The first-ever North American professional rugby union league will be launched in the United States in April 2016, it has been announced.

Rugby World Cup, where the United States lost all four of their Pool B matches to Samoa, Scotland, South

Africa and Japan.Their 64-0 defeat at the hands of the South Africans was the heaviest losing margin

Zealand become first team to retain Rugby World Cup after defeating Australia in the finalOctober 2015: South

Africa beat Argentina to claim third spot at Rugby World CupOctober 2015: Prince Harry to present Webb

Tier two nations will have more influence on the decision-making within World Rugby after the governing body announced an expansion of its ruling Council, which comes into effect next year.

become first team to retain Rugby World Cup after defeating Australia in the finalOctober 2015: South

Africa beat Argentina to claim third spot at Rugby World CupOctober 2015: Prince Harry to present

Franz Beckenbauer has become further implicated in the scandal surrounding his country winning the right to stage the 2006 World Cup after one of the German Football Association (DFB) acting vice-presidents claimed he signed a draft contract promising favours to Trinidad and Tobago's Jack Warner shortly before the vote for the tournament.

World Cup vote was for "various services" ©Getty ImagesGermany were awarded the tournament beating South

Africa by 12 votes to 11."

There is "no doubt" artistic gymnastics will be included on the sports programme for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) secretary general André Gueisbuhler has told insidethegames.

for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, not 2022, after a total of 18 sports were proposed as part of the South

Durban 2022 and Gueisbuhler remains confident it will take place when the Commonwealth Games come to Africa

"South Africa has committed to follow the decisions of the General Assembly and therefore, the FIG has

Next year’s International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (Inas) World Cross Country Championships and World Tennis Championships have both been awarded to the United States, with New York and Bethany Beach, Delaware due to host the respective events.

the Americas with six of the previous seven editions having been staged in Europe and the other in South

Africa in 2004.Barry Holman, co-founder of Athletes Without Limits, the US's member organisation of

Japan launched a spirited fightback from 10-0 down at half-time to seal their spot at Rio 2016 with a 24-10 victory over hosts Hong Kong at the Asian rugby sevens regional Olympic qualifying event today.

work of Malaysia in their last pool contest, emerging with a dominant 52-0 win, and then edged past South

“I was really proud of what they did in the first half.”South Korea finished third after beating Sri

, thanks to a 38-5 thrashing of Malaysia.The Japanese will join the likes of Fiji, New Zealand and South

Africa, who all qualified through the World Rugby Sevens Series, and fellow continental tournament

Africa book spot at Rio 2016 with victory at Olympic qualifier

In our world, most on-the-record interviews are notably restrained affairs. Respondents are invariably fearful of deviating from the script and offending others, and have PR assistants lurking ominously close-by to ensure the “key message” comes across.

Food” programme in Iraq.In 2010, he was employed by FIFA as a security advisor for the World Cup in South

Africa, and was kept on as head of security thereafter before departing to join the Doha-based ICSS

years later.Chris Eaton first became involved in FIFA when heading security at the 2010 World Cup in South

Africa ©WikipediaSeveral of his personal emails were included in the Sunday Times’ Qatar Files

Favourites Japan began the Asian rugby sevens regional Olympic qualifying event in style as both their men’s and women’s teams secured a hat-trick of victories on the opening day in Hong Kong.

’s 66-0 mauling of Singapore.In their final game of the day, the Japanese team made light work of South

nbsp;Britain begin three-month rugby sevens training programme ahead of Rio 2016September 2015: South

Africa book spot at Rio 2016 with victory at Olympic qualifierSeptember 2015: Rugby to embark on

South Korea claimed a golden hat-trick on the penultimate day of competition at the International Paralympic

overhauling Ukrainian world record holder Oleksii Denysiuk in the sixth elimination round.The 38-year-old South

Carter finished in third place on 172.5 to claim a Rio 2016 quota place.Jang's success also secured South

Shooting World CupNovember 2015: More Rio 2016 quota spots earned at IPC Shooting World CupNovember 2015: South

Africa and Switzerland secure Rio 2016 places at IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort BenningNovember 2015

You can guarantee that following the conclusion of every major sporting event, one of the organisers will declare it as “the best-ever”.

failed to reach the knockout round in the tournament’s history - including a memorable triumph over South

Africa, perhaps the biggest sporting shock we have seen in recent times.There’s no doubt they endeared

Africa will also fancy their chances of becoming the first-ever rugby sevens Olympic gold medallists.Rio

Rugby Championship - an annual tournament which also features powerhouses Australia, New Zealand and South

Africa - suggests their success was not a total surprise, it was still pleasing to see a country that

Japan will be among the favourites in both men’s and women’s competitions when the latest regional rugby sevens qualifier for Rio 2016 takes place in Hong Kong this weekend.

World Cup in England to win three of their four pool stage matches, including a memorable victory over South

Japan have been pitted against South Korea, China, Singapore and Chinese-Taipei while hosts Hong Kong

claimsOctober 2015: Britain begin three-month rugby sevens training programme ahead of Rio 2016September 2015: South

Africa book spot at Rio 2016 with victory at Olympic qualifierSeptember 2015: Rugby to embark on "golden

Veronica Vadovicova of Slovakia continued her reign of dominance at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Shooting World Cup as she claimed her seventh gold medal of the event while three countries bagged further Rio 2016 quota places in Fort Benning.

storiesNovember 2015: More Rio 2016 quota spots earned at IPC Shooting World CupNovember 2015: South

Africa and Switzerland secure Rio 2016 places at IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort BenningNovember 2015

: Rio 2016 quota places on offer for final time at IPC Shooting World CupSeptember 2015: South

Shooters from Brazil, the United States, Sweden and Germany sealed spots for their countries at Rio 2016 on day two of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Shooting World Cup in Fort Benning today.

Saturday (November 7) and features nearly 180 athletes from 48 countries.Related stories November 2015: South

Africa and Switzerland secure Rio 2016 places at IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort BenningNovember 2015

: Rio 2016 quota places on offer for final time at IPC Shooting World CupSeptember 2015: South Koreans

South Africa’s Von Zeuner Kohne and Switzerland’s Paul Schnider secured their country’s first spots

event won by Ukraine’s Oleksii Denysiuk.European champion Korhan Yamac of Turkey came second, while South

Oleksii Denysiuk took gold in the mixed 25 metres pistol SH1 ahead of Turkey’s Korhan Yamac, while South

comfortable lead slip to go into the final round of the men’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 level with South

storiesNovember 2015: Rio 2016 quota places on offer for final time at IPC Shooting World CupSeptember 2015: South

Broadcast rights for the inaugural World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament have been awarded in territories across the world, it was announced today.

Getty ImagesLast month, it was announced that SBS has been awarded the exclusive broadcast rights in South

Korea for Premier12.Across the Middle East and North Africa, Dubai-based OSN added the Premier12 to

Tokyo Dome.World number one ranked Japan are in Group B alongside the United States, Olympic champions South

and Italy make up Group A.Before the event itself gets underway, Japan are scheduled to play host to South

major events in 2018 and 2019October 2015: SBS awarded exclusive WBSC Premier12 broadcasting rights in South