List of All Articles with Tag 'por'

Jimmy Butler had a new look for Media Day and the NBA world immediately took notice

Liverpool are seeking further information about the review into Saturday’s offside controversy at Tottenham before deciding on next steps. The club had a Luis Diaz goal ruled out in north London due to a miscommunication between VAR Darren England and on-field referee Simon Hooper. The Premier League game was goalless at the time of the incident, with the Reds going on to lose 2-1. Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. Much of the focus since has been on precisely how the club would like the matter escalated and resolved, but PA understands at this stage the key word in the statement from a Liverpool perspective is “explore”. They are seeking greater clarity and transparency over precisely what the review of the incident promised by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) will entail. The Reds acknowledge there is no playbook and no established procedure to deal with this set of circumstances, as there would be in the case of appealing against a red card for instance. PGMOL issued a statement on Saturday night acknowledging a “significant error” had occurred. Hooper and his assistants had given offside against Diaz on the field, and the PA news agency understands that although England followed the correct procedure in drawing lines, he lost focus and mistakenly thought the initial onfield decision had been onside. This resulted in him issuing a ‘check complete’ notice to Hooper, rather than advising of an intervention and the goal being awarded. Once the officials realised an error had been made, play had restarted and VAR protocols state that once that has happened, there is no way back to revisit a decision. England was replaced as a fourth official for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford match on Sunday while his assistant VAR at Tottenham, Dan Cook, has been replaced for Monday night’s match between Fulham and Chelsea. Referee and VAR appointments for the coming weekend’s matches are due to be announced at 10am on Tuesday morning. The controversy over the Diaz goal has led to calls for the conversation between England and Hooper to be broadcast. PGMOL has not ruled out the possibility of the audio forming part of the next ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ programme, which is due to air next Monday. England and Cook had been part of a team of officials who oversaw a fixture between Sharjah and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning. Requests for English officials to take charge of domestic matches overseas are made to the Football Association, with permission for officials to travel granted jointly by the FA and PGMOL. Just as players involved in Europa League matches on a Thursday do not return to domestic action until Sunday, so officials’ duties are balanced to take account of any overseas assignments in the week. For instance, Michael Oliver, who refereed the match in the UAE last week, was a fourth official on Saturday but was back to refereeing at Forest on Sunday. Nor was the UAE trip unusual. It was the fifth time in the last 10 months that officials have overseen domestic matches overseas, with Tom Bramall and Andy Madley leading teams to Japan in January and the early summer respectively, Oliver officiating a Saudi match in April and Craig Pawson going to Greece in May. That is on top of English officials frequently being called upon for club and national team matches in international competitions. Liverpool’s statement said the error that occurred had led to sporting integrity being undermined, but Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said on Monday he still had complete “trust” in referees. “Well, I’m not so often giving comment on refereeing because they do what they have to do,” the Dutchman said. “Of course, the standard has to be high and it’s a part of the game. “Of course, you can expect, we can expect, teams can expect, the fans can all expect, that it has to be a high standard – so it should be because it’s Premier League. “But I think and I’m sure they do what they can. They are very professional, so they will give their best and I trust them.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Scotland’s Finn Russell says second best will not be good enough against Ireland Rory McIlroy says he began thinking about Ryder Cup quest a year ago Great to grow game – Jamie George in favour of historic England tour to Samoa

The FIA on Monday said Michael Andretti meets all required criteria to field a future Formula One team

A 104-year-old Chicago woman is hoping to be certified as the oldest person to ever skydive after making a tandem jump Sunday and landing 13,500 feet later at a northern Illinois airport

The return of Champions League soccer to Old Trafford will be a reminder of happier times for Erik ten Hag when Manchester United hosts Galatasaray

Government officials say a new inspection has been ordered at the stadium that hosted the 2004 Athens Olympics after rust was found along the iconic arched roof

The crew chief for Kevin Harvick insisted he didn't cheat and race conditions caused Harvick to become the first driver disqualified at Talladega Superspeedway since 1972

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez will undergo surgery on his right foot for an injured metatarsal

VAR was supposed to put an end to all of this

By Saturday evening, as has become protocol but also a frustrating norm, Howard Webb felt he had no choice but to apologise to Liverpool for the Luis Diaz decision. Jurgen Klopp might well repeat the question as to who that actually helps, but a failure to communicate such a sentiment would have made it worse. That’s partly because it is actually a failure of communication that is at the core of the controversy, which now poses a genuine credibility crisis for the Premier League. "It's an image problem," as one involved figure put it, with Liverpool themselves describing the situation as “unacceptable” in an unprecedented statement. Because, for all the focus on the nature of VAR, this is an issue that really comes down to basic human error. The details at the root of the story, though, are remarkable. If we are to take the referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL)’s explanation at face value – that this represented a “momentary lapse in concentration” – the VAR didn’t actually know what it was supposed to be looking at. Darren England and Dan Cook thought they were checking whether a goal should stand, rather than an offside call as referee Simon Hooper ruled, which was partly why the decision was made so quickly. It ended up creating the farcical situation that a communication of “check complete” led to a fair strike being wrongly disallowed in a completely preventable fashion. After that, how was it that play was allowed to proceed, given those involved would have had immediate knowledge that this was wrong? The IFAB rules dictate that play cannot be called back once it has resumed, but was no one watching in the meantime? Would hasty shouts not have been made as soon as they saw Spurs shaping to take the free kick? It has since emerged that the VAR and fourth official team of England, Cook and Michael Oliver were officiating a game in the UAE Pro League as late as Thursday evening, which has raised fair questions within the game over fatigue was a potential explanation for that “momentary lapse in concentration”. Whatever the reason, it has created a credibility crisis, to go with much wider-reaching controversies like the unresolved Financial Fair Play cases involving Manchester City and Everton. That is all the worse for the Premier League since this is an issue the competition prides itself on and is seen as a significant factor in its status as the most popular league in the world. Fans could trust what they were seeing. Instead, this latest controversy also comes on the back of a long-term and increasing hostility and suspicion of VAR from a significant part of football's support. It was for this reason that Webb was recently brought in as PGMOL chief in the first place, and many within the game say he has been gradually realising the scale of the challenge. Hostility to VAR goes hand in hand with a widely perceived “crisis” in the level of refereeing, which is commonly cited as the worst in years. It should be stressed that this is all in circumstances where officials are under far more scrutiny than ever before. There are more cameras to reveal every element of a decision – and whether they should have taken a different one – in a manner that was unimaginable in the supposed golden days right up to the mid-2000s. Even Klopp acknowledged the extreme “pressure” on officials, which undoubtedly plays into errors that they obviously don’t make “on purpose”, as the Liverpool manager put it. Discussions such as this should never go without mentioning how the real crisis with refereeing is at lower levels, and the scale of the abuse they receive. It has undeniably affected the talent pool at the top, and there is a bigger debate to be had over whether it should be a better-remunerated profession to match both the talent they are overseeing and their necessity in getting the game played. The introduction of VAR itself was nevertheless supposed to be a remedy for all of this and – at its core – an “aid” for referees. It has instead had the inadvertent effect of making all discussion much more poisonous and pressurised. That comes from a disconnect between the implied expectation and stated intention of VAR, the actual application and the communication. The very nature of the technology has created an expectation of perfection, even though it was only ever supposed to improve accuracy to around 98 per cent. This has happened, but the fundamental problem is that the remaining 2 per cent tend to be hugely high-profile errors. That is by definition given the threshold for VAR to get involved. There has previously been very little communication on how those decisions were made, which has had the effect of only deepening suspicion among supporters. The vacuum of information inevitably leads to speculation and then to conspiracy theories. While this isn’t to say there is any legitimacy whatsoever in the latter, since the most likely explanation is always basic human error, it does have the real-world effect of further toxifying the atmosphere around refereeing. This in turn puts even more pressure on them, because their integrity is unfairly questioned. It is why the very technology of VAR has deepened this problem. Whereas error could previously have been written off as officials going off their own sight and instinct – even if the reason VAR was introduced was because of criticism of referees in the first place – they now have access to so much more technological aid. Many more fans consequently see the only possible explanation as some kind of corruption. You only have to take a glance on social media. This is why better communication is essential. Webb’s great mission has been to improve that, and he has generally done a better job, but it’s fair to say the response to Saturday made this worse. Liverpool were perplexed at how long it took for a statement to be made about the offside, the PGMOL eventually only commenting in the middle of Klopp’s post-game press conference. It was actually The Independent that made him aware of their statement, to the Liverpool manager's increased bemusement. The explanation that the VAR actually checked for the wrong call then came even later, as it felt like every development deepened the crisis. There are at least a number of logical steps that can be taken to address that. One of those is not to just remove VAR, since this is a non-starter that goes way beyond England and up to Fifa. It is here to stay. That’s also why it’s just vital that cases like this lead to improvement. One first step is to limit this extra work abroad – as England and Cook’s appointment in the UAE was within the rules and actually approved by the FA. Another is to improve the communication so there is absolutely no ambiguity. It is simple to go from “check complete” to “the decision should be a goal”, or equivalent. That also raises the most obvious solution of all. All of the communication between the referee and VAR should be made audible and accessible, so as to eliminate any ambiguity. People might still disagree with decisions, but they would at least be able to understand why they are made. That goes a long way to creating acceptance of VAR. When it was raised whether the audio from this decision would be made public, one response was that Match Officials Mic’d Up is now a monthly show so it will likely feature on that. The reality is that the Premier League could do with it coming out now, because of the number of questions that are being asked. Liverpool themselves called for the review to have “full transparency”. "This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again,” the club said. It doesn’t help that this comes amid even greater credibility questions for the Premier League, as everyone awaits the outcome of the charges against Manchester City and Everton over alleged Financial Fair Play breaches. Many of the sport’s “stakeholders” are now livid at this. Even for broadcasters, this affects the credibility of the product they put on television. That trust is what the game is founded on. In the meantime, Liverpool are exploring “the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. An apology, evidently, is not enough. Read More Every VAR apology so far: From Liverpool offside to Man City handball Liverpool to ‘explore options’ in response to ‘unacceptable’ VAR error VAR officials who made Liverpool error took charge of UAE match just 48 hours before Every VAR apology so far: From Liverpool offside to Man City handball More VAR disapproval as Nottingham Forest and Brentford both berate decisions Liverpool to ‘explore options’ in response to ‘unacceptable’ VAR error

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag confirmed Antony could return in the Champions League clash against Galatasaray amid police inquiries into allegations of abuse against him. The 23-year-old was given a leave of absence by the club last month to deal with the allegations that the winger has always strongly denied. Antony returned to the UK from Brazil last week and attended a voluntary interview with Greater Manchester Police, with United saying on Friday that he was back available for selection. The winger returned to training on Saturday and could feature against Turkish champions Galatasaray at Old Trafford, a month on from his last appearance at Arsenal. “Antony will be in consideration, but yesterday was his first time back in team training,” United boss Ten Hag said. “We have a final training (session) and then we make a decision, but he will be in consideration, yeah.” Antony is facing several accusations of physical aggression towards his former girlfriend Gabriela Cavallin, who spoke to Brazilian outlet UOL earlier this month. The winger has denied those allegations, as well as further assault claims made by Rayssa de Freitas and Ingrid Lana. Antony will be in consideration, but yesterday was his first time back in team training Erik ten Hag Cavallin is reportedly set to speak to police later this week and Ten Hag was asked what Antony’s return to the squad says to victims of domestic violence. “So, he cooperated fully,” the United boss said, having not heard the initial question. “It came out he’s not charged, so…” Antony is back involved, but fellow attacker Jadon Sancho remains banished from a first-team squad beset by injuries. Full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Sergio Reguilon are out, while Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo have been unable to feature this season. Now key centre-back Lisandro Martinez is facing up to three months on the sidelines. The Argentina international underwent surgery after sustaining a fractured metatarsal in April’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Sevilla. Martinez returned to action this term, but an aggravation of that foot injury means he again has to go under the knife at a key point of the season. “I can confirm Licha Martinez will have to undergo surgery,” Ten Hag said. “So, the team news is probably Antony dos Santos can return.” United head into Tuesday’s match in desperate need of a win, not only due to losing their Champions League opener 4-3 at Bayern Munich but because of Saturday’s meek 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace. That Old Trafford defeat brought them back down to earth with a bump after much-needed back-to-back wins, putting them under intense pressure and scrutiny once again. “Of course we are disappointed about the result,” Ten Hag said. “Then you have to analyse the game, where were the problems, then you have to move forward, but also give solutions for the problems.” Ten Hag believes “the team is moving forward” despite the results, saying there are positives among the negatives. Marcus Rashford’s performances have been among United’s issues, having scored just once after a campaign in which he plundered 30 goals in all competitions. “The facts are that he is not scoring in this moment, but also he had the opportunities,” Ten Hag said of the misfiring England international. “I think, for instance, in the game against Brighton, there were five or six occasions when he was in a very good spot. “If he works hard and if he invests every day, goes into every game with the right focus and if the team also around him supply him, help him and support him with movement then it will come. “Then Marcus Rashford is a player who is capable of always scoring goals in every game and when he’s coming in the right spots he will score.”

On Sunday (October 1), NFL viewers had a choice: watch the game as they always have on ESPN, or watch the same game, in real-time, in Andy's Bedroom from the Toy Story franchise on Disney+. The NFL's annual London game took place at Wembley Stadium with the Jacksonville Jaguars up against the Atlanta Falcons and as part of an alternate telecast, the NFL brought 'Toy Story Funday Football' to viewers screens. Everything was animated in real-time, made possible by chips in the players' football pads, combined with an overhead tracking camera on the field. It was a pretty impressive pull-off from the collaborative efforts of the NFL, Disney and Pixar, with viewers loving the game, which included a halftime show featuring Duke Caboom: Not only is it a fun alternative to watching the regular game, but it also entices children to get involved in watching, and potentially playing, football. To say fathers across the globe were grateful is an understatement. One dad shared that his daughters had never watched football with him until the Toy Story game: A video uploaded to TikTok showed two children staring up at the screen, with the text overlay reading "Thank You NFL - Sincerely, Dads Everywhere": @calibreezybaby I have my Sundays back 😂 #tiktok #foryou #fyp #video #toystory #nfl #haha And there are plenty of other videos showing children glued to the screen whilst parents watch the game in peace: @arosales92 Watching Toy Story Funday Football with my girls #fyp#CCfyp#disney #disneyplus #pixar #toystory #football #twins #momsoftiktok #toddlersoftiktok There were a few glitches during the animated game, such as not cutting back to the game in time, but it was an extremely impressive and original watch, with many asking the NFL to have a Toy Story game every week. Sign up to 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.