Gianni Infantino open to FIFA reform ahead of 2027 elections

The Sydney Morning Herald - Sep 21, 2026

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has confirmed he will seek re-election next year despite scrutiny and backlash following his plans to sell off stakes in FIFA competitions.

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S. Korean swimmers seek to defend relay title; football teams set for inter-Korean clash

Sep 21, 2026

S. Korean swimmers seek to defend relay title; football teams set for inter-Korean clash

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korean swimming stars will seek to defend their men's relay title at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday, while the women's football team will face North Korea in the first all-Korean match of the Games. The team of Hwang Sun-woo, Kim Woo-min, Lee Ho-joon and Kim Young-beom will compete in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo. South Korea won the event for the first time at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023. Three years later, Kim Young-beom has joined Hwang, Kim Woo-min and Lee on the relay team. Kim Young-beom, a 20-year old rising star in short distance swimming in South Korea, won silver in the men's 100m freestyle event the previous day, while Hwang finished third. Kim broke Hwang's Korean record in the 100m discipline at a national competition last year. The women's volleyball team will face Japan in the semifinals. A victory would send South Korea to the Asian Games final for the first time since 2014. South Korea was eliminated from medal contention after losing in the quarterfinals at the previous Asiad in China. The baseb

Lee Bo-mi wins bronze in mixed martial arts' debut

Sep 21, 2026

Lee Bo-mi wins bronze in mixed martial arts' debut

Lee Bo-mi claimed bronze in women's mixed martial arts (MMA) in the sport's Asian Games debut Monday. In the semifinals of the women's modern -54 kilogram event, the 27-year-old South Korean fighter lost to Diana Pogosian of Bahrain 3-0. With no bronze medal bouts, all losers of the semifinals receive bronze medals here. MMA is making its first Asian Games appearance at Nagoya City Inae Sports Center in Nagoya, central Japan. Lee's competition began in the quarterfinals, where she defeated Lo Thi Phung of Vietnam 2-1. But Lee came up short against Pogosian in the next phase. Two other South Korean MMA fighters, Choi Eun-seok in the men's modern -77kg and Yoon Tae-young in the men's traditional 77kg, both fell in the quarterfinals.

S. Korea takes bronze in men's rifle team event, misses out on individual medals

Sep 21, 2026

S. Korea takes bronze in men's rifle team event, misses out on individual medals

South Korea claimed bronze in the men's 10-meter air rifle team event at the Asian Games on Monday, while two of its shooters missed out on individual medals. The trio of Park Ha-jun, Shin Min-ki and Gwon Hyeop-jun scored a combined 1,884.2 points in their individual qualification round, helping South Korea finish third in the team standings at Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, some 25 kilometers east of the main host city of Nagoya. Park led the way with 631.4 points, followed by Shin with 629.2 points and Gwon with 623.6 points. China grabbed the team gold with a world record score of 1,899 points, and India took silver with 1,890.1 points. Park and Shin qualified for the individual final for Monday afternoon but finished seventh and sixth, respectively. Park is the 2023 Asiad silver medalist in this event but did not come close to a medal this time. The men's team bronze was South Korea's second shooting medal at this year's Asiad in two days. On Sunday, Ban Hyo-jin won bronze in the women's 10m air rifle individual competition. Shooting will conclude Oct. 1.

S. Korean karate fighter wins 1st inter-Korean match at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

Sep 21, 2026

S. Korean karate fighter wins 1st inter-Korean match at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

South Korean karate fighter An Jeong-eun won the first inter-Korean match at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday. An beat North Korea's Jong Se-ri 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the women's -61 kilogram kumite event held at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Toyohashi, some 70 kilometers southeast of the main host city Nagoya, Japan. In kumite, two competitors attack each other to score points, with the fighter who scores more points declared the winner. An advanced to the semifinals, where she lost to Gong Li of China 8-0. Jong is one of the two Korean residents of Japan competing at the Asian Games under the North Korean flag. Ri Song-a is the other, playing on the North Korean women's football team. The bout between An and Jong was the first all-Korean showdown at the Asian Games, which officially began Saturday. Later in the day, the two Korean women's football teams began their final preliminary-round match at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, about 104 kilometers east of Nagoya.

S. Korea pounds Mongolia to grab quarterfinal berth in women's hoops

Sep 21, 2026

S. Korea pounds Mongolia to grab quarterfinal berth in women's hoops

South Korea hammered Mongolia 88-61 on Monday to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the women's basketball tournament at the ongoing Asian Games. Forward Lee Hae-ran led the balanced attack with 20 points at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, central Japan, where South Korea enjoyed its second straight victory in Group C. South Korea, after opening the competition with a 106-40 win over Malaysia on Friday, clinched a ticket to the quarterfinals before playing Chinese Taipei on Tuesday at the same Nagoya gym. There are two groups of four and one group of three in the women's event. The top two teams from each group, plus the two best third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals. All three third-place teams have two losses, meaning South Korea will at least squeeze into the quarterfinals as one of the top third-place teams even if it loses to Chinese Taipei on Tuesday. In Monday's game, South Korea outscored Mongolia 28-9 in the first quarter to set the tone early. Mongolia won the second half 42-37, but that was not nearly enough to overcome the early deficit. Captain Kang Lee-

An Hyeon-gi takes bronze in wushu

Sep 21, 2026

An Hyeon-gi takes bronze in wushu

An Hyeon-gi delivered South Korea its first wushu medal at the ongoing Asian Games with his bronze in the men's taijiquan and taijijian event Monday. An finished in third place with a total score of 19.429 points at Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall in Nagoya, central Japan. Liu Dewen of China won gold with 19.560 points and Sun Chia-hung of Chinese Taipei was the runner-up with 19.453 points. In both disciplines, athletes were judged on three categories: quality of movement, overall performance, degree of difficulty, with a maximum of 10 points total. An scored 9.713 points in taijiquan and picked up 9.716 points in taijijian. Taijiquan evaluates athletes on slow but controlled movements. Taijijian looks for athletes' technical precision and artistic performance with a double-edged sword.

Lips sealed, but youth impossible to hide: NK athletes show 2 faces at Asian Games

Sep 21, 2026

Lips sealed, but youth impossible to hide: NK athletes show 2 faces at Asian Games

The North Korean women's football team's "clocking out" after an 8-0 thrashing of Myanmar at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan, on the night of Sept. 17 was unusually late. It was about 15 minutes after the Myanmar players had left the stadium before the door to the North Korean locker room finally opened. Inside, reporters caught sight of unmistakably youthful players bustling about as they stuffed snacks provided by the organizing committee into brown paper bags. Whether they knew they were being watched or not, the players appeared excited about their unexpected haul. But as soon as they approached the Korean reporters waiting in the mixed zone, their demeanor suddenly changed. With stern expressions and their eyes deliberately averted, they did not respond to reporters' requests to "say just a few words about the big win." Carrying bags of snacks in their hands, the players quickly walked out of the stadium. North Korea, which is making its first appearance at an Asian Games held in Japan, is keeping tight control over its athletes during the competition. According to an event official,

Yoon Ji-hwan wins bronze in men's 50m backstroke swimming

Sep 21, 2026

Yoon Ji-hwan wins bronze in men's 50m backstroke swimming

Yoon Ji-hwan won bronze in the men's 50-meter backstroke swimming event at the Asian Games on Monday, his first medal at the quadrennial event in his debut. Yoon, 20, clocked 24.54 seconds for bronze at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in the Japanese capital. Xu Jiayu of China captured the gold medal with a new Asian Games record time of 24.04 seconds, beating his compatriot, Wang Zicheng, by 0.45 second. This was the fourth swimming medal for South Korea at this year's Asian Games.

[Asian Games] Kim Young-beom wins men's 50m freestyle swimming in record time

Sep 21, 2026

[Asian Games] Kim Young-beom wins men's 50m freestyle swimming in record time

TOKYO—Kim Young-beom raced to the men's 50-meter freestyle swimming gold medal in record-breaking style at the Asian Games on Monday. The 20-year-old won the shortest swimming event with a new Asian Games record time of 21.66 seconds at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in the Japanese capital. In the heats held earlier Monday, Kim had set an Asian Games record with 21.71 seconds, bettering the previous record of 21.72 seconds set by fellow Korean Ji Yu-chan when he won the 2023 Asiad gold. Just hours later, Kim broke his own mark by 0.05 second to deliver South Korea its first swimming gold of this year's Asian Games. Kim had earlier won silver in the 100m freestyle Sunday. Ji got the bronze medal this time in 21.94 seconds, with Ho Ian Yentou of Hong Kong taking silver in 21.76 seconds. Kim had a reaction time of 0.66 second, tied with two others for the fourth fastest in the 10-man final. But he beat everyone to the final pad with a mad dash down the stretch. The men's 50m freestyle was added to the Asian Games in 1990, and Kim's title gave South Korea back-to-back champions for the first time.

[Asian Games] S. Korea, N. Korea draw 1-1 in women's football at Asian Games

Sep 21, 2026

[Asian Games] S. Korea, N. Korea draw 1-1 in women's football at Asian Games

FUKUROI, Japan — An inter-Korean match in women's football at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games ended in a draw on Monday, with South Korea finishing second in Group F. South Korea and North Korea tied 1-1 in the final Group F preliminary-round match at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, some 104 kilometers east of the main host city Nagoya. With two wins and one draw apiece, North Korea topped Group F with a plus-18 goal difference, while South Korea finished second with a plus-11 goal difference. Before Monday's match, both Korean teams had already secured berths in the quarterfinals with two wins each. At the Asian Games, 12 teams are divided into three groups, with the top two teams from each group and the two best-performing third-place teams advancing to the quarterfinals. The two Koreas exchanged several chances inside the box during the first 30 minutes but failed to score. In the 36th minute, North Korea took the lead. Chae Un-yong received the ball from Jon Ryong-jong's corner and struck it toward the goal with a quick touch. A few minutes later, Jon had a one-on-one chance on the le

[Asian Games] Teen swimmer Kim Seung-won wins bronze in women's 50m backstroke

Sep 21, 2026

[Asian Games] Teen swimmer Kim Seung-won wins bronze in women's 50m backstroke

TOKYO — Kim Seung-won grabbed the bronze medal in the women's 50-meter backstroke swimming at the Asian Games on Monday. The 16-year-old clocked 27.72 seconds at Tokyo Aquatics Centre to win her first medal in her very first Asian Games event. Wan Letian of China claimed the gold medal in 27.47 seconds, 0.19 second faster than fellow Chinese swimmer, Wang Xueer. Kim's was South Korea's fifth swimming medal at this year's Asiad. She is also slated to compete in the 100m backstroke, women's 4x100m medley relay and mixed 4x100m medley relay. Kim's reaction time of 0.56 second was tied for the second fastest in the 10-swimmer final and was 0.04 faster than Wang. But the Chinese ended up beating the South Korean for the silver, with Wan finishing ahead of both. "I worked so hard for the Asian Games here, and I am so pleased to win my first medal," Kim said, smiling ear to ear. "I was just so happy to have an opportunity to show how hard I have trained for this international event. I have more races left, and I will prepare for them the best I can."

[Asian Games] Swimming champion determined to keep pursuing bigger goals

Sep 21, 2026

[Asian Games] Swimming champion determined to keep pursuing bigger goals

TOKYO — Throughout his nine-minute interview after winning his first Asian Games gold medal on Monday, swimmer Kim Young-beom, the men's 50-meter freestyle champion, kept touching and cradling the prize around his neck, so incredulous was he that he had captured it. "Man, this thing is so heavy. I might get a neck spasm," Kim cracked. "I thought it would hit me once I put it around my neck. I still can't believe this gold medal is mine. They played our national anthem in such a big arena just to congratulate me. It was an incredible feeling. I didn't believe I had won this race even when I saw my name on the board right afterward." Kim's title-winning race at Tokyo Aquatics Centre also bordered on disbelief. He established an Asian record of 21.66 seconds, only hours after he had set one in the heats with 21.71 seconds. Rare is a swimmer who breaks a record in the heats, since athletes often save their best for the finals scheduled for later in the day. Even rarer is a swimmer who breaks his own record within the same day. "Ahead of the final, I just wanted to swim the same way I did i

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