Sports
WADA delays decision on banning national leaders from sporting events
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 6, 2026; Milan, Italy; U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance watch the ice dance rhythm dance with their daughter Mirabel Vance during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Mandatory Credit: Fabrizio Bensch-Reuters via Imagn Images The World Anti-Doping Agency will not take up the issue of national governments that fail to pay their dues until later the year, the organization said.
Those countries include the United States.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that the WADA executive committee would consider banning government officials from non-paying countries from major events, specifically keeping President Donald Trump or members of his administration from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
WADA issued a statement strongly denying it intended to discuss such action and said that decision would fall to the group’s Foundation Board, which does not convene again until November.
WADA said Tuesday that the item could be discussed when the executive board meets again in September.
In its rebuttal to the article, WADA didn’t deny that such a rule one day could be implemented, but it would be years down the road.
“FIFA World Cup, LA and Salt Lake City Games (2034) would not be covered given that the rules would not apply retroactively,” WADA said.
The United States hasn’t paid annual dues since at least 2024 over a dispute regarding the organization’s effectiveness in keeping athletic competition drug-free.
The issue first arose under the administration of then-U.S. President Joe Biden and continues under the Trump administration, with government officials of both the Democratic and Republican parties siding against WADA.
The United States has withheld its dues, in part, in protest of WADA’s handling of a group of 23 swimmers from China who tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 but were allowed to compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics that same year.
According to the AP, the United States owes more than $7 million for the past two years alone.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, led the U.S. contingent at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games last month and attended the Opening Ceremony and a variety of competitions to support American athletes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dallas Fuel author epic rally in Overwatch Champions Series
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Dallas Fuel recorded a 3-2 victory over Spacestation Gaming on Saturday to begin Week 3 of Overwatch Champions Series 2026 — North America Stage 1.
The Fuel remained unbeaten and handed Spacestation Gaming their first loss after overcoming a two-map deficit.
Spacestation Gaming notched a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower and a 3-2 victory on Suravasa before Dallas responded with a vengeance. The Fuel posted a 2-1 triumph on Blizzard World, 1-0 decision on Rialto and a 107.91m-79.36m win on Runasapi.
Also on Saturday, Team Liquid secured a 3-1 win over LuneX Gaming.
Liquid got off to a fast start with a 2-0 victory on Oasis and a 116.93m-116.92m win on Runasapi. LuneX responded with a 3-1 triumph on Suravasa before Liquid ended the contest with a 5-4 decision on Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
The Overwatch 2 online competition, with a prize pool of $75,000, features six teams playing a regular season with a round-robin format from March 21 to April 5. All matches are first-to-three.
The top four teams advance to the regional playoffs, which are April 10-12 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are first-to-three except for the grand final, which is first-to-four.
Standings
1. Dallas Fuel, 4-0, +7
2. Spacestation Gaming, 3-1, +6
3. Team Liquid, 2-2, -3
4. LuneX Gaming, 1-3, -3
5. Extinction, 1-3, -4
6. Disguised, 1-3, -3
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
2. $15,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
3. $12,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 rally past LYON in LCS Spring opener
A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Cloud9 recorded a 2-1 win over LYON to begin the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.
LYON posted a 35-minute victory on blue before Cloud9 bounced back with a 33-minute triumph on red and 30-minute victory on blue.
Canadian Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme and South Korean Seung-gyu “Thanatos” Park were tabbed as MVPs for Cloud9, while Australian Jonah “Isles” Rosario earned the distinction for LYON.
Also on Saturday, Disguised overcame dropping the first map in 32 minutes to secure a 2-1 victory over Sentinels. The former capped the win with a 30-minute win on blue.
Canadian/Romanian player Christian “KryRa” Rahaian earned a pair of MVP honors for Disguised, while South Korean Yoo-jin “HamBak” Ham received the distinction for Sentinels.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-3 matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs, which will be contested in best-of-5 matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Regular season standings
T1. Cloud9, 1-0, 2-1
T1. Disguised, 1-0, 2-1
T3. FlyQuest, 0-0, 0-0
T3. Team Liquid, 0-0, 0-0
T3. Dignitas, 0-0, 0-0
T3. Shopify Rebellion, 0-0, 0-0
T7. LYON, 0-1, 1-2
T7. Sentinels, 0-1, 1-2
–Field Level Media
Sports
Renato Moicano snaps losing streak with submission victory
Jun 28, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Renato Moicano of Brazil snapped a two-fight losing streak with a rear-naked-choke submission victory over Scotland’s Chris Duncan at 3:14 of the second round in the lightweight main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Moicano (21-7-1) dominated the fight, allowing Duncan (15-3-0) just one second of control time while landing over twice as many strikes (62-30). Duncan had a four-match win streak snapped, taking his first defeat since Feb. 24, 2024.
In the co-main event, Virna Jandiroba (23-4-0) came away with a unanimous-decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) over fellow Brazilian Tabatha Ricci (12-4-0) in a strawweight fight. It was a bounceback for Jandiroba after she had a five-fight win streak snapped in a title-fight loss to Mackenzie Dern last October.
Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev of Turkey also had a rear-naked-choke submission win on the main card, beating Brazil’s Brendson Ribeiro (17-10-0) 2:52 into the opening round to improve to 9-0-0 in the light heavyweight division.
Ethyn Ewing (10-2-0) came away with a third-round KO/TKO bantamweight victory to hand Brazilian Rafael Estevam (14-1-0) his first MMA loss. Before that, Tommy McMillen (10-0-0) won his UFC debut in the featherweight division with a first-round KO/TKO via a series of blows culminating with a knee strike which took Italy’s Manolo Zecchini (11-5-0) to the mat.
In the main-card opener, Jose Delano (17-3-0) of Brazil won via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) over Poland’s Robert Ruchala (11-3-0) in his UFC debut.
–Field Level Media
Dallas Fuel author epic rally in Overwatch Champions Series
Larry David Said He Would Never Write Another Finale, Then He Did The Funniest Thing Ever
