Red Bull says longtime F1 team principal Christian Horner has been released from his duties

Red Bull says longtime F1 team principal Christian Horner has been released from his duties
Christian Horner was removed from his duties as Red Bull team principal with immediate effect. (REUTERS/File)
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Updated 09 July 2025

Red Bull says longtime F1 team principal Christian Horner has been released from his duties

Red Bull says longtime F1 team principal Christian Horner has been released from his duties
  • Horner had been Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005
  • Red Bull did not give a reason for the decision in a statement Wednesday, but thanked Horner for his work

MILTON KEYNES, England: Red Bull says Christian Horner has been released from his role as longtime team principal of its Formula 1 team.
Red Bull did not give a reason for the decision in a statement Wednesday, but thanked Horner for his work and said he will “forever remain an important part of our team history.”
Laurent Mekies of sister team Racing Bulls will replace Horner in his role as team principal and chief executive of the racing team.

Horner had been Red Bull team principal since it entered F1 as a full constructor in 2005. He had performed his team and media duties as normal throughout the British Grand Prix last week.
Horner oversaw eight F1 drivers’ titles — four for Sebastian Vettel and four for Max Verstappen — and six constructors’ titles during his time with the team.

But McLaren has dominated this season in F1, while Red Bull’s performance has dipped, though Verstappen remains third in the standings and the team is fourth.
Horner spent much of last week fielding questions over Verstappen’s future at the team after the Dutch driver declined to commit to stay with Red Bull for 2026.
“We would like to thank Christian Horner for his exceptional work over the last 20 years,” Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive for corporate projects and investments said in a statement.
“With his tireless commitment, experience, expertise and innovative thinking, he has been instrumental in establishing Red Bull Racing as one of the most successful and attractive teams in Formula 1. Thank you for everything, Christian, and you will forever remain an important part of our team history.”
The announcement comes more than a year after Horner was accused of misconduct toward a team employee.
An investigation conducted on behalf of the Red Bull company dismissed the allegation, as did a further investigation conducted after the employee appealed against the initial ruling, Red Bull said at the time.
Horner remained in charge of the F1 team throughout the entire process.


Goal-shy Salah seeks change as Egypt eye World Cup place

Updated 5 sec ago

Goal-shy Salah seeks change as Egypt eye World Cup place

Goal-shy Salah seeks change as Egypt eye World Cup place
  • Mohamed Salah wants to put a disappointing start to his season with Liverpool behind him on Wednesday and help Egypt beat Djibouti and qualify for the 2026 World Cup
JOHANNESBURG: Mohamed Salah wants to put a disappointing start to his season with Liverpool behind him on Wednesday and help Egypt beat Djibouti and qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
A win for the record seven-time African champions over one of the lowest ranked teams in the continent will give them an unassailable lead over second-placed Burkina Faso in Group A with one match to spare.
A two-time African Footballer of the Year, Salah has lost his spark with the Premier League champions, scoring just three goals in nine appearances in all competitions this season.
Last season, the 33-year-old netted 29 times in 38 league matches to win the Golden Boot award as Liverpool surged to a record-equalling 20th Premier League title.
Salah has fond memories of playing against Djibouti, scoring four goals in a 6-0 Cairo romp in the opening round of World Cup qualifying two years ago.
It does not help Djibouti that they do not have a FIFA-approved stadium, so their ‘home’ match against Egypt will be staged in the Moroccan commercial capital Casablanca.
Three subsequent goals took Salah to seven in the qualifying campaign, one less than chart-topper Denis Bouanga of Gabon with two rounds remaining.
Fellow Egypt forward Mostafa Mohamed, who plays for French Ligue 1 outfit Nantes, is not concerned about Salah, telling reporters the lack of goals is “a temporary setback.”
“Mo is a big star, and we are lucky to have him in our team. He is the best player in the history of Egypt,” he told the FIFA website.
“He is amazing. For me, he has a great personality. I love him a lot. He is a wonderful player,” added Mohamed, who also scored against Djibouti.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has an embarrassment of attacking riches, Apart from Salah and Mohamed, he can call on Omar Marmoush, Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan and Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed.
Given Djibouti have lost seven of eight qualifiers and lie 158 places below Egypt in the FIFA rankings, it would be a shock if they prevent the Pharaohs sealing a fourth World Cup appearance.
Algeria set to qualify
Algeria and Cape Verde are the other two countries who can clinch places at the World Cup with matchday nine victories, and join already-qualified Morocco and Tunisia in North and Central America next year.
Senegal, reigning African champions Ivory Coast and Ghana could also take unassailable leads, but they must win and hope other group results favor them.
Group C, where Benin lead South Africa on goal difference and Nigeria and Rwanda are three points behind, is the one section where a qualifier cannot emerge before the final round, starting on Sunday.
Like Egypt, Algeria can qualify if they secure maximum points against a much lower ranked opponent. The Desert Foxes have the added advantage of playing an ‘away’ Group G match against Somalia at home.
Security concerns prevent Somalia staging matches in Mogadishu, and a 163-place rankings gap behind Algeria demonstrates the difficult challenge facing the Ocean Stars in Oran on Thursday.
Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic has called up for the first time Luca Zidane, a 27-year-old goalkeeper with Spanish second-tier club Granada and son of French great Zinedine Zidane.
Luca, who qualifies for Algeria because his paternal grandparents were born there, has switched international allegiance after representing France at youth levels.
Algeria are seeking a fifth appearance at the global showpiece, while Cape Verde are hoping to qualify for the first time. They face Libya in Tripoli on Wednesday.
A former Portuguese colony, Cape Verde is a group of islands off the west coast with about 550,000 inhabitants. Qualification would make them the African country with the smallest population to do so.
Even if the Cape Verdeans fail in Libya, they will get a second chance on Monday to collect three points needed to finish above Cameroon when they host bottom team Eswatini in Group D.
Ghana will win Group I on Wednesday if they beat the Central African Republic and Madagascar do not collect maximum points against the Comoros.
Senegal can qualify from Group B if they win in South Sudan on Friday and the Democratic Republic of Congo fail to win in Togo.
Ivory Coast, who last featured at a World Cup in 2014, would return if they win away to the Seychelles and Gabon lose to the Gambia.
Failure to win a group does not spell the end of the road, though. The four best-ranked runners-up enter African play-offs in November from which the winners go to intercontinental play-offs in March.

UEFA ‘reluctantly’ approves European league games in US, Australia

UEFA ‘reluctantly’ approves European league games in US, Australia
Updated 07 October 2025

UEFA ‘reluctantly’ approves European league games in US, Australia

UEFA ‘reluctantly’ approves European league games in US, Australia
  • Despite “the widespread lack of support that had already been raised by fans, other leagues, clubs, players and European institutions,” UEFA said that it had found no clear regulatory framework in FIFA’s statutes that would allow it to oppose the moves
  • “The UEFA Executive Committee has reluctantly taken the decision to approve, on an exceptional basis, the two requests referred to it,” European football’s governing body said in its statement

LAUSANNE: European football governing body UEFA on Monday said it had “reluctantly” approved the staging of a Spanish La Liga and an Italian Serie A match in the US and Australia respectively despite fan protests.

“While it is regrettable to have to let these two games go ahead, this decision is exceptional and shall not be seen as setting a precedent,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement.

UEFA made its ruling after Spain’s La Liga agreed to move a game scheduled for late December between champions Barcelona and Villarreal to Miami, Florida.

Italy’s Serie A also decided to stage the encounter between AC Milan and Como on February 8 in Perth, Australia, to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium.

But that sparked protests from European supporters groups who branded the moves “absurd, unaffordable, and environmentally irresponsible.”

In its statement, UEFA said that it had “reiterated its clear opposition to domestic league matches being played outside their home country.”

But despite “the widespread lack of support that had already been raised by fans, other leagues, clubs, players and European institutions,” UEFA said that it had found no clear regulatory framework in FIFA’s statutes that would allow it to oppose the moves.

“The UEFA Executive Committee has reluctantly taken the decision to approve, on an exceptional basis, the two requests referred to it,” European football’s governing body said in its statement.

NFL, NBA precedent

While the idea of relocating European football matches to other continents seems shocking to many, other sports — particularly US ones — have been doing something similar for years, even decades.

The NFL has held games in London since 2007 while it also expanded to Mexico and Germany.

Last year it added a game in Sao Paulo and this year there has been one in Dublin for the first time. Another is slated for Madrid in November while Melbourne will play host to a game in 2026.

The NBA, which has relocated regular-season matches since 1990 to Japan and since 2013 to Europe, has already scheduled six games in Berlin, London, Manchester and Paris over the next three seasons.

In rugby union, the French Top 14 club competition took its 2016 final to Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium, while Ireland and New Zealand played an international match in Chicago that same year — with Ireland claiming their first ever victory over the All Blacks.

Last weekend, Argentina played their final Rugby Championship match at home to South Africa at Twickenham in London.

It is not unheard of in football to host matches abroad, but until now those had only ever been glorified friendlies.

The Spanish and Italian Super Cups are already held in , after previous editions in China, Morocco, Qatar and Libya, as governing bodies seek to cash in on the global reach of the beautiful game.

La Liga has been trying for years to host games in the US, home of its commercial partner Relevent Sports.

Football’s world governing body FIFA shifted its hitherto opposition to relocating matches, with a ‘working group’ launched in May to revise their rules.

That opened the door to UEFA granting La Liga and Serie A the permission to branch out.

On Monday, Lega Calcio Serie A thanked “UEFA for recognizing the exceptional nature of this initiative.”

“It should also be emphasized that this is only one match out of 380 in the league: an extraordinary event, not a structural change to the schedule,” a Serie A statement said.

“I hope that approval from FIFA and the Australian Football Federation will complete the authorization process,” added Serie A president Ezio Simonelli.

“For us, a contingency linked to the unavailability of the San Siro Stadium has been transformed into an opportunity to please the many Italian football fans, who will have the chance to follow the match live in Perth, and also for the two teams and Italian football to increase their international visibility and fan base.”


Zverev dumped out of Shanghai Masters by France’s Rinderknech

Zverev dumped out of Shanghai Masters by France’s Rinderknech
Updated 06 October 2025

Zverev dumped out of Shanghai Masters by France’s Rinderknech

Zverev dumped out of Shanghai Masters by France’s Rinderknech
  • The German had injured his big toe toward the end of his last match in Shanghai but on Monday seemed to show no sign of discomfort as he broke Rinderknech in the third game with a forehand

SHANGHAI: World No. 3 Alexander Zverev was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday, leaving Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player.

In stifling conditions, the 54th-ranked Frenchman came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission.

The German had injured his big toe toward the end of his last match in Shanghai but on Monday seemed to show no sign of discomfort as he broke Rinderknech in the third game with a forehand.

He nearly went ahead early in the second set, but Rinderknech recovered his cool, piling on the pressure in the fourth game to eventually break.

“I’m not very sure (how I managed to turn the game around),” he said.

“I fought like hell, tried everything. (Zverev) is such a good player ... I knew it was going to be a battle.

“Starting in the second set ... I was able to be offensive at the right moment, in a smarter way,” he said.

Keeping up the momentum, in the third set the 30-year-old broke in the third game.

Zverev had to pause to change his shoes because sweat was pouring out of them, as spectators wafted fans and wore cool packs on their foreheads to counter the suffocating humidity.

But switching footwear was not enough to save the German, and a double fault in the seventh game led to Rinderknech breaking again.

Holding with an ace to win, the Frenchman lolled his body in delighted disbelief, then danced around the court in glee.

Zverev’s exit means world No. 5 Djokovic, who is aiming for a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub, now leads rankings-wise as the tournament heads into the last 16.

On Sunday the competition lost both defending champion Jannik Sinner, who was forced to retire with extreme leg cramps, and 4th-ranked Taylor Fritz.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz withdrew at the last minute to rest.

Alex de Minaur is the next highest seed after Djokovic was through to the fourth round, comfortably getting past Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-1, 7-5.

“I came into this week knowing how tough the conditions were going to be,” the world number seven said.

“So the mindset ultimately is surviving, finding ways, and getting ready for battles every time you step out on the court.”

The Australian will next meet Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who put an end to the hopes of home favorite Shang Juncheng 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3.


Pakistan’s Sidra Amin reprimanded for breaching ICC code of conduct against India

Pakistan’s Sidra Amin reprimanded for breaching ICC code of conduct against India
Updated 06 October 2025

Pakistan’s Sidra Amin reprimanded for breaching ICC code of conduct against India

Pakistan’s Sidra Amin reprimanded for breaching ICC code of conduct against India
  • Amin top-scored with 81 runs, but her half century was not enough to save Pakistan from an 88-run defeat
  • It was Pakistan’s second successive loss in the tournament after it lost the opening game against Bangladesh

COLOMBO: Pakistan batter Sidra Amin has been reprimanded for breaching the ICC's code of conduct during a Women’s Cricket World Cup match against archrival India on Sunday.

Amin top-scored with 81 runs, but her half century was not enough to save Pakistan from an 88-run defeat. It was Pakistan’s second successive loss in the tournament after it lost the opening game against Bangladesh by seven wickets.

The ICC said in a statement on Monday that Amin breached its article 2.2 related to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match.”

Amin hit her bat forcefully onto the pitch after she was dismissed in the 40th over. She admitted her offense and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Shandre Fritz.

It was Amin’s first offense in two years and she was given one demerit point for a Level 1 breach.

Pakistan next takes on defending champion Australia in Colombo on Wednesday.


FIA President Ben Sulayem to champion safety, sustainability and innovation at Asai Pacific Congress

FIA President Ben Sulayem to champion safety, sustainability and innovation at Asai Pacific Congress
Updated 06 October 2025

FIA President Ben Sulayem to champion safety, sustainability and innovation at Asai Pacific Congress

FIA President Ben Sulayem to champion safety, sustainability and innovation at Asai Pacific Congress
  • The event, taking place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Wednesday, will spotlight the region’s growing impact on motorsport and mobility

DUBAI: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, will open the FIA Asia Pacific Congress in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Wednesday by spotlighting the region’s growing impact on motor sport and mobility.

The congress, hosted by the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand, brings together motorsport and automotive mobility leaders from across Asia and the Pacific to discuss key initiatives in road safety, sustainable mobility, regional sporting growth, and innovation in transport.

Speaking ahead of the congress, Ben Sulayem said: “I am delighted to be joining our members and partners in Chiang Mai for the FIA Asia Pacific Congress, and I look forward to building on the region’s impressive progress in both mobility and sport.

“Asia and the Pacific are among the fastest growing areas of our federation, and the commitment shown by our members here is driving real impact, from safer roads and sustainable transport to new opportunities for grassroots and elite competition.

“This gathering is an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration across the region, share expertise in mobility and motorsport, and advance our shared priorities of safety, sustainability and innovation.”

The theme of this year’s FIA Asia Pacific Congress is “Innovate. Integrate. Accelerate: Driving a sustainable future for mobility and sport,” with the program designed to equip member clubs with new strategies and insights into evolving mobility and sporting trends.

This includes a focus on sustainable practices, affordable grassroots pathways, and the evolution of artificial intelligence and its role in the FIA’s sectors.

The event comes as motorsport and mobility innovation gather pace across the region. Sri Lanka recently hosted the Asia Pacific Motorsport Championship with 18 nations and 204 competitors, while Malaysia will stage the first FIA “Arrive and Drive” Karting World Cup this November.

In 2026, Formula One returns to Australia, China, and Japan, alongside the World Rally Championship and World Endurance Championship in Japan and Formula E in Shanghai and Tokyo.

On the mobility side, the Safe Helmets for Asia Pacific Initiative recently held its first workshop in Manila, bringing together delegates from Cambodia, China, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam to chart new roadmaps for safer helmets.