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Trump Unveils Fast-Track Visas for World Cup Ticket Holders 

US President Donald Trump speaks while US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Senior advisor to FIFA president Carlos Cordeiro stand near him, as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks while US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Senior advisor to FIFA president Carlos Cordeiro stand near him, as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump Unveils Fast-Track Visas for World Cup Ticket Holders 

US President Donald Trump speaks while US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Senior advisor to FIFA president Carlos Cordeiro stand near him, as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump speaks while US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Senior advisor to FIFA president Carlos Cordeiro stand near him, as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled special fast-track visas for people with tickets to the 2026 World Cup, but his administration warned it was no guarantee of entry to the United States.

The United States has promised a seamless experience for next year's tournament despite concerns that Trump's border crackdown could hurt fans.

"For those who intend to join us for the World Cup, I strongly encourage you to apply right away," Trump said as he announced the scheme in the Oval Office with Gianni Infantino, the boss of global football body FIFA.

Infantino, who has repeatedly appeared at Trump's side since the Republican's return to the White House in January, said the so-called "FIFA Pass" was a "very important announcement."

"If you have a ticket for the World Cup, you can have a prioritized appointment to get your visa," Infantino said.

"We'll have between five and 10 million people coming to America from all over the world to enjoy the World Cup, and with this FIFA pass, we can make sure that those who buy a ticket, that are legitimate football fans or soccer fans, they can come and attend the World Cup in the best conditions."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, issued a warning to those hoping to come for the tournament.

"Your ticket is not a visa," Rubio said at the announcement. "It doesn't guarantee admission to the US. It guarantees you an expedited appointment, you're still going to go through the same vetting."

Rubio said ticket holders would get an interview within six to eight weeks under the plan but urged people to act now.

"Don't wait till the last minute," he said.

Trump has made the World Cup a centerpiece event of both his second presidency and the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.

But the giant sporting extravaganza has not escaped the political turmoil caused by Trump's hardline stance on a host of issues.

Trump has raised the possibility of moving games from certain host cities amid a crackdown on what he says is crime and migration in some Democratic-run cities.

The draw for the World Cup is due to take place in Washington on December 5.

FIFA will present a new peace prize on the same day, with widespread speculation that it could go to Trump.

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Sports

Al-Attiyah Regains Dakar Rally Lead in Saudi Arabia, Sanders’ Penalty Gives Brabec Motorbike Win

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)
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Al-Attiyah Regains Dakar Rally Lead in Saudi Arabia, Sanders’ Penalty Gives Brabec Motorbike Win

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 6 - Hail to Riyadh - Hail, Saudi Arabia - January 9, 2026 Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in action during stage 6. (Reuters)

Nasser Al-Attiyah regained the lead of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia after blasting the first all-sand stage of the race on Friday.

After the neutralized zone, five-time champion Al-Attiyah dominated the second half of the 331-kilometer stage between Hail and Riyadh, increasing his lead from nine seconds to nearly three minutes at the finish over teammate Sébastien Loeb for the first Dacia 1-2 in Dakar history.

“The car is working very, very well, I'm really happy,” Al-Attiyah said.

Al-Attiyah has now won a stage in an unprecedented 19 consecutive Dakar editions. It was his 49th stage win overall, just one behind the record shared by Ari Vatanen and Stéphane Peterhansel.

Taking stage six lifted Al-Attiyah back atop the general rankings, his four-minute deficit to Toyota's Henk Lategan overturned into a six-minute lead.

For the first time since the 2019 Dakar, Ford's Nani Roma was in the overall podium places at third, nine minutes off the pace with four-time champion Carlos Sainz on his tail.

Roma quickly caught up to stage five winner Mitch Guthrie and the teammates opened the way together. Toyota's Seth Quintero was Al-Attiyah's closest challenger for much of the day until the last 80 kilometers when he was overtaken by Loeb, the nine-time world rally champion trying to win his first Dakar at his 10th attempt.

Quintero, the stage two winner, was 21 seconds behind Loeb in third.

Al-Attiyah's win by 2:58 was the biggest margin of the first week going into the only rest day.

Sanders goes too fast

A speeding penalty cost defending motorbike champion Daniel Sanders the stage win and a bigger lead overall.

Sanders knew he made a mistake early on — he was clocked doing 98 kph in a 50 kph zone — and pushed his KTM harder than usual. He caught teammate Luciano Benavides soon after the neutralized zone and together they opened the way and gobbled up the time bonuses.

After about 30 kilometers, Sanders was opening the trail on his own and led his closest rival, 2024 champion Ricky Brabec, by more than five minutes. Sanders eventually finished just under five minutes ahead of Brabec.

But a six-minute penalty for the speeding gave Brabec his 12th career stage win and first of the week by just over a minute over Honda teammate Tosha Schareina and dropped Sanders to third, three seconds further back.

Sanders held on to the overall lead but it was cut to 45 seconds over Brabec, 10:15 over Benavides and 11:56 over Schareina.

“I'm not happy with the first week. I should have done a lot better,” Sanders said. “Just silly mistakes. We should have a bigger lead in the overall. So many things change every day and you just got to keep pushing to the limit.”

Brabec said: “My only goal is to catch Daniel on the day after the rest day and try to take some bonus time. That's how the rally works now, you have to open to win.”

Sports

Real Madrid Beats Atletico to Set Up Clasico Final at the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
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Real Madrid Beats Atletico to Set Up Clasico Final at the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde, right, is congratulated by Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal soccer match against Atletico Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)

Real Madrid got goals from Federico Valverde and Rodrygo to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Thursday, setting up a clasico final at the Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia.

Valverde put Madrid ahead just two minutes into the match in Jeddah when the Uruguay midfielder scored directly from a free kick with a fierce strike that Jan Oblak could not keep out.

Valverde then helped make it 2-0 in the 55th when he threaded a pass through the middle of Atletico’s defense to meet Rodrygo’s run. The Brazil forward, who is playing well after a subpar season last year, did the rest by beating Oblak with a low strike for the winner.

Alexander Sorloth pulled Atletico close three minutes later when the striker headed in a cross by Giuliano Simeone. Atletico pressed for the equalizer but came up short.

Madrid was playing without the injured Kylian Mbappé, sidelined with a left knee sprain for a second straight game.

Xabi Alonso’s team will face Barcelona in the final of four four-team tournament on Sunday.

Valverde’s goal was his first of the season. He has struggled to join the attack this campaign because he has been forced to play out of position at right back due to injuries to Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

“After so many games without scoring, today was a great day to find the net again and for the team to win,” Valverde said. “We must be prepared, rested and focused to win the final.”

Atletico created several chances to score in the final half but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did well to parry a point-blank header by Sorloth and a long strike by Alex Baena.

Atletico had beaten Madrid 5-2 when they met in La Liga in September.

Barcelona routed Athletic Bilbao 5-0 on Wednesday in the other semifinal. Last year, Barcelona thumped Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Derby record for Koke Atletico midfielder Koke Resurrección set a new record for Madrid derbies after playing his 44th game against his crosstown rival. That broke a tie he had with former Madrid star defender Sergio Ramos.

But after the loss, Koke concentrated on the missed opportunity for his team.

“It hurts because we wanted to be in the final,” the 34-year-old Koke said. “We got off on the wrong foot after (Valverde’s) great goal. We had our chances, but the ball wouldn’t go in.”

Sports

Kyrgios Says He Won’t Play Singles at Australian Open, Wawrinka Gets Wildcard

Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)
Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)
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Kyrgios Says He Won’t Play Singles at Australian Open, Wawrinka Gets Wildcard

Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)
Tennis - Brisbane International Tennis Tournament - Queensland Tennis Center, Brisbane, Australia - January 6, 2026 Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts during his round of 32 match against Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US. (Darren England/AAP Image via Reuters)

Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios said on Friday he will not play in the singles competition at this month's Australian Open as he is not ready to play ​five-set matches.

The 30-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals of his home Grand Slam in 2015 but has struggled with a series of injuries in recent seasons, will only feature in the doubles at the event, which begins at Melbourne Park on January 18.

Kyrgios has fallen to number 670 in the world and would have needed a wildcard to play in the singles.

Tennis Australia (TA) ‌said on Friday ‌Stan Wawrinka had been given a ‌wildcard ⁠in ​what will ‌be the three-times Grand Slam champion's last appearance at the tournament before he retires at the end of the season.

"After some good conversations with TA I've made the call to focus on doubles for this year's AO," Australian Kyrgios wrote on social media.

"I'm fit and back on court, but five-setters are a different beast and ⁠I'm not quite ready to go the distance yet.

"This tournament means everything to me, ‌but I'd rather give my spot to ‍someone who's ready to make ‍their moment count.

"It's all building blocks and I'll be back ‍next year and pumped to compete. See you out there."

Kyrgios has undergone wrist reconstruction and had two knee surgeries since losing in the 2022 Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic.

He lost in straight sets in the ​opening round of the Brisbane Open by Aleksander Kovacevic on Tuesday. Kyrgios won the men's doubles at the ⁠Australian Open in 2022 when he partnered compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis to victory.

Wawrinka, who announced last month he would hang up his racket at the end of 2026, won the first of his three major titles at Melbourne Park and the 40-year-old was delighted to receive the wildcard.

"Winning the Australian Open in 2014, my first Grand Slam title, is an absolute career highlight for me, so I'm incredibly grateful to receive this wildcard," he added.

"To have the chance to play the Australian Open at the beginning of my final year on ‌tour means the world to me."

Australians Jordan Thompson and Chris O'Connell also received wildcards.