Human Interest

England and the United States will come together to show their support for the victims of the abuse scandal that has rocked the U.S. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) when the countries meet in a friendly on Friday, Lionesses forward Beth Mead said.

An independent investigation this week showed abuse and misconduct "had become systemic" in the American top-flight and that the league, teams and governing body U.S. Soccer failed to adequately protect players.

MALANG, Indonesia - Andi Hariyanto says he will never watch a football match again after his wife, two teenage daughters and a cousin were crushed to death in a stampede at an Indonesian stadium last week.

Watching local team Arema FC play on Saturday was a special outing for soccer fan Andi's family, including his two-year-old son.

The women’s soccer head coach of the University of Texas Permian Basin, Carla Tejas, is on paid administrative leave while an investigation goes on after an anonymous group of players sent out an email full of accusations. Some of the allegations against the UTPB soccer coach include her asking players to pay her bail, kissing members of the men’s soccer team, encouraging her players to injure opponents and more.

Tejas, 28, ironically has featured on a podcast about building team culture.

S E A S O N 3!

MALANG — Dozens of Indonesian police were placed under investigation on Monday over a stampede at a soccer match that killed 125 people, as authorities sought to determine what caused one of the world's deadliest stadium disasters and who was to blame.

Panicked spectators were crushed on Saturday as they tried to flee the overcrowded stadium in Malang, East Java, after police fired tear gas to disperse fans of Arema FC, who had poured onto the pitch after a 3-2 home defeat to Persebaya Surabaya.

Racism in soccer reared its ugly head on Tuesday during a friendly game between Brazil and Tunisia when fans of the African nation threw a banana at Richarlison while he celebrated a goal.

Fans Throw Banana At Richarlison

Richarlison scoring for Brazil today against Tunisia and a banana was thrown in front of him during the celebrations. Sickening stuff and no need for these type of racist fans at matches. pic.twitter.com/DQlKIBcMTm

DOHA — Qatar has called up hundreds of civilians, including diplomats summoned back from overseas, for mandatory military service operating security checkpoints at World Cup stadiums, according to a source and documents seen by Reuters.

The deployment of conscripts, some of whom would normally defer national service because their work is considered vital, highlights the logistical challenge faced by the tiny Gulf Arab state hosting one of the world's biggest sports tournaments.

One small step for Luís Figo, one giant leap for... well, I'm not sure who really benefits from this situation apart from Luís Figo and the seven players who got to set a world record for the highest football match ever at 20,230 feet in zero-gravity.

It's pretty crazy to think that Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz, Bolivia, isn't all that far behind at 11,932 feet.

But Figo, along with a team of footballers from across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, set the new Guinness World Record inside an aircraft that contained a pitch measuring 807 square feet.

On Thursday night at 11 p.m. in Madrid, the Spanish women's national team — one of the favorites at the upcoming 2023 World Cup — was thrown into disarray after 15 players, in emails sent to the Spanish Federation (RFEF), reportedly made themselves unavailable for selection until the dismissal of longstanding manager Jorge Vilda.