John Duerden

The con­se­quences of the war are rip­pling through the sports world, as ath­letes and fans ex­press sol­i­dar­i­ty with Ukraine.

A new, lu­cra­tive In­di­an foot­ball league is in town but how ben­e­fi­cial are these leagues to the con­ti­nent’s rise?

The coun­try’s omis­sion from the 2014 cal­en­dar did not come as sur­prise af­ter four years of strug­gle.

There were high ex­pec­ta­tions but the exit from the 2014 World Cup for all four Asian teams was swift.

In 2008, Guam was ranked 201st. But us­ing funds wise­ly, it has im­proved with plans in place for more work.

West Syd­ney Wan­der­ers topped their Asian Cham­pi­ons League group but oth­er Aus­tralian teams are not far be­hind.

From big-name im­ports to lu­cra­tive con­tracts, Chi­nese foot­ball has be­come the most pop­u­lar and fol­lowed in the re­gion.

Guangzhou Ever­grande may be about to make his­to­ry on the Asian stage but it could come at a price for Chi­nese foot­ball.

The na­tion­al team are strug­gling for form but there are pos­i­tive signs for Aus­tralian foot­ball writes John Duer­den.

The idea of a Cham­pi­ons League for South Asia is not new, writes John Duer­den, but it is per­haps need­ed for de­vel­op­ment.