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☆ Women’s World Cup teams permitted to wear armbands that highlight ‘social causes’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Amanda Davies | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —World soccer governing body FIFA will allow a variety of different armbands that highlight “a range of social causes” to be worn at the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the organization said Friday. “FIFA, in partnership with several United Nations agencies, will use the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ to highlight a range of social causes, selected following extensive consultation with stakeholders including players and the 32 participating member associations,” FIFA said in a statement. “But football does even more than that – it can shine the spotlight on very important causes in our society. Several European teams were set to participate in the “OneLove” campaign to promote inclusion and oppose discrimination, but those countries were prevented by FIFA from doing so. There is no explicit mention of LGBTQ rights in Women’s World Cup armbands, beyond the “themes” of “gender equality” and “inclusion.”The Women’s World Cup is scheduled to be played from July 20 to August 20 with the opening game taking place in Auckland when co-hosts New Zealand play Norway.

Persons: ”, “, Gianni Infantino, Hadja Lahbib, Nancy Faeser – Organizations: CNN, FIFA, “ FIFA, United Nations, ” FIFA, Football, Inclusion, UN Human, Indigenous Peoples, Equality, UN, Peace –, UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency, Education, –, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, UN Women, World Health Organization, WHO, Qatar –, Belgian Foreign Affairs, German, New Zealand Locations: Australia, New Zealand, Qatar, Infantino, Auckland, Norway

☆ Golf’s new Saudi deal presents questionable political, business and sporting realities
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And the deal is also undeniably a great piece of business, assuming PGA Tour players accept it. And all pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour was also mutually ended under the new agreement. He “co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sports washing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation,” the group said in a statement. Unresolved sporting conundrumsThere are as many sporting questions about the PGA Tour/LIV Golf partnership that remain unanswered. Then there is the question of how current PGA Tour members will respond.

Persons: LIV Golf, Arnold Palmer, Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, –, LIV –, Jay Monahan, Monahan, ”, “, Saudi LIV, ” Monahan, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Cam Smith, Donald Trump, LIV, Trump, Khashoggi, ” Trump, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Tuesday’s LIV, Qataris, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, ” Yasir Al, Rumayyan, of Famer Greg Norman, Collin Morikawa, Mickelson, Alan Shipnuck, Shipnuck Organizations: CNN, PGA, Saudi, Post, Premier League, Global, Families United, Saudi shills, Crown, Formula One, NBA, Tour, Qatar, Soccer, Manchester City, United, Newcastle, Indian Premier League, Al, Real, Saudi Public Investment, “, Saudi Public Investment Fund, CNBC, of Famer, Open, Twitter Locations: Washington, Saudi, Qaeda, Riyadh, China, Western Europe, East, India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ittihad, Real Madrid, French

CNN —Inter Milan and Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku says the world’s top soccer stars could form a union to tackle racist abuse in the sport. Speaking exclusively to CNN, Lukaku says authorities are currently not doing enough to protect players in the wake of yet more racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Jr. during Real Madrid’s match against Valencia last month. “I think it will start,” Lukaku told CNN’s Senior Sports Analyst Darren Lewis when asked whether players could form a union. “That’s where you need to start, that’s where we need to have diversity,” Lukaku said of the upper echelons of the sport. “I think that’s how it should happen,” Lukaku added.

Persons: Romelu Lukaku, Lukaku, Vinícius Jr, ” Lukaku, Darren Lewis, “, FIFA ”, “ It’s, Vinícius, Marco Bertorello, Senegal’s, Samoura, Rwanda’s Martin Ngoga, Ghana’s Anin Yeboah, India’s, Mugdal Organizations: CNN — Inter Milan, CNN, Valencia, Inter Milan, Juventus, CNN’s, UEFA, FIFA, La Liga, Getty, ”, Belgian, Board, Twitter Locations: Belgium, AFP, Belgian, European

☆ Women’s Champions League final: Pain of defeat ‘motivating’ Barcelona ahead of clash with Wolfsburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The pain of defeat from last season’s Women’s Champions League final has lingered at Barcelona. Even faced with a resurgent Lyon, Barcelona was expected to come out on top. Ingrid Engen has now lost two Champions League finals, one with Wolfsburg and one with Barcelona. Barcelona won the first Women's Champions League title in the club's history in 2021. Playing in a Champions League final will be a great moment in our careers.

Persons: Ingrid Engen, Lyon, Alejandro Rios, don’t, ” Engen, “ It’s, ”, Barça, Lucy Bronze, Clive Brunskill, FIFA’s, Jonatan Giráldez, “, Engen, you’ve, Lena Oberdorf, I’ve, Oberdorf, –, Tommy Stroot, ” Stroot, David Lidstrom Organizations: CNN, League, Champions League, Lyon, Wolfsburg, Engen, Barcelona, CNN Sport, Bayern Munich –, Chelsea, Women's Champions League, Barcelona ’, Norway, Young, Ballon, “, UEFA Locations: Barcelona, Turin, Lyon, Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wolfsburg

☆ Vinícius Jr.: Spanish soccer's inaction over racist abuse of Real Madrid star could prove costly for LaLiga
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Except, this week, nobody is talking about the ‘beautiful game’ after the shameful racist abuse of Real Madrid star Vinícius Jr. sent LaLiga into crisis management mode. Instead, it must pass investigations into incidents of racist abuse onto local prosecutors, who deal with them as legal cases. 10 when nine previous incidents of racist abuse seemingly were not enough to spark meaningful action? Vinícius Jr. points to a fan in the stand who allegedly racially abused him during Real Madrid's match at Valencia. Fort says CEOs called Sepp Blatter to ask him to step down as FIFA president.

☆ FIFA Threatens Women’s World Cup TV Blackout in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Tariq Panja | Andrew Das | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Broadcasters also appear to be taking a cautious stance on assigning a value to Women’s World Cup rights that have never previously been on the market. This year is the first time FIFA has decoupled the women’s tournament from the men’s; previously, the women’s rights were bundled as an extra in the bidding for the men’s World Cup rights. He noted that while viewing figures for the women’s tournament are between 50 percent and 60 percent of those for the men’s World Cup, the amounts offered for the women’s games have been much lower than that: In Europe alone, he said, they were “20 to 100 times lower than for the men’s FIFA World Cup.”“Whereas broadcasters pay $100-200 million for the men’s FIFA World Cup,” Infantino said, “they offer only $1-10 million for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. This is a slap in the face of all the great FIFA Women’s World Cup players and indeed of all women worldwide.”There has been a substantial interest in women’s soccer in Britain, Europe’s biggest market, which peaked when England beat Germany to win the European championship on home soil last year. According to news media reports, the BBC and ITV — the two main British broadcasters — have offered about 9 million pounds ($11.2 million) for the World Cup rights, the highest among European broadcasters.

☆ FIFA concerned about Canada's refusal to honor Afghan visa letters -court filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Anna Mehler Paperny | Thomson Reuters | Toronto-Based Correspondent Covering Among Other Topics Migration | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Canada refused to accept "visa facilitation letters" FIFA and Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran handed out based on a template provided by a Canadian Department of National Defence employee in attempts to evacuate 640 women athletes, their coaches and others, according to court documents. Canada said those letters were inauthentic and that it did not authorize anyone to issue them and asked police to investigate their distribution. The email is among newly released court documents that convey FIFA’s role in efforts to get young Afghan athletes and those close to them out of Afghanistan. FIFA and the Canadian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the documents. "After I received the visa facilitation letters from Canada, I chose not to follow through with evacuation by the American government," one unidentified plaintiff said in their affidavit.

☆ Australia's Women's World Cup opener to be held at Stadium Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - The 2023 Women's World Cup co-hosts Australia will kick off their campaign against Ireland at the 83,500 capacity Stadium Australia, Sydney's largest stadium, due to public demand for more tickets, FIFA said on Monday. The match was originally scheduled to take place at the Sydney Football Stadium, which seats 45,500, but FIFA decided to change the original plan for the Australia Stadium to only host knockout games. This will allow up to 100,000 fans to attend the tournament's opening matchday games, with the showdown between Australia's fellow co-hosts New Zealand and Norway taking place hours before at Eden Park in Auckland. "With this in mind, we have taken a decision that will enable over 100,000 fans to attend the opening matchday, providing more opportunities for supporters to engage with the FIFA Women’s World Cup as a month of football we will never forget gets underway." Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FIFA and UEFA did not breach EU laws in blocking European Super League, but proponents aren’t for giving up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sammy Mngqosini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The decisions taken by soccer bodies FIFA and UEFA to block the European Super League (ESL) are in line with European Union (EU) competition laws, according to an EU Opinion issued on Thursday. “The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law,” Advocate General Athanasios Rantos at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) said. The ESL was set up in 2021 by 12 European clubs with the intention to break away from European football governing body UEFA to create their very own competition. FIFA also welcomes the Advocate General’s recognition of FIFA’s exclusive rights to market international competitions organized by FIFA. Fans of Chelsea Football Club protest against the European Super League outside Stamford Bridge on April 20, 2021.

☆ France and Argentina bring multiple plot lines to mouthwatering World Cup final
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Standing in Messi’s way is his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappé, as France seeks to win back-to-back World Cup trophies. After a shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in its opening group game, Argentina’s World Cup campaign got off to the worst possible start. When asked whether Sunday’s game will be his last at a World Cup, Messi replied: “Yes. Like Griezmann, the 36-year-old Giroud has had a renaissance in this World Cup, after failing to score a single goal in 2018. We’ll enjoy it now and get ready for the last match of this World Cup.”

☆ FIFA to re-think 2026 format as they face spoiling winning recipe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Mark Gleeson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preview, Doha, Qatar - November 18, 2022 The FIFA World Cup logo on the Corniche Promenade is pictured ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 REUTERS/Fabrizio BenschDOHA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Having just delivered the most exciting group stage ever seen at a World Cup, with a tried and tested format that keeps hundreds of millions of fans enthralled, FIFA now faces the prospect of ripping it all up. The 2026 format has the 48 teams reduced to 32 after the group phase and then the tournament becomes a knockout affair. The 32-team World Cup in Qatar has a total of 64, completed in 29 days, and, for now, the 2026 finals will be 80 games over 32 days. More matches, however, would mean more television rights money and as the World Cup brings in some 90% of FIFA's revenue, its leaders will be tempted. The World Cup in Qatar has earned $7,5-billion in rights and sponsorship revenue, one billion more than for 2018 finals in Russia, FIFA said last month.

☆ Grant Wahl: A charming, kind and talented journalist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Don Riddell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The American soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who’d also been covering the game at Lusail, had died. The LED board shows a photo of Grant Wahl prior to the quarterfinal match between England and France. Wahl pictured at an awards ceremony in Doha during the World Cup. Grant Wahl (left) being interviewed by CNN's Don Riddel in Qatar. He was charming, kind and just so happy to be covering his eighth men’s World Cup and the game he loved.

☆ Morocco’s historic World Cup achievement hailed worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Moroccan flag was displayed in cities all around the world on Saturday, as fans celebrated the Atlas Lions’ historic 1-0 victory over Portugal. The qualification of the Atlas Lions for the semi-final of the 2022 world is that of all Africa. Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah tweeted: “Congratulations to the Moroccan national team for their historic qualification to the World Cup semi-finals,” alongside an emoji of the Moroccan flag. “CONTINENTAL HISTORY!… What an achievement by the Atlas Lions,” the Confederation of African Football tweeted. !” in reference to her song used as during the 2010 World Cup, with a clapping emoji and a Moroccan flag.

☆ What next for US soccer after an inspiring World Cup?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But the talented, telegenic and multiracial Americans left fans with soaring hopes before the US, Canada and Mexico host the 2026 World Cup. Often, the World Cup and Olympic gold medal-winning US women’s soccer team gets more attention than their male counterparts — although their pay is only just beginning to catch up. The idea of an unexploited market of soon-to-be-soccer fans has long beckoned to FIFA’s marketing teams, especially during the 1994 stateside World Cup, but has never been fully realized. US soccer fans are also increasingly sophisticated, glued to NBC’s Premier League coverage reportedly worth more than $2 billion. The beautiful game’s place in the country’s sports scene could be cemented if the US makes noise in the next World Cup.

☆ Arsène Wenger claims teams who focused on ‘competition’ rather than ‘political demonstrations’ performed better at the World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said teams who focused on “competition” rather than “political demonstrations” performed better in the group stages of the World Cup. “Going to the World Cup, you know you have to not lose the first game,” said Wenger, who has taken up a role as FIFA’s chief of global football development since stepping away from management, said on Sunday. Seven European nations, including Germany, were set to wear the armbands at the World Cup, but chose not to so as not to put players at risk of receiving yellow cards. Social media users were critical of Wenger drawing a correlation between teams protesting and underperforming on the pitch. “Disgraceful comments by Wenger,” Craig Foster, a former Australian midfielder turned human rights activist, wrote on Twitter.

☆ England vs. Senegal: Euro 2020 finalist faces African champion for place in World Cup quarterfinals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Sunday’s round of 16 fixtures feature the 2018 World Cup winner, the current African champion and one of the Euro 2020 finalists. Euro 2020 finalist England comes in as heavy favorites having reached the World Cup semifinals in 2018. England has faced African opposition 20 times, including seven World Cup matches, and has yet to lose. Although African nations have lost eight of their nine World Cup knockout round games against European sides, the lone exception was one which featured Senegal’s current manager, Aliou Cisse. “They’ve had to defend a lot in the group stage and they defended very well.

☆ Why are there so many shock results at this World Cup?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

We’ve seen plenty of World Cup shocks over the years, but this year’s edition has seen more than most. Lionel Hahn/Getty ImagesA World Cup like no otherThis World Cup is a first for many reasons. The World Cup’s natureGiven the nature of the World Cup – teams thrown together in a tournament setting from across the globe – fans often see clashes which they’re not accustomed to. This concoction has, over the 90 years of the World Cup, regularly led to shock results. From the US beating England in 1950 and North Korea upsetting Italy in 1966 to Senegal beating defending champion France in 2002 and Algeria – in its World Cup debut – beating West Germany in 1982, World Cup history is littered with surprises.

☆ Qatar World Cup lays bare environmental cost of a desert tournament
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Armelle De Oliveira | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

But as it hosts the soccer World Cup, controversy is also descending on the tiny Gulf kingdom. “The tournament has been labeled as the first ‘fully carbon neutral FIFA World Cup tournament,’ meaning its overall impact on the planet should be zero,” the letter said. People gather around the official countdown clock showing remaining time until the kick-off of the World Cup on Nov. 11. After winning the right to host the tournament, Qatar pledged to become the first carbon neutral World Cup host. “Events like the World Cup, like the football World Cup or like the Olympics bring joy and happiness to millions of people, sometimes even billions of people, right?” he said.

☆ Japan reaches World Cup knockout stages with hotly debated goal after ball appeared to go out of play
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Japan reached the World Cup knockout stages for the fourth time on Thursday – by what appeared to be a matter of millimeters. But it’s Japan’s second goal that has been a topic of fierce debate in the aftermath of the game, specifically regarding whether the ball crossed the goal line before Kaoru Mitoma’s cutback pass to Ao Tanaka. Tanaka’s bundled goal was initially ruled out after the linesman flagged that the ball had gone out of play. 🧐 pic.twitter.com/cVXur9vMJ1 — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 1, 2022“That Japan goal almost defied physics. pic.twitter.com/mzF7YXnQiX — Nick Levett (@nlevett) December 1, 2022The goal means Japan will play Croatia in the knockout stages on Monday, while Spain plays Morocco on Tuesday.

CNN —Football pundits on Qatar’s Alkass Sports channel mocked the German football team following its World Cup exit – by mimicking the players’ protest over human rights. Soon after, El-Hadary and other pundits then cover their mouths and wave goodbye – apparently in celebration of Germany’s exit. Football pundits on Qatar's Alkass Sports channel appear to mimic the German players' protest gesture. Twitter/@alkasschannelThe gesture mimics what the German players did to protest against FIFA’s decision to ban the “OneLove” armband that many European captains had been hoping to wear in Qatar in support of LGBTQ rights. Following Germany’s 1:1 draw against Spain last Sunday, Jassem said in an al-Majlis episode that he was “shocked” at Germany’s protest.

☆ United States Women’s National Team earns more money from men’s World Cup than its previous two women’s tournaments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Matt Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) earned more money from its male equivalent reaching the knockout stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar than it did from winning its own tournaments in 2015 and 2019. As a result of the equal pay agreement forged earlier this year between the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA), the men and women’s teams split all World Cup earnings. Under the landmark agreement, US Soccer became “the first Federation in the world to equalize FIFA World Cup prize money” awarded to the teams for participating in World Cups. The USWNT earned $6 million in total for its successive World Cup wins in 2015 and 2019 – $2 million in 2015 and $4 million in 2019. The 2019 Women’s World Cup total prize money was $30 million, doubled from the $15 million in 2015.

☆ USMNT: 'We're not finished yet,' says Walker Zimmerman ahead of knockout stages
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —After a 1-0 victory against Iran earned the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) a place in the World Cup knockout stages, the players insist their campaign is far from done. “I think the narrative continues, we’re still going to try and do that and accomplish our goal of winning the World Cup. Josh Sargent and Ramin Rezaeian embrace after Tuesday's game. At the end Tuesday’s game, players from the two teams embraced in an apparent show of solidarity. “We also know the stakes of a World Cup, and then on top of that everything that they’re dealing with emotionally.

☆ Australia stuns Denmark to reach World Cup knockout stages
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Australia stunned Denmark – a team ranked 28 places above the Socceroos in FIFA’s World Rankings – to reach the World Cup knockout stages thanks to a brilliant goal from Mathew Leckie that secured a 1-0 victory. A goalless draw between Australia and Denmark and a Tunisia win would have put the Carthage Eagles through to the knockout stages. Just four minutes later, with their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, the Socceroos counter-attacked from their box and Riley McGree found Leckie on a well timed run. Denmark continued to press but Australia hung on in a tense finish to secure its spot in the round of 16 and win back-to-back World Cup matches for the first time in its history. Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesVictory over Tunisia on Saturday had given Australia an unlikely chance of progressing to the knockout stages and, despite its underwhelming start to the World Cup, Denmark could have also qualified in this winner-takes-all match.

☆ Iran faces USA in winner-takes-all match to progress to World Cup knockout stages
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The knockout stage has already arrived for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) at the World Cup – nothing less than a win on Tuesday will suffice when it takes on Iran in a winner-takes-all match. In the build-up to the game, Iran state media called for the US to be kicked out of the 2022 World Cup after US Soccer changed Iran’s flag on its social media accounts to show support for the protestors in Iran. In the other Group B match, England looks to seal its almost certain place in the knockout stages against Wales. If England defeats Wales, the USMNT would qualify in second place in the group providing it beats Iran; while if England loses, the USMNT would finish first. Tuesday’s fixturesNetherlands vs Qatar: 10pm ETEcuador vs Senegal: 10pm ETWales vs England: 2pm ETIran vs USA: 2pm ETHow to watchUS: Fox SportsUK: BBC or ITVAustralia: SBSBrazil: SportTVGermany: ARD, ZDF, Deutsche TelekomCanada: Bell MediaSouth Africa: SABC

CNN —The World Cup match between Portugal and Uruguay was briefly interrupted by a pitch invader waving a rainbow flag on the field at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Monday. A pitch invader runs onto the pitch wearing a t-shirt with a message saying: 'Respect for Iranian Woman' on the back and holding a rainbow flag. Molly Darlington/ReutersThe participation of Iran, who play the US Men’s National Team on Tuesday in a Group B match, in the World Cup has been played out against the backdrop of the country’s domestic turmoil. Meanwhile the issue of LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar has also been a constant theme at the World Cup. The victory means that Portugal has advanced to the next stage of the World Cup with a game to spare whereas Uruguay needs a victory from its final game against Ghana to have any hopes of progressing.

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