Good evening!

The Melbourne Marathon Festival’s marketing team landed themselves in a little bit of hot water today. In a photo posted to social media, users noticed that the Asics logo had been photoshopped off the singlet of women’s half marathon winner, Leanne Pompeani.

I assumed they had been ordered to ‘Just do it’ - but Nike told the ABC they weren’t involved. The event organisers have since apologised and removed the post from social media.

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Stat of the day

1.34m
The average number of people who watched Game 2 of the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx earlier this week. It’s the largest viewership for a WNBA Finals match since 2001 and an increase of 115% on Game 2 of the Finals last year. Game 3 will be played tomorrow at 11:00am (AEDT).

Quote of the day

"The Giants are aware of an anonymous allegation of inappropriate behaviour at the players' end-of-season function last month. The club and its integrity unit have been working with the AFL's integrity unit to investigate."
AFL club the GWS Giants in a statement released on Tuesday. The AFL also released a statement which said it was investigating the GWS players’ post-season event. An anonymous source reportedly told the Sydney Morning Herald the complaints were sparked by a skit involving a blow-up doll and a reference to rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Random fact of the day

Italian soccer player Daniel Maldini made his first appearance for his country in the side’s 4-1 victory over Israel in the Nations League. The 23-year-old’s debut made him, his father (Paolo), and his grandfather (Cesare) the first three-generation trio to have all played for the Italian national team.

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In case you missed it…

🏏 The West Indies have sent England home from the women’s cricket T20 World Cup after upsetting the world’s second-ranked team by six wickets. England missed the presence of their captain Heather Knight, who injured her calf in the first innings. Now, the West Indies will play New Zealand in one semi-final, while Australia will face South Africa in the other.

🏉 Australia’s men’s and women’s representative rugby league teams have been announced ahead of the start of the Pacific Championship. Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga named a side that features six debutants, including a fresh halves pairing of State of Origin standouts Mitchell Moses and Tom Dearden. Panthers star Isaah Yeo is the captain. Jillaroos coach Brad Donald’s team includes three debutants and will be captained by the veteran duo of Kezie Apps and Ali Brigginshaw. The Jillaroos will take on Papua New Guinea followed by the Kangaroos against Tonga at Suncorp Stadium on Friday.

🏈 The NFL announced on Tuesday that the 2028 Super Bowl will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens said the selection was “a testament of Atlanta’s rising status as the sports capital of the South, and in my opinion, the sports capital of the entire nation.” The next Super Bowl will be played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, where thousands were forced to shelter after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

🏏 The upcoming Women’s Big Bash League cricket season will feature third umpires for all games. Last season third umpires were only available for 24 of 59 matches. The number of games where players can use the Decision Review System (DRS) will also increase from 24 to 33. The ability to review decisions and use the DRS is set to reduce the number of incorrect calls made by umpires.

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Socceroos hold on to draw with Japan and keep World Cup hopes alive

The Socceroos have come one step closer to World Cup Qualification with a 1-1 draw against Japan in Saitama last night.

What happened

After finishing the first half at 0-0, the Socceroos took the lead in the 58th minute courtesy of an own goal from Japan’s Shogo Taniguchi. Japan persisted and was eventually able to equalise after Aussie defender Cam Burgess deflected a cross into his own net. Japan dominated the stats sheet with 65% possession and 12 shots (3 on goal), while Australia only had one shot.

What they said

Popovic told Paramount Plus: "It was wonderful character in the group. We're happy with the result, of course. But we want to expect more. We tried to play [but] they win the ball back quickly. This was a huge test, but they hung in there the whole time.”

What’s next?

With six games remaining in the third round of World Cup Qualification, the Socceroos will now prepare to play a crucial match against Saudi Arabia in Melbourne on 20 November.

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Kylian Mbappé denies allegations of rape published by Swedish media

French soccer star Kylian Mbappé has been named as the subject of a rape investigation in Sweden by local media. It’s been alleged that the player raped an unnamed woman while visiting Stockholm last week. Swedish authorities have confirmed they’re investigating an incident but did not name Mbappé.

Details

Mbappé, who currently plays for Spanish team Real Madrid, denies the allegations, which he’s described as “fake news”. He’s linked the reports to an ongoing pay dispute with his former team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Earlier this week, Swedish media reported that Mbappé had been accused of sexual assault after visiting Stockholm last week. The Swedish Prosecution Authority has since released a statement “in response to media reports”, confirming a rape had been reported to police. “According to the report, the incident took place on October 10, 2024, at a hotel in central Stockholm,” the statement said. It did not name Mbappé.

Mbappe’s Response

Mbappe’s communications team told media the accusation is “totally false and irresponsible”, and that the reporting of it has been “unacceptable”. In a post to X, Mbappé called the allegation “fake news”. He suggested its timing is related to an upcoming hearing in an ongoing pay dispute with his former club PSG.

Mbappé’s last contract with PSG, signed in 2022, was reportedly worth around €250 million ($AU407 million). He now alleges PSG owes him €55 million ($AU90 million).

A message from our sponsor

Hunter Fujak and Joshua McLeod, both lecturers in Sport Management at Deakin University, recently wrote an article that explores the various voting systems football codes in Australia use to determine their Best and Fairest players.

Fujak and McLeod point out that the AFL, NRL, Rugby Australia, and A-League all use different methods to elect the respective competition’s best player. These different methods present different biases which naturally affect the outcome of the award.

The two examples they outline in detail are the AFL’s Brownlow Medal and NRL’s Dally M Medal. The Brownlow is voted on by the AFL’s umpires and has been criticised as a midfielder’s award - the Brownlow has been awarded 27 times since 2000 and Adam Goodes is the only player that would not be considered primarily a midfielder. The Dally M is also subject to a similar positional bias with 91% of medals being won by fullbacks, halfbacks, five-eighths, and hookers. The Dally M is voted on by two independent and anonymous judges, who presumably have their own biases too.

Fujak and McLeod emphasise that often the awards that are most valued by players are the internal club awards which are voted on by their peers and coaches. This is because the people most involved with the club naturally have a more holistic understanding of who their best and fairest players are.

Ultimately, they suggest that it is likely no method will be perfect but perhaps it is the human dimension of the award that makes these awards such an engaging spectacle.

Think Beyond The Field. Study Sport at Deakin.

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

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