Cricket fans in India won’t have to wait long to get their next fix of international action. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced the fixtures for Team India’s 2026-27 home calendar and it is likely to be one of the busiest home schedules in recent history. The action kicks off on September 27 with the West Indies arriving for a white-ball tour, setting the tone for a packed few months of cricket across the country.

West Indies Tour Gets Things Rolling

The West Indies series will open with three ODIs before moving into a five-match T20I leg, giving fans a good mix of formats right from the start. The one-day matches are set to be played in Trivandrum, Guwahati, and New Chandigarh, with Trivandrum hosting the series opener on September 27. Once the ODIs wrap up, the action shifts to T20Is, which will be spread across Lucknow, Ranchi, Indore, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. The tour runs into mid-October, giving both teams a fairly packed few weeks of white-ball cricket to work through.

It’s a solid way to reopen the home season, and it also gives the Indian team management a chance to look at bench strength and try out combinations before the year gets more serious with red-ball cricket later on. West Indies touring India has become something of a regular fixture in recent years, and while it may not carry the box-office pull of a series against Australia or England, it still offers a useful platform for fringe players to stake their claim ahead of bigger assignments.

A Season That Doesn’t Let Up

What makes this home season particularly notable is just how much cricket is packed into it. Beyond the West Indies series, India will also host Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and Australia across the coming months, taking the total home season to 22 international matches spread across 17 cities. That’s a genuinely wide net, and it includes venues that don’t always get a steady diet of international fixtures, like New Chandigarh, which is set to host matches during the West Indies leg itself.

After the West Indies tour wraps up, Sri Lanka will be next in line, arriving in December for another white-ball series comprising three ODIs and three T20Is. The Sri Lanka ODIs are expected to open in Delhi, with the T20I leg following shortly after in cities including Rajkot, Cuttack, and Pune. Once the calendar flips into the new year, Zimbabwe will make a shorter stop for an ODI series, giving India another opportunity to rotate personnel and manage workloads ahead of the season’s marquee event.

That marquee event, of course, is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, which headlines the back end of the home season. The five-match Test series is set to begin in late January, with fixtures lined up across venues including Nagpur, Chennai, and Guwahati as the season moves toward its climax in February. For a team that’s just come off winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, a full Test series against Australia at home is about as high-stakes as domestic cricket assignments get, and it’s likely to dominate headlines once it arrives.

Why the Scheduling Matters

There’s a clear logic to how the season has been laid out. The white-ball matches against West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe are bunched into the earlier months, taking advantage of September through January conditions that suit day-night cricket well. Test cricket, by contrast, has been pushed to late January and February, timed for cooler, more batting-and-bowling-friendly conditions that Indian pitches tend to offer that time of year. It’s a sequencing choice that BCCI has leaned on before, and it seems designed to get the most out of both formats rather than cramming everything together.

The spread of venues is also worth noting. Beyond the usual hosts like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad, cities such as Guwahati, Ranchi, and New Chandigarh are all getting a slice of the action, which continues the BCCI’s push in recent years to take international cricket beyond the traditional metro circuit and into venues where the sport is growing but doesn’t always get top billing.

For now, though, all eyes are on September 27, when the West Indies series gets the home season underway in Trivandrum. Match timings for the full calendar are expected to be announced closer to each series, but the framework is set: a jam-packed few months of ODIs, T20Is, and Tests that will keep Indian cricket fans busy right through to the following spring. Between the early white-ball assignments and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy waiting at the end of it, this home season has a bit of everything, and it starts with West Indies in less than a month’s time.

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While much of the attention around the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026 has centered on the men’s tournament, India’s women’s hockey team has quietly put together one of its more compelling campaigns in recent memory. Sunday’s Pool E clash against Australia was the latest chapter in a run that has seen the team push right up to the edge of a semifinal spot, only to fall agonizingly short.

A Tense, Goalless Finish to the Group Stage

India needed a win over Australia to keep their semifinal hopes alive, while Australia only needed a draw to advance. Despite plenty of pressure late in the match, including India pulling their goalkeeper in the closing stages for an extra attacker, neither side could find the breakthrough, and the match finished 0-0 at Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen. With the Netherlands having already beaten China earlier in the day to confirm their place in the last four, the equation for India was simple heading into the match: nothing but a win would do. That breakthrough never came.

Both India and Australia ended up level on two points with an identical goal difference of minus two, but it was Australia who advanced to the semifinals alongside defending champions Netherlands, edging India out on goals scored. It’s the kind of fine margin that can define a tournament, and it left India to finish third in Pool E, just ahead of China on goal difference.

Speaking after the match, India captain Salima Tete didn’t sugarcoat the disappointment but struck a resilient note all the same. She acknowledged that the team had created chances but simply couldn’t finish them, and made clear that the World Cup campaign is far from over for India women’s hockey, with a fight still ahead to secure fifth place.

How India Got Here

To appreciate how close India came, it’s worth looking back at the road that got them to this point. The team opened their World Cup campaign with a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Olympic silver medalists China, a result that, given the run of play, arguably could have gone India’s way. They followed that up with their biggest-ever World Cup win, thrashing South Africa 6-1, with goals spread across the lineup from Sunelita Toppo, Navneet Kaur, Sushila Chanu, Deepika, Lalremsiami Hmarzote, and Sakshi Rana. India then closed out the opening group stage with a gritty, goalless draw against a higher-ranked England side, a defensive performance that sealed their place in the tournament’s second round without India ever tasting defeat in the first phase.

That unbeaten run through what many considered one of the toughest groups in the competition set up a difficult second-stage draw against Netherlands, Australia, and China. Facing the tournament hosts and four-time title contenders Netherlands in their opening second-round match, India fought hard but ultimately fell 2-0, with Yibbi Jansen striking inside the opening two minutes and Frederique Matla adding a second late in the match. That loss meant India’s fate rested on needing a win over Australia while also hoping the Netherlands would beat China, a scenario that required things to break just right.

What This Campaign Means for Indian Women’s Sports

Even with the semifinal dream now over, India’s run through this World Cup carries real significance. Ranked ninth in the world coming into the tournament, the Indian women’s hockey team went unbeaten through a brutal opening group and pushed a genuine title contender in Australia to the very last minute of their final pool match. For a program that has historically finished mid-table at World Cups, dating back to results like ninth-place finishes in 2010 and 2022, this campaign represents a tangible step forward.

This comes as women’s sports in India gains visibility and investment and a strong show on a global stage like this only adds to that momentum. Head coach Sjoerd Marijne’s side has shown throughout the tournament that they can compete physically and tactically with some of the best teams in the world, even if the finishing touch wasn’t always there when it mattered most.

What’s Next for India

India now shifts focus to the classification rounds, where they’ll compete for fifth place against the third-placed team from Pool F, determined after that pool’s matches conclude. It’s not the finish India were chasing when the tournament began, but as Tete’s comments suggest, there’s still real motivation left in this squad to close out the FIH Women’s World Cup on a high note.

For Indian hockey fans, the tournament has offered a mix of heartbreak and pride. The team came within a matter of goals scored of reaching the semifinals of a major global event, a reminder of how far the program has come and how much further it still hopes to go. With the men’s tournament running in parallel across Belgium and the Netherlands, India’s dual presence on the world stage this August underscores just how central hockey remains to the country’s sporting identity, even as the women’s side continues carving out its own distinct and increasingly impressive World Cup story.

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India have made a statement in Galle, and they’ve made it emphatically. A dominant all-round performance saw the visitors seal a commanding 165-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test of the two-match series, taking a 1-0 lead with plenty of positives to carry forward. It was the kind of win that ticked almost every box — a maiden century from a young batter, a career-defining bowling performance, and a squad that looked increasingly settled in conditions that have historically given touring sides plenty of headaches.

For anyone who followed the India vs Sri Lanka Test closely, the result didn’t come as a total surprise given how the match unfolded, but the manner of the win was still hugely satisfying for the travelling side. Batting first after winning the toss, India built a substantial platform, posting a total well past 450 in their first innings. With the bat, Devdutt Padikkal was the star, turning a golden opportunity at number three into his maiden Test hundred – a knock that not only anchored the innings but also answered lingering questions about India’s middle-order stability in overseas conditions. KL Rahul chipped in with a composed contribution of his own, giving India the kind of solid top-order platform that’s often the difference between a competitive total and a match-winning one.

Suthar Steals the Show

If Padikkal’s hundred set the tone, it was left-arm spinner Manav Suthar who turned this Galle Test result into a rout. Suthar produced a sensational ten-wicket haul across the match, ripping through Sri Lanka’s batting lineup with a mix of guile and control that belied his inexperience at this level. His second five-wicket haul in as many Tests underlined just how quickly he’s adapted to the demands of international cricket, and it’s fair to say he’s emerged as one of the most exciting finds of this tour.

Sri Lanka’s middle order, led by a determined half-century from their captain and a gutsy knock that fell agonisingly short of a second century in the match, put up stern resistance for large stretches of the game. But once Suthar found his rhythm on the final day, the lower order simply had no answers, and Sri Lanka were bowled out well short of their target, sealing India’s win with minutes to spare before rain threatened to intervene.

A Special Knock From Rishabh Pant

Amid all the headline numbers, there was also a moment of individual milestone-setting from Rishabh Pant, whose aggressive, momentum-shifting innings in the second essay included his 100th Test six — a landmark that made him the fastest player in the format’s history to reach that mark. It was a reminder of the sort of impact Pant keeps making to this Indian side every time he walks out to bat, adding a new dimension to what was already turning into a well-rounded team performance.

Creating Momentum in Foreign Conditions

This result follows a trend that has been building for some time now – the increasing comfort and success of India in conditions away from home. The subcontinental pitches that turn sharply, like the one at Galle, over the years have provided unique challenges even for teams with strong reputations for spin bowling. To out-spin and out-bat Sri Lanka on their own turf speaks volumes for the depth and adaptability this squad currently possesses.

The win has implications beyond the series scoreline for those following the wider India cricket tour Sri Lanka story. It’s boosted India’s position in the World Test Championship standings, giving the side a bit more breathing room as they continue their push toward a place in the championship final down the line.

Eyes Turn to Colombo

With the series lead secured, attention now shifts to the second Test, which begins August 23 in Colombo. India will be looking to close out the series with a clean sweep, while Sri Lanka will need a response of real substance if they hope to level things up on home soil. The Colombo second Test presents a slightly different challenge, and Sri Lanka’s think tank will no doubt be searching for ways to counter the spin threat that proved so decisive in Galle.

A Boost for the Pipeline

Beyond the immediate result, this tour has offered selectors plenty to be pleased about when it comes to India’s long-term planning. Several young batters have impressed during the trip, strengthening what was already looking like a promising pipeline of talent ahead of a packed home season later this year. Padikkal’s maiden hundred and Suthar’s sensational bowling returns are the case in point. India’s next generation is ready to step up when required, providing selectors genuine depth rather than just temporary cover for established stars.

They are back together as a squad, heading to Colombo, and there is a quiet confidence in the camp – not just about closing out this series, but about the wider trajectory of a team that keeps finding new match-winners even as it wrestles with the demands of a relentless international calendar.

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Indian cricket has moved straight from the buzz of the IPL season into the far quieter, more demanding world of red-ball cricket. The Indian Test team is currently in Sri Lanka for a two-match series that forms part of the 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle, and if the early signs from the warm-up leg are anything to go by, the batting unit looks to be in good touch heading into the series proper.

A Confidence-Building Warm-Up in Colombo

Before the Test series began, India played a three-day practice match against a Sri Lanka Cricket XI at the Nondescripts Cricket Club ground in Colombo, and it turned into exactly the kind of hit-out the team management would have wanted. Batting first, the Sri Lanka XI put up 363 for 8 before declaring, built around fifties from their openers. India’s response was where things got interesting.

Devdutt Padikkal played the standout innings of the match, batting through to an unbeaten 142 that anchored India’s first innings and gave the squad’s batting depth a real boost. Yashasvi Jaiswal, after a rocky start where he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, bounced back well in the second innings chase. KL Rahul also got useful time in the middle before falling just short of a half-century. Chasing a target of 207 in the final innings, India got home comfortably with six wickets in hand, a scoreline that says as much about the bowlers’ discipline as it does about the batting.

For a team that’s had to reshuffle personnel ahead of this tour, that kind of warm-up performance matters. It’s not just about the runs on the board, it’s about batters finding their footing on sub-continental surfaces that behave very differently from what they’ve been used to during the IPL or in home conditions against the white ball.

Squad Changes Before a Ball Was Bowled

The lead-up to this tour wasn’t entirely smooth. Jasprit Bumrah, one of India’s most important bowlers in Test cricket, was ruled out of the series with a knee injury and replaced by uncapped pacer Auqib Nabi, a notable opportunity for someone new stepping into a squad of this profile. Then, just before the series got underway, Sai Sudharsan was also ruled out with a toe injury, with Sarfaraz Khan brought in as his replacement.

Losing your first-choice pace spearhead and a middle-order batter in the space of a week isn’t ideal preparation for any team, let alone one touring in tricky conditions. But it also opens the door for players like Nabi and Sarfaraz to make an impression at the international level, and Test tours like this one have historically been where such careers get their real start.

Shubman Gill continues to lead the side, with Gautam Gambhir in the coaching setup, and the squad blends experienced hands like Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja with a noticeably younger core built around Jaiswal, Padikkal, Rishabh Pant, and Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps.

Into the Test Series

With the warm-up fixture out of the way, the focus has now shifted to the two-Test series itself, which opened in Galle before moving on to Colombo for the second match. Conditions in Sri Lanka are known to offer plenty for spin bowlers as matches progress, which sets up an intriguing battle between India’s own spin options, led by Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, and Sri Lanka’s attack featuring the experienced left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.

Both these matches count toward the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, so there’s more on the line here than just bragging rights between two cricketing neighbours. Every session played in Galle and Colombo will factor into where India sits on the championship table as the cycle builds toward its next final.

A Packed Calendar Ahead

This Sri Lanka tour is really just the opening chapter of a heavily loaded second half of the year for Indian cricket. Once the red-ball assignment wraps up, the team’s attention turns to white-ball cricket, with a T20I series against Afghanistan expected in September, followed by India hosting the West Indies for a series of ODIs and T20Is later in the same window. Add in India’s participation in the Asian Games later in the year and a tour of New Zealand after that, and it becomes clear why the BCCI schedule for the rest of 2026 is being described as one of the busiest stretches in recent memory.

For now, though, the story is about Test cricket, and specifically about whether India’s batting form from that warm-up fixture in Colombo can carry through into the two matches that actually count. A young, slightly reshaped batting line-up finding runs early is a good sign, but Sri Lanka on their own turf, with conditions tailored to trouble visiting batters as a match wears on, is never a straightforward assignment.

If the Colombo warm-up is a fair indicator, India go into this series with genuine momentum. Whether that translates into results across two Tests in unfamiliar personnel combinations will say a lot about the depth this squad can call on as it heads into an unusually demanding year of cricket across every format.

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India’s cricketers are back in whites this week, kicking off a two-match Test tour of Sri Lanka that begins August 15 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium. It’s a short series on paper — just two Tests — but there’s plenty riding on it, both in terms of World Test Championship points and as a form check ahead of a packed home season later this year against Afghanistan and West Indies.

Shubman Gill continues as India’s Test captain for this tour, with KL Rahul serving as his deputy. The 15-member squad named by the BCCI carries one particularly welcome bit of news for Indian fans: Ravindra Jadeja is back after recovering from the tennis elbow injury that kept him out of the team’s series against Afghanistan back in June. His return adds real balance to the side, especially on surfaces like Galle’s, which are known to offer turn from early in the game.

The squad hasn’t come together without its share of late drama, though. Jasprit Bumrah, originally named in the squad, was ruled out just before the series due to a left knee injury he picked up during India’s ODI series against England, with Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi brought in as his replacement — earning what will be his first senior national call-up if selected to play. Washington Sundar also missed out on selection for the opening Test, and Sai Sudharsan’s participation remains subject to medical clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. It’s the kind of squad reshuffling that’s become fairly typical for Indian cricket in recent years — deep enough to absorb injuries without much visible strain, even when key names drop out late.

Ahead of the series, India played a four-day practice match in Colombo starting August 7 to get some red-ball match time under their belt before the real contest begins. That kind of preparation matters more than usual on this tour, given how different Galle and Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club are as venues. Galle is one of the most distinctive Test grounds in the subcontinent — a compact ground right by the coast, overlooked by an old fort wall, with a pitch that tends to start turning noticeably from the second day onward. The SSC in Colombo, where the series wraps up from August 23-27, plays quite differently: flatter, slower, and generally more rewarding for batters willing to graft rather than take risks early.

On the Sri Lankan side, Dhananjaya de Silva continues as captain, with Kamindu Mendis as his deputy. The home side has dealt with its own selection headaches, having lost a couple of key batters to injury heading into the series, though the return of wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella to the Test setup has been one of the more notable storylines from their squad announcement. Sri Lanka will be leaning heavily on home conditions and local knowledge of these pitches to try to level what has historically been a lopsided rivalry — India has generally enjoyed strong results against Sri Lanka in Test cricket over the years.

That history, though, offers only limited comfort heading into this particular series. Both teams are entering a bit of a transitional phase — India without one of its premier fast bowlers in Bumrah, and Sri Lanka missing multiple frontline batters. It sets up a contest that could well be tighter than the head-to-head numbers alone would suggest, particularly with Galle’s spin-friendly conditions potentially neutralizing some of the gap in overall squad strength.

For India, the series carries weight beyond just the immediate result. Both Tests count toward the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, meaning the points on offer here could matter significantly if the race for a place in the WTC final tightens up later in the cycle, as it often does. A strong showing in Sri Lanka would also continue India’s recent pattern of performing well in overseas conditions, a trend the team has been keen to build on after some tougher results in years past.

Beyond the cycle points, this tour also functions as something of a dress rehearsal for India’s depth heading into a busy home season. With Afghanistan and West Indies both due to visit later this year, selectors will be watching closely to see how players like Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and the uncapped Nabi perform under pressure, and whether the squad’s depth — long considered Indian cricket’s biggest strength — holds up when tested on unfamiliar soil.

Whether it’s the spin-heavy test that Galle typically presents or the patience required at the SSC, this series should offer an early but meaningful signal of where both India and Sri Lanka stand as they look toward the business end of the World Test Championship cycle.

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For Indian hockey, the next seven weeks are shaping up to be about as demanding as it gets. Both the men’s and women’s national teams are gearing up for a brutal back-to-back stretch: the FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands from August 15 to 30, followed almost immediately by the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, running September 19 to October 4. It’s the kind of packed calendar that tests not just skill, but depth, fitness, and squad management — and Indian hockey fans have every reason to be watching closely.

Harmanpreet Singh Leads the Charge

At the center of it all is captain Harmanpreet Singh, who will once again lead India’s men’s team into World Cup battle. Hockey India has named a 20-member squad for the tournament, blending experienced campaigners with a handful of promising young faces who’ve earned their spots through recent performances rather than reputation alone.

India have been drawn in Pool D alongside England, Pakistan, and Wales, and the campaign kicks off on August 15 against Wales. That’s followed by a clash with England on August 17, before the group stage wraps up with the fixture every Indian hockey fan circles on the calendar: India vs Pakistan on August 19. All of India’s pool-stage matches will be played at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.

The India-Pakistan hockey rivalry needs little introduction. Pakistan remain the most successful team in men’s World Cup history with four titles, and even with both sides’ fortunes having shifted dramatically over the decades, the fixture still carries a weight and intensity that transcends the group stage standings.

A Squad Shaped by Recent Form

The road to this squad hasn’t been entirely smooth. India endured a rocky FIH Pro League campaign in the lead-up to the World Cup, finishing eighth out of nine teams — just ahead of Pakistan — after a stretch of four wins, five draws, and seven losses. Four players who featured in the European leg of the Pro League missed the final cut for the World Cup squad due to size restrictions, a reminder of how competitive selection has become within the current setup.

Still, there were bright spots too. Chief coach Craig Fulton has pointed to India’s wins over defending world champions Germany and reigning Olympic champions the Netherlands during last month’s Pro League matches as proof the squad has the quality to compete with anyone on their day. Fulton has described this year’s group as well-balanced — tournament-tested veterans like Manpreet Singh, India’s most-capped player, mixed in with hungry youngsters like Rajinder Singh and Aditya Arjun Lalage.

The squad itself reads as a mix of the familiar and the new. In defense, Harmanpreet is joined by Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, and Yashdeep Siwach. In the midfield, the experienced trio of Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad, along with Nilakanta Sharma and the two younger additions, will be in charge. Mandeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh and Shilanand Lakra will be the ones expected to score while Mohith HS and Suraj Karkera will share the goalkeeping duties.

For a nation that hasn’t lifted the World Cup trophy since 1975, the symbolism isn’t lost on the players or the coaching staff. Fulton has framed this tournament as a chance for the current group to write its own chapter in Indian hockey history, fifty years on from that historic triumph — a milestone that adds extra emotional weight to this campaign.

The Women’s Side Has Its Own Big Test

India’s women’s hockey team is entering this same period with plenty on its plate too. The women’s World Cup campaign begins a day after the men’s, on August 16, with captain Salima Tete leading the side into their opener against China, followed by matches against South Africa and England.

Adding another layer to India’s packed hockey calendar, the women’s team named for the Asian Games later in the year will be led separately by Harmanpreet Kaur, underlining just how much squad rotation and player management is going to matter as both teams juggle two major tournaments within roughly six weeks of each other.

Why the Double Matters

Playing a World Cup and the Asian Games back-to-back is no small ask physically or mentally. Beyond the prestige of the World Cup itself, the Asian Games carries its own significance as a direct pathway tied to continental hockey standing, making it just as vital for India’s long-term ambitions in the sport.

With the World Cup opener against Wales just days away, all eyes will now turn to Amstelveen, where Harmanpreet Singh and his side will look to make a statement early — and set the tone for a stretch that could define Indian hockey’s next chapter, both on the World Cup stage and later in Japan.

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What started as a quietly ambitious plan to bring private money into football’s biggest tournament turned into one of the most turbulent weeks of Gianni Infantino’s presidency. The FIFA president’s proposal to fold the World Cup’s commercial operations into a $20 billion company partly owned by outside investors triggered a wave of opposition so fierce that, within days, he was forced to abandon it entirely.

The Plan That Sparked the Firestorm

The proposal, known internally as FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, would have spun off FIFA’s money-making activities, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, the Club World Cup, broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and hospitality, into a standalone commercial subsidiary. Roughly 20% of that entity would have been sold to private investors, raising an estimated $4.2 billion based on a $20 billion valuation of the business.

The lead investor identified in the deal was a New York-based investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is married to the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump. That connection alone was enough to fuel intense scrutiny, even though people close to the firm pushed back on suggestions that Trump himself had any role in the arrangement.

FIFA framed the plan as a way to grow revenue for its 211 member associations, arguing that the funding each federation receives per four-year cycle could jump from around $8 million to roughly $20 million. For a governing body still working to repair its reputation after years of corruption scandals, the pitch was that private capital could modernize and expand the sport’s biggest showcase.

Football’s Governing Bodies Push Back

That argument didn’t land the way Infantino hoped. This FIFA $20 billion plan was first reported publicly by a British newspaper, and the backlash intensified almost immediately. UEFA, which represents European football’s 55 member associations, voted unanimously to boycott all FIFA competitions if the plan moved forward, an extraordinary threat from the sport’s wealthiest and most influential confederation. The Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, which governs North and Central America and the Caribbean, followed with their own objections. Together, those three confederations represent roughly two-thirds of FIFA’s voting membership, making the scale of resistance hard to ignore.

The criticism wasn’t confined to outside stakeholders, either. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s own senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned in protest, calling the deal damaging to member associations and warning it would put the sport’s long-term future at risk. FIFA’s chief operating officer also spoke out publicly against the project. For an organization that prides itself on presenting a unified front, having senior insiders break ranks so visibly was a significant blow.

At the heart of the criticism was a broader worry about football governance in 2026: that treating the World Cup as an investment vehicle, rather than a tournament belonging to fans and federations, would fundamentally change what the event represents. Private equity and sovereign wealth money have become common in European club soccer in recent years, but extending that model to the World Cup itself struck many in the sport as a step too far.

Infantino’s Reversal

Rather than backing down right away, FIFA initially held its ground. On Thursday night, the organization defended the plan and blamed what it described as inaccurate media coverage for stoking the controversy. That response did little to calm things down, and by Friday, opposition had only grown stronger.

Late Friday, Infantino announced that the proposal would not move forward. He said that after listening to the range of views expressed, it had become clear the project was creating divisions that ran counter to its original purpose, adding that FIFA’s goal has always been to unite and improve the sport. He said he intended to bring stakeholders back together in the coming weeks to keep working toward growing football globally, particularly in nations that need the most support.

What It Means Going Forward

The episode leaves lingering questions about Infantino’s standing within the sport. He had reportedly secured pledges of election support from roughly 200 of FIFA’s 211 member federations before this controversy erupted, but UEFA’s public statement following the reversal suggested that trust in his leadership has been shaken. Whether that translates into a genuine challenge to his position remains to be seen.

For now, the collapse of FIFA’s World Cup business ambitions marks a rare instance of football’s governing bodies successfully checking the power of a sitting FIFA president. It also raises a larger question that isn’t going away: as the value of major sporting events continues to climb, how much outside capital is football’s governing bodies, and its fans, actually willing to accept before it starts to feel like the game itself is for sale.

Gianni Infantino news in the weeks ahead will likely center on whether he can repair relationships with UEFA and other confederations before FIFA’s next major competitions, starting with the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in September, and whWhat started as a quietly ambitious plan to bring private money into football’s biggest tournament turned into one of the most turbulent weeks of Gianni Infantino’s presidency. The FIFA president’s proposal to fold the World Cup’s commercial operations into a $20 billion company partly owned by outside investors triggered a wave of opposition so fierce that, within days, he was forced to abandon it entirely.

The Plan That Sparked the Firestorm

The proposal, known internally as FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, would have spun off FIFA’s money-making activities, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, the Club World Cup, broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and hospitality, into a standalone commercial subsidiary. Roughly 20% of that entity would have been sold to private investors, raising an estimated $4.2 billion based on a $20 billion valuation of the business.

The lead investor identified in the deal was a New York-based investment firm founded by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is married to the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump. That connection alone was enough to fuel intense scrutiny, even though people close to the firm pushed back on suggestions that Trump himself had any role in the arrangement.

FIFA framed the plan as a way to grow revenue for its 211 member associations, arguing that the funding each federation receives per four-year cycle could jump from around $8 million to roughly $20 million. For a governing body still working to repair its reputation after years of corruption scandals, the pitch was that private capital could modernize and expand the sport’s biggest showcase.

Football’s Governing Bodies Push Back

That argument didn’t land the way Infantino hoped. This FIFA $20 billion plan was first reported publicly by a British newspaper, and the backlash intensified almost immediately. UEFA, which represents European football’s 55 member associations, voted unanimously to boycott all FIFA competitions if the plan moved forward, an extraordinary threat from the sport’s wealthiest and most influential confederation. The Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, which governs North and Central America and the Caribbean, followed with their own objections. Together, those three confederations represent roughly two-thirds of FIFA’s voting membership, making the scale of resistance hard to ignore.

The criticism wasn’t confined to outside stakeholders, either. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s own senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned in protest, calling the deal damaging to member associations and warning it would put the sport’s long-term future at risk. FIFA’s chief operating officer also spoke out publicly against the project. For an organization that prides itself on presenting a unified front, having senior insiders break ranks so visibly was a significant blow.

At the heart of the criticism was a broader worry about football governance in 2026: that treating the World Cup as an investment vehicle, rather than a tournament belonging to fans and federations, would fundamentally change what the event represents. Private equity and sovereign wealth money have become common in European club soccer in recent years, but extending that model to the World Cup itself struck many in the sport as a step too far.

Infantino’s Reversal

Rather than backing down right away, FIFA initially held its ground. On Thursday night, the organization defended the plan and blamed what it described as inaccurate media coverage for stoking the controversy. That response did little to calm things down, and by Friday, opposition had only grown stronger.

Late Friday, Infantino announced that the proposal would not move forward. He said that after listening to the range of views expressed, it had become clear the project was creating divisions that ran counter to its original purpose, adding that FIFA’s goal has always been to unite and improve the sport. He said he intended to bring stakeholders back together in the coming weeks to keep working toward growing football globally, particularly in nations that need the most support.

What It Means Going Forward

The episode leaves lingering questions about Infantino’s standing within the sport. He had reportedly secured pledges of election support from roughly 200 of FIFA’s 211 member federations before this controversy erupted, but UEFA’s public statement following the reversal suggested that trust in his leadership has been shaken. Whether that translates into a genuine challenge to his position remains to be seen.

For now, the collapse of FIFA’s World Cup business ambitions marks a rare instance of football’s governing bodies successfully checking the power of a sitting FIFA president. It also raises a larger question that isn’t going away: as the value of major sporting events continues to climb, how much outside capital is football’s governing bodies, and its fans, actually willing to accept before it starts to feel like the game itself is for sale.

Gianni Infantino news in the weeks ahead will likely center on whether he can repair relationships with UEFA and other confederations before FIFA’s next major competitions, starting with the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in September, and whether this fight resurfaces in a different form as football continues wrestling with the role private money should play in its future.ether this fight resurfaces in a different form as football continues wrestling with the role private money should play in its future.

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Eight years after standing on top of the podium in Gold Coast, Neeraj Chopra is back where it all began for him on the Commonwealth Games stage — chasing a second javelin throw gold, this time in Glasgow. India’s Olympic and world champion opened his campaign in the qualifying round at Scotstoun Stadium, and for millions of fans back home, the wait for a strong Indian athletics showing at Commonwealth Games 2026 finally has its headline act.

A Long Road Back to the CWG Podium

Chopra’s history with this event is a story of both triumph and heartbreak. He won gold at the 2018 Gold Coast Games with a throw of 86.47m, announcing himself as India’s next great track and field star. But four years later, at Birmingham 2022, he was forced to sit out entirely due to injury, watching from the sidelines as one of the biggest stages in Commonwealth athletics went on without him. That absence still stings for a lot of Indian fans, which is part of why this Glasgow return feels like unfinished business.

Now 28 and reportedly in career-best form, Chopra arrives having crossed the 90-metre mark for the first time in his career earlier this season — a milestone that had eluded him for years despite his Olympic and World Championship success. India’s chief athletics coach, Radhakrishnan Nair, confirmed just days before the Games that Chopra was in peak physical condition heading into competition, easing concerns about the fitness questions that have occasionally trailed him.

Qualifying Round Sets the Stage

The men’s javelin throw at Glasgow 2026 follows the standard multi-event format: a qualifying round first, followed by a separate medal final. Officials set a fixed automatic qualifying distance before competition begins, and any thrower who clears that mark on any of their attempts secures immediate passage to the final. If fewer than twelve athletes hit the mark, the remaining spots go to the next-best throws until the 12-man final field is complete.

Chopra wasn’t alone in representing India in the qualifying round. He competed alongside Yash Vir Singh and Rohit Yadav, giving India the largest national contingent in a stacked eighteen-athlete field drawn from fourteen countries. Rohit Yadav, in particular, has emerged as a genuine dark horse this season. His throw of 87.05m in June makes him the second-best Asian performer of the year behind only Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, and several observers have flagged him as a real threat to break into medal contention alongside his more decorated teammate.

The Competition Chopra Faces

This year’s javelin field in Glasgow is being described by many close observers as one of the strongest assembled outside an Olympics or World Championships. Sri Lanka’s Pathirage enters as the season’s form thrower, having posted a world-leading mark of 92.62m and holding the four best throws in the world this year — numbers that make him arguably the man to beat on paper, at least based on season-best performances.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion and Chopra’s most familiar rival, has had a quieter build-up by comparison, struggling with injuries since last year’s World Championships and finishing outside the top mark at a recent meeting in Switzerland. Grenada’s two-time former world champion Anderson Peters and Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, a former Olympic and current world champion, round out a field with genuine depth at every level, not just at the top.

Why This Medal Matters So Much for India

Athletics has historically been a tough discipline for India to convert into Commonwealth Games hardware, which makes Chopra’s continued dominance all the more significant for the country’s overall medal ambitions in Glasgow. He remains, by a wide margin, India’s most reliable shot at gold in the athletics program this edition, and a win here would give him a second Commonwealth Games title to go alongside his Olympic gold and World Championship crown — a career sweep that very few javelin throwers in history have managed to complete.

For Indian sports fans, there’s also a symbolic weight to seeing Chopra back at a venue and event where his story on the international stage effectively began. Missing Birmingham 2022 left a gap in that timeline, and Glasgow offers a chance to close it.

What’s Next

With the qualifying round completed, all eyes now turn to the men’s javelin throw final, where Chopra, Nadeem, Pathirage, and the rest of the field will get three preliminary attempts each to stake their claim, before the competition narrows further for the podium finishers. For Indian athletics fans tracking Commonwealth Games news out of Glasgow, this final promises to be one of the standout moments of the entire Games — a rematch of rivalries built over several seasons, now playing out on one of Commonwealth sport’s biggest stages.

Whatever the outcome, Chopra’s return to Commonwealth Games competition after a four-year gap is itself a story worth watching, and one that Indian athletics fans have been waiting to see unfold since Birmingham.

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India’s weightlifting contingent has had plenty to celebrate at the 2026 Commonwealth Games with Mirabai Chanu producing the best performance of the campaign so far.

Competing in the women’s 48kg category at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, Chanu produced a total lift of 190kg — 85kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk — breaking Games records across all three categories on her way to gold. It’s a result that instantly cements her place among India’s greatest weightlifters and gives the country its first gold medal of the Glasgow Games.

What makes the win especially significant is the history behind it. This was Chanu’s third consecutive individual Commonwealth Games gold, following her titles at Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022, and it makes her only the second Indian athlete ever — after wrestler Vinesh Phogat — to win three straight individual golds at the Games. Counting her silver at Glasgow 2014, it’s also her fourth Commonwealth Games medal overall, a run that now spans four editions and more than a decade of competition. For anyone following Mirabai Chanu gold CWG 2026 coverage, the achievement lands as much on the record books as it does on the scoreboard.

The competition itself unfolded with the kind of composure Chanu has become known for. She opened the snatch with an unsuccessful attempt at 82kg before coming back to clear it on her second try, then pushed on to a Commonwealth record 85kg on her third lift. In the clean and jerk, she stumbled early — missing her opening attempt at 82kg — before recovering with a clean 82kg on her second try and then producing a commanding 105kg lift to seal the gold with a new Games record. By that point, her lead over the field was substantial enough that she chose to skip her final attempt altogether, a decision made partly with an eye on the Asian Games later this year. It capped what’s become a familiar script for Chanu at the Commonwealth stage: control the snatch, seal it in the clean and jerk, and leave little doubt about the outcome.

She wasn’t the only Indian weightlifter to make an impact on the day. Chanambam Rishikanta Singh opened India’s weightlifting account with a silver medal in the men’s 60kg category, reportedly competing through injury to get onto the podium. Later, Raja Muthupandi added a second silver in the men’s 65kg event, finishing with a total lift of 286kg (126kg snatch, 160kg clean and jerk) — behind only Malaysia’s Aznil Bin Bidin Muhamad, who set Games records across the board with a winning total of 299kg. Papua New Guinea’s Morea Baru rounded out the podium with bronze. Between the two silvers and Chanu’s gold, weightlifting alone accounted for three of India’s four medals through the opening days of competition, continuing the sport’s long-standing reputation as one of the country’s most reliable sources of Commonwealth Games success.

The results pushed India up to eighth on the overall Commonwealth Games India medal tally, with a haul of one gold, two silvers and one bronze after a productive start in Glasgow. Australia continues to dominate the standings by a wide margin, followed by England and hosts Scotland, but India’s early weightlifting form has given the contingent real momentum heading into the sport-heavy stretch of the Games still to come — including athletics, boxing, badminton, and wrestling events where the country traditionally picks up further medals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those to publicly congratulate Chanu, praising her consistency and calling her an inspiration for Indian sport following her win. Chanu herself described the moment as an emotional one, reflecting on the sacrifices and injuries that went into reaching a third straight Commonwealth title, and said she hadn’t gone into the competition specifically chasing a record — only focused on executing the lifts her coaching team had planned. That mix of quiet preparation and record-breaking execution has defined her career since her Tokyo Olympics silver medal, and Sunday’s win in Glasgow adds one more milestone to an already decorated résumé.

With the Games running through early August, India’s weightlifting team will hope Sunday’s results are the start of a broader medal push. The Indian contingent numbers 122 athletes across eight able-bodied sports and five integrated para disciplines, and with several more weightlifters, boxers, and athletes yet to compete, the country’s position on the Glasgow 2026 medal table looks set to keep shifting in the days ahead. For now, though, the headline belongs to Mirabai Chanu — a hat-trick of golds, a fresh set of Games records, and a reminder of why she remains the face of Indian weightlifting on the world stage.

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Cricket and multi-sport action have collided this July, giving Indian sports fans plenty to keep track of. India’s senior men’s team has just wrapped up a rollercoaster tour of England, the women’s side capped its own summer with a historic win at Lord’s, and now attention has shifted north to Glasgow, where the Commonwealth Games 2026 is underway with boxing, gymnastics, swimming, and more. Here’s a rundown of everything happening across India-England cricket 2026 and India’s push for CWG medals.

A Mixed Bag for India in England

India’s men’s tour of England didn’t end the way the team would have hoped. After a five-match T20I series that swung firmly England’s way, the sides moved on to the ODI leg. India opened with a confident six-wicket win in Birmingham, powered by Axar Patel’s all-round effort, but England hit back hard in Cardiff and then sealed the series 2-1 with a tense 27-run win in the decider at Lord’s. Rohit Sharma’s 138 in that final ODI turned into a bittersweet knock — a reminder of his class, even as chatter about his future in the format refused to die down. England’s Joe Root, meanwhile, was named player of the series after a string of composed innings that kept the hosts ahead when it mattered most.

While the senior men’s team’s tour ended on a low note, the story was very different for the women in blue. India’s women wrapped up their England trip with a genuinely historic result — a 270-run win in the first-ever women’s Test played at Lord’s. Yastika Bhatia became the first woman to score a century in a Test at the venue, while Kranti Gaud picked up a stunning five-wicket haul on debut at the ground. Sneh Rana finished the job on the final day, and the win gave India something to smile about after their World Cup campaign ended earlier than they’d have liked.

Women’s T20 World Cup: Australia Once Again Reign Supreme

Speaking of that World Cup — the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, hosted across England through June and into early July, has already been decided. Australia beat hosts England by seven wickets in a one-sided final at Lord’s on July 5, claiming their seventh title and further cementing their status as the dominant force in the women’s game. Beth Mooney anchored the chase with a composed innings, while England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt fought hard with the bat but couldn’t prevent her side from falling short in front of a packed, record home crowd. For India, the tournament ended in the group stage, but the team more than made up for it with that statement win in the Lord’s Test that followed just days later.

CWG 2026: India’s Campaign Gets Underway in Glasgow

With the cricket largely done and dusted for now, Indian sports fans have quickly turned their attention to the Commonwealth Games 2026, which kicked off in Glasgow on July 23 and runs through August 2. This edition looks quite different from Birmingham 2022 — the programme has been trimmed down to just ten sports, meaning traditionally strong events for India like wrestling, table tennis, and shooting are missing from the schedule altogether. That leaves India’s roughly 120-strong contingent leaning on athletics, boxing, gymnastics, swimming, weightlifting, judo, and lawn bowls to fill the medal tally this time around.

Boxer Lovlina Borgohain got India’s campaign off to an encouraging start, securing a guaranteed bronze after a bye took her straight into the semifinals of her weight category — a quirk of the Commonwealth Games boxing draw, where both losing semifinalists take home medals. Elsewhere, India’s boxers have been grinding through the early rounds, with wins helping the squad build momentum heading into the medal rounds. In the pool, swimmers like Srihari Nataraj have been competing in the backstroke events, while the gymnastics team has been working through qualification rounds hoping to book spots in individual finals. Javelin star Neeraj Chopra, one of the biggest names in India’s contingent, has also arrived in Glasgow, with his athletics events still to come later in the Games.

What to Watch Next

For cricket followers, the near-term focus now shifts to how India’s selectors respond to a summer that delivered a Test triumph, a World Cup letdown, and a series loss all inside a few weeks. Expect plenty of debate over the ODI batting order and the pace attack ahead of India’s next assignments. On the Commonwealth Games front, the coming days should bring India’s first real shot at gold medals, particularly once athletics and the knockout rounds in boxing and judo get underway. Between the residual cricket chatter and the growing medal count from Glasgow, it’s shaping up to be a busy fortnight for Indian sports fans keeping tabs on both fronts.

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