Topics: Mohamed Salah, Olympics, PSG, Russia, UEFA, Football, Ukraine, Noah Lyles
UEFA contradicted their own ruling on political messages in football messages ahead of the Super Cup meeting between Tottenham and PSG on Wednesday night.
Ahead of kick off, a banner reading “Stop Killing Children. Stop Killing Civilians” was placed in front of the players. As per its own rule book, Europe’s football federation permits political messages from being shown before, during and after matches.
Even so, UEFA chose to unfurl the banner and while a specific war wasn’t mentioned, children involved in conflict zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Palastine and Ukraine were involved in the opening ceremony.
Furthermore, two refugee children from Gaza later joined UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin for the presentation ceremony. The banner reveal comes after UEFA came under fire from Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah for a post on X paid tribute to Palestinian forward Suleiman Al-Obeid, affectionately known as the “Palestinian Pele”, that didn’t acknowledge he was killed in Israeli attacks.
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Even so, Israeli sides are still permitted to compete in UEFA competitions, with Maccabi Tel Aviv facing Hamrun Spartans in the 2025 Europa League qualifiers.
It’s a far cry from Russian teams, who have been barred from competing in matches organised by football’s European and world governing bodies following their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia President Vladmir Putin this week was warned by US President Donald Trump he’d face “very severe consequences” if he didn’t agree to a ceasefire at the upcoming summit in Alaska.
Trump is metting Putin on Friday (15 August) and when asked if Russia would face severe consequences if they do not agree to a ceasefire, the US President said: “Yes, they will … very severe consequences.”
Not only have Russia been banned from football organised by UEFA, they were also banned from participating in the 2024 Olympics, and if they do not agree to a ceasefire before then, they’re unlikely to partake in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
There is, though, no indication of Israel suffering the same fate after they claimed one gold, five silvers and one bronze in Paris last summer. When asked in March last year about Israeli teams and athletes not taking part in the Paris Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “No, there is no question about this.”
One racer who will be at the 2028 Olympics, but not at the Athlete Village, is US speedster Noah Lyles. Lyles had been keen on the 100m and 200m double, but caught Covid in the latter even and subsequently finished third.
The US sprinter collapsed after the race and revealed he’d been taken ill in the build up to the 200m event.
And Lyles revealed to talkSPORT that he’d be sourcing private accommodation in LA in three years’ time.
“There's so many athletes and there's so many people who are excited to meet other people,” Lyles said. “And for me, it's a lot more of, you know, I have a dream and a job that I want to accomplish.
“So I want to be able to get my best state of mind for that. And then, of course, you know, getting sick with Covid, you know, that was probably one of the greatest challenges I've ever had in my life.”
Lyles only managed a second-placed finish in the men’s 100m at the London Diamond League earlier this year having been pipped to first by Oblique Seville.
