Good evening!

On this day in 1968, Arthur Ashe became the first Black tennis player to be ranked world number one.

Ashe was not only a remarkable athlete who won three grand slam titles in singles (and two in doubles), but also an activist who championed equality. He died at the age of 49 of AIDS-related causes after contracting HIV from a blood transfusion bypass surgery.

Here is a great quote from Ashe which is applicable to both tennis and life:

“Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you’re behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.”

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

110
The number of runs scored by Annabel Sutherland in Australia’s 83-run victory over India in the third and final women’s ODI between the two nations. Sutherland was named Player of the Match and Player of the Series for her exceptional performance across the three matches.

Quote of the day

"I have a lot to thank my mum for, I am really happy to end 2024 the way it's going. After the 400 yesterday, I thought I might crack. I am struggling a bit with confidence. I wanted to see how close I could go to 8:00. I am more than happy."
Australian swimmer Lani Pallister after defending her world title in the women’s 800m freestyle with a time of 8:01.95 at the World Short Course Championships in Budapest, Hungary. 

Random fact of the day

The Stawell Gift is an annual running race in Stawell, Victoria that was first run in 1878. The main event is the 120-metre final which sees athletes handicapped according to their perceived ability. The first winner of the race was farmer Bill Millard, who trained for the event by chasing kangaroos. Millard’s great-grandson Daniel followed in his ancestor’s footsteps and won the race in 1997.  

I’ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed it…

🏈 Former NFL coach and six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick will take a job as head coach at the University of North Carolina. The 72-year-old parted ways with the NFL team the New England Patriots in 2023. The 72-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the university. He said: “I grew up around college football with my dad and treasured those times. I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”

🏀 In the WNBL’s Wednesday night fixture, Geelong United edged out the Southside Flyers 88-86. Haley Jones was Geelong’s standout player with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Geelong now sits in fourth position on the ladder with four wins from eight matches, while the Flyers are in sixth, having only won three of their nine matches. 

⛳ American Scottie Scheffler won his third consecutive Jack Nicklaus Award as the 2024 PGA Player of the Year. The 28-year-old had a remarkable season with nine wins including the Masters, an Olympic gold medal, the Players Championship, and the FedEx Cup. Scheffler is just the second player after Tiger Woods to win the award three times in a row. Only three players - Scheffler, Woods, and Rory McIlroy - have won at least three times.

I’ve got 1 minute

NRL’s expansion to Papua New Guinea officially announced

A team based in Papua New Guinea is officially set to join the NRL in 2028, following an announcement made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape today. The Australian Government will commit $600m over ten years in support of the team.

Context

The official announcement comes after the Government reached an in-principle agreement with PNG in May. The $600 million will be used to create and develop the franchise and set up player pathways.

Part of the deal is that the PNG Government builds a secure compound for players to live and train in. Players will also be offered tax incentives to relocate from overseas.

The expansion also has geopolitical significance as the Australian Government seeks to prevent China from gaining influence over Pacific nations. At the same time as the NRL announcement, PNG has signed an agreement that ensures that Australia remains its major security partner.

The team will either be the 18th or 19th team to join the NRL depending on the possible inclusion of a Perth-based team before 2028. The name of the PNG-based team has not yet been decided.

What they said

Albanese said: "I am delighted to announce the Australian government is supporting a PNG team to join the NRL from 2028. Rugby league is PNG's national sport, and PNG deserves a national team. The new team will belong to the people of PNG and will call PNG home. I know it will have millions of proud fans barracking for it from day one. Not just in PNG, but I suspect many Australians will adopt the PNG team as theirs."

Marape said: "It goes to the heart of uniting our diverse country together. For us it is not just sport and sport commerce, it is a deep national unity strategy".

Help us grow!

Enjoying the newsletter?

If you are, why not share the love with your friends? We’d love your help in getting the word out there.

Send them this link to sign up.

I’ve got 2 minutes

FIFA announces hosts of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups

FIFA has confirmed the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 men’s World Cups. The 2030 tournament will see matches played in six nations across three continents and the 2034 edition will take place in Saudi Arabia. The elected hosts for both tournaments came as no surprise as each only attracted one bid.

2030 World Cup

The 2030 World Cup will begin with three matches in South America to honour the 100th anniversary of the inaugural tournament in Paraguay in 1930. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina will each host one match.

The remainder of the tournament will be split between Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. FIFA has not yet decided where the Final will be played but have narrowed it down to three stadiums: Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Barcelona’s Camp Nou, or Casablanca’s yet-to-be-completed Grand Stade Hassan II.

2034 World Cup

In 2034 Saudi Arabia will become the second Middle Eastern country to host the tournament, after Qatar in 2022. The country has proposed building and renovating 185,000 hotel rooms and several stadiums to accommodate the world’s most-watched sporting event.

Australia had considered a joint bid with either Indonesia or New Zealand for the 2034 Cup but both fell through. By October 2023 Saudi Arabia was the only country in Asia that had submitted a bid to host the tournament.

Backlash

Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the event has been widely described by human rights groups as an act of sports washing to improve its reputation and global standing in light of its poor human rights record.

Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's head of labour rights and sport, said: "FIFA's reckless decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia without ensuring adequate human rights protections are in place will put many lives at risk".

What they said

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “These are game-changers for the entire world and the most important [part] of it is that all these decisions on the hosts of the ([FIFA men’s] World Cup have been taken by consensus, by agreement, by compromise between everyone”.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said: "This is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia and a dream come true for all our 32 million people who simply love the game… today is another huge step forward that reflects and celebrates our progress while looking ahead to an even brighter future."

And the next World Cup?

The next football World Cup is in 2026 and is being hosted between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

ICYMI: TDA Sport has a new game on Instagram called Blurdle. IYKYK.
Today’s answer: like a Dorito, but different
Useless clue: Caitlin Clark

A message from Deakin University

How well do we understand the impact of heat on female athletes?

A recent study sheds light on a significant gap in sports science: the underrepresentation of women in research on heat adaptation. The authors reviewed existing studies and found that most focused on male athletes, leaving unanswered questions about how female physiology responds to extreme temperatures.

As global temperatures rise, this oversight could have serious implications for athletes’ performance and health. The research calls for a shift in focus to ensure that female athletes receive the same level of scientific support as their male counterparts. Read more here.

Looking forward…(All times are AEDT)

TDA asks