At least 12 dead in stampede at El Salvador stadium
San SalvadorReuters At least 12 people died and an unspecified number were injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium in El Salvador on Saturday, the Central American country’s government said. Alianza FC and Club Deportivo FAS were playing the second leg of their playoff quarter-final game at the Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador, the […]
Essay: Pelé – a global superstar and cultural icon who put passion at the heart of soccer
As soccer great Pele is laid to rest in Santos, Brazil, SIMON CHADWICK, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at the France-based SKEMA Business School, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at his life in football and beyond…
Brazil bids farewell to ‘king of soccer’ Pele with 24-hour wake
Santos, Brazil Reuters The Brazilian coastal city of Santos, which sporting giant Pele turned into a byword for soccer brilliance during a glittering club career, started bidding goodbye to its hero on Monday with a 24-hour wake. Mourners lined up to see Pele’s body in an open casket in the center of the field at the […]
Tear gas, locked gates led to Indonesian soccer stampede, spectators say
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters It was the closing stages of the match, a soccer derby in Indonesia’s East Java province, and 29-year-old spectator Ahmad Nizar Habibi said he had a gut feeling things were about to turn ugly. “I wanted to leave, but suddenly I heard explosions,” he said, describing rounds of tear gas fired as […]
Explainer – Indonesia football stadium tragedy: what happened, death toll, and reaction
Reuters At least 125 people died over the weekend in Indonesia when a soccer match between two teams that were fierce rivals ended in a stampede, marking one of the world’s worst stadium disasters in recent decades. The incident in East Java province has sparked outrage and grief in Indonesia, where sports commentators and activists […]
War takes heavy toll on Ukrainian sport
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Young soccer players in the city of Kharkiv are grieving over the death of their coach, killed by a Russian shell last week in an incident that highlights the heavy toll the war is inflicting on all areas of Ukrainian society, including sport. “It hurt so much, it is as if I had lost […]
Wow!: French soccer tournament celebrates diversity, fights racism
JADE LE DELEY and JEROME PUGMIRE, of Associated Press, report from Creteil in France…
Stadium stampede kills eight in Africa Cup of Nations soccer match
Yaounde, CameroonReuters At least eight people died and 38 were injured in a stampede when fans stormed a stadium hosting an Africa Cup of Nations soccer match in Cameroon’s capital on Monday, the government said. Images shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately authenticate, showed a panicked crowd trying to squeeze through a […]
Pope hopes charity match deals a “kick” to exclusion
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis is hoping that a charity soccer match that includes Swiss Guards, Vatican employees, priests, a player with Down syndrome, migrants and members of the Roma community will deal a significant “kick” to discrimination. The match takes place Sunday in Rome and will be refereed by Lazio team captain Ciro Immobile. The […]
Pope prays for Maradona, fondly recalls meeting him – Vatican
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis has remembered Diego Maradona in his prayers after learning of the soccer legend’s death on Wednesday, the Vatican said. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that the Pope, after being informed of Maradona’s death, “thinks back fondly to the times they met in these years and remembers him in prayer”. He said […]