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For the first time in Wimbledon’s 147-year history, the 2025 tournament will not feature human line judges.

Instead, tournament officials have decided to adopt electronic line-calling (ELC) technology. ELC has been used at the Australian Open since 2021 and the U.S. Open since 2022. The French Open will now stand alone as the only major tournament with line judges.

While ELC is certainly more accurate than humans, some argue that the human element officiating the match adds to the spectacle and will be missed. Perhaps the human chair umpires will also be phased out in the not-so-distant future?

Thankfully there aren’t any robots yet who would make great ballboys and ballgirls - so at least we still have that. Oh, and yes I guess the players are still human. Or are they?

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Stat of the day

18
The age of Nima Rinji Sherpa, who became the youngest person to climb Earth’s 14 highest peaks. It took the Nepalese climber 740 days to climb the peaks which all stand at over 8000m. The previous record holder was 30 years old.

Quote of the day

"I definitely understand that the magnitude and the importance of this moment is really important for our game. It fuels me every day just knowing that I'm a part of something way bigger than myself."
Jessica Campbell, who officially became the first full-time female assistant coach in the National Hockey League yesterday. Campbell is a coach for the Seattle Kraken, who lost 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues in their season opener. The NHL is North America’s top ice hockey league.

Random fact of the day

The world’s oldest annual marathon is the Boston marathon which was first run in 1897. The original course was just under 39.5 km and the winner of the inaugural race was American John J. McDermott who finished in two hours, 55 minutes, and 10 seconds.

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In case you missed it…

⚽ Jürgen Klopp, the former manager of English premier league team Liverpool, has been named as the head of global soccer at Red Bull. The 57-year-old German will oversee the operation of Red Bull’s international network of soccer clubs which includes clubs such as the New York Red Bulls the U.S.’ Major League Soccer and RB Leipzig in Germany’s Bundesliga. He will begin the role on 1 January 2025.

⚽ George Baldock, a footballer who played for Greece and Premier League club Sheffield United, has died aged 31. The cause of death remains unknown. Baldock had been playing for Greek club Panathinaikos since May, after Sheffield United was relegated from the Premier League.

⛳ In a men’s golfing match dubbed ‘The Showdown’, LIV golf’s Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau will face the PGA tour’s Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas on 17 December. The event is a collaboration between the Saudi-backed LIV golf and the PGA tour, two parties that have been at odds since several golfers defected from the PGA to join LIV in 2022.

🏉 In the AFLW, the Melbourne Demons hung onto the lead in a low-scoring contest to upset the Adelaide Crows 16-14. The Demons scored their only two goals in the first quarter and held the Crows goalless until half-time. The Crows worked their way back into the match in the second half but it was a case of too little too late. The Crows now sit in 5th and the Demons are 11th on the AFLW ladder.

🏏 South Africa beat Scotland by 80 runs at the women’s T20 cricket World Cup, bouncing back from a loss to England earlier this week. Scotland has lost all three of its matches so far and will not make it past the Group Stage of the tournament. In Group A (Australia’s group), India showed similar dominance with an 82-run triumph over Sri Lanka who will not make it past the Group stage either.

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German soccer player apologises for homophobic behaviour

German soccer player Kevin Behrens has been disciplined by German club Wolfsburg for refusing to sign a fan’s rainbow jersey and reportedly saying “I won’t sign that kind of gay shit”.

Context

Behrens is a striker who has made one appearance for the German national team. The 33-year-old has played with Wolfsburg in Germany’s top-tier domestic competition, the Bundesliga, since January. He refused to sign the jersey and made the comment during an autograph signing session last month. Wolfsburg have been wearing jerseys with rainbow motifs for over five years to “show their support for diversity”.

Behrens was called to an internal meeting with the club and has since publicly apologised. His contract with Wolfsburg expires at the end of the season so his future with the club remains uncertain.

What they said

The club said in a statement: “VfL Wolfsburg stresses that it is aware of its social responsibility. The club and its employees stand for diversity and tolerance, and fundamental values such as respect, honesty and openness have always been firmly anchored in the club’s philosophy.”

Behrens said: “My spontaneous comments were absolutely not okay. I would like to apologise for that. The issue was clearly discussed internally and I ask for your understanding that I do not wish to comment further on it.”

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Socceroos to face China in first match under coach Tony Popovic

The Socceroos will take the field for the first time under new coach Tony Popovic in a World Cup qualifier against China at Adelaide Oval tonight. Popovic has been working with the team for just 16 days after previous coach Graham Arnold announced his resignation last month.

Context

Australia is in Group C of the third round of World Cup Qualifiers. Each Group has six teams and plays a round-robin style tournament. The top two teams in each group qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Australia has had a poor start to this third and crucial round of qualifying, first losing to Bahrain 1-0 and then being held goalless in a 0-0 draw with Indonesia. The Socceroos' match against China presents an opportunity to get their World Cup campaign back on track. China have lost both of their games so far to Japan (7-0) and Saudi Arabia (2-1).

What if the Socceroos don’t qualify in this round?

If Australia doesn’t make the top two, they head to the fourth round which consists of the third and fourth-placed teams from each third-round group.

The six teams in the fourth round will be split into two groups of three, with the winner of each group earning a spot. Then, all eight of the AFC’s spots at the 2026 World Cup will be occupied.

There is a last-ditch opportunity for a team to qualify for the FIFA play-off tournament, but that’s a position the Socceroos won’t want to find themselves in.

What they said

Popovic, at a press conference earlier today, said: “The limited preparation? Of course, everyone talks about that. But that is international football, for the players and the staff. So we just look at it as finding solutions to the problems that may occur, do it in a really positive manner, do it with a lot of belief that we have, and then we execute.”

How to watch

You can watch the match from 8:00pm AEDT on Channel 10 and Paramount+.

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Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

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