Sports
NBA To Return To China For First Time Since 2019 Fallout
The NBA will stage two pre-season games in Macau next October, its deputy commissioner said on Friday, marking its return to China after being frozen out for more than five years.
No NBA games have been held in China since two pre-season contests in 2019 after a tweet from then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Morey posted an image bearing a slogan used by demonstrators urging the world to “Stand with Hong Kong”.
He later deleted the tweet and apologised, but China effectively cut ties with the league after NBA executives defended Morey’s right to freedom of expression.
Basketball is hugely popular in China and in the fallout the NBA lost hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of it being yanked off Chinese television until 2022.
“It’s my pleasure to announce that the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will play two pre-season games at Sands’ Venetian Arena on October 10 and October 12, 2025,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in Macau.
Macau is a special administrative region under China’s “one country, two systems” framework and is known as the country’s Las Vegas, being the only city that allows gambling.
Tatum said that “this region was home to some of the most passionate NBA fans” in the world.
The Venetian Arena is part of the Las Vegas Sands conglomerate controlled by the Adelson family, who are the majority ownership group in the Dallas Mavericks.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said the relationship between the NBA and China had improved with the aid of NBA China chief executive Michael Ma, who was hired in 2020.
The games will be part of a multimillion-dollar agreement to stage two annual NBA pre-season matches over the next five years in Macau, according to the South China Morning Post.
Las Vegas Sands was “excited…(to be) announcing a multi-year collaboration with one of the most powerful and iconic global sports brands in history”, chief executive Patrick Dumont told a Macau press conference.
Basketball fans in Beijing welcomed the announcement.
“Since NBA games have been absent from China for quite a while, their return would be very beneficial for amateur basketball fans to experience the highest level of competition,” Zhou Dacheng, a 32-year-old fan, told AFP outside an outdoor court in central Beijing.
“As a Guangdong native, I often visit Macau since it’s very close. I definitely plan to go watch these games,” Zhou added.
Some social media users, however, were pessimistic that NBA games would ever come back to the mainland.
“Can only go to Macau… this relationship (between China and the NBA) has not been repaired at all,” a Beijing-based user said.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver forecasted at a sports management conference in October that the league would “bring back games to China at some point”.
“We had a well-known incident there pre-pandemic with a tweet and China’s government took us off the air for a period of time,” Silver said.
“We accepted that. We stood by our values.”
The NBA has looked to grow globally, including playing recent pre-season games in Abu Dhabi.
Emirates Airlines sponsors the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament.
China is home to a huge basketball fanbase and from 2004 to 2019, 17 teams played a total of 28 pre-season games there.
Macau’s multibillion-dollar gambling industry has remained its economic lifeline and main attraction for visitors, although Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the city to diversify its portfolio.
AFP

Sports
LaLiga side, Elche move for Sadiq

Sadiq, who joined Real Sociedad for pre-season training on Monday is widely expected to leave the club on a permanent transfer this summer.
The Nigeria international spent the second half of last season on loan at Valencia, netting five times in 16 league appearances.
According to reports emanating from Spain, Elche want to take him on loan for the 2025/26 season but Real Sociedad are only willing to sanction a permanent transfer.
Sadiq has three years left on this contract with Real Sociedad.
The 28-year-old joined the White and Blues from Almeria in 2022.
He has struggled to pin down a regular playing spot since his arrival at the club.
Sports
Manchester City give Toure new appointment

The Cityzens disclosed this in a post via their website on Tuesday afternoon.
Toure had performed the role of first team assistant coach during the Club’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign this summer.
The Ivorian will now remain in the position on a full-time basis going forward ahead of the new Premier League season.
The 44-year-old was a former footballer and played for the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.
He was Assistant Lead Coach with Man City’s Under-18s last season.
Toure worked alongside Lead Coach Oliver Reiss and helped pilot the City youngsters to the Premier League Under-18 North title.
Sports
Galatasaray won’t make new offer for Osimhen after Napoli’s conditions

Recall that Napoli had asked Galatasaray to pay an initial €40m and €35m by 2026, plus a sell-on clause for Osimhen’s signature.
This was after Galatasaray made their fourth offer to the Serie A champions for Osimhen’s signature.
Speaking on the development, Rodop said (via habersarikirmizi): “Galatasaray won’t make a new offer for Victor Osimhen. They won’t go beyond the last offer.
“Victor Osimhen’s contract expires next year, but there’s a plus-one, and Napoli has the right to extend it. Napoli has the initiative there.
“We need to give Victor Osimhen a big thumbs-up. He’s taking a great stance. Galatasaray will no longer be at the table with Napoli’s new offer.
“Galatasaray’s latest offer is clear and unchanged. The Napoli president is just making a fool of himself.”
Osimhen is already keen to return to Galatasaray on a permanent basis, after spending last season on loan at the Turkish giants.
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