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There is no actual evidence that William Webb Ellis "picked up the ball and ran" during a game of football at Rugby School but that has not prevented a...

FIFA must make sure equal conditions are in place for all players involved in qualification for the next Women’s World Cup, world players’ union FIFPRO has said. A FIFPRO report published on Tuesday found huge variance in conditions across the qualification events run by each of the six global confederations, with some found to be “not up to the standards of elite international football”. World Cup qualification should also be a standalone event across all confederations, rather than being achieved via performance in other tournaments such as the Copa America, FIFPRO said. FIFPRO has praised FIFA for “listening to the voice of players” in ensuring that players at the finals in Australia and New Zealand this summer will benefit from the same playing and preparation conditions as their male counterparts did in Qatar last year. However, it believes it is now vital that conditions are equalised for all female players involved in qualification. “During qualification the conditions that the players are exposed to and expected to deliver in, during some of the biggest competitive moments of their lives, are not up to the standards of elite international football, putting both the players and the sport at risk,” the foreword to the Qualifying Conditions Report co-signed by FIFPRO president David Aganzo and general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann read. “In highlighting these conditions and the status of players across the globe, FIFPRO firmly calls on the industry to take a closer look at the qualification processes in each of the six confederations. “This is so we all can commit to meaningful changes that look at the overall opportunities the FIFA Women’s World Cup can deliver to a greater number of players than those that just appear at the final tournament in July and August this year.” A survey of 362 players hailing from all six FIFA confederations found 29 per cent were not paid at all for participating in their qualification events. Fifty four per cent did not receive a pre-tournament medical examination, 70 per cent did not receive a pre-tournament ECG and 39 per cent did not have access to mental health support. Two-thirds of the players surveyed had to take leave or unpaid leave from another form of employment to participate in these tournaments, the report found. Thirty-one per cent said training pitches were not of an elite standard, while 32 per cent said match day pitches and stadia were not of an elite standard. Two-thirds said recovery facilities were either not of an elite standard or not provided at all, while 70 per cent reported that the gym facilities were not of an appropriate level. “Any stat that’s below 100 per cent in terms of access to important medical checks and things like that is completely unacceptable,” FIFPRO director of global policy and strategic relations for women’s football Sarah Gregorius said. “We just want to work with whoever wants to work with us, particularly FIFA and the confederations, to understand why that is the case and how that can be prevented (from happening again) because that is certainly not something that should be acceptable to anybody.” The PA news agency understands the report has been shared with FIFA and the confederations. FIFA has declined to comment on it directly, but would point to the steps it has taken to close some of the gaps which exist in the women’s game, both in enlarging the World Cup to 32 teams and increasing compensation to players and national associations. The women’s international calendar was agreed on by all confederations on the FIFA Council after an extensive consultation process, while qualification criteria and tournaments are defined by the confederations rather than FIFA. FIFA has also sought to improve investment in the women’s game by challenging broadcasters and sponsors, with president Gianni Infantino threatening a World Cup blackout in some countries if broadcasters did not increase their offers for the rights. A deal with some major European markets, including the United Kingdom, was agreed last week. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Conor Gallagher backs Bukayo Saka to get even better for England Chelsea complete signing of France forward Christopher Nkunku for reported £63m Khaldoon Al Mubarak insists Manchester City will not stop growing

Elon Musk has threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for billions of dollars after quixotically blaming the Jewish rights organisation for spreading antisemitism on his social media platform X. The self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, who has amplified and reinstated neo-Nazi and far-right accounts since acquiring X, formerly known as Twitter, for $44bn last year blamed the ADL for “destroying” $22bn in the company’s value in a series of posts on Monday. “Since the acquisition, The ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” Mr Musk wrote. He claimed that the site’s United States advertising revenue was down 60 per cent “primarily due to pressure on advertisers by ADL”. “If this continues, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the ‘Anti-Defamation’ League.” An ADL spokesperson told The Independent in a statement that it did not comment on legal threats, but added that Mr Musk was helping to boost a coordinated “Ban the ADL” campaign being waged by self-declared antisemites. “ADL is unsurprised yet undeterred that antisemites, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and other trolls have launched a coordinated attack on our organisation. This type of thing is nothing new,” the ADL spokesperson said. “Such insidious efforts don’t daunt us. Instead, they drive us to be unflinching in our commitment to fight hate in all its forms and ensure the safety of Jewish communities and other marginalised groups.” Mr Musk’s threats to sue the ADL, a century-old NGO that describes itself as the “leading anti-hate organisation in the world”, were met with anger and disbelief from some commentators on X. “In his pursuit of some kind of utopian free speech universe, Elon Musk has turned Twitter / X into a free-for-all for Neo Nazis and White Extremists to unleash a torrent of unprecedented antisemitism and Jew hatred,” wrote Israeli human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky. NYU professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat posted: “So it's the Jews manipulating others. Elon Musk that is so original!” Since Mr Musk’s takeover, advertisers have fled the platform or reduced their ad spend as hateful content was allowed to spread unchecked. Mr Musk, the world’s richest person with an estimated net wealth of $248bn, fired an estimated 80 per cent of its workforce, including most of its content moderators, and reinstated previously banned accounts. X’s US advertising revenue over a five-week period from April to May this year came to $88m, a 59 percent decrease from one year ago, according to the New York Times. In August, X filed a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after it published a report showing that moderators had failed to take action on 99 out of 100 examples of harmful content by verified “blue check” users that the organisation had flagged. “Musk is trying to ‘shoot the messenger’ who highlights the toxic content on his platform rather than deal with the toxic environment he’s created,” CEO Imran Ahmed said in a statement. “CCDH has no intention of stopping our independent research – Musk will not bully us into silence.” The Independent attempted to reach Mr Musk through X, Tesla and via a personal email address but did not hear back. Read More Elon Musk calls Burning Man ‘best art on Earth’ amid chaos that saw thousands stranded and one dead Elon Musk promotes transphobic content as hate speech surges on his far-right platform X threatens to sue researchers who accused Twitter of allowing ‘hate to prosper’ on platform

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest on Sunday, with energy security and Sweden's membership of NATO on...

Fortnite's new Falcon Scout item can retrieve loot, track enemy players, and scout nearby locations while players remain in a safe location.

A New Mexico family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Farmington and three Farmington police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Robert Dotson while responding to a domestic violence call at the wrong house.

The man charged in last year’s attack against former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband is scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday to request the trial be moved out of San Francisco

This week’s new entertainment releases include an album from country pop duo Dan & Shay, the return of Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon for season three of “The Morning Show” and you can own “Barbie” — for a price