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☆ Iran's Khamenei praises Basij forces for confronting 'rioters' -TV
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting with a group of Basij militia forces in Tehran, Iran November 26, 2022. Challenging the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, protesters from all walks of life have burned pictures of Khamenei and called for the downfall of the Islamic Republic. The Basij forces, affiliated with the country's elite Revolutionary Guards, have been at the forefront of the state crackdown on the unrest in the past weeks. "They have sacrificed their lives to protect people from rioters ... the presence of Basij shows that the Islamic Revolution is alive," Khamenei said in a televised speech. Iran's hardline judiciary has sentenced at least six protesters to death and thousands have been indicted for their role in the unrest, according to officials.

CNN —Ahead of England’s World Cup clash with the United States on Friday, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said that Crusader costumes worn by England fans are “offensive.”Some England fans attend sports events dressed as the English patron Saint George, equipped with helmets, crosses and plastic swords. FIFA told CNN: “Crusader costumes in the Arab or Middle East context can be offensive to Muslims. Video Ad Feedback Hear from US journalist who was detained for wearing a rainbow shirt in Qatar 03:36 - Source: CNNThe rainbow flag is a symbol for LGBTQ rights, and in Qatar homosexuality is illegal. It’s not allowed.”“One security guard told me that my shirt was ‘political’ and not allowed,” Wahl wrote on Substack. The Welsh Football Association (FAW) said FIFA told the federation on Thursday that rainbow-colored flags and hats would be permitted at World Cup stadiums in Qatar.

☆ Soccer Iran players resume singing of national anthem at World Cup match
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Manasi Pathak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Iran's national soccer team sang during the playing of their national anthem at their second World Cup match against Wales on Friday, despite not singing in their opening game earlier this week in apparent support of protesters back home. Loud jeers were heard from Iranian supporters as the anthem played, with the team singing quietly as it played. Iranian authorities have responded with deadly force to suppress protests that have marked one of the boldest challenges to its clerical rulers since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ America’s Secret Weapon at the World Cup: The Military
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DOHA, Qatar—Air Force Major Daniel Bair’s job here involves plenty of sitting at a desk, writing emails and making calls. It isn’t exactly the kind of thing that rivets his kids when he FaceTimes with them. But ever since he was deployed to Qatar over the summer, he has looked forward to two things. He couldn’t wait for the heat to subside. And he was eager for another celebrated group of Americans, known as the U.S. men’s national soccer team, to arrive.

☆ World Cup 1950: When the US beat England in the greatest sporting upset of all time
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —On one side of the pitch was a team made up some of the biggest names in world soccer. Described as a “real bunch of ragamuffins” by the author Geoffrey Douglas, the US beat a star-studded England side 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup. I mean, a plucky group of underdogs just beat what was generally universally recognized as the best team in the world,” Holroyd told CNN Sport. PA Images/ReutersAnd so when the 1950 World Cup approached, there was little national interest or coverage of the US’ participation. On the other side of the pond, hopes were sky high for a star-studded England team.

The German national soccer team staged a silent protest against its World Cup hosts in Qatar and the sport's governing bodies Wednesday, declaring that human rights were nonnegotiable. Human rights activists have long criticized Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and LGBTQ people. Team captains of several European teams had planned to do "One Love" armbands to signal support for the "One Love" campaign for human rights. But the national soccer federations of those squads, instead, adhered to the world body FIFA's demand to not stage that in-game messaging, amid threats of punishment. Human rights are nonnegotiable, it said.

☆ Japan scores 2 late goals to beat Germany in World Cup upset
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

DOHA, Qatar — Substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored late goals Wednesday to give Japan a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Germany at the World Cup. But Doan, who plays for German team Freiburg, pounced on a rebound to equalize in the 76th minute after Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer blocked a shot from Takumi Minamino. Then Asano, who plays for German team Bochum, sprinted clear of Nico Schlotterbeck and beat Neuer from a narrow angle in the 83rd. And team captains of several European teams had planned to wear “One Love” armbands to signal support for the “One Love” campaign for human rights. But the national soccer federations of those squads, instead, adhered to world body FIFA’s demand to not stage that in-game messaging, amid threats of punishment.

☆ How Qatar ended up hosting the World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —With the World Cup now underway in Qatar, many are wondering how this moment arrived – that a tiny Gulf nation with little footballing history ended up hosting the biggest event the sport has to offer. The country’s World Cup debut was 12 years in the making, a period in which Qatar’s host status has stirred controversy within the footballing community and beyond. Those included a lack of existing infrastructure and the region’s intense heat in the summer, when World Cup tournaments are traditionally held. But questions about just how Qatar won the right to stage the World Cup continue. Meanwhile, Qatar’s state-backed discrimination against LGBTQ people has also been criticized in the years leading up to the World Cup.

☆ Iran players opt not to sing national anthem at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

DOHA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Iran's national soccer team chose not to sing their country's anthem before their opening World Cup match against England on Monday, in an apparent show of support for protesters back home. All of the starting 11 players were silent as the anthem was played at the Khalifa International Stadium. More than two months of nationwide protests, sparked by the death of a young woman in the custody of the morality police, are among the boldest challenges posed to Iran's clerical leaders since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Reporting by Martin Petty Editng by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Iran chose not to sing anthem at World Cup opener
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Martin Petty | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Players of Iran's national soccer team chose not to sing their country's anthem at their opening World Cup match against England on Monday, in an apparent show of support for protesters back home. The players were silent as the anthem was played at the Khalifa International Stadium, where Iranian fans gathered in the stands shouted as the music was played. Iranian state television, during its live broadcast, censored the footage of the players lining up before the match as the anthem was played. On the eve of the match, captain Ehsan Hajsafi, who plays in Greece, became the first member of the Iranian team to speak out from the World Cup on the situation at home, saying "we are with them. Players Karim Ansarifard and Morteza Pouraliganji chose not to answer questions on Friday about solidarity with women in Iran, while midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh, of Dutch club Feyenoord, suggested such questions were a ploy to distract the team.

☆ Biden calls USMNT to wish them luck before their first World Cup match in 8 years: 'Coach, put me in — I'm ready to play'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Biden called the USMNT to offer the squad support before its first World Cup game against Wales. "Coach, put me in — I'm ready to play," Biden said. "Coach, put me in — I'm ready to play," Biden jokingly said to coach Gregg Berhalter. "Best of luck to @USMNT at the World Cup! Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) November 21, 2022After playing Wales on Monday, the USMNT is set to take on England on Friday.

☆ 'We are very frustrated': World Cup teams in Qatar ax pro-LGBTQ armbands after FIFA threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The European teams competing at the 2022 Qatar World Cup walked back their plans to wear "OneLove" armbands in support of LGBTQ rights during the tournament, they announced Monday, after warnings from international soccer governing body FIFA that they would be penalized for doing so. In an unprecedented move just hours before matches began, FIFA warned it would issue a yellow card to any player wearing the armband. "As national federations, we can't put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games." The teams from England, Wales and the Netherlands were all slated to play on Monday. "We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented," the teams' joint statement added and pledged to express their support for inclusion by other means.

On Sunday the globe’s gaze will turn to the controversial hosts of this year’s soccer World Cup, Qatar. (The Qatar body responsible for putting on the 2022 World Cup has strongly denied these claims.) According to official Qatari figures, 38 migrant workers have died while working on official World Cup projects. An investigation by The Guardian, however, estimates up to 6,500 migrant worker deaths since the World Cup was awarded to the Gulf country, though it’s not clear what their exact relation to World Cup infrastructure was. But the people of the Middle East shouldn’t be punished by having the World Cup tournament withdrawn for the failures of their governments.

☆ 'I have no words': Ecuadoreans celebrate historic World Cup opener win
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Fans watch the open match Qatar v Ecuador during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in Ibarra, Ecuador November 20, 2022. REUTERS/Karen ToroQUITO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Thousands of euphoric Ecuadoreans celebrated on Sunday in various cities around the South American nation after the country's historic victory against host nation Qatar in the opening game of the soccer World Cup. The game marked the first time a host nation had been beaten in a World Cup opener. The first round of Group A games will be completed on Monday with the game between the Netherlands and Senegal. Ecuador will play again on Friday against the Netherlands, while Qatar will face Senegal.

☆ World Cup guide: Teams and players to watch
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Doha, Qatar CNN —In just over 24 hours, Qatar 2022 will burst into life as the host nation takes on Ecuador in the opening game of the World Cup. Tournament favoritesOnly eight nations have ever won the men’s World Cup, many of which are among the favorites this time around. After being knocked out by England in the Euro 2020 semifinals, the team waltzed through World Cup qualification, winning nine of its 10 matches and conceding only three goals. In addition to making its World Cup debut, Qatar is a relatively unknown quantity with most of its players spending their careers in the nation’s top league. He will be an important player in Japan’s World Cup campaign and has already been dubbed the ‘Japanese Lionel Messi’ back home.

In a last minute U-turn, two days before the tournament's opening match, international soccer governing body FIFA said on Friday that alcoholic beer would not be sold at Qatar's World Cup stadiums. Now fans can only consume beer at the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha. "Not having alcohol is not good because the World Cup it's a party of the world," said Brazilian fan Julio Cesar, wearing a felt hat in his country's colours. The 2022 World Cup is the first edition of the tournament held in a conservative Muslim country with strict controls on alcohol, the consumption of which is banned in public. For the fans unfazed by Qatar's dire human rights record, the absence of beer at World Cup venues has proven a major disappointment.

☆ 2022 World Cup should ban Iran in support of women and protesters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sardar Pashaei | Emily Schrader | Sardar Pashaei Is A Former World Wrestling Champion Iran Who Fled In Due To Political Persecution. He Is Now The Executive Manager Of | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

On Saturday, 32 national soccer teams are gathering in Qatar for the start of the FIFA World Cup. That same year, Mahshid Razaghi, who played for the Olympic soccer team, was executed for selling anti-government newspapers. In 1984, Habib Khabiri, a member of the men’s national soccer team, was executed by firing squad for membership in an anti-regime organization. Preventing Iran from participating in the World Cup would send a concrete message that regimes that persecute their own athletes have no place in world sporting organizations. While such a ban would mean Iranian athletes can’t participate in this World Cup, many in Iran believe the team isn’t representative of the people of Iran in the first place but only represents the Islamic regime.

☆ The World Cup Begins Next Week. The Protests Have Been Under Way for Years.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Joshua Robinson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The banners have been cropping up at German soccer games for years. In gigantic letters painted across bedsheets, they decry lives lost, bureaucratic corruption, and alleged human rights abuses, all with the same objective. The German national soccer team, they argue, has no business traveling to the World Cup in Qatar. Over the past two weeks, with the tournament kickoff looming on Nov. 20, the messaging has only intensified. Shame on you.”

☆ Why hosting the World Cup can be a bad idea for some countries
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Darren Geeter | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Hosting the World Cup draws massive exposure to a host country in terms of tourism, foreign trade, jobs and the potential for new development. Nevertheless, hosting the FIFA World Cup is viewed as an honor as soccer is the world's most popular sport, with over 5 billion fans. The United States, which hosted the 1994 World Cup, is viewed as the most successful of the tournaments, drawing over 3.5 million fans. But history suggests that fans will continue to tune in with hopes and aspirations of their country winning the cherished World Cup. Watch the video above to learn why hosting the FIFA World Cup can be a bad idea for some countries.

☆ Blind Venezuelan boy converts World Cup sticker album into Braille
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Sebastian Filoramo, 12, a visually impaired boy who adapted the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Panini card album to Braille, checks his album in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Keren TorresBARQUISIMETO, Venezuela, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A blind 12-year-old Venezuelan soccer fan has found a way to participate in the craze of collecting World Cup soccer stickers, by adding Braille to them. Sebastian Filoramo, from the western city of Barquisimeto, began the initiative with the support of his parents and school teacher a few months ago by buying and labeling the album stickers with a Braille machine. To complete the album for the Qatar World Cup, which kicks off on Nov. 20, some 600 stickers are needed. Reporting by Keren Torres in Barquisimeto; Writing by Steven Grattan; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Qatar World Cup ambassador says homosexuality is ‘damage in the mind’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN — An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a “damage in the mind” in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF just two weeks before the opening of the global soccer tournament in the Gulf state. Excerpts of the television interview were shown Monday night on ZDF’s news program Heute Journal. Concerns about the conservative country’s treatment of homosexuals living in the country as well as LGBTQ tourists attending the World Cup have also been expressed for a long time. In the interview, Salman also said that homosexuality “is a spiritual harm.”“During the World Cup, many things will come here to the country. The interview was cut short by a press officer of the World Cup organizing committee after Salman expressed his views on homosexuals, ZDF reported.

☆ Qatar World Cup ambassador said being gay is 'damage in the mind' in a tense TV interview amid mounting criticism of the hosts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kit Gillet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An ambassador for the soccer World Cup being held in Qatar made homophobic comments in TV interview. When asked why it was haram, Salman said: "I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Qatar's World Cup organizers declined to comment on the episode when asked by Reuters. It is the latest controversy surrounding the tournament, which is the first time a soccer World Cup is being held in the Middle East. Qatar has reportedly spent over $229 billion on the largest infrastructure project in World Cup history.

☆ Paramount Global shares slide as results miss and TV revenue falls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Paramount Global on Wednesday reported $6.92 billion in revenue for its third quarter, an increase of 5% year-over-year. Yet the company's results missed expectations as it suffered from cord cutting and a drop in advertising revenue. Advertising revenue for the segment also dropped, a sign that macroeconomic headwinds are beginning to hit. Paramount said advertising revenue for its TV networks was down 3% to about $1.9 billion. The company noted it also restructured some of its international affiliate TV agreements during the quarter, which shifted revenue from pay-TV services to streaming.

☆ 'This is not our national team' - why some Iranians want their own country banned from World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Peter Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, in conjunction with a Spanish law firm, they sent a letter to world soccer's governing body FIFA demanding their own country be withdrawn from next month's World Cup. "Iran is different to any other country," former wrestling world junior champion and national team coach Sardar Pashaei told Reuters. They should be banned until we have a democratic country like any other country in the world." "One of the important reasons for banning this football team by FIFA is everybody across the world will ask, 'What happened to Iran?'" "Russia attacked Ukraine, killed people, so it was the right decision they got banned - the same should happen to Iran.

☆ Australian players call out Qatar's human rights record ahead of World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Australia's national soccer team spoke out against World Cup host Qatar's record on human rights and same-sex relationships in a video released on Thursday, adding to criticism of the country in the weeks ahead of the tournament. Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, has come under intense international pressure for its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws. A separate statement from Football Australia, the peak soccer body, on Thursday acknowledged reforms but said the games had been associated "with suffering for some migrant workers and their families." Disquiet over the country's human rights record has led to calls for teams and officials to boycott the games. Australia will play against France, Denmark and Tunisia after the World Cup kicks off on Nov. 20.

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