Europe

American football league the NFL has opted to maintain its UK International Series schedule at three games in London next season, with Wembley Stadium losing one of its fixtures due to the new agreement to stage matches at Twickenham, home of the English national rugby union team.

French and Russian authorities have outlined plans to step up security at fan zones for the Uefa Euro 2016 and 2018 Fifa World Cup national team football tournaments following this month’s attacks in Paris.

The lawyer for Uefa president Michel Platini has hit out at the “total lack of credibility” of Fifa’s Ethics Committee after disclosing that it has requested a life ban for the French official, a move that would rule him out of the race to succeed Sepp Blatter as head of world football.

The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has stated it is yet to receive a formal application amid multiple reports suggesting a deal is close to being agreed for a top-tier Premiership match between Dundee and Celtic to be staged in the United States next year.

English Premier League football champion Chelsea posted a loss of £23.1m (€32.8m/$34.9m) during the 2014-15 season, according to its latest annual results through to June 30 of this year.

The Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) has claimed 16 European countries have agreed to back Budapest’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games.

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) has announced that the Chinese city of Wuxi will host the 2018 edition of its Senior World Championships.

The 2017 European Curling Championships will be held in the Swiss city of St Gallen, it has been announced.

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) has confirmed that Russia is its preferred destination for the 2019 European Games but must complete the reform of its anti-doping activities if it is to stage the second edition of the multi-sport event.

Russia is set to miss out on the 2016 International Association of Athletics Federations World Indoor Championships after it was announced that the governing body’s team tasked with monitoring the country’s anti-doping reforms will not report back until late March.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) is set to lift the suspension it placed on the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF), according to a senior executive from the sport’s global governing body.

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) has been suspended after being declared “non-compliant” by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), while a number of other countries have also come under the microscope of the global organisation.

The Circuit of Wales, which is due to become the new home of the MotoGP motorcycling championship in the UK, has cleared the final planning barrier before construction can begin.

US mixed martial arts organisation Bellator MMA has unveiled plans for its first live events outside North America, with the UK, Italy and Israel announced as destinations for 2016.

European football is in a state of high alert after the cancellation of last night’s international friendly match between Germany and the Netherlands, with a security meeting set to take place today (Wednesday) to discuss measures for the Spanish LaLiga game between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday.

The European Tour has revamped its Final Series, with African showpiece the Nedbank Golf Challenge elevated to become part of a new three-tournament end-of-season swing.