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Whether they helped bring down Jose Mourinho, marched against their club owner or pushed back against plans to commercialize the game, fans have a long history of using their passion for football as a tool to fight for change. Their protest stories remind us that fan activism is far from a fad, and that it remains a force to be reckoned with in the fight for football’s future.

Christian Brandt, Maryna Krugliak and Robert Warnecke combine comparative analysis with ethnography to understand the motives and dynamics of fan protests in two specific national settings over eight years (2014-2021). The study focuses on German and Ukraine activist supporter communities, exploring how these are framed by political events and the contexts of their organization.

We find that supporters’ protests often revolve around struggles related to their club’s governance and power imbalances. But they also address wider issues of governance and representation, such as the role of non-profit organizations or the extent to which supporters’ participation in a club is encouraged by management. In addition, we examine how the way a protest story is told can affect its credibility. We find that people viewed a story that was told in a humanizing way as more credible than one that was not, but that these effects differed by political beliefs.

Gloria Jimenez, co-founder of Angel City Brigade, the Los Angeles Galaxy’s official fan group, remained silent for a full game’s worth of the team’s most recent home game in an act of solidarity with Southern California Latino communities impacted by immigration raids conducted by ICE. She says there isn’t a day that goes by when she doesn’t think of those who were swept up in the raids and the importance of standing up for their rights.

Combat Sports, ranging from boxing and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) to traditional martial arts like karate, judo, and taekwondo, have witnessed surges in popularity in recent years. Their intense physical exertion and close-contact nature make them unique in the sporting arena. They are also interwoven into the social, cultural, and psychological tapestry of human existence, making them an attractive and engaging field of study from a number of perspectives.

The most distinctive aspect of combat sports is their competitive nature, where athletes train with the goal of winning against an opponent in a formal contest or match setting. This competitive drive enables participants to continuously hone their performance and strategy, while also promoting a high level of mental toughness.

Athletes participate in combat sports through a variety of training regimens and environments, including gyms and clubs, where they often become part of a tight-knit community. This camaraderie, mutual respect, and support help to reduce stress levels and improve mental well-being. Furthermore, the act of striking and grappling allows practitioners to release anger and frustration in a safe and controlled environment, which is an important element of emotional self-control.

The unique physical, physiological, and psychological demands of combat sports create unique challenges in the area of injury prevention and management. The prevalence of concussive injuries, the close-contact nature of the sport, and the diversity of body types and fighting styles all necessitate specialized research and tailored medical approaches. Nonetheless, the allure of combat sports continues to capture the imagination and inspire audiences worldwide.

Founded in 1955, Champions League has become one of the world’s biggest sports properties. Its 2025/26 edition is launching in an altered format, with 36 clubs playing eight games through the league phase, replacing the old group stage and knockout rounds.

The new system sees a tennis-style ranked bracket, so the higher you finish in the group stages, the easier your route to the final. The draw creates two matches, home and away, between each pair of teams. The team that scores more goals over the two legs advances.

Domestic champions and runner-ups from top European leagues are automatically qualified, while clubs from weaker associations compete in three qualifying rounds and a playoff round known as the League Path. The first-place club from the qualifying competition joins the automatic qualifiers in official Champions League competition.

There is still a draw (of sorts) at the start of the season to create the league-phase fixtures: each club will play twice against opponents from four seeding pots, including their own. The titleholders and top-eight clubs on the Champions League coefficient are prioritised for Pot 1, while the remaining clubs are ordered by their league ranking.

The league-phase draw created individual fixture lists for each of the 36 participating clubs, with a balanced schedule for each that includes eight games through January. A new slot will be awarded to the winner of the qualifying path, allowing a fifth club to qualify via this route instead of the traditional four, with the additional place available only to a club from the top five of the final standings.

International sports occur when two or more countries compete against each other in any sport, including the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. These competitions may be held in a single country, as with the London Olympics or the England football team’s home matches at Wembley Stadium, or on neutral ground, such as the America’s Cup sailing yacht tournament (also known as “the Auld Mug”).

Each sport is governed by an international federation, a non-governmental organization that is responsible for the administration of one or more sports at the global level. These governing bodies set the rules and procedures for their sport, and are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and cooperate with it in ensuring that its activities comply with the Olympic Charter.

The earliest international sporting events, such as the ancient Olympia Games, brought city states together for peaceful competition and put all internal conflict on hold. While modern sports can bring countries together, they can also spark controversy. International athletes have had to deal with a variety of issues, from racism and homophobia to drug abuse and violence.

International sports law is the legal framework regulating sports on the international level, and deals with topics like dispute resolution, rights of athletes and doping. Many leading sports law journals, such as the Marquette Sports Law Review and Les Cahiers de droit du sport, include articles on international sports law topics. A few of these publications are available in print form at Eckstein Library, shelved alphabetically on the 4th floor.

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball. Also known as the Fall Classic, it has featured a variety of notable events over its 114-year history. From the time it was first played in 1905 until 1994 (players’ strike) and then again in 2020 (in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic), a few moments have stuck out as World Series highlights.

The 1987 World Series featured a thrilling finish that made the Minnesota Twins the first team to win all four games at home. The final game went to 10 innings and a loud crowd rocked the stadium as Jack Morris pitched superbly, holding a two-run lead until Mark Grace laced a single just over the infield into the left field corner. Dan Gladden scored the run and the Twins won their second consecutive World Series title.

Game 6 of the 1993 World Series became one of the most famous and memorable World Series in history, not least because of Joe Carter’s walk-off three-run homer off Bob Stanley with the bases loaded that lifted Toronto to a dramatic victory over the Boston Red Sox. Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek’s exclamation, “Touch ’em all, Joe! You’ll never hit a bigger one in your life!”, is now firmly entrenched in baseball lore.

After a disappointing outing in Game 2, Don Larsen was determined not to let that happen again. He retired all 27 Dodger batters he faced, including future Hall of Famers Dick Williams, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. It was the first and only perfect game in World Series history.

The US Open starts this week with qualifying matches, and the action heats up around the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. The event runs from Monday, Aug. 24 to Sunday, Sept. 7. The Grand Slam championships feature the best players in the world.

This year, the tournament is adding a 15-day schedule for the first time, joining the French and Australian opens in expanding the competition to that length. The addition means more time for fans to see the game’s biggest stars, as well as some emerging talent.

Also new this year is the addition of mixed doubles, which will be played on two separate courts. A reward pot of $1 million will be available to the winning team. Matches will use short sets, no-ad scoring and a deciding tiebreak in the early rounds.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner, 2022 titlist Aryna Sabalenka and home favorite Taylor Fritz are among the top players to watch. Total player compensation at this year’s event is a record $90 million, with the winner of each men’s and women’s singles titles taking $5 million.

US Open tickets go on sale in early June featuring individual, full-series and group plans. AmEx Card Members traditionally get a jump on ticket purchase with special offers. The US Open will broadcast live on ESPN in the USA, and Eurosport hold rights across Europe, with NBC Sports showing the event in Australia, RDS in Canada and beIN Sport in South Africa.

The NFL draft 2025 took place on April 24 and 26, and teams have the chance to acquire some of the best talent in college football. The Ringer is here to help you follow every move with big boards, mock drafts, scouting reports with in-depth player analysis, team needs, and more.

There are many interesting prospects to watch in this year’s draft, including the top-rated quarterback Cam Ward from Miami and pass rusher Abdul Carter from Penn State. Ward is a creative thrower with an ability to stay in the pocket and finds openings in tight windows while Carter has explosive athletic ability that makes him difficult to cover for any defensive back.

All 32 teams have a selection in each round of the draft (unless they trade away their pick). The order is set by reverse order of the regular season finish from last year, and ties are settled by using division or conference tiebreakers. The loser of the Super Bowl gets the 31st and final pick in each round.

Once a team makes its choice, it’s written on a special card and given to an NFL runner who brings it to the head table at Selection Square. Then, a representative of the NFL’s Vice President of Player Personnel reviews the selection and enters it into the database. The NFL also notifies the teams involved in the draft and broadcasters, making the pick official. Each team is allowed 10 minutes to make a selection in the first round, seven minutes in the second and five minutes in rounds three through six.

Athlete endorsements leverage the trust, credibility and visibility of recognizable athletes to transform marketing and boost brand sales. Athlete endorsements can also have a significant impact on culture and consumer trends.

Long-term partnerships tend to yield more substantial benefits. Athletes can become a true extension of the brand and its identity, deepening their integration into the company’s values. This allows for more authentic storytelling, including co-creation of exclusive collections. Athletes can also take on roles such as product development, giving them greater creative control over the products they endorse.

As with sponsorships, athlete endorsement deals typically involve a fixed fee and compensation structure that includes performance incentives. Lawyers carefully hone contract language to ensure that the agreement is mutually beneficial, with measurable goals such as increased visibility and consumer reach for the sponsor while maintaining rights of refusal and protections against alignment with controversial or high-risk products for the athlete.

Digital tools and platforms also allow brands to track campaign performance in real-time and optimize for maximum impact. Metrics such as conversion rates, sales uplift and brand sentiment help to measure the enduring impact of an endorsement.

Choosing the Right Athletes

The World Athletics Championship is the premier track and field event of the sport’s calendar. The event pits Olympic champions, Diamond League winners, and the year’s best athletes against each other to crown an ultimate world champion in each discipline. The competition is scheduled to take place from September 11 to 13 and is expected to offer a prize pool of $10 million dollars.

The Championships are held in odd years to avoid conflicts with the Olympics, which occur on a quadrennial basis in even years. Unlike the Olympics, which are organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), sport federations and their national associations organize the World Athletics Championships with their own budgets, using a mixture of private and public funding.

The 2023 edition was the nineteenth World Athletics Championships, and it took place in Budapest, Hungary, from 19 to 27 August 2023. The competition returned to its normal two-year cycle after the 2021 edition in Eugene, Oregon, United States was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally, the World Championships serve as a strong preview of what to expect at the following year’s Summer Olympics. The Championships have produced some of the most dynamic and thrilling performances ever seen on a track, with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American long-distance runner Carl Lewis leading the way in terms of world record breaks at the event. Athletes competing at the World Championships must be approved by their sport federations, and the selection process is based on world rankings.

Across the globe, high-stakes qualifiers are taking center stage. As teams vie to represent their confederations at the World Cup, they face a series of intense contests that test their mettle. While qualification systems differ, they all serve a common purpose: to identify the best representatives for football’s global tournament of dreams.

The first round of 2026 World Cup qualifying soft-launched in March, and will kick into full gear in September. The top seeds have already established a lead, while several countries are in a tight race to secure their spot.

In this phase, the 54 FIFA-affiliated nations are split into nine groups of five or six teams, which play each other in a hexa-format of home-and-away games over a span of three months in September and October. The top two in each group qualify for the World Cup, while the runners-up enter the inter-confederation playoffs.

In the second round, the seven highest-ranked teams – including Samoa and New Caledonia – were drawn into two four-team groups to play double round-robin home-and-away matches in October and November 2024. The winners in each group qualified for the World Cup, while the runners-up advanced to the fourth round, where they competed in a two-legged play-off tie to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation playoffs.