Athletes who take a knee or demonstrate with other forms of protest during the Tokyo Olympics this summer will be punished under a ban endorsed by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
The state of play: The announcement backing the protection of neutrality for the Olympic Games comes one day after the world watched a Minneapolis jury convict a former police officer of murdering George Floyd, a Black man. The incident last summer sparked global demonstrations for racial justice.
Next month's Indianapolis 500, at 40% capacity, will be the world's biggest sporting event since the start of COVID-19, Indianapolis Motor Speedway confirmed in a statement Wednesday.
Why it matters: The COVID-19 pandemic has hobbled many aspects of community life, including sports. That such a large sporting event is moving forward indicates the success of the U.S. vaccination campaign, as well as the buoyed confidence in the IMS's virus protocols.
Plans for a European Super League fell apart on Tuesday, just two days after the proposed soccer competition was announced.
How it went down: Manchester City, one of the six English Premier League clubs set to join the 12-team breakaway league, was the first to confirm it was out.
The European Super League announced in a statement Tuesday night it's "proposing a new competition" and considering the next steps after all six English soccer clubs pulled out of the breakaway tournament.
Why it matters: The announcement that12 of the richest clubs in England, Spain and Italy would start a new league was met with backlash from fans, soccer stars and politicians. The British government had threatened to pass legislation to stop it from going ahead.
At the heart of all sport is the concept of fair play. Now, a group of a dozen billionaires is trying to take the most popular sport on the planet and tilt it decisively in their own favor.
Why it matters: Sports is never quite as egalitarian or meritocratic as many of its practitioners believe. But the brazenness of the proposal to create a soccer Super League is unprecedented, and has angered everybody from grassroots fans to heads of state.
