Category: Sports

Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner has demanded an apology from the French sports minister after she said fans with fake tickets and the club’s handling of their supporters were responsible for the trouble that marred Saturday’s Champions League final. The match at the Stade de France, which Real Madrid won 1-0, was delayed by more than half an hour after police tried to hold off people trying to force their way into the ground. Some fans, including children, were tear-gassed by French riot police. On Monday, sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said…

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PARIS In an about-turn, the French government said it was “sad and sorry” that 2,700 mostly Liverpool fans missed out on the final. France had initially blamed fans and counterfeiters for chaos at the stadium. Gerald Darmanin, France’s minister of the interior, offered an apology on Tuesday to the many fans who were denied entry to the Stade de France during the Champions League final match held on May 28. “I apologize very willingly for all those who have suffered this mismanagement,” said the minister in a live interview with…

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Eight months after winning the European Championship and being feted as national heroes, Italy’s football team crashed back to earth, missing out on the World Cup for the second time running. Italy lost 1-0 at home to little-fancied North Macedonia who scored the winner in injury time on Thursday. North Macedonia stunned European Champions Italy in the dying minutes to set up a clash against Portugal in the World Cup qualifying finals. The four-time World Champions failed to qualify for the tournament in Russia after being knocked out by Sweden in…

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The 2022 Winter Olympics have ended in Beijing, and one country enjoyed a clear advantage in the final medal count. Medal history has been made in more ways than one during the Winter Games. Norway broke the record for the most gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games and, most recently, Elana Meyers Taylor earned her fifth Olympic medal, making her the most decorated African American Winter Olympian. At the 2022 Games there were 109 gold medals in total, up from 102 in Pyeongchang four years ago and a far…

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European lawmakers voted their opposition to breakaway competitions on Tuesday following the aborted Super League project that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are still backing. Some of Europe’s biggest football clubs wanted to break away from the Champions League and run their own competition called the Super League, but it quickly collapsed within 48 hours of launch in April following protests by fans and governments. With 597 votes to 36 and 55 abstentions, members of the European Parliament said they want European sporting culture “to be aligned with EU values…

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Kane Williamson’s innings deserved the Cup. But a Mitchell Marsh-led Australian assault ensured that the New Zealand bowlers blew it up. Imperiously, the men in Green and Gold chased down the victory target of 173 at the cost of just two wickets with seven balls to spare. The Blackcaps suffered another final heartbreak, this time to a better team. New Zealand actually lost the T20 World Cup final in the first 10 overs, when they scored 57/1, batting first. A fifth-gear switch in the next 10 overs made their total…

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The European Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup resumed on 11 November. Seven teams have now won their groups to secure World Cup qualification: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Serbia and Spain. How qualifying works The ten group winners qualify for the 2022 World Cup which runs from 21 November to 18 December in Qatar. For the play-offs from 24 to 29 March 2022, the ten group runners-up will be joined by the two best group winners from the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League overall ranking that have neither qualified…

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