Researchers have found a racial bias by match officials in the country’s top league, but say it could be linked to crowd pressure
Referees in Italy’s top football league give more yellow and red cards to Black and darker-skinned players than to their light-skinned teammates, research shows.
Officials in Serie A awarded an average of 20% more fouls per season against darker-skinned players from 2009 to 2019, with 11% more yellow cards and 16% more red cards.
Continue reading...Football team that has been exiled from its home ground and endured an exodus of star players pulls off stunning win against Rennes on anniversary of war
Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk have not played in their home city since 2014. The underground car park of their ground in Donbas is being used by the Russians to store weapons. They have endured an exodus of star foreign players, including the sale of star winger Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea last month.
But in a David and Goliath win over French side Rennes, Shakhtar Donetsk have gatecrashed their way into the last 16 of the Europa League.
Continue reading...The Gulf state bank’s offer to buy the English Premier League team has been criticised by humanitarian organisations, LGBTQ+ fan clubs and advocacy groups for football governance
A Qatar-led bid to take over Manchester United should not be entertained because of concerns about state influence and human rights abuses in the country, rights groups say.
Fears about an offer to buy the club have been raised by Amnesty International’s Manchester branch, which said it had been contacted by fans who were very worried by the news.
Continue reading...Minute’s applause held at St James’ Park, where Ghanaian footballer spent five years
Tributes have been paid to the Ghanaian and former Premier League footballer Christian Atsu, who was found dead under the earthquake rubble of his home in Turkey.
There was a minute’s applause for Atsu on Saturday at St James’ Park before Newcastle United’s game against Liverpool, which his wife and children attended. Atsu spent five years at Newcastle from 2016 to 2021.
Continue reading...Joseph Watts also given four-year football ban after admitting to assault at end of north London derby
A 35-year-old man has been ordered to pay compensation to the Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after assaulting him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of the north London derby.
Ramsdale, 24, was kicked in the back shortly after Arsenal beat Tottenham 2-0 in a Premier League match on 15 January.
Continue reading...Group gathered outside Arizona stadium to protest the team’s name and the insulting gesture and chant performed by its fans
The Kansas City Chiefs may have won the Super Bowl in an epic game, but for some there will be no victory until the football team changes its name and symbol and its fans stop performing an insulting gesture and chant.
A small but loud group protested outside the stadium hosting the Super Bowl in Arizona on Sunday, aggrieved that the team from the city that straddles the Kansas-Missouri border continues to refuse to drop its name and arrowhead symbol, which Native American leaders class as a racist mascot and symbol that devalues Native traditions.
Continue reading...Win or lose, this promises to be a huge game for Philadelphia. Well, assuming that the local population actually has a chance to watch the game in question. Reports are currently spreading of a particularly ill-timed cable/internet outage in the area.
Preamble
Continue reading...Ukraine’s athletes have accused the International Olympic Committee of rewarding Vladimir Putin’s aggression and being “on the wrong side of history” in an escalating war of words over whether Russians should compete at the Paris 2024 Games. The IOC recently moved away from having an outright ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus and is investigating ways they can qualify for the Olympics under a neutral flag.
In a letter to Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee, sent last week, the IOC president, Thomas Bach, criticised Ukraine’s threat to boycott the Games, saying it would violate the Olympic charter. That stance has angered Ukraine’s athletes, who have hit back by suggesting the IOC is “kowtowing” to Russia.
Continue reading...A man died after a brawl broke out among spectators at a middle school basketball game in northern Vermont, local police have said.
Vermont state troopers were called to the Alburgh Community Education Center just before 7pm on Tuesday after a report of a large fight involving spectators during a seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball game between Alburgh and St Albans.
Continue reading...A 22-year-old Virginia basketball coach has been fired after being accused of attempting to pass herself off as one of her 13-year-old players during a game.
According to Norfolk’s WAVY TV 10, when one of the members of the Churchland junior varsity girls basketball team in Portsmouth was out of town earlier this month, Arlisha Boykins stepped in and impersonated the absent player in their game against Nansemond River.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia’s tourist authority is to sponsor football’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year, despite the country’s history of oppression of women’s rights.
Fifa is expected to confirm that Visit Saudi will join international brands such as Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa in attaching its name to the 32-team tournament that will kick off in front of an expected 50,000 supporters at Auckland’s Eden Park on 20 July.
Continue reading...Ministers say exceptional security needed but rights groups warn new law could extend police powers permanently
The French government is fast-tracking special legislation for the 2024 Paris Olympics that would allow the use of video surveillance assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Ministers have argued that certain exceptional security measures are needed to ensure the smooth running of the events that will attract 13 million spectators, but rights groups have warned France is seeking to use the Games as a pretext to extend police surveillance powers, which could then become permanent.
Continue reading...Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, who led the Bulldogs to their second straight national championship, was arrested early on Sunday after police said he was intoxicated in public.
Police said that at about 6.10am, officers responded to reports of a man banging on doors in a community of townhomes near downtown Dallas.
Continue reading...Novak Djokovic has added his voice to calls for changes to be made to the Australian Open schedule amid growing concern over player welfare and fairness at this year’s tournament at Melbourne Park.
Andy Murray was forced to back up just a day and a half after a gruelling near-six hour epic against Thanasi Kokkinakis that did not finish until 4am local time, a match that highlighted the issue for the first time at this year’s grand slam.
Continue reading...Wife of Leicester City footballer posts picture on Instagram praising ‘brilliant’ Lincolnshire fire service
A gym at the home of Rebekah and Jamie Vardy has been destroyed by fire.
The wife of the Leicester City footballer posted a picture on Instagram of two of her children smiling at the camera having climbed inside a fire engine as she praised the “brilliant Lincolnshire fire and rescue service”.
Continue reading...Beale was ordered to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily after appearing in Parramatta local court
High-profile rugby union player Kurtley Beale has denied sexually assaulting a woman in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last year after he was charged over the alleged incident.
The 34-year-old Wallabies winger was ordered on Saturday to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily after he was granted bail in Parramatta local court.
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Continue reading...Rugby union player is being questioned over report a 28-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at a Bondi Beach venue
The rugby union star Kurtley Beale has been arrested over an alleged sexual assault.
The 33-year-old Wallabies winger was taken into custody by police on Friday over an alleged incident in Sydney’s east on 17 December.
Continue reading...Wrestlers including Olympic medallists stage sit-in demanding federation is disbanded
Two Olympic medal-winning wrestlers in India have accused the head of their sport’s governing body and its coaches of sexually harassing female players and have vowed to protest until the federation is disbanded and its leader investigated.
Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who have Olympic bronzes, Vinesh Phogat, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and other athletes began a sit-in protest in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Spectators at the Australian Open were in the spotlight on Thursday after separate incidents sparked player anger on the court at Melbourne Park and the crowd stayed until 4am watching Thanasi Kokkinakis play Andy Murray.
In his second-round match against France’s Enzo Couacaud on Rod Laver Arena, Novak Djokovic complained to the umpire after appearing to be barracked by a supporter, one of several dressed in a Where’s Wally? costume.
Continue reading...A lawyer for Usain Bolt said on Wednesday that more than $12.7m is missing from his account with a private investment firm in Jamaica.
Linton P Gordon, a lawyer for Bolt, provided the Associated Press with a copy of a letter sent to Stocks & Securities Limited demanding that the money be returned. Gordon said the Olympic champion’s account once had $12.8m but now reflects a balance of only $12,000.
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