DOHA - Gianni Infantino has stepped sharply back from hotly contested plans for a biennial World Cup, telling world soccer’s leadership that FIFA had never proposed such an idea.
The FIFA president has been under fire for the past year, particularly in Europe, for proposals to increase the frequency of the global extravaganza from every four years, to every two.
PORTO, Portugal — North Macedonia's surprise win away to Italy in their World Cup playoff semifinal last week set up an unexpected clash against Portugal, with the country's Prime Minister offering the squad 500,000 euros ($549,300.00) if they reach the 2022 tournament.
The result shocked the soccer world and derailed a possible clash between the last two European champions Italy and Portugal, who both surprisingly missed out on automatically qualifying from the group stage for the World Cup in Qatar.
Editor’s Note: See update at bottom.
The Orlando Pride are, by their very name, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. Many of the Pride’s most prominent players have been gay, and Exploria Stadium includes 49 rainbow-colored seats as a memorial to the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub mass shooting. But apparently, the word “gay” is too political for the team.
Thursday’s game between Everton and Newcastle had a unique disruption when a fan ran onto the field. Pitch invaders aren’t a strange occurrence, but you don’t see invaders tie themselves to the goal post around their neck too often. So, why did the fan tie himself to the goalpost?
Louis McKechnie used a cable to tie his neck around the goalpost and donned a bright orange shirt that read “Just Stop Oil.” It took several minutes and a crew of around 10 people to cut McKechnie loose and drag him away.
LONDON - Ukrainian winger Andriy Yarmolenko and Spanish midfielder Pablo Fornals scored a goal each as West Ham defeated Aston Villa 2-1 at home on Sunday, ending Steven Gerrard's side's run of three consecutive wins in the Premier League.
Yarmolenko had been granted compassionate leave after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last month and then fell ill, missing West Ham's 1-0 Europa League loss in Seville on Thursday.
European soccer champions Chelsea are now effectively controlled by the British government after sanctions were imposed against Russian owner Roman Abramovich on Thursday.
Abramovich, who had been under scrutiny following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, had announced he was selling the Premier League club last week.
Amidst the coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a group of South American journalists had a tense and scary encounter with local authorities, but after some interrogation and anxiety, a Diego Maradona tattoo helped to deescalate the situation.
Daniel Matamala, a news anchor for CNN Chile, was one of the journalists detained. Once released, he told the story through his Instagram account.
PARIS — FIFA is opening a special transfer window for foreign players stranded in Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine, soccer's world governing body said on Monday.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said that plans to hold a biennial World Cup are a "no go" for everyone in football, adding that FIFA has also come to the same realization.
The idea of a World Cup every two years has been gathering steam with FIFA president Gianni Infantino trying to get support from national federations, saying the switch would create an extra $4.4 billion in revenues for the world body.