Category Archives: Football

World’s football bodies urge Saudi Arabia to stop pirate TV service

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Fifa, Uefa and Premier League ask Saudi government to clamp down on beoutQ

The world’s biggest football authorities, including those who run the Premier League, World Cup and Champions League, have called on Saudi Arabia to take action to stop a sophisticated, homegrown pirate TV and streaming service that is illegally broadcasting matches internationally.

The strongly worded letter from the exasperated sports bodies – including Fifa, Uefa, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A as well as the Asian Football Confederation – comes after almost 18 months fruitlessly attempting to mount a legal challenge in Saudi Arabia to block the service, called beoutQ.

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Cristiano Ronaldo will not face criminal charges over rape allegations

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  • Juventus star had been accused of 2009 assault in Las Vegas
  • Prosecutor says there is not enough evidence to bring charges

Prosecutors in Las Vegas say that Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo will not face criminal charges over allegations he raped a woman at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.

After reviewing a police investigation into the claims, Clark County district attorney Steve Wolfson said on Monday there is not enough evidence to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt, and no charges will be filed.

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USA v Netherlands: Women’s World Cup final – live!

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25 min: A cross from Dunn to Mewis gives van Veenendaal a difficult catch as she’s backtracking.

Neil Truby asks what it means to say, as I did earlier, that Mewis responds with a takedown. Basically, a wrestling move. But I should clarify that a few seconds had elapsed after Rapinoe cried foul.

22 min: Now the USA look more deliberate, passing around at the back.

Hubert O’Hearn with an interesting point: “What I’m going to suggest is by no means insulting, but this feels more like an FA Cup than a World Cup. You know, some hulking monster of a Man City, or Chelsea in their pomp, facing the gutsy team from mid-table or the Championship that went on a magical run. It’s actually rather charming – can’t remember the last time a World Cup Final felt so Favourite v. Underdog.”

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Sweden beat England to Women’s World Cup bronze with help from VAR

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Rotherham in November does not have too much in common with Nice in the searing 30C heat of a June evening but there was a definite sense of deja vu on the Côte d’Azur on Saturday night.

Phil Neville readily admits that one of his toughest moments as England coach came in South Yorkshire late last year where a soul-crushing 2-0 defeat inflicted by Peter Gerhardsson’s side “ruined” his Christmas.

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Africa Cup of Nations: Benin shock Morocco to set up Senegal clash

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  • Outsiders win 4-1 on penalties after 1-1 draw
  • Sadio Mané gets Senegal winner against Uganda

Benin have delivered one of the biggest upsets in Africa Cup of Nations history, eliminating much-fancied Morocco on penalties after Hakim Ziyech missed a late spot-kick in Cairo.

The Squirrels prevailed 4-1 in the shootout after Sofiane Boufal sent his penalty over the bar, and Benin keeper Saturnin Allagbé tipped Youssef En-Nesyri’s effort onto the woodwork. Midfielder Mama Séïbou then stepped up to score the decisive spot-kick.

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Love all: how Megan Rapinoe and other gay players are taking sport to a higher level

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In the past, queer female athletes all too often had to hide their sexuality. Today, they’re proudly coming out – and challenging bigotry in sport and society as a whole

Women in sport still face a lot of stigma and abuse. One reason for this is the stigma and abuse that women face in general, but added to that is the fact that women in sport are often pegged as lesbians. You’d like to think that women kicking a ball, swinging a bat or hitting a target wouldn’t be so political – yet here we are, still trapped in the patriarchy’s locker room, engulfed in Lynx Africa fumes.

Recently, however, queer female athletes have proudly come to the fore. This week, Belgian tennis players Alison van Uytvanck and Greet Minnen became the first IRL couple to team up at Wimbledon, and called for more support in the sport for same-sex couples – in particular, saying it would help male players to come out.

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Alex Morgan’s World Cup tea celebration against England causes a stir

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US goal celebrations were a talking point yet again during Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final against England. After Alex Morgan scored USA’s second goal of the game, she raised her fingers to her lips, miming a sip of tea.

Alex Morgan sippin tea #USAvENG pic.twitter.com/oyiyeaFzKQ

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Adidas under fire for racist tweets after botched Arsenal launch

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Company automatically posted pictures of new shirts with offensive Twitter handles on back

Adidas UK has come under fire after a social media gambit backfired spectacularly, leading to the company tweeting out pictures of its shirts with racist and offensive slogans on the back.

The error came as Adidas launched a social media campaign, #DareToCreate, in conjunction with its release of the new Arsenal home kit.

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‘You can’t win without gay players,’ says USA’s World Cup hero Megan Rapinoe

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• Coach Jill Ellis is unconcerned at Rapinoe speaking out
• France’s Corrine Diacre will not quit after 2-1 defeat

Megan Rapinoe showed no sign of stemming her outspoken ways after scoring the goals that saw USA march one step closer towards the World Cup final.

“Go gays!” she said after the 2-1 quarter-final victory over France in Paris and when asked to comment on whether it being Pride month made her contribution more personally significant. “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team - it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there!

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Megan Rapinoe double sends USA past France and into England semi-final

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It was fitting that the social justice activist Megan Rapinoe, the focus of unwanted presidential attentions before the game for her “I’m not going to the fucking White House” comment, was the player to power the USA into a semi-final with England, her two goals emphatically ending France’s hopes of a men’s and women’s World Cup double.

“Le Grand Match” was a slightly more measured billing from Fifa than Rapinoe’s hopes of a “total shit-show circus” but either way this meeting between the holders and the hosts did not disappoint. Rapinoe is more than a mouthpiece, she is, in the words of her teammate Kelley O’Hara, “a baller”. No player has been directly involved in more goals in the World Cup than Rapinoe since she made her debut in the competition in 2011 and, although Wendie Renard’s header launched a spirited late fightback, Les Bleues were not able to find the equaliser in an end-to-end spectacle.

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Public to have say on renaming White Hart Lane station Tottenham Hotspur

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Exclusive: FoI request reveals proposal was at advanced stage after lobbying by Tottenham Hotspur football club

The public will be given a say on controversial plans to rename a train station near Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium after it was revealed the proposal was at an advanced stage after intensive lobbying by the club.

The Guardian reported in March that White Hart Lane station was to be rebranded after the football club lobbied the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL). The transport body had been insisting the club should pay more than £14.7m for the privilege, in the face of vigorous resistance from Spurs.

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Africa Cup of Nations needs action on field to provide good news | Nick Ames

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The best players have made it to Egypt and some new names should make the tournament tight and competitive

The blue and orange seats of Cairo International Stadium make an attractive spectacle and the playing surface, at least when set against the ferocious heat, looks verdant. Every tournament eve brings its flutter of anticipation; that moment when reservations take a back seat and the simple joy of a month’s football takes root. It applies to the Africa Cup of Nations as much as any other major event: one glance at the list of names involved suggests that, if everybody is close to their best, a competition that looks impossible to call will be genuinely thrilling.

When Egypt are roared on to the pitch for Friday’s opener against Zimbabwe, the organisers’ sense of escapism may be even more profound. A Cup of Nations that will have few serious rivals in the global calendar for casual fans’ attention during its latter stages presents an open goal for reviving a profile that has flagged in recent years, but the buildup could hardly have been more chaotic. The Confederation of African Football is effectively on life support and, where the broader health of the continent’s football is concerned, four weeks of sparkling action may do little more than distract from the deeper clean required elsewhere.

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From Somali refugee to England’s first female Muslim football referee

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Jawahir Roble’s love of football was forged on the streets of wartorn Mogadishu. Now she is training and inspiring young female footballers in the UK

On a sunny afternoon, a group of mothers in hijabs sit on the bench of a football pitch, watching their daughters play football at the Stonebridge recreation ground in north-west London.

As World Cup fever grips the UK, the girls’ enthusiasm for the training session is matched by their obvious adoration of their coach and referee, Jawahir Roble, known as JJ to her friends.

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England v Argentina: Women’s World Cup 2019 – live!

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The breakthrough! Argentina push forward for a change, but when they lose the ball England break fast and in numbers. Mead gets it on the left and her first-time cross is low and precise; Correa is stranded at the near post and Taylor turns it into an empty net!

59 mins: “According to Jonathan Pearce on BBC ‘The goalkeeper’s in electrical form.’” reports Paul Thompson. But what electrical? Perhaps a washing machine: quite good at securing clean sheets.

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Ruthless USA break World Cup record as they hit 13 past hapless Thailand

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It was clear what kind of match this would be a few seconds before the whistle blew. The US put seven attacking players on the halfway line while just three defenders hung back with the goalkeeper. Once the game started, those seven US players sprinted past the Thailand midfield toward the goal. The game largely continued like that, with proceedings taking place almost exclusively in the Thailand half.

Related: Sweden strike late against Chile after torrential rain stops play

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Women’s World Cup fever yet to take hold in Paris as tournament nears

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The biggest Women’s World Cup in history is kicking off at the Parc des Princes on Friday but in the city there is not the air of anticipation you would expect

With the biggest Women’s World Cup in history kicking off at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday, the head of the local organising committee was bullish in his response to criticism over the lack of atmosphere and marketing in the French capital.

“Depends what you’re expecting from posters and setting up an event in the city?” shot back Erwin Le Prevost. “The means we have available to us are becoming bigger in every competition thanks to Fifa support. It’s a Women’s World Cup by Fifa, the main aim is to fill the stadiums and to have the biggest TV audience possible.”

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England extra-time misery after John Stones’ blunder lets in Netherlands

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It was an ignominious way for England to lose and, ultimately, their collapse in extra time was probably best summed up by the image of Ross Barkley with his face down in the turf, not wanting to look up and survey the damage after his mistake for the third Dutch goal.

Barkley was not the only player wandering round the pitch with the look of a zombie. For John Stones, this was a personal ordeal in keeping with a bittersweet season on the fringes of Manchester city’s success. The records will show it was Kyle Walker’s own-goal that gave the Netherlands their second goal. In reality, it was a fairly dreadful error from Stones that put England in danger, dilly-dalling on the ball with Memphis Depay in close proximity.

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Violent England fans an embarrassment to the team and not welcome, says FA

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• Fans cause mayhem in Porto before Nations League game
• Police baton-charge supporters after bottles are hurled

The Football Association has condemned the England supporters who caused mayhem on the streets of Porto on Wednesday night as “an embarrassment to the team” – and says they are not welcome in football.

Two England fans were arrested after being baton-charged by police after hurling bottles at local supporters and police in a packed fan zone in Liberdade Square, and another was later arrested as more violence broke out.

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