Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, stated on Thursday that football “cannot solve geopolitical problems” as he is under increasing pressure to suspend Israel over the Palestinian conflict.
Infantino, the world’s governing body, stated in a statement that Infantino stressed the importance of promoting peace and unity, particularly given the current state of Gaza, at a meeting of the FIFA Council.
After twice taking the lead in a 2-2 draw at Monaco, Erling Haaland said Manchester City needed to show more energy to put an end to their miserable Champions League road trip.
Haaland now has 17 goals for the season in just 10 appearances for the club and country, including the visitors’ goals at the Stade Louis II.
The Ligue 1 side took the lead when Monaco rallied to level with a marvellous strike from Jordan Teze and Eric Dier’s late penalty.
Haaland told the BBC, “I’m upset, I think everyone should be.” It’s not good enough, it says.
City have had a year without a win away from home in Europe, but a point helped to end a four-game Champions League losing streak.
Read more about Champions League defeat by Haaland at home to hold Man City.
For the first time since the 2012/13 campaign, Pep Guardiola’s men were dumped out before the last-16 stage last year.
City made it to the play-off round despite only winning three of their eight league games before Real Madrid’s 6-3 humbling over two legs.
Instead of attempting to end the game, Haaland was frustrated by his side’s strategy as they defended their slim lead in Monaco at the end of the second half.
He continued, “Of course, I don’t feel good because we didn’t win.”
“We play poorly in the second half, and we don’t believe our performance is sufficient.” We don’t merit victory, either.
We require more energy, they say. We need to dominate them more than we did in the first half.
City have won four points in their first two games to finish eighth in the Champions League.
Before the end of 2025, Guardiola’s men will travel to Real Madrid and Villarreal, while Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund travel to the Etihad.
The Singapore Grand Prix this weekend was designated as the first official “Heat Hazard” in the Formula One, marking the first time a new cooling-off rule has been implemented.
Due to the anticipated 31C or higher ambient temperatures, race director Rui Marques issued a statement on Thursday afternoon notifying the teams. This means that drivers will be permitted to wear cooling vests.
A Heat Hazard is declared, according to Marques, who received a forecast from the official weather service that said the race would take place at some point during the race and will likely have a Heat Index above 31C.
One of the most physically demanding F1 races in Singapore is the Marina Bay Street Circuit, which is characterized by extremes in temperature, humidity, and weather.
READ MORE: Liberty Media Purchases MotoGP for $4.5 billion, according to Formula One owners.
During the night race, which frequently exceeds the two-hour race limit, drivers can shed up to three kilogrammes (more than six pounds).
Some test drivers claimed that the vests made it very uncomfortable in a cockpit that was already cramped because of the coolant tubes that were connected to pumps and a heat exchanger on the vests.
In consequence, the governing body, FIA, stated that while wearing the vests is not required, drivers or teams must still have their vehicles equipped with the tools necessary to make them work.
To avoid losing ground to those who don’t, drivers who don’t have vests will need to carry an additional 0.5% of ballast.
Every kilogram of spared weight can result in tenths of seconds off lap times, which is a significant benefit.
Following the Qatar Grand Prix in 2023, when several drivers needed medical attention after being sweltering in the heat, the cooling vest system was created.
At this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix, George Russell  tested the cooling vest and gave it a thumbs-up.
The Mercedes driver continued, “Of course there is always room to improve.” I wanted to try it out. “So good so far”
Paris Saint-Germain, who are currently defending their title, defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Wednesday with a 90-minute winner over the Goncalo Ramos.
Barcelona were leading thanks to a cool finish from Ferran Torres, but before half-time, Senny Mayulu fired a depleted PSG level.
At the Olympic stadium, two of the competition’s favorites squared off in an even and thoroughly entertaining match, which PSG exploited Barca’s powerful defensive line to finally settle with Ramos’ late strike.
After Ronald Araujo was sent off against PSG in 2024, Hansi Flick chose Torres over veteran striker Robert Lewandowski.
Luis Enrique, who won the treble with Barcelona in 2015, struggled with several key players, and his team struggled at times to defeat the semi-finalists of last year.
READ MORE: Gordon Penalties Help Newcastle Win Over Union SG in the Big Champions League
Barcelona and PSG haven’t had the best of terms in the past ten years, with Barcelona recording one of the best comebacks in the game’s history in 2017 with a 6-1 victory over the Parisians.
Although Luis Enrique’s approach and a number of injuries left the visitors without-star names on their return to Catalonia, PSG’s acquisition of Neymar and the signing of legendary Barca great Lionel Messi worsened relations.
Despite being unsure in the lead-up to the game, PSG midfielders Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz were fit to start despite disappointments, including Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and his regular attacking partners Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue all missed out.
Lamine Yamal, a star of Barca right off the bat, was trying to prove a point. Dembele finished second, and the teen began making his case for the award next year.
As a statement of intent, Yamal pirouetted away from two defenders and struck Nuno Mendes, launching a thrilling battle with PSG’s left-back.
The defender shut him down for Portugal in the summer and was successful in disposing the winger in the box a few minutes later to equalize in their individual tussle.
Torres was given the first clear chance by Yamal, who made the sensational pass through his boot.
Lucas Chevalier’s goalkeeper was rounded by the Spaniard, but Illia Zabarnyi slid in to stop his goal-bound effort.
After Yamal and Pedri quickly combined, Barcelona took the lead in the 19th minute, when Torres slotted home from Marcus Rashford’s quick first-time lead.
Rashford has scored in each of his last four goals for Barcelona while on loan from Manchester United.
After a half-hour, PSG grew on top of the game and forced Wojciech Szczesny to score with a free-kick from Achraf Hakimi around the post.
Mendes cut through Barcelona players before fatally shooting Yamal in the foot before cutting through the youngster before being shot by a desperate Frenkie de Jong.
Mendes repeated the error to give Barca the lead in the equalizer and the defense’s pace was shown to be the best way to hurt the defender.
Mendes slammed into Barca territory before Pau Cubarsi’s error caused Mayulu, a 19-year-old striker, to intercept his pass from just inside the area. Szczesny was then beat by Szczesny in the 38th minute.
As the European champions climbed into a higher gear, Bradley Barcola nearly fired over, forcing Szczesny into a solid save either side of the break.
PSG were fortunate that Mendes was spared a second yellow after striking Yamal in full flow on the box’s edge as the pendulum swung back the other way.
As the clock ran out in a goalless second half, PSG’s Kang-in Lee curled against the post while Dani Olmo’s shot was cleared off the line by Hakimi.
After the Moroccan stepped in behind Barca’s defense and tapped home, Ramos eventually scored three points for PSG as he stayed onside to collect Hakimi’s pass.
Borussia Dortmund’s first Champions League victory came on Wednesday against Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at home, with Serice Guirassy scoring one goal and adding another.
Before the half-hour mark, Karim Adeyemi gave Daniel Svensson the opener, and Carney Chukwuemeka added Dortmund’s second, his first goal since moving to Chelsea in the summer.
After drawing at Juventus in a fiery 4-4 draw, Dortmund promised more stability, but they instead invited Bilbao, who gave Gorka Guruzeta a goal with a defensive mix-up on the hour.
With nine minutes left, Dortmund appeared shaky, but Guirassy eased their nerves by giving a Marcel Sabitzer shot to restore their two-goal lead.
In stoppage time, the hosts added a fourth before Julian Brandt wrapped up the contest.
We scored a few more goals than we needed, but we still managed to get there happy,” Brandt said.
Bilbao, making their first Champions League appearance since 2014-15 and just their third overall, lacked Nico Williams’ originality.
The Spain winger had only scored twice in those five games and was unable to play.
Coach Niko Kovac kept his pre-game promise to rotate the side and increase the number of minutes given to his bench players despite a season that has already started well.
Jobe Bellingham made his full debut in the starting lineup while Chukwuemeka made his debut for the first time since August.
Bellingham struggled to find his passing range, but Dortmund’s lack of fluidity was immediately apparent.
Despite the errors, Kovac praised the English midfielder. He did well, he said. He was quick, determined, and able to fend off the odds.
I don’t want to think so negatively about anything. He’s only 20 years old, so there may not have been many positives. He has a lot of potential.
Dortmund’s opener was scored by Adeyemi, who was in excellent form, who blazed down the right flank before slamming a pass across the face of goal for Svensson to fire home.
Dortmund’s decision-making was poor, despite the goal’s sputtering. In his first game of the season, Niklas Suele chose to score a long-range effort rather than pass it to Guirassy inside the box.
On the 50th minute, Chukwuemeka doubled Dortmund’s lead by shooting in from the near post after being pushed into space by Guirassy.
Dortmund had a routine win in mind, but they instead made a poor defensive error to draw Bilbao back. Guruzeta scored effortlessly from the penalty spot after Suele failed to clear a ball in the box.
Dortmund, who had a hard time breaking free of their own half, were in fear after scoring the goal.
Guirassy would put the hosts back on track again, deflecting Sabitzer’s shot into the goal for his sixth goal in seven games this season, but Bilbao had a few half-chances to equalize and a goal was ruled out for offside.
At the death, Brandt gave the scoreline more gloss.
An Erling Haaland double on Wednesday did not enough to earn Pep Guardiola’s side a 2-2 draw in the Champions League, so Eric Dier’s late penalty gave Monaco a 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
The Norwegian striker added 11 goals in eight games overall to his season total for the season with two goals in the first half for City, either side of a Jordan Teze stunner.
The 2023 European champions had the opportunity to leave the principality with a second victory in the league phase of the season, but a 90th-minute spot-kick denied them.
After a protracted VAR check, Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano eventually pointed to the spot after Nico Gonzalez was fouled inside the area by a Monaco free-kick.
READ MORE: Arsenal Gets Perfect Start In Champions League With Win Over Olympiakos.
As Monaco won the Champions League title defense with a penalty kick and City moved onto four points after defeating Napoli last time out, Dier stepped up to send Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way.
Haaland now has 52 career Champions League appearances, including 52 with the 2-0 defeat to the Italian champions, after a half-century of goals in Europe’s elite club competition.
The Norwegian made it a quarter of an hour before the game’s final score of 5-1 Premier League victory over Burnley last Saturday.
After Josko Gvardiol tipped a ball over the top of the Monaco defense, Haaland escaped the attention of his marker before lobging the ball over Philipp Koehn’s home goal.
The teams’ first meeting since a memorable last-16 tie in 2017, which the principality side won on away goals after the score came in at 6-6 on aggregate.
Bernardo Silva, who was also wearing City’s captain’s armband this time, was also in that Monaco team.
Krepin Diatta cut the ball back for Teze in the 18th minute before firing a brilliant right-foot shot past Donnarumma from 20 meters high into the net.
Paul Pogba, a former Manchester United midfielder, is currently training with Monaco and hoping to make his Monaco debut once the season is over.
Without him, they struggled to contain the visitors, with City retaking the lead just before the break when Haaland headed in a cross from Nico O’Reilly.