The sporting world delivered headlines of every flavour this week: historic breakthroughs, boardroom battles, emotional farewells, and one all-too-familiar scandal. Let’s break down the stories you need to know.
ICC Announces Record Prize Pool for Women’s World Cup
The ICC has created history by announcing a ₹122 crore prize pool for the 2025 Women’s World Cup. That’s four times higher than the what was awarded in 2022 and even bigger than the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup purse of ₹88 crore. Champions Australia received ₹35 crore that year, but in 2025, the women’s winners will pocket nearly ₹40 crore. It’s a landmark move that sets a new benchmark for equality in global cricket and underlines how seriously women’s sport is being taken on the world stage.
BCCI Targets Bigger Sponsorship Deal
Closer to home, the BCCI is chasing a bumper sponsorship package after the end of its deal with Dream11. Previously, Dream11 paid ₹3.17 crore per bilateral match and ₹1.12 crore for multi-nation fixtures. Now, reports suggest the board is demanding ₹3.5 crore for bilaterals and ₹1.5 crore for multi-nation games. Over the next three years, with around 130 fixtures lined up, the BCCI expects to earn at least ₹400 crore, a staggering number that could rise even further once bidding heats up.
Amit Mishra Bids Goodbye to Cricket
Indian cricket also witnessed the end of an era as Amit Mishra announced his retirement from all forms of the game. At 42, Mishra bows out with a legacy few can match. He remains the only bowler with three IPL hat-tricks, has 156 international wickets to his name, and ranks eighth among the IPL’s all-time leading wicket-takers. His last India appearance came in 2017, and his final IPL outing was for Lucknow Super Giants in 2024. A remarkable 25-year career has finally drawn to a close.
Luis Suárez Back in the Headlines
Football was rocked once again by Luis Suárez’s antics. After Inter Miami’s defeat in the Leagues Cup final, cameras caught Suárez spitting on the Seattle Sounders’ head of security. Disciplinary action is pending, but it adds to a long history of controversy—the most infamous being his bite on Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.
