Sergio Perez took an assured victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday, ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen, as Red Bull reaffirmed its dominance over their Formula One competitors with a second successive one-two of the season. Perez began the race in pole position and fought off a challenge from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who briefly took the race lead at the first corner before the Mexican reclaimed his position by the fourth lap. But it was Verstappen’s performance which truly underlined the pace and power of Red Bull’s car. The Dutchman, who won the season opener in Bahrain two weeks ago, started 15th on the grid after a power issue in qualifying, but sauntered through the field to move into second place behind Perez by the race’s halfway point. The Red Bulls then pulled away from all their competition to secure the top two stops on the podium. Alonso crossed the line in third – the 100th podium finish of his career – and celebrated accordingly. However, t**he Spaniard was later demoted to fourth, behind Mercedes’ George Russell, after the stewards handed Alonso a 10-second penalty, determining that his Aston Martin team had started working on his car too early when serving an earlier time penalty**. “It turned out to be tougher than I expected,” Perez told Sky Sports in his post-race interview. The team did a fantastic job. We had a lot of mechanical issues, and the guys stayed on top of that. We will keep pushing hard. And the most important thing is that we have the fastest car.” There was drama from the very first engine rev in Jeddah as Alonso pulled away from Perez to take the race lead, but the Spaniard’s dream start was shortlived as officials handed him a five-second penalty for an incorrect grid position before the Mexican driver eclaimed the lead on the fourth lap. Alonso remained within touching distance of Perez for a time, almost matching the Red Bull car for pace, and opening up an advantage over Russell. Behind them, Verstappen began weaving his way through the field, breezing past any car in front of him, even his old rival Lewis Hamilton who eventually finished in fifth.

A number of Afghanistan women's football team players evacuated to UK after the Taliban took control of the country 'hadn't even played the sport', an investigation has claimed. Some 35 members of the women's national team were flown to safety in the UK along with their families - 130 people in total - from Pakistan in November 2021. The women - aged between 13 and 19 at the time - were granted visas by the UK Home Office as they were considered to be at increased risk from the Taliban as they played a sport deemed un-Islamic by the insurgent group. But an investigation believes around a third of the 35 women granted asylum had never actually played for the team. Speaking to former players, coaches, and officials for the Afghan women's team, the investigation identified 13 individuals who it claimed were not part of the team.

Meyers Leonard, who was suspended in March 2021 after using an antisemitic slur during a video game livestream, has reportedly signed a 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. Leonard hasn't played in the NBA since January 2021 due to his suspension and injuries that occurred right after being traded away by the Miami Heat following the incident, only to be released by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Leonard spoke on ESPN’s "Outside the Lines" at length about his remorse for using the antisemitic slur. "I feel like I’m living in a bad dream," Leonard explained. "… And I know that I made a huge, huge mistake." While admitting "there’s less than ideal language used" in video gaming, Leonard didn’t make any excuses. At the time, Leonard had more than 69,000 followers on his Twitch account and more than 550,000 between Twitter and Instagram when he was using the slur among other expletives while playing a video game. ... Leonard was proactive to "show people what’s in your heart," visiting with rabbis in South Florida for counseling as well as members of the Jewish community to educate himself, said an NBA spokesman.

Not sure if better than the NFL at all, opinions on XFL?