Sportshour

With the Women’s World Cup underway in France, Shari Vahl is joined by the BBC's Sarah Mulkerrins and Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff, sports writer, historian and author as we look at what will make this a successful tournament. Plus we hear from Spanish defender Celia Jiménez Delgado who has big ambitions away from football, she aims to become an aerospace engineer when she retires. We also spend time with Banyana Banyana, the South African's national team.Plus we meet the Toronto Raptors biggest fan, and no it's not Drake. Plus former Boston Bruin Nathan Dempsey on the Stanley CupPhoto: Celia Jimenez of Spain and Emma Koivisto of Finland compete for the ball (Getty Images)

We're live in Madrid previewing the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur and profiling both managers.Mauricio Pochotino's first appointment to management came in 2008 as assistant to Espanyol's women's team... Former Spanish international Adriana tells us what he was like in the early days of his coaching careerBefore his playing days were over Jürgen Klopp was eyeing already up management by completing a degree in sports science at the University of Frankfurt. Professor Klaus Bös who taught Klopp remembers him wellPlus, the Men's Cricket World Cup got underway this week and although the chances of Sri Lanka making the final at Lords are low, one way or another former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara will be there! That's because he's the newly appointed president of the MCC, the historic club that runs the famous old ground Photo: Champions League Trophy Credit Getty Images

On Sportshour with Shari Vahl we hear from football player and refugee, Hakeem al-Araibi whose detention in Thailand sparked an outcry. He has since been freed from jail after Bahrain withdrew its extradition request. He was detained in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice requested by Bahrain. Al-Araibi denies all charges and speaks to us about his time in prison.Also this week Kathryn Webb and Whitney Jenkins join us to discuss a new sport designed by robots. Speedgate has been developed by a computer and we hear how it was designed and the other rogue (and sometimes dangerous) ideas which were put forward.The domestic football season in Scotland comes to an end with Celtic looking to complete an historic trebble-trebble. But seven places below Celtic in the table is Motherwell. It is the only fan owned team in the Scottish top flight and are the focus of a new documentary called "We Own the Future". We speak live to the director and producer of that film, Jon Newell.This week the BBC Women's Footballe

The 138th FA Cup final is taking place and Manchester City are playing Watford FC.Watford are the underdogs and have also for many years prided themselves on being at the forefront of a family friendly football experience. We hear from the Schaffers who are three generations of the same family and are going to Wembley to cheer them on.Les Taylor also joins Caroline Barker to preview the game, he was Watford's captain 35 years ago when the club last played in a FA cup final back in 1984.The BBC's Olympic reporter, Nick Hope has been to meet Pita Taufatofua, who was the man who made quite an impact in the Olympic Games in Rio. He was the guy who was shirtless and smothered in coconut oil proudly waving the Tongan flag at the Opening Ceremony. He is hoping to go to his third consecutive Olympic Games and compete in a third sport.Photo: Joseph and his dad Gareth Schaffer (Credit: Gareth Schaffer)

We take a leftfield look at the Premier League title race ahead of either Manchester City or Liverpool being crowned champions of England.Caroline Barker is joined by comedian Emily Dean, one of the stars of TV's Comedians Watching Football with Friends and Arsenal fan. Alongside them is comedian and Manchester United fan Justin Moorhouse. From Pep Guardiola's grey cardigan to Jurgen Klopp's sparkling white teeth we answer all the big issues the season has thrown up - and, of course, who they least want to pick up the title!James Yorke, football stats analyst for StatsBomb, also drops his favorite statistics of the season.Photo: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (Getty Images)

The Women's FA Cup Final is here and Caroline Barker is joined by West Ham Captain Gilly Flaherty on the morning of the game. Alonmg with four time winner Lianne Sanderson they discuss who will win - Manchester City or West Ham?What a week for South Africa's double Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya ending with what she does best, winning the 800 metres? We are live in Doha with Ed Harry for the latest and also hear from two time World Champion Colin Jackson on what he thinks of her landmark case.Derek Abrefa and Cecelia Baah Danso speak to Sportshour's Joel Hammer after winning their first ever match at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships in Hungary. The Ghana internationals raised $10,000 needed to participate at the competition. They tell us about how they made it happen.It's the semi finals of the World Snooker Championship and we cross live to the Crucible theatre to speak to our reporter Jamie Broughton.We discuss head injuries and the protocols in place to deal with them on the football pitch

JohnBoy Smith was shot in the back as a sixteen year old after finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Paralysed from the waist down, his life changed forever. But whilst rehabilitating he found sport and now he's in contention to win the London Marathon on Sunday. He shares his story.The very first winners of the London Marathon in 1981 were Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen who decided the best way to finish was hand in hand. We look back at their victory.Former Premier League footballer Francis Benali is about to attempt to complete seven Ironman triathlons in seven days all to raise money for Cancer Research UK! We speak to him ahead of his mammoth journey.The first round of the NFL draft has taken place but did you know that the 254th and last pick earns the title “Mr Irrelevant”? Sportshour hears from Marty Moore who became the first "Mr Irrelevant" to make it to, and then win a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots.  Picture: JohnBoy Smith winning the Dublin marathon (Getty Images)

In the last 24 hours, professional footballers across England and Wales decided to boycott social media to protest against the way social media companies and football authorities respond to racism. The social media strike - which is called hashtag Enough - follows a number of high profile instances of racism in domestic and international football matches this season. It's been organised by the Professional Footballer's Association, who say the boycott is just the "first step in a longer campaign to tackle racism in football".Jason Lee is the Equalities Education Executive at the PFA and a former footballer and he joined Ed Harry to give us his verdict of whether it made a difference.We'll take you to the lush green baize where the opening day of the World Snooker Championship got underway at the famous Crucible Theatre. We'll hear from Bulgarian referee Desislava Bozhilova who makes her debut in Sheffield.Courtney Hill played in the Womens Big Bash League in Australia for Brisbane Heat but gave it up to move

Jennifer Kucpcho won the first ever women's tournament to be held on the perfectly manicured greens of the Augusta National. It's been the venue for the prestigious Masters tournament since 1934 and remains one of the most exclusive clubs in the world of sport. Membership is by invitation only and restricted to just 300 at any given time. Even when, then first women member was admitted back in 2012 - the former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in case you were wondering - the thought of them playing a tournament there seemed fanciful in a sport not known for its inclusivity. So Jennifer can truly claim to be a history maker - winner of the first Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship - to give it the full title! She tells Shari Vahl what her achievement means for women's golf and how important momentum is not lost.There are less than 500 days to go until the 2020 Olympic Games and for Mohamed Sbihi, he is aiming to make history. The 31 year old is part of the Great Britain Rowing team who have th

British Olympian Jade Lally opens up about feeling "devastated" as her preparations for Tokyo 2020 were knocked off course by her pregnancy. We're at the Jordan Mixed Open, the first professional Golf tournament to bring together male and female players competing against each other on the same course, for the same trophy. Marianne Skarpnord and her Fiancé Richard Green who both won the 2015 Victoria Open where men and women compete alongside each other but against their own gender give us their thoughts on the format. The Canadian Ice Hockey team began their quest for an eleventh title this week at the Women's World Championships in Finland but their domestic league has gone bust. Toronto Furies' Shannon Stewart tells Sarah Mulkerrins the league's players will prepare for next season despite the collapse. New Zealand coach Noeline Taurua tells us how she's preparing her side for the Netball World Cup with a game against the country's men's team.And we're at the World Cross Country in Aarhus where the sport is

Paralympic cyclist Hannah Dines tell's Shari Vahl how some female riders are suffering in silence with injuries because of saddles designed predominantly for men.After incidents of racist abuse during England's European Championship qualifier in Montenegro Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp led a number of Premier League managers in saying they would be prepared to take their players off the pitch in a bid to combat racism. Marko Protic from the BBC’s Serbian Service looks at whether this is a systemic problem in the Balkans or as Sterling put it "just a couple of idiots".And we meet snooker's women's world number three, Rebecca Kenna, who says she has been forced to turn her back on her local league after being barred from matches because she is a woman. She says she'd felt abandoned after being stopped from playing in two fixtures because of clubs operating a "men-only" policy.Photo:Hannah Dines action at the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championship in 2015. Credit: Christopher Lee/Getty Images

Jamaican runner Kemoy Campbell was told by doctors he had "died" after collapsing on the track during an Athletics event in New York. Campbell spent 17 days in hospital and has been fitted with an internal defibrillator. Despite numerous tests doctors were unable to deduce the cause of the heart failure. He’s been telling Shari Vahl of his traumatic experience.You and I would call it climbing the stairs - most of us do it every day at some point. But for Suzy Walsham - it's a sport and a competitive one as well. She is an elite vertical runner. The Australian defended her crown last week when she won the women's race to the top of the Eiffel Tower. 1665 steps in under eight minutes. She tells Shari Vahl how the journey to the top began.Kerron Stewart won a silver medal in the 100m at the 2009 World Championships. The multiple world and Olympic champion has now been recruited by a Finnish football club as part of their coaching team. The 34 year old who announced her retirement last year, will work with the cl

Bangladesh's cricket team were set to play New Zealand at Christchurch's Hagley Oval in their third Test match. However, following the worst massacre in New Zealand's history when 49 people were killed in and around two mosques in Christchurch, the match has been cancelled. The Bangladeshi team were just minutes away from being caught in the fire, Sportshour reflects on the tragedy and the psychological impact on the players who witnessed the horror unfold from their team bus.The world’s largest sport and humanitarian event of the year is taking place this week in Abu Dhabi - the special Olympics - which features athletes with intellectual or learning disabilities competing across a range of sports and disciplines. This year's event will be the biggest yet - with 7,500 athletes from 200 nations. And it's the first time it will be held in the Middle East. We look at how founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver began the movement 50 years ago.Roger Verdi also known as Rajinder Singh Virdee has shared a football pitch wit

The British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies this week reignited the debate about transgender participation in sport, by saying anyone who was born male but now identifies as female should not be allowed to take part in women's sport, because of the physical advantage it brings. Davies denies her remarks are "transphobic" - as did the 18 times Grand Slam tennis champion Martina Navratilova - who originally said participation by male to female transgender athletes in women's sport was a form of 'cheating'. She later apologised for using the word "cheat" - but insisted protections were required for those competitors born female.So where does this debate go next? Joanna Harper, a medical physicist who advises the International Olympic Committee on such issues and is herself a transsexual woman, and Dr Nicola Williams, who is a research scientist specialising in human biology and leads a campaign called Fairplay for Women, debate this controversial topic.It's very rare that Sportshour contains some x-rated content,

With only a few months to go until France 2019, Caroline Barker is at the She Believes Cup in Philadelphia, one of the final major tournaments before the World Cup. Caroline is joined by the English Football Association's Head of Women's Football Sue Campbell, former New Zealand international Rebecca Smith, Jen O'Neil who runs a women's football website shekicksdotnet and Philadelphia Lone Star FC Women (WPSL) Head Coach Charlie Flowe.Plus an interview with the England Head Coach Phil Neville on his thoughts on the global game and how he believes his team can achieve miracles by not letting fear stand in their way of success.(Photo: She Believes Cup. Credit: Getty Images)

Canadian ice hockey star Daniel Carcillo has had seven diagnosed concussions, suffered with headaches, slurred speech and memory loss. He is now taking on the National Hockey League and challenging them to do more to protect players from head injuries. He tells us his story and describes the uphill challenges that he is facing every day.We hear from a young girls football team in India who have been kicked, punched and slapped by a group of men who are trying to force them to stop playing the sport they love. The girls have been hailed for their bravery and say they will continue to play football in secret.Plus we speak to 13-year old Alysa Liu who became the youngest woman to win the US Senior National Figure Skating Championships.

I’m prepared to end my career to save Argentine women’s football, that's according to Maca Sanchez. The Argentine footballer says the country's football Federation don't support women’s football. She says they are denied basic rights such as a salary, places to train, shoes, medical coverage and clothing.Hakeem al-Araibi has been freed from jail; after the Thail government dropped a warrant for his arrest by his home country of Bahrain. Lou Tona is the chair of semi-professional club Pascoe Vale in Melbourne, Australia where Hakeem plays. He says Hakeem is pleased to be back home in Australia and he made sure to bring home a present for his wife to apologise. Plus the kiss cam has been a staple of North American sports events, whether its baseball or basketball. Barry Stockhamer, former VP of marketing at the LA Dodgers, explains how the kiss cam became popular with the Californian club. However Emma Rees, Professor of Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Chester believes they cease to exist

In 2014, footballer Hakeem was sentenced to 10 years in prison for vandalising a police station in his native Bahrain. He denied the charges and having fled to Australia fearing for his safety, he missed the trial. Once in Australia he was granted political asylum in 2017. But in November, a decision to go to Thailand changed Hakeem's life forever.The Bahrain government issued a warrant for his arrest and he was detained, as a recognised refugee this shouldn't have happened.He's still in prison. Lou Tona is the chair of semi-professional club Pascoe Vale in Melbourne, Australia where Hakeem plays. He says failure is not an option and they are trying everything to bring Hakeem back home to Australia. Plus, we meet Marseille fan Mohamad Henni isn’t happy. Whenever Marsielle lose, Mohamad takes his frustrations out on his TV. He has broken over 20 TV’s so far and plans to continue. And English seventh tie side Wingate & Finchley FC will have a new coach in the dugout. Manager Dave Norman will be able to c

In Atlanta, birthplace of Martin Luther King, Sportshour asks what progress the NFL has made since the height of the player protest last season. His daughter, Bernice, and current Patriot's player Matthew Slater join the debate. The leagues first inclusion officer, Wade Davis, tells us he knows several gay players in the NFL who open about their sexuality to their team mates and coaches. And the legend of Atlanta Gladys Knight on the honour of singing the traditional prematch national anthem. (Picture: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Credit: Getty Images)

The success of Bayern Munich can be traced all the way back to an almost forgotten figure in German football - their longest serveing president Kurt Landauer. For years Kurt's story, including escaping the Nazi's, was barely known. We talk to historian and screenwriter Dirk Kamper who has helped his story get the recognition it deserves.Former NFL quarterback Marc Bulger has joined forces with three other former gridiron stars to take on Curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Alongside Jared Allen, Keith Bulluck and Michael Roos - Bulger decided to adopt the sport as the result of a bet. The four now have a serious desire to become Olympians. Plus, another athlete switching disciplines - Omar Hasan has been talking to our reporter in Toulouse, Chris Bockman, about his journey from international rugby to opera singing.(Photo: Kurt Landauer. Credit: Christof Stache/AFP)