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01/12/2022

High on confidence from their FFA Cup triumph, Melbourne Victory will head into an Asian Champions League play-off believing they can topple Andres Iniesta’s Vissel Kobe.

Victory earned the first trophy of the Tony Popovic era with a 2-1 victory over Central Coast in Saturday night’s FFA Cup final at AAMI Park.

For the first time, that trophy is accompanied by a play-off spot in the ACL, with Victory due to head to Japan in March.

Joint Mark Viduka Medallist Jake Brimmer’s eyes lit up at the prospect of facing Spanish great Iniesta in the do-or-die play-off

“What an opportunity,” he said.

“Honestly, with the team we have this year, I think anything is possible. I think we can win multiple titles. I think we can win everything that we can win.

“Honestly, I really do. Obviousl,y hearing that name (Iniesta)… it’s going to be a tough game but I’m up for it, I’m ready for it.”

If anyone can dare to dream of causing an upset in Asia, it’s Popovic, who claimed the ACL with Western Sydney in 2014.

“First and foremost, the trophy is key for the club. We now get the added bonus for the first time to have a play-off spot in Asia,” Popovic said.

“Vissel Kobe is a wonderful club that will be a wonderful challenge. Why not?

“We can go wherever we have to play and have the confidence and belief we can get through.”

Brimmer was one of just four players from Victory’s dire wooden-spoon 2020-21 team that started Saturday night’s final.

The 23-year-old hailed Popovic, his former Perth Glory mentor, for delivering the drastic turnaround.

“It’s unbelievable. The standards he brings are indescribable and the expectations are massive,” he said.

“We’ve all jumped on board and you can see that week in and week out.

“I’m really loving my football right now.”

Confident Victory raring for ACL play-off

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High on confidence from their FFA Cup triumph, Melbourne Victory will head into an Asian Champions League play-off believing they can topp...

30/11/2022

Not enough food. Inedible meals. No training equipment.

Some Olympic athletes unlucky enough to test positive for the coronavirus at the Beijing Olympics feel their quarantine conditions are making a bad situation much worse.

“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” Russian biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova posted on Instagram from one of Beijing’s so-called quarantine hotels.

Her problem wasn’t with any symptoms of the virus – it was the food.

Vasnetsova posted a picture on Thursday of what she said was “breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days already” — a tray with food including plain pasta, an orange sauce, charred meat on a bone, a few potatoes and no greens.

She added she’d lost a lot of weight and “my bones are already sticking out.”

The quarantine hotels are increasingly the target of criticism from athletes and their teams, who are lobbying organisers for improvements.

There’s a lack of transparency, too, with only some virus-positive athletes forced into quarantine hotels where their teams don’t have access, while teammates in similar situations are allowed to isolate within the Olympic village.

The rules for athletes who test positive say those without symptoms go to a dedicated hotel for isolation.

Anyone who has COVID-19 with symptoms will go to a hospital. In both cases, they’ll be unable to compete until cleared for discharge.

Teams have started going public with criticism.

After Eric Frenzel, a three-time gold medalist in Nordic combined, tested positive, German delegation head Dirk Schimmelpfennig lambasted the “unreasonable” living conditions.

Vasnetsova passed her time in quarantine with a little detective work.

When fetching the food left outside her door, she took a glance at the boxes left outside other rooms in her corridor, whose doors were labelled with signs to distinguish Olympians from other people working at the Games who tested positive, such as team staff.

She concluded the athletes were getting worse food, and underlined it with a picture of food served to her team doctor, who had also tested positive and was living two floors below. He had fresh fruit, a salad and prawns with broccoli.

“I honestly don’t understand, why is there this attitude to us, the athletes?!” she wrote.

Two days on from her criticism, Vasnetsova is still in quarantine but things are looking up.

Russian biathlon team spokesperson Sergei Averyanov posted a picture of what he said was an improved meal delivered to Vasnetsova’s room including salmon, cucumbers, sausages and yoghurt. A stationary bike will be delivered soon, he added.

Vasnetsova, he wrote, “is already smiling, and that’s the main thing.”

Athletes unhappy about quarantine hotels

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Not enough food. Inedible meals. No training equipment. Some Olympic athletes unlucky enough to test positive for the coronavirus at the ...

29/11/2022

The Flying Tomato wants this to be his final take-off.

Three-time snowboarding champ and Olympic legend Shaun White has made it clear that the Beijing Games won’t just be his final Olympics, it will also be the last event of his matchless career.

After the halfpipe medal round next week, the 35-year-old American legend says he plans to retire from the sport that he put on the international map.

“In my mind, I’ve decided this will be my last competition,” he told reporters on Saturday.

White has been a transcendent force for snowboarding, its most recognisable face for nearly two decades – and not just because of the mop of red hair that inspired his glorious nickname.

Those locks have since been chopped, and White is now an elder statesman for the sport.

He’s hobbled into his fifth Olympics after a season marred by an ankle injury, a bout with COVID-19, a late unscheduled trip to Switzerland to secure his Olympic spot and, most recently, a training plan that got thrown off schedule during his stay in Colorado in January.

“I’m sort of pinching myself, with how lucky I am to still be here at this age,” he said during a reflective, 45-minute news conference.

White won gold in his Olympic debut in 2006, just the third time halfpipe snowboarding was held at the Winter Games.

The sport boomed in popularity with him at the forefront, and he won gold again in 2010 and 2018. He also has 15 X-Games golds – 13 in snowboarding and two as a skateboarder.

White will hardly be a favourite for a fourth halfpipe gold when the finals are held Friday.

Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, who finished second to White in 2018, became the first to land a triple cork in competition in December, and the three-flip trick probably won’t be in White’s run.

White said he’s toggling between trying to enjoy every moment of the last big contest week of his life and knowing there is work to do when the halfpipe opens for training Sunday.

He said he decided he was ready to call it a day during the build-up to the Beijing Games, a moment that crystalised when he got lost on a mountain during a soul-sucking training stop in Austria in November

“A sad and surreal moment,” he said. “But joyous, as well.

“I kind of reflected on things I’ve done and looked at the sun going down and went, ‘Wow, next time I’m here, I won’t be stressed about learning tricks or worried about some competition thing’.”

One last trick for ‘Flying Tomato’ White

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The Flying Tomato wants this to be his final take-off. Three-time snowboarding champ and Olympic legend Shaun White has made it clear tha...

28/11/2022

Three-time Olympic champion Eric Frenzel and his Nordic combined skiing team-mate Terence Weber have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Beijing Games and are isolating.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) said on Friday that retests for Frenzel and Weber carried out the previous evening confirmed the original result when they arrived at Beijing airport.

The DOSB said that all other teammates tested negative and that none of them are close contacts of Frenzel and Weber, who were isolated immediately after the airport positive.

Frenzel and Weber can now only compete in the first Nordic combined event on Wednesday if they have tested negative twice. The next competition is six days later on February 15. Only one negative test is required after 10 days in isolation.

Frenzel, 33, is one of the most successful athletes in Nordic combined skiing, which twins ski-jumping with cross-country skiing.

He has six Olympic medals, including a silver and two bronze, since 2010 and also 15 world championship medals, seven of them gold.

He is the second prominent Nordic combined skier in isolation, joining World Cup champion Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway.

Frenzel and Weber join figure skater Nolan Seegert as German athletes in Beijing who have tested positive for the virus.

German star tests positive for COVID-19

Independent Information

Three-time Olympic champion Eric Frenzel and his Nordic combined skiing team-mate Terence Weber have tested positive for COVID-19 at the B...

27/11/2022

Sri Lanka has celebrated its Independence Day with an appeal to expatriates to send money home as the country struggles with the worst economic crisis in decades mainly due to depleted foreign reserves.

Sri Lankans are facing shortages of milk powder, cooking gas, kerosene and other essentials. Cash shortages have hindered imports of raw materials for manufacturing and worsened inflation, which surged to 12.1 per cent in December.

The pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to an economy that depends heavily on tourism and trade, with the government estimating a loss of $14 billion over the last two years. The economy is estimated to have contracted by 1.5 per cent in July-September 2021, according to the central bank.

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said Sri Lankans abroad who sent foreign currency back home are a major resource.

“I invite all expatriate Sri Lankans to invest in their homeland,” he said in an address during a ceremony marking Independence Day in the capital, Colombo. A colourful military parade followed his speech.

Data shows that overseas remittances — the nation’s main foreign exchange earner– have fallen by nearly 60 per cent in December from a year earlier. For the whole year, remittances declined 22 per cent to $5.4 billion. The drop came after the government ordered the mandatory conversion of foreign currency and exchange rate controls.

Because of the currency shortage, importers are unable to clear their cargo and manufactures are unable to buy raw materials from overseas.

Sri Lanka has borrowed heavily and faces repayments on $15 billion in international sovereign bonds.

Officials have said the government is gradually building back reserves to ensure it can honour its debts.

“None of the crises we experience today are long term problems. We can find solutions to them with an optimistic approach,” Rajapaksa said. “We have faced critical problems in the recent history as well and found solutions.”

Sri Lanka appeal to expats: Send money

Independent Information

Sri Lanka has celebrated its Independence Day with an appeal to expatriates to send money home as the country struggles with the worst eco...

27/11/2022

Joe Root has been backed to continue as England Test captain by Sir Andrew Strauss, who is eager to put the right structure around him following a dismal Ashes series.

Chris Silverwood, Ashley Giles and Graham Thorpe have lost their jobs in the wake of the 4-0 loss to Australia, but there is little time for reflection with a red-ball tour of the West Indies set to begin on March 8.

Strauss, who’s stepped in in a short-term role as managing director of England men’s cricket, said at Lord’s on Friday: “It’s probably worth saying at this stage that Joe Root will be captaining the side in the West Indies.

“Having spoken to him, it is absolutely clear the extent of his commitment to moving this England Test team forward. He’s got incredible motivation and energy to do that.

“He’s bruised, hugely disappointed by what went on in the Ashes and I think it goes without saying there are many others in the same boat on that one, but he has the respect of the players, they all play for him and obviously he sets a magnificent example both on and off the field.

“I’m very happy to give him my support and make sure we have the right structure around him to take pressure off him and make sure he can do his job.”

Former Test captain Strauss is eager to announce the touring party for the West Indies as soon as possible with players and staff set to fly out on February 24.

Root still England captain on Windies tour

Independent Information

Joe Root has been backed to continue as England Test captain by Sir Andrew Strauss, who is eager to put the right structure around him fol...

26/11/2022

One of three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a black man chased down and shot while jogging, has withdrawn his guilty plea to federal hate-crime charges and will face trial next week alongside his two co-defendants.

Travis McMichael, 36, had said at an earlier hearing this week in the US District Court in Brunswick, Georgia, that he was willing to plead guilty to attacking Arbery because of his “race and colour” after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

But he changed his mind this week after US District Judge Lisa Wood rejected that agreement at a hearing on Monday.

She said she could not accept it because it bound her to sentencing McMichael to 30 years in federal prison before he was handed back to the state of Georgia to serve out the rest of his life sentence for murder.

Arbery killer in US withdraws guilty plea

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One of three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a black man chased down and shot while jogging, has withdrawn his guilty plea...

25/11/2022

Australia’s Jakara Anthony has laid down an Olympic gold medal marker, finishing on top of qualifying in the women’s moguls at Zhangjiakou on Thursday night.

The 23-year-old blitzed the Beijing course to finish on top of the 30-skier field, while four-time Olympian Britt Cox was in ninth place.

No Australian man finished in the top 10, with 2018 silver medallist Matt Graham bitterly disappointed after failing to finish.

Anthony posted a score of 83.75 to sit clear of defending Olympic champion Perrine Laffont of France, who scored 81.11.

All 30 skiers completed the first run of qualifying, with the top 10 skipping the second round to move through to the first women’s final on Sunday.

Fellow Australian Sophie Ash finished in 13th while Taylah O’Neill, who has been battling a serious knee injury, didn’t finish.

Brodie Summers was the best of the men in green and gold, just missing the top 10 in 11th while Olympic debutant Cooper Woods placed 14th and James Matheson was 20th.

Anthony finished a surprise fourth at the last Olympics in PyeongChang, but arrived in Beijing as a medal favourite after jostling with Laffont and Japanese teen sensation Anri Kawamura in the World Cup standings all season.

The Victorian skier was delighted to transform that World Cup form into Olympic competition.

“I’m really proud and happy with what I was able to achieve just then,” Anthony said.

“I transferred really well from training to competition but there’s definitely still bits I want to work on cleaning up and improving which is a really great position to be in, I think.

“You don’t want to be going into finals maxed out so I’m really happy with where I’m at.”

Out early on the course, former world champion Cox was also thrilled with her performance under the lights, with temperatures dipping to minus 10.

Cox, who finished fifth in 2018, scored 72.26 for her run.

“I was so happy that I was able to put down the run that I was doing in training,” the 27-year-old told AAP.

“I executed the points that my coaches and I talked about and I still feel like I’ve got a little bit left in the tank, so we will see what happens and build on that in training.”

Olympic champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada was the top men’s qualifier with Graham saying he got caught in the tricky conditions late in the evening.

“The snow is obviously really firm and solid which makes the moguls quite catchy and I just landed the top jump and maybe let it run a bit too much and then got caught up and spat out pretty quickly,” Graham said.

“I’m pretty disappointed with how it went – obviously I want to be right up there but I’m fortunate to get another chance in the second qualifying round.”

The moguls team are among the first of the 43-strong Australian contingent in China to start their Games competition.

Anthony leads women’s moguls, men struggle

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Australia’s Jakara Anthony has laid down an Olympic gold medal marker, finishing on top of qualifying in the women’s moguls at Zhangjiakou...

25/11/2022

Australia have suffered their worst loss in Olympics mixed curling, going down 8-2 to the Czech Republic late on Thursday.

After 6-5 losses to the United States and China, Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt were no match for fellow Games debutants Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul.

The Australians conceded after seven of the eight ends.

Paulova and Paul took control early, taking a 5-0 lead after three ends before Australia scored a point in the fourth.

But Gill and Hewitt never looked like being able to reel in their opponents and they decided against the final end when the Czechs scored another two points in the seventh.

While the impressive Czechs hold a 2-1 win-loss record in the round robin schedule, Australia are languishing on 0-3 ahead of Friday’s game against Sweden.

Czechs bounce Australia in Games curling

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Australia have suffered their worst loss in Olympics mixed curling, going down 8-2 to the Czech Republic late on Thursday. After 6-5 loss...

23/11/2022

Tom Curry will fill England’s leadership void and become the country’s youngest rugby captain since 1988 in the Six Nations match at Scotland on Saturday.

The 23-year-old back row forward will lead the team in the absence of Owen Farrell and Courtney Lawes, who are out of contention because of injuries.

Curry will become the youngest England captain since Will Carling while Marcus Smith held off the challenge of George Ford to continue at flyhalf for the Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield in the oldest international fixture in world rugby.

No. 8 Sam Simmonds will make his first England start for four years in a new-look back row also including Lewis Ludlam at blindside.

Lock Nick Isiekwe will also make his first Test start since 2018, while Elliot Daly, not included in the initial squad but called up because of injuries, goes straight into the team at centre alongside Henry Slade when coach Eddie Jones named his line-up on Thursday.

Lock Jonny Gray is back in Scotland’s team for the first time since last March after missing the entire campaign of November internationals because of injury.

Scotland won back the Calcutta Cup by beating England 11-6 in the Six Nations last season.

Scotland: Stuart Hogg (captain), Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Sam Johnson, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ali Price; Matt Fagerson, Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Rory Sutherland.

Reserves: Stuart McInally, Pierre Schoeman, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Magnus Bradbury, Ben White, Blair Kinghorn, Sione Tuipulotu.

England: Freddie Steward, Max Malins, Elliot Daly, Henry Slade, Joe Marchant, Marcus Smith, Ben Youngs; Sam Simmonds, Tom Curry (captain), Lewis Ludlam, Nick Isiekwe, Maro Itoje, Kyle Sinckler, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge.

Reserves: Jamie George, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Jack Nowell.

Curry to be England’s rugby captain at 23

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Tom Curry will fill England’s leadership void and become the country’s youngest rugby captain since 1988 in the Six Nations match at Scotl...

23/11/2022

Australian flyer Caleb Ewan has delivered another astonishing demonstration of his sprinting prowess but still came up just short in the third stage of the Saudi Tour.

Ewan, who won the opening stage of the five-day Tour, found himself out of position to shoot for victory in the massed finish in AlUla Old Town on Thursday, yet still managed to leave his rivals standing over the last 100 metres as he powered to a third-place finish.

Another few metres and Ewan would have roared to the unlikeliest of wins but, instead, Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen snatched the victory for his thrilled Australian outfit, Team BikeExchange-Jayco, ahead of Briton Daniel McLay.

Ewan, who’d burst up on the inside after his path had been blocked, would have regained the overall lead with victory but instead, having picked up a four-second time bonus, still finds himself just three seconds adrift of Colombia’s overnight leader Santiago Buitrago .

Ewan will find life hard in Friday’s mountainous penultimate stage and accepts the chance of an overall win is “unrealistic”.

But he’s still well ahead in the points competition to find the most consistent finisher of the week, 14 points clear of both Buitrago and Groenewegen.

The 27-year-old Sydneysider’s searing speed in the denouement of a hard, windswept 181km stage from Tayma Hadaj was also further encouragement for Ewan that he’ll take all the beating in the bigger races he has planned for the year.

But Groenewegen, the 28-year-old from Amsterdam, had his new BikeExchange teammates whooping with delight after he earned his first triumph since joining the Aussie outfit in December. It was the 57th victory of his distinguished career.

Dazzling Ewan just misses out in sprint

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Australian flyer Caleb Ewan has delivered another astonishing demonstration of his sprinting prowess but still came up just short in the t...

22/11/2022

At least 12 migrants have frozen to death in the Turkish city of Edirne along the border with Greece after Greek authorities allegedly pushed them back, Turkey’s interior minister says.

“Twelve of the 22 migrants pushed back by Greek Border Units, stripped of their clothes and shoes, have frozen to death,” Suleyman Soylu wrote on Twitter, sharing graphic images of bodies scattered near what he said was the Ipsala border crossing.

The temperature at Ipsala was 2C with rain, according to the local weather agency.

The authenticity of the images could not be independently verified.

One person was separately hospitalised while a search was underway in the area for others in need of help, the Edirne governor’s office said separately.

“The EU is without remedy, weak and void of humane feelings,” Soylu wrote, further accusing Greek border units of being “thugs against the victims”.

There was no immediate official reaction from Greece.

Human rights organisations criticise Greece for illegal pushbacks to Turkey.

Greece denies this and says it protects European borders in accordance with international law.

Turkey is currently home to about 3.7 million Syrian refugees in addition to hundreds of thousands of migrants from other countries.

Human smugglers often attempt to help migrants try and enter Greece illegally across the Evros river, which is also known as the Maritsa or Meric.

Turkey blames Greece as 12 migrants die

Independent Information

At least 12 migrants have frozen to death in the Turkish city of Edirne along the border with Greece after Greek authorities allegedly pus...

21/11/2022

The Spanish newspaper El Pais has published what is says are the answers of NATO and the United States to Russia’s proposals for new security agreements, which have so far been kept under wraps.

According to the documents posted on the internet, the US and the military alliance make it clear that a large part of the Russian proposals are not acceptable to them.

At the same time, NATO and the US show themselves open to concrete negotiations and new agreements.

According to its response to Russia, the US is prepared to rule out the permanent stationing of combat troops and ground-based missile systems in Ukraine if Russia also makes corresponding commitments.

In its written reply, the US offered transparency over its Romanian and Polish missile sites if officials in Moscow did the same at two sites in Russia.

NATO and the US have called for an end to the current Russian troop deployment on Ukraine’s borders as a prerequisite for successful negotiations.

This is central to substantial progress, according to the NATO response.

The authenticity of the documents was confirmed to the DPA news agency by NATO sources.

In view of the Russian deployment of more than 100,000 soldiers near Ukraine, there are fears that the Kremlin is planning an invasion of the former Soviet republic.

However, it is also considered possible that fears are only being stirred up in order to persuade NATO members to make concessions in response to demands for new security guarantees.

Russia wants to persuade NATO to rule out further enlargement to the east, and in particular the inclusion of Ukraine.

It is also demanding a withdrawal of NATO troops from eastern European NATO members.

with Reuters

Newspaper publishes ‘US, NATO responses’

Independent Information

The Spanish newspaper El Pais has published what is says are the answers of NATO and the United States to Russia’s proposals for new secur...

21/11/2022

The number of students completing year 12 in Australia has plummeted to its lowest level in years, while the cost of childcare has risen across most states and territories.

The Productivity Commission released its annual childcare and education services report on Thursday, revealing an average of 110,000 fewer year 12s completed high school in 2021 as COVID-19 disrupted face-to-face learning.

Year 12 completions on average dropped from 1.9 million in 2020 to 1.79 million last year. The last time they fell below 1.8 million was in 2017.

Victoria had the largest decline, with 56,100 fewer year 12 students completing their final year in 2021 than the previous year, followed by NSW with 34,700 and WA with 18,700.

The cost of childcare rose across most jurisdictions rose last year, but governments also pumped more money into the sector as services were impacted by COVID-19.

The national average median weekly cost for 50 hours of centre-based childcare rose by $10 a week between 2020 and 2021, from $530 to $540.

Tasmania recorded the highest weekly price hike, rising by $24, followed by Queensland at $16 and South Australia at $15.

The national average for 50 hours of family day care services rose by $8 per week between 2020 and 2021, with Tasmania reporting a $31 per week rise, while the ACT reported a $26 price drop.

Meanwhile, Victoria and the Northern Territory reported the biggest increases in recurrent early childhood spending during the past two financial years, rising by $2321 and $1859 per child respectively.

The federal government’s recurrent early childcare spending rose by $1.4 million in that time.

Every jurisdiction except the Northern Territory reported an increase in serious incidents of injury, trauma or illness at childcare services during the past two financial years, with the biggest incident spike, 1719, in NSW.

Australian year 12 completion rates drop

Independent Information

The number of students completing year 12 in Australia has plummeted to its lowest level in years, while the cost of childcare has risen a...

20/11/2022

Egan Bernal will undergo a second round of neurosurgery following a serious crash during training in Colombia last week, the Bogota clinic where he was being treated has reported.

The former Tour de France winner slammed into a stationary bus on the outskirts of Bogota last Monday, sustaining injuries to his spine, legs and chest.

He was rushed to hospital where doctors performed successful neurosurgery.

New tests on Tuesday then confirmed the need for a second spinal operation.

“After advancing in recovery … new diagnostic imaging was carried out and it was determined, on an interdisciplinary basis, that he will be submitted to an operation at the level of the cervical spine,” the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday.

“This intervention will favour his process of rehabilitation. We advance with the patient in all his processes of recovery, confident of a swift improvement.

“We will be reporting the postoperative evolution of the athlete at the time the procedure is completed.”

In a statement on social media on January 29, Bernal said there was a 95% chance of him becoming a paraplegic due to the crash.

Bernal’s team mate Brandon Rivera is receiving treatment at the same hospital after injuring his elbow and shoulder in a separate incident while training in the same area.

Bernal to undergo more surgery after crash

Independent Information

Egan Bernal will undergo a second round of neurosurgery following a serious crash during training in Colombia last week, the Bogota clinic...

20/11/2022

Washington has revealed its famous NFL team will now be called the Commanders following a lengthy review on how best to replace an original name that was widely seen as a racial slur against Native Americans.

The team, amid calls for racial justice and a threatened loss of sponsors, dropped their longstanding previous name Redskins in mid-2020 following a years-long campaign from critics.

The new name was unveiled on Wednesday after the Washington franchise committed to avoiding Native American imagery in its rebrand following two seasons as the Washington Football Team.

“As an organisation, we are excited to rally and rise together as one under our new identity while paying homage to our local roots and what it means to represent the nation’s capital,” owner Dan Snyder said.

“As we kick off our 90th season, it is important for our organisation and fans to pay tribute to our past traditions, history, legacy and the greats that came before us.

“We continue to honour and represent the Burgundy and Gold while forging a pathway to a new era in Washington.”

Washington join Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians among North American major professional sports teams abandoning names linked to Native Americans.

The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and baseball’s Atlanta Braves have said they are not planning to make a similar change.

As the Commanders, Washington keeps the same burgundy and gold colours that were around for the three Super Bowl championships in the 1980s and early ’90s glory days.

It follows the desire of team president Jason Wright and coach Ron Rivera for the new name to have a connection to the US military.

Commanders was chosen over other finalists such as Red Hogs, Admirals and Presidents.

Red Wolves, an initial fan favourite, was ruled out earlier in the process because of copyright and trademark hurdles.

The rebranding process had been going on since the summer of 2020, when team officials opted for the temporary Washington Football Team name that lingered into the 2021 season.

The change comes amid the organisation’s latest controversy: dozens of former employees describing a toxic workplace culture, which caused Snyder to commission an investigation that was taken over by the NFL.

After the investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson’s firm, the league fined Washington $US10 million ($A14 million) and Snyder temporarily ceded day-to-day operations of the team to his wife, Tanya, while he focused on a new stadium agreement.

Washington NFL team becomes the Commanders

Independent Information

Washington has revealed its famous NFL team will now be called the Commanders following a lengthy review on how best to replace an origina...

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