"and Wangqing). ""Ping pong"" (乒乓) is the official name for the sport of table tennis in China. Apart from the national representative team, the table tennis community in China continues to produce many world-class players, and this depth of skill allows the country to continue dominating recent world titles after a short break during the 1990s. The overwhelming dominance of China in the sport has triggered a series of rules changes in the International Table Tennis Federation and as part of the Olympics. Ma Long is currently one of the highest-ranked Chinese table tennis players, and the highest-ranked player in"
"highest level of play available and as a result, it is often most popular with fans and spectators from that country. In other countries, domestic competitions may be more competitive and offer a higher standard of play and reward. Depending on the sport, nation, and era in question, membership on the national team maybe earned through individual play (as is the case for an Olympic athletics team or a Davis Cup team), players may be selected by a managers and coaches appointed by a national sport association, or a team may have to win a national championship in order to"
"players are women, and this percentage rises to 61% at the highest level, Division I. Another contributing factor is the role of women within American society, which includes relative equality (especially rejecting hardened gender roles) for women in the United States relative to many other countries. This is also reflected in official government policy regarding women in athletics, specifically the landmark Title IX legislation, which broadly requires any educational institution that receives federal government funds to support men's and women's educational programs equally, thus including athletics. America's approach to growing the game among women has served as a model for"
"is played by over 250 million players in over 200 nations, and has the highest television audience in sport, making it the most popular in the world, American football, with 1.1 million high school football players and nearly 70,000 college football players, is the most popular sport in the United States, with the annual Super Bowl game accounting for nine of the top ten of the most watched broadcasts in U.S. television history. Australian rules football has the highest spectator attendance of all sports in Australia. Similarly, Gaelic football is the most popular sport in Ireland in terms of match"
"– Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL – officials are employed by their respective leagues. The sheer volume of games in the other three sports necessitates full-time officials; the NFL regular season is only 16 games long, compared to 162 games for MLB and 82 for the NBA and NHL. During the game, the officials are assisted in the administration of the game by other persons, including: a ""clock operator"" to start and stop the game clock (and possibly also the play clock); a chain crew who hold the ""down indicator"" and the ""line-to-gain chains"" on the sideline; and"
"annually since January 1944. American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport; the National Football League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super Bowl is watched by millions globally. Baseball has been regarded as the U.S. national sport since the late 19th century, with Major League Baseball (MLB) being the top league. Basketball and ice hockey are the country's next two leading professional team sports, with the top leagues being the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL). These four major sports, when played professionally,"
"Official (basketball) In basketball, an official (usually called a referee) enforces the rules and maintains order in the game. The title of official also applies to the scorers and timekeepers, as well as other personnel that have an active task in maintaining the game. Basketball is regarded as among the most difficult sports to officiate due to the speed of play, complexity of rules, the case-specific interpretations of rules, and the instantaneous decision required. There is one lead referee and one or two umpires, depending on whether there is a two- or three-person crew. In the NBA, the lead official"
"is called the crew chief and the other two officials are referees. In FIBA-sanctioned play, two-man crews consist of a referee and an umpire, and three-man crews contain a referee and two umpires. Regardless, both classes of officials have equal rights to control almost all aspects of the game. In most cases, the lead official (in FIBA, the referee) performs the jump ball to begin the contest, though NFHS and NCAA have allowed the referee to designate which official (referee or umpire) shall perform the jump ball. In American high school and college basketball, officials wear black-and-white-striped shirts with black"
"2009, there were 249 foreign players in the 1. Bundesliga, or 45% of all players. In the 2. Bundesliga, there are 145 foreign players, with a ratio of 31%. In the 3. Liga, the foreigner percentage is 15%. Football in Germany Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association ( or ) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (roughly eight percent of the population) organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga on top. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German"
"professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. The Super Bowl is among the biggest club sporting events in the world and individual Super Bowl games account for many of the most watched television programs in American history, all occupying the Nielsen's Top 5 tally of the all-time most watched U.S. television broadcasts by 2015. The NFL's executive officer is the commissioner, who has broad authority in governing the league. The players in the league belong to the National Football League Players Association. The team with the most NFL championships is"
"African-American, tensions between the players and the southern atmosphere became readily apparent. In terms of the South maintaining a sense of authority over blacks, in the year 20 ""92.5 percent of university presidents in the FBS were white, 87.5 percent of the athletic directors were white and 100 percent of the conference commissioners were white"". In comparison, ""roughly 31 percent of position coaches are black and 12 percent of coordinators were black. Out of the players in the FBS, roughly 54 percent are black"". Whereas the NFL has implemented the Rooney Rule in order to create opportunities for minority coaches,"
"fair play. Players call their own fouls, and dispute a foul only when they genuinely believe it did not occur. Playing without referees is the norm for league play but has been supplanted in club competition by the use of ""observers"" or ""game advisors"" to help in disputes, and the professional league employs empowered referees. In 2012, there were 5.1 million Ultimate players in the United States. Ultimate is played across the world in pickup games and by recreational, school, club, professional, and national teams at various age levels and with open, women's, and mixed divisions. The United States wins"
"Official (tennis) At the highest levels of the sport, a team of up to eleven officials may be on court at any given time. These officials are broken up into categories based on their responsibility during the match. Contrastingly, many tennis matches are conducted with no officials present directly on court. Tennis officials are certified by their respective national association. The ITF also certifies officials in the categories of chair umpire, referee and chief umpire. Each ITF certification or ""badge"" is broken into five certification levels. The first, green badge, is considered sufficient for officiating at the highest levels of"
"a ""line judge"", ""back judge"", ""field judge"" and ""side judge"", in the order listed: i.e. a crew of five officials has a referee, umpire, head linesman, line judge and back judge. Officials are selected by the teams in advance or appointed by the governing league. While the majority of officials at lower levels only officiate games on a part-time basis, the NFL is implementing a new system where seven officials will become full-time employees of the league, one for each official position (i.e. back judge, field judge, side judge, etc.). In the other three major North American professional sports leagues"
"ban on professionalism in 1893, whereupon 560 players were registered as professionals. This table details the year in which professionalism was introduced, country by country. ""See also Professional sports#Association football"" Professionalism in association football Association football is the world's most popular sport, and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a professional level by professional footballers, and millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite football teams, while billions more watch"
"Professionalism in association football Association football is the world's most popular sport, and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a professional level by professional footballers, and millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite football teams, while billions more watch the sport on television or on the internet. Football has the highest global television audience in sport. The sport had amateur origins and evolved into the modern professional competition. Association"
"women's football, compared to 9% for men and 17% for youth. There were 283 registered female players in 2016, with a decline in 2017 to 259 registered players. 61 of these players in 2017 were 18+, while 198 were youth players. The ratio of male to female coaches was 89:11 in 2017. 4 of these women coaches were UEFA B licence holders while another 4 were National C licence holders. There was one qualified female referee in the country in 2017, and she only worked women's games. Girls played football in mixed groups as part of their organized school curriculum."
"a peak audience of 2.4 million viewers for the final between the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder. Cricket in Australia Cricket is one of the most popular sports in Australia at international, domestic and local levels. The peak administrative body for both professional and amateur cricket is Cricket Australia. A record 1,311,184 people played cricket across Australia in 2015–16, an 8.5 per cent increase on 2014–15 – placing cricket at No.1 as the current top participation sport in Australia. Women participation also reached record figures in 2015–16, growing nine percent to 314,936 players. According to Cricket Australia's annual report of"
"by the host nation, which may include some team sports such as basketball. In 2015, the Commonwealth Games Federation agreed large changes to the programme which increased the number of core sports, whilst removing a number of optionals, those removed are listed below. Recognised sports are sports which have been approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation but which are deemed to need expansion; host nations may not pick these sports for their programme until the Federation's requirements are fulfilled. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest"
"the recruitment and hiring of officials for the tournament. During the tournament, the chief umpire assigns umpires to courts, subject to overrule by the referee. The chief umpire also collects scorecards from chair umpires at the conclusion of the match and thus may furnish the media with any factual information they may request. Official (tennis) At the highest levels of the sport, a team of up to eleven officials may be on court at any given time. These officials are broken up into categories based on their responsibility during the match. Contrastingly, many tennis matches are conducted with no officials"
"to be over- or under-represented. African Americans compose the highest percentage of the minority groups active at the professional level, but are among those who show the lowest participation overall. In 2013, while 2.8% of full-time degree-pursuing undergraduates were black men, the group comprised 57% of college football teams, and 64% of men's basketball players. While blacks predominate in football and basketball, whites predominate in all other regulated sports. A 2001 study indicated that black high school students play harder than white students, because the former were more likely to perceive sports as a venue to success. The study denies"
"most player appearances (not including manager appearances) are Barcelona with 44, Real Madrid (39), followed by Bayern Munich (20) and Milan (18). Barcelona has been the team with the most players selected in a single season with six players in 2009 and 2010. The only other teams with more than three players in one season are Bayern Munich, with four players in 2013 and five in 2014, and Real Madrid, with five players in 2017 and four in 2003, 2012–2014 and 2016. The manager with the most appearances is José Mourinho, with four appearances (one with Internazionale, two with Porto"
"have an easier time manipulating their body in the air. In association football, or soccer, a player's height may somewhat determine the position that they play; however, people of all heights have an equal opportunity to excel professionally at the sport. Goalkeepers, centre backs and ""target"" heading forwards tend to be taller, while players in wide and attacking positions tend to be shorter. A study of the greatest male players in history showed that the distribution of heights approximated the average man and, when also looking at the typical weight distribution, an estimated 95% of the world's population would fall"
"mostly by women is seen as a drawback. Netball does allow for mixed teams, but the Olympics did not include mixed sex team sports. Rugby sevens and golf, primarily played by men, were chosen for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics for both sexes ahead of netball. The issue of male over-representation in terms of total number of sports and athletes is structural. In the United Kingdom, for example, more male athletes than female ones receive financial support. Sports officials rationalise this uneven distribution by claiming that there are more opportunities for men to win at the highest level than"
"Oar Brad Smith Nathan Burns Bailey Wright Samantha Kerr Ellie Carpenter Clare Polkinghorne Katrina Gorry Hayley Raso Steph Catley Lisa De Vanna Caitlin Foord Soccer in Australia Soccer, also known as football, is the most played outdoor team sport in Australia, and ranks in the top ten for television audience. The national governing body of the sport is Football Federation Australia (FFA), which organises the A-League, W-League, and FFA Cup, as well as the men's and women's national teams (known as the Socceroos and the Matildas, respectively). The FFA comprises nine state and territory member federations, which oversee the sport"
"hockey players clocked average arrest rates of 553 and 175, respectively, over the same period. Neither the World Boxing Federation or the Nevada Athletics Commission have rules forbidding boxers to commit domestic violence or sexual assault.Floyd Mayweather, Jr, the world's highest-paid athlete is arguably the face of the sport. Floyd had been charged with domestic violence on more than one occasion, but rarely are they spoken of. Recently during the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight ESPN and HBO’s Michelle Beadle and CNN reporter Rachel Nichols, both of whom have covered Mayweather’s history of domestic violence, tweeted that Mayweather’s"
"The lack of diversity is still very apparent in golf today. Referring to quarterbacks, head coaches, and athletic directors, Kenneth L. Shropshire of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has described the number of African Americans in ""positions of power"" as ""woefully low"". In 2000, 78% of players in the NBA were black, but only 33% of NBA officials were minorities. The lack of minorities in positions of leadership has been attributed to racial stereotypes as well ""old boy networks"" and white administrators networking within their own race. In 2003, the NFL implemented the Rooney Rule, requiring teams"
"an overrepresentation of left-handedness, while non-interactive sports such as swimming show no overrepresentation. Smaller physical distance between participants increases the overrepresentation. In fencing, about half the participants are left-handed. Other, sports-specific factors may increase or decrease the advantage left-handers usually hold in one-on-one situations: According to a meta-analysis of 144 studies, totaling 1,787,629 participants, the best estimate for the male to female odds ratio was 1.23, indicating 23% more men are left-handed. 11% of men and 9% of women would be approximately 10% overall, at a 1.22 male to female odds ratio. A number of studies examining the relationship between"
"players who were actually full-time athletes hired as regular workers of a company (aircraft industry, food workers, tractor industry) or organization (KGB, Red Army, Soviet Air Force) that sponsored what would be presented as an after-hours social sports society team for their workers. Men involved in professional sports can earn a great deal of money at the highest levels. For instance, the highest-paid team in professional baseball is New York Yankees. Tiger Woods is the highest-paid athlete, totaling $127,902,706, including his endorsement income, which massively exceeds what he earns from tournament golf. Woods recently became the world's first athlete to"
"numbers equaling those of professional sports. College football games can draw over 100,000 spectators. For upper-tier institutions, sports are a significant source of revenue; for less prominent teams, maintaining a high-level team is a major expense. To ensure some semblance of competitive balance, the NCAA divides its institutions into three divisions (four in football), sorted by the number of athletic scholarships each school is willing to offer. The most practiced college sports, measured by NCAA reporting on varsity team participation, are: (1) football (64,000), (2) baseball/softball (47,000), (3) track and field (46,000), (4) soccer (43,000), (5) basketball (32,000), (6) cross-country"
"worldwide by national unions. It recorded a total of 6.6 million players globally, of those, 2.36 million were registered members playing for a club affiliated to their country's union. The 2016 World Rugby Year in Review reported 8.5 million players, of which 3.2 million were registered union players and 1.9 million were registered club players; 22% of all players were female. The most capped international player from the tier 1 nations is former New Zealand openside flanker and captain Richie McCaw who has played in 148 internationals. While the top scoring tier 1 international player is New Zealand's Dan Carter,"
"Sky Sports owns the rights to the game broadcasts, and highlights are rarely shown on network television. Research from 2003 stated that the majority of spectators are from the AB1 demographic group with a gender ratio of approximately 80% male and 20% female at live domestic professional matches. However, this is a general picture of the sport across the country as a whole and, in some parts of the country, the game has widespread grassroots support. This is particularly true of the West Country, especially in Cornwall and in the cities of Bath and Gloucester, where the game is substantially"
"Cricket in Australia Cricket is one of the most popular sports in Australia at international, domestic and local levels. The peak administrative body for both professional and amateur cricket is Cricket Australia. A record 1,311,184 people played cricket across Australia in 2015–16, an 8.5 per cent increase on 2014–15 – placing cricket at No.1 as the current top participation sport in Australia. Women participation also reached record figures in 2015–16, growing nine percent to 314,936 players. According to Cricket Australia's annual report of 2014–15, 1,208,360 Australians played formal, organised cricket during the year, an increase of nine percent over the"