GENEVA: FIFA’s social media tools designed to protect players from online abuse will now be available to all 211 member associations and their teams, world soccer’s governing body said on Tuesday, coinciding with the International Day for Countering Hate Speech.
The Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), which was developed by FIFA and the players’ union FIFPRO, was first offered to all teams at the 2023 women’s World Cup to help moderate hate speech on social media and hide harmful content.
FIFA said a number of teams competing at the ongoing European Championship and the upcoming Copa America have joined the SMPS.
“We have already seen how effective the service has been in FIFA tournaments and it is only logical that we make it available to all 211 FIFA Member Associations, wherever and whenever they play,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
“We need to protect all players, coaches, officials and teams from abuse, as well as their followers.”
The tool was launched at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and since then FIFA said the service had hidden 2.6 million abusive comments from public view.
Nearly 31,000 cases of “abusive content” were reported to social media platforms — such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube — which led to consequences such as account suspensions.
Meanwhile, one in five players were the target of online abuse during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
FIFA said the SMPS will also be used at upcoming events such as the Olympic Games in Paris, the Under-20 women’s World Cup in Colombia, the Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan and the Under-17 women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic.
FIFA offers tools to fight social media abuse to all 211 member countries
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FIFA offers tools to fight social media abuse to all 211 member countries
- FIFA said a number of teams competing at the ongoing European Championship and the upcoming Copa America have joined the SMPS
- “We have already seen how effective the service has been in FIFA tournaments and it is only logical that we make it available to all 211 FIFA Member Associations,” Infantino said
Serhou Guirassy scores twice in Dortmund’s 4-2 comeback win over local rival Bochum
- The pressure on new coach Nuri Sahin seemed to be mounting when his team conceded two early goals against Bochum
- Dortmund clawed their way back into the game
DORTMUND: Serhou Guirassy scored twice and won a penalty as Borussia Dortmund overturned a two-goal deficit to beat local rival Bochum 4-2 in the Bundesliga on Friday ahead of facing Celtic in the Champions League next week.
Dortmund had been demolished 5-1 by Stuttgart last week and the pressure on new coach Nuri Sahin seemed to be mounting when his team conceded two early goals against Bochum.
In the space of five minutes, Matus Bero scored off a smartly executed one-two through the center, then Dani de Wit made it 2-0 after teammate Myron Boadu had snatched the ball off Dortmund’s goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. On the sideline, Sahin spread his arms wide in a gesture of indignation.
Dortmund clawed their way back into the game, first with a Guirassy header just before halftime to cut the deficit to 2-1, then a penalty from Emre Can leveled the score after a clumsy foul on Guirassy.
It was Dortmund’s turn to slice through Bochum on the counter after that, Karim Adeyemi playing a perfect through-ball for Guirassy to make it 3-2 with a shot between goalkeeper Patrick Drewes’ legs. A fumble by Drewes let Felix Nmecha’s shot roll over the line for Dortmund’s fourth.
Dortmund rise to second in the table ahead of the weekend’s games, behind only Bayern Munich, and have 10 points from five games. Last season’s Champions League runner-up continue their campaign in the revamped competition at home to Scottish club Celtic on Tuesday.
Bochum are second-to-last in the 18-team Bundesliga with a solitary point under new coach Peter Zeidler.
Arsenal, Man City qualify for Women’s Champions League group stage
- Real Madrid won 3-1 at home to Sporting Lisbon, with a brace either side of halftime by Sandie Toletti and a goal in second-half stoppage time from Alba Redondo
- Last season’s semifinalists Paris Saint-Germain failed to overturn their first-leg deficit against Juventus as they lost 2-1 at home to the Italians on the night, and 5-2 on aggregate
PARIS: Arsenal and Manchester City both recorded handsome home wins in the second leg of round two qualifying of the Women’s Champions League on Thursday to book their places in the draw for the group stage.
Arsenal welcomed Hacken to Borehamwood trailing 1-0 after suffering defeat on the road to the Swedes last Wednesday.
But strikes by Lia Waelti and new signing Mariona Caldentey inside 40 minutes gave Jonas Eidevall’s side the lead prior to the break.
Beth Mead and Frida Maanum then put the tie beyond Hacken’s reach as Arsenal ran out 4-0 winners.
Manchester City went into their home leg with a comfortable 5-0 advantage after a dominant first-leg display in Paris last week.
A goal after two minutes by England striker Chloe Kelly effectively put an end to any hopes of an unlikely Paris FC comeback, before Khadija Shaw scored just after the half-hour and hour marks to seal a 3-0 win.
“I feel we can go a long way,” said City manager Gareth Taylor.
“I never would say we are going to win it. Getting out of the group stage is going to be our next objective.”
Real Madrid won 3-1 at home to Sporting Lisbon, with a brace either side of halftime by Sandie Toletti and a goal in second-half stoppage time from Alba Redondo easing the Spaniards to a three-goal winning margin over both legs.
Last season’s semifinalists Paris Saint-Germain failed to overturn their first-leg deficit against Juventus as they lost 2-1 at home to the Italians on the night, and 5-2 on aggregate.
Roma emerged 10-3 aggregate winners as they overpowered Swiss side Servette Chenois 7-2 in the return fixture in Geneva.
Dutch club Twente romped into the group stage as they scored four goals in both ties against Croatia’s Osijek on their way to an aggregate win of 8-1.
St. Polten of Austria won 5-0 in Slovenia against Mura to complete an impressive 8-0 aggregate win.
Celtic won 2-0 against visitors Vorskla of Ukraine to go through 3-0 on aggregate.
On Wednesday, two-time champions Wolfsburg, Norwegians Valerenga, Sweden’s Hammarby and Galatasaray sealed their places in the tournament proper.
Lyon, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and holders Barcelona all automatically qualified for the group stage of the Women’s Champions League.
Now that all 16 group-stage spots have been decided, the draw will take place in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Tottenham overcome early red card to post 3-0 win in revamped Europa League
- Ange Postecoglou: The red card was not ideal, we started really sloppily but the reaction afterwards was good
- Roma allowed a late goal and settled for a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao following the Italian club’s turbulent recent stretch
Tottenham marked their return to European competition after one-year absence by overcoming an early red card to beat Qarabag 3-0 in the revamped Europa League on Thursday.
Defender Radu Dragusin was sent off in the eighth minute for bringing down Juninho to prevent the forward from going in alone on goal. But the hosts opened the scoring just four minutes later.
Brennan Johnson’s angled shot was his third goal in three games. Pape Sarr doubled the advantage early in the second half off a corner kick and Dominic Solanke finished it off on a rebound in the 68th.
“The red card was not ideal, we started really sloppily but the reaction afterwards was good,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou told TNT Sports. “We wanted to press high, even with ten men.”
Johnson also scored in a 3-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League and had a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 victory over second-division Coventry the English League Cup three days earlier.
Tural Bayramov wasted a golden opportunity to score from the spot when the Azerbaijan visitors were 2-0 down.
Travel disruptions forced the game to start 35 minutes late.
Roma blow lead
Roma allowed a late goal and settled for a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao following the Italian club’s turbulent recent stretch that included firing coach Daniele De Rossi.
Aitor Paredes headed in the equalizer in the 85th minute to offset Artem Dovbyk’s first-half goal.
Roma beat Udinese 3-0 in Serie A on Sunday in the first game under new coach Ivan Jurić.
Bilbao winger Nico Williams came on as a substitute for last 30 minutes in his return from an ankle injury.
Ajax clean up
Mika Godts had two goals, Kian Fitz-Jim and Kenneth Taylor added one each for Ajax in a 4-0 rout of Besiktas.
Czech side Viktoria Plzeň scored two late goals from Prince Adu and Vaclav Jemelka to hold high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt to a 3-3 away draw.
Frankfurt, the 2022 Europa League winner led 3-1 on goals from Hugo Ekitike, substitute Junior Dina Ebimbe and defender Rasmus Kristensen.
Olympiacos, last year’s Conference League champion, started with a 2-0 loss to Lyon in France on second half goals by Rayan Cherki and Said Benrahma.
Braga rallied to beat nine-man Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1. Romania’s FCSB beat Latvia’s RFS 4-1 in Bucharest.
Fenerbahce, Rangers score early wins
Fenerbahce opened the competition with a 2-1 home win over Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise with both teams finishing the game with 10 men.
Defender Çaglar Soyuncu opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho’s team in the 26th with a half-volley from close range and Christian Burgess’ own goal in the 82nd made it 2-0 for Fenerbahce. Ross Sykes scored in stoppage time for the visitors.
Union defender Kevin Mac Allister received a red card in the 74th and Fenerbahce substitute Bright Osayi-Samuel was sent off in the final minute.
Last season, Fenerbahce eliminated Union in the round of 16 of the third-tier Conference League.
Europe’s second tier is a familiar turf for Mourinho, who led Manchester United to the 2017 title. He took the Fenerbahce job in the offseason. With Mourinho in charge, Roma lost the 2023 final to Sevilla after a penalty shootout.
In another early game, Rangers won 2-0 at Malmo.
The 2022 Europa League beaten finalist didn’t waste time. Nedim Bajrami scored in the opening minute. Ross McCausland scored in the second half.
Rangers lost in the 2022 final to Eintracht Frankfurt. The German club will be in action later Thursday, hosting Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
As in the Champions League, the traditional group stage of the Europa League has been replaced with an expanded league phase with all 36 teams competing in a single standings.
Each Europa League team will play eight games against eight different opponents through Jan. 30.
Fenerbahce and Rangers win their openers in the revamped Europa League
- Union defender Kevin Mac Allister received a red card in the 74th
- In another early game, Rangers won 2-0 at Malmö
ISTANBUL: Fenerbahce opened the revamped Europa League with a 2-1 home win over Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise with both teams finishing the game with 10 men on Thursday.
Defender Çağlar Söyüncü opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho’s team in the 26th with a half-volley from close range and Christian Burgess’ own goal in the 82nd made it 2-0 for Fenerbahce. Ross Sykes scored in stoppage time for the visitors.
Union defender Kevin Mac Allister received a red card in the 74th and Fenerbahce substitute Bright Osayi-Samuel was sent off in the final minute.
Last season, Fenerbahce eliminated Union in the round of 16 of the third-tier Conference League.
Europe’s second tier is a familiar turf for Mourinho, who led Manchester United to the 2017 title. He took the Fenerbahce job in the offseason. With Mourinho in charge, Roma lost the 2023 final to Sevilla after a penalty shootout.
In another early game, Rangers won 2-0 at Malmö.
The 2022 Europa League beaten finalist didn’t waste time. Nedim Bajrami scored in the opening minute. Ross McCausland scored in the second half.
Rangers lost in the 2022 final to Eintracht Frankfurt. The German club will be in action later Thursday, hosting Czech side Viktoria Plzeň.
In London, Tottenham’s game against Qarabag was delayed 35 minutes because of a travel disruption. Roma play Athletic Bilbao among other remaining late games.
As in the Champions League, the traditional group stage of the Europa League has been replaced with an expanded league phase with all 36 teams competing in a single standings.
Each Europa League team will play eight games against eight different opponents through Jan. 30.
PSG coach Luis Enrique says bigger Club World Cup ‘exciting’
- “Once every four years there’s this new, extremely exciting competition. Everyone wants to go to the Club World Cup,” he said
- The 2025 Club World Cup will be held in the United States from June 15-July 13
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique on Thursday described the expanded Club World Cup, set to feature 32 teams next year, as an “exciting competition” while acknowledging the need to limit player workloads.
“Once every four years there’s this new, extremely exciting competition. Everyone wants to go to the Club World Cup,” he said, amid growing concern from players and coaches alike over the increasing number of fixtures.
The 2025 Club World Cup will be held in the United States from June 15-July 13, with 12 European clubs set to take part in a tournament that has only traditionally involved the six continental champions and host nation.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri warned earlier this month that leading players could go on strike over the number of games they’re being asked to play.
The Spain international is set to miss the rest of the season after suffering ligament damage to his right knee at the weekend.
“Of course those involved must speak,” said Luis Enrique.
“I understand and I agree that the calendar is very busy, particularly that of Manchester City. Ours is less so because we have two fewer teams in our league and therefore four fewer matches.”
“A less hectic calendar would favor everyone,” he added.
