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The case stems from a sweeping probe of corruption in international soccer and its world governing body, FIFA. The government’s case hinges largely on the testimony of Argentine businessman Alejandro Burzaco, who has pleaded guilty to bribing soccer officials but has yet to be sentenced. Burzaco told jurors that Martinez and Lopez were aware of and approved the scheme, which he said they discussed during multiple meetings. Lawyers for Martinez and Lopez told jurors during closing arguments on Friday that their clients were unaware of Burzaco’s scheme. Prosecutors said Burzaco’s testimony was “devastating” and alleged that emails showed him discussing the bribes with Martinez and Lopez in coded terms.

March 3 (Reuters) - Lawyers for two former 21st Century Fox executives accused of bribing South American soccer officials assailed the credibility of the government’s star witness on Friday, as their seven-week trial draws to a close. Cooperating witness Alejandro Burzaco testified that his former business partners knew about and approved the bribes. The case is part of a sweeping corruption probe of global soccer and its governing body, FIFA. Full Play Group SA, a co-defendant in the case, is also accused of bribing soccer officials. The Argentina-based sports marketing company’s lawyers have argued bribery is an entrenched part of doing business in South America and therefore not fraudulent activity.

☆ Mexico's Televisa reaches $95 mln investor settlement over FIFA bribery role
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The logo of broadcaster Televisa is seen outside its headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha/File PhotoNEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - Grupo Televisa SAB (TLEVISACPO.MX) has reached a $95 million settlement to resolve a U.S. investor lawsuit accusing the Mexican broadcaster of bribing FIFA soccer officials to win rights to four World Cup tournaments. Investors said they suffered losses as the bribery became known during corruption trials in Brooklyn, New York, causing the ADR price to fall. Its law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner may seek up to $28.5 million of the settlement in fees and $3.5 million for expenses. The case is In re Grupo Televisa Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

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☆ A Mexico soccer icon entered politics. Prosecutors say narcos followed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cuernavaca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield. “He likes me very much because I’m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

☆ Deadly stampede overshadows rare soccer joy in Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Iraq won the men's soccer Gulf Cup for the first time since 1988 with a 3-2 victory over Oman on Thursday, but the triumph was marred by a deadly stampede outside the Basra International Stadium. Witnesses blamed the deadly incident on what they said was bad organization of the tournament. The deadly incident happened in the southern city of Basra as spectators gathered to attend the final match in the first international soccer tournament held in Iraq in four decades. The official Iraqi News Agency said some of the 60 people who were injured outside the Basra International Stadium were in critical condition. He arrived in Basra from the southern Iraqi city of Najaf three days ago to attend the final match and was not able to enter.

☆ Juventus handed 15-point deduction for transfer deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

With 20 games left to play in this season, Juve were third in Serie A, 10 points adrift of leaders Napoli. The points deduction would push them down into mid-table, outside the spots for European competition. The ruling is tougher than a nine-point deduction a soccer prosecutor had requested earlier on Friday during a hearing looking at the way Juventus, Italy's most successful club, and a number of other teams dealt with player exchange deals. The soccer court also ruled that former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli be banned from holding office in Italian soccer for 24 months. It also decided on a 30-month ban for Juve's former sports director, Fabio Paratici, now managing director of football at England's Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

☆ Former Fox execs' FIFA case about 'corruption of international soccer,' prosecutor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jack Queen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The charges are part of a long-running corruption probe surrounding FIFA, the world governing body for soccer. "This case is about the corruption of international soccer," prosecutor Victor Zapana told jurors in opening statements, saying the alleged scheme funneled money that could have gone towards building stadiums and developing youth and women's leagues into the pockets of corrupt officials. An attorney for Full Play Group said the allegedly illicit payments were "expected, asked for and even demanded" by South American soccer officials. An attorney for Lopez told jurors his client was not aware of the bribes and immediately reported them to Fox upon learning of them. The charges are part of a sprawling FIFA corruption probe unveiled in May 2015.

☆ The far-right wore Brazil's national soccer team jersey during anti-democratic riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Brazilian national team's soccer jersey has been appropriated by Bolsonaro for years. When Brazil's national team won the 2019 Copa America, Bolsonaro sat squarely with the players and trophy, smiling ear to ear as he parroted the win. "The Brazilian national team shirt is a symbol of the joy of our people," the CBF tweeted on Monday. "Brazil's yellow shirts shimmered and sparkled in the blistering white sunlight of the Mexican noon — the appointed time of kick-offs to support European TV schedules." "We can't be ashamed of wearing our green and yellow shirt," da Silva said in late November, per The Guardian.

☆ Iran reroutes plane carrying soccer star's wife, blames UK over unrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A service that could help Iranians circumvent internet restrictions is Starlink, a satellite-based broadband service operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Musk said on Monday that the company was getting close to having 100 active Starlink satellite receivers inside Iran. After he voiced support for the protests on social media, authorities this month shut down a jewellery shop and a restaurant he owned. The British foreign ministry had said it was seeking further information from Iranian authorities on the reported arrests. Besides arrests, authorities have imposed travel bans on dozens of artists, lawyers, journalists and celebrities for endorsing the protests.

☆ 2022 in gender equality: Share of female Fortune 500 CEOs hits all-time high, but other progress stalls
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Women continue to face a significant wage gap that has hardly budged over the last 15 years, with women of color bearing the brunt of the disparity. The year "2022 really is a mixed bag when it comes to gender equality," says Melissa Boteach, the vice president for income security and child care/early learning at the National Women's Law Center. Aside from that victory, there has been little progress in closing the gender wage gap over the past decade. This year, the wage gap narrowed by one penny. The wage gap Black women face narrowed by about four cents in one year, while Latinas' wage gap didn't budge at all.

☆ Leo Messi used a 'growth mindset' to finally win his World Cup trophy—here's what that looked like
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The only major item missing was a World Cup trophy until Sunday, when Messi's Argentina defeated France in a 4-2 penalty shootout after an extra-time thriller. The approach may sound familiar: It's reminiscent of psychologist Carol Dweck's theory of the growth mindset, which posits that talent is only a starting point. Many non-athletes champion their own versions of the growth mindset, from billionaire Mark Cuban to actor Will Smith. Studies show that students who are taught the "growth mindset" by educators are able to improve their test scores more than their peers, over time. And despite long being recognized as a global superstar, it took him roughly 16 years over five World Cup tournaments to finally land his elusive prize.

☆ From bloody Balkan war to World Cup heavyweight: the making of Croatia as a soccer nation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Croatia’s World Cup pedigree is an altogether different story. Štimac challenges Clarence Seedorf of the Netherlands during the 1998 World Cup third place playoff match, which Croatia won 2-1. The Croatia players celebrate a goal against France in the 1998 World Cup semifinals. Having been appointed after the team’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup, Dalić came with pressure on his shoulders. Antonio Bronic/Reuters“There is no place in the national team dressing room of Croatia for big egos, and everyone knows that.

☆ France Edges England, 2-1, to Advance to World Cup Semifinals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jonathan Clegg | Joshua Robinson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AL KHOR, Qatar—The history of England’s national soccer team at the World Cup is a story of agonizing missed penalty kicks. The tournament-ending failures are known to fans almost in shorthand, each one its own national catastrophe: Turin 1990, Saint-Etienne 1998, Gelsenkirchen 2006. On Saturday night, Harry Kane added one more to the list: Al Khor 2022.

CNN —The death of prominent journalist Grant Wahl at the World Cup in Qatar has led to an outpouring of shock and grief across the sports world, with NBA star LeBron James and tennis great Billie Jean King leading the tributes to the American. King said Wahl’s death was “heartbreaking.”“A talented journalist, Grant was an advocate for the LGBTQ community & a prominent voice for women’s soccer,” King tweeted Saturday. “I am so thankful for the support of my husband Grant Wahl’s soccer family and of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight. He added that he sought help at the medical clinic at the World Cup media center, believing he had bronchitis. Afterward, Wahl told CNN he “probably will” wear the shirt again.

In one of TikTok's latest trends, the Brazilian team's love of dancing, flair and adoration of funk carioca, also known as favela funk or baile funk, has inspired a new generation of listeners on the platform. Funk carioca is a hip-hop subgenre that draws on an array of international music genres including Afrobeat, samba, Miami bass and electro, among others. Funk music group Os Quebradeiras dance on a street decorated for the Qatar 2022 World Cup at Tijuca neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Dec. 8, 2022. Mauro Pimentel / AFP - Getty ImagesVideos with the hashtags Brazilian funk have gathered more than 94.7 million views; Brazilian music has reached more than 46.9 million views; and Brazilian dance has received more than 121.8 million. The hashtag funk carioca has more than 540 million views by itself.

☆ How Morocco Built a World Cup Cinderella in Four Months
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Andrew Beaton | Jonathan Clegg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Morocco’s national soccer team spent the better part of 20 years doing its best to act like a European powerhouse. It borrowed Spanish coaching techniques, built a state-of-the-art soccer academy modeled on France’s Clairefontaine and imported its managers from across the Mediterranean. Over the past two decades, Morocco has been run by a Portuguese coach, a Belgian, three Frenchmen and a Bosnian.

☆ Factbox: Brittney Griner, U.S. basketball star caught up in Russia crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, stands inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoDec 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. official said on Thursday that U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who had been jailed in Russia in charges of possessing and smuggling illegal drugs, was now in U.S. custody. Russia said she had been traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States. Brittney Griner, 32, is a double Olympic champion and seven-times All-Star player in the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association (WBNA). Known as "BG" to basketball fans, she has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia during the WNBA winter off-season since 2014.

☆ Iranians Celebrate Soccer Team’s Loss to U.S. at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iranians celebrated their national soccer team’s loss to the U.S. at the World Cup late on Tuesday, defying the country’s leadership who have attempted to use the tournament to rally support for the regime after months of protests. Iranians in Tehran and other parts of the country took to the streets in jubilation after the match ended, according to social-media posts. Some honked their car horns while others set off firecrackers and chanted “death to the dictator.”

☆ 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.

☆ Fact Check-Images of dressing rooms strewn with rubbish are not Japanese soccer team’s changing room after Costa Rica World Cup match
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Images circulating online of dressing rooms strewn with rubbish do not show the Japanese national soccer team’s changing room and the images pre-date the Qatar World Cup. However, some online users were duped into thinking that the images showed the Japanese team’s changing room after losing to Costa Rica on Nov 27. FIFA has images showing Japan’s changing room after the team’s opening match against Germany, with no rubbish viewable (here), (here), (here). Images online do not show rubbish in Japan’s World Cup changing room after a match. The images were captured in Italy following the national soccer team’s loss to North Macedonia in March 2022.

☆ Iran is calling for the U.S. to be thrown out of the World Cup after flag change
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ahmad Nourollahi of Iran in action during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium on November 21, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. Iranian state media is calling for the U.S. World Cup soccer team to be thrown out of the 2022 tournament in Qatar after it briefly changed the icon of the Iranian flag on its social media accounts in support of protests taking place in the country. In the posts, the Iranian flag icon was missing its Islamic Republic emblem, and only showed its red, white and green stripes. Iranian media reacted swiftly, with state media agency Tasnim calling for the U.S. team to be booted from the tournament. Thank you thank you thank you."

☆ Niece of Iran's supreme leader speaks out against his 'murderous and child-killing regime' as protests continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The niece of Iran's supreme leader condemned his regime in a video ahead of being imprisoned. Farideh Moradkhani praised Iran's protests and asked for countries to cut ties with Tehran. On Sunday, her brother posted a video to Twitter in which she condemned the country's regime, according to Agence France-Presse. "Oh free people, be with us and support us, so that your governments stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime," Moradkhani said, per CNN's translation. Moradkhani is related to Khamenei by marriage, her father Ali Tehrani having married the supreme leader's sister, according to CNN.

☆ A match like no other. When the US played Iran at the 1998 World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Aimee Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The US had qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France with ease. “Instantly, it was less about Germany, less about Yugoslavia, more about Iran,” Sampson told CNN Sport. “That was a bit of a distraction.”Over two decades later, the USMNT again faces Iran in the group stages of a World Cup. Gael Cornier/APThe USMNT had to face Germany, then the reigning European champion in its opening match, yet the Iran match, the second group game, was everyone else’s focus. “We had 150 armed police, which was unprecedented for a World Cup match.

☆ The Iran Coach Aiming to Send the U.S. Home From the World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Joshua Robinson | Jonathan Clegg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DOHA, Qatar—Deep in the meeting rooms of the Al Rayyan Hotel here, Iran has been cooking up a plan to send the U.S. national soccer team home from the World Cup. The team’s silver-haired leader is a master of defensive tactics, creative preparation, and surprising counter-strikes. He is identifying American weaknesses and preparing his players to take one last stand. And he’s doing it all in Portuguese.

☆ Football or soccer? It’s complicated …
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Allison Rosen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Football, or soccer, has been around for centuries with its roots dating back over 2,000 years ago, but it was not until 1863 that England’s Football Association (the FA) cemented the sport’s full name of Association Football when they established the game’s first rules. Courtesy of U.S. Soccer and National Soccer Hall of FameBy the time association football and its round ball made its way across the Atlantic, American Football was already the popular game claiming the name of football. Unlike association football, American football is a game played mostly with one’s hands and uses an oval ball. Fast forward to 1974 and the United States Soccer Football Association (USSFA) – the sport’s governing body in the US – distanced itself from the word football by changing its name to the United States Soccer Federation, commonly referred to as the USSF (US Soccer). In places where football can be ambiguous, soccer is usefully precise.”In 1994, soccer fever reached a highpoint as the US hosted the World Cup.

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