Sports
Trump eyes NBA Finals appearance after Knicks invite from Dolan
President Donald Trump is expected to attend one or two NBA Finals games next week in New York after receiving an invitation from New York Knicks owner James Dolan.
“The answer is yes,” Trump said Thursday when asked about attending the championship series between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. “(Dolan) has invited me, and I’m going. I’ll be there. It could be Monday (for Game 3). Maybe I’ll do both (with Game 4 on Wednesday).”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the president’s presence would require heightened security at Madison Square Garden but would not disrupt the event.
“I am sure there will be announcements about coming early,” Silver said. “But I think fans are very understanding of that. They recognize that it adds to the bigness of the event.”
Trump would become the first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game. The last sitting president to attend a regular-season NBA game was Barack Obama in 2015.
“I think sports in particular is something where we can emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart,” Silver said. “It creates a sense of belonging. We’re seeing that in New York, and I think President Trump is very much a New Yorker, and I’m thrilled that yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knicks team.”
Dolan had extended the invitation for Trump to attend Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, Trump said last month, but the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1999.
New York’s opponent then and now is the Spurs, who won the previous meeting and are attempting to prevent the Knicks from winning their first league title since 1973.
The Knicks defeated the Spurs 105-95 on Wednesday for their 12th consecutive victory and can take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series on the road Friday.
“The Knicks find a way to do it,” Trump said Thursday. “They’re really great, a great team. I’m happy for Jim (Dolan) because Jim has really been fighting hard to produce such a team.”
Trump has attended multiple high-profile sporting events, including the Super Bowl, U.S. Open tennis tournament, Ryder Cup and Daytona 500, during his time in office. In November 2024, he attended a UFC event at Madison Square Garden.
Trump was a longtime New York resident and has ties to the franchise and Dolan, who also oversees operations of Madison Square Garden and the NHL’s New York Rangers.
“Before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,” Silver said. “I’ve been with the league for a long time. I was there at many Knicks games with him in the old days. He attended many of our drafts when they used to take place at Madison Square Garden, and he appeared in one of our ‘I Love This Game’ spots when I was running NBA Entertainment years ago.”
Fenerbahçe is heading into another pivotal presidential election this weekend, in a vote that highlights ongoing instability at the top of one of Türkiye’s most influential and politically sensitive football institutions.
The extraordinary general assembly comes less than a year after Sadettin Saran’s narrow victory over Ali Koç in September 2025, extending a turbulent cycle of leadership changes driven by unmet expectations on the pitch, internal divisions, and mounting pressure from supporters desperate to end a prolonged Süper Lig title drought.
Founded in 1907, Fenerbahçe remains a cornerstone of Turkish sport and part of the nation’s “Big Three” alongside Galatasaray and Beşiktaş.
Its vast membership base routinely turns presidential elections into mass political events, with tens of thousands of votes cast and campaigns shaped as much by symbolism and identity as by football results.
The modern era of the club has been defined by two contrasting presidencies.
Business-minded Koç
Ali Koç took office in 2018 with a promise of structural transformation, financial discipline, and a return to European relevance.
His tenure brought significant investment in squads, repeated coaching changes, and high-profile appointments aimed at restoring competitiveness at home and abroad.
Yet despite consistent spending and frequent title challenges, Koç’s administration failed to deliver a Süper Lig championship, a drought that became the central criticism of his seven-year leadership.
Near misses in key seasons and growing frustration among supporters eventually overshadowed cup success and modernization efforts, culminating in his defeat in 2025.
Embattled Saran
His successor, Sadettin Saran, arrived with strong backing after a tightly contested election decided by a razor-thin margin.
A former board member and influential figure in Turkish sports media through his Saran Group, he promised unity and sporting focus.
But his short presidency quickly faced turbulence, including inconsistent performances on the pitch and reports of legal scrutiny tied to allegations involving illegal betting activity, and narcotics possession allegations, which further complicated his position.
Amid growing pressure and internal debate over direction, Saran called for an extraordinary elective general assembly at the end of the 2025-26 season and has indicated he will not seek another term, framing the upcoming vote as a reset opportunity for the club.
That opening has brought back one of the most dominant figures in Fenerbahçe’s modern history, Aziz Yıldırım.
Serving for much of the period between 1998 and 2018, Yıldırım oversaw sustained domestic success and major institutional expansion, while also presiding over one of the most controversial periods in Turkish football, including the fallout from the 2011 match-fixing investigations that reshaped the national game.
His candidacy reintroduces a familiar debate inside the club between continuity, reform, and nostalgia for past eras of dominance.
Other potential challengers, including figures such as Hakan Safi, have also been linked with possible bids, with discussions often extending beyond football into transfer ambitions, infrastructure projects, and long-term sporting strategy.
On the field, Fenerbahçe enters the election period competing near the top of the 2025-26 Süper Lig table, with strong results but not enough separation to secure the title.
That gap between performance consistency and ultimate success has intensified scrutiny of decision-making at board level and reinforced calls for a clearer long-term vision.
Beyond football, the stakes extend into basketball operations, financial planning, and European competition strategy. As one of Türkiye’s most commercially powerful clubs, presidential leadership at Fenerbahçe influences recruitment policy, managerial stability, and the club’s broader role in continental sport.
With a large and deeply engaged membership base, the June assembly is expected to draw intense participation and political campaigning.
Issues such as sporting stability, financial governance, youth development, and competitive ambition are set to dominate debate, alongside the central question that has defined the club for more than a decade: how to reclaim consistent domestic supremacy.
Maja Chwalinska continued her fairytale run to make French Open history on Thursday as she beat Diana Shnaider in straight sets to become the first qualifier to go all the way to the final at Roland Garros in the professional era.
The 24-year-old’s 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 victory over Russian 25th seed Shnaider made her only the second woman to come through qualifying and reach a Grand Slam final in any major since the Open era began, after Emma Raducanu’s title run at the U.S. Open in 2021.
Polish world number 114 will meet Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s title-decider. The 19-year-old Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam final after sealing a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk earlier on Thursday.
Appearing in her first main draw in Paris, Chwalinska, who had on three previous occasions failed to qualify for Roland Garros, has won nine matches across her three-week French Open campaign to stand on the brink of glory.
Chwalinska said her run to the final was “like a dream” moments after beating Shnaider.
“I don’t know what’s going on, I just, I dunno what to say. I’m sorry, I’m just very happy,” she added to raucous applause on Court Philippe Chatrier.
One aspect of run to the final has been the ice-cold composure she has displayed on court across all her matches.
“I’m crazy sometimes also, yeah,” Chwalinska said of her emotions.
“But I try to stay composed because I know it’s the best way for me… But inside there’s a storm, believe me.”
In an intriguing clash of styles between the variety of Chwalinska’s game and the power-hitting of Shnaider, it was the diminutive Pole who earned the first break to get 3-1 ahead.
A deft dropshot followed by a beautifully disguised deep backhand slice helped bring three break points; she converted the first when Shnaider drove a forehand into the tramlines.
The Russian hit back straight away to wipe out the break, even drawing an admiring thumbs-up from Chwalinska after a perfectly-weighted backhand dropshot.
A wild forehand by Chwalinska gave Shnaider daylight at 3-1 in the tie-break, but the patient Pole won six of the next seven points to claim the opener.
With the sun peeking through the sides of the roof on center court, the pair exchanged breaks of serve to start the second set.
Shnaider called for a medical timeout to receive a back massage when leading 4-3.
Chwalinska began drawing the rallies out in response and promptly broke Shnaider in the Russian’s next service game to move to the edge of victory.
She sealed her spot in the final with a forehand winner.
“I will give my all, it’s a Grand Slam final,” Chwalinska said.
“Let me enjoy this moment for now… I just want to breathe a little, enjoy it today, then just recover as best I can,” she added of preparations for her 10th and final match of the tournament.
Andoni Iraola was tapped on Thursday to be the new manager of Liverpool, which turned to the former Bournemouth coach whose intense and heavy-pressing playing approach resembles the ideology that brought the team so much success under former Anfield favorite Jurgen Klopp.
The 43-year-old Spaniard, who has signed a deal for an undisclosed length, left his job at Bournemouth at the end of the recently completed season after a three-year spell that boosted his reputation.
The unheralded south-coast team finished sixth in the Premier League, going unbeaten in their last 18 games, and qualified for Europe for the first time in their history.
Iraola replaces Arne Slot, who was fired by Liverpool last Saturday following a troubled second year in charge after emulating the likes of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte by winning the Premier League title in his first season. That took Liverpool to a record-tying 20 English league championships.
Iraola said he was joining “a special club.”
“You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool,” he said.
“But obviously, the atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles. I think it cannot be more attractive than this. It’s difficult to find it. So, really excited to start.”
Concerns about Liverpool’s style of play under Slot – the team lost 12 games in a disappointing title defense – were laid bare in a critical social-media post by departing superstar Mohamed Salah that called for the club to “go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear.”
Tellingly, it was liked by a number of current Liverpool players.
In going for Iraola, who likes a hard-running and pressing approach previously favored by the popular Klopp in his trophy-laden spell at Liverpool from 2015-2024, the club’s leadership appears to have taken Salah’s message on board.
Appointment not without risk
The appointment – overseen by Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes, who was working at Bournemouth when Iraola was hired there in 2023 – doesn’t come without risk, though.
Iraola has never managed a club anywhere as big as Liverpool, with his only jobs before Bournemouth coming in brief spells in charge at AEK Larnaca in Greek Cyprus and second-tier Mirandes in Spain before a three-year stint at Rayo Vallecano.
He also has never won a major trophy or had to balance the demands of elite domestic and European competitions.
However, Liverpool wanted a manager who would play a more “aggressive and urgent” style of soccer and Iraola fits the bill, even if his off-field persona – unassuming, reserved – couldn’t be more different from that of the more outgoing and in-your-face Klopp.
Iraola takes over a team in transition, with the offseason departures of Salah and Andy Robertson leaving Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker as the only remaining senior members of the brilliant team that Klopp led to the Champions League title in 2019 and the Premier League trophy the following year.
Liverpool spent an unprecedented $570 million to strengthen the squad in the last offseason but only finished in fifth place in an underwhelming Premier League title defense to squeeze into the Champions League, a competition Iraola has never managed in.
Iraola is the latest coach born in Spain’s Basque region to take over a top English club, following in the footsteps of Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Unai Emery (Aston Villa) and most recently Xabi Alonso (Chelsea).
Lamine Yamal is now being priced at the summit of world football, with advanced valuation models placing the Barcelona and Spain winger above every other player on the planet, including estimates that surpass 350 million euros ($406 million).
The 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, who rose through Barcelona’s academy system, has rapidly evolved from teenage debutant into a defining figure for both club and country. Born in Esplugues de Llobregat in 2007, Yamal has already accumulated a resume that belies his age, combining elite production with consistency in the sport’s biggest moments.
His rise has been tracked not only through performances but also through sharply diverging valuation models that attempt to quantify modern football’s most complete talents.
Transfermarkt, a widely referenced benchmark in the sport’s market ecosystem, listed him at around 200 million euros in late 2025, placing him alongside established global stars such as Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
More aggressive projections, however, tell a different story.
The CIES Football Observatory, which relies on statistical modeling that factors in performance output, age curves, contract length, and market dynamics, has valued Yamal significantly higher. Its estimates have ranged from roughly 343 million euros in early 2026 to more than 400 million euros in earlier assessments, driven by his rare combination of youth, output, and long-term contractual security at Barcelona.
Yamal’s contract situation is a central driver of that valuation.
Tied to a long-term deal that runs into the next decade and protected by a reported 1 billion-euro release clause, he represents both a sporting cornerstone and a financial shield for Barcelona.
On the pitch, his impact has matched the hype. Yamal has delivered decisive performances in La Liga, the Champions League, and international competition with Spain national football team.
He played a key role in Spain’s UEFA Euro 2024 triumph and has continued to elevate his output under Hansi Flick, producing goals, assists, and match-defining moments in high-pressure fixtures, including El Clásico and European knockout ties.
His statistical profile underscores why models rate him so highly. Elite take-on success, progressive carries, chance creation in tight spaces, and end product in final third situations have made him one of the most complete attacking wingers in the game despite his age. That production, paired with longevity projections that stretch well into the next decade, amplifies his market ceiling.
The comparison with his peers is increasingly stark. While Jude Bellingham, Florian Wirtz, Kylian Mbappe, and Haaland remain central figures in global valuation discussions, Yamal’s age advantage and current output place him at the top of several analytical models. In many projections, he is not just the most valuable young player, but the most valuable player overall.
Still, football valuations remain estimates rather than fixed prices. Actual transfer fees depend on negotiation dynamics, club willingness to sell, and broader market conditions. In Barcelona’s case, there is no indication the club views him as anything other than untouchable.
Beyond the numbers, Yamal has become a symbol of La Masia’s continued production line of elite talent and Barcelona’s long-term sporting identity. His style, built on direct dribbling, creativity, and confidence in decisive moments, has drawn frequent comparisons to past generational forwards, even as he continues to carve out his own identity.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching, Yamal is expected to be one of the central figures of the tournament. If his trajectory continues, he will not only define matches but also reshape how the sport defines value at its highest level.
Fenerbahçe president Sadettin Saran was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison on Thursday by an Istanbul court in a case involving allegations of promoting illegal betting through football broadcast content, a ruling that also covers his brother and deepens an already complex legal dispute surrounding the media executive and club leader.
The decision was handed down by the Istanbul 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance following a trial in which prosecutors accused Saran and his brother, Alan Kenan Saran, of facilitating and promoting unauthorized sports betting advertisements through televised match coverage distributed via the S SPORT streaming platform.
The court also imposed a TL 562,500 ($12,235)judicial fine on both men.
Judges ruled that the defendants were guilty of encouraging participation in betting and gambling tied to sporting events, specifically through advertising practices embedded in match broadcasts.
Two additional defendants in the case, Emre Eren and Azade Zeynep Haksal, were acquitted.
The case centered on allegations that illegal betting advertisements were displayed during football matches through both physical and digital means.
Prosecutors said the ads appeared on stadium perimeter boards and as virtual overlays placed behind goals, arguing that the broadcasts reached large audiences and effectively normalized betting behavior across a broad viewer base.
In the indictment, prosecutors relied in part on findings requested from Türkiye’s broadcasting regulator RTÜK, which reviewed match transmissions aired in 2023 under Saran Internet Television Broadcasting Inc.
The findings concluded that unauthorized betting promotions were present in streamed football content and were not properly licensed under Turkish regulations governing gambling advertisements.
Prosecutors further argued that such content carried significant social impact due to its reach, describing widespread betting promotion in sports broadcasts as harmful and influential, particularly among younger audiences.
The indictment referred to betting content as having a “digital drug” effect, reflecting concerns over its accessibility and normalization through mainstream sports coverage.
The prosecution also argued that responsibility extended beyond operational staff to senior executives who had oversight of programming decisions.
It said that company leaders who had knowledge of and approved broadcasts containing illegal advertising could be held jointly liable for the content distributed under their authority.
Saran and his co-defendants denied the allegations throughout the proceedings and requested acquittal at the final hearing.
Their defense team argued that the charges were unfounded and sought dismissal of the case.
Prosecutors had initially sought prison sentences ranging from one to five years depending on each defendant’s level of involvement and whether the conduct was repeated.
The ruling increases legal pressure on the media executive, whose brief tenure at Fenerbahçe has already faced scrutiny, including earlier allegations a few months ago linked to narcotics use and possession.
Türkiye’s long-awaited World Cup return is entering its final stretch, with the national team closing preparations with a final tune-up against Venezuela on Saturday in Florida before heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The match will be played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, marking the last test for Türkiye national football team before a tournament that ends a 24-year absence from football’s biggest stage.
24 years later
Türkiye last appeared at a World Cup in 2002, when it finished third under Şenol Güneş, its best ever result. The 2026 return has reignited national expectations after a strong qualifying campaign.
Under head coach Vincenzo Montella, appointed in 2023, the team finished second in UEFA Group E behind Spain.
Despite a heavy 6-0 loss to Spain, Türkiye responded with statement wins over Georgia and Bulgaria and secured qualification through the playoffs, edging Romania and Kosovo with narrow 1-0 victories.
Montella’s side has built its identity on high pressing, quick transitions, and tactical flexibility, blending experienced leaders with a new generation of talent.
Final tests before challenge
The Venezuela friendly follows a dominant 4-0 win over North Macedonia in Istanbul, where goals came from Orkun Kökçü, Can Uzun, Deniz Gül, and Barış Alper Yılmaz.
Türkiye has been drawn into a competitive Group D featuring the United States, Paraguay, and Australia.
The schedule begins June 13 against Australia in Vancouver, followed by matches against Paraguay and the United States in California.
Montella views the Venezuela match as a final calibration point, focusing on rhythm, set pieces, and squad balance ahead of a demanding group stage.
Squad balance and emerging core
The 26-man squad announced earlier this week reflects a mix of European experience and rising stars.
Captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu anchors midfield control, supported by Orkun Kökçü and Salih Özcan.
In attack, attention centers on Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız, part of a young core expected to define Türkiye’s next era.
They are joined by Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Barış Alper Yılmaz, and Can Uzun, offering depth and versatility across the frontline.
Defensively, the squad features Merih Demiral, Çağlar Söyüncü, and Ferdi Kadıoğlu, providing experience and European pedigree.
Final reality check
Venezuela, ranked outside World Cup qualification, arrives as a physical and compact opponent, known for defensive discipline and counterattacking threat.
The meeting is the first senior clash between the two nations.
For Türkiye, the match offers a final opportunity to refine tactical patterns and manage fitness before travel to the team’s Arizona base camp.
A convincing performance would further fuel belief around a squad many see as one of Türkiye’s most gifted in decades.
After 2002’s breakthrough generation, expectations are rising again, driven by a blend of established European stars and emerging talent.
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