Day: September 22, 2025

Aichi 2026

Aichi-Nagoya will host the 20th Asian Games, bringing together athletes from across Asia to compete at the highest level. Aichi Prefecture is taking the opportunity of the Games to communicate a new direction for an inclusive society and Para sports, and the Games emblem and slogan were created with this aim in mind.

The one-year countdown to the Asian Games 2026 began in Nagoya on Saturday, with a series of events staged to promote the event including demonstrations of sports such as BMX freestyle and 3×3 basketball and talks by entertainers and athletes such as Miharu Ozawa and Kaito Oda. In addition, a variety of cultural performances and experiences were held to mark the occasion.

Esports will be featured at the Asian Games for the first time, with competition in 11 esports titles confirmed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The esports competitions will feature tournaments for Arena of Valor Asian Games version, DOTA 2, PUBG and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition. The Games will be held from September 9 to October 4.

A total of 46 nations are able to send a delegation to the Asian Games, which is regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia and features the rising sun symbol as its logo. The disputed territories of Taiwan, Palestine and Hong Kong/Macau are also able to participate due to their membership in OCA.

The 2026 Games will be the third time that Japan has hosted the Asian Games after Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. The Games are of great importance to all the people of Japan and will offer a chance to further deepen growing exchange within Asia.

The Champions League is a competition for club soccer teams that is operated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), one of the six regional member confederations that make up soccer’s global governing body, Federation Internationale de Football Association. The tournament is the premier club competition in Europe and one of the most prestigious and valuable sporting events in the world.

The UEFA Champions League began in 1992, after the Maastricht Treaty and Single European Act of the same year, as part of the increasing forces of European integration through sports and commercialisation. It grew to become the biggest tournament in Europe and saw Real Madrid dominate its early years, winning the first five titles.

In 2024-25, UEFA changed the format of the tournament to abandon the group stage in favour of an expanded league phase with 36 teams competing across four seeding pots. Teams will play each other twice, once at home and once away. The new system also removes country protection in the knockout round playoffs and semi-finals.

Clubs must be licensed by their national association to participate in the Champions League. The license is based on a series of sporting criteria, including stadium and infrastructure requirements. A club may not compete in the Champions League unless it is the reigning champion of its domestic league. In addition, the champions of associations with a UEFA coefficient below 50 are awarded a standard berth in the qualifying rounds.