Free Republic

LONDON (AP) — The British government is increasingly troubled by soccer players hugging and kissing in celebrations, risking coronavirus infections and the sport’s ability to be allowed to continue during the latest lockdown. Outbreaks at Premier League teams, forcing the postponement of matches, have heightened concerns about the avoidable and very visible close contact between players.

Burnley football club has apologized and vowed to hand out lifetime bans after a plane carrying a banner reading “White Lives Matter Burnley” was flown over the Etihad stadium ahead of the team’s match with Manchester City this evening. A private plane bearing the message flew over the stadium in Manchester just moments after both Burnley and City players took a knee to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Jake Hepple, a Burnley local, has claimed responsibility for the stunt, sharing a video of the plane to his Facebook along with a refusal to apologize. Hepple wrote:...

How is it that four million Croats could build a team good enough to make it to the World Cup final, beating Argentina (43 million), England (53 million) and hosts Russia (144 million) along the way? The country famously didn’t even exist the last time England made it to a World Cup semi-final in 1990. The country declared independence in 1991, but was embroiled in the war in the Balkans as Yugoslavia split for several years. Most Croats were living in what is now Croatia, but a large minority existed in what are now Serbia and Bosnia especially. What ensued...

MOSCOW (AP) England and France. The two youngest teams in the World Cup, destined to meet in the final after a parade of greater soccer nations with veteran stars had gone home. France did its part Tuesday by beating Belgium, a more experienced side loaded with talent, and five minutes into Wednesday’s match against Croatia, England was following the same script. For the second straight game, an English player scored his first international goal in a World Cup knockout match, this time Kieran Trippier sending a sweet free kick into Croatia’s net.

Football legend Oliver Kahn has warned gay footballers in Germany to keep their sexuality a secret. … Kahn added that homosexuality was no longer a “big deal” in society, but said it would be “naïve” to think that it was the same in professional sport. He said that a player who did come out would have to deal with opposition fans every Saturday in the stadium. …