Marciello raced away from the field on the lap ten restart after Engel was unable to select second gear owing to a full failure of his paddle shifter and could not drive at full speed. All other drivers were delayed as series regulations banned overtaking before the start/finish line immediately after the safety car's withdrawal. Engel dropped to 18th and drove slowly to the pit lane to retire his car, indirectly because of the safety car period. This promoted Mortara to second and Van Der Linde to third, with Marciello holding a 2.7-second lead. Attention focused on Mortara and Van Der Linde in the battle for second, until the latter made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 11 to replace a left-rear tyre puncture that was caused by on-track debris. Van Der Linde rejoined the track at the back of the field, moving his brandmate Farfus to third, who had overtaken Serra at the restart. On the penultimate lap, Estre collided with the barrier at Fisherman's Bend, removing his rear fender and dropping him from ninth to twelfth.
There were no more overtakes, as Marciello led every lap of the race weekend to clinch his second consecutive FIA GT World Cup victory following his first in 2019 and became the event's first repeat winner since it was first held in 2015. Mortara lagged behind the BMWs and Mercedes-AMGs in terms of acceleration and top speed on the long straights, finishing second 2.51 seconds later. Farfus finished third on the podium, ensuring that three different manufacturers were in the first three places. Serra was the highest-finishing rookie driver in fourth. Juncadella moved from ninth to fifth, ahead of Porsche's best-placed driver Vanthoor in sixth and Hasse was seventh. Picariello took eighth, Bamber came ninth and Ye was the highest-placed silver-ranked entrant in tenth and earned the Silver Cup. Cairoli, Estre, Cheng, Gounon, Preining, Van Der Linde and Lee were the final finishers.


The 2023 Macau Formula 4 Race, also called the 2023 Macau Asia Formula 4, was a Formula 4 (F4) motor race held on the Guia Circuit in Macau on 12 November 2023, as part of the 2023 Macau Grand Prix. It was the fourth F4 race in Macau, and it was an invitational, non-championship round of the 2023 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship. The event featured two races: a seven-lap qualifying race to determine the starting grid for the twelve-lap final race.
The race had 23 drivers and 11 teams. SJM Theodore Prema Racing's Arvid Lindblad, won the event from pole position after winning the qualification race earlier that day that he began from pole position after setting the fastest lap time in the half-hour qualifying session. Lindblad led every lap of the two races, which was hampered by inclement weather in the morning and included repeated deployments of the safety car due to driver accidents. His teammate Charles Leong came in second, followed by Rashid Al Dhaheri in third.


In early 2023, the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee and Shanghai-based motor racing championship promoter Top Speed began negotiations to include the Formula 4 (F4) junior single-seater car category in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix. If a higher single-seater category was not included in the 2023 Grand Prix meeting, the winner of the season-ending F4 Chinese Championship race would be named the Macau Grand Prix winner. It was held as part of the revived 2023 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship instead of the 2023 F4 Chinese Championship, which had been the case in the previous three editions of the event, and was an invitational, non-championship round. The event was held on the 24-turn clockwise 6.120 km (3.803 mi) Guia Circuit in the streets of the Chinese special administrative region of Macau on 12 November following a day of practice and qualifying. It was the fourth consecutive year that Macau hosted an F4 race after the category was added to the event owing to COVID-19 regulations that prevented the Formula Three round from being held.
Drivers invited to the race had to be at least 15 years old (with their birth date binding) and hold an International C or ASN national licence. The race accepted entries between 21 August and 15 September, with a maximum of 28 allowed. The entry list for 23 drivers and 11 teams was released on 25 October. Each driver competed in a Tatuus F4-T421 Gen 2 car equipped with the updated Fiat Abarth F413T turbocharged engine and the Halo cockpit protection device. Charles Leong, the two-time Macau Grand Prix winner, was among the drivers entered in the race. Martinius Stenshorne, the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship runner-up, returned to F4 racing with the Pinnacle Motorsport/B-MAX Racing team. There were three female drivers in the race: Bianca Bustamante, Miki Koyama and Vivian Siu. Budgetary constraints prevented Andy Chang, the 2022 Macau Grand Prix winner, from entering the event.


Drivers had a single 45-minute practice session to test their cars and become acquainted with the Guia Circuit on the morning of 11 November. SJM Theodore Prema Racing's Freddie Slater lapped fastest at 2:30.922, 17 minutes into the session. Stenshorne, Leong, Arvid Lindblad, Jack Beeton, Raphaël Narac, Rashid Al Dhaheri, Kevin Xiao, Ethan Ho and Enzo Yeh followed in positions two to ten. Thomas Leung crashed into the barrier, forcing practice to be halted after seven minutes so that his car could be recovered. Liu Kai Shun hit the wall at the Melco hairpin, breaking his front wing. Tiago Rodrigues hit him from behind, causing a three-car traffic jam that required a second stoppage before being cleared. Lindblad crashed at Lisboa Corner, prompting Hadrien David and Yeh to drive into the run-off area to avoid Lindblad's stalled car. Beeton had earlier struck the Fisherman's Bend corner wall; thus practice ended early with eight minutes left. The bottom of the barriers were severely damaged and required extensive repairs, while Beeton's car was tough to remove from the barrier before being loaded onto a flatbed truck.
Later that afternoon, a half-hour qualifying session determined the qualification race's starting order based on each driver's quickest lap time. Drivers who did not lap within 110 percent of the fastest entrant did not qualify for the event. The session's start was delayed by a quarter of an hour due to a slippery track in the last sector caused by a support race incident. Lindblad claimed pole position for the qualification race with a lap time of 2:24.293 on his final lap. He was joined on the front row by Slater, whose fastest lap was 0.549 seconds slower, while David was third. Both Leong and Al Dhaheri took fourth and fifth late in the session. Beeton took sixth, Narac seventh, Rodrigues eighth, and Stenshorne ninth. Ho completed the top ten qualifiers. Bustamante in 11th set her quickest lap at the end of qualifying and was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten places. Following her in the final places were Yeh, Liu Kai Shun, Koyama, Kai Daryanani, Xiao, Cheong, Chui Ka Kam, Ryuji "Dragon" Kumita, Marco Lau, Siu, Jaden Pariat and Leung. The final five qualifiers were outside the 110% limit but were allowed to compete in the qualifying race. Daryanani oversteered into the Lisboa corner wall, halting qualifying for five minutes after 12 minutes. Stenshorne broke his front-right wheel in an accident on the track's final sector, stopping qualifying for six minutes. With nine minutes remaining, Narac's front wing broke against the Solitude Esses turn barrier, and his car briefly rose while embedding itself into the wall. Qualifying was stopped for 13 minutes because recovery vehicles needed to return to their locations for future usage, extending the car's recovery time.


The qualifying race to set the main race's starting order began at 08:00 local time on 12 November and was scheduled to last eight laps. Rain and winds hit Macau that morning, causing standing water and a lack of grip on the wet circuit. Race organisers permitted drivers to conduct additional sighter laps to assess the conditions. Because of the weather and the large amount of spray, it was decided not to begin the race with a standing start but to hold the first two laps under safety car conditions, which made judging braking and turning into corners difficult when the lap began and ended because water could accumulate from being drained from other parts of the track. Liu spun into the pit lane straight barriers at the start of the second lap, causing damage to his front wing. Liu stopped against the wall at Reservoir Bend, extending the safety car period by one lap as it was tended to. The safety car led the field through the pit lane at the conclusion of the second lap and was withdrawn at the end of the following lap, during which time some water was removed from the course and spray levels fell.
At the start of lap four, Lindblad led Slater and David (who avoided an accident by regaining control of his car's loose rear at Fisherman's Bend turn and nearly losing third place to Leong) and drove away from the rest of the field. Daryanani retired after hitting the R Bend turn barrier before crossing the start/finish line, triggering the safety car's second deployment. To enable the recovery of Daryanani's stranded car, each driver had to go through the pit lane again. After Daryanani's car was removed from the track, the race restarted on lap six with Lindblad again leading from Slater and David. Lindblad pulled away from teammate Slater, while the other drivers chose alternative paths through the first sector to avoid spray. On the same lap, under pressure from Leong, David made a driver error and crashed into the barrier at the exit of Dona Maria corner. Leong was promoted to third, and the safety car was deployed for the third and final time on lap seven. During the safety car period, Stenshorne stopped on track at San Francisco Hill because of a mechanical issue and could not restart until the whole field had passed him.
The race concluded under safety car conditions due to the time limit expiring, and Lindblad led every lap of the qualification race to secure victory, ensuring he would start the main race on pole position. Slater came in second position, 0.758 seconds behind, and Leong finished third. Al Dhaheri, Beeto and Ho finished in positions four through six. On the final lap, Narac's front wing was damaged, and he was shown the mechanical flag (black and orange). As a result, he was unable to enter the pit lane for repairs and finished in seventh. The final classified finishers were Rodrigues, Bustamante and Yeh, Koyama, Xiao, Chui, Cheong, Leung, Dragon, Siu and Lau; Siu and Lau received drive-through penalties, which were converted into 30-second time penalties and added to their final race times, dropping them to 17th and 18th place, respectively.


The 12-lap final race began 29 minutes after its planned start time of 15:40 local time on 12 November. The grid was dry prior to the race due to improved weather conditions, albeit some dust patches were set on the circuit to dry spilt oil. Lindblad held off a challenge from teammate Slater to sneak around on the outside into the braking zone for Lisboa corner, causing his teammate to turn in later than usual despite locking his tyres and weaving left and right to try to get the latter out of his slipstream. Behind them, Koyama lost control of her car into Lisboa corner. She spun against the outside tyre barrier, causing her vehicle's rear to bounce back onto the track and obstruct the outside line. Bustamante was sighted and hit Koyama's rear before Xiao lightly struck her. Cheong and David were forced to halt because their pathways were obstructed, and the safety car was called in to help officials clear the collision scene.
At the lap three restart, Slater pushed Lindblad for the race lead until a suspected electronic control unit problem in his car in the centre of the Solitude Esses caused him to fall to the back of the field. This promoted Leong to second, Al Dhaheri to third and Beeton to fourth. Stenshorne had advanced from 19th to seventh place after passing Rodrigues on the fourth lap when the safety car was deployed for the second time when Lau crashed at Paiol corner and spilled oil on the track. Due to the oil on the circuit, the safety car was deployed for three laps before the race resumed on lap eight. Lindblad again maintained his lead and was briefly challenged by Leong in second before being pressured by Al Dhaheri in third due to a lack of pace, allowing Lindblad to move away to 2.7 seconds by the end of lap nine. David had overtaken Daryanani and Chui to move into tenth.
Leung collided with Liu on the way to Lisboa Corner, driving the latter into the outside wall. Instead of deploying a safety car for the accident, yellow flags were waved at Lisboa corner, stopping drivers from overtaking. Stenshorne collided into the Fisherman's Bend turn barrier, removing his front wing on the straight and promoting everyone behind him up a position. On lap ten, Xiao collided with the wall at Dona Maria corner, resulting in the safety car's third and final deployment. Lindblad won the race under safety car conditions, having led every lap of the weekend. Leong finished 0.274 seconds behind in second and Al Dhaheri was third. Beeton finished fourth, ahead of Ho, Rodrigues, David, Yeh, Slater and Daryanani. The final finishers were Chui, Cheong, Dragon and Siu; Narac retired from eighth on lap ten due to car damage.


The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game was the final game of the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. It determined the national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season and was contested by the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the Louisiana State (LSU) Tigers from the Southeastern Conference. The game was played on April 2, 2023, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. In the game, LSU defeated Iowa 102–85 to win their first national championship, setting a record for most points scored by a team in an NCAA women's basketball championship game. LSU's Angel Reese recorded a double-double and was voted the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the Final Four.
LSU's victory gave them their first women's basketball national championship and the fourth in the head coaching career of Kim Mulkey. Much media attention was directed to Angel Reese for a taunting gesture made to Iowa's Caitlin Clark near the end of the game, fomenting the Clark–Reese rivalry. LSU held a championship parade in Baton Rouge and were invited to the White House.
The championship game was televised on ABC and the broadcast broke numerous records, including the highest viewership for a women's college basketball game at 9.9 million; the semifinal game between Iowa and top-ranked South Carolina was itself the third-highest-viewed women's college basketball game in ESPN's history. It was also the most-viewed college sporting event ever shown on the ESPN+ streaming service, and the year-over-year viewership from the 2022 championship game more than doubled.


The Tigers, representing Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were led by second-year head coach Kim Mulkey for the 2022–23 season. LSU finished the regular season with a record of 27–1, and a conference record of 15–1. Their only loss during the regular season was an away game against South Carolina, ranked No. 1 by the AP Poll. They were seeded second in the SEC tournament, where they defeated Georgia before losing to Tennessee in the semifinals.
LSU received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament and were placed in the Greenville Regional 2 as the No. 3 seed. As a top-four seed, LSU hosted first- and second-round games at their home arena, Pete Maravich Assembly Center. LSU faced No. 14 seed Hawaii in their first-round game, and won 73–50; the other game played in Baton Rouge saw No. 6 seed Michigan defeat No. 11 seed UNLV, setting up a second-round matchup between LSU and Michigan. Two days later, on March 19, LSU defeated Michigan 66–42 to advance to the regional semifinals. They traveled to Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, for their next game against No. 2 seed Utah, where they won by three points. This placed them into the regional final round, where they defeated No. 9 seed Miami to advance to their fifth Final Four and their first since 2008. There, they were matched up against Virginia Tech, the No. 1 seed from the Seattle Regional 3. The Tigers were favored to win the game by two points and ended up winning by seven to advance to the national championship game.


The Hawkeyes, representing the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, were led by head coach Lisa Bluder in her 23rd season at the school. Ranked No. 4 in the AP preseason poll, they won their first three games of the season before suffering a loss to Kansas State. They participated in the Phil Knight Invitational tournament, where they defeated Oregon State but lost to No. 3 UConn and No. 12 NC State. They faced numerous other ranked teams throughout the season, with wins over No. 2 Ohio State, No. 8 Maryland, and No. 2 Indiana, and losses to No. 2 Indiana and No. 7 Maryland. They finished the regular season with a record of 23–6 and a conference record of 15–3. Caitlin Clark earned consensus national player of the year honors. The Hawkeyes received the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, where they defeated Purdue, Maryland, and Ohio State on consecutive days to win the conference championship.
Iowa received the Big Ten's automatic invitation to the NCAA tournament by virtue of their conference tournament championship and were selected as the No. 2 seed in the Seattle Regional 4. Like LSU, the Hawkeyes hosted first- and second- round games at their home arena, Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, and they defeated No. 15 seed Southeastern Louisiana in their first-round game. The other first-round game played in Iowa City saw No. 10 seed Georgia defeat No. 7 seed Florida State, and Iowa defeated Georgia by eight points in the second round to advance to the regional semifinal. There, they faced and defeated No. 6 seed Colorado at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, and took down No. 5 seed Louisville in a game whose viewership bested any NBA on ESPN broadcast during the 2022–23 season to reach the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993. They won 77–73 over defending national champion South Carolina, who were undefeated at 36–0, to reach the final; the game was widely viewed as an upset since South Carolina were "heavy favorites" not only to defeat Iowa but also to repeat as national champions. Further, the ESPN broadcast of the game drew 5.5 million viewers and set records as the most-watched NCAA semifinal and third-most-viewed women's college basketball game in ESPN's history.


LSU won the opening tip, but Iowa scored the game's first point with a two-point field goal from Monika Czinano. LSU's Flau'jae Johnson gave the Tigers their first lead seconds later with a three-point field goal, though Iowa took it back with shots made by Kate Martin and Caitlin Clark. The teams traded baskets and tied at 9–9 and 12–12 before a three-pointer by Kateri Poole and a free throw by Angel Reese put LSU in front by four points. The game was tied again shortly thereafter with back-to-back three pointers from Clark and a two-point jumper from Alexis Morris; a pair of free throws for each team tied it again at 20 points apiece with under three minutes remaining. With under a minute remaining, LSU took their largest lead of the quarter—five points—after Jasmine Carson made a three-point jumper, and the quarter ended with LSU maintaining this lead; the score was 27–22 in favor of the Tigers.
Iowa regained the lead two minutes into the second quarter; three-pointers from Gabbie Marshall and Martin brought the deficit within one point and a layup by Hannah Stuelke put Iowa in front. LSU retook the lead within a minute and expanded it to seven points with three-pointers made by Carson and Last-Tear Poa. Free throws and layups allowed Iowa to make up some of the deficit, but back-to-back three-point shots by Carson pushed LSU's lead to as many as thirteen points with four minutes until halftime. After a layup by Marshall, the score remained 49–38 for nearly a minute until Iowa's McKenna Warnock made a free throw. Poa's three-pointer immediately afterwards bumped the Tigers' lead back to thirteen, and the teams traded jumpers until the final thirty seconds of the half, when Johnson scored a layup and a turnover by Martin led to a three-pointer by Carson with one second remaining. LSU led at halftime by a score of 59–42.


LSU built on to their lead by scoring the first four points of the second half through LaDazhia Williams and Reese. A three-pointer by Clark with 7:56 remaining started a run for Iowa that saw the Hawkeyes score twelve consecutive points, which cut LSU's lead from 21 points down to nine. The lead narrowed further after Clark made another three-pointer with 5:22 to play, and back-to-back layups by the Tigers were followed by a Clark three-pointer that kept the deficit at nine points. Both teams traded field goals for the next two minutes; a pair of free throws by Morris with 1:03 on the clock ended up being the final points scored before the end of the third quarter. Iowa outscored LSU by six points in the third quarter, and trailed 75–64 entering the fourth.
Iowa scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, cutting LSU's lead to eight points, before two jumpers by Morris and a layup by Williams pushed it to 14. Two free throws by Czinano and a layup by Warnock for Iowa were countered by a layup by Reese and a jumper by Morris for LSU, leaving the Tigers' lead at 14. Clark's three-pointer with 5:21 remaining shrunk LSU's lead to 13 points, though a jump shot by Morris just under a minute later bumped their lead to 16 points. Clark and Williams traded layups, and a jumper by Morris with under two minutes left made the score 95–82. After a pair of fouls on Iowa, Poole made a three-pointer to extend the lead to sixteen points. Carson then made one of her two free throws with 53 seconds remaining to make the score 99–82. Martin scored Iowa's final points with a three-pointer assisted by Molly Davis, and the game's final points were scored on a three-pointer by Morris with 27 seconds remaining to push the score to 102–85. Marshall attempted a three-pointer for the Hawkeyes with 15 seconds left, but she missed and a rebound by Williams allowed LSU to run out the clock and secure the 17-point victory for their first national championship in program history.
Reese was named the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the Final Four; she finished the championship game with a double-double, scoring 15 points and securing 10 rebounds, and tallied a season-high five assists. She was named to the all-tournament team alongside teammates Morris and Carson, Iowa's Clark, and Zia Cooke of South Carolina. Clark, the consensus National Player of the Year, led all scorers with 30 points and set a record with 191 total points over the course of the tournament. The game set several offensive and scoring records: LSU's 102 total points were the fourth-most they had scored in a game during the season and the most that had ever been scored in an NCAA Division I women's championship game; Iowa's 85 points also marked the most points ever scored by the losing team in a women's championship game. Additionally, LSU's 59 points in the first half marked a new NCAA women's championship game record.
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey became the first coach to win a Division I women's basketball national championship as the head coach at two different schools with the victory; she won three during her tenure as the head coach at Baylor from 2000 to 2021.
The next night, Reese's cousin Jordan Hawkins helped the University of Connecticut win its fifth men's title in school history.


The championship game was televised in the United States by ABC, with Ryan Ruocco on play-by-play commentary, Rebecca Lobo as the analyst, and Holly Rowe and Andraya Carter as sideline reporters. The broadcast broke several records including the largest-ever viewership for a women's college basketball game, with 9.9 million viewers and a peak viewership of 12.6 million. This marked an increase in viewership of 103% from the championship game the year prior (which was televised exclusively by ESPN in primetime), and was also the most-viewed college sporting event ever shown on the ESPN+ streaming service.
The records broken by this game were consistent with a larger trend in women's basketball and women's sports more broadly: the WNBA saw a 16% increase in viewership during its 2022 season—its most-watched in 14 years—compared to the season before.


In the immediate aftermath of the game, much attention was directed to a gesture made by Angel Reese towards Caitlin Clark. Near the end of the fourth quarter, Reese was seen making a gesture that involved moving her hand in front of her face, a taunt popularized by John Cena, before pointing to her ring finger in an allusion to a championship ring. These taunts drew criticism from some journalists and analysts, but Reese later defended the gesture and remarked on a similar gesture made by Clark to an opponent during Iowa's regional final game against Louisville.
The backlash Reese (who is Black) received on social media—the term "classless" trended on Twitter shortly after the end of the game—prompted some to point out a potential double standard as Clark (who is white) received no similar backlash for her similar actions, instead receiving praise from Cena himself for the move and her performance in that game. Reese said that the criticism was tied to her identity and that she was considered "too hood" and "too ghetto" to "fit the narrative."
LSU held a championship parade in Baton Rouge on April 5; the parade route ended at their home arena, Pete Maravich Assembly Center. A celebration inside the arena took place afterwards. Following the game, First Lady Jill Biden commended Iowa for their sportsmanship and praised both teams on their play. She remarked that she wanted Iowa to be invited to the White House along with LSU, as an addition to the custom of the president and first lady hosting the national champions. This comment drew ire from several people, including Reese, Alexis Morris, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith, and Representative Troy Carter, and the matter was clarified the following day by Biden's press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia, who said that LSU would be the only team invited to the White House celebration. Reese remarked that she would decline the invitation, and said that she would rather visit the Obama family instead of the Bidens, though she ultimately attended the White House visit alongside the rest of the team on May 26, 2023.


The 2023 season was the 40th season of Seattle Sounders FC, a professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was their 15th year in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of American soccer, and the 40th season played by a professional team bearing the Sounders name, which originated in 1974 with the first incarnation of the franchise. The team was under the management of Brian Schmetzer in his seventh full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders.
Seattle had won the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League and qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup, which was played in early February. Following a preseason camp in Spain, the team traveled to Morocco and played Egypt's Al Ahly in the second round, where they lost 1–0. The Sounders returned to the United States and played in the MLS regular season from February to October; they finished second in the Western Conference and qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season. In the playoffs, the Sounders eliminated FC Dallas in a best-of-three series but lost to defending champions Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference Semifinals.
The team entered the 2023 U.S. Open Cup in the third round and defeated San Diego Loyal SC of the USL Championship before losing to the LA Galaxy in the round of 32. The Sounders also played in the 2023 Leagues Cup, which featured every MLS and Liga MX team, and finished third in their group behind CF Monterrey and Real Salt Lake. Jordan Morris led the team in scoring with 14 goals across all competitions. At their home stadium Lumen Field, the Sounders drew an average attendance of 32,161 during the regular season, the third-best figure in MLS.


Early in the 2022 season, the Sounders won the CONCACAF Champions League by defeating UNAM of Liga MX. They became the first Major League Soccer team to win the CONCACAF Champions League and third to win an international CONCACAF competition. The season ended with the team missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since joining the league, snapping a 13-year streak—among the longest in professional North American sports at the time. Four Sounders players were called up to international teams for the 2022 FIFA World Cup: forward Jordan Morris and midfielder Cristian Roldan for the United States; defender Nouhou for Cameroon; and defender Xavier Arreaga for Ecuador.
The 2023 season was the first with jersey sponsor Providence Health & Services. The choice of Providence as sponsor was criticized by fans and several organizations, including the Emerald City Supporters and the Sounders FC Alliance Council, due to the healthcare system's policies on abortion and transgender care, as well as its treatment of low-income patients. A new secondary kit to honor Bruce Lee was unveiled during preseason; it was primarily red with a dragon pattern as an homage to his final film, Enter the Dragon, and included the seal of Lee's Jeet Kune Do martial art. It was also the first under a broadcast contract with Apple TV+, which offered all league matches through its MLS Season Pass streaming platform. The club's television play-by-play commentator, Keith Costigan, joined Apple's national broadcast team while other members moved to the retained radio broadcast or other roles. A limited number of MLS matches were also broadcast on U.S. television by Fox Sports, including six that featured the Sounders.


Following the end of the 2022 season, general manager Garth Lagerwey departed Seattle to become president of Atlanta United FC. He was replaced by technical director Craig Waibel on November 30. During the offseason, the Sounders exercised their contract options on most of their roster with the exception of forward Will Bruin and midfielder Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez; defender Jimmy Medranda was also released into free agency. The club had 11 players with guaranteed contracts through the 2023 season, including most of their veteran squad. In late December, the club acquired forward Héber through a trade with New York City FC. Seattle also signed two Homegrown Players, midfielder Sota Kitahara and goalkeeper Jacob Castro. The club's two SuperDraft picks, forward Eythor Bjørgolfsson and defender Blake Bowen, were signed by reserve side Tacoma Defiance after training with the first team.
The Sounders opened their training camp at Starfire Sports in Tukwila on January 4, 2023, with a full roster of healthy outfield players following the return of João Paulo and Obed Vargas from their 2022 injuries. The team played several intra-squad scrimmages during their Seattle training camp due to difficulty finding MLS and USL Championship teams with open schedules. The Sounders moved to Marbella, Spain, in late January as part of preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup hosted in Morocco the following month. There, the club was split into separate teams for scrimmages on January 28 against two European teams: a scoreless draw with Wolfsberger AC of Austria and a 3–2 loss to Swedish side Hammarby IF.
Seattle entered the Club World Cup in the second round and lost 1–0 to Egypt's Al Ahly, conceding a deflected goal in the 88th minute. They were the first MLS team to play in the Club World Cup and earned $1 million in prize money as a participant. The team were eliminated from the tournament, but a month later qualified for the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as one of four CONCACAF entrants—all recent Champions League winners. Following their return from Morocco, the Sounders played a closed-door scrimmage against Louisville City FC of the USL Championship and won 2–1 with a set of rotated lineups. Several players remained in limited training through the end of February due to injuries and fatigue, including Vargas and striker Raúl Ruidíaz.


The Sounders opened their MLS regular season campaign on February 26 at home against the Colorado Rapids. The team earned a 4–0 win—Cristian Roldan scored the opening goal of the season and was followed by Jordan Morris' pair of headers. Héber also scored in his MLS debut for the club. Morris and Héber scored a goal each in the following week's 2–0 victory over Real Salt Lake at home. Héber later suffered a hamstring injury during training and was replaced in the starting lineup by Fredy Montero, who had returned to the Sounders on a renewed one-year contract. Seattle's first away match of the season ended in a 1–0 loss to FC Cincinnati despite the home side earning a red card. A late equalizing goal by Yeimar Gómez Andrade was called off by the video assistant referee due to a foul in the build-up.
The team earned their third home shutout in a scoreless draw with reigning MLS Cup 2022 champions Los Angeles FC. Ruidíaz returned to the starting lineup, but was substituted early due to injury concerns. The Sounders played against Sporting Kansas City with several positional changes due to the absence of six players who had been called up to international teams. Jordan Morris became the first Sounders player to score four goals—all assisted by Léo Chú—in the club's 4–1 victory, their first on the road since July 2022. Morris was moved from the wing to the center forward position to compensate for the loss of Ruidíaz and Héber, but their recovery left the Sounders with more offensive options. In an interview, manager Brian Schmetzer stated that "Sounders fans should be happy because we've got a really freakin' good team."


Morris scored his fifth consecutive goal for the club in a 2–1 win over the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The goal was assisted by Chú, who also scored from outside the 18-yard box in the first half. The Galaxy cut the lead by a goal and made several unsuccessful attempts to score an equalizer; the team appealed for a penalty following an alleged handball by Nouhou in stoppage time, but were denied. Goalkeeper Stefan Frei finished the match with seven saves and tied Osvaldo Alonso for the most MLS starts in club history at 322 matches. Brian Schmetzer also became the third-fastest coach in MLS history to reach 100 wins, having done so in 212 matches. During a home match the following week, the Sounders earned a 3–0 victory over expansion team St. Louis City SC to replace them atop the Western Conference. Josh Atencio scored his first career MLS goal, while Raúl Ruidíaz returned as a substitute and scored his first goal since September 2022.
The Sounders traveled to Portland and faced their local rivals, the Timbers, without starting midfielders Cristian Roldan and Albert Rusnák, who were both injured. Ruidíaz scored the opening goal of the match in the 58th minute, but the Timbers scored four goals to earn their fourth consecutive win against the Sounders. After the match, Schmetzer called the result an "emotional punch to the jaw" and said that the Sounders "have to get back to understanding that this is a rivalry"; he also attributed the shift in momentum to his substitution of Léo Chú for Héber and uncharacteristic defensive mistakes. Ruidíaz suffered a hamstring strain during the match and was later ruled out for four to five weeks; Cristian Roldan, still under concussion protocols, and left-back Nouhou were also unavailable for the next match at home against Minnesota United FC. Rusnák scored his first goal of the season in the 1–0 victory over Minnesota in the 79th minute, ending a defensive deadlock that had limited scoring chances for the Sounders.
The club entered the U.S. Open Cup in the third round along with other lower-ranked MLS teams and hosted San Diego Loyal SC of the second-division USL Championship at Starfire Sports in Tukwila. The Sounders fielded a lineup of reserves with eight players making their 2023 debuts—including several players from reserve side Tacoma Defiance on temporary contracts—to rest starters for upcoming league matches. The hosts took a 2–0 lead over San Diego in the opening half-hour, but conceded a penalty in the 53rd minute that was converted by Joe Corona. The Sounders reclaimed their two-goal lead but conceded twice—a free kick from Corona and a long-distance strike by Kyle Adams in stoppage time—to finish regulation time at 3–3. In extra time, Reed Baker-Whiting scored from outside the box for Seattle, but San Diego's Jackson Kasanzu headed an equalizer shortly after entering as a substitute. Kasanzu conceded a penalty in stoppage time that was converted by Fredy Montero for his second goal of the game as the Sounders won 5–4 and advanced in the U.S. Open Cup for the first time since 2017.


The Sounders returned to MLS play with a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake in Utah, where the team had only won once in fifteen previous regular season matches. Defender Kelyn Rowe started the match and left in stoppage time with a knee injury; he had replaced Nouhou after the latter contracted malaria. Defiance defender Cody Baker was signed to a short-term contract to replace Rowe ahead of the next match at home against Sporting Kansas City, which the Sounders would play without the injured Roldan and Ruidíaz, as well as João Paulo for yellow card accumulation. Sporting Kansas City earned their first win of the season after scoring twice in the opening half-hour; Montero earned a penalty for the Sounders in the second half that was converted by Lodeiro, but the team lost 2–1, their first loss and non-shutout at home in 2023. The Sounders were eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup in the round of 32, played a few days later, by losing 3–1 on the road to the LA Galaxy. The club fielded six reserve and youth players alongside Fredy Montero and Xavier Arreaga, but conceded two goals to Memo Rodríguez in the second half. Paul Rothrock scored his second goal of the tournament for the Sounders from a header in the 68th minute, shortly after Rodríguez's first goal.
A few days after their elimination from the U.S. Open Cup, the team traveled to play the Houston Dynamo with both Baker and Rothrock signing an additional short-term contract to fill in for injured first-team players. The match was disrupted in the first half by a weather delay and included two red cards shown to Dynamo players; the sole goal in the 1–0 away victory was scored by Rothrock in the 87th minute. A total of eight players who appeared during the match against the Dynamo had been developed in the Sounders academy, setting a club record. The Sounders returned home to play Austin FC, who snapped an eight-match winless streak with a 2–1 midweek win at Lumen Field; after several substitutions, Fredy Montero scored for Seattle in the 79th minute and the team unsuccessfully pushed for an equalizer. The Sounders then lost 2–0 on the road to Vancouver Whitecaps FC, conceding a goal to Pedro Vite in the first half and an own goal by Stefan Frei in the second; the result dropped the team to second in the Western Conference.
The Sounders began a three-match homestand with a 1–0 win against the New York Red Bulls, who they played for the first time in four years. Morris scored the lone goal of the match in the 22nd minute, but was substituted three minutes later due to a groin injury; Seattle maintained a shutout despite losing João Paulo, who was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the second half. In a midweek home match, the Sounders lost 1–0 to the San Jose Earthquakes, who broke a 14-match away winless streak. Jeremy Ebobisse scored early in the second half as the hosts made 23 shots that forced eight saves out of Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel. The team finished May still atop the Western Conference standings and only one home win in four matches at Lumen Field.


On June 3, the Sounders and women's team OL Reign held a doubleheader event at Lumen Field, their shared home venue, against their respective Portland rivals. The clubs sold 42,054 tickets to the doubleheader, which began with a scoreless draw between the Sounders and Timbers; it was the 100th MLS shutout for Frei and also marked the return of Cristian Roldan following his concussion. After the match, Schmezter stated that the team had "dropped points" but he "believe[d] in the process that we have" especially as players returned from injuries; the Sounders had only scored four goals over an eight-match stretch that included four losses. The team then traveled to play Charlotte FC with Roldan and Ruidíaz returning to the starting lineup for the first time since early April. The Sounders took the lead three times through a first-half goal by Roldan and a brace from Ruidíaz, but the match ended in a 3–3 draw.
The team took a break from play during the mid-June international window and lost Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan, and Alex Roldán to national team call-ups ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Sounders played mid-week on the road against Los Angeles FC and lost 1–0 after conceding a goal in the first minute and struggled to find a chance to equalize. They returned home and played Orlando City SC to a scoreless draw to continue their month-long winless streak; Ruidíaz was absent for the match to attend a family funeral. The five-match winless streak for the Sounders ended on July 1 with a 1–0 win at home against the Houston Dynamo, who again had a player sent off. Rusnák scored the lone goal of the match in the 67th minute.
The Sounders traveled to Vancouver for their next match but would play with goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland replacing Stefan Frei, who had a concussion during training. The team won 3–2 after trailing twice against the Whitecaps and not earning a penalty for a potential handball in the box. Léo Chú scored two equalizing goals in the 60th and 76th minutes from set-pieces that were assisted by defender Jackson Ragen's headers. The winning goal was created in stoppage time by Chú's cross into the box, which was deflected to reach Yeimar Gómez Andrade, who scored from inside the box. In their second away match of the week, the Sounders lost 2–0 to the San Jose Earthquakes, who won the Heritage Cup as a result. San Jose scored from a penalty kick in the 19th minute and a volley shot off a corner kick in the second half, while Seattle were limited to two shots on goal. The Sounders returned home to face FC Dallas with their full contingent of starting players after the conclusion of the Gold Cup. The teams played to a 1–1 draw that began with an own goal by Dallas defender Sam Junqua and was followed by a Bernard Kamungo header to equalize in the first half. Seattle entered the Leagues Cup break at fourth place in the Western Conference.


In July and August, MLS play halted for the Leagues Cup, an international competition with Liga MX clubs hosted in the United States and Canada. The Sounders were drawn into group West 2 alongside Real Salt Lake and Liga MX's Monterrey. They opened the tournament on the road with a loss to Real Salt Lake after a scoreless first half. The Sounders made several half-time substitutions and called for a penalty early, but instead conceded from a counter-attack while disputing the referee's non-call. Real Salt Lake defender Marcelo Silva was shown a red card in the 60th minute for a foul, but the hosts won 3–0. The Sounders hosted Monterrey in the final matchday of the group stage and scored two goals in the first ten minutes, but then conceded four goals—including a hat-trick by Germán Berterame—to lose 4–2. The team were eliminated from the Leagues Cup and finished third in group West 2; their next match would be 20 days later in mid-August.


The Sounders returned to regular season play on August 20 by hosting Atlanta United FC at Lumen Field under hazy conditions due to nearby wildfires. The team lost 2–0 as Atlanta's Giorgos Giakoumakis scored in the 11th and 65th minutes to beat Stefan Frei, who had been named captain and set a new club record for appearances in all competitions with his 340th match. The Sounders had several chances in the second half, but were unable to convert them. In their next match, on the road against Minnesota United FC, the Sounders made several positional changes and earned a draw. Both goals in the 1–1 draw were created through headers by Yeimar—a 17th-minute goal for the Sounders and an own goal in the second half—and Frei made three saves in the last minutes of the game.
The team ended their six-match run without a win by defeating Austin FC 2–1 during an away game at the end of August. The Sounders took the lead early in the second half through Jordan Morris while Frei made several saves to prevent Austin from scoring a second goal; both Morris's goal and a Frei save minutes later were reviewed by the video assistant referee but allowed to stand. The winning goal was scored at the beginning of stoppage time by Albert Rusnák after he received a rebound from an earlier shot by Obed Vargas. The Sounders then hosted the Portland Timbers in their penultimate Cascadia Cup fixture of the season; the home side took a 2–0 lead in the first half through goals by Raúl Ruidíaz and Léo Chú, who was sent off in the 53rd minute for his second yellow card of the match. The Timbers equalized through a pair of goals three minutes apart, but were held to a 2–2 draw after several saves from Frei. The two goals were the most the Sounders had scored at Lumen Field since April but extended a six-year home winless streak against the Timbers.
The Sounders began a three-match road trip by playing FC Dallas to a 1–1 draw that saw the return of Cristian Roldan following his concussion treatments. Dallas took the lead in the first half, but Alex Roldán's volley off a cross by Reed Baker-Whiting in the 57th minute tied the score. The team traveled to play the Colorado Rapids later in the week and won 2–1 to maintain their second-place rank in the Western Conference. Chú returned from his suspension to score the opening goal in the 34th minute, which was followed by Rusnák's header in the second half from a Cristian Roldan cross; the Rapids scored in the 80th minute, but were unable to find an equalizer and lost to the Sounders at home for the first time since 2018. After a one-week bye, they finished the road trip with a scoreless draw against Nashville SC. Héber's goal for the Sounders in the 58th minute was disallowed after video review due to an offside.


The team clinched a playoff berth on October 4 with their 2–1 defeat of the LA Galaxy, their first home win since July. The Sounders took the lead in the ninth minute through a header from Jordan Morris, but conceded an equalizer early in the second half; Cristian Roldan scored the winning goal in stoppage time off a throw-in by Alex Roldan that was headed towards him by Josh Atencio. Seattle's final home regular season match was played three days later against Vancouver Whitecaps FC with 33,666 in attendance. It finished in a scoreless draw as Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka made five saves. The result dropped the Sounders to third in the Western Conference.
On Decision Day, the Sounders defeated conference leaders St. Louis City SC 2–0 on the road and clinched second in the Western Conference; with a loss, the team could have finished as low as sixth. Both goals were scored in the first half, beginning with Rusnák's shot from distance in the 23rd minute, which was followed by Reed Baker-Whiting's attempt that was deflected by Tim Parker as an own goal. St. Louis were awarded a penalty kick for a foul by Cristian Roldan on Niko Gioacchini in the 66th minute, but it was rescinded after video review due to the lack of contact.
Seattle finished the regular season with a 14–9–11 record and were undefeated in their final nine matches. Stefan Frei set a team record for the most shutouts in a season at 14, surpassing his total in the 2017 season. Jordan Morris was the top goalscorer during the regular season with 11 goals in 26 matches. The Sounders had an average attendance of 32,161 spectators per home match, the third highest in the league.


As the second-place team in the Western Conference, the Sounders were paired with seventh-placed FC Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, which would be played as a best-of-three series. The team hosted the opening match at Lumen Field and won 2–0 with Rusnák's penalty kick before half-time and a header by Morris off Nouhou's cross in the 74th minute. Stefan Frei made four saves to keep a shutout after several turnovers gave Dallas opportunities to shoot on goal. In the second game, the Sounders lost 3–1 after a penalty kick was awarded to Dallas by the video assistant referee in the 13th minute and a second goal five minutes later. Morris scored after half-time and had another goal that was ruled offside; a foul on Ruidíaz in the 75th minute was recommended for a potential penalty kick by the video assistant referee but was not awarded. A berth in the Conference Semifinals was clinched on November 10 with a 1–0 home victory, giving the Sounders a 2–1 result in the best-of-three series. Rusnák scored the lone goal of the match in the 36th minute amid several Seattle chances that missed or were saved by Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes.
The playoffs paused for three weeks due to an international break and resumed with the Conference Semifinals. The Sounders hosted defending MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference Semifinals on November 26 and lost 1–0 after they conceded a goal to Denis Bouanga in the 30th minute. The Sounders had the majority of chances to score but failed to beat goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, who made seven saves. Referee Ted Unkel was criticized by media and fans for his officiating during the match, particularly missed calls that would have been in Seattle's favor. The defeat marked the end of a 19-match unbeaten streak at home in the playoffs for the Sounders and was their first home playoff loss since 2013.


The 19th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup took place from February 1 to 11 in Morocco. The Sounders entered in the second round and were drawn against the winner of the first match, to be played between the OFC champion Auckland City FC of New Zealand and the CAF Champions League runners-up Al Ahly of Egypt. The winner of the second round match would play Real Madrid CF, the winners of the UEFA Champions League.


The Major League Soccer schedule was released on December 20, 2022. The Sounders played 34 matches—mostly against opponents from the Western Conference—during the regular season from February 26 to October 21.


The 2023 edition of the MLS Cup Playoffs was contested by the top nine teams in each conference beginning on October 25 and culminating with the MLS Cup final on December 9. The top seven teams in the conference qualified for Round One, a best-of-three series, along with the winner of a wild card match between the eighth and ninth seeds. The remaining rounds were single-elimination matches.


The Sounders entered the 2023 U.S. Open Cup in the third round as part of the lower tranche of MLS teams, as determined by their final position in the 2022 regular season. The third round's matchups were decided in a regionalized draw on April 6.


The 2023 Leagues Cup, an expanded version of the inter-league competition between MLS and Liga MX hosted in the United States and Canada, began on July 21. All MLS matches were paused until the end of the tournament on August 19. The Sounders were drawn into group West 2 alongside Real Salt Lake and Liga MX's Monterrey; the schedule for the tournament was announced on March 9, 2023. MLS teams played a minimum of two matches in the tournament, of which they hosted at least one.


For the 2023 season, the Sounders were permitted a maximum of 30 signed players on the first team, of which 10 roster positions were designated for supplemental and reserve players. A base salary cap of $5.21 million applied to the non-supplemental players with exceptions for certain categories, including the club's three designated players—Nicolás Lodeiro, Raúl Ruidíaz, and Albert Rusnák—who each counted for a reduced amount. Seattle's player wages at the end of the season totaled approximately $19.2 million, ranking seventh among MLS teams. The Sounders were allocated eight international slots that could be filled by players from outside the United States who did not have a green card. By the end of preseason, the team had three remaining open slots and two occupied slots; the other three were sold to other teams.


As of August 15, 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad includes all players who had first team contracts or appearances during the 2023 season across all competitions. Ages listed for each player is calculated from February 26, 2023, the first matchday of the MLS regular season.


As of May 10, 2023
Players called up to the first team from Tacoma Defiance for matches outside the regular season and playoffs, such as the U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup, are listed here.


A total of 27 players made at least one appearance for the Sounders during the 2023 season across all competitions. Midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro and defender Yeimar Gómez Andrade appeared in the most matches (40); Stefan Frei made the most appearances as goalkeeper, at 38 matches. Jordan Morris was the team's leading goalscorer in 2023 with 14 goals, while captain Nicolás Lodeiro had the most assists at 11 in the regular season and playoffs.


The MLS season has two transfer windows during which teams could register new players from outside of the league and those who required an International Transfer Certificate. The primary window was scheduled from January 31 to April 24; it was followed by a secondary window from July 5 to August 2 and a roster freeze date of September 15. Between the transfer windows, teams are allowed to sign free agents or other U.S.-based players, including those traded between MLS teams for other players, general allocation money, or various league slots.
For transfers in, dates listed are when Seattle Sounders FC officially signed the players to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For transfers out, dates listed are when Seattle Sounders FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, his new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when he was officially removed from the Seattle Sounders FC roster.


Draft picks were not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract were listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft are listed in the notes.


Two Sounders players were finalists for MLS's year-end individual awards: Yeimar Gómez Andrade for Defender of the Year and João Paulo for Comeback Player of the Year for his recovery from a 2022 anterior cruciate ligament injury. Stefan Frei, who had the most shutouts in the 2023 regular season, was not nominated for Goalkeeper of the Year. No Sounders players won league awards or were named to the MLS Best XI. Frei was named the Sounders' most valuable player and humanitarian of the year in the team's annual awards, which were announced in December 2023.


The Sounders finished the season with the best defense in MLS but one of the worst scoring records, blamed on an inability to finish goalscoring chances. The team is expected to make several major offseason transactions to replace players who have left or had their contracts expire. Among the departures was captain Nicolás Lodeiro, who became a free agent and signed with Orlando City SC during the offseason. The 2024 season marks the club's 50th anniversary and includes the use of a new crest and the opening of the Sounders FC Center at Longacres, a new training facility in Renton, Washington.


On 18 December 2023, a series of mass protests began in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, after the parliamentary and Belgrade City Assembly elections on 17 December. The protests were organised by the opposition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition, the Students Against Violence (later Struggle) youth organisation, and the ProGlas initiative.
According to monitoring and non-governmental organisations, such as CeSID, CRTA, and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the election day was marked with electoral fraud, with irregularities such as vote buying, ballot-box stuffing, Bulgarian train, and group voting occurring. The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) denied all the allegations. In Belgrade, the election also resulted in a hung parliament, considering that no side had a majority to form a government. During the protests, the organisers called for the annulment of the results. Seven representatives of the SPN were also on hunger strike during the protests, with Marinika Tepić being the longest one, totaling 13 days. On 24 December, a riot broke out after an unsuccessful attempt by opposition councillors to enter the building of the City Assembly of Belgrade.
The protests lasted until 30 December; at that point, all seven representatives of the SPN ended their hunger strike. Two minor protests were also held in January 2024. The protests received criticism from the government and Russia, either comparing the protests to Euromaidan or alleging that Western powers supported the protests. After the protests, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the 17 December elections, calling for an international investigation due to the fraud, while the City Assembly of Belgrade failed to constitute and a new election was organised for 2 June 2024. The opposition lost, while the ruling SNS regained its majority in the body.


In May 2023, a school shooting happened in the Vračar municipality of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, followed by a mass murder in the villages of Dubona, Mladenovac and Malo Orašje, Smederevo. Mass protests, named Serbia Against Violence, began shortly after the shootings. Organisers demanded the resignation of government ministers, halting and cancelling the broadcast of reality programs and shows that promote violence on television with a national frequency, banning print media whose content promotes violence, publishes fake news, and violates the Journalistic Code, and confiscating the national frequency of Pink and Happy television channels. These protests lasted until November 2023.
Opposition parties organising the protests formed the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition for the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections, which were scheduled for 17 December 2023. According to reports of those who monitored the elections, including CeSID, CRTA, and Kreni-Promeni organisations, the elections on 17 December were marked by electoral fraud. Domestic and international observers reported irregularities such as vote buying and ballot-box stuffing. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that the electoral campaign was characterised by "harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees, and misuse of public resources". The Belgrade City Assembly election did not have a winner due to Branimir Nestorović's We – Voice from the People organisation unexpectedly gaining representation in the body; neither the government and the opposition won a majority.
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded that SNS had a "systematic advantage that created unfair conditions in the elections" (imala sistematsku prednost koja je stvorila nepravedne uslove na izborima) and that Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, heavily dominated the election campaign, despite not being a candidate in it. Stefan Schennach, the chief of the delegation of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that monitored the elections, said that "the elections were not fair" (to nisu bili fer izbori) and that "the victory in Belgrade was stolen from the opposition" (da je pobeda u Beogradu ukradena opoziciji). Vučić and SNS denied all allegations of electoral fraud. Ana Brnabić, the prime minister of Serbia, accused the opposition and CRTA of "destabilising the country and the constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia" (destabilizuju zemlju i uruše ustavni poredak Republike Srbije).


The first protest was organised by SPN outside of the building of the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) on 18 December. At the protest, SPN announced that they would reject the Belgrade City Assembly election results, citing irregularities that took place during the election. They also demanded the annulment of the election results and the "cleaning" (čišćenje) and updating of the voter list. Marinika Tepić and Miroslav Aleksić, the main representatives of SPN, announced that they would go on a hunger strike until their demands were accepted; Aleksić, however, later announced that he would go on a "strict fast" (strogom postu) instead of a hunger strike. Tepić continued her hunger strike inside the RIK building. The protest had incidents; a group of demonstrators that gathered at the protest threw eggs, tomatoes, and toilet papers at the RIK building. Miladin Kovačević, the director of the Republic Bureau of Statistics, was also physically attacked by a demonstrator. The police heavily guarded the building during the protest.
Protests continued to be organised by SPN outside the RIK building; they were also joined by the Students Against Violence organisation, which renamed itself Struggle (Borba) amidst the protests. The second protest was attended by former rector of the University of Belgrade Ivanka Popović, judge Miodrag Majić, and actors Svetlana Bojković and Dragan Bjelogrlić, all of whom initiated the ProGlas activist group during the 2023 election campaign, to boost the turnout of the elections. At the third protest, held on 20 December, SPN expanded their demands by calling for the annulment of all elections held on 17 December. Members of the National Assembly of Serbia Jelena Milošević and Danijela Grujić began a hunger strike at the protest on 21 December. At the same protest, SPN representatives called for the European Union to not accept the results and conduct an international investigation. Besides the protest in Belgrade, there was also a protest in Niš on 22 December. Janko Veselinović and Željko Veselinović also began a hunger strike on 22 December. At the protest a day later, Branko Miljuš and Dušan Nikezić, who were elected to the National Assembly in the 2023 election on behalf of SPN, also began a hunger strike.
According to the Archive of Public Gatherings, which is presided over by journalist Aleksandar Gubaš, the protest on 24 December was attended by approximately 7,100 demonstrators; Vučić claimed that only 2,490 demonstrators were present at the protest. The protest was announced by Aleksić two days prior due to the deadline for the annulment of the election results. The protest began again in front of the RIK building, where Tepić, Aleksić, Srđan Milivojević, and Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta gave their speeches. Aleksić called for the demonstrators to circle the building of the City Assembly of Belgrade while Vladimir Obradović, a member of the Temporary Council of Belgrade, and other councillors would enter the building to give a speech from a balcony inside the building. However, the building was under armed guard by the police and gendarmery, which did not allow Obradović, Aleksić, and Milivojević to peacefully enter the building.
A group of demonstrators set off a riot at the protest, and they tried to enter the building violently. In response to the attempt to enter the building of the City Assembly of Belgrade, Vučić issued an urgent statement, describing it as an attempt to overthrow the government. Police brutality was seen later in the protest; the police and gendarmery attacked demonstrators and used tear gas, pepper spray, and batons. Out of opposition representatives, Ćuta was hit with tear gas, while Radomir Lazović and Željko Vagić, the president of the Grocka Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) board, were attacked by the gendarmery. Aleksandar Šapić, the president of the Temporary Council of Belgrade and former mayor of Belgrade, gave a press conference inside the City Assembly building once the protest ended, where he condemned the riot.
Dragan Đilas, the president of SSP, claimed that the rioters were sent by a group of convicted criminal Đorđe Prelić; Đilas also alleged that Šapić had connections to Prelić, though Šapić denied this. The head of the Police Administration, Ivica Ivković, accused SPN of being behind the riot. Ivković reported that 38 demonstrators were arrested, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed that 7 police officers were injured. The Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights alleged that the police disproportionately threatened the demonstrators. The Higher Court in Belgrade later reported that 7 of the arrested pled guilty to violently entering the building of the City Assembly of Belgrade. One of the arrested received a 6-month prison suspended sentence in January 2024.


Roadblocks organised by the Struggle organisation were held in front of the building of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government (MDULS) and later in Kneza Miloša Street on 25 December. This protest received support from 345 professors and associates from the University of Belgrade and University of Novi Sad, and the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement organisation. While protesting in Knez Miloša Street, a group of demonstrators played football and volleyball on the road, while some also danced kolo. Another protest organised by SPN was held later the same day, in front of the building of RIK. Tepić was unable to attend the protest due to her worsening health situation, caused by the hunger strike. Demonstrators marched towards the Belgrade Police Department during the protest, where they demanded the release of arrested demonstrators. Opposition politicians were not allowed to enter the building. Late in the protest, N1 journalist Mladen Savatović was physically attacked by an unknown man. The attacker, later identified as a man who had previously demolished a car during the protest, was later arrested.
A day later, SPN organised another protest, this time marching towards the building of the Higher Court in Belgrade. Željko Veselinović ended his hunger strike on 27 December and a day later Grujić and Janko Veselinović did the same, all due to their doctor's advice. Struggle organised another protest in front of the MDULS building on 27 December, demanding that the voter list should made public. The demonstrators later marched through Knez Mihailova Street and to the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade. Later that day, SPN organised another protest in front of RIK, then marched towards the building of the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). This protest was repeated a day later by SPN.
Struggle organised a 24-hour blockade of Kneza Miloša Street, beginning on 29 December. No incidents were reported during the blockade. On 30 December, ProGlas organised another protest, this time at the Terazija Fountain, in front of the Hotel Moskva. Alongside the Serbian media, The Independent, a British online newspaper, broadcast the protest on its website. The protest was also attended by demonstrators from the Struggle organisation. At the protest, Tepić demanded the annulment of the election results, after which she was driven away to a hospital for treatment, ending her hunger strike. On the same day, Milošević and Miljuš also ended their hunger strike. According to the Archive of Public Gatherings, about 17,000 demonstrators were present at its height at the 30 December protest.
Despite SPN announcing that the protests would continue regularly after Orthodox Christmas (7 January), SPN only organised two protests since then, on 16 and 26 January.


Vladimir Dimitrijević, the president of RIK, said that RIK and the Belgrade City Election Commission do not have the right to annul the Belgrade City Assembly elections and that they could instead only annul the results at certain voting stations. MDULS also said that the voter list is up-to-date and rejected the claim that "phantom voters" (fantomski glasači) exist. Despite the criticism from the opposition, RTS also claimed that they were covering the protests in their normal fashion.
Commenting on Tepić's hunger strike, Vučić said that "she is free to stop her hunger strike and get back to her duties" (slobodno mogu da prestanu i da se vrate svojim obavezama). During the 24 December protest, Ivica Dačić, the deputy prime minister and president of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), condemned the riots outside the City Assembly of Belgrade. Šapić said that the election protests "are the beginning of a civil war" (uvod u građanski rat) and compared them to Euromaidan. Brnabić also compared the protests to Euromaidan. The government denied that police brutality took place.
Vučić commented on 27 December that he does not fear the opposition, the protests, or the "fabricated and agreed-upon reports of election observers, which claim that there were massive irregularities" (izmišljenih i dogovorenih izveštaja posmatrača izbora, koji tvrde da su postojale ogromne nepravilnosti). He also said that "[the government] will not let them steal the will of the people" (nećemo im dati da ukradu narodnu volju). He later alleged that the protests hurt the tourism sector.


Besides SPN, opposition parties and coalitions such as the National Democratic Alternative (NADA), People's Party, Social Democratic Party, and Dveri rejected the 2023 election results. Miloš Jovanović, one of the representatives of the NADA coalition, expressed his support for holding new elections and said that citizens have a right to resist and organise peaceful protests.


The protests were strongly criticised by Russia. Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Vladimir Putin, accused foreign powers of staging the protests in Belgrade, while Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia, accused "the West of setting a fire to the already tense enough political situation in Serbia" (Zapad pokušava da potpali već dovoljno napetu političku situaciju u Srbiji). Brnabić thanked the Russian Federal Security Service for providing information to the government of Serbia. After Vučić's meeting with Russian ambassador Alexander Bocan Harchenko on 25 December, Bocan Harchenko said that Vučić informed him that "the incitement to riots came from the West" (zapad stoji iza jučerašnjih nereda). Sergey Lavrov, the Russian minister of foreign affairs, also claimed that "the West tried to organise an illegal change of government" (Zapad pokušao da organizuje nelegalno preuzimanje vlasti). The New York Times journalist Andrew Higgins saw the involvement of Russia as an attempt to bring Serbia closer to Russia.
The European Union condemned the violence that took place during the protest on 24 December and called for the government to investigate the irregularities that took place during the elections. Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the United States Department of State, also called on Serbia to investigate the irregularities. Responding to Russia's allegations, Christopher R. Hill, the United States Ambassador to Serbia, said that "no one is inciting a revolution".


Following the protests, the European Parliament held a session on 17 January, during which the 17 December elections in Serbia were discussed. Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice, condemned the violence that took place during the protests and said that he expects the government of Serbia to implement the recommendations for electoral conditions. Andreas Schieder, who took part in the monitoring mission on 17 December, confirmed that irregularities took place. The European Parliament adopted the resolution regarding the irregularities during the 17 December elections, with 461 in favour, 53 against, and 43 absent. The resolution called for an international investigation of the results, for the European Commission to follow the reports of the Court of Auditors and to immediately start an audit of the funds provided to the Government of Serbia. The resolution also stated that if the government of Serbia didnot accept key reforms to electoral conditions, European Union funding for Serbia should be suspended.
ODIHR published its report on the 17 December elections in February 2024, calling for inter-party dialogues between the government and the opposition in order to improve legislative changes before the next election. ODIHR concluded that various irregularities took place, such as vote buying, the Bulgarian train, and group voting.
In Belgrade, the first attempt to constitute the City Assembly occurred on 19 February. But it failed because the quorum was not met, as the councillors from the SNS electoral list were not present. The second attempt occurred on 1 March; the quorum was not met again. The third, final, and unsuccessful attempt occurred on 3 March. As the City Assembly did not get constituted, a new election had to be called. Brnabić, who became the president of the National Assembly after the 2023 parliamentary election, called the elections to be held on 2 June. In this election, SNS and SPS took part on a historical joint list, while the SPN remained divided; SSP, Serbia Centre, and Together boycotted the elections, while the rest of the SPN parties took part under the We Choose Belgrade (BB) banner. The elections were a loss for the opposition; SNS regained its majority back in the City Assembly and BB only won 14 seats. While the popular vote of the SPN coalition in the 2023 election was 325,000, BB only secured 89,000 votes in the 2024 election. On the other hand, Kreni-Promeni, which took part in the election for the first time, managed to win more votes and seats than BB. Šapić was re-elected mayor on 24 June.


The 2023 UK Championship (officially the 2023 MrQ UK Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 25 November to 3 December 2023 at the York Barbican in York, England. The 47th edition of the UK Championship, first held in 1977, it was the eighth ranking event of the 2023–24 snooker season, following the International Championship and preceding the Snooker Shoot Out. It was also the season's first Triple Crown event, preceding the Masters and the World Championship. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by online casino MrQ, the event was broadcast by the BBC domestically, by Discovery+ and Eurosport in Europe, and by other broadcasters worldwide. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize fund of £1,205,000.
The event featured the top 16 players in the world rankings along with 16 qualifiers who came through a 128-player four-round qualifying tournament held from 18 to 23 November at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. Mark Allen was the defending champion, having defeated Ding Junhui 10–7 in the final of the 2022 event, but he lost 5–6 to Ding in the first round. After becoming the first player to win 100 matches in the history of the UK Championship when he defeated Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals, Ronnie O'Sullivan progressed to the final, where he defeated Ding 10–7 to win a record-extending eighth UK Championship, his 22nd Triple Crown title and 40th ranking title. Aged 47 years and 363 days, he became the oldest winner in the tournament's history, surpassing Doug Mountjoy, who had been 46 years and 172 days old when he won the title at the 1988 event. O'Sullivan also holds the record as the tournament's youngest winner—set 30 years earlier at the 1993 event—which gives him the distinction of simultaneously being the youngest and oldest UK Champion.
The main stage of the tournament produced a total of 63 century breaks, with a further 80 centuries made during qualifying. The highest was a maximum break by Xu Si in his second-round qualifying match against Ma Hailong. Judd Trump made his 950th century break in professional competition and recorded his 1,000th professional victory during the event. Ding and Mark Williams scored a record total of 195 points in frame eight of their quarter-final match, breaking the previous professional record of 192 points set by Peter Lines and Dominic Dale during the 2012 Wuxi Classic qualifiers.


The 2023 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 25 November to 3 December at the York Barbican in York, England. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the eighth ranking event of the 2023–24 snooker season, following the International Championship and preceding the Snooker Shoot Out, and the first Triple Crown title. It was the 47th edition of the UK Championship, which was first held in 1977 as the United Kingdom Professional Snooker Championship. For the tournament's first seven years, only United Kingdom residents or passport holders were eligible to compete. At the 1984 event, the UK Championship became a ranking tournament open to players of any nationality.
The event used a format adopted for the 2022 edition, which is similar to the format of the World Championship. The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the round of 32. An additional 128 players—comprising professionals ranked outside the top 16, leading amateur players from the Q Tour and other amateur events, and top-performing junior players from the UK—competed in a four-round qualifying tournament from 18 to 23 November at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, with higher ranked players given byes to the later rounds. The 16 successful qualifiers advanced to the round of 32, where they were drawn at random against the top 16 seeds.
All matches were played as the best of 11 frames up to the final, which was the best of 19 frames. The defending champion was Northern Irish player Mark Allen, who won his first UK Championship title in 2022, defeating China's Ding Junhui 10–7 in the final.


The qualifying matches were broadcast by Discovery+ and Eurosport in Europe (including the UK and Ireland); Migu, Youku, and Huya in China; and Matchroom.live in all other territories. Round 4 of qualifying, called "Judgement Day", was also streamed on World Snooker Tour's YouTube and Facebook pages.
The main stages of the event were broadcast by the BBC in the UK; Discovery+ and Eurosport in Europe (including the UK and Ireland); CCTV-5, Migu, Youku, and Huya in Mainland China; DAZN in the US and Brazil; Now TV in Hong Kong; Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; TrueVisions in Thailand; Sportcast in Taiwan; Premier Sports Network in the Philippines; Fastsports in Pakistan; and Matchroom.live in all other territories.
The last session of the final attracted a peak viewership of 2.6 million on the BBC, an increase of 59 percent over the previous year. The cumulative British audience for the tournament—on BBC and UK Eurosport combined—was 14.3 million, an increase of 35 percent over the previous year. Every session broadcast on the BBC achieved viewership figures that were either equivalent to or greater than the 2022 event.


The event featured a total prize fund of £1,205,000, with the winner receiving £250,000. The tournament was sponsored by online casino MrQ. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:


Qualifying took place from 18 to 23 November at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. In the first round, former women's world champion Mink Nutcharut eliminated 96th seed Adam Duffy 6–3, but was defeated by 65th seed Michael White in a deciding frame in the second round. Xu Si defeated Ma Hailong 6–1 in the second round, making his first career maximum break in the second frame. Six top-32 seeds were defeated in the third round. The 19th seed Ryan Day was eliminated 2–6 by 78th seed Lukas Kleckers. The 20th seed Gary Wilson lost 3–6 to 77th seed Zak Surety. The 22nd seed Chris Wakelin was beaten 4–6 by 75th seed Ken Doherty. The 23rd seed Stuart Bingham was eliminated 2–6 by 74th seed David Lilley. The 31st seed Jimmy Robertson lost 5–6 to amateur player Craig Steadman. The 32nd seed Si Jiahui was beaten 5–6 by Michael White. Steadman had the best run of all the amateur and unseeded players in qualifying, reaching the fourth round before losing 2–6 to 34th seed Pang Junxu.
Four more top 32 players lost in the fourth and final qualifying round. The 25th seed Ricky Walden lost 3–6 to 40th seed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. The 27th seed Stephen Maguire was beaten 3–6 by 38th seed Joe O'Connor. David Gilbert, the 28th seed, was defeated 5–6 by 60th seed Jamie Clarke. The 62nd seed Mark Joyce progressed with a 6–4 victory over the 30th seed Joe Perry. Three-time winner Ding Junhui, runner-up in the previous year's event, qualified for the main stage by defeating Daniel Wells 6–4 and Robbie Williams 6–3.


The first round was played from 25 to 28 November. On the first day, Ding Junhui faced defending champion Mark Allen, a repeat of the previous year's final. The score was tied at 2–2 at the mid-session interval, after which Allen made breaks of 106 and 60 to lead 4–2. Ding won three consecutive frames before Allen took the tenth frame with a 70 break to take the match to a decider. Allen led 37–0 before missing a red ball, and Ding made a break of 102 to win the match 6–5. Commenting on his ill health leading up to the match, Ding said afterwards that he had seen the doctor and taken some tablets. "I felt a bit better before the match. I was thinking I might have to give him a walkover," Ding commented. Mark Williams defeated Fan Zhengyi 6–4. Jamie Clarke trailed 1–5 against Kyren Wilson, but won the match with five consecutive frames, including a century break of 104 in the last frame. Noppon Saengkham also led Tom Ford 5–1, having made breaks of 126, 100, and 127. However, Ford won the next five frames for a 6–5 victory, making a break of 130 in the eighth frame.
On 26 November, the reigning world champion Luca Brecel defeated Yuan Sijun 6–4. Zhang Anda missed the 13th red while attempting a maximum break in the second frame of his match against Elliot Slessor. The match went to a deciding frame, which Zhang won for a 6–5 victory. The evening session was delayed by an hour after a small fire at the venue led to the building being evacuated. Shaun Murphy played Hossein Vafaei in their second professional meeting, following the 2023 Shoot Out. The scores were tied at 2–2 at the mid-session interval, after which Vafaei made breaks of 100 and 71 to lead 5–3. Murphy won the ninth frame, but Vafaei made a break of 67 in the tenth for a 6–4 victory. Matthew Selt made century breaks of 111 and 102 to lead Ali Carter 3–2, and went on to win the match 6–3.


On 27 November, Judd Trump defeated Pang Junxu 6–1 in their first professional meeting, making breaks of 114 and 124 in the first and fourth frames. After the match Trump said he was playing well: "I feel like I'm a player that is either amazing or terrible and I feel if I can get through the first two rounds then nothing is stopping me. It is quite rare for me to lose in a semi or quarter-final." Ben Woollaston made a break of 100 in the first frame against Barry Hawkins and went on to lead 3–1. However, Hawkins won five of the next six frames to win the match 6–4. Mark Selby advanced with a 6–0 whitewash over Mark Joyce. Jack Lisowski made an 86 break in the first frame and won the second frame on a re-spotted black for a 2–0 lead over Jamie Jones. However, Jones tied the scores at 4–4 and then won the last two frames for a 6–4 victory.
On 28 November, seven-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan lost the first two frames against Anthony McGill, but then won six frames in a row for a 6–2 victory. John Higgins defeated Joe O'Connor 6–3, making a 122 break in the eighth frame. Zhou Yuelong made breaks of 80 and 134 to lead Neil Robertson 2–1. Robertson tied the scores with a 135 clearance in the fourth frame, but Zhou took four consecutive frames with breaks of 67, 99, 136, and 74 for a 6–2 victory. The defeat ended Robertson's winning streak, in which he had won at least one professional tournament every calendar year since 2006. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made breaks of 93, 127, and 85 for a 3–1 lead over Robert Milkins. Milkins attempted a maximum break in the fifth frame, but missed the last red. Milkins made further breaks of 99 and 121 and won the match in a deciding frame.


The second round was played on 29 and 30 November. In the afternoon session on 29 November, Trump whitewashed Jones 6–0, making a break of 100 in the first frame, the 950th century of his professional career. Ding made back-to-back centuries to lead Ford 2–0, but Ford responded with breaks of 118 and 96 to tie the scores at 2–2 at the mid-session interval. Ding took three of the last four frames, ending with a 106 century, to win 6–3.
In the evening session, Williams played Clarke in a rematch of their first-round meeting at the previous year's event. Clarke won the first two frames, making a 128 break in the second frame, but Williams won the next five frames to lead 5–2, including centuries of 138 and 107 in the third and seventh frames. Clarke won frames eight and nine, before Williams took the tenth frame with a break of 100 to win 6–4. Selby led Hawkins 3–1 at the mid-session interval, having made century breaks of 142 and 101 in the first and fourth frames. Although Hawkins took frame five with a 133 century, Selby went on to lead 5–3. Hawkins made breaks of 84 and 88 in the next two frames to tie the scores at 5–5. In the deciding frame, which lasted almost an hour, Hawkins snookered himself on the last blue ball, allowing Selby to clinch the match 6–5.
In the afternoon session on 30 November, O'Sullivan lost the first two frames against Milkins but won four frames in a row to lead 4–2, making a break of 142 in the fifth frame. Milkins tied the score at 5–5 with a 120 century, but O'Sullivan won the deciding frame for a 6–5 victory. Displeased with his form, O'Sullivan commented: "I had to dig my way out of it somehow... There was no flow, I was mis-timing shots, I was butchering balls." Zhou established a 4–1 lead over three-time champion Higgins, who won frames six and seven to reduce Zhou's lead to 4–3. Zhou won the eighth frame to lead 5–3. During the ninth, Higgins was distracted by lights in the TV studio and left the arena mid-match after complaining to referee Tatiana Woollaston. Play resumed after a delay, and Zhou captured the frame and match by 6–3.
In the evening session, Vafaei made three century breaks of 132, 133, and 121 to defeat Selt 6–1. Brecel and Zhang were tied at 2–2 and 4–4, but Zhang made breaks of 124 and 68 to clinch a 6–4 victory.


The quarter-finals were played on 1 December. O'Sullivan made a break of 125 in the first frame against Zhou, and went on to lead 4–1. Zhou won four frames in a row for a 5–4 lead, but O'Sullivan took frame ten to force a decider, which he won with a 122 break. The victory made O'Sullivan the first player to win 100 matches in the history of the UK Championship.
Zhang made a 97 break in the first frame against Vafaei, but Vafaei made century breaks of 120 and 100 to tie the scores at 2–2. Vafaei took a 5–4 lead with a 106 break in the ninth frame, and won the match 6–4. Following the win, he said he didn't know what had given him the confidence to win, commenting: "I'm so happy that I'm still in the tournament."
Trump started his match against Selby with a break of 100, his 50th century break of the season, and won all four frames before the mid-session interval to lead 4–0. Selby won three of the next four frames, but Trump won the ninth to secure a 6–3 victory. The victory marked Trump's 1,000th career match win. Having already won three consecutive events during the season, he said: "It has already been a brilliant season, but until you prove yourself in these really big events then you can easily get forgotten about. You want to be delivering on the big stage as much as possible."
Ding lost the first two frames against Williams, but made breaks of 95 and 127 to level the scores at 2–2 at the mid-session interval. Frame eight set a new professional record for the most total points scored in a single frame. After both players accumulated numerous foul points in a protracted safety battle, Williams won the frame 101–94, for a total of 195 points. The previous record had been 192, set by Peter Lines and Dominic Dale during their qualifying match in the 2012 Wuxi Classic. Williams also won frame nine for a 5–4 lead, but Ding made breaks of 85 and 105 to clinch the match 6–5.


The semi-finals were played on 2 December. In the afternoon session, seven-time champion O'Sullivan played Vafaei, who was contesting his first Triple Crown semi-final. Breaks of 113 and 54 gave O'Sullivan the first two frames, but Vafaei made a 112 break in the third frame and also won the fourth to level at 2–2 going into the mid-session interval. O'Sullivan won the next four frames to take the match to 6–2, securing a place in his ninth UK Championship final. Vafaei said after his defeat: "In front of my hero I don't have that heart like I have with other people. I felt completely different. It was a good run and it was only one man that could stop me, Ronnie O'Sullivan."
In the evening session, three-time winner Ding faced the 2011 winner Trump. The scores were tied at 2–2 at the mid-session interval, after which Trump took the fifth frame with a break of 124, and Ding levelled the scores again at 3–3. Century breaks of 110 from Ding and 105 from Trump tied the scores for a third time at 4–4. Trump missed a pot on a red in frame nine, allowing Ding to clear with a break of 88. In frame ten, a safety mistake by Ding allowed Trump to pot a red to the middle pocket, but he was unable to capitalise on his advantage and lost the frame. Ding secured a 6–4 victory with an 84 break, reaching his fifth UK Championship final. He commented: "I have the feeling here [in York] that I can play well. It started in 2005 [UK Championship]. I'm happy to see myself get back into form like this. Normally I don't fight like this in a tough match."


Officiated by referee Rob Spencer, the final was played as the best of 19 frames over two sessions on 3 December between O'Sullivan and Ding. O'Sullivan was competing in his ninth UK Championship final, having previously won seven of eight finals; Ding was contesting his fifth UK final, having previously won three of four. O'Sullivan won the first three frames with breaks of 71, 71 and 91, before Ding made an 89 break to take the fourth frame. O'Sullivan won the next frame for a 4–1 lead, but Ding then won three frames in a row, making a break of 114 in the seventh, to end the afternoon session level at 4–4.
In the evening session, O'Sullivan made breaks of 84, 87 and 79, to move into a 7–5 lead, but Ding tied the scores again at 7–7, making a century break in frame 14. O'Sullivan then won three consecutive frames with breaks of 100, 74 and 129, to secure a 10–7 victory for a record-extending eighth UK title. It was O'Sullivan's 40th ranking win and 22nd Triple Crown title. Aged 47 years and 363 days, he became the oldest winner of the UK Championship, breaking the record set by Doug Mountjoy, who was 46 years and 172 days old when he won the 1988 event. He simultaneously remains the tournament's youngest winner, having first won the title 30 years previously at the 1993 UK Championship, aged 17 years and 358 days. O'Sullivan retained the world number one position after the event, while Ding re-entered the top 16 in the world rankings and qualified for the 2024 Masters. After the match, O'Sullivan said: "I always keep beating myself up because of the age thing. I keep thinking at some point you have to stop winning but I am doing all right and I will keep on going until the wheels fall off." Ding said: "I know it was going to be very tough against Ronnie. I like myself playing like this. It is very cool."


Top 16 players were seeded through to the main stage and drawn randomly against 16 qualifiers, shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote their seedings, including the qualifying stage seedings for the qualifiers. Players in bold denote match winners. All matches were the best of 11 frames except the final, which was the best of 19 frames.


The draw for the qualifying stage of the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the 112 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners; an "a" indicates amateur players not on the main tour (i.e. without a world ranking), while a "u" denotes the player was unseeded. All matches were the best of 11 frames.


A total of 63 century breaks were made in the main stage of the tournament.


A total of 80 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament.


The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup final was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket match played at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on 29 June 2024 to determine the winner of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. It was played between South Africa and India.
India won the toss and electing to bat first, they registered a score of 176/7. In the second innings, South Africa managed to post a score of 169/8 thus India claimed the victory by 7 runs to win their second T20 World Cup title. Virat Kohli was named Player of the Match for scoring 76 runs off 59 balls. Following the victory, Kohli, Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from T20I cricket.


The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). In November 2021 as part of the 2024-2031 ICC men's hosts cycle, the ICC announced that the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup would be played in the United States and the West Indies.
On 22 September 2023, the ICC released the venues that would host matches across the tournament, with the Kensington Oval in Barbados named as the venue for the final. On 5 January 2024, the ICC announced the tournament's schedule, with the final scheduled on 29 June. This was the second T20 World Cup final played at the stadium, after the 2010 final.
This was South Africa's maiden T20 World Cup final, while it was India's third final, having been champions in 2007 and runners-up in 2014. Both teams qualified for the final unbeaten, with neither of them losing a group stage, Super 8 or semi-final. Before this match, India and South Africa had played each other six times in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, with India recording four wins (2007, 2010, 2012 and 2014) and South Africa winning two (2009 and 2022).


South Africa began their T20 World Cup campaign with a victory over Sri Lanka at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, and went on to defeat Netherlands and Bangladesh at the same venue. After defeating Nepal at Arnos Vale, they finished the group stage as Group D winners. In the Super 8 stage, they defeated co-hosts United States at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, defending champions England at Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, and former champions and co-hosts West Indies at North Sound, finishing as winners of Group 2.
South Africa then defeated Afghanistan in the semi-final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago to earn their place at their maiden T20 World Cup final.


India began their T20 World Cup campaign with a victory over Ireland at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, and went on to defeat Pakistan and co-hosts United States at the same venue. Their match with Canada was abandoned for heavy rainfall at the Central Broward Park in Florida, and India finished the group stage as winners of Group A. In the Super 8 stage, they defeated Afghanistan at Kensington Oval in Barbados, Bangladesh in North Sound, and Australia in Gros Islet, finishing as winners of Group 1.
India then defeated defending champions England in the semi-final at the Providence Stadium in Guyana to earn their place at the T20 World Cup final for the third time.


On 28 June 2024, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named New Zealand's Chris Gaffaney and England's Richard Illingworth as the on-field umpires, along with England's Richard Kettleborough as the third umpire, Australia's Rod Tucker as the reserve umpire, and West Indies' Richie Richardson as match referee.


On-field umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Richard Illingworth (Eng)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (Eng)
Reserve umpire: Rod Tucker (Aus)
Match referee: Richie Richardson (WI)


Both teams remained unchanged from their semi-final matches. India's captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first.


Virat Kohli, being out of form for the majority of the tournament, helped with a quick start to the Indian innings by scoring three boundaries in the first over from Marco Jansen. Then Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were dismissed in the next over bowled by Keshav Maharaj. Soon Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in the fourth over, leaving India at 34 runs for the loss of three wickets. Kohli and Axar Patel stabilized the innings and the partnership managed to score 72 runs until Patel was run out by wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock leaving India at 106 runs for the loss of fourth wicket. Shivam Dube joined Kohli in the middle and the duo managed to score 50 runs off 32 balls. While attempting a hit off Jansen, Kohli was caught by Rabada. In the last over bowled by Anrich Nortje, India scored nine runs for the loss of two wickets, finishing with a total of 176 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Kohli was the highest run-scorer for India with 76 runs off 59 balls while Keshav Maharaj and Nortje picked up two wickets each for South Africa.