Category Archives: Sport

Aston Villa reportedly told stewards they could miss Maccabi Tel Aviv match

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Club cited possible safety ‘concerns’ after West Midlands police decided to ban Maccabi fans from fixture

Aston Villa told matchday stewards they would not have to work during the club’s Europa League fixture against the Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv, citing possible “concerns” over safety, it has been reported.

West Midlands police decided to ban Maccabi fans from the forthcoming match, after saying the force would not be able to police the fixture safely owing to “violent clashes and hate crime offences” at a previous match in Amsterdam in 2024.

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Pitch invaders disrupt League Two game in ‘Gary Neville is a traitor’ flag protest

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  • Two men tried to plant flag of St George in centre circle

  • Far-right group calls it protest against Neville’s ‘treachery’

Salford’s League Two match against Oldham was briefly disrupted when two men tried to plant a flag of St George inside the centre circle at the Peninsula Stadium.

The men entered the field during the first half wearing white hoodies displaying the message “Gary Neville is a traitor” before being removed by stewards and police.

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No 10 says talks happening ‘at pace’ across government to lift ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending Aston Villa match – live

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Fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv banned from match at Aston Villa next month

Zarah Sultana, the former Labour MP who is now a member of the Independent Alliance in parliament, alongside Ayoub Khan and four others, has also defended the Maccabi ban on the grounds that Israeli teams should not be competing in international sport. She says:

Next UEFA must ban all Israeli teams.

We cannot have normalisation with genocide and apartheid.

Apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics for 32 years.

The same people who called Nelson Mandela a “terrorist” now say we can’t boycott apartheid Israel.

There are two distinct issues. One is the safety aspect … If the police in West Midlands find it challenging because they simply do not have the resources to ensure safety, then that’s one aspect.

The second aspect is a moral argument that Maccabi Tel Aviv should not even be playing in this international competition.

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Apple swoops on exclusive F1 US TV rights amid expansion into sports

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Deal reportedly closed for $140m a year, on the heels of worldwide success of Apple-produced Brad Pitt film F1

Apple has landed US broadcast rights to Formula One in a five-year deal that would help the tech giant bolster its streaming service with one of the country’s fastest-growing sports, following the success of its Brad Pitt-starrer F1: The Movie.

The two sides did not disclose the financial details of the deal on Friday. CNBC reported it was for $140m a year, much higher than the $90m the Walt Disney-owned ESPN was paying each season for F1, which it has broadcast since 2018.

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African football’s general secretary accused of creating toxic culture of fear

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  • Mosengo-Omba said to run CAF as a ‘proprietorship’

  • Employee: ‘Anyone who dares speak up is terminated’

The Confederation of African Football’s general secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, has been accused of running the organisation as his “proprietorship” and creating a toxic culture of fear where employees are fired for speaking out against him.

Several former and current members of staff have told the Guardian there is an atmosphere of intimidation and paranoia at the Caf headquarters in Cairo, where Mosengo-Omba is accused of sidelining colleagues and silencing whistleblowers.

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