Human Interest

French Football President Says Homophobia Not As Bad As Racism, Tells Refs To Stop Halting Matches For Anti-Gay Chants, Banners

Ahead of the 2019-20 season, French football instituted new laws calling for referees to stop matches if anti-gay messages come from the stands, a response to increased homophobia in Ligue 1 and 2. High-profile matches such as Nice-Marseille and PSG-Metz have already been halted for this reason.

In his ignorance, French Football Federation president Noël Le Graët has shown why the rule is so necessary.

Iranians, Women’s Footballers Call For Action After Woman Soccer Fan’s Self-Immolation Death

Sahar Khodayari, a 29-year-old woman facing six months in prison for simply attending a men’s soccer match, died Monday. 

Father Of The Year: Despite Loss, Nemanja Matić Makes Sure His Son Gets Photo With Ronaldo

Portugal’s excellent 2019 continued yesterday with an impressive 4-2 away victory over Serbia in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. The future looks incredibly bright for the defending European champion with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Gonçalo Guedes, Nélson Semedo, João Félix and João Cancelo (all 25 or under) all playing their part. 

But the main story, as always, was 34-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored what would prove to be the match-winner in the 80th minute. It was Ronaldo’s 159th international appearance and his 89th goal.    

Iranian Woman Arrested For Attending Soccer Match Sets Self On Fire

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iranian women have been barred from stadiums to watch men’s soccer matches (or any other sport). The clerical regime claims it promotes promiscuity to see men play in shorts. 

Austrian Club Turns Pitch Into Forest — Literally

SK Austria Klagenfurt, a second-division Austrian club, has temporarily been kicked out of its 32,000-seat Wörthersee Stadion. 

This isn’t the case of a big rock band coming through or stadium renovations. Instead, Wörthersee Stadion has been turned into a temporary forest.

Embed from Getty Images

Jamaica Women's National Team Goes On Strike After 9 Months Without Pay

The Jamaica women’s national team has announced that it will refuse to play until it receives the compensation that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) owes them.

The Best Soccer Bars In America

With all the major European soccer leagues kicking off over the last few weeks, we at The18 compiled a list of the best soccer bar in 10 major American cities.

This is what we came up with:

A Modern Classic: Interviewing Sam Garzon, The Founder Of Unozero Soccer Cleats

In a market that's dominated by industry giants, it’s difficult for smaller cleat brands to make an impact. Many have tried to redefine the cleat by removing its laces, adding a special “strike zone” or using a unique stud pattern, but when you boil all those features down, Sam Garzon and his team at Unozero only see a collection of gimmicks. 

The USWNT Killed It At The 2019 MTV VMAs

The post-World Cup USWNT lovefest continued at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards on Monday. Women’s World Cup winners Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger were invited to present one of the VMAs and weren’t a bit out of place among music’s biggest celebrities.

And you know they brought style and class to the whole operation.

Liga MX’s Puebla To Offer Best Promotion Ever For A Bad Team

It has not been a stellar start to the 2019 Apertura campaign for Club Puebla. The Liga MX side has yet to win in five matches while being outscored 13-4. Only Veracruz has had a worse start; considering neither side has even reached three points this season, that’s not much consolation.

But there is some consolation coming for fans of Puebla: free beer.

Puebla has promised fans a free beer if the team fails to win Thursday’s home match against FC Juárez at Estadio Cuauhtémoc. 

There is a catch.

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