There’s a message waiting for Ernest Brown, chairman of the Little Stoke Parish Council in Britain's West Country which has caused an almighty hoo-hah this week by insisting that parkrun - the organisation which runs free, weekly five kilometers timed runs open to everyone - needs to pay for its increasingly popular local event.

that already has 2.35m registered participants globally across 12 countries including Australia, South

Africa, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, Singapore, Russia and France.There

Australia and Japan - the last two continental champions - will clash in the final round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) World Cup 2018 qualifying after the draw was made in Kuala Lumpur today.

the game in the country - won the AFC Asian Cup title on home soil last year after a 2-1 victory over South

three World Cups, reaching the round of 16 in Germany in 2006 before exiting in the group stage in South

Africa in 2010 and in Brazil in 2014.Their clashes with the Japanese in Group B will provide stand-out

World Cup in a row.They made it to the round of 16 at the 2002 tournament which they co-hosted with South

Africa, while the Koreans have contested every single World Cup since Mexico 1986.Completing the group

Equatorial Guinea’s women’s football team have been banned from competing in the qualification tournament for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after FIFA uncovered evidence that one of their players had used false documentation.

qualify for this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after losing a two-legged play-off against South

Africa ©Getty ImagesTheir men were also initially disqualified from playing at the 2015 Africa Cup

Africa 1-0 on aggregate after suffering defeat at the Estadio de Bata in October.They had earlier overcome

aggregate, with Genoveva Añonma’s goal in extra-time proving crucial in setting up a meeting with the South

Africa, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Australia, China and Sweden.

Brazil, Argentina, Japan and defending champions Mexico will be the top four men's seeds in the draw for the Olympic football tournament due to take place at the Maracanã Stadium on Thursday (April 14).

given to those countries who finished their qualifying competition as continental champions.Nigeria, South

Korea, Honduras, Iraq make up pot two.Pot three will consist of Sweden, Fiji, Portugal and South Africa.World

pot two.Canada, China and New Zealand compile the third group.The fourth pot consists of Colombia, South

Africa and Zimbabwe.The US claimed a third successive gold at London 2012 with a 2-1 win over Japan.They

Fiji extended their lead at the summit of the overall leaderboard to five points with a thrilling 21-7 victory over New Zealand in the final of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament.

Pacific nation held on for a second successive win over their rivals in the Hong Kong Sevens final.South Africa

last eight as they reached the semi-finals by beating Wales 19-7, which set up a crucial clash with South

New Zealand reached the quarter finals of the Hong Kong Sevens after recording three wins out of three in Group A.

Samoans on day one yesterday proved to be key.In Group B, England backed-up their surprise victory over South

Africa yesterday by topping the standings.They saw off fierce rivals Scotland 19-0 in their opening

they still did enough to top the pile.The United States remain unbeaten in Hong Kong ©Getty ImagesThe South

them reach the last eight on goal difference.Fiji, the World Rugby Sevens Series leaders, hammered South

Africa, Fiji take on Kenya and England face Australia. 

Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that its Athletes’ Committee will be led by two female Olympians, South

at the 2012 Champions Trophy in Argentina and Olympic bronze at London 2012.Cox made her debut for South

Africa in October 2001 at the age of 18 and went on to represent her country at three Olympic Games

World Cups, earning over 300 caps.She has also competed at four Commonwealth Games, and was part of the South

African team that finished in fourth place at Glasgow 2014.The former South Africa team captain was

England marked a return to form by claiming a morale boosting victory over South Africa on the opening

leave them competing for minor honours.They were expected to struggle in their Pool B opener against South

Africa, who lie one point behind Fiji in the overall standings.However, tries from Dan Norton and Phil

Burgess put their team on the brink of a surprise victory, with a penalty try and a yellow card for South

day.Series leaders Fiji came through a tough tie against Canada 19-17, while Wales triumphed 40-14 over South

Romania kept their pursuit of a Rio 2016 spot alive after they reached the quarter-finals of the Men's Water Polo Olympic Games Qualification Tournament with a thrilling 8-8 draw with Russia in Trieste.

points.The Netherlands ended at the summit of the group as they cruised to a 17-7 win over winless South

Africa in their final group game.Hungary will take on Germany in the quarter-finals, while Canada entertain

American football player Nate Ebner’s chances of competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games have been given a boost as he has been named in the United States’ squad for this weekend's Hong Kong Sevens event.

of the leaderboard.The 2015 Series winners have been drawn in Pool D along with Canada, Wales and South

Korea.Second-placed South Africa will face Scotland, England and Russia in Pool B, while New Zealand

quarter-finals of the Men's Water Polo Olympic Games Qualification Tournament for Rio 2016 after they thrashed South

Africa 15-1 in Trieste.

Nine-times Olympic champions Hungary moved to the brink of the quarter-finals at the men's Rio 2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Trieste after a 12-8 victory over Romania.

countries boasting records of won two and lost one.Kazakhstan claimed a first success by beating winless South

Africa 11-6.

Tunisia claimed the majority of the places for this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on offer at the African Canoe Sprint Championships, which concluded at a rainy Shongweni Dam in KwaZulu-Natal today.

With the dominant nation South Africa not eligible for continental Olympic qualification, much attention

metre events.Tunisia’s Mohammed Ali Mrabet clocked a time of 37.42sec to finish 0.03 seconds behind South

Mrabet’s compatriot Afef Ben Ismail was runner-up to Bridgitte Hartley of South Africa in the equivalent

Algeria’s Oussama Djabali and Nasreddine Baghjdadi secured the spot at Rio 2016 after finishing behind South

The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has held its first training camp

When you wear your colours let every nerve in your body move to compete for South Africa," he said."

SASCOC, encouraged the athletes to make the most of their talent in a bid to ensure medal success for South

Africa."

South Africa have won a total of 76 Summer Olympic medals to date, including 23 golds, 26 silvers, and

In the Paralympics, South Africa finished 17th with a total of 29 medals, eight of them gold.

Gold in the Olympic football has never mattered quite as much to the host nation as it does in 2016 to the Brazilians. Although they have lifted the FIFA World Cup a record five times and have the unique distinction of taking part in every World Cup tournament, they have never been crowned Olympic football champions.

Brazil’s Olympic failure is all the more painful because their great South American rivals Uruguay

Although they scored four without reply against the South Koreans they lost to Czechoslovakia, ending

“It was not a familiar performance“ was how the FIFA Report described their defeat by South Africa.

Sweden in the semi final and lost out again to the US.The men’s Olympic final at Athens 2004 was an all South