World Sports

Meldonium is widely available in eastern Europe but not licensed in most western countries Athletes caught using meldonium could avoid a ban after anti-doping chiefs said it was not clear how long it takes the drug to leave the body. Wada announced in September that it was adding the heart disease medicine to its banned list from 1 January. Since the start of the year, there have been 172 positive…

The Golden State Warriors are preparing for history. Wednesday night, at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, the defending NBA champions will take its shot at league-record 73 victories, one more than the Chicago Bulls registered in the 1995-96 season. But do 73 victories make Golden State the best regular-season franchise in NBA history? How do the 2015-16 Warriors compare with the top seasons in North America’s other three major sports?…

The Golden State Warriors are preparing for history. Wednesday night, at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, the defending NBA champions will take its shot at league-record 73 victories, one more than the Chicago Bulls registered in the 1995-96 season. But do 73 victories make Golden State the best regular-season franchise in NBA history? How do the 2015-16 Warriors compare with the top seasons in North America’s other three major sports?…

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » Need to connect your Home Delivery subscription to NYTimes.com?Link your subscription »

The BBC and BT Sport have extended their deal to air the FA Cup until 2021 and pledged to increase coverage of women’s football. The three-year extension to the existing £200m-plus deal, which was struck in 2013 and brought the world’s oldest knockout cup competition back to the BBC after seven years, is crucial for the increasingly cash-strapped corporation. The BBC’s sports right budget has been a major target of…

Photo credit: Lloyd Belcher Visuals See the steam rising off Nepali mountain runner Mira Rai? Sweet effect, right? “Well, the truth is that we tried to film the same scene the day before, but Mira was bitten by a wild dog on that hillside & so we had to cut filming short & get her to a clinic in Kathmandu for rabies shots,” filmmaker Lloyd Belcher detailed on his Facebook…

European governing body Uefa consider BT Sport’s exclusive coverage of the Champions League ‘a mistake,’ according to a report. The channel signed a record £897million, three-year deal with Uefa in November 2013 to show exclusive coverage of Europe’s premier club competition but, according to the Daily Mail, declining viewing figures have Uefa bosses considering a return to terrestrial television. The report states that while Uefa believes BT Sport are delivering…

Sports Direct is to pay £108m for a refurbished property on Oxford Street to become the first London branch of its upmarket Flannels chain, in a deal done by the boyfriend of founder Mike Ashley’s daughter. The sports retailer has agreed to buy the freehold of Academy House on the corner of Oxford Street and Soho’s Poland Street. It will open a flagship 20,000 sq ft Flannels store and use…

PHILADELPHIA lost its most influential sports figure in history with Monday’s passing of Flyers co-founder and Comcast Spectacor creator Ed Snider at 83 after a long battle with bladder cancer. The icon was a sports “futurist” who played some kind of role in virtually every major sporting occurrence in Philadelphia over the past five decades….

PHILADELPHIA lost its most influential sports figure in history with Monday’s passing of Flyers co-founder and Comcast Spectacor creator Ed Snider at 83 after a long battle with bladder cancer. The icon was a sports “futurist” who played some kind of role in virtually every major sporting occurrence in Philadelphia over the past five decades….

Since the digital video recorder became commonly used, the rights to professional sports have become steadily more valuable. That’s because while people may watch their favorite drama or sitcom on a delayed, time-shifted basis (while fast-forwarding through the commercials), sports are still generally watched live. That means the audience sees the ads as they air, which of course makes the commercial inventory more valuable. “Sports accounted for 93 of the…

Jordan Spieth stunningly blew his chance to repeat as Masters champion on Sunday with consecutive bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes followed by a blooper reel-worthy quadruple bogey on the par-3 12th turned a five-stroke lead to a three-stroke deficit. Where does it rank in the recent history of memorable sports meltdowns? Here are the top 10 worst sports collapses of the last 25 years. 10. Jana Novotna, 1993…

Team Fort Green: Johnson, Chapin-Rienzo, and Taylor Related Links Reverb Kitchen & Bar, the Polk Street sibling to Berkeley’s Gather, has closed Mister Jiu’s: Eight things to know about Brandon Jew’s new Chinatown restaurant It wasn’t that long ago that downtown Oakland was an extremely tough sell for business owners. Now it’s getting to the point where vacancies are hard to come by and restaurant/bar groups are doubling down on the area with additional locations….

Aston Villa have won only three Premier League games all season Aston Villa’s staff could face compulsory redundancy as the club prepare for relegation from the Premier League to the Championship. Saturday’s loss to Bournemouth all but sealed Villa’s fate. The club say “every effort” will be made to offer voluntary redundancy. Villa added: “The objective is to secure a sound financial platform from which the club can rebuild. We…

“Aston Villa’s football board plans to meet on Wednesday to formulate the next stage in the move to appoint a new manager. “Almost a fortnight after Remi Garde left the club,the board has a shortlist but next the respective claims of the candidates will be scrutinised by the four members together – chairman David Bernstein, Lord King, Adrian Bevington and former Villa player and chairman, Brian Little. Could one of these…

NEW ORLEANS — Former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was shot and killed in a case of road rage by a man who had rear-ended his car, police said. Smith was beloved by fans for his role in bringing a Super Bowl championship to New Orleans in 2009, though the defensive captain also found himself at the center of the NFL’s bounty probe in 2012. There was no indication…

Lewis Hamilton has spoken out against the current format Formula 1’s governing body the FIA has formally approved the return to the 2015 qualifying format in time for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. Teams last week forced a U-turn from F1 bosses Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone, who had previously refused to back a return to the knock-out format. This came after a new system proved a failure at the…

Caption Close From the cowbells waving vigorously under Friday night lights to the painted signs on basketball players’ lockers, when in comes to high school sports in Texas, we’ve got spirit, yes, we do. RELATED: The 25 best high schools in Texas for 2016 But only one school can have the best sports program in the state.  Niche examined high school sports programs in the Lone Star…

Anthony Joshua could become the highest paid sports star in the country, according to sports marketing expert Andy Sutherden. Joshua was crowned new IBF world heavyweight champion after stunning Charles Martin with a second-round stoppage at the O2 Arena on Saturday. The 26 year-old became the fifth fastest man in history to become heavyweight champion and Sutherden believes Joshua has the potential to overtake Rory McIlroy as the highest earning…

NEW ORLEANS — Former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was shot and killed in a case of road rage by a man who had rear-ended his car, police said. Smith was beloved by fans for his role in bringing a Super Bowl championship to New Orleans in 2009, though the defensive captain also found himself at the center of the NFL’s bounty probe in 2012. There was no indication…