The 2010 Commonwealth Games is just the latest sporting event tainted by a doping scandal – with three positive tests so far, not counting athletes who were banned before the Games even began. When will they ever learn? Will they ever learn? By VRINDA MAHESHWARI, Delhi.

Own goals, blatant fouls and suicidal tackling seem to characterise Nigerian soccer at present. Let’s hope Fifa’s tough action in suspending the national federation will see wiser, less foolhardy heads prevail. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

At the 1999 Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts, fans of the American team were so rude to Colin Montgomerie that his father had to leave the golf course. But 1999 was the last time that Monty (known to the charming Americans as Mrs Doubtfire) was on a losing Ryder Cup team. His record as a player for Europe is one of the best in the Cup’s history, and as 2010’s non-playing captain he’ll want to teach the yanks another lesson. By KEVIN BLOOM.

It’s less than a week until the official opening of the Commonwealth Games, and tensions in Delhi continue to mount. City residents are fervently hoping that the problems can be overcome so that the spotlight is on sport, rather than mismanagement. The outlook now seems to be hesitantly optimistic, with the powers that be renewing efforts to fix the countless problems – they’ve even deployed extra langur monkeys to chase away their pesky cousins. VRINDA MAHESHWARI reports from Delhi

It was only a single SMS, just one simple line, but for a few days it stoked up the dying embers of one of South African rugby’s most bitter debates – racially based quotas in team selections. A sober analysis by SIPHO HLONGWANE.

About now, Delhi should be a hive of feverish anticipation with the Commonwealth Games taking place in only ten days’ time - a chance for the city to showcase itself to the world. Instead, officials are in a frantic dash to get facilities up to scratch, and convince participating countries their athletes will be just fine. South Africa is giving them the benefit of the doubt, for now. By THERESA MALLINSON.

The city you live in is hugely inconvenienced by construction works. Every day new instances of mismanagement and corruption around the hosting of a major sporting event come to light. The international press rips into the lack of preparation, and taxpayers are pissed off that their money is being used to fund such a fiasco. Sound familiar? No, we’re not writing a reprise of the 2010 World Cup, but focusing on the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Once again, the politicians have a lot to answer for. VRINDA MAHESHWARI reports from Delhi.

The only way SA Rugby can reclaim the moral high ground is by sacking Springbok coach Peter de Villiers. Immediately. He's technically useless, a walking, talking embarrassment whose verbal diarrhoea is like hearing of Kamp Staaldraad every week. By TOBY SHAPSHAK.

A week after Victor Matfield became the only Bok centurion to win his 100th game, coach Peter de Villiers has shamed the nation by backing an alleged murderer. Aren't we supposed to feel better when our team wins? By TOBY SHAPSHAK.

The Pakistani match-fixing scandal of 2010 is the biggest cricketing scandal since Hansie Cronje claimed, “The devil made me do it”. Or, if it isn’t yet, it’s going to be, thanks to Pakistan’s entirely predictable and entirely wrong response. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Last week it was John Smit's 100th Test cap, this week it's Victor Matfield's. But win or lose, the Springboks are still in crisis, a year away from the World Cup.

In the wake of the increasingly tawdry revelations of Tiger Woods’ multiple extramarital affairs, Woods and Elin Nordegren are officially no longer a team.

Almost, just, nearly. The Springboks came so close to giving John Smit a win for his 100th cap in the first rugby Test in Soweto, but once again left with a loss.

John Smit's 100th Test cap and rugby against a rampant All Black side in Soweto are worth getting excited about, but the rudderless Springboks are almost certainly gonna lose in SA rugby's big day out.

South Africa’s less-than-glorious exit from the World Cup was bad; what with being the first hosts in the history of the tournament to be kicked out in the group stages and all, but Bafana Bafana had the comfort of an entire nation’s backing. What little pain our team felt is nothing compared to what the North Korean team faced when they arrived back home.

We’re sorry if we got your hopes up about the Springboks doing well in the Tri-Nations. Indeed, the whole country seemed to think that, like Brazil's soccer players, all we had to do was turn up to win the annual rugby spectacular.

Bereft. It's a word so often used about the Springboks in match reports the last couple of weeks. Bereft of ideas, bereft of plans, bereft of passion. And here we are again...

Patriotism is at an all-time high after the vindication of a successful World Cup. And yet, a great many people are afraid of the sunsets these days in South Africa. The Independent Marketing Council and DraftFCB are asking South Africans to keep flying the flag to sustain this “can do” spirit for the sake of nation building.

To US baseball fans he was a saint, sinner and Beelzebub himself, the man who reinvented the New York Yankees. To the rest of the world, he will be remembered as George Constanza’s bumbling boss in Seinfeld.

Spanish team mates deck Fabregas out in Barca shirt; Alonso rates de Jong's tackle as most painful ever; Referee Howard Webb says he did his best; Bafana Bafana came 20th in the World Cup; The District 9/World Cup mash-up Fifa doesn't want you to see. 

Blatter gives SA nine out of 10; The soccer is over, let the Olympics begin!; Al Shabaab claims responsibility for Ugandan final bombings; Octopus Paul retires from fame and glory; Vuvuzela is the word of the tournament.

The terrorists didn’t make it to the party, the cops managed to keep the more violent criminals subdued, and even a sudden walk-out by stadium security staff caused barely a ripple. South Africa apparently learnt a lesson or two about security thanks to the World Cup. Now the question is whether those gains will translate into improved safety for locals, once the tourists go home.

Madiba makes it to closing ceremony, briefly; Fan tries to steal trophy; Spanish artists beat Dutch thugs 1-0 in extra time; Referee Howard Webb dishes out 14 yellow cards; Germany’s Thomas Mueller wins the Golden Boot award.

Spain and the Netherlands fought for two back-breaking hours in the cold highveld winter night. The problem was, Spain played the game of soccer, while the Dutch played the game of kickboxing. To the delight of every true soccer lover in the world, it ended Spain 1, the Netherlands 0.

Oh Bakkies. What were you thinking? Sent off in the 14th minute for a professional foul, it was the key moment that saw the All Blacks give the Springboks a harsh lesson in Test rugby.

Dressing room journalist let off with fine; German fan given suspended sentence for plane craziness; Germany beat Uruguay 3-2, win bronze; Referees score 96% in World Cup test; Johan Cruyff may be Dutch, but he supports Spanish soccer.

It is the cruellest of the matches that any team has to play, after the heartbreak of losing their hopes of winning the World Cup just days before. In the end, Germany’s young machine kept its concentration just a bit longer then the fabulous Forlan and Co, winning 3-2.

UAE issues vuvuzela fatwa; Paul the psychic octopus spawns menagerie of clones; World Cup closing concert takes place; Robben doesn’t mind ugly football – as long as the Dutch win; “Pick me, pick me!” Torres pleads.

Just as the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet draws to a dramatic close for the first time on African soil, the greatest annual rugby spectacle kicks off in Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud.