Although he never led the International Olympic Committee (IOC), there are many who consider that in his heyday, former FIFA President João Havelange was the most powerful sporting official in the world.

 This also suggested the appointment of English and German referees for matches involving South

that the English "gained control of the refereeing" and then "mobilised public opinion against the South

Augusto Pinochet to power.The Soviets refused and a walkover was granted to Chile.The attitude of Rous to Africa

granted an automatic berth in 1970.More seriously, FIFA had dragged its feet on the question of banning South

for teams from Africa including Cameroon in 1982 ©Getty ImagesIn contrast, Havelange offered assurances

Calls are being made to ban Iran from next year’s Olympics in Paris after claims that the country is violating the Olympic Charter over its discrimination against women in sport.

group that the situation facing women in Iran is like "sexual apartheid" as they drew parallels with South

Africa which was barred from the Olympics from 1964 to 1988 because of its policy of racial segregation.Monshipour

identified.In October last year, Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi was seen in action at the Asian Championships in South

Sara Haghighat-Joo is one win away from earning Sierra Leone its first-ever place in women's boxing at the Olympics after victory in her women's under-54 kilograms quarter-final against Gisele Nyembo Muamba at the African Olympic Boxing Qualifying Tournament in Senegal's capital Dakar.

Senegal.Matshu beat Botswana's Keamogetse Kenosi 4-1, and the referee stopped Hlimi's contest against South

❤️Home crowd goes wild as Diarga Balde secures his spot for Senegal in the semi-finals at the Africa

Qasim Hasan enjoyed every moment when he won Iraq’s first World Championships gold medal in any sport.

on his back in the warm-up room for a few minutes but it earned him victory on 174-213-387 and gave Africa

its first winner at these Championships.Won Jongbeom from South Korea was second on 172-212-384 with

Top seed Najwa Awane claimed an emotional victory in an all-Moroccan women's singles wheelchair tennis final at the inaugural African Para Games in Ghana's capital Accra.

post shared by Najwa Awane نجوى عوان (@najwaawane)The men's singles gold also went to the top seed as South

Africa's Alwande Sikhosana beat his compatriot Leon Els 6-2, 6-3.The South African duo took doubles

finish the African Para Games top of the medals table.Algeria won the women's gold with six wins against South

Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Kenya, Zambia and Ghana in the round-robin.The programme

In a statement after this year's Mexico City Marathon, organisers insisted that the annual event represents an occasion "to reaffirm the transcendental values of sport".

subway.In 1993, Herman Matthee was stripped of his gold medal from the 55-mile Comrades ultra-marathon in South

Africa after video evidence showed he had ridden in a taxi for almost twenty-five miles of the route

Diede de Groot of The Netherlands and Alfie Hewett of Britain won the women's and men's wheelchair singles titles, respectively, as the US Open concluded.

won a day before.Vink and Schroder combined to crush Andy Lapthorne of Britain and Donald Ramphadi of South

Africa 6-1, 6-2 for a third straight US Open title togetherUnseeded heroes Stéphane Houdet of France

considering their semi-final upset of top seeds Hewett and Reid.Yui Kamiji of Japan and Kgothatso Montjane of South

Africa benefited from an unfortunate injury for Jiske Griffioen as the pair took the doubles crown without

Photos

ImagesFijian star Semi Radradra drops the ball to hand Wales a 32-26 victory ©Getty ImagesDefending champions South

Africa beat Scotland 18-3 in a bruising encounter ©Getty ImagesStade Vélodrome in Marseille was the

venue for the match between South Africa and Scotland ©Getty ImagesInternational Olympic Committee member

Prince Albert II of Monaco, centre, was among the spectators for South Africa's triumph against Scotland

South Africa launched the defence of their Rugby World Cup crown with an 18-3 triumph against Scotland

the three-time winners overcame Scotland in a bruising Pool B encounter.Scotland went toe-to-toe with South

Africa in a physical opening period as they trailed by just three points at half-time.Two penalties

from Manie Lippok gave South Africa an early lead before Finn Russell dispatched a three-pointer just

fell perfectly for Arendse to gobble up and go over in the corner, which Faf de Klerk converted.South Africa

Hosts Ghana gained revenge over Morocco with a comeback 2-1 victory to clinch the amputee football title at the first-ever African Para Games in Accra.

scored the winner in extra time.Today also saw Alwande Sikhosana overcame Leon Els 6-2, 6-3 in an all-South

Africa (@TeamSA2024) September 10, 2023It was Sikhosana’s third successive career victory over Els as

decision meant that all the women’s wheelchair basketball teams were put into one group.Algeria and South

Africa have won all of their opening four matches as they battle it out for the title.The Algerian team

Africa 62-29 and Angola 84-34.Competition at the African Para Games is due to conclude on Tuesday (September

George Ford produced a kicking masterclass as he guided 14-man England to a 27-10 victory over Argentina in their Rugby World Cup opener in Marseille.

as Donaldson steered Australia home.Competition is due to continue tomorrow with Japan facing Chile, South

Africa tackling Scotland and Wales meeting Fiji.

Britain captured five gold medals on an impressive day at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade where further boats sealed spots at next year’s Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.

and Nathan Timoney earned bronze in 6:54.22.The other qualifiers for Paris 2024 were the US, Romania, South

Africa, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Croatia.Competition is due to conclude tomorrow.

New Zealand have sealed a place at Paris 2024 by overpowering ten-player Fiji 9-0 in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Men's Olympic Qualifier in Auckland.

at the Olympics for the first time at Tokyo 2020 thanks to a winner struck in the first game against South

America and the Caribbean, Spain, Israel and Ukraine from Europe, and Morocco, Egypt and Mali from Africa

in qualifying for the men's tournament.A further three places are available in Asia, one in South American

China’s national anthem was played for the fourth time in four days after Luo Shifang put the disappointment of last year behind her to win a sweep of golds in an exciting women’s 59 kilograms contest at the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in Riyadh.

is the dominant force in weightlifting so was Luo surprised to see so many contenders from Europe, South

America, Africa and the United States - Taylor Wilkins was 10th on 220kg - on the scoreboard?"

Chilean twins Melita and Antonia Abraham sealed a ticket for next year’s Olympics in Paris on a day where qualification for the Games was on the line at the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade.

Oliver Wynne-Griffith also came first in their semi-final in 6:59.61, while Switzerland, Ireland and South

Africa were the other qualifiers for Paris 2024."