Champions League final chaos leaves French official with ‘many regrets’

  • Michel Cadot says it was ‘an important failure that damages us’
  • He insists use of teargas ended up being only viable response

The French government official investigating the chaos at the Champions League final in Paris in which police used teargas and pepper spray against Liverpool fans admitted there were “many regrets” over what happened but said preparations had been robust.

Michel Cadot, the sports ministry’s delegate on major events, said those involved in planning for the match – including the French Football Federation and the police – had acted in a “strong and satisfactory” manner, but admitted the occasion was “an important failure that damages us”.

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Ex-Russian football captain Igor Denisov condemns invasion of Ukraine

Former captain of national team said he fears he could be ‘jailed or killed’ for speaking out against the conflict

Igor Denisov, the former captain of Russia’s national football team, has said he feared he could be “jailed or killed” as he spoke out to condemn his country’s war against Ukraine.

The 38-year-old has become the most senior former or current athlete who still lives in Russia to publicly condemn the conflict.

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Cristiano Ronaldo: US judge dismisses $25m lawsuit over rape allegations

A US district judge in Las Vegas said the victim’s lawyer acted in ‘bad faith’ for use of leaked and stolen confidential documents

A Nevada woman has lost her bid in a US court to force the Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo to pay millions of dollars more than $375,000 in hush money she received after claiming he raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.

A US district judge in Las Vegas, Jennifer Dorsey, kicked the case out of court on Friday to punish the woman’s attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, for “bad-faith conduct” and the use of leaked and stolen documents detailing discussions between Ronaldo and his lawyers.

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Report highlights ‘multiple failures’ in handling of Champions League final

  • French government release 30-page report on systemic failures
  • Liverpool fans were attacked outside Stade de France in May

A French government report into the problems at the Champions League final has highlighted “multiple failures” in the management of the crowd in Paris.

The 30-page report, handed to the prime minister’s office on Friday, focused on systemic failures and “the presence of malevolent individuals” in the vicinity of the stadium. Large numbers of Liverpool fans have reported being attacked and having possessions stolen outside the Stade de France.

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Socceroos seek to reward early risers in Australia with World Cup qualification

  • Jackson Irvine hoping to inspire in win-or-bust playoff with Peru
  • Trent Sainsbury skips training but Adam Taggart does light duties

Jackson Irvine hopes Australia can reward fans who get up early to watch their World Cup playoff against Peru and inspire the next generation of Socceroos’ with victory. The one-off clash for a spot in the Qatar finals kicks off in Doha from 9pm on Monday, meaning fans in Australia will need to rise in the wee hours of Tuesday morning to catch the game on screens at 4am AEST.

“It seems like a lifetime ago but in a different time that was me getting up and watching games in the morning,” Irvine said in Doha. “Hopefully the younger generation will be waking up and some future Socceroos can tell their own story about how they saw us qualify and come live it themselves.”

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Pelé joins calls for Brazil to step up search for pair missing in Amazon

Three-time World Cup winner joined sports, culture and media figures in calling for action over Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira

A host of Brazilian celebrities, led by the three-time World Cup winner Pelé, have joined calls for authorities to intensify their search for a British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous advocate missing in the Amazon rainforest.

Pelé, now 81 and considered one of the greatest players of all time, retweeted a video made by Phillips’s wife appealing for more urgency in the search for her husband and Bruno Pereira.

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Fury in France as Champions League final chaos tarnishes nation’s global image

As elections loom, public turns against interior minister Gérald Darmanin after he blames Liverpool fans for Paris fiasco

When Paris stepped in to host the Champions League final, the biggest match in international football after the World Cup final, the French authorities saw a chance to show that the nation was the ideal place to hold global sporting events.

This weekend, those hopes appear to be dashed as French opinion polls show widespread disapproval of the chaos that ensued, amid growing criticism of politicians and the police.

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‘Raise the roof’: Scotland and Ukraine fans unite in song at Hampden

Supporters of both teams sing Ukrainian national anthem before Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier in Glasgow

Standing on the steps of Hampden in the late afternoon sunlight, Jim Struthers is wearing the same Scotland top he wore in 1998 – the last time his team qualified for the World Cup – but his heart is with Ukraine.

“It’s a very poignant evening,” says the Tartan Army stalwart, who has been supporting the Scottish national team for nearly half a century, and has come together with other fans to perform the Ukrainian national anthem – led by the opera singer Vasyl Savenko – on the steps of the Glasgow stadium as the crowds stream in for Wednesday’s qualifier.

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Champions League final chaos shows France in bad light, say opposition leaders

Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticises ‘confrontational policing’ at Paris final, saying country seems ill-prepared for future events

French opposition politicians have criticised the government over policing at the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday night, saying the chaotic scenes showed a poor image of France.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the radical left leader, whose left alliance is seeking to win seats in forthcoming parliament elections, said the “lamentable” and “worrying” scenes suggested France and its security services were not prepared for sports events such as next year’s Rugby World Cup or the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Liverpool fans liken ‘terrifying’ treatment in Paris to Hillsborough

Witnesses say they feared for their lives as French police fired teargas into the crowds ahead of Champions League final

Families affected by the Hillsborough disaster have compared the “terrifying” treatment of Liverpool fans at the Champions League final to the crush that led to the deaths of 97 supporters in 1989.

Witnesses described seeing children “trembling with fear”, and adults scared for their lives, as French police fired teargas into crowds outside the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night.

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Harry Kane exhibition aims to spur children on to success

Family photos, personal items and sporting memorabilia to go on display at Museum of London

Never-before-seen family photos, personal items and sporting memorabilia highlighting the England captain Harry Kane’s journey from grassroots football to professional player are to go on display at the Museum of London, with the hope of inspiring young people.

The exhibition will celebrate Kane, who grew up in east London just a few miles from Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in north London.

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Western United confident of fightback in A-League Men semi-final

  • Melbourne Victory take slender 1-0 advantage into second leg
  • Jake Brimmer’s strike at AAMI Park the difference on Tuesday

Melbourne Victory have one foot in their first A-League Men grand final in four years, but Western United remain confident of turning around a 1-0 first-leg deficit. Jake Brimmer’s strike gave Victory a one-goal lead on Tuesday, with the Saturday’s semi-final second leg also at AAMI Park.

“To be honest, we’re well and truly in this tie. This is the first-half, we’re 1-0 down,” United coach John Aloisi said. “We’re back here. We don’t have to go away, we don’t have to play away from home. We’re back here so pleased with the performance.

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Rebekah Vardy’s WhatsApp messages ‘just evil’, Coleen Rooney tells court

Rooney says she did not tell anyone about months-long sting operation on Instagram

Coleen Rooney has said Rebekah Vardy’s private WhatsApp messages were “just evil”, as she finished giving evidence in the “Wagatha Christie” libel trial.

The court has previously heard that Vardy and her agent, Caroline Watt, had lengthy WhatsApp exchanges about Rooney’s personal life, in which Rooney was allegedly branded a “nasty bitch” and a “cunt”.

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‘She is ridiculous’: Sam Kerr earns yet more plaudits after match-winner in FA Cup final

  • Striker scores twice as Chelsea secure double with 3-2 win
  • Australian ‘an amazing centre forward’, says Emma Hayes

Sam Kerr has been labelled the complete centre forward by the Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes, after the Australia captain netted another double to help her side to a second piece of silverware in the space of a week.

Having scored two sensational volleys last weekend to help secure the Women’s Super League title with victory over Manchester United, Kerr was again on the scoresheet twice on Sunday as Chelsea won the Women’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

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Diego Maradona ‘hand of God’ shirt sold for record £7.1m at auction

Blue Argentina No 10 jersey kept by England player Steve Hodge beats mark set by 1892 Olympic manifesto

The shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored twice – including the “hand of God” goal – to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup has sold for a record-breaking £7.1m at auction.

The late Argentinian player described his opening goal in the quarter-final as “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”. He and the England goalkeeper Peter Shilton leapt to reach the ball, which touched Maradona’s left hand and bounced into the net. The referee did not have a clear view and allowed the goal to stand.

The last violin played on the Titanic was sold at auction for $1.7m in less than 10 minutes in 2013. The instrument belonged to Wallace Hartley, an English musician whose eight-piece band played as the ship sank into the frozen waters of the Atlantic in April 1912. According to reports, Hartley’s body was pulled from the water days afterwards with his violin case still strapped to his back.

John Lennon’s flowered porcelain toilet sold for almost $15,000 (£9,500) – about 10 times the estimate – in 2010. The toilet came from Tittenhurst Park, an English estate owned by Lennon and Yoko Ono, where the former Beatle recorded his Imagine album and film. When Lennon had the toilet replaced, he told builders to “put some flowers on it or something”. Sale organisers called it the most unusual item they had ever handled.

An oak chair that JK Rowling used while writing the first two books of the Harry Potter series sold for $394,000 (£278,000) in 2016. The 1930s chair was one of four mismatched chairs given free to the then little-known writer for her council flat in Edinburgh. Before she donated it for auction in aid of the NSPCC in 2002, Rowling painted on the chair: “You may not/find me pretty/but don’t judge/on what you see.”

Marilyn Monroe’s white halter dress that she wore in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch sold for $4.6m in 2011. “Oh, do you feel the breeze from the subway? Isn’t it delicious?” Monroe famously says in the film as the dress is blown up by air from a New York subway grate. That image become one of the most memorable in film history. The dress was designed by William Travilla and made from rayon-acetate to give it sharp pleats.

A copy of the Bible used by Elvis Presley sold for £59,000 in 2012. A pair of Presley’s unwashed and soiled underpants worn underneath his famous white jumpsuit during a 1977 concert performance went unsold after bids failed to meet the £7,000 reserve price.

False teeth belonging to Winston Churchill were sold for £15,200 in 2010. The upper dentures, one of several sets made for the wartime prime minister, were specially constructed to preserve his natural lisp and were so important to him that he carried two pairs at all times. They were designed to be loose-fitting so that Churchill could preserve the diction famous from his radio broadcasts during the second world war.

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Dutch football pundit’s sexual abuse story on live TV sparks national outcry

Former player Johan Derksen appeared to make comments about historic drunken incident to amusement of presenter

The Netherlands has been forced again to face questions about attitudes to sexual violence towards women after one of the country’s most famous football pundits appeared to admit live on air to assaulting an unconscious woman with a candle 50 years ago.

Dutch prosecutors opened an investigation after Johan Derksen, 73, made the comments on Tuesday on the talkshow Today Inside, to the amusement of presenter Wilfred Genee and fellow pundit René van der Gijp.

In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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Beautiful chaos reigns as A-League basket cases deliver box office show

On paper it was eighth plays ninth, both teams flawed and prone to imploding. But the Mariners and Jets’ rivalry is exactly what the ALM needs

To ape Bill Hader’s famous Saturday Night Live character Stefon, the A-League Men’s hottest rivalry is the F3 Derby. Located on a sodden field in Newcastle, the latest edition of this regional rivalry had everything. Twists and turns, emotions bubbling over, VAR disallowing goals, dramatic comebacksand Matt Simon almost coming to blows with a red-carded Daniel Penha.

After serving as the unexpected highlight of ALM’s opening round of the 2021-22 season, overshadowing the greater ballyhooed Sydney Derby, punters were incredulous they were forced to wait 153 days for Saturday evening’s rematch between the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets, a fixture ready to resume its place amongst the pantheon of box office ALM fixtures.

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Perth Glory CEO admits Daniel Sturridge move has failed

  • ‘We had high hopes… It hasn’t worked,’ says Tony Pignata
  • Striker unlikely to be offered new contract at end of season

Perth Glory’s gamble on Daniel Sturridge has been labelled a failure by chief executive Tony Pignata, who admits it is unlikely the English striker will be offered a new deal with the A-League Men club.

Sturridge, a former Liverpool forward with 26 England caps, was the highest-profile signing heading into the 2021-22 ALM season but has featured for just 93 minutes across five substitute appearances – failing to find the net.

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Former Colombia great Freddy Rincón dies, aged 55, following car crash

  • Rincón had been driving car that collided with bus in Cali
  • Colombian Football Federation mourns ‘great loss’ for sport

Former Colombia captain Freddy Rincón has died aged 55 after sustaining severe head injuries in a car crash.

Rincón was hurt after the vehicle he was driving collided with a bus on Monday in Cali, Colombia.

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Former Colombia player Freddy Rincón in critical condition after car crash

  • Rincón was driving car that collided with bus in Cali
  • Hospital treating 55-year-old for ‘traumatic brain injury’

Freddy Rincón, the former Colombia captain, is in a critical condition with severe head injuries after being involved in a car crash in the city of Cali.

Four other people who were in the vehicle that Rincon was driving were also injured following the collision with a bus at around 4.30am. The bus driver was also hurt, according to local authorities who are reviewing CCTV footage of the accident.

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