- Ghanaian footballer Atsu’s body found under rubble in Turkey quake, agent says Reuters.com
- Christian Atsu found dead in the rubble of devastating Turkey earthquake, agent confirms Goal.com
- Christian Atsu found dead after going missing in Turkey earthquake AS USA
- Key developments in the aftermath of the Turkey, Syria quake The Associated Press – en Español
- Turkey earthquake: Heartbreaking Christian Atsu details emerge revealing how he cancelled plane ticket to leave Hatayspor for France after scoring late winner Goal.com
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: footballer
Pop Star Shakira and Footballer Gerard Pique Separate After 12 years
According to a report, Shakira found Gerard Pique sleeping with another woman.
Madrid:
Colombian superstar Shakira and FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique announced Saturday they were calling time on their relationship of more than a decade.
The 45-year-old “Hips don’t Lie” songstress is one of the biggest names in the global music industry and has sold more than 60 million albums.
Spanish football hero Pique, 35, won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship, and is a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona.
The couple share two sons and had been living together for years on the outskirts of Barcelona.
“We regret to confirm that we are separating. For the well-being of our children, who are our upmost priority, we request respect for (our) privacy,” they said in a statement.
With her mix of Latin and Arabic rhythms and rock influence, three-time Grammy winner Shakira is one of the biggest stars from Latin America, scoring major global hits with songs such as “Hips don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever”.
In 2020, she performed with Jennifer Lopez at the halftime show of the NFL’s Super Bowl championship final in Miami, typically one of the most-watched half-hours in US television.
The couple announced their separation just over a week after Spanish court documents inched Shakira closer to standing trial in Spain for tax fraud after a Barcelona court dismissed an appeal from the singer.
Spanish prosecutors accuse her of defrauding the Spanish tax office out of 14.5 million euros ($15.5 million) on income earned between 2012 and 2014.
They say she moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with Pique became public but maintained official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.
Her defence lawyers say she moved to Spain full time only in 2015 and insist that her “conduct on tax matters has always been impeccable in all the countries she had to pay taxes”.
In an interview with AFP in 2019, Shakira said temporarily losing her voice two years earlier had been “the darkest moment of her life” and affected her “deeply”.
She later recovered her voice naturally, without needing to undergo surgery as recommended by doctors and subsequently carried out a world tour in 2018.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
French footballer Karim Benzema guilty in sex tape extortion scandal | France
The French international footballer Karim Benzema has received a one-year suspended jail sentence and been fined €75,000 (£63,000) for his involvement in a sex tape extortion scandal that shocked French sport.
A Versailles court on Wednesday found Benzema guilty of complicity in attempted blackmail against his French teammate Mathieu Valbuena over a video thought to have been stolen from Valbuena’s mobile phone.
Benzema’s lawyer said the Real Madrid striker would immediately appeal against the sentence, calling it “unfair and based on no proof”. Benzema, who denied wrongdoing, had been absent from court due to sporting commitments, but his lawyers said he would be present if a second trial took place on appeal.
The scandal shook French football in 2015 and the investigation and court case had cast a shadow over the national team ever since. An investigation opened in July 2015 when the midfielder Valbuena, who then played for France and Lyon, went to the police after being contacted by an unknown man claiming to be in possession of an incriminating sex tape apparently recorded on a mobile phone. The caller did not specify a sum of money but said they should come to an arrangement.
Benzema, 33, was one of five people put on trial last month over the extortion attempts against Valbuena. Benzema was accused of encouraging Valbuena, 37, to deal with the blackmailers and to pay them. One intermediary was a childhood friend of Benzema’s. Benzema’s lawyer denied in court that he was complicit in blackmail, saying he had intervened only to try to help his teammate find a solution, not to blackmail him.
The court found Benzema guilty of complicity in targeting Valbuena, who now plays for the Greek club Olympiakos. The judge said on Wednesday that Benzema had “personally got involved, with insistence, to try to convince Mathieu Valbuena to meet his trusted man”. The court found Benzema showed “no kindness” to Valbuena and “very much to the contrary” had acted “with a certain excitement, even jubilation”.
Both Benzema and Valbuena lost their places on the national team in 2015 when the scandal broke and preliminary charges were filed. Valbuena was described at the time by his coach as not being in an emotional state to play. Benzema was recalled this year for the European Championships.
State prosecutors had told the court that Benzema had a duty to be exemplary as a national footballer, carrying “an image of hope” and “moral values”. They told the court he had acted as a kind of middleman to ensure the blackmailers got the money they wanted.
Valbuena told the court he had been in fear for his career. “I knew if the video came out, it would be complicated for me. I felt in danger and my first instinct was to go to the police,” he said.
The court decision is unlikely to affect Benzema’s immediate sporting future. The forward is regarded as one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or award on 29 November in Paris after an impressive season with Real Madrid. The French Football Federation president, Noël Le Graët, has already said Benzema would be allowed to keep playing for France even if found guilty.
Four other men received guilty verdicts in the case on Wednesday and were given penalties ranging from suspended prison sentences to two and a half years in jail.
Josh Cavallo: Australian pro footballer announces he is gay
“I’m a footballer and I’m gay,” Cavallo said in the emotional video titled ‘Josh’s Truth.’ “All I want to do is play football and be treated equally.
“I know there are other players living in silence,” the 21-year-old added. “I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in the game of football and deserves the right to be their authentic self.”
The video was accompanied by a statement posted to Cavallo’s Twitter account.
His announcement means that Cavallo is the only current openly gay top-flight male footballer.
“Being a gay closeted footballer, I’ve had to learn to mask my feelings in order to fit the mold of a professional footballer,” Cavallo wrote. “As a gay footballer, I know there are other players living in silence.
“I want to help change this, to show that everyone is welcome in the game of football, and deserves the right to be their authentic self.”
READ: Carl Nassib makes NFL history as Raiders beat Ravens in thriller
Barcelona star defender Gerard Piqué took to Twitter to offer his support to Cavallo, tweeting: “I want to thank you for this step that you take. The world of football is far behind and you are helping us move forward.”
Cavallo follows former A-League player Andy Brennan, who in 2019 became the first Australian professional male football player to publicly come out while playing.
In 2014, former Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger came out as gay the year after he announced his retirement from football.
American international Robbie Rogers announced he was gay when retiring from professional football in February 2013, but subsequently returned to the sport with MLS club LA Galaxy three months later and went on to win the MLS Cup.