International Football
Argentina World Cup parade ends in tragedy!
Argentina’s World Cup celebrations have been marred by the death of a 24-year-old fan, after he fell through a roof ‘jumping up and down’ celebrating during Tuesday’s victory parade.
Argentina’s victory last Sunday ended a 36-year wait since their Diego Maradona inspired victory.
This time, it is Lionel Messi that propelled Argentina’s victory and it caused millions in Argentina to throw parties.
But after Tuesday’s bus parade was cut short due to safety concerns of fans jumping onto the top of the bus with the players, the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health detailed how another fan died in hospital on Monday due to a head injury picked up while celebrating.
Details from police in Buenos Aires, published by Argentine outlet, La Nacion reported that the man ‘was jumping on the roof, celebrating the triumph of the National Team, until (the roof) broke and he fell,’ leading to fatal injury.
He died from his injuries at the Fernández Hospital in Buenos Aires.
There are also fears over a five-year-old boy that is in a coma after sustaining a serious head injury following an incident in Plaza San Martin, where he was celebrating Argentina’s World Cup triumph with his parents.
La Nacion have also detailed how a piece of marble fell from a monument during the celebrations, striking the child, who is now in intensive care.
More stories of deaths and serious injuries are emerging on a day where Argentina’s World Cup-winning heroes saw their bus parade through Buenos Aires – which brought more than four million people to the streets to celebrate 0 cut short.
Messi and Co had to be evacuated to the sky in helicopters after fans threw projectiles and tried to jump on the team’s bus.
The helicopters carrying the footballers circled low above the skies of the capital including the area around the iconic Obelisk monument as crazed fans chanted and applauded before taking them back to the Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) training facilities HQ near Ezeiza Airport where the victory parade had begun around midday.
The streets of the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires had been mobbed with jubilant fans for the open-top bus parade, which was expected to last around eight hours.
It was set to take in landmarks including the iconic Obelisk, where the majority of expectant Argentinian supporters had congregated.
AFA president Chiqui Tapia confirmed in a tweet just before 4pm local time, however, that the bus parade needed to be abandoned.
‘They won’t allow us to greet everyone who was at the Obelisk,’ the tweet read.
‘The security organisations that were escorting us won’t let us continue.
‘I apologise in the name of all the players. A real shame.’
Gabriela Cerruti, an Argentine presidential spokeswoman, tweeted as TV stations broadcast the breath-taking images of the crowds looking upwards towards the players above them in the sky: ‘The world champions are flying along the route they were taking because it was impossible to continue by road with the explosion of happiness.
‘Let’s continue celebrating in peace and showing them our love and admiration.’
The Argentine players had intended to travel on the bus from the AFA training facilities to the Obelisk, where an estimated three million fans congregated after their nation’s thrilling penalty shootout win over France on Sunday.
AFA confirmed a last-minute change of plan on the advice of government safety advisors on Tuesday afternoon before the later decision to switch to the helicopters.
The party mood briefly turned ugly as news the players were instead going to greet fans from the 25 de Mayo motorway seeped out.
There were reports of missiles being thrown at police and footage emerged of crazed fans hijacking a police car and partying on top of it near the Obelisk in the aftermath of the announcement.
Messi and Argentina had earlier returned as heroes as they were greeted by thousands of fans at Ezeiza International Airport after touching down in Buenos Aires.
The national team and the World Cup trophy, which they lifted for a third time Sunday, landed back in Argentina after a roughly 21-hour flight at around 2.2oam local time Tuesday morning
In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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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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