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Jubilant Madrid Visit Granada as Liga Relegation Battle Nears End

Cadiz lost against Real Madrid last weekend and are battling for survival in La Liga. OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP
Cadiz lost against Real Madrid last weekend and are battling for survival in La Liga. OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP
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Jubilant Madrid Visit Granada as Liga Relegation Battle Nears End

Cadiz lost against Real Madrid last weekend and are battling for survival in La Liga. OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP
Cadiz lost against Real Madrid last weekend and are battling for survival in La Liga. OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP

New Spanish champions Real Madrid visit suffering Granada on Saturday with La Liga's key affairs on the verge of being settled, despite four rounds of fixtures remaining.
After Los Blancos wrapped up the title last weekend and Girona secured Champions League qualification, attention turns to the other end of the table.
Granada could already be down before kick-off at their Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium if Real Mallorca, 17th, defeat Las Palmas earlier on.
The Andalucians are above only relegated Almeria and languish 11 points from safety with just 12 to play for. They were promoted last season but are poised to return swiftly to Spain's second tier.
Real Madrid defeated Bayern Munich on Wednesday to reach the Champions League final and after putting off their title celebrations last week to focus on that game, will be in party mode.
At least Granada's supporters will be spared the anguish of watching Madrid's trophy presentation potentially on the day they are relegated.
Although the Spanish football federation initially planned to give Los Blancos the league trophy on Saturday, they changed their plans and will instead hand it to Madrid on Sunday morning.
"We will play against Real Madrid to dedicate a victory to our fans, which is what they deserve," said Granada coach Jose Ramon Sandoval, acknowledging an honorable exit is the most Granada can hope for now.
Cadiz, 18th, trail Mallorca by six points and have a slightly greater chance of survival, although the odds are against them.
They host Getafe on Sunday and a victory would help them at least take their survival battle to the wire.
"It's difficult to do calculations -- we need to always focus on the next match," said coach Mauricio Pellegrino.
"Our chances will increase if we win the next one.
"We need to improve, rise back up, and compete in front of our fans."
Higher up the table there are a few minor threads still to fully unravel.
Atletico Madrid are firm favorites to hold on to fourth position to reach next season's Champions League, sitting six points clear of Athletic Bilbao in fifth.
Diego Simeone's side welcome lowly Celta Vigo on Sunday after Athletic host out-of-form Osasuna on Saturday.
Real Betis are trying to fend off eighth-place Valencia to finish in the top seven to secure European football next season and have a five-point advantage.
Second-place Girona would dearly love to finish above illustrious but hurting neighbors Barcelona, third, who host a Real Sociedad team still looking to seal a Europa League place on Monday.
Michel Sanchez's entertaining Girona side visit Alaves with striker Artem Dovbyk aiming to add to his league-leading goal tally of 20.

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French Federation Chief: Mbappe Should be Allowed to Move on after Apology

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo
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French Federation Chief: Mbappe Should be Allowed to Move on after Apology

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid v RB Leipzig - Estadio Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - October 21, 2026 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo

French Football Federation chief Philippe Diallo said Kylian Mbappe should be allowed to move on amid controversy over the France captain referring to former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a dictator because the player has apologized and intended no offence.

Mbappe's club Real Madrid and LaLiga have also apologized following the remarks, while the league's president Javier Tebas set up a crisis unit and met Chinese ambassador Yao Jing on Wednesday as Spanish football sought to contain the fallout.

The backlash highlights the risks for athletes and brands in the lucrative Chinese market, where satire about Mao, modern ⁠China's founding leader ⁠who governed the country from 1949 until his death in 1976, remains a social taboo.

Chinese state media outlet China Daily said Mbappe's remark had "triggered a backlash among his Chinese fans, threatened his lucrative commercial relationships and offered a sharp reminder of the limits of celebrity influence.”

China's state-owned broadcaster Migu is not ⁠showing Real Madrid's game at Racing Santander on Sunday and Chinese brands including dairy companies Mengniu and Shanghai Milkground Food Tech plus Eastroc Beverage ceased all cooperation with Mbappe.

Diallo expressed hope the issue would soon be resolved.

"It is a controversy which, ultimately, should not, I hope, last because Kylian has very well explained the context in which this intervention took place. He has apologized," Diallo was quoted as saying by French newspaper Ouest-France on Thursday.

"I believe we should now leave it at that ⁠so that ⁠he can continue his season in the best possible conditions."

The controversy stems from a long-running joke surrounding 27-year-old Mbappe's influence at club level.

In a video on a French podcast that has since been taken down, Mbappe is heard discussing a humorous meme where his face had been photoshopped on to that of "some guy — I think he's a Chinese dictator.”

Fans have previously created memes superimposing Mbappe's face on images of military and political leaders to suggest he has the power to influence decisions at the teams he plays for.

Mbappe has been nicknamed "the dictator" in the European press.

Sports

South Africa Chooses Durban as Its Preferred City to Host 2036 or 2040 Olympics

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South Africa Chooses Durban as Its Preferred City to Host 2036 or 2040 Olympics

Durban is South Africa 's preferred candidate to host the first Olympics in Africa.

South Africa is bidding to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city for 2036 in mid-2029.

The country's choice to put forward Durban, South Africa's third biggest city, was announced by South African Olympic committee acting president Lwandile Simelane on Thursday. She said Durban would be the main candidate city for South Africa's bid, but it would likely be a “multi-city bid” that would propose some events are held in other cities.

South Africa's economic hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town were also considered as the candidate city, The Associated Press said.

Durban, a city of around 4 million on the subtropical Indian Ocean coast, was touted as a possible Olympic host city more than a decade ago following South Africa's staging of the 2010 soccer World Cup, the first in Africa. But an official bid didn't materialize then, largely due to concerns over costs.

The city was stripped of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games because it couldn't make financial or other guarantees required for that event.

Officials said on Thursday they were not yet able to provide any estimates regarding how much it might cost South Africa to stage the Olympics if its bid was successful. They said Durban's bid would be centered on the 56,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup.

South Africa is among seven countries bidding for the 2036 Games. The others are India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Türkiye.

The IOC gave Oct. 31 as the deadline for national Olympic committees to formally declare their interest in bidding for the 2036 Games.

Candidates have an opportunity to make virtual presentations to the IOC next month to start the official bidding process. A key date is in March, the IOC has said, when its board will approve a shortlist of candidates.

South Africa would be a first African host of the Summer Games since the modern Olympics was created in 1896 if it wins. Africa's biggest economy previously failed with a bid to stage the 2004 Games in Cape Town.

The Youth Olympics open this weekend in Dakar, Senegal, marking the first Olympic sports event to be held in Africa.

Sports

MLS Announces Key 2027 'Sprint Season' Matches Ahead of Calendar Shift

Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)
Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)
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MLS Announces Key 2027 'Sprint Season' Matches Ahead of Calendar Shift

Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)
Inter Miami's Argentine forward #10 Lionel Messi looks on during a Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Inter Miami CF and FC Cincinnati at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP)

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami will kick off Major League Soccer's 2027 "Sprint Season" when they face Cincinnati on February 19, launching the league's transition to a traditional autumn-to-spring calendar.

The standalone match at Nu Stadium in Miami will begin a truncated 14-game regular season and playoff tournament designed to bridge the gap as MLS shifts away from its traditional summer schedule to align with Europe's top leagues.

The schedule, previewed on Apple TV's "MLS Countdown," emphasizes weekly rivalry ⁠matchups. Among the ⁠headline games announced, LA Galaxy will host Los Angeles FC on April 10 in the "El Trafico" derby.

The sprint season will conclude its regular-season slate on May 8 with "Decision Day," anchored by the Hudson River Derby between New York ⁠City FC and the New York Red Bulls, setting the stage for the May playoffs.

The four-month sprint serves as the prelude to the league's full operational shift. The first standard season under the new timetable will run from mid-to-late July 2027 through May 2028, featuring a midwinter break and no matches in January.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber previously called the calendar change "one of the ⁠most ⁠important decisions in our history,” Reuters reported.

The strategic overhaul was approved following a two-year review to synchronize the league's transfer activity with the global summer window, minimize scheduling conflicts with FIFA's international fixtures, and hold the MLS Cup playoffs in May when the North American sports calendar is less crowded.

US men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino is among those who have endorsed the change, noting that calendar alignment with the global soccer landscape will benefit clubs, coaches, and player development.