Sports

Teams Consider Suing FIFA Over Rainbow Armband Ban

The Hill reports: Both English and German soccer associations are considering legal action against FIFA after the sporting body banned players from wearing OneLove armbands promoting diversity and inclusion at the World Cup in Qatar. The German Football Association (DFB) may file a claim at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to challenge the legality of FIFA’s threat …

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German Team Defies FIFA In Pro-LGBTQ Protest

The Guardian reports: Germany’s players placed hands over their mouths and wore rainbow stripes on their warm-up tops and boots in a powerful statement of defiance against FIFA before their Group E match against Japan. Their message was reinforced by the German interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who also wore a OneLove armband, which promotes tolerance, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights, as …

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FIFA May Fine Ecuador For Anti-Gay Chants By Fans

The Associated Press reports: Discriminatory chants allegedly by Ecuador fans at the World Cup opening game led FIFA to open the first disciplinary case of the tournament on Tuesday. FIFA said the charge was brought “due to chants” at the game against Qatar on Sunday and cited the section of its disciplinary code dealing with discrimination. The chants were reportedly …

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Favre Under New Scrutiny In Mississippi Welfare Case

NBC News reports: Four years ago, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre joined forces with a Florida neuroscientist to promote an experimental drug — a nasal spray designed to quickly treat brain injuries from a concussion. Favre, a major investor in the company, touted the substance on podcasts, radio interviews and national television, including on NBC. And he did more …

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VIRAL VIDEO: Extremists Assemble Outside Brooklyn Arena In Support Of Player Suspended For Antisemitism

CBS News reports: Outside of Barclays Center on Sunday, hours before the Brooklyn Nets’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies, a large crowd of Black Hebrew Israelites gathered in support of Kyrie Irving, who is returning from a suspension. Irving was suspended on Nov. 4, a week after he’d publicized an antisemitic film on social media and repeatedly refused to apologize …

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FIFA Forces Team Captains To Drop Rainbow Armbands

ESPN reports: The captains of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands will not wear the ‘OneLove’ anti-discrimination armband in their World Cup opening games after confirmation that their captains would be given yellow cards if they took part in the initiative. The announcement came just before their World Cup campaigns were scheduled to start. The national federations said …

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“Power Slap” Event Vows No Deaths Or Brain Injuries

The Insider reports: “You will make sure no one dies?” Nevada State Athletic Commission chief Stephen Cloobeck asked UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell at a regulatory meeting Insider attended Wednesday in Las Vegas. “That is priority one, two, three,” Campbell said, counting all the way to ten. “That goes without saying. One of the reasons we tested this was …

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Qatar Bans Alcohol Sales In World Cup Stadiums

Bloomberg News reports: The organizers behind the World Cup in Qatar have banned the sale of alcohol within the stadiums, dramatically reversing a decision to allow Anheuser-Busch InBev NV to sell Budweiser beer. The decision will likely result in moving concession stands serving alcohol even further away from the stadiums. The tournament, typically the world’s largest sporting event and a …

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Brittney Griner Transferred To Russian Penal Colony

Reuters reports: U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been taken to a penal colony in the Russian region of Mordovia, a source familiar with the case told Reuters on Thursday. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony on drugs charges following her arrest at a Moscow airport in February with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil …

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Team USA Adds Rainbow Stripes To World Cup Crest

The Daily Mail reports: The United States’ men’s national team have made a huge statement at the World Cup in Qatar by redesigning their crest to incorporate the rainbow flag, in a bid to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. The tournament, which starts on Sunday and sees the US play their opener against Wales on Monday, has been hugely …

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Qatar World Cup Official Bashes “Damaged” Gays

Reuters reports: A Qatar World Cup ambassador has told German television broadcaster ZDF that homosexuality was “damage in the mind”, as the Gulf state prepares to host the global tournament in less than two weeks. Khalid Salman addressed the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal in the conservative Muslim country. “They have to accept our rules here,” Salman said. “(Homosexuality) …

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Ted Cruz Booed And Hit With Beer Can At Astros Parade

TMZ reports: Things went from bad to worse for Ted Cruz during the parade … because after he had been booed and flipped off during the celebration — he was then pelted by a beer can. Video from the parade route shows the empty drink made a beeline for his head … but, thankfully for the senator, it clanked off …

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Nike Axes Deal With NBA Star Over Antisemitism

ESPN reports: Nike has suspended its relationship with Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving in the wake of the controversy surrounding his social media post about a book and movie containing antisemitic tropes, the company announced Friday night. Nike also said it will no longer launch Irving’s new shoe, the Kyrie 8. The shoe, Irving’s eighth with the company, had been …

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Anti-Vax NBA Star Suspended For Antisemitic Post

ESPN reports: The Brooklyn Nets suspended Kyrie Irving for at least five games without pay Thursday, dismayed by his repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs,” with Irving later issuing an apology for his social media post last week about a book and movie that feature antisemitic tropes. Irving had refused to apologize during a post-practice media …

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Russian Court Upholds Brittney Griner’s Sentence

NBC News reports: A Russian court on Tuesday denied WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal and upheld her nine-year prison sentence on drug charges. Griner, 32, looked despondent as she appeared at the hearing in the Moscow Regional Court via video conference from the detention center where she has been held since her arrest in February. The athlete is now expected …

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Ted Cruz Gets Obscene Serenade At Yankee Stadium

Fansided reports: Yankees fans welcomed Texas senator Ted Cruz to New York with some NSFW gestures during Game 4 of the ALCS against the Astros. Crowds in New York aren’t known for being particularly friendly toward opposing fans. When one of those fans is a controversial political figure rooting for the opposing team, you can bet they’re going to get …

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Fishermen In Cheating Scandal Charged With Felonies

Yahoo Sports reports: After Jacob Runyan, 42, of Ashtabula, Ohio, and Chase Cominsky, 35, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, were accused of cheating during a fishing tournament on Lake Erie, a Cleveland grand jury indicted them on fifth-degree felony charges of cheating, attempted grand theft and possessing criminal tools. In addition, the two have been served with the first-degree misdemeanor charge of …

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NFL Updates Injury Protocols Ahead Of Today’s Games

USA Today reports: The NFL and NFL Players Association’s investigation into Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s evaluation for a concussion found both independent medical professionals and team medical staff followed the league’s concussion protocols, in a statement released Saturday. The biggest takeaway from the NFL’s findings: “The outcome in this case is not what was intended when the protocols were …

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NFL Team Under Fire After Quarterback’s Injury

ESPN reports: Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was taken to a local hospital with head and neck injuries suffered on a second-quarter sack in Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Tagovailoa hit the back of his head on the ground when he was sacked by Bengals nose tackle Josh Tupou, and his arms appeared to seize up almost immediately. …

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Favre Also Wanted Welfare Dough For Football Venue

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports: After Mississippi spent millions of dollars in welfare money on Brett Favre’s pet project, a university volleyball arena, the retired NFL quarterback tried two years later to get additional cash from the state’s welfare agency for another sports facility, new court documents show. The governor at the time, Republican Phil Bryant, texted in 2019 with Favre, …

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