Though Saudi Arabia sent female athletes to the Olympics for the first time this year, women within the country still struggle to find basic sports and fitness facilities.
soccer
Didier Drogba Becomes China’s Biggest Soccer Import
Will the former Chelsea star help turn Chinese soccer around?
In Cricket-Obsessed India, Soccer Soars in Popularity
Though cricket remains wildly popular, the country’s young and affluent are increasingly enthralled by soccer
La Roja‘s Stunning Euro 2012 Success Enthralls a Depressed Spain
Spain’s national soccer team wins an unprecedented third-straight international title with Sunday’s 4-0 European Championship win over Italy, and gives fans new reason for joy–and hope–amid the crushing euro crisis.
Will Poland vs. Russia Spark a Soccer War on Warsaw’s Streets?
As the two historic rivals squared off at the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, fears grew over animosities spilling onto the streets of Warsaw
Why Real Madrid Can’t Beat Barca at Football, But Leads Comfortably in Business
The target market for Real Madrid’s new theme-park and resort venture in the Persian Gulf is not the tens of thousands of Spanish fans who fill the club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium and, together with tens of thousands of Catalan rivals, turn their team’s frequent showdowns with arch-rivals Barcelona into a passionate ritual …
Port Said Stadium Disaster: What’s Behind Egyptian Soccer’s Bloodiest Day?
Bill Shankly, the late legendary manager of Liverpool Football Club, is forever remembered for this dramatic claim: “Football isn’t about life and death. I can assure you it’s much more important than that.” Shankly …
Europe’s Soccer Clubs: The Continent’s Other Looming Debt Crisis
Euro zone governments aren’t the only entities seriously needing to get their debt levels down these days. Information revealed this past week showed Europe’s leading soccer clubs are similarly spending their way into a …
Soccer Legend Eric Cantona’s New Goal? The French Presidency
During his varied and fruitful life, Frenchman Eric Cantona has been a soccer hero, ad man, philosopher, kung-fu enthusiast, actor and musician, living legend, and even a king. Were that not enough, the 45 year-old Cantona is …
Why Qatari Owners of Paris’ Soccer Team Hanker For Aging Englishman Beckham
Why does perennially under-performing Paris Saint-Germain of France’s anemic professional soccer league see hiring a fading star at over $1 million per month as vital to assuring its future? Because the aging player in question …
Should World Soccer Chief Sepp Blatter Quit Over His Racism ‘Denial’?
Updated: Fri. Nov. 18, 4.45 a.m. ET
The irony was inescapable. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, a man who can’t seem to avoid controversy and spends much of his waking life shaking hands, has found himself at the center of a new imbroglio by suggesting that pressing the flesh was a suitable remedy for racial abuse. Specifically, he …
Keeping Up with the Gaddafis: A Who’s Who of the Dictator’s Children
With the death of Muammar Gaddafi, TIME looks at the eight children (and one nephew who was adopted as a son) Gaddafi had groomed — to varying extents — to carry his perplexing, brutal legacy forward.
Another FIFA Fiasco: Iran Women Banned from Olympic Qualifier Over Headscarves
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week joined the chorus of critics blasting soccer’s governing body, lashing out at FIFA for banning the Iranian women’s national team from an Olympic qualifier on account of their headscarves. The team forfeited the qualifier against Jordan last Friday because they would not play without their …