LAUSANNE: FIFA said Monday it regretted the chaotic scenes that preceded the suspension of the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina and a decision on possible disciplinary action would be taken “in due course.”
The match at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena on Sunday was halted when Brazilian health officials ran onto the pitch seven minutes after kick-off, triggering a melee involving team officials and players from both sides.
The officials intervened just hours after health authorities in Brazil said four England-based players in Argentina’s squad should be placed in “immediate quarantine” for breaching Covid-19 protocols.
“FIFA regrets the scenes preceding the suspension of the match between Brazil and Argentina for the CONMEBOL qualifiers of the FIFA World Cup 2022 which prevented millions of fans from enjoying a match between two of the most important football nations in the world,” football’s world governing body said in a statement.
“The first match official reports have been sent to FIFA. This information will be analyzed by the competent disciplinary bodies and a decision will be taken in due course,” FIFA added.
Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) said the Argentinian Premier League players — Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham, and Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia — had given “false information” when they entered Brazil.
Romero, Lo Celso and Martinez were all in Argentina’s starting line-up for Sunday’s game, prompting the intervention of ANVISA officials.
In scenes of confusion on the pitch, Argentina captain Lionel Messi and his teammates left the field while Brazil’s squad began a practice game.
After the game was abandoned, Messi criticized the intervention of the Brazilian officials.
“We’ve been here for three days, why are you doing this just now?” he said on Argentina’s TyC network.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni told reporters that “at no time were we told that they could not play the game.”
The Argentina team arrived back in Buenos Aires early Monday.
FIFA ‘regrets’ chaos at abandoned Brazil v Argentina match
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FIFA ‘regrets’ chaos at abandoned Brazil v Argentina match
- The match at Sao Paulo on Sunday was halted when Brazilian health officials ran onto the pitch 7 minutes after kick-off
- "FIFA regrets the scenes preceding the suspension of the match between Brazil and Argentina," FIFA said
Angel Yin rides a hot putter to 2-shot lead in LPGA fina
- Yin won $1 million last year in the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge, a bonus competition all year that measures how players fare on holes that have risk, such as a reachable par 5
- Very clear in
NAPLES, Florida: Angel Yin rammed in a 30-foot par putt on her opening hole, setting the tone for a day of big putts and 3-under 69 that gave her a two-shot lead Friday in the CME Group Tour Championship and the chase for the $4 million prize.
Very clear in her rearview mirror was Nelly Korda.
Korda, coming off her seventh win of the season last week, opened with a 72 and was eight shots behind. She found a simple swing thought after the round and was back to her old self with a 66 that cut the deficit in half with 36 holes left to play.
“Golf is just crazy,” Korda said. “You go from playing so well last week to not being able to find the center of the clubface yesterday. Always humbles you, but what’s that you love so much about it. Went to the range after my round yesterday. Tried to find a different feel. Felt a little better out there today, and hopefully I can keep progressing.”
Yin followed that 30-foot par putt with a 40-foot birdie putt on the next hole. She also holed a birdie putt from about 35 feet on the 11th hole that put her in the lead for good.
She was at 10-under 134. Hye-Jin Choi (68) and Narin An (72) were 8 under.
Korda, who already has captured her first award as player of the year, was tied for fourth at 138 with four other players who are either major champions or have been No. 1 in the women’s world ranking — Jeeno Thitikul, Ayaka Furue, Ruoning Yin and Amy Yang, the defending champion at Tiburon Golf Club.
Furue also is in a tight battle for the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, and she pulled within a fraction of a point of Haeran Ryu.
Yin’s round had enough bogeys to slow her momentum, along with a discussion with a rules official over where she took her drop after going in the water on the par-3 fourth hole.
“It looked like I took an improper drop where I went up closer than I should have, where I should have dropped further back,” Yin said, who was asked to review footage. “They thought I didn’t take the drop properly. I explained to them that I believe I did take the drop properly.”
She said it was discussed with everyone in her group. She said a marshal never volunteered any information. The drop stood, she took bogey and was moving on.
“I believe my drop was right,” Yin said.
Korda, meanwhile, grazed the cup with birdie chances and then made it up for it on the third hole when her 8-iron from the rough landed so perfectly that it rolled into the cup for an eagle. That sent her on her way.
The key to getting her game on track was more hinge in taking the club away and taking a shorter swing. It all came together. Korda also said she finally was able to get some rest after a busy week of awards.
Yin won $1 million last year in the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge, a bonus competition all year that measures how players fare on holes that have risk, such as a reachable par 5. That $1 million meant a lot to her, and she said it gave her some financial freedom.
What would $4 million mean?
“Even bigger financial freedom,” she said.
Kane hat-trick sends Bayern eight points clear
- Bayern, still yet to lose in the league in 2024-25, were dominant throughout but kept at bay by some dogged defending from their Bavarian neighbors
- With 61 minutes gone, the ball connected with Augsburg’s Mads Pedersen’s outstretched arm in the box, bringing the England captain to the spot after a VAR review
MUNICH: A second-half Harry Kane hat-trick took Bayern Munich to a 3-0 home win over Augsburg on Friday, sending them eight clear atop the table ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern, still yet to lose in the league in 2024-25, were dominant throughout but kept at bay by some dogged defending from their Bavarian neighbors.
With 61 minutes gone, the ball connected with Augsburg’s Mads Pedersen’s outstretched arm in the box, bringing the England captain to the spot after a VAR review.
Kane cooly converted to give Bayern the lead.
In stoppage time, Kane went down in the box after contact from Keven Schlotterbeck and Bayern were again awarded a penalty after a VAR review, which the 31-year-old converted.
Schlotterbeck was sent from the field after picking up a second yellow for his challenge.
Kane then added a third, this time controlling a cross and heading in, his seventh hat-trick since joining Bayern.
The England captain now has 14 goals in 11 league games for Bayern this season, five of which have come from the spot.
Leipzig can cut the gap back to five when they play at struggling Hoffenheim on Saturday, while defending champions Bayer Leverkusen host Heidenheim.
The German giants received a boost pre-match, with captain and veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer cleared to start after missing training with a rib issue.
Bayern were in control of possession and field position but could not break through.
Augsburg offered little in attack but defended stoutly, holding Bayern’s glittering attacking riches at bay.
Augsburg goalie Nediljko Labrovic held firm to snuff out first-half chances from Jamal Musiaia and Leon Goretzka.
The Bavarian giants, still smarting after going trophyless for the first time in 11 seasons last campaign, eventually broke through with half an hour remaining, breaking Augsburg’s resolve.
Riding high in the league, Bayern have struggled in the Champions League format, sitting 17th after four games — six behind leaders Liverpool.
Tuesday’s home match with PSG, who are even further down the Champions League table, could be crucial for the German side in their top-eight bid to avoid the extra playoff round.
Conor McGregor must pay 250,000 euros to woman who says he raped her, civil jury rules
- Nikita Hand said the 2018 assault left her heavily bruised and suffering post-traumatic stress disorder
- McGregor later said on the social platform X that he would appeal the verdict
LONDON: A woman who claimed mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in a Dublin hotel penthouse was awarded nearly 250,000 Euros ($257,000) on Friday by a civil court jury in Ireland.
Nikita Hand said the Dec. 9, 2018, assault after a night of partying left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she fabricated the allegations after the two had consensual sex. His lawyer had called Hand a gold digger.
The fighter, once the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship but now past his prime, shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men found him liable for assault after deliberating about six hours in the High Court in Dublin.
He was mobbed by cameras as he left court but did not comment. He later said on the social platform X that he would appeal the verdict and the “modest award.”
Hand’s voice cracked and her hands trembled as she read a statement outside the courthouse, saying she would never forget what happened to her but would now be able to move on with her life. She thanked her family, partner, friends, jurors, the judge and all the supporters that had reached out to her online, but particularly her daughter.
“She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years throughout this nightmare to keep on pushing forward for justice,” she said. “I want to show (her) and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served.”
The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual violence unless they come forward publicly, as Hand has done. Under Irish law, she did not have the anonymity she would have been granted in a criminal proceeding and was named publicly throughout the trial.
Her lawyer told jurors that McGregor was angry about a fight he had lost in Las Vegas two months earlier and took it out on his client.
“He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” attorney John Gordon said in his closing speech. “A devious coward and you should treat him for what he is.”
Gordon said his client never pretended to be a saint and was only looking to have fun when she sent McGregor a message through Instagram after attending a Christmas party. He said Hand knew McGregor socially and that they had grown up in the same area.
She said he picked her and a friend up in a car and shared cocaine with them, which McGregor admitted in court, on the way to the Beacon Hotel.
Hand said she told McGregor she didn’t want to have sex with him and that she was menstruating. She said she told him “no” as he started kissing her but he eventually pinned her to a bed and she couldn’t move.
McGregor put her in a chokehold and later told her, “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped out three times,” referring to a UFC match when he had to admit defeat, she said.
Hand had to take several breaks in emotional testimony over three days. She said McGregor threatened to kill her during the encounter and she feared she would never see her young daughter again.
Eventually, he let go of her.
“I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again,” she testified.
She said she then let him do what he wanted and he had sex with her.
A paramedic who examined Hand the next day testified that she had never before seen someone with that intensity of bruising. A doctor told jurors Hand had multiple injuries.
Hand said the trauma of the attack had left her unable to work as a hairdresser, she fell behind on her mortgage and had to move out of her house.
Police investigated the woman’s complaint but prosecutors declined to bring charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely.
McGregor, in his post on X, said he was disappointed jurors didn’t see all the evidence prosecutors had reviewed.
He testified that the two had athletic and vigorous sex, but that it was not rough. He said “she never said ‘no’ or stopped” and testified that everything she said was a lie.
“It is a full blown lie among many lies,” he said when asked about the chokehold allegation. “How anyone could believe that me, as a prideful person, would highlight my shortcomings.”
McGregor’s lawyer told jurors they had to set aside their animus toward the fighter.
“You may have an active dislike of him, some of you may even loathe him – there is no point pretending that the situation might be otherwise,” attorney Remy Farrell said. “I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday brunch.”
The defense said the woman never told investigators McGregor threatened her life. They also showed surveillance video in court that they said appeared to show the woman kiss McGregor’s arm and hug him after they left the hotel room. Farrell said she looked “happy, happy, happy.”
McGregor said he was “beyond petrified” when first questioned by police and read them a prepared statement. On the advice of his lawyer, he refused to answer more than 100 follow-up questions.
The jury ruled against Hand in a case she brought against one of McGregor’s friends, James Lawrence, whom she accused of having sex with her in the hotel without consent.
Aubameyang winner for Al-Qadsia dents Ronaldo’s title hopes
- Portuguese opened scoring after 32 minutes for the Yellows
- Gabonese superstar snatched the win
RIYADH: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put a huge dent in the title hopes of Cristiano Ronaldo as Al-Qadsiah beat Al-Nassr 2-1 on Friday.
The former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona forward scored the all-important goal as the newly promoted team moved level with the Riyadh giants on 22 points.
It was even more impressive as Ronaldo opened the scoring after 32 minutes as his side looked to move to within two points of leaders Al-Hilal.
It was not the most spectacular strike from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Mohamed Simakan’s right-sided free-kick was spilled by goalkeeper Koen Casteels and there was Ronaldo to fire home the loose ball to put Al-Nassr within touching distance of their local Riyadh rivals and record his seventh league goal of the season.
But Al-Qadsiah were back on level terms eight minutes before the break. Turki Al-Ammar found space down the left but there was still work to do when his cross entered the area. The ball was chested down by Julian Quinones before the Mexican international shot home.
If that shocked the hosts in Riyadh, then there was more, and worse, to come five minutes into the second half. Nahitan Nandez received the ball on the left and while his looping cross to the far post looked too deep, Quinones hooked the ball back across goal for Aubameyang to head home from the closest of ranges.
It was a massive blow for Al-Nassr who then threw everything forward in an attempt to get something from the game to keep the pressure on the top two.
But it was not to be and Al-Hilal will go nine points clear of their local rivals if they defeat Al-Khaleej on Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, Al-Ahli triumphed for a second successive game in the league to make it three in all competitions, winning 1-0 at Al-Fayha. A 21st-minute penalty was converted by former Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez to give the inconsistent team from Jeddah a vital three points that take them into sixth place. Elsewhere, Al-Shabab drew 1-1 at Al-Okhdood to stay fourth.
Al-Hilal can build a four-point lead at the top of the league on Saturday but Al-Ittihad, just a point behind, are in action on Sunday as they take on Al-Fateh.
Teenage Lebanese international football star in coma after Israeli airstrike
- Celine Haidar ‘is Lebanon’s Sergio Busquets … I call on all her fans and the Lebanese public to pray for her swift recovery,’ coach Samer Barbary tells Arab News
- Her father Abbas Haidar says: ‘Her doctors are saying she is in a critical situation … She has been in a coma for 6 days and doctors have been giving us contradictory signals’
DUBAI: The coach of 19-year-old Lebanese football sensation Celine Haidar, who is in a coma after suffering a serious head injury during an Israeli airstrike last weekend, on Friday called on fans to pray for her.
Samer Barbary told Arab News that Haidar has been in a critical but stable condition since she was injured on Nov. 16.
“She is Lebanon’s Sergio Busquets and has got remarkable skills in her position as a central midfielder,” he said. “I call on all her fans and the Lebanese public to pray for her swift recovery.
Haidar, who is a youth international and captains her club, Beirut Football Academy, was hit by a piece of metal as she fled her home in Al-Chiyyah in Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli warning of an imminent attack on the area, her father Abbas Haidar said.
“Our area has been subject to ongoing threats and bombardments,” he added, and so the family had moved to a safer location as a result.
“Celine is a very vibrant and sociable person and loved by all her teammates and schoolmates. She is the one who found us a house in Baakline (a mountainous area outside Beirut) through her friend … like everybody who has been displaced, we moved out.”
However, Haidar only remained in Baakline with her family for two days before returning to Al-Chiyyah so that she could continue to go to school and attend football training.
“I advised her not to go because the situation was dangerous but she is a persistent and lively person,” her father said. “Whenever the Israelis threatened to hit, she would leave home and then return later. On Saturday (Nov. 16), I called her at 10 a.m. and told her there was a threat.”
A few hours later, he received a telephone call from a stranger who told him his daughter was in hospital.
“Her doctors are saying she is in a critical situation,” he told Arab News. “We are praying for her recovery and following up on her medical developments so closely. She has been in a coma for six days and doctors have been giving us contradictory signals.”
Coach Barbary said: “She sustained a serious fracture to her skull and underwent major surgery on Saturday. She is fighting for her life but her situation hasn’t worsened.”
Haidar was initially admitted to Saint Therese Medical Center in Hadath, south of Beirut, but it was “not safe at all and was affected by an airstrike,” Barbary said, so she was transferred to the city’s Saint George Hospital.
Rising star Haidar represented her country as a member of the under-19 women’s national team who won the 2022 West Asia Cup, hosted by Lebanon, and has been selected to play for the senior national team.
“Celine is one of the best football midfielders in Lebanon … she is consistent, stable and a leader,” said Barbary, who coaches the BFA team.
“Before joining BFA three years ago, she played for Safa Club and won with them the Lebanese National League. She has contributed a lot to us, especially in the under-19 championship that we won. She also played a major role in us winning the 2024 league unbeaten.”
Haidar’s club posted a message on Instagram on Tuesday updating fans on her condition, saying: “As stated by her doctors to our team, currently, Celine’s condition is stable and the intracranial bleeding is under control.”
In another post, the club said: “Yesterday, (Thursday) during a heartfelt ceremony, her teammates lit candles and we united in a moment of reflection, thoughts and prayers for her recovery.
“As we honored Lebanon’s strength this year, our dedication was for Celine, whose strength inspires us all. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to rally together for her recovery.”