Football

A British fan of Manchester United was stabbed by a Paris taxi driver Wednesday night after the team defeated local club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League.

A leaked text conversation between a football coach at Independence Community College and a player from Germany in which the coach tells him, “I’m your new Hitler figure” has sparked serious controversy.

Chaperoned by men, thousands of women thronged a Saudi stadium Wednesday for the Italian Supercup final between Juventus and AC Milan, in a match Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini described as “disgusting.”

President Donald Trump is hosting the 2018 college football national champion Clemson Tigers football team at the White House Monday night.

Populist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has slammed Saudi Arabia, the host of the Italian football Super Cup, for not allowing single women to attend the match without a man accompanying them.

Iran’s largest stadium has been given the go-ahead to host the women’s national football team in a match for the first time since the Islamic revolution, however men will be strictly barred from attendance.

The “strongest possible action” against any Chelsea F.C. supporters found to have joined an anti-Semitic chant in Budapest has been promised by club management, days after four fans were suspended for viciously abusing Raheem Sterling.

TEL AVIV – The old adage “Football is life. The rest is mere details” clearly doesn’t ring true for one rabbi who was caught on a stadium camera at an Israel-Scotland game in Glasgow deep in Talmudic study just after the away team scored a goal. 

Brazilian footballer Rafinha was forced to apologise on social media after being slammed by critics for wearing an ‘Arab Bomber’ costume for Halloween this week.

Republican Martha McSally sang the national anthem for Arizona State University’s homecoming football game Saturday night, as she’s locked in a tough run against the Democrat Kyrsten Sinema for the U.S. Senate.

Two former college football players are suing their school and a fellow a student for falsely accusing them of rape in 2016.

LEICESTER, England (AP) – A helicopter belonging to Leicester City’s owner – Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha -crashed in flames in a carpark next to the soccer club’s stadium shortly after it took off from the field following a Premier League game on Saturday night.

Chelsea F.C. is ready to follow through on a threat made earlier this year to send anti-Semitic supporters to visit Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz instead of banning them from the club.

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.” 

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s newspapers on Friday blasted the decision of UEFA to award the Euro 2024 football tournament to Germany over a rival Turkish bid, saying it had been “stabbed in the back” and taking particular aim at UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

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.”

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.

A German football star of Turkish heritage has quit the national team and blamed “racism and disrespect” after he was criticized for posing for photos with the increasingly authoritarian president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will join Russia President Vladimir Putin tonight in Moscow as they both watch England take on Croatia in the football World Cup. A pair of football-loving Israeli children fighting cancer will join them.

BEERSHEBA — The desert city of Beersheba in southern Israel may seem to have little in common with the gleaming capitals of Europe, but for the third year running its soccer club is to play in the UEFA Champions League.

A newspaper in Burkina Faso has hailed the French national squad an “African team” due to the high proportion of diverse players.

Criticism from disappointed fans has forced Iranian player Sardar Azmoun to retire from international football aged just 23 and enable him to spend more time with his mother.

A British MEP and the Labour Party’s leading man in Brussels has announced he will be supporting Belgium in Thursday’s World Cup match against England.

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.

TEL AVIV – Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Saturday mocked soccer player Lionel Messi for missing a crucial World Cup penalty, saying it was the result of Argentina’s last minute withdrawal from a warm-up game in Israel.

With spirits high as their national team opened the World Cup in Russia Thursday, Saudi Arabian soccer fans said they would be open to the prospect of playing against Israel in the future, as Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman wished the gulf kingdom luck in the international soccer tournament.

“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.”

A brewery is removing the Saudi Arabian flag from football World Cup bunting in hundreds of pubs because people were offended that Islamic symbols were displayed in a place serving alcohol.

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.

President Donald Trump revealed Monday evening that some of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles refused to stand for the National Anthem at a Tuesday White House event that was scheduled in their honor, leading the President to cancel their appearance.