soccer - MintPress News

Things Get Messi After Argentina Cancels Soccer Match with Israel

Argentina’s cancellation of a match with Israel due to Israeli attempts to exploit it politically is likely to reverberate well beyond the world of soccer.

June 07th, 2018

By Dr. James M. Dorsey

Things Get Messi After Argentina Cancels Soccer Match with Israel

Argentina’s cancellation of a friendly against Israel because of Israeli attempts to exploit the match politically is likely to reverberate far beyond the world of soccer and spotlights the risks of Israeli efforts to

Read Full Article

Dr. James M. Dorsey

Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and co-host of the New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast. James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title as well as Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario, Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa, and the forthcoming China and the Middle East: Venturing into the Maelstrom.

Underage African Soccer Players Are Being Trafficked To Asia And Forced To Sign Contracts

In a clear breach of the world football governing body’s rules, the club has fielded overseas players as young as 14 and 15 in league games this season.

July 21st, 2015

By BBC News

Underage African Soccer Players Are Being Trafficked To Asia And Forced To Sign Contracts

African footballers as young as 14 are being trafficked to Asia and forced to sign contracts, the BBC has learnt.

Six minors are still with top Laos side Champasak United, after it imported 23 under-age players from West Africa to an unregistered football academy in February, a BBC

Read Full Article

The World Cup: What We’ve Been Missing

For some Americans, soccer has long been a spectator staple, but the rest of us are just getting started.

August 04th, 2014

By Norbert Schiller

It’s hard for me to imagine that just a few weeks ago the world’s attention was focused on Brazil and the 2014 World Cup. Even in war-torn countries like Iraq and Syria people gathered at cafes to watch the games. In the United States, where baseball normally rules this time of year, fans came out in droves to support “Team USA.” Fan zones were set

Read Full Article

Norbert Schiller

Norbert Schiller is a Mint Press photojournalist, creative producer and frequent contributor. Norbert has lived and worked in the Middle East and Africa as a news photographer for over 25 years with major news organizations including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, United Press International, the New York Times and Der Spiegel. He covered three Iraq wars, conflicts and famine in the Horn of Africa, Salafist insurgencies in Egypt and North Africa and the Arab-Israeli conflict, to name a few.

Team USA Didn’t Take World Cup, But World Cup Took America

Americans unexpectedly caught soccer fever during this year’s World Cup, representing a desire to unite to celebrate national pride on an international stage — if only briefly.

July 03rd, 2014

By Frederick Reese @FrederickReese

Team USA Didn’t Take World Cup, But World Cup Took America

Something weird happened during the United States’ run in this year’s World Cup. In practical terms, the U.S. team -- which was ranked 13th in the world according to FIFA, the international soccer governing body -- performed as expected, dropping out of the round-of-16 with a 2-1 defeat from Belgium. What wasn’t expected, however, was how

Read Full Article

Frederick Reese

Frederick Reese is lead staff writer for Mint Press specializing in race, poverty, congressional oversight and technology. An award winning data journalist and creative writer for over 15 years, Frederick has written about and worked for social advocacy projects and personal awareness efforts. Frederick is a jack-of-all-trades, with work experience as a teacher, a pastry chef and a story writer. Frederick has publication credits with Yahoo!, B. Couleur, and more. A native New Yorker, Frederick graduated from Colgate University in 1999 and Johnson & Wales University in 2003. Frederick started his journalistic career writing for his university’s newspaper, “The Colgate Maroon-News,” before starting and heading his own magazine, “The Idealist.” Most recently, Frederick received a data journalism award from the International Center for Journalists for his minimum wage coverage for MintPress. Follow Frederick on Twitter: @frederickreese

Allegations Of Racism Add To Calls For Boycott Of Sports Events In Russia

Claims of racist chants from Russian fans could spell trouble for the country’s 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 World Cup.

October 28th, 2013

By Katie Rucke @katierucke

Allegations Of Racism Add To Calls For Boycott Of Sports Events In Russia

Discrimination against people of color and LGBT individuals may hurt Russia’s ability to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the Winter Olympic Games in 2014, especially as some athletes are saying they won’t play unless the country learns to accept diversity.

This week soccer player Yaya Touré

Read Full Article

Katie Rucke

Katie Rucke is a MintPress staff writer and investigative report specializing in the war on drugs, criminal justice, marijuana legislation, education and watchdog investigations as well as whistle-blowers. Her investigations related to the coverage of the 2010 Toyota recall scandal, and coverage of the trials of Anonymous hacker and proclaimed activist Jeremy Hammond as well as Bradley Manning have received international acclaim. Rucke has been recommended by the Wikileaks organization as a trusted journalist in 2013. Rucke has also written pieces for Yahoo! and various community magazines. Follow Katie on Twitter: @katierucke

Qatar Accused Of Using Slaves For World Cup Construction

A new report describes slave-like conditions in the Gulf state, whose human rights record has been questioned before.

September 27th, 2013

By Trisha Marczak @TrishaMarczakMP

Qatar Accused Of Using Slaves For World Cup Construction

When Qataris learned they were chosen to host the global spectacle that is the 2022 World Cup, the successful bidders celebrated -- and then hired slaves to get the production underway, allegedly.

A groundbreaking report issued by The

Read Full Article

Citing US Sanctions, Nike Moves to Block Iran’s National Team From Using Their Shoes

The company is citing U.S. sanctions, but for the 2014 World Cup, it provided cleats for Iran’s national team despite sanctions.