A FIERCE wind drove coarse, dirty sand across the Freedom Park township in Cape Town throughout the weekend, caking a layer of grime over skin, clogging ears and turned the snot in your nose jet black.

THE BBC have unveiled a shortlist of 10 sportsmen and women who are in contention for the Sports Personality of the Year award — including Irish golfer Darren Clarke.

Simon Lewis reports from Shizuoka

Fifa will allow the public to vote in a rebranded version of its player of the year of the award, world soccer’s governing body said yesterday.

An estimated 300 people are living in modern-day slavery in Ireland, according to a global report on the issue.

Roy Hodgson thinks Luis Suarez has a lot to prove before he can be considered a truly world-class player.

The Ireland Sevens team began its charge towards the goal of qualification for the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens with a positive runner-up spot in the Denmark Sevens competition at the weekend.

Conor Harte says today’s showdown with England is Ireland’s “World Cup final” with a draw or better required against the world number seven side.

The Republic of Ireland have been pitted against reigning world champions Italy in Group Eight of the World Cup Qualifying phase today, where they will also line up against Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia and newcomers Montenegro.

In a statement, FIFA said it "takes the issue of working conditions and human rights in connection with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar very seriously".

The Croatian federation has been fined 50,000 Swiss francs by FIFA for the "inappropriate behaviour" of the national team's fans during a World Cup qualifier against Kosovo on October 6.

Samir Nasri’s international exile continued today after he failed to win a recall to the France squad for the friendly against Japan and the crunch World Cup qualifier against Spain.

Pascal Pape accepts France could be excused for feeling like World Cup outcasts as they prepare to tackle New Zealand in Sunday’s final.

Ronaldinho has failed to make it into Brazil’s 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup.

Manchester City forward Robinho would love to move to Barcelona this summer, according to his agent.

THE Republic of Ireland have jumped three places to 26th in the latest world rankings which were released by FIFA yesterday. Giovanni Trapattoni’s side continued their march up the ranking table after the 2-1 victory over Georgia in the FIFA World Cup group 8 qualifier last month.