Politics

Alexi Lalas says Lionel Messi didn’t deserve Medal of Freedom and was wrong for missing ceremony

Lionel Messi made waves in the U.S. political sphere in the past week after he was surprisingly named as one of 19 people set to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He then made more headlines when he was the only person of the 19 recipients not to show up.

U.S. Soccer pundit Alexi Lalas was one of the most vocal critics about both Messi being given the honor and him snubbing the White House. Messi sent a letter in December that he wouldn’t be able to attend due to a prior commitment with his team releasing a statement.

Lionel Messi to be honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden

Yes, you read that headline correctly. United States President Joe Biden will give the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, to Inter Miami star Lionel Messi on Saturday.

Messi is one of 19 people receiving the honor from Biden including basketball star Magic Johnson, Bill Nye the Science guy, actor Denzel Washington and Hillary Clinton.

Messi isn’t the first soccer player to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Biden bestowed the award to United States women’s national team star and human rights activist Megan Rapinoe in 2022.

Tim Howard tears into ‘quiet’ Christian Pulisic for his Donald Trump dance celebration

Christian Pulisic received plenty of backlash for his Donald Trump dance celebration vs. Jamaica on Monday and has now been publicly called out by a USMNT great. The Tim Howard Pulisic takedown was posted to the Mail Sport on Thursday.

Viral: Christian Pulisic scores against Jamaica and hits "Donald Trump dance" celebration

Christian Pulisic’s red-hot form with both AC Milan and the U.S. men’s national team has the American placed amongst the best players in the world right now — though, it's not exactly exempting him from criticism. The reason? His latest celebration.

Pulisic scored two of the four goals in the USMNT's 4-2 victory over Jamaica (5-2 score aggregate) to seal their spot in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals, further cementing his status as the United States’ target man and main attacking threat.

Viral: 22-year-old Bundesliga player retires to devote life to church

Silvan Wallner, a 22-year-old Swiss player in the Austrian Bundesliga, shockingly announced that he has retired from playing professionally to devote his life to church.

22-year-old Swiss pro, Silvan Wallner, retires from professional soccer to devote life to church-going

Wallner, winner of the Swiss Super League with FC Zurich in 2022, ended his contract with Blau-Weiss Linz by mutual consent to put his faith and religion ahead of his soccer career.

Bundesliga club St. Pauli quit social media platform X due to Elon Musk and hate speech

BERLIN — German Bundesliga club St Pauli said on Thursday it was withdrawing from X because the social media platform had become an 'amplifier of hate' that could influence German politics.

Announcing its reasons for withdrawing, the club said in a statement that X's billionaire owner Elon Musk had turned a space for debate into "an amplifier of hate that was capable of influencing the German parliamentary election campaign."

St Pauli X controversy

FIFA President Gianni Infantino congratulates Donald Trump on election win

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week then you likely know that Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election. FIFA President Gianni Infantino posted to Instagram to congratulate the 47th President of the United States.

Gianni Infantino Trump post

ROBBERY? — Players, personalities and celebrities react to Vinicius Jr.’s Ballon d’Or 'snub'

Vini Jr. is the people’s 2024 Ballon d’Or champ. If that makes it any better.

Monday morning struck the world with some of the biggest news of the year as reports revealed that ‘clear’ Ballon d’Or favorite, Vinicius Jr., was to not travel to Paris, France, for the prestigious award’s ceremony — meaning the star Brazilian and Real Madrid forward was imminently snubbed from taking the golden ball home.

Soccer players 'close to going on strike' against FIFA; Club World Cup being compared to failed 'Super League'

BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Players have never been closer to going on strike amid growing discontent towards soccer's governing bodies, notably FIFA and its revamped Club World Cup that is being compared to a 'Super League', the head of players' union FIFPRO Europe said on Monday.

David Terrier was speaking to Reuters after FIFPRO Europe, the European Leagues association and Spain's LaLiga accused FIFA of "abuse" as they filed a joint complaint about the global governing body's international match schedule to European Union antitrust regulators.

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