Serie A hopes to play regular-season games in United States, says new president of top Italian soccer league
Simonelli was elected two months ago.
'This is a market that we count on a lot. We have nine clubs under American ownership and one Canadian, so I also need to thank them since they elected me,' Simonelli said. 'And we have other prospective buyers lined up.'
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Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca also is
Serie A is also home to several US standouts like Christian Pulisic (Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus), and Timothy Weah (Juventus).
Serie A has held the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia and other foreign countries for years. The Spanish league has attempted to hold games in the US without success.
Inter and Juventus will play in the
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Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
After Copa América chaos, will Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup be safe? Inside the security challenge
The panicked wails cut through suffocating heat, and told of terror. They came from distressed soccer fans last July 14, and became the soundtrack to 'inhumane' chaos. Mothers and daughters, fathers and friends, hinchas of Colombia and Argentina went to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for the 2024 Copa América final. Some left traumatized after ticketless fans and security failures turned their evening of celebration into a nightmare. They spent unending minutes crushed together, sweating and suffering, pushing helplessly toward previously breached and resealed gates. Some fainted. Some shrieked for help — for water that wasn't available, for calm that never really came. They 'posed an emergency situation due to the heightened risk of stampedes and potential injury,' a Miami-Dade County police chief later wrote. Authorities ultimately unsealed gates 'to alleviate' the crush, 'therefore avoiding fatal injuries,' but allowing thousands without tickets to enter. Advertisement The entire scene spooked American soccer. It led to finger-pointing and fears that the next major international tournaments on U.S. soil — the 2026 World Cup and 2025 Club World Cup, which kicks off Saturday in Miami — could be similarly unsafe. It stunned New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who, the morning after the madness, called a meeting. 'Let's review all protocols,' Murphy told a team that included leaders from MetLife Stadium, which is set to host the Club World Cup and World Cup finals. 'And let's make sure it never happens [here].' That, for the past 11 months, has been a consistent theme of preparations for the two upcoming tournaments. 'I haven't been in a meeting since we've started this collaboration with FIFA and local, state, federal law enforcement,' says JP Hayslip, the VP of security at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where 'that hasn't [been] brought up.' Advertisement Nearly a year later, authorities say they've learned from the Copa América final. In interviews with Yahoo Sports, stadium officials and others expressed confidence in their planning. A few noted that FIFA, the global soccer governing body in charge, has come to the U.S. more prepared than CONMEBOL, the South American governing body that ran last year's Copa. 'There's definitely a more organized feel' this time around, one person familiar with the prep for both tournaments said. But there are still concerns. Many stem from FIFA's unfamiliarity with the U.S.; and from U.S. authorities' unfamiliarity with international soccer, one of the widely cited factors in last summer's trouble. Hard Rock Stadium, site of both the 2024 Copa América final and 2025 Club World Cup opener, has expanded its perimeter to prevent future crowd crushes. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Lessons learned from Copa América final In one sense, to security experts, the near-fatal flaw that derailed the Copa final was obvious. Fans and cars 'entered the interior parking lots without prior screening,' Carmen Castro, chief of the Miami-Dade Police Department's Strategic Response Division, wrote in an after-action report obtained by Yahoo Sports. The lack of an outer security perimeter allowed un-ticketed fans 'an opportunity to gain access to the stadium,' Castro explained. And in 'overwhelming numbers,' they ruined the experience for thousands with tickets. Advertisement Hard Rock Stadium officials, citing pending litigation, declined to discuss why there was no outer perimeter. In a forward-looking statement, though, a spokeswoman wrote: 'For FIFA Club World Cup 2025, fans should expect to pass through multiple security and ticket check points in order to enter Hard Rock Stadium. All fans will also have their tickets scanned as they enter the property.' A spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office added that there would be 'three separate checkpoints that enclose the entire campus.' This layered approach, experts say, disperses crowds both spatially and sequentially. Most problems are detected at initial 'soft checks' long before a fan reaches stadium gates, far away from what FIFA's guidelines call the 'final formal ticket check.' Those who do sneak or bust through can be tracked down in the vast open space between outer perimeter and concourse, without wreaking widespread havoc. 'This approach will ensure the great majority of nefarious non-ticketed fans remain on the exterior,' Castro wrote. For the Club World Cup, most stadiums outside Miami actually won't extend their perimeters far beyond what they typically do for NFL or MLS games, according to multiple officials at those host venues. That is because they aren't expecting capacity crowds; interest in the Club World Cup, dampened by 'alarming' ticket prices, has been lukewarm in most markets. But for next summer's 2026 World Cup, there will be secondary and tertiary perimeters. Although exact plans are still in development, Super Bowl-style structures will surround the stadiums. They're extended in part to accommodate media centers, hospitality areas and sponsor activations, but also to fortify security. Streets and parking lots will be blocked off. 'We don't want somebody that doesn't have a ticket to even get close to our building,' Hayslip says. Advertisement Perimeters, though, are only part of the answer, a superficial solution. Deeper dynamics — the lack of stateside precedent, and the lack of institutional experience with mega soccer tournaments — is 'what is breeding the uncertainty,' one official involved in both preparations said. 'What happened at Copa, yeah, you can point to what the issue was: they needed an outer perimeter. … But it's more complicated than that.' Law enforcement personnel and security agents outside Hard Rock Stadium during preparations for Saturday's opening match in the Club World Cup soccer tournament, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) FIFA's tournament model meets America's stadium machine Seven of the World Cup's 11 U.S. stadiums have hosted Super Bowls. The other four have held a combined 21 NFL conference championships. They've all hosted Taylor Swift and dozens of other attractive events — all of which have contributed to two corollary challenges. Advertisement On one hand, 'there is a risk' that experience can breed 'complacency,' says Mick O'Connell, a security consultant who's worked on megaevents; that 'muscle memory' could blind authorities to the unique characteristics of a World Cup and the 'changed environment they're gonna be operating in.' On the other hand, multiple people told Yahoo Sports that there's been mild friction between stadium officials and FIFA, which is more accustomed to operating men's World Cups on relatively blank slates, in venues without pre-existing security staffs and systems, venues that were purpose-built for the tournament. 'It's clearly been a challenge for them,' Hayslip says. 'It's blatantly obvious that they're not used to this. They always revert back to Qatar' and the 2022 World Cup, whereas the U.S. stadiums revert back to Super Bowls and so on. Meshing those two perspectives into one unified strategy has not been seamless. Experience, of course, is primarily an asset. 'You've got institutional knowledge of what works and what doesn't work,' says Joe Coomer, the VP of security at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. O'Connell clarifies: "It's good to have muscle memory with regard to systems, procedures and practices that you can rely upon." Hayslip says that he and colleagues have tried 'to reassure [FIFA] that not only do we 'know what we're doing,' we've experienced it.' Advertisement But they have also listened. They have traveled to England and Germany, to Euro and Champions League finals, to see how those with decades of experience in international soccer do it. Because they know that World Cups are different. 'We've done the NFC championship many times, but this is not that,' Hayslip assures. 'This is a different environment, a different culture, … a different, probably more passionate fan base than any of us have ever experienced.' For those who've never hosted high-level international soccer, Coomer has a two-word message: 'Buckle up!' In workshops and on scouting trips, they've learned how fans from various countries express that passion. 'We've all got our eyes on those Argentinian teams, those Brazilian teams,' Coomer says. They've studied videos and brought in foreign experts — less to crack down on the passion, more to ensure they don't misinterpret it as aggression or troublemaking. Coomer and a few Atlanta law enforcement leaders went to Los Angeles for last month's Club World Cup play-in game, where they encountered festive smoke and constant chanting. If they encounter it in Atlanta this month, or next summer, Coomer explains, 'we don't want it to be the first time [officers] react to it.' Advertisement What they also must understand, experts add, is how visitors might react to American policing. 'You're not policing your own citizens anymore,' says Cliff Stott, an expert in crowd psychology. 'You're policing foreign nationals [who] have different culture norms, different values, different relationships with the police.' They may or may not respond well to K-9s. They may or may not be comfortable chatting with an officer — who may or may not speak their language. Communicating with those foreign fans will be crucial, experts say, especially as they hop from one U.S. city to the next, where tactics and rules might be distinct. Miscommunications can lead to confrontations, which can lead to chaos, which is precisely what all these security measures are designed to prevent. Experts also warn against over-policing, which can backfire or take the fun out of the event. Officials hope improved protocols will deliver a safe, enjoyable environment for fans traveling from around the world. (Photo by Roger Wimmer/) (Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos via Getty Images) 'It's a classic all-threat, all-hazard situation' For the 2026 World Cup, within and beyond the 16 host cities, there will also be a vast but unseen network of federal, local and international agencies gathering intel and responding to it. Advertisement This was another takeaway from the Copa América final. Despite massive gatherings outside team hotels; brawls in Charlotte at a semifinal earlier that week; and reports of difficulties in Texas at previous matches, the possibility of gate-crashing 'was not gathered and shared by any intelligence source,' Castro wrote in the after-action report. 'Had this information been known, our plan would have been modified for this contingency.' In 2026, information must flow throughout a messy web of police departments, sheriff's offices, FIFA, security companies and other private entities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will also be heavily involved. The World Cup final and other spotlighted games have been designated SEAR 1 events, meaning they're of 'national and/or international importance' and 'require extensive federal interagency support.' The rest will be SEAR 2 events, the second-highest rating. Mexico and Canada, the World Cup's co-hosts, will each have their own nodes as well in what O'Connell calls 'a spider's web' of command centers. All involved will prepare extensively. 'It's a classic all-threat, all-hazard situation,' O'Connell says. They'll prepare for terrorism and gun violence, for cyber attacks and weather, for drunkenness and medical crises. Nowadays, with the Club World Cup near, they are in daily meetings, adapting and planning. When I interviewed Coomer, his team and FIFA's had just completed an hourslong tabletop exercise. When I interviewed Hayslip, he and Philadelphia were prepping for a 'full-scale exercise,' a test of emergency preparedness initiated by DHS with a view toward 2026. FIFA did not make its security chiefs available for interviews. But among organizers, generally, there is confidence that the Club World Cup will pass without major incident. In Miami, where it kicks off Saturday with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami against Al Ahly, security budgets have increased compared to last summer. And 'there will be a significant law enforcement and security footprint in and around the stadium,' the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office spokeswoman wrote, 'to ensure public safety.'
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How the $1,000 ‘Trump accounts' for American babies compare to 529s and custodial Roth IRAs
President Donald Trump and American business leaders this week celebrated a provision in his tax bill that would create and fund investment accounts for babies born in the next few years. The accounts would be allowed to compound and grow tax-deferred, similar to the way some retirement accounts work. 'In addition to the substantial financial benefits of investing early in life, extensive research shows that children with savings accounts are more likely to graduate high school and college, buy a home, start a business and are less likely to be incarcerated,' Trump said. 'Trump accounts will contribute to the lifelong success of millions of newborn babies.' Here's what you should know about these 'baby 401(k)s' and how they compare to other savings plans for children. The so-called Trump accounts are part of Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' that passed through the House of Representatives last month. Republicans are aiming to get the bill through the Senate and signed by Trump by July 4th. Here's how the accounts would work: The federal government would contribute $1,000 to an investment account for every American baby born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. An additional $5,000 in after-tax contributions could be made annually to the accounts by parents, employers or other private entities. The money would be invested in index funds that track the overall U.S. stock market. Accounts would be controlled by a child's legal guardians until age 18. Earnings would grow tax-deferred and qualified withdrawals would be taxed at the long-term capital gains rate. 'The compounded growth of an initial $1,000 investment at the time of birth, at an average annual return of 8 percent, would amount to nearly $4,000 by age 18, more than $10,000 by age 30, and over $148,000 by age 65,' according to Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride. 'The key to achieving this type of growth is leaving the money untouched. As Warren Buffett espouses, 'Never interrupt compounding.'' Several business leaders praised the accounts and said they'd make contributions to their employee's kids' accounts. 'We see … the establishment of these Trump Accounts as a simple yet powerful way to transform lives,' Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell said. 'Decades of research has shown that giving children a financial head start profoundly impacts their long-term success.' Get started: Match with an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals Trump Accounts have some similarities with 529 savings plans, but there are some notable differences. Funding: Trump accounts would be initially funded by the federal government, while 529 plans are typically funded by parents, grandparents or other relatives. Withdrawals: Withdrawals from 529 plans are tax-free as long as they're used for qualified educational expenses. Withdrawals from Trump accounts would have fewer restrictions on their uses, but are taxed at long-term capital gains rates. Contribution limits: Annual contributions for Trump accounts would be limited to $5,000, while 529 plans allow for much higher limits, from about $235,000 to more than $600,000, depending on the state that sponsors the plan (these are lifetime limits; there's no annual limit for 529s). Many people assume that the maximum 529 plan contribution is $19,000 per child in 2025 — or $38,000 if you file jointly — but that's the maximum amount you can contribute without exceeding the annual gift tax limit. (If you give someone more than that limit in any given year, then you're required to file a gift tax return, though you likely still won't owe taxes on the gift.) Here's what else you should know about using a 529 plan to save for your kids' education. Compare advisors: Bankrate's list of the best financial advisors Custodial Roth IRAs also allow kids to set aside money and have it be invested so it grows over time. Here's how they compare to the proposed Trump accounts. Earned income requirement: Trump accounts would be funded at birth and allow for additional contributions each year, while custodial Roth IRAs require a child to have earned income during the year in order to contribute. Contribution limits: Custodial Roth IRA contributions are limited to $7,000 in 2025, or the total amount of earned income a child has during the year, whichever is less. Trump accounts would allow for annual contributions of $5,000. Taxes on withdrawals: Withdrawals from Roth IRAs during retirement are tax-free, while withdrawals from the proposed Trump accounts would be taxed at the long-term capital gains rate. Here's more on custodial Roth IRAs. The proposed Trump Accounts would create new investment accounts for every American baby born in the next few years, funded with $1,000 from the federal government. The accounts would be invested in index funds that track the U.S. stock market and could receive additional contributions each year of $5,000 from private entities. The plan is subject to change as the bill makes its way through the legislative process. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Critical minerals give China an edge in trade negotiations
GANZHOU, China (AP) — China's dominance over critical minerals in global supply chains was a powerful bargaining chip in trade talks between Beijing and Washington that concluded with both sides saying they have a framework to pursue a deal. China has spent decades building the world's main industrial chain for mining and processing such materials, which are used in many industries such as electronics, advanced manufacturing, defense and health care. Mines and factories in and around Ganzhou, a key production hub for rare earths, underpin China's control over the minerals. Many residents grew up collecting rocks containing the valuable minerals from the forested hills surrounding the southern city and today make a living from mining, trading or processing them. Critical minerals as a trade issue Responding to ever higher tariffs and other controls on advanced technology, China told exporters of certain key rare earths and other critical minerals to obtain licenses for every shipment abroad. Approvals can take weeks, leading to supply chain disruptions in the U.S. and other countries. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China would make it easier for American industry to obtain much-needed needed magnets and rare earth minerals, clearing the way for talks to continue between the world's two biggest economies. In return, Trump said, the U.S. will stop efforts to revoke the visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. But details remain scarce. Beijing has not confirmed what the negotiators agreed to, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump himself have yet to sign off on it. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Saturday it had approved a 'certain number' of export licenses for rare earth products, apparently acknowledging Trump's personal request to Xi during a phone call last week. And on Wednesday, the Ganzhou-based rare-earth conglomerate JL MAG Rare-Earth Co. confirmed it had obtained some export licenses for shipments to destinations including the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. Experts say, however, Beijing is unlikely to do away with the permit system enabling it to control access to those valuable resources. The only scenario in which China might deregulate its critical minerals export is if the U.S. first fully removes tariffs imposed on Chinese goods as part of the trade war, said Wang Yiwei, a professor of international affairs at Renmin University, echoing the Chinese government's earlier stance. 'Without that,' he said, 'it will be difficult to blame China for continuing to strengthen its export controls.' An industry built over decades with government support In 1992, Deng Xiaoping, the leader who launched China's ascent as the world's biggest manufacturing power, famously said 'the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths,' signaling a desire to leverage access to the key minerals. Several generations later, Beijing has made its rich reserves of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals that are abundant in the earth's crust but hard, expensive and environmentally polluting to process, a key element of China's economic security. In 2019, during a visit to a rare earth processing plant in Ganzhou, Xi described rare earths as a 'vital strategic resource.' China today has an essential monopoly over 'heavy rare earths,' used for making powerful, heat-resistance magnets used in industries such as defense and electric vehicles. The country also produces around 80% of the world's tungsten, gallium and antimony, and 60% of the world's germanium -– all minerals used in the making of semiconductors, among other advanced technologies. The risks of dependency on Chinese suppliers first came into focus in 2010, when Beijing suspended rare earths exports to Japan due to a territorial dispute. The ban was lifted after about two months, but as a precaution, Japan invested in rare earths processing plants in other countries and began stockpiling the materials. Beijing's across-the-board requirement for export licenses for some critical minerals has put pressure on world electronics manufacturers and automakers. Some auto parts makers in Europe have shut down production lines due to delays in supply deliveries, according to the European Association of Automotive Suppliers. In the U.S., Tesla CEO Elon Musk said a shortage of rare earths is affecting his company's work on humanoid robots. China's critical minerals resources are dwindling In the drab industrial hub of Ganzhou, cradled by the scenic Dayu Mountains, the U.S.-China trade war is still a distant stressor. Miners and small mineral traders interviewed by The Associated Press said they are more concerned about depleting the mountains' once-abundant resources. Zhong, a tungsten factory manager in Ganzhou who would only give his last name, worked his way up to manager from a miner, but he's unsure there is a future for him and others in the industry. 'I find growing difficulties to source tungsten these days,' he said, adding that smaller mines and trading companies are slowly disappearing as the resources are dwindling. Tungsten is an ultra-hard metal used in armor-piercing ammunition, nuclear reactors and semiconductors. At least five tungsten mines have closed in the area in recent years, according to state media. Remaining reserves are deeper and harder to extract and process after decades of exploitation, said Li Shangkui, chairman of the Ganzhou-based Jiangxi Yuean Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. Processing factories in Ganzhou now routinely source materials from other provinces or other countries. Zhong's plant imports some raw materials from places like Africa and Cambodia. Major state-owned and private companies in Ganzhou are also ramping up investments abroad. Tungsten producer Ganzhou Haisheng, for instance, announced last year a $25 million investment in a new tungsten plant in Thailand. Whatever the challenges in procuring raw materials, China likely will seek to maintain its dominance in critical minerals, said Fabian Villalobos, an engineer and critical minerals expert at the RAND think tank. The U.S. lags far behind China on critical minerals Between 2020 and 2023, the U.S. imported at least 70% of the rare earth compounds it used from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It has diversified its sources in recent years, but still mainly relies on China. Since beginning his second term in office, Trump has made improving access to critical minerals a matter of national security. But the U.S. has an incredibly long way to go to catch up with China, experts say. The sole operational U.S. rare earths mine, in Mountain Pass, California, is unable to separate heavy rare earths. It sends its ore to China for processing. The U.S. Defense Department has provided funding to the mine's owner, MP Materials, to build new separation facilities. It will take months to build and still only produce a fraction of what is needed. Friction over the issue has opened the way for government-backed financing that was unavailable before, said Mark Smith, who ran the Mountain Pass mine in the early 2010s and now leads NioCorp. It's seeking about $780 million in financing through the U.S. Export-Import Bank to build a processing facility in Nebraska for critical minerals including rare earths. The Defense Department has committed $439 million to building domestic rare earth supply chains, but building a complete mining and processing industrial chain like China's could take decades. 'There are going to be some real issues here unless we can figure out how to get along with China for a period of time while we're developing our own resources and our mainstream processing,' Smith said. The spotlight on critical minerals also provides opportunities for smaller miners to invest in extracting and processing some critical minerals, such as tungsten, considered 'niche' because they are needed in relatively small amounts in key industries, said Milo McBride, an expert on sustainability and geopolitics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'For many of these companies, the business strategy hedges on a scenario where the U.S. and China become more confrontational and where trade relations become more uncomfortable,' McBride said. 'And all of a sudden, what was once an uneconomic project somewhere outside of China starts to make more sense.' ___ Associated Press news researcher Shihuan Chen contributed to this story. Simina Mistreanu, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
