will be. At 6ft 9in and 270-plus pounds I am a behemoth among men. A steamroller coming straight at you,” he boasted.
“Wilder has an extra problem with me because he could not accept losing for the first time, [and] made all those daft excuses about how I beat him, so [he] is unable to move on,” Fury continued, referencing the American complaining that his heavy ring walk costume exhausted him before their second meeting, and that the Mancunian had loaded his gloves.
“It would have been better for him mentally to congratulate me on being the better man and start thinking about what he might do different. To shake hands. But he couldn’t bring himself to do that. No class.
“He will be at his most dangerous he’s ever been in this fight. I hope he can put up a better fight because I like big challenges. But he knows what’s coming in that ring. I told him last time what I was going to do to him. Smash him.”
“He was too stupid to believe me. So I’m telling him to expect the same again. Only it will be over for him quicker than the seven rounds of our second fight,” Fury predicted.
After that, Fury has no particular preference on his next opponent whether it is Joshua or Usyk, who now holds the most belts in the division.
“I don’t care about anybody else – they are not on my radar, only the ‘Bronze Bomber’, aka the Big Dosser [is].
“After him, we will talk, the promoters will do their job, and I will always do mine. Never worry about the Gypsy King fulfilling his end of a bargain – I will always f*cking fight until there’s not a fight left in me. You just worry about the other people doing their end of the bargain,” he advised.
Claiming to feel a “million percent”, Fury also said he is in “fantastic shape” and “fit as a fiddle”.
“I’m absolutely ready, today, tomorrow and forever. I’ll always be ready and I’ll never make excuses.”
“When I beat Wilder, I’ll be on to the next one, so on and so forth. It’s never about the opponent,” he said.
“It’s the Tyson Fury show until I hang those gloves up. Until that day, it’s all about me, and the roadshow continues. All these years, 2008 to 2021 and I’m still undefeated.
“There ain’t a man out there born from his mother that can stop me or beat me. I haven’t seen one yet anyway. Maybe he’s not born, or maybe he is but he hasn’t got the guts to come and fight me,” Fury signed off.
