Players from the Afghanistan men’s team are boycotting their World Cup qualifying match against Qatar over their treatment by the football federation. A substantial number, 18 players, have reportedly refused to play in the match, due to take place in Qatar on 16 November. Three footballers who play overseas sent a letter last month to the Asian Football Confederation and Fifa detailing complaints and allegations of serious corruption by the Afghanistan Football Federation, the Guardian has reported. “The last straw came at the last camp when a big group of us decided that we’d had enough – 18 players got together and said: ‘If we’re going to move forward, we have to put a stop to this,’” Noor Husin, who plays in the National League for Southend United, told the Guardian. “We really want change. We want to help domestic players because the money they are getting from Fifa is not being used in the right way. “We have the worst flights possible and we have to stay in substandard hotels. “We’ve come together as a group because we want football in Afghanistan to move forward and we believe that it’s not going to move forward with the people that are in charge at the moment.” Faysal Shayesteh, who is a former captain and also signed the letter, said: “Every year our federation gets financial support from Fifa and from the AFC. “We want to show a positive Afghanistan to the world so we are asking Fifa to stop supporting our federation financially because the money is going into the pockets of a gang who is ruling football in the country.” The federation’s secretary Behram Siddiqui has denied the allegations. While players have argued that the AFF executive committee kept half of the bonus that should have gone to the squad for reaching the next stage of the World Cup qualifying among themselves, and that they have been holding on to money from plane tickets of players travelling to games. A Fifa spokesperson said: “Fifa was informed of these allegations very recently and is currently looking into the matter.” Read More Afghan players watch Morocco's team practice for Women's World Cup, hoping to get their chance Women's World Cup brings attention to abuse in soccer Russia consider leaving Uefa after invite to Asian competition

Shawn Layden is now strategic advisor at Tencent, three years after leaving Sony PlayStation.

IRVING, Texas & TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 10, 2023--

Hideo Kojima has announced that he is teaming up with Apple to release 'Death Stranding Director's Cut' on Mac.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship is seemingly positively impacting his pitch performance. During the Kansas City Chiefs' win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the broadcaster CBS shared a graphic titled 'You belong with TE,' referencing Swift's song 'You Belong With Me'. It then suggested that Kelce averaged 99 receiving yards per game, with it bumping up to 108 following Sunday's game. They then showed a separate post when Swift isn't in attendance at Kelce's game when he's "left to his own devices" – a reference to 'Anti-Hero' – with just 46.5 yards per game. It didn't take long for fans to catch onto the tongue-in-cheek remarks, with one writing: "Safe to say Taylor and Travis belong together." Another wrote: "The entire graphic, compliments to whoever cooked it up." It comes after Kelce opened up about how the NFL treats celebrity guests at games. In an episode of the New Heights podcast with his brother and Philadelphia Eagles player Jason Kelce, he said: "I think it's fun when they show who is at the game. I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you're watching." "They're overdoing it," Jason interjected, to which Travis replied: "They're overdoing it a little bit for sure. Especially my situation. "[But] I think they’re just trying to have fun with it." The NFL since responded with a statement on the topic via PEOPLE. "We frequently change our bios and profile imagery based on what’s happening in and around our games, as well as culturally," it read. "The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce news has been a pop cultural moment we’ve leaned into in real-time, as it’s an intersection of sport and entertainment, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of positivity around the sport. "The vast majority of our content has remained focused on the game, our players and a variety of other initiatives, including our Toy Story Funday Football alt-cast, the international games and more." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Chicago Cubs are about to get long-awaited reinforcements on the mound.At 22-26, it would be difficult to categorize the Chicago Cubs' season up to this point as anything other than a disappointment. There have been rumors of potential roster shake-ups and there is a palpable angst plag...

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have announced the arrival of their fourth child, a baby boy born via surrogate. On Wednesday, the cookbook author, 37, and the “All of Me” singer, 44, shared the news that their family had expanded once more on Instagram, where they revealed they’d welcomed a son named Wren Alexander Stephens on 19 June. On Teigen’s Instagram, she reflected on the couple’s surrogacy journey in a lengthy post, in which she revealed that she’s wanted four children for “as long as [she] can remember”. In the emotional post, Teigen then reflected on the loss of her and Legend’s unborn child, Jack, in 2020, with the model revealing that she didn’t think she’d be able to “carry any more babies on my own”. According to Teigen, who gave birth to her and Legend’s third child, a daughter named Esti, in January 2023, she and the singer reached out to a surrogacy agency in 2021 about the possibility of “having two tandem surrogates, each to bring us a healthy baby boy or girl”. However, Teigen revealed that, early on in the surrogacy journey, she also decided that she wanted to try getting pregnant “just one more time”. “If it doesn’t work, we will be okay. We’ve already seen the worst,” she wrote. “I promised I would be okay no matter what happened.” According to the Cravings author, at that point, she and Legend started undergoing IVF, which she noted was the same process that allowed the couple to welcome their daughter Luna, seven, and son Miles, four. “We made new embryos. We did my transfer, and were so happy to learn it worked - we were pregnant with our little girl, Esti,” Teigen wrote, adding that “around this same time,” the couple also met the “most incredible, loving, compassionate surrogate we could ever imagine”. In the candid post, Teigen revealed that the first embryo transfer to their surrogate “didn’t survive,” before noting how “hard” their surrogate fought to prepare for a second transfer. According to Teigen, she and Legend didn’t want to rush the process, and so they were “patient” as she enjoyed the first trimester of her pregnancy “with, of course, a little bit of fear that isn’t any different from any other expecting couple”. Teigen said she and Legend learned that their surrogate was pregnant with a boy as they “crept toward the safe zone” of her own pregnancy, with the celebrity chef writing that she and the family’s surrogate celebrated together with their “growing bellies, our families blending into one for the past year”. In the post, Teigen then revealed that she’d gotten to witness as the “most beautiful woman, my friend, our surrogate,” gave birth “just minutes before midnight” on 19 June. Teigen concluded the lengthy post expressing her gratitude to her surrogate for the “incredible gift” before sharing a photo of their surrogate and one of the couple holding their newborn child in the hospital. The final photo showed a close-up shot of the baby. “Our hearts, and our home, are officially full. And to our Jack, we know both their angel kisses are from you,” she wrote. Legend also shared the news of the baby’s arrival on his Instagram, where he posted a photo of himself surrounded by his and Teigen’s four children, as well as the photo of the couple cradling their newborn. “Wren Alexander Stephens, our new love,” Legend captioned the album. More follows… Read More Chrissy Teigen responds to critics claiming she has a ‘new face’: ‘I gained weight’ Chrissy Teigen praised for thanking team of four nannies in Mother’s Day tribute ‘My small rash turned out to be a parasite living in my leg after a beach trip’ Bre Tiesi reveals whether she’d have another child with Nick Cannon How do I get a mammogram screening?

The Rays and Royals game today, July 14, had to be postponed because of bad weather in Kansas City, delaying the start of the second half of the season.With the All-Star break complete, the Rays and Royals were ready to get the season going again on Friday night.The weather in Missouri had o...

Pep Guardiola says revenge for last season’s semi-final heartache fuelled treble-chasing Manchester City as they sealed a place in the Champions League final in style against Real Madrid. A June 10 clash with Inter Milan in Istanbul beckons after a spectacular display of skill, strength and nous at a rocking Etihad Stadium against the reigning champions on Wednesday. City drew 1-1 with Champions League kings Madrid last week and ran out 4-0 victors as Bernardo Silva’s brace was complemented by an own goal from Eder Militao and substitute Julian Alvarez’s effort in a stunning last-four display. The 5-1 aggregate triumph felt particularly sweet after City’s 2021 final loss to Chelsea was compounded by last year’s agonising semi-final exit to Madrid. “Listen, I had the feeling these last days that we had a mix of calm and tension to play this type of game,” Guardiola said of that heart-breaking late 6-5 aggregate extra-time loss last term. “After 10 or 15 minutes, I had the feeling that all the pain that we had during one year from what happened last season was there today. “It was so hard and tough last season when we played quite similar to today and I remember Toni Kroos gave an interview saying they could have lost 10-1 or 10-2 at the Etihad. “Kroos is one of the best players I have ever seen and trained and when he says that it means we were there and it was really tough losing the way we lose. “In that moment, we had to swallow poison and football and sport always gives you another chance. “When the draw was Madrid, I said ‘yeah I want it’. I wanted it because I think today everything was there – the energy we had from a year of being criticised as players for not having character when we lost because it was football. “Today it was there and I’m pleased for the whole organisation – for the chairman, owner, staff and especially all the players because we accepted the defeat and today we were there.” City are overwhelming favourites with bookmakers to beat Inter, just as they are to lift the FA Cup against rivals Manchester United seven days before that date with destiny in Turkey. We had to swallow poison and football and sport always gives you another chance Pep Guardiola Guardiola’s men are also odds-on to complete the treble, which they can kick off this weekend by wrapping up the Premier League title against Chelsea. “We are one game away from winning the Premier League for three years in a row, and we have been in two Champions League finals and one semi-final,” he said. “That is consistency. I always put the example of being Carabao Cup winners for four years in a row. That means the level of this team. “There is one incredible detail in this team that I’m so proud of – they are so humble. It doesn’t matter the competition, they take every game seriously because they are so humble. “I hate arrogance in sport, the moment that you believe you are something you are not. These guys have not done this for many years and today we got the reward they deserve. “A final against an Italian team, people will say we are favourites and that is the worst that can happen but we have time to prepare and now we focus on Chelsea because we have to try to close the Premier League as soon as possible because we have to prepare for United and Inter Milan.” As for dethroned champions Madrid, manager Carlo Ancelotti had no arguments with City’s progression. “I think that tonight Manchester City deserved to win because they played better than us,” the Italian said. “Last season was different. This season they deserve to reach the final and fight for the final. They were better than us as we were better than them last season.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Tao Geoghegan Hart to have hip surgery after Giro d’Italia crash Matt Fitzpatrick excited by challenge of ‘brute of a golf course’ for US PGA West Ham boss David Moyes looking to conquer AZ Alkmaar again

By Anne Kauranen HELSINKI German gun maker Heckler & Koch has filed a complaint with the Finnish Market

The Chicago Bears have listed Chase Claypool inactive with plans to trade the disgruntled WR. Here are teams that could talk themselves into it.

Peterson's call for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to take a strong stance against Palestine was met with disapproval from Tate