While UAE-backed forces are accused of mass killings in Sudan, the NBA is deepening its partnership with the controversial Gulf state. This is what sportswashing looks like

As paramilitary fighters from the brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the largest city in western Sudan – carrying out mass executions, rapes and ethnic cleansing with weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates – the NBA’s annual in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, tipped off on Halloween night, proudly sponsored by the very same Gulf state.

The tournament is the most visible example of the NBA’s expanding partnership with the UAE – a partnership that includes annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a lucrative sponsorship deal with Emirates airlines, and plans for a new NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus.

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© Photograph: Jesse D Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jesse D Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jesse D Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

• World No 1 says ‘biological men’ have a ‘huge advantage’

• ‘She hit nail on the head,’ says battle of sexes rival Kyrgios

Aryna Sabalenka has weighed into the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sport, the world No 1 saying it would be unfair for women to face “biological men” in professional tennis.

The Women’s Tennis Association’s gender participation policy of its tour permits transgender women to participate if they have declared their gender as female for a minimum of four years, have lowered testosterone levels and agree to testing procedures. These conditions may be further varied by the WTA medical manager on a case-by-case basis.

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© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

"Spot-fixing" is the practice of manipulating small, discrete events that have little to no bearing on the outcome of a game—the timing of a yellow card in soccer, a wide ball in cricket, a single double-fault in tennis. Or, in the case of Ortiz, the result of one of the roughly 300 pitches thrown in the average baseball game. What makes spot-fixing so insidious is how inconsequential the occurrences appear in real time. from The Scourge of 'Spot-Fixing' Is Coming for American Sports [WSJ; ungated]

Related: The psychology of spot fixing – why athletes might gamble their careers [The Conversation]