Soccer - Page 10

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.

“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. 

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.

The head of the Palestinian football federation is calling on Arab and Muslim sports fans to burn photos and T-shirts of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi if he attends a friendly match between Argentina and Israel next weekend.

British Police have told English football fans going to the World Cup in Russia to not wave or display the St George flag, claiming it could be seen as “imperialistic” and “antagonistic”.

Female football fans donned fake beards, mustaches and wigs to sneak into a major soccer match in Iran in defiance of the country’s strict Islamic codes of conduct.

TEHRAN – A conservative lawmaker in Iran slammed the sports federation on Sunday for allowing star footballer Masoud Shojaei to return to the international squad despite appearing against an Israeli team last year.

An Israeli soccer player and the captain of the Iranian national team took to the Internet to show that the people of Iran and the people of Israel do not harbor hate.

Israel will host Argentina for a friendly match on June 9, days before the start of the World Cup in Russia, Israel’s football federation said on Thursday.

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A former English youth soccer coach was convicted of 43 charges of sex abuse against 11 young players in a trial that detailed how he shattered the trust of boys who dreamed of becoming professionals.

Thousands of Saudi women are now enjoying the right to attend football matches among other basic improvements in women’s rights under the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s modernization program.

Chelsea Football Club is launching a campaign to fight anti-Semitism in football, targeting fans as well as players and the club’s support staff.

Video surfacing on social media reportedly shows an Iranian soccer stadium chanting “death to the dictator” in unison, a sign protests that the Islamic regime has failed to quell protests against its oppression.

Two men in Kosovo pleaded guilty Wednesday to planning attacks against Israelis during a soccer match in Albania last year.

Swansea and Bournemouth will be the first top-flight football clubs to offer the non-binary prefix ‘Mx’, they announced to fans as UK sports gear up for an unprecedented LGBT campaign.

TEL AVIV – Israeli soccer star Eran Zahavi was picked as the most valuable player in the Chinese Super League on Saturday after scoring the most goals of the league.

ROME, Italy — A wreath of flowers, presented by Lazio president Claudio Lotito to Rome’s synagogue to apologize after photos of Anne Frank in a Roma jersey were posted during a football game, was recovered from the Tiber river on Wednesday.

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.

ROME — Racist chants at every opportunity. A Lazio banner in the intra-city derby nearly 20 years ago aimed at Roma supporters that read: “Auschwitz Is Your Homeland; The Ovens Are Your Homes.”

Egyptian fans traveling to watch their soccer team play at the World Cup should lower their expectations about meeting the kind of beautiful Russian women men rave about at home, according to an article published in a Cairo daily that reads like an informal travel advisory.

Fox jumped into a bidding war with ESPN to win the English-language broadcast rights for the 2018 World Cup, but now that the U.S. team was knocked out in the early stages of the tournament, the $400 million price tag now looks like a disastrous decision.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A top Emirati security official has said the only way for “Qatar’s crisis” to end is if Doha gave up hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, his comments coming amid the ongoing diplomatic dispute between the energy-rich nation and four Arab countries.

More news emerged of the circumstances surrounding last weekend’s incident when Disney security teams and police ejected World Cup-winning U.S. national team soccer star Alex Morgan from Disney World’s Epcot Center.

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.

Anti-Semitic chants by Chelsea FC fans during Saturday’s win at Leicester have been condemned by the club.

For a brief moment, Iran’s female football fans thought they were finally allowed to attend a match, but their hopes were dashed on Monday when authorities said their tickets were sold by mistake.

The Iranian Football Federation has excluded captain Masoud Shojaei for the soccer World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Syria but denies it is punishment for playing against an Israeli club.

After losing millions in a lawsuit filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan, lefty website Deadspin is being sued again, this time by an Atlanta United fan who says that the site used a photo of him in a story talking about homophobic fans.

Mexican fans booed, jeered, and whistled during the Star Spangled Banner on Sunday before a hard-fought soccer contest between our southern neighbors and team USA.

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.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Michael Bradley scored a stunning early goal from about 40 yards and the U.S. hung on for a 1-1 tie against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday night, gaining only its third point at Azteca Stadium as coach Bruce Arena changed seven starters and used a five-man defense to overcome the thin air and short recovery time.

“Stick to sports!” has become the rallying cry of many in America who want to watch sports without the infusion of politics. Though, listening to Mexican fans talk about today’s World Cup qualifier versus the United States, you would think the game more resembled the infusion of sports into politics.

The Saudi Arabian football (soccer) team has refused to line up and respect a silence held to remember the victims of the London Bridge attack, claiming “it is not in keeping with our culture”.

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.