FIFA - Page 3

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA says Iraq is not safe enough to host World Cup qualifying games against Iran and Bahrain.

Iranian women fans are free to enter a football stadium Thursday for the first time in decades, after FIFA threatened to suspend the Islamic republic over its controversial male-only policy.

Zurich (AFP) – FIFA is weighing sending a delegation to Tehran to make sure women fans are admitted to the World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Cambodia on October 10.

U.S. Women’s National Soccer team co-captain Megan Rapinoe wants fellow players to “change the world” by being more involved in political and social issues through the global platform provided by their sport.

An Iranian female soccer fan who set herself on fire a week ago after being banned under Islamic sharia law from watching her favourite team play has died.

The Islamic monarchy of Qatar is yet to confirm Israeli soccer fans will be welcomed into the country for the soccer World Cup in 2022.

Female soccer fans in Iran have been told they will no longer have to wear fake beards, mustaches and wigs to sneak into the crowd at competitive matches in the strict Islamic republic.

Administrators of soccer’s 2022 World Cup have expressed exasperation with Iran after it reneged on promises to let female sports fans attend matches to cheer on the national team.

TEL AVIV – The international soccer governing body FIFA has launched an investigation into Palestinian soccer chief, Jibril Rajoub, for inciting terror and promoting racism.

The head of international soccer’s governing body, FIFA, says that players who feel they are being racially abused by fans should send a message by stepping “out of the field.”

TEL AVIV – Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan on Tuesday called on the International Olympic Committee to follow in FIFA’s footsteps and ban the head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, for “inciting violence.” 

The head of the Palestinian football association pledged to appeal Monday against FIFA’s 12-month ban for comments made about Lionel Messi, calling it an “unjust and political decision.”

TEL AVIV— The head of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, said he would appeal FIFA’s decision to ban him for inciting fans to “hatred and violence” against Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi as part of an intense Palestinian campaign that he launched in a bid to stop Argentina from playing a warm-up game in Israel this summer.

Geneva – FIFA on Friday hit the Palestinian Football Association chief with a year-long “match” ban after he called for protests against Lionel Messi over plans for Argentina to play Israel in Jerusalem.

Egypt’s devout Muslim goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy declined to receive a player of the match trophy at the FIFA World Cup for religious reasons.

Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists have for months incited a push against the soccer World Cup venues, most recently calling for lone-wolf attacks in a series of posters published as Russia kickstarts the world-renowned competition on Thursday.

“The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump wrote in April on Twitter. “It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid.”

TEL AVIV – Amid calls from Israel demanding soccer’s governing body FIFA to investigate threats against Argentinian players, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concern that the South American country’s “disappointing” decision to cancel its friendly soccer match against Israel would not set a precedent. 

TEL AVIV – Israeli sports minister said the cancellation of the Argentina’s decision to cancel its friendly game with Israel scheduled for Saturday amid pressure from pro-Palestinian groups was “terror, not BDS.”

JERUSALEM — The sports-crazed nation of Israel was in uproar Wednesday over Argentina’s abrupt cancellation of a World Cup warmup match following pro-Palestinian protests, with some of the country’s leaders accusing Lionel Messi and his teammates of caving to terrorism.

A report suggests that President Trump’s “sh*thole countries” remark and proposed travel bans, has made FIFA officials resistant to the idea of granting the United States the right to host the World Cup in 2026.

Mexican sports fans have brought their habit of screaming a gay slur into the National Football League as the NFL sent the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders to Mexico City. But CBS was able to use a crowd noise sound effect to drown out the Mexicans yelling “puto” over and over again.

The flurry of sexual abuse allegations that have rocked the entertainment world are no longer merely confined to the entertainment world.

Seattle Reign midfielder Megan Rapinoe is ripping FIFA after the organization nominated an amateur player for its female Player of the Year award this year.

Contents: UAE official says Arab blockade was engineered to prevent Qatar hosting 2022 World Cup; Numerous controversies surround FIFA’s award of World Cup 2022 to Qatar; A new ‘risk report’ raises doubts about Qatar hosting World Cup 2022

GENEVA — FIFA fined the German soccer federation 32,000 Swiss francs ($33,000) on Monday because fans chanted Nazi slogans at a World Cup qualifying game in the Czech Republic.

President Donald Trump is the most powerful man in the world. How powerful, exactly? Apparently, he’s so powerful that he’s the only man who can prevent the United States from hosting the World Cup in 2026.

United States soccer team goalkeeper Brad Guzan was taunted with gay slurs yelled by Mexican fans as the World Cup qualifier game started in Mexico City on Sunday night, reports say.

A Saudi cleric named Mohamed Alarefe has tried to spur FIFA towards imposing an official ban on players who make the sign of the cross during games.

TEL AVIV – Amid the international soccer governing body Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s annual congress, a tournament named after the terrorist responsible for the murder of 125 Israelis took place under the auspices of the Palestinian Football Association – the same group that is demanding that Israel’s FIFA membership be revoked.

TEL AVIV — Muhamad Alarefe, a prominent Saudi religious leader, has demanded that FIFA, the international soccer governing body, instruct players to stop making the Christian sign of the cross.

More than 30 Israeli families who have lost relatives to terrorist attacks have signed a letter to FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, accusing the Palestine Football Association (PFA) and its president, Jibril Rajoub, with severe violations of its statutes, including incitement to terrorism.

Israel is launching a diplomatic offensive against Palestinian calls for FIFA to impose sanctions over football clubs based in Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, an official said on Thursday.

The North American soccer ruling body will announce Monday that the United States, Mexico and Canada will make a bid to host jointly the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

TEL AVIV – A U.S.-based anti-Semitism watchdog is calling on the German government to suspend a new deal funding Palestinian Authority sports agencies until they stop their “blatant sanctification of Jew-killers” by naming tournaments after terrorists.

The premier Dutch soccer league is launching an eSports division that will recognize players as official members of their respective soccer teams.