http://www.memri.org/jihad.html
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=IA24505
Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 245
October 7, 2005 No.245
"Anti-Soccer Fatwas Led Saudi Soccer Players to Join the Jihad in Iraq"
By Y. Admon*.
Introduction
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported recently that Islamic extremists were inciting Saudi soccer players to quit their teams and wage jihad in Iraq. According to these reports, the young athletes were influenced by fatwas forbidding the game of soccer except when played under certain conditions and with the express intention of using the game as physical training for jihad. Saudi sheikhs and intellectuals have criticized the fatwas and the religious authorities that issued them.
On August 22, 2005, Al-Watan reported that the soccer players involved in this affair were from the Al-Taif region, and that some of them belonged to the region's well-known Al-Rashid team." [1] In another article, Al-Rashid captain Ja'far 'Attas said that three of his players had left the team. [2] A few days later, team members confirmed that the three had become devout and, under the influence of various fatwas, had begun to believe that soccer was forbidden by religious law. [3]
One of the three, Majid Al-Sawat, was arrested while planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Iraq. He appeared on Al-Iraqiya TV four months ago, claiming that he had fallen victim to one of the disreputable groups which take those who come to Iraq and hold them against their will in order to make them commit acts of terrorism. [4]
Fatwa from 2003: Soccer is Forbidden Except When Played as Training for Jihad"
NewsMax.com: "UNICEF BOMBS SMURF VILLAGE" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, in an anti-war fit, recently scared children in Belgium. Many went to bed crying and screaming after the broadcast of an "animated TV special" that featured the bombing of Smurf Village, home to the kid-friendly blue cartoon characters popular in the 1980s.") (October 10, 2005)
UPDATE...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,171917,00.html
"Sources: NYC Subway Threat Info Not Substantiated"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEW YORK — The claims of a terrorist plot to blow up New York subways made public last week were not substantiated, administration and federal law enforcement sources confirmed to FOX News on Tuesday.
The sources said the last of the threat information made public by New York City officials last week was checked out by Saturday night and "none of the claims were substantiated," the sources said."