Editorial standards

Readers come to Sporting Times for facts they can trust in a hurry. These are the standards our football desk works to.

Accuracy first

Scores, fixtures and statistics are supplied by a specialist data provider and displayed as received. In stories, we only report a transfer, injury or line-up as confirmed when a club, league or other primary source has confirmed it. Anything less is clearly labelled as a report or as speculation, with the source named.

Sourcing

We prefer primary sources: official club and competition announcements, press conferences and match data. When a story relies on another outlet's reporting, we say so and link to it where possible.

Independence

We are not paid by clubs, agents, leagues or betting companies to cover, or to avoid covering, any subject. Partner links in our footer are separate from editorial content and never influence what we write.

Plain language

Our explainers aim to make the game clearer for every fan. We avoid jargon where we can and explain it where we cannot.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it promptly. Significant corrections to a story are noted with an updated date. To report an error, contact the desk with the page address and what needs changing.

Use of automation

Some pages, such as fixture lists, tables and match centres, are generated automatically from match data. Stories may be drafted with the help of software tools, but they are reviewed against these standards before and after publication.