Category Archives: Sport

Three men charged over mass pitch invasion at A-League Men Melbourne derby

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Melbourne Victory could be hit with heavy sanctions for the behaviour of their fans

Victoria Police have charged three men in relation to the mass pitch invasion at the A-League Men Melbourne derby on Saturday.

All three of the men, aged 23, 19 and 18, presented at police stations on Monday, Victoria Police said in a statement.

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‘Like paradise’: Argentina erupts in celebration of World Cup win

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Streets of central Buenos Aires are a cacophony of yelling and horns after shootout victory against France

If there’s one thing Argentina fans have learned in this World Cup, it’s that you can’t rest on your laurels when you’re 2-0 up. But after a dramatic penalty shootout, there was delight in Buenos Aires that Argentina will be bringing home football’s most coveted trophy.

In La Puerta Roja, a bar in the downtown San Telmo district, so many people packed in early to watch the final that there was a queue outside an hour and a half before kickoff. The air smelled of adrenaline and the commentators could barely be heard over the din of yelling, hands banging on tables, and the occasional glass smashing.

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‘You can’t begrudge Messi’: Parisians react as France lose World Cup final

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Patrons of French capital’s bars go through gamut of emotions as Argentina eventually win out on penalties

It was a rollercoaster. By the end they were standing on the tables outside, roars of “allez les Bleus” and “liberté, égalité, Mbappé” rising hoarsely into the freezing early evening air, hugging each other fiercely, cheering on their heroes.

It was standing room only in le Napoléon and le Mondial cafes, facing each other across the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in Paris’s 10th arrondissement – both rammed to the rafters inside with flag-waving, face-painted, red-white-and-blue bewigged fans.

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‘Your life depends on whether Argentina wins’: Buenos Aires at fever pitch as Messi’s team face France

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In the capital, where Maradona is worshipped as a god, World Cup victory would take on a spiritual dimension

In June, Tomás Kuklis visited family in his native Argentina from his home in New York. When conversation turned to the upcoming World Cup, it brought back the happiest memories of his childhood. He was rocked by a wave of nostalgia for friends and food, but especially for his lifelong passion: football.

So, he took a bold decision: he would sell all his things and move back to Buenos Aires to watch the tournament. It was a choice some might consider radical. But in this South American country where football is arguably a spiritual experience, it felt like keeping the faith.

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Police vow to prosecute A-League pitch invaders as FA pledges to ‘weed’ them out of game

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Victoria police is reviewing footage of the pitch invasion during Saturday’s A-League Men’s Melbourne derby and has vowed officers will be “knocking on doors very soon”.

Three alleged assaults are under investigation – to City’s goalkeeper, Thomas Glover, a referee and a Channel Ten camera operator.

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‘Our game is in tatters’: Australian football reacts with shock to Melbourne derby violence

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Australian football has reacted with a mixture of shock, anger, sadness and disbelief to the chaotic and violent scenes that resulted in the abandonment of the A-League men’s Melbourne derby on Saturday night.

City’s goalkeeper, Thomas Glover, was left bloodied after he was hit by a metal bucket allegedly thrown by a Victory fan as supporters stormed the pitch midway through the first half of the match at Aami Park.

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Australian denied gold at world short course swimming after bizarre re-run of final following technical error

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  • Isaac Cooper swam initial 50m backstroke in junior world record
  • US’s Ryan Murphy took gold in re-run in slower time

A shattered Isaac Cooper fought back tears after he was cruelly denied a backstroke world short course swimming gold medal in bizarre circumstances after the final had to be re-run.

Cooper was first home in the 50m final in Melbourne on Friday night but less than half the field completed the race after an alarm sounded due to a “technical error”.

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UK high street faces post-Christmas ‘flurry of failure’

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Lacklustre festive sales leaving retailers low on funds needed to cope when shoppers traditionally tighten belts in new year

The high street could face a “flurry of business failures” in the new year, as a lacklustre Christmas sales period is leaving retailers low on the funds needed to cope when households tighten their belts after the festive season.

“We can expect more consolidation and high street casualties as we head into the new year. It will be yet another tough year for retail and a case of survival of the fittest,” said Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG.

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Celebrations on the Champs-Élysées as France fans hail ‘magnificent game’

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Excitement builds for final against Argentina as spectators, some draped in French and Moroccan flags, praised play of both teams

Amid a cacophony of beeping car horns, fireworks, and people hanging from car windows waving flags, cheering football fans poured on to Paris’s Champs-Élysées on Wednesday night to celebrate France beating Morocco to reach the World Cup final, hoping it would become the first country in 60 years to retain the title.

“We’re in the final!” yelled Romain, 16, who had high school the next day but was planning a late night celebrating. “When France won the World Cup in 2018, I was 12 and couldn’t really celebrate in the streets,” he said. “It feels brilliant tonight, but facing Argentina will be close, nail-biting.”

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Morocco airline cancels Doha flights before France World Cup semi-final

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  • Seven flights cancelled leaving fans with tickets unable to travel
  • Royal Air Maroc says decision came from Qatari authorities

Morocco’s national airline said it was cancelling all flights it had scheduled for Wednesday to carry fans to Doha for the World Cup semi-final, citing what it said was a decision by Qatari authorities.

“Following the latest restrictions imposed by the Qatari authorities, Royal Air Maroc regrets to inform customers of the cancellation of their flights operated by Qatar Airways,” the airline saidt.

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Mike Leach, pioneering Mississippi State coach, dies at age of 61

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  • Leach was taken to hospital with health issue on Sunday
  • Coach helped popularize the Air Raid offense in football
  • Was also known for his wide-ranging interests

Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid offense, has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said on Tuesday. He was 61.

Leach, who was in his third season as head coach at Mississippi State, fell ill on Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mississippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles away.

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Former NSW premier Mike Baird appointed chair of Cricket Australia

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Baird will take over from February with his predecessor stepping down and taking the chief executive’s job with HBF

Former New South Wales premier Mike Baird has been appointed as the new chair of Cricket Australia.

Baird will take over as the organisation’s new boss from February, with his predecessor Lachlan Henderson stepping down after moving back to Perth.

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The £100m Qatar whitewash: how UK advertisers put profit before protest

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Like the players, brands have in the end shied away from confrontation with the hosts during the World Cup

More than £100m will be spent by brands hoping to cash-in on World Cup fever, but when it comes to taking host Qatar to task over its human rights record protest marketing has taken a back seat to sales targets.

In the run-up to kick off of the football tournament in Qatar criticism of the gulf state was akin to shooting at an open goal.

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Brittney Griner arrives in US after prisoner exchange with Russia

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Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout

The American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the US early on Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange from nearly 10 months in detention in Russia.

The deal, in which she was swapped for the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for Joe Biden. But Washington failed to win freedom for another US citizen, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.

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Nathan Lyon’s landmark wicket helps Australia tighten grip on second Test

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  • West Indies reduced to 109-4 after career-best 175 by Travis Head
  • Spinner surpasses Shane Warne’s wicket tally for Adelaide Oval

Travis Head registered a career-best 175 at Adelaide Oval on Friday, run out just as his home crowd began to anticipate a Test double century. Nonetheless, he was the major contributor to a score of 511 for seven, the declaration coming shortly before the end of the second session in order to give Australia’s bowlers the evening portion of play with a new ball. They made good use of it, having West Indies four wickets down with 102 on the board by stumps, adrift by 409 runs.

The bowling performance with the pink ball was the big point of interest for the home side, with Patrick Cummins and Josh Hazlewood missing with minor injuries. That brought in two different fan favourites. Michael Neser’s first and only Test appearance to date had come in Adelaide a year ago, after he had long been the subject of the online #NeserMustPlay campaign. After that breakthrough he was unlucky to slip from his perch as Australia’s first reserve when Scott Boland did even better, 18 Ashes wickets at 9.55 after being picked in Melbourne.

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Cricket Australia boss criticises David Warner for outburst on captaincy ban

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  • Nick Hockley unhappy Warner made comments on social media
  • Boss rejects claim review would have hurt batter’s reputation

Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley advised David Warner against his social media bombshell on Test match eve, adamant a review of ball-tampering sanctions could go ahead without reopening old wounds.

Warner’s lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday evening set the scene for a dramatic week in Adelaide, with the opener lashing out at the process an independent panel appointed by CA’s integrity commission wanted to take.

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Biden hails release of Brittney Griner from Russian prison: ‘She’s safe, she’s on her way home’ – as it happened

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Russia exchanged Brittney Griner for arms dealer Viktor Bout at Abu Dhabi airport, Politico reports, and the two walked past each other on the tarmac.

Biden said Griner would be back in the United States “in the next 24 hours”. According to Politico, Griner is heading to a military facility in San Antonio, Texas, to be evaluated.

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Brittney Griner freed from Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout

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Basketball star released as US agrees to free convicted arms dealer in dramatic prisoner swap

Russia has freed the jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange for the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death” who had been held in a US prison for 12 years.

Joe Biden, who had made Griner’s release a top priority after she spent almost 10 months in jail on drug charges, said in an address from the White House he found her “in good spirits” when speaking after the swap in Abu Dhabi.

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Qatar World Cup whistleblower was tortured, claims family

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  • Abdullah Ibhais raised concern at workers’ treatment
  • Activists call on UN to help release him from prison

A Qatari whistleblower who was jailed after raising concerns about the mistreatment of migrant workers at World Cup stadium sites was tortured on the eve of the tournament, his family has claimed.

The human rights organisation FairSquare also released a letter from the family of Abdullah Ibhais, a former media manager in Qatar’s Supreme Committee, who accused Fifa of “callous indifference” for ignoring his case.

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David Warner withdraws bid to have lifetime captaincy ban revoked

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In a lengthy Instagram post, Warner claimed the review panel wanted to ‘conduct a public trial of me and what occurred during the third Test’

David Warner will withdraw his bid to have his lifetime captaincy ban lifted, accusing the independent panel conducting the review of wanting to publicly lynch him.

In a bombshell development on the eve of the Adelaide Test, Warner also claimed counsel assisting the review had made offensive and unhelpful comments about him during the initial process.

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