Sports
Ukraine leader blasts Gianni Infantino bid to lift FIFA’s Russia ban
Ukraine’s sports minister has said FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s bid to lift a ban on Russia competing at youth level are “irresponsible” and “infantile.”
Infantino said the ban on Russia competing, which was imposed by FIFA and UEFA after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, should “definitely” be lifted, “at least at youth level.”
Infantino added on Sky News that the ban had “not achieved anything” and “created more frustration, and hatred.”
“Having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help,” the Swiss said.
Matvii Bidnyi, Ukraine’s sports minister, said on Tuesday: “Gianni Infantino’s words sound irresponsible — not to say infantile. They detach football from the reality in which children are being killed.
“Let me remind you that since the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression, more than 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by Russians.
“Among them were more than 100 footballers. One example is Illia Perezhogin, a 10th-grade student at a Mariupol school, who was simply playing football at his school stadium when a Russian missile struck.
“Former futsal player Viktoriia Kotliarova was killed together with her mother during the shelling of Kyiv on Dec. 29, 2023. She was a Kyiv Student Futsal Cup champion and a winner of the Dynamo Student League tournament.
“War is a crime, not politics. It is Russia that politicises sport and uses it to justify aggression. I share the position of the Ukrainian Association of Football, which also warns against Russia’s return to international competitions.
“As long as Russians continue killing Ukrainians and politicising sport, their flag and national symbols have no place among people who respect values such as justice, integrity, and fair play.”
On Dec. 17 the FIFA Council announced plans for a new U15 festival, with a boys’ event to be staged next year and a girls’ event in 2027. That followed a recommendation from the Olympic Summit for international sports federations to allow Russian teams and athletes to compete under their national flag at youth level.
A media release confirming the FIFA Council’s decisions said the events would “be open to all 211 FIFA member associations.”
Speaking on Boxing Day last year, the Russian Football Union president Alexander Dyukov said: “We expect that next year, following the IOC [recommendation], international football regulators will make decisions that will allow our teams to participate in official international competitions.
“We hope that, taking into account the IOC recommendations, a way will be found to include our teams in the appropriate groups at the next draw. We also expect similar decisions from FIFA.
“The contacts and communications that have taken place indicate that FIFA and UEFA view the IOC’s decision positively, although it is not binding on them.”
Dyukov said he intended to attend next week’s UEFA Congress in Brussels, which would be “an opportunity to discuss our return.”
Senior figures within the administration of European football spoken to by the Press Association remain sceptical around the lifting of the ban in practical terms even at youth level, amid fears other teams would simply refuse to line up against Russia until a lasting political settlement is reached to end the conflict.
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Kansas City, KS – With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just three months away, cities across the United States are racing to finalize training facilities that national teams will call home during the global tournament.
Among them is Kansas City, which will serve as the base camp for defending champion Argentina national football team, a major win for the region as it prepares to welcome both players and tens of thousands of international fans.
Base camps are critical to World Cup operations. They serve as home headquarters where teams live, train and recover while traveling between match sites throughout the competition.
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World Cup 2026 signage is displayed in Kansas City, one of the tournament’s host cities. (Olivianna Calmes)
“From private practice fields to player recovery rooms, these facilities are designed to support some of the biggest names in soccer,” said Alan Dietrich, who has worked closely with organizers.
Local leaders have spent more than a year pitching their cities to international teams, hoping to showcase not just athletic facilities but the broader community.
“We started actually over a year ago with countries beginning to visit,” Dietrich said.
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Tourism officials say the opportunity extends far beyond the sport itself. Hosting a base camp allows cities to introduce themselves to global audiences and build long-term international relationships.
To show support for Kansas City’s bid for the men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup, the KC2026 Bid Committee and Outfront media installed a 90×90-foot banner on Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. (Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“We knew that the World Cup was going to be kind of our first chance and probably our biggest chance to be engaging these international markets,” said Devin Aaron with Visit KC.
A locker room shows the “We are FIFA 2026 Kansas City” sign in Sporting KC training facility (Olivianna Calmes)
Early expectations had Argentina basing in Miami, but Kansas City ultimately stood out during the selection process.
“When Argentina visited, they really loved it here,” Dietrich said. “They loved our facilities, they loved our people.”
The team will train at Sporting Kansas City’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center, a state-of-the-art facility in Kansas City, Kansas that will serve as Argentina’s training home base during the tournament.
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The complex features multiple professional grade fields and elite level training amenities designed for international competition.
Inside, players will have access to private dining areas, meeting rooms and dedicated recovery spaces designed to help them rest between matches.
A resting room for World Cup players (Olivianna Calmes)
“If they’ve traveled a lot and they’re tired, they can come in here, turn the lights out and get a nice nap,” Dietrich added.
Up to 100,000 Argentine fans are expected to travel to Kansas City during the tournament, a preview of the global crowds set to flood World Cup host cities across the U.S.
Across the U.S., cities selected as host sites and base camps are preparing for similar surges, as teams finalize training locations and fans follow their national squads.
Cities across the US which are hosting World Cup games (Fox News)
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The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in history, expanding from 32 to 48 teams and spanning host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with each location competing for global visibility and long-term economic impact.
Antoine Griezmann is set to sign a two-year deal including an additional one-year option with Orlando City SC, multiple sources told ESPN Sunday.
The Atlético Madrid attacker left for Orlando on Sunday night after his team’s 3-2 derby loss to Real Madrid to finalize the move, sources added, with Griezmann expected to begin playing for the MLS side in July.
Griezmann will remain with Atlético until the end of the season, which still includes a Champions League quarterfinal tie with Barcelona and a Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.
The former France star, who was on the 2018 World Cup winning team, retired from international duty in 2024.
ESPN reported in February that Griezmann was in talks to make a move to Orlando before the end of the LaLiga season, but sources said he decided to put the move on hold to finish out the year with Atlético.
Griezmann is Atlético’s all-time leading scorer with 210 goals, but he has yet to win a major title with Diego Simeone’s team.
Simeone has said repeatedly that he would support any decision that Griezmann, a longtime Atlético Madrid veteran, made. His current deal with Atleti runs through 2027.
Major League Soccer’s summer window opens on July 13.
ESPN’s Gustavo Hofman and Jeff Carlisle contributed to this report.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s Ahmed Hesham won the men’s saber Sunday, and the Fighting Irish men joined the women in winning the inaugural three-weapon national championship at the Joyce Center.
Hesham defeated St. John’s Adham Moataz 15-12 in the final after a third-place finish last season.
Notre Dame finished with 91 points, 10 better than runner-up Columbia. St. John’s (63), Harvard (62) and Pennsylvania (58) rounded out the top five.
Notre Dame’s Chase Emmer fell short in defense of his foil title after losing 15-8 to Columbia’s Sam Kumbla in the final.
Fighting Irish freshman Kruz Schembri made it to the épée final before losing to North Carolina’s Youssef Shamel 15-7.
The Fighting Irish trio led all three disciplines after the first day.
Notre Dame won 14 co-ed championships, including six of the last eight. The Fighting Irish won last season’s title in the final year of the combined men’s and women’s team championship.
Notre Dame edged Columbia 102-99 on Friday to win the first women’s three-weapon title. Eszter Muhan won the épée for the Irish.
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