An inexperienced Atletico side took the lead in the first half when Luciano Vietto slotted home a powerful header before Arsenal rallied after the break with a brilliant equaliser from impressive teenage midfielder Emile Smith Rowe.
* German Football Association (DFB) head Reinhard Grindel on Thursday said he should have made clearer that racism is unacceptable after midfielder Mesut Ozil quit the national team citing “racism and disrespect” over his Turkish roots. Ozil was criticized for having his photograph taken with Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan in May. Grindel rejected Ozil’s accusations that the DFB had been racist but said he regretted the photograph had been misused to justify “racist words”.
* The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed appeals from three Russian athletes against decisions issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that found them guilty of violating anti-doping rules. The CAS confirmed the IOC's decisions to disqualify track cyclist Ekaterina Gnidenko from the 2012 London Olympic Games and Maria Abakumova, silver medallist in javelin, and Tatyana Lebedeva, silver medallist in long jump and triple jump, from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
* The Japanese Football Association (JFA) said on Thursday that Hajime Moriyasu, coach of the men's Olympic side, is to take over at the helm of the national team. The move comes after Akira Nishino, who led Japan to the last 16 at the World Cup, stepped down from the role. The 49-year-old played 35 times for Japan during the 1990s. As a coach, Moriyasu guided Sanfreece Hiroshima to three J.League titles between 2012 and 2015 before resigning in 2017 following a run of poor results.
* Ridiculed for fakery at the recent soccer World Cup, Neymar bounced back at cards this week with the aid of some well-timed bluffs, finishing an impressive sixth place in the 288-strong field of a Brazilian Series of Poker event. Neymar, who was in the Brazil side that lost 2-1 to Belgium in the quarter-finals of the World Cup earlier this month, turned his RUS$7,000 (US$1,877) entry stake into RUS$79,440 (US$21,308) before being eliminated in the final of the High Roller event, organisers said.
* Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has thanked hospital staff after he underwent emergency surgery in May following a brain haemorrhage. The 76-year-old Scot had collapsed at his home and was rushed to Macclesfield district hospital. He was then taken to another hospital in Salford where he was operated on. He hopes to return to watch Jose Mourinho's United play later in the season.
* Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain announced on Thursday that teenager Kylian Mbappe's jersey number had been changed from No. 29 to No. 7 for the upcoming 2018/19 season. Brazilian winger Lucas Moura last wore PSG's No. 7 until he left for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in January 2018.
* The Indonesian sports ministry has pledged to provide a huge bonus to the country's athletes competing in the upcoming Asian Games to encourage their performance during the event later this year. The Indonesia Youth and Sport Ministry's Imam Nahrawi promised to give 1.5 billion rupiah (US$103,448) in bonuses to the athletes securing a gold medal during the world's second largest sporting event.
