by Tim Stannard 

THURSDAY: IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE ROME

Before the meet

Justin Gatlin and Marquise Goodwin lead host of US track stars in eternal city 

Some USA track-and-field stars are starting to clear some space on their bathroom shelves as the vibe is that the medal haul from the 2016 Rio Olympics is going to be significant. The previous Diamond League meets this season for the US have already seen tremendous success but that was doubly the case last weekend in Eugene, with nine of the 19 events being won by home-grown stars from the shot put to the sprints. 

Rome, one of the most glamorous dates in the Diamond League calendar, is on the horizon with more opportunity for some early gauntlets to be thrown dow n. Justin Gatlin is in imperious form in the 100 meters and will look to continue his dominance as the sprinter builds towards the ultimate head-to-head with Usain Bolt in Brazil. 

One of the bright stars of US athletics, Trayvon Bromell, will be competing in the 200 meters whilst a name familiar to NFL fans, Marquise Goodwin, continues his sabbatical from the Buffalo Bills to follow his Olympic dream in the long jump. 

FRIDAY: AFCON QUALIFIERS - Live on beIN SPORTS from 12.50PM ET 

The race continues for qualification for Gabon 2017

With only two more group games left to be played, just a couple of teams have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations set to be played in Gabon in 2017. One is the hosts - who had a spot anyway so that doesn't really count - and the other is the regional powerhouse of Morocco, the only outfit with a one hundred percent record in the qualification process. 

This in-the-air situation leaves an awful of big cheeses such as Ivory Coast and Nigeria needing to get very busy indeed over the weekend to make sure that they are not missing Africa's biggest football party next year. Some of the extensive number of clashes on beIN SPORTS over Friday and Saturday include a first versus second match-up in Group M as Cameroon host Mauritania and Ivory Coast needing three points against Gabon a day later. 

SATURDAY: THE EPSOM DERBY - Harzand Wins Classic

It's time to put on your top hat and best dress - both at the same time, perhaps - and regret that whole overthrowing the yoke of British oppression business as royalty will be on beIN SPORTS this weekend. Bow down, Colonials! There are going to be an awful lot of horses on the channel on Saturday morning - as well as some equine-looking members of the British aristocracy - as one of the oldest sporting events in the world gets underway at Epsom in the south of England. 

The Derby - and yes, the derby that all other derbies are named after - was first run in 1780 and still sees some of the fastest horses on the planet charging over a course of one-and-a-half miles for prize money set to total $2 million, an amount which is greater than the Kentucky Derby which is almost a hundred years younger. One more thing. It's pronounced 'Darby' - not how the Americans have mangled it. 

SUNDAY: VALENTINO ROSSI WINS CATALAN GP

Before the Race 

MotoGP deals with tragedy in practice

Luis Salom Tragedy

One of the most compelling and fastest moving rivalries in sport sets its wheels down in Cataluyna, Spain. The Circuit de Barcelona will be home tarmac for the Moto GP standings leaders, Jorge Lorenzo, and Marc Marquez who are ten points from each other, however Valentino Rossi would give his back wheel to gain revenge for the Spanish dominance of the Italian GP a fortnight ago. 

However Rossi's back wheel may well remain in tact with Lorenzo having won the Cataluyna leg of the great Moto GP journey three times out of the past four with Marquez having come first in 2014 just to keep things fresh. But the surprises have kept on coming in this year's event which continues to show why Moto GP's titanic trio continue to be such can't miss viewing. 

SUNDAY: CAMERON BEAUBIER WINS BOTH RACES AT ROADAMERICA WISCONSIN

The best riders in the US of A head to Wisconsin for round 5

After a very creditable cameo in the Superbikes filling in for his Yamaha team in the UK, MotoAmerica reigning champion, Cameron Beaubier, has returned to this side of the pond. The challenge for Beaubier, who has four race wins from the season so far, is to try and turn that dominance on the track into points and overhaul Josh Hayes at the top of the leaderboard. 

Road America, Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin is the scene of the latest all-American tussle between MotoAmerica's leading pair, a track were Hayes has been the racing king in the past having won at least one of the two races held each weekend since 2010. "It's like home to me," said Hayes, who is now an honorary Cheesehead, "It's got everything I love about racing a motorcycle: top speed, changes in elevation and hard breaking." It's the perfect race for the legions of beIN SPORTS motor heads out there.