Human Interest

BERLIN — German Bundesliga club St Pauli said on Thursday it was withdrawing from X because the social media platform had become an 'amplifier of hate' that could influence German politics.

Announcing its reasons for withdrawing, the club said in a statement that X's billionaire owner Elon Musk had turned a space for debate into "an amplifier of hate that was capable of influencing the German parliamentary election campaign."

St Pauli X controversy

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week then you likely know that Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election. FIFA President Gianni Infantino posted to Instagram to congratulate the 47th President of the United States.

Gianni Infantino Trump post

All soccer matches scheduled to be played in the Valencian region this weekend have been postponed, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) said on Thursday due to the deadly floods which have killed at least 95 people.

Saturday's clash between Real Madrid and Valencia as well as Villarreal v Rayo Vallecano are among the games postponed.

Real Madrid vs Valencia postponed due to flooding

MADRID — Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. said on Monday that he will keep on fighting racism even if his activism is what led to him not winning the Ballon d'Or, sources close to the player told Reuters.

Vinicius took to social media after finishing second in the prestigious award voting behind Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri.

Eu farei 10x se for preciso. Eles não estão preparados.

STOCKHOLM/PARIS — Allegations of rape against French footballer Kylian Mbappé are "totally false" and "a slanderous rumour", his representatives said, and his lawyer said he was beyond reproach, following media reports that Mbappé was the subject of an investigation over an incident in a Stockholm hotel on Oct. 10.

Mbappé rape rumors

Swedish prosecutors confirmed in a statement in response to the media coverage that a probe into an alleged rape at a hotel in central Stockholm had been opened, but they did not identify a suspect.

The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) said Nigeria were to blame for the postponement of Tuesday's scheduled Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Benghazi after the visitors refused to play the match citing mistreatment on arrival in the country.

Nigerian players and officials were kept in a locked airport for over 16 hours almost 150 miles away from their intended destination after their charter flight was redirected while on approach to Benghazi and instead landed in Bayda.

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Preston North End forward Milutin Osmajic has been given an eight-match suspension for biting Blackburn Rovers defender Owen Beck during their second-tier Championship draw last month, the Football Association (FA) said on Friday.

ELF Championship player hit with eight-match suspension for biting opponent

The FA charged the 25-year-old last month and Osmajic admitted biting Beck on the neck around the 87th minute of the match.

Cristiano Ronaldo insists he is focused on being the perfect team member at Saudi side Al Nassr rather than collecting more individual accolades in the twilight of his career.

The 39-year-old, who has won the Ballon d'Or award five times, scored in Al Nassr's 2-1 win over Al Rayyan of Qatar in their AFC Champions League Group B match on Monday.

Cristiano Ronaldo with a SUPERB finish to open his AFC Champions League account ☄️ pic.twitter.com/K35KvY10vk

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.

Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.

Cristiano Ronaldo 1 billion followers