sportsleague:uefa

  • Les stats du football féminin (UEFA)

    Women’s Champions League number crunching - UEFA Women’s Champions League - News - UEFA.com
    http://www.uefa.com/womenschampionsleague/news/newsid=2272519.html

    Ahead of the last-32 draw, we pick out key figures from 15 seasons of UEFA women’s club competition, with 5,206 players from over 200 clubs involved in 1,364 matches.
    […]


    The peerless Pohlers
    ©Sportsfile

    All-time top scorers
    1 Conny Pohlers (Turbine Potsdam/FFC Frankfurt/Wolfsburg) 48 – retired
    2 Anja Mittag (Turbine Potsdam/Rosengård) 46 – now Paris Saint-Germain
    3 Marta (Umeå/Tyresö/Rosengård) 41
    4 Nina Burger (Neulengbach) 40 – now SC Sand
    5 Hanna Ljungberg (Umeå) 39 – retired
    6 Inka Grings (Duisburg/FC Zürich) 38 – retired
    7 Lotta Schelin* (Olympique Lyonnais) 37
    8 Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir (Valur/Tubine Potsdam) 34 – now Kristianstad
    9 Kim Little (Hibernian/Arsenal) 32 – now Seattle Reign
    10 Patrizia Panico (Verona/Lazio/Torres) 31 – now Fiorentina
    • In all, 1,628 players have scored in the competition (up to end of 2015/16 qualifying round).
    […]
    In all, 5,206 players have appeared in the competition (up to end of 2015/16 qualifying round) including 601 with just one.

  • Palestinian FIFA move hit an Israeli nerve
    The bid pushed Israel into a state of constant tension and hinted at how much BDS efforts could hurt the Israeli public; but it also displays the Palestinian Authority’s logic of stagnation.
    By Amira Hass | Jun. 1, 2015 Haaretz Daily Newspaper
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.659004

    A laywoman’s question to UEFA, the European soccer federation, and to its president, Michel Platini, who worked diligently to shelve the Palestinian bid to suspend Israel from FIFA.

    Will you let Beitar Jerusalem play against European teams? This question is based on an amended Palestinian motion adopted in full at the FIFA congress relating to Israeli violations of the organization’s statutes.

    After its win against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Beitar is in fact expected to play in Europe. This is the team whose coach Guy Levy said about a month ago: “Even if there was an [Arab] player who suited me professionally, I wouldn’t bring him on because it would create unnecessary tensions.”

    So I ask you, Platini, how do you square Levy’s statement with Section 3 of the FIFA statutes, entitled “Non-discrimination and stance against racism”? The section states: “Discrimination of any kind against a Country, private person or group of people on account of race, skin color, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion … is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.”

    Racial segregation in sports led to South Africa’s suspension from FIFA in 1962. The Israeli sociologist Tamir Sorek, who teaches at the University of Florida, has researched Palestinian soccer before and after 1948. He told Haaretz that in 1977, whites were asked in a South African opinion poll to name the greatest damage inflicted by apartheid. Damage to South African sports ranked No. 3.

    “Historians disagree on the extent sanctions in general, and in sports in particular, contributed to the downfall of the apartheid regime,” Sorek said. “But there is no doubt that the ruling party believed that the boycott was influencing public opinion.”

    In 1992, when leaders of the ruling National Party wanted to lay the groundwork for a regime change, a central theme in their propaganda was that a change would improve the international standing of South African athletes. Sorek added that with all the differences between the South African and Israeli violations, “if pressure builds in the future to suspend Israel from sports organizations, the public effect will be huge compared to the effect of blocking researchers’ access to funding.”

    On Friday, 163 FIFA members voted in favor of the Palestinian amendment to the motion (with nine against and 37 abstaining). The headlines and reporting focused on the shelving of a resolution that would have suspended Israel from FIFA. My Haaretz colleagues Barak Ravid and Uzi Dann suggested that anybody celebrating an Israeli victory shouldn’t overdo it.

    In that same spirit, I would suggest that Palestinians angry that once again a Palestinian leader has caved should learn something about how politics work.

    A Palestinian insistence that FIFA vote for Israel’s suspension would have ended in failure. The head of the Palestinian soccer federation, Jabril Rajoub, could have retained a macho image and flaunted the demand to put the Palestinian resolution to a vote, just as those who fire Qassam rockets at Israel from Gaza flaunt their dubious military achievements. But the predicted defeat of the motion would have given a kosher stamp of approval to Israel’s violations.

    But now, 167 delegates have affirmed in the amendment that passed: “Restrictions of Palestinian rights for the freedom of movement. Players and football officials both within and outside the borders of the occupied State of Palestine, have been systematically restricted from their right to free movement, and continue to be hindered, limited, and obstructed by a set of unilateral regulations arbitrarily and inconsistently implemented. This constitutes a direct violation by IFA of Article 13.3 of the FIFA Statute, specifically in relation to Article 13.1(i) and its correspond[ing] articles in UEFA rules.”

    Commentators spoke of a yellow card against Israel, not a red card. Another hackneyed phrase — a snowball effect — would no less accurately reflect the maneuver room the Palestinian delegation managed to create.

    FIFA has now appointed the equivalent of a probation officer for Israel. The establishment of a monitoring committee will enable the Palestinians to continue to pester FIFA, and it puts Rajoub under the microscope of social-media activists who will demand proof that a corrupt FIFA hasn’t bought him off.

    On the other side of the front, the monitoring committee leaves Israel in a state of constant tension. Any expression of racism on the Israeli soccer field and the delaying of a soccer player at the Allenby crossing would be grounds for deliberations and possible punishment of Israel.

    Since the Palestinian Authority’s infancy, Palestinian membership in FIFA and the state­-like etiquette surrounding soccer games fit into the PA leadership’s efforts to present its institutions as permanent and natural: a ­state ­in ­the ­making. It’s one way to make people forget that its intended transitional political presence became permanent.

    In short, the Palestinian leadership needs soccer, with its popularity, to project an air of normalcy — to maintain the PA existence and the logic of its existence.

    The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel is working in its own way to undermine this false normalcy. It’s setting the bar high for the PA. Anyone who considers himself a Palestinian leader must take this threshold into account.

    Thus, Rajoub understood he had to use globally institutionalized soccer, one of the tools of Palestinian normalization, as anti-normalization leverage, and challenge the rules of the game that Israel has been imposing.

  • Baku has new Olympic stadium - AzerNews
    http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/78792.html

    The Baku Stadium with a capacity of up to 68,000 spectators was designed in a fine and modern style.
    The construction process went ahead in accordance with the International Building Code, as well as those of UEFA and FIFA.
    The facility is expected to take a leading position among the country’s sports areas. No wonder, as it will be the main venue and the host of the opening and closing ceremonies of the inaugural European Games this June.
    Moreover, the national stadium will be the venue of the UEFA EURO games, as Baku is hosting the quarterfinals and three group games of the EURO 2020.


    (seule photo récente que j’ai trouvée, pour l’instant on trouve soit des « vues d’artiste » du projet, soit des photos des travaux…)
    ==================================

    Shooting Center opens in Baku - AzerNews
    http://www.azernews.az/azerbaijan/78819.html

    Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony of the Baku Shooting Center in Bilajari, Baku.
    Minister of Youth and Sport, Azad Rahimov explained that the complex, which is designed to host shooting sports and skeet shooting tournaments, was refurbished and expanded to cover 19.6 hectares.
    All buildings and facilities in the area of the Baku Shooting Center meet the strict requirements of the International Shooting Sport Federation.

    A state-of-the-art four-storey hotel will accommodate sportsmen, coaches and guests and a large car-park will offer easy access to the facilities - The parking holds a 495-car capacity with 26 spots reserved for VIPs.
    The newly improved center will serve as a venue for the inaugural Baku 2015 European Games’ shooting competitions on June 13-19.
    Nineteen shooting events will see compete about 330 athletes. The program features several non-Olympic mixed team events. The winners of the fifteen Olympic events will gain automatic entry to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

    =================================

    Les Premiers Jeux Olympiques Européens approchent…

    12-28 juin 2015 à Bakou

  • Crimean clubs expelled from Russian League
    http://www.brecorder.com/sports/other-sports/219294-crimean-clubs-expelled-from-russian-league.html

    Russia’s Football Union on Friday expelled three Crimean clubs from the country’s league’s third division in adherence to a ruling from European football’s governing body UEFA.
    (…)
    Last month the three Crimean clubs were banned by UEFA from taking part in Russian competitions starting from January 1.
    The Russian football federation cannot organise matches in Crimea without the agreement of UEFA and Ukraine,” UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino announced in December.
    Following the decision of UEFA’s emergency panel, the executive committee decided to ban Crimean clubs from taking part in competitions organised by the Russian federation starting from January 1, 2015,” Infantino added.
    “Until a new order, Crimea will be considered as a special zone.”
    The RFU quickly accepted they would obey UEFA’s ruling.
    RFU deputy chief Nikita Simonyan said: “We cannot ignore UEFA and FIFA decisions. We must comply with UEFA’s decision as it’s European football’s governing body.
    Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko said that UEFA suggested the creation of a separate league in Crimea, which will subordinate directly to the European football ruling body.
    UEFA suggests to create an independent structure that will unite the football federations of Crimea and Sevastopol,” Mutko said.
    Probably we will set up the Crimean football league that will be subordinated to UEFA directly.

    Grande victoire occidentale : la Crimée n’est plus en Russie ! En tous cas pour le foot…

  • #Palestine scores
    http://africasacountry.com/palestine-scores

    UEFA may not have realized, but Palestine have already scored several goals in this season’s Champions League. Africa’s best striker was widely hailed as the outstanding player on the pitch in the Champions League game at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks ago — and no, it wasn’t Samuel Eto’o. Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah has arrived […]

    #Football_is_a_Country #Bob_Bradley #Frederic_Kanoute #Israel #John_Carlos #Jose_Mourinho #Mohamed_Aboutika #Mohamed_Saleh #Tommie_Smith

  • Uefa accused of ignoring anti-Palestinian bias | Football | The Guardian
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/28/uefa-accused-anti-palestinian-bias-israel

    European football’s governing body, Uefa, has been accused of showing “total insensitivity” to the “blatant and entrenched discrimination” of Israel against Palestinian sportspeople.

    A group led by Nobel peace prize laureate, former archbishop Desmond Tutu, and footballer Frédéric Kanouté have accused the body of “rewarding Israel’s cruel and lawless behaviour” against Palestinians by allowing Israel to host the European Under-21 Championship next month.

    In a letter in today’s Guardian, they call on Uefa “to reverse the choice of Israel as a venue”.

    Signatories of the letter include the actor Roger Lloyd Pack, film-maker Ken Loach, comic Alexei Sayle, Michael Mansfield QC and the Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.

  • Footballers protest Israel hosting #UEFA Euro #U21 « MasterAdrian’s Weblog
    http://masteradrian.com/2012/12/01/footballers-protest-israel-hosting-uefa-euro-u21

    Footballers protest Israel hosting #UEFA Euro #U21
    December 1, 2012
    Footballers protest Israel hosting #UEFA Euro #U21

    by occupiedpalestine

    Footballers protest Israel hosting UEFA Euro U21:… fb.me/ALd0urmA— Frédéric Kanouté (@FredericKanoute) November 30, 2012 November 30, 2012 09:46 PM By Rob Harris | The Daily Star LONDON: Dozens of leading footballers have signed a statement protesting UEFA’s decision to stage the European under-21 championship in Israel next year following the country’s recent military offensive in [...]

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