Latest - The reigning champion Central Pulse will open the 2021 ANZ Premiership netball season when they host the Northern Stars in Palmerston North on 18 April.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
With a later start to the season, the Premiership schedule has 45 matches across 15 rounds, at 13 different venues throughout the country.
Teams will take to the court with regular Sunday double-headers and Monday night games.
The regular season ends on 26 July ahead of a two-game Finals Series.
The tradtional Te Wānanga o Raukawa pre-season tournament for all teams will held again in Ōtaki.
New Pulse coach Gail Parata said she has warned her squad about what to expect when they assemble for pre-season on 26 January.
"I have put out a strong message to them to get working now because pre-season's going to be one of the toughest that some of them have experienced," Parata said.
Calls for investigation into Fifa boss
Calls for Fifa's president to face a criminal investigation over his use of a private jet are "spurious", football's world governing body says.
Swiss special prosecutor Stefan Keller says there were "clear signs of criminally reprehensible behaviour" relating to Gianni Infantino's flight from Suriname to Geneva in 2017.
Fifa President Gianni Infantino Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Keller said he has asked Swiss authorities to investigate the matter.
Fifa said Keller's claims were "baseless".
Keller was appointed in June to look into complaints involving Infantino and others.
Fifa's own ethics committee has already looked into the allegations and cleared Infantino of violating its rules.
But on Thursday Keller issued a press statement calling for the criminal investigation.
Fifa responded by saying it, and its president, were "shocked by the statement".
"Neither Fifa nor its president have ever been informed of these spurious new allegations," it added, saying the claims were "rejected in the strongest possible terms".
Fifa is based in the Swiss city of Zurich.
-BBC
World Indoor Athletic champs postponed
The World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China have been pushed back again to March 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand shot putter Valerie Adams with the gold medal at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Poland. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The event was initially scheduled for March 13-15 this year but was postponed for 12 months over fears related to the spread of the novel coronavirus in China.
Organisers have now agreed to host the Nanjing event a year after the 2022 championships in Belgrade, World Athletics added.
"For the safety of our athletes and technical officials, we must duly consider the risks in bringing a large group of people to attend the event under the pandemic situation and fully respect and carry out the pandemic prevention policy of the host country," World Athletics said in a statement.
"The indoor season for athletics falls within a narrow calendar window (up to the end of March) so it is not possible to extend the event to later in the year."
-Reuters
F1 and FIA back Haas stance on 'abhorrent' Mazepin video
Formula One and the governing FIA joined the Haas team in condemning newly signed Russian driver Nikita Mazepin for posting a video on social media of a young woman being groped in a car.
The images, on Instagram, were deleted and the 21-year-old driver has apologised for what Haas called "abhorrent" behaviour.
"We strongly support the Haas F1 team in its response to the recent inappropriate actions of its driver," a joint F1 and FIA statement said.
"Mazepin has issued a public apology for his poor conduct and this matter will continue to be dealt with internally by the Haas F1 team. The ethical principles and diverse and inclusive culture of our sport are of the utmost importance to the FIA and Formula One."
The incident occurred after two races in Bahrain and before Formula One's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit this weekend.
Liberty Media-owned Formula One is expanding in the Middle East, with a night race in Saudi Arabia scheduled for 2021.
Mazepin was announced last week as a Haas driver for 2021 along with Mick Schumacher, son of seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher.
-Reuters
Joshua says prepared to go to final bell against Pulev
World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said he is prepared to go to the final bell when he puts his WBA, IBF and WBO belts on the line against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev on Sunday.
Britain's Joshua will start as clear favourite in front of 1,000 fans at Wembley Arena for the fight that was postponed in June because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'm prepared to go to the final bell. I'm a 15-round fighter, not a 12-round fighter," Joshua, who reclaimed his titles by beating Andy Ruiz in a re-match in Saudi Arabia 12 months ago, said at an amiable news conference on Thursday.
"I can carry my stamina, my boxing IQ, concentration and strength until the final bell.
"I will definitely get hit. He will get hit too. I'll be the last man standing."
Pulev, 39, was prevented from fighting Joshua in 2017 because of injury but says he is ready to cause an upset.
"I have waited a long time. I knew this fight would come again," he said. "Now I am healthy. I'm not 22 years old, of course, but I am ready now. I have everything to be champion."
Joshua's only defeat came against Ruiz in Madison Square Garden in June, 2019.
Pulev, like Joshua, has only one professional defeat on his card, a knockout by Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
-Reuters
England's entire tour of India to be held at three venues
India and England will play four tests, five Twenty20 matches and three one-dayers in February-March in India with the high-profile series restricted to just three venues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The series will kick off on Feb. 5 with Chennai hosting the opening two tests before the sides head to the Western Indian city of Ahmedabad to play the first international match at the world's largest cricket stadium.
The Motera stadium, with a capacity of 110,000, has displaced the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the world's largest cricket stadium, and was inaugurated by U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to India in February.
The refurbished stadium will host the final two tests with the third to be played with pink balls under lights.
Motera will also hold the five T20 internationals, which will work as warm-ups for both sides ahead of the World Twenty20 later in the year in India. .
Pune, situated about 150 kilometres from Mumbai, will host the final leg of the series consisting of three 50-over matches.
England will arrive in Chennai directly from Colombo on Jan. 27 after playing two test matches in Sri Lanka.
The series will be India's first at home since South Africa's tour in March was called off midway through due to the pandemic.
The United Arab Emirates hosted the 2020 edition of the popular Indian Premier League due to the situation with the coronavirus in India, which has seen 9.77 million infections, the second-highest in the world after the United States, with a death toll nearing 142,000.
-Reuters
