International Football
NORTH KOREA BOYCOTTS WOMEN’S OLYMPIC FOOTBALL SOUTH KOREA
BY DUNCAN MACKAY
North Korea are set to announce they will not compete in the third round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in South Korea in February – ending their chances of reaching Tokyo 2020.
The tournament, featuring two groups of four, is due to take place on Jeju Island between February 3 and 9.
The top two teams in each group are then scheduled to play each other in a two-legged home-and-away playoff on March 6 and 11, with the winners qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games.
But, according to South Korean agency Yonhap News , North Korea has already notified the AFC that they not will be taking part.
They did not give a reason, Yonhap News reported, but relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the Hanoi Summit in February between North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un and United States President Donald Trump ended without a deal on denuclearisation.
It is not expected that North Korea will be replaced in the tournament.
North Korea were due to face South Korea in Group A, which also includes Vietnam and Myanmar.
North Korea, who played at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing and London, were the top-ranked team in Group A with a world ranking of 11.
South Korea have never qualified for an Olympic women’s football tournament and have only beaten their rivals from the North once in 19 meetings.
Four other teams in the third round – Australia, China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei – were drawn into Group B and are scheduled to play their matches in Wuhan in China from February 3 to 9.
North Korea also declined to participate in the women’s tournament East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship earlier this month in Busan.
North Korea had won the three previous EAFF titles but pulled out months before the opening kick-off.
It is less than two years since the two Koreas marched together in the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and took part in a joint women’s ice hockey team – events that heralded hopes of a new reconciliation between the North and South.
Trump’s attempts at diplomacy with Kim, which he has made a centerpiece of his foreign policy efforts, have failed to make much progress after positive early signs following Pyeongchang 2018.
Trump became the first US President to meet with his North Korean counterpart at a summit in Singapore in 2018.
Trump said at the time that the pair had “developed a very special bond” and described Kim as “a very talented man”.
The Hanoi Summit was followed by another historic meeting in June, when Trump took an unprecedented step into North Korea.
Recently, however, relations have shown signs of returning to their pre-Pyeongchang 2018 state and Kim has threatened to lift a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests and resume launches over Japan in the build up to Tokyo 2020.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Earlier this month, hopes for a joint North-South Korean FIFA Women’s World Cup ended after South Korea withdrew its bid for the 2023 event just hours before the deadline.
The Korea Football Association claimed strained inter-Korean relations meant a unified bid was not possible.
–insidethegames
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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