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Hindustan Times
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Chelsea coach startled as Mudryk is spotted in Poland ahead of Conference League final
WROCLAW, Poland — Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca seemed as surprised as anyone when he was told Mykhailo Mudryk had been spotted in Poland ahead of the club's Conference League final against Real Betis. Mudryk, who became one of Chelsea's biggest signings when he arrived for $108 million in 2023, hasn't played since it emerged in December that he was facing a doping investigation. Until now, the Ukrainian winger has kept a low profile but photos and videos on social media appeared to show him posing with fans Tuesday while wearing a jacket with the Chelsea badge. 'To be honest, I just, I don't know. He's here, or he's coming?" Maresca said, glancing around in surprise when asked at his pre-game news conference what he thought of Mudryk being in Wroclaw ahead of Wednesday's game. "He's here? I'm happy for Misha to be here. I don't know, just happy for Misha to be here.' Mudryk hasn't posted on social media since a statement about the case in December when he acknowledged an unnamed 'banned substance' had been found in a sample he'd given. 'I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon," he posted at the time. Neither Chelsea nor the English Football Association have provided any updates on the progress of the case since then. Mudryk could be awarded a medal from the Conference League final because he played in Chelsea's first four games of the league phase, scoring three goals. He scored in his most recent game, a 2-0 Conference League win over German club Heidenheim on Nov. 28. Mudryk signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract when he signed for Chelsea in Jan. 2023, keeping him at the club until 2031. soccer: /hub/soccer
RTÉ News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Gianni Infantino's late arrival to FIFA Congress sparks angry backlash
UEFA has accused Gianni Infantino of "putting football's interests second" after he arrived late for the FIFA Congress. FIFA president Infantino had been in the Middle East at events alongside United States president Donald Trump earlier in the week, and issues with his private jet forced a delay to the start of the Congress in Asuncion, Paraguay. UEFA delegates, including its president Aleksander Ceferin and English Football Association chair and FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt, staged a group protest by leaving at the interval, which had been the original start time. Infantino apologised to delegates for his late arrival but European football's leading administrators were deeply unimpressed, and said the FIFA president had been accommodating his own "private political interests" by attending events alongside Trump and Middle East leaders from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. "The last-minute changes to the timings of the FIFA Congress are deeply regrettable," UEFA said in a statement. "The FIFA Congress is one of the most important meetings in world football, where all the 211 nations in the world's game gather to discuss issues that affect the sport right across the world. "Our hosts, the Paraguay FA and our partners at CONMEBOL (the South American confederation), had gone to considerable effort to accommodate so many delegates and we thank them for their hospitality. "But to have the timetable changed at the last minute for what appears to be simply to accommodate private political interests, does the game no service and appears to put its interests second. "We are all in post to serve football; from the streets to the podium, and UEFA members of the FIFA Council felt the need on this occasion to make a point that the game comes first and to leave as originally scheduled." Infantino opened the Congress with an apology to delegates for the "late kick-off time". "As president of FIFA, I decided to be for the last two of days in the Middle East, knowing that the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia, the 2022 World Cup was in Qatar and that the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States and the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be in the USA, Canada and Mexico. "Obviously some important discussions took place there with regards to the World Cup with some world leaders in politics and economy and I felt like I had to be there to represent all of you, to represent football. "I thought I could make it on time but unfortunately we had a little issue with our flight, which caused this delay."
Hans India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Dan Ashworth rejoins FA as Chief Football Officer
London: The English Football Association (FA) have appointed Dan Ashworth as their chief football officer, becoming the first person to assume the role, and is being brought in to lead the high-performance strategy and new-look St. George's Park. Ashworth was previously the FA's director of elite development and then technical director for a six-year tenure between 2013 and 2019. More recently he spent five months as Manchester United sporting director before his abrupt departure in September. After holding key positions at three Premier League clubs, he returns to a newly created role with the FA, with strategic oversight across England men's and women's teams. He will also oversee the regeneration of St. George's Park, which will undergo a significant upgrade to its world-class performance facilities and pitches as England prepares to co-host UEFA Euro 2028. Reporting into FA CEO Mark Bullingham, Ashworth will work closely with men's technical director John McDermott and Kay Cossington's successor in the women's technical directorate. He will focus primarily on optimising the potential of the national football centre and building the long-term systems that underpin the FA's performance ambitions, from winning England teams to developing more homegrown coaches. "Dan is a hugely influential and respected figure in the game, who has a long-standing commitment to England Football. We are very happy to welcome him back in this new role," said Bullingham. Ashworth's removal as sporting director had come as a huge shock after Manchester United had put in a lot of effort to snatch him from the hands of Newcastle United. Ashworth was involved in an extravagant spending spree at Old Trafford during the summer that cost approximately 200 million Pounds (280 million USD) and brought in Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, and Joshua Zirkzee.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Two opposing views on football's transgender ban
The English Football Association announced on Thursday that transgender women will no longer be able to play in women's football in England from 1 the UK Supreme Court's ruling on 15 April that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, the FA now says only those born biologically female will be permitted to play in women's Scottish FA has also announced it is banning transgender women, while sources have told BBC Sport that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is also expected to ban transgender women from the women's Sport spoke to Natalie Washington, campaign lead for Football v Transphobia, and former swimmer and campaigner Sharron Davies to get their views on the ban. 'We are no longer able to play football' Washington played men's Sunday League football before joining a women's team in 2017, external. She was one of 28 trans women registered to play amateur football in told BBC Sport: "It is a shock. "This means for me personally, and for many people playing football, that we are no longer able to do this stuff that we were able to do last week and that we've been able to do for decades."I stopped playing in the men's game 10-12 years ago, I didn't feel it was a safe place to transition and I feel like i'm not really able to compete in that anymore."The effect that hormones have had means when I do play an occasional five-a-side kickabout with men, I don't feel like I can compete with men my sort of age and with similar physical characteristics."The reality is there are not enough transgender people in society for us to run our own sports, run our own spaces - there just aren't the numbers to make that viable."This is a lot of attention on a very small number of people who aren't causing a problem, and are just going about their lives."It is a de facto ban for transgender women from football more generally, realistically, particularly people who have been playing in women's football for decades."It's going to be very mentally challenging and actually potentially physically dangerous for those people to go back and play in the men's game - if they ever even did play in the men's game."So really this is pushing those people out of football altogether." 'Women are getting their sport back at last' Davies, 62, won a silver medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and has long argued against the inclusion of trans women in women's told BBC Sport: "I'm overjoyed that women are getting their sport back at last, hopefully cricket will follow."The science is still the same. Males kick 50% harder than females, they're taller, they have bigger hands and feet, and they're more dynamic, particularly in goal."I've had heart-broken parents talking about their children, their young girls who are self-harming because they've had a season-ending injury. Or autistic daughters who've had six-match bans because they've recognised that there is a male on the opposition."A lot of people are owed an apology."It affects half the population who are actually female. It affects all young girls and all women who play football, particularly at grassroots and pathways and junior competition, so this was just about the integrity of sport and as a biological female you are entitled to that integrity just the same as a biological male."Everyone deserves to do sport and the FA must find a way to be inclusive for everybody."
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
FA to ban transgender women from playing women's football in England
The English Football Association (FA) has announced that it will ban transgender women from playing in women's football from June 1st. It follows the ruling from the UK supreme court that the term 'woman' in Britain's Equality Act refers only to a biological woman. The decision comes barely a month after the FA ruled that transgender women could continue to play in the women's game as long as they kept their testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L for at least 12 months. However, the FA has now performed a significant U-turn after receiving legal advice from its KCs that the supreme court's ruling meant it had to fundamentally change its rules. Its announcement comes two days after the Scottish Football Association announced it would enact a similar policy from next season. 'As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by Uefa and Fifa,' the FA said. READ MORE 'Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women's game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice. 'This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football, then we would review it and change it if necessary. 'The supreme court's ruling on the 16th of April means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women's football in England, and this policy will be implemented from June 1st, 2025.' This decision is understood to affect 20 registered transgender players in England, and the FA said it would reach out to them to explain the changes. 'We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,' the FA said. [ World Athletics mandates cheek swabs to 'doggedly protect female category' Opens in new window ] Before the supreme court clarification, the FA had quietly updated its policy in April after a year-long review. The new policy stated that transgender women could keep playing in the women's game, but it gave the FA scope to judge an individual's criteria on a case-by-case basis if it felt there were safety or fairness concerns. However, that policy no longer applies and the FA's decision will put pressure on other sports to follow suit. The campaign group Sex Matters, which has called for clarity about biological sex in law and life, was among those to welcome the decision. 'This is welcome but long overdue,' said Fiona McAnena, Sex Matters' director of campaigns. 'Every other sporting body now needs to re-establish a genuine women's category. Anyone who cares about women and girls in sport will see that this is the right thing to do.' The LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall has been approached for comment. – Guardian
