UEFA fines Celtic as fans display
Palestinian flags at Champions League
Nyon, Nov 22: The display of hundreds of Palestinian flags at a Champions League game by fans of Scottish club Celtic cost the team a fine of 17,500 euros (USD 19,000), the Union of European Football Associations said Wednesday. The fans of the Scottish champions have long publicly supported the Palestinian cause and defied requests from the club not to do so on October 25 when the team hosted Atletico Madrid. UEFA charged Celtic for a “provocative message of an offensive nature” inside the stadium. Celtic was fined 20,000 euros (USD 21,700) by UEFA for the same charge at its previous Champions League home game against Italian club Lazio on October 4. At that time, Celtic fans showed an anti-fascist display with an image of Benito Mussolini, the World War II-era Italian dictator, and a slogan using an expletive. Also Wednesday, UEFA added fines totalling 11,500 euros (USD 12,500) for fans lighting fireworks and blocking exit passages at the game against Atletico. (AP)
Barnsley removed from the FA Cup after fielding an ineligible player
London, Nov 22: English club Barnsley was kicked out of this season’s FA Cup on Wednesday for fielding an ineligible player. The third-division team said an “administrative error” was to blame for fielding the unnamed player in its first-round replay against Horsham on November 14. Barnsley won the game 3-0. “The club has fully cooperated with the investigation and has accepted the FA’s decision,” Barnsley said in a statement. “We would like to apologize to our fans, players and staff for this regrettable error. This mistake – although unintentional – falls way below the high standards we set at this club and is simply not what you deserve.” The FA said non-league club Horsham had been reinstated in the competition and has advanced to the second round, where it will play fourth-division team Sutton on December 2. (AP)
FIFA renews with Qatar Airways as World Cup sponsor through 2030
Zurich, Nov 22: Qatar Airways will be FIFA’s airline sponsor at the men’s 2026 World Cup being played across North America after football’s governing body renewed with the company through 2030 on Wednesday. The state-owned airline initially had a two-tournament deal for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 edition played in Qatar. The World Cup airline slot should next be vacant for the 2034 tournament that FIFA has lined up to be hosted by Saudi Arabia, which is launching a second national carrier called Riyadh Air. The value of the new Qatar Airways deal was not disclosed though is likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars. At World Cup finals, trophy and medal presentation assistants are dressed in the airline’s uniform. The airline was among seven top-tier men’s World Cup sponsors in the 2019-2022 commercial cycle which FIFA said earned almost $1.8 billion in total marketing rights sales. It includes selected FIFA youth tournaments and the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which will have a host chosen in May. (AP)
Finland stuns defending champion Canada to reach Davis Cup semis
Malaga, Nov 22: Feeling at home, Finland upset defending champion Canada to reach the semifinals of the Davis Cup for the first time. Otto Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara defeated Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match to give the 14th-ranked Finns the victory over No. 1 Canada in the first of the quarterfinals in southern Spain. Virtanen had kept Finland alive by defeating Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 7-5 in the second singles match after Milos Raonic had given Canada the first point with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Patrick Kaukovalta. Finland was backed by some 3,000 thousands Finnish fans at the Martin Carpena arena in Malaga. Finland is the first Scandinavian nation to reach the Davis Cup semifinals since Sweden in 2007. Finland’s best performances before this year were three appearances in the World Cup playoffs – the last in 2002. Canada won its first Davis Cup title last year, defeating Australia in the final in Malaga. (AP)
US court denies woman’s appeal of Ronaldo’s 2010 Vegas rape case
Reno, Nov 22: A US appeals court sided Tuesday with Cristiano Ronaldo, rejecting an appeal by the lawyer for a woman trying to force the international football star to pay millions more than the USD 375,000 in hush money he paid her after she accused him of raping her in 2009. Kathryn Mayorga’s lawyer had asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s dismissal of the case in Las Vegas in June 2022 and reopen the civil lawsuit she filed in 2018. They argued US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey should not have rejected Mayorga’s attempts to unseal and make public the confidentiality agreement she signed in 2010 in accepting payments from Ronaldo. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based appellate court disagreed. It also rejected their argument that the judge abused her discretion by dismissing the case with prejudice, which prevented Mayorga from refilling the case, and took the unusual step of levying a $335,000 fine against her lawyer, Leslie Mark Stovall. “The district court clearly recognized the gravity of dismissing the case and accordingly provided a thorough analysis, amply supported by factual findings,” Judge Johnnie Rawlinson wrote in Tuesday’s 6-page opinion. (AP)
AFI prepares tentative
domestic calendar for 2024
New Delhi, Nov 22: The first major track and field competition of the 2024 season, the Federation Cup, is set to be held in Thiruvananthapuram from May 12 to 15, according to the proposed domestic calendar prepared by the AFI. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla said the national body has chalked out a tentative domestic calendar for next year keeping in mind the global competitions, including the Paris Olympic Games. The Federation Cup will be followed by the National Inter State Senior Championships from June 27-30 in Panchkula. “The domestic competition in Panchkula will act as a final selection for the Paris Olympic Games,” Sumariwalla said in a release. The Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 26 till August 11.The 2024 World Relays in Bahamas (May 4-5) will be another major international competition as it offers Paris Olympics qualification berths. The international calendar will commence with the Asian Indoor Championships in Tehran, Iran from February 21 to 23. (PTI)