You are paying for your favorite college athlete now: 'the next stage of the arms race'

Win or lose, the North Carolina Tar Heels already will be in elite company when they kick off the college football season against Texas Christian University in a game played in Dublin. They will be among a small but growing number of athletic programs receiving taxpayer funding from their home states.

Why Britain needs a Messi budget

The playing style of the great Argentine footballer demonstrates that less can be more

Chelsea shareholders Mark Walter and Todd Boehly in talks to sell their stakes to Clearlake

Negotiations come amid clashes over strategy and as Walter’s business empire faces scrutiny from regulators

No, AI is not your employee

In 1961, a fiberglass pole replaced the metal one used in pole vaulting and athletes broke the world record 19 times in a single decade. In cycling, better aerodynamics alone accounted for nearly half of all performance improvement over the sport’s history. Graphite rackets transformed tennis. Polyurethane swimsuits were so effective they eventually were banned (yet some records set during those two years still stand).

How to cycle from Alaska to Argentina

Suzie McCracken spent two years biking the length of the Americas. She vowed it wouldn’t change her. But 14 countries later, the reality was very different

Bob Iger and Josh Kushner in $12.5bn deal for Lakers basketball franchise

Guggenheim’s Mark Walter sells team after just a year of ownership amid US inquiry into insurance empire

José Mourinho dishes the dirt and quotes Nietzsche in new Netflix doc

The legendary manager is not camera-shy in ‘Mourinho’, with cameos from Alex Ferguson, Frank Lampard and more

A red card for the boss of world football

Infantino’s abortive plan shows Fifa needs a sweeping governance shake-up

Should Slovenia be your next cycling destination?

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

F1 in Belgium: Machine learning algorithms are ruining the sport

Many will say Spa is the best racetrack on earth, but not for these F1 cars.

The World Cup half-time show

“It was,” Wayne Rooney said baldly, “crap.” The former England footballer was speaking at the New York New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup final in his role as BBC television pundit. But rather than Argentina’s shin-kicking, elbow-in-the-back tactics against Spain, Wazza was talking about the half-time concert that had just taken place.

My journey down the rabbit hole at the Conspiracy World Cup

Accusations of foul play have swirled around this year’s tournament — but England fan Gideon Rachman still can’t get enough