WORLD CUP
Mexico claim another title
Mexico won the under-17 World Cup final on Sunday, defeating Uruguay 2-0 with goals from Antonio Briseno in the 31st minute and Giovani Casillas in second-half stoppage-time. The victory thrilled a boisterous crowd at the Atzec Stadium in Mexico City, which is getting used to success. Two weeks ago, the Mexico senior team won the Gold Cup — the regional championship — defeating the US 4-2 in the final in California. Mexico also won the under-17 world title in 2005. Briseno scored chipping in from a header into the area, beating goalkeeper Jonathan Cubero. Casillas got his two minutes into stoppage-time, scoring on a counterattack as Uruguay pressed for an equalizer. Uruguay had their chances, with Elbio Alvarez hitting the crossbar. Germany defeated Brazil 4-3 in the playoff for third place earlier on Sunday.
WORLD CUP
Whistleblower in U-turn
An official who alleged that Qatar paid bribes to three FIFA members to secure the World Cup in 2022 has retracted her claims, it was reported on Sunday. Phaedra Al Majid, who worked as a press officer for Qatar 2022, told the BBC she wanted to avenge losing her job on the campaign, but now had decided to go public to admit that the allegations had been fabricated. Al Majid has signed a legal affadavit retracting the allegations and insisted that she had not been put under any pressure by the Qataris to make her public denial. “I was very upset after I left the bid and wanted to basically hurt the bid back,” she said. “My intentions were to make a few headlines, I never expected that my lies would be carried on. It just went too far.” Al Majid originally said African Football Confederation president Issa Hayatou, Ivory Coast FIFA member Jacques Anomua and Nigeria’s suspended official Amos Adamu were paid to vote for Qatar.
TURKEY
Trabzonspor boss detained
Police detained the chairman of Trabzonspor yesterday, broadcasters said, widening a match-fixing investigation which has already put 26 people in jail pending trial and left Turkish soccer in disarray. The major nationwide investigation has plunged preparations for the new season into chaos less than a month before kick-off and it could result in champions Fenerbahce being stripped of their title. A former Turkish Football Federation executive, Ankaragucu’s goalkeeper and a former executive of the Ankara club were also taken into custody yesterday in a second wave of detentions, CNN Turk reported. The detention of Trabzonspor’s Sadri Sener came just hours after Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim, was jailed pending a trial on charges of match-fixing and forming a criminal organization.
SOUTH KOREA
Players to face lie detector
K-League authorities will introduce polygraph testing as part of a drive to drag the professional soccer league out of a deep-rooted match-fixing scandal, local media reported yesterday. The league would also double the minimum wage for players and introduce a new pension scheme to negate the lure of easy money, the Yonhap news agency reported. “We will introduce a pension plan for players and strive to improve rights and welfare for players,” the league said in a statement. The league is grappling with the worst scandal in its 28-year history that led to the arrest of 46 players last week in relation to the attempted fixing of 15 matches from June to October last year. The league has decided that players suspected of wrongdoing would be asked to take a polygraph test.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
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