How Michael Jordan And the Bulls Inspired the World – Sports Illustrated

ZURICH (AP) — Two months before FIFA is set to confirm Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host, the soccer body was urged again Friday to allow independent scrutiny of the kingdom’s human rights obligations for the tournament.

A group of law and human rights experts plus Saudi activists abroad want FIFA to mandate ongoing reviews — and a potential termination clause — into the 2034 World Cup hosting contract.

The advisers who came to Zurich on Friday want FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is closely tied to Saudi political and soccer leaders, to learn from how Qatar was picked to host the 2022 World Cup. Qatar won in 2010 with little thought from FIFA’s then-leaders about legal safeguards and reputational challenges.

Saudi Arabia, like Qatar, is a traditionally conservative society and needs a huge construction project relying on migrant workers to build stadiums and other infrastructure for global soccer’s biggest event.

“There are really no excuses now,” British lawyer Rodney Dixon told The Associated Press. “If it means that they therefore have to come to a different kind of agreement in December, that is what they should do.”

World Cup hosting contracts will be signed after the Dec. 11 decision by more than 200 FIFA member federations at an online meeting. Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for 2034.

Promising not to be confrontational with FIFA, Dixon said: “We are not naive. It is not FIFA’s role to change the world. They are not the UN.”

The briefing in FIFA’s home city came two days after the UN General Assembly in New York rejected a Saudi bid to get a seat on the 47-nation Human Rights Council for the next three years.

On Friday, the would-be FIFA advisers cited Saudi Arabia’s record on freedom of speech and assembly, and laws on labor and male guardianship that limit women’s freedoms.

After Infantino was first elected in 2016, when scrutiny was intense on Qatar and its treatment of migrant workers, FIFA demanded a human rights strategy from future World Cup hosts.

Bid rules for the 2030 and 2034 men’s tournaments refer to “activities in connection with the bidding for and hosting” rather than rights in wider society.

In May, FIFA got an offer from the law and human rights experts to create an independent process for monitoring progress in Saudi Arabia.

Swiss law professor Mark Pieth, an anti-corruption advisor to FIFA from 2011-14, said they had been ignored and “we are here in Zurich to try again.”

In July, Saudi plans for the World Cup were published including a review of its human rights strategy by lawyers it chose, and 15 stadium projects.

Human Rights Watch researcher Joey Shea said Friday it documented “grave labor violations” against migrant workers who number more than 13 million, or about 40% of the kingdom’s population.

The scale of construction required for the World Cup and potential for labor abuses “is really, really chilling,” Shea said in a live link from London.

She cautioned that while rights groups had limited access to operate in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup, there is “zero access” to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi soccer officials have consistently said the kingdom is making progress on social reforms as part of the Vision 2030 drive by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to modernize and create a post-oil economy.

The 2034 bid campaign was contacted for comment Friday.

In a video message from Washington D.C., Abdullah Alaoudh of the Middle East Democracy Center insisted “the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia has worsened under Mohamed bin Salman’s leadership.”

Saudi Arabia was ranked No. 131 of 146 nations on gender issues by the World Economic Forum, Dixon noted.

“(There are) so many laws that prejudice women,” he said. “None of them are addressed by the Saudi bid.”

FIFA is evaluating World Cup bidders with reports likely in early December. It also must assess the human rights strategy of the sole candidate for the 2030 World Cup: co-hosts Spain, Portugal and Morocco with single games in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

“All relevant reports, including the independent human rights context assessments and the human rights strategies of all bidders for the 2030 and 2034 editions, are available on our website,” FIFA said Friday.

FIFA and Infantino have not held a news conference to take any questions on World Cup bids since the 2034 edition was fast-tracked toward Saudi Arabia one year ago.

Any protest among FIFA voters on Dec. 11 has been made less likely.

FIFA said last week both 2030 and 2034 awards will be combined in a single vote. Any European opposition to the Saudi bid also would count against Spain and Portugal. Victory by acclamation without an itemized vote is possible.

“If FIFA is desperate to give Saudi Arabia the World Cup,” Pieth said, “the least would be to see to it that the minimum of these (human rights) requirements is actually upheld.”

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AP soccer:

NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve has seen a lot in her incredible career that’s included four WNBA championships.

The historic rally by the Lynx to beat New York 95-93 in a wild Game 1 of the WNBA Finals ranks right up there as one of the best moments.

“We’re the first team in WNBA playoff history to be down 15 (in the final 5 minutes) and come back and win the game,” Reeve said. “So that ranks really high. I think it defines our team. Getting through difficult times. That’s what we’ve been talking about. You have to be mentally tough, resilient. … Thrilled that we could hang in there.”

Minnesota rallied from 18 points down in the first half and Napheesa Collier’s turnaround jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime lifted the team to the win over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.

With the game tied, Collier faked in the lane and scored. New York had a chance to tie it but Breanna Stewart’s layup at the buzzer was off.

“The basketball gods were on our side tonight,” said Courtney Williams, who had 23 points, including a four-point play with 5.5 seconds left in regulation, to lead Minnesota.

Collier finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Sunday in New York. Before the game, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league is expanding the Finals to best-of-seven starting next year.

The OT got off to a slow start before Minnesota built an 88-84 advantage as New York missed its first six shots. Jonquel Jones finally got the Liberty on the board with a corner 3-pointer with 1:38 left. Williams answered with her own 3-pointer and the teams traded baskets over the next minute. Sabrina Ionescu’s steal in the backcourt and layup got New York within 93-91 with 32.9 left.

Jones then stole the ball at midcourt and scored to tie it four seconds later. Minnesota worked the clock down before Collier’s basket broke the tie.

The Liberty blew an 11-point lead in the final 3:23 of regulation when Minnesota scored 12 straight points, capped by Williams’ four-point play.

The Liberty made the most of the last few seconds in regulation. After Stewart’s first shot was blocked with a second left and went out of bounds, Ionescu inbounded the ball to her under the basket and she was fouled. The officials reviewed the play to see if the foul occurred before the buzzer sounded and deemed that it did awarding Stewart two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.

She hit the first of two free throws with the second one rolling off the rim. Williams’ shot on the other end was off and the game headed to OT.

“We just take it on the chin, you know. We were up a lot and then we had a wild kind of sequence to end the fourth,” Stewart said. “Didn’t start overtime great. I had a great look at the end and I didn’t make it. But I think that this is a series. We wanted to really win, obviously, for home court. But the beauty is, we have another game on Sunday and we’ll be ready.”

Jones led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu finished with 19 and Stewart had 18.

New York came right at Minnesota, which was playing just two days after beating Connecticut in the semifinals. The Liberty built an 18-point lead in the first half before the Lynx rallied.

The 18-point rally tied the New York Liberty’s record they set in 1999 in Game 2 of the Finals that ended with Teresa Weatherspoon’s historic halfcourt shot.

Both teams are looking to make history in this series. The Liberty are looking for the franchise’s first championship while the Lynx are vying for a league-record fifth. They were the best teams during the regular season, finishing in the top two spots in the standings.

New York is in the finals for the second consecutive year and is hoping to erase the scar of losing to the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. Minnesota is making its first appearance in the championship round since 2017, when the team won its fourth title in a seven-year span.

The Liberty had lost two of the three regular-season meetings to Minnesota and the Commissioner’s Cup championship, but both teams have said that those games didn’t really matter heading into the championship.

The Lynx were able to hold Jones in check in all three of the wins with the Liberty’s star center scoring in single digits each time. She reached double figures by the end of the first quarter on Thursday.

Minnesota held New York to 38% shooting and improved to 181-11 since 2011 when the team holds an opponent under 40% shooting.

The star-studded New York crowd of 17,732 was loud and spirited as it has been all season. Spike Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Meek Mill and New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos were all in attendance. Lee was wearing an Ionescu jersey.

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AP WNBA:

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps need a win — badly.

Points have been tough to come by for the ‘Caps in recent weeks and, with just two games left in their regular-season schedule, Vancouver is in danger of having to play its way into a Major League Soccer post-season series.

The club has a chance to make up ground Sunday when it hosts Los Angeles FC.

“Huge importance,” Whitecaps midfielder Stuart Armstrong said of the match. “We want to try and climb the table so every point is very valuable.”

The two sides have been on opposite trajectories in recent weeks.

Vancouver (13-11-8) comes into Sunday’s matchup winless in its last five MLS appearances (0-3-2) after falling 1-0 to Minnesota United at B.C. Place last Saturday.

LAFC (17-8-7) heads north on a four-game win streak. The squad hasn’t lost since Sept. 21 when L.A. dropped a 3-1 road decision to Dallas FC.

“One thing I’ve learned in this league is that any game is a new opportunity to win. And any game, if you come in the right mindset, you can win it,” said ‘Caps defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We are a good team, we are good players. And if we come with the right attitude in the game, we can do good.”

LAFC is an opponent the Whitecaps are all too familiar with, having faced the club twice already this year and six times last season. The most-recent rendezvous came during the Leagues Cup competition back in July, when Vancouver edged L.A. on penalties.

This time around is likely to look a little different because both sides will be missing key pieces due to international call-ups.

Vancouver will be without the creative offence of captain Ryan Gauld (Scotland), the scoring prowess of Fafa Picault (Haiti) and the defensive talents of Andres Cubas (Paraguay), as well as three other important players.

LAFC will miss sniper Denis Bouanga (Gabon), who has the second most goals in MLS (19), and leads the league in both shots (148) and shots on target.

The absences will undoubtedly change the game, said ‘Caps head coach Vanni Sartini.

“I think we need to be very open to understand how they’re going to come and play. Because maybe they’re not going to play like they usually play, in terms of system, in terms of positioning of the players. But they still have a lot of quality players,” he said.

With so many of his regular starters away, Sartini will be looking for other players to step up while maintaining Vancouver’s identity.

“The last couple of games, especially the (3-0 loss) against Seattle, we didn’t give what we can do,” the coach said. “I think we need to reset and be really focused on us.

“Because when we focus on us, we can beat any team.”

While a victory Sunday could help Vancouver avoid a play-in game, the club knows L.A. is still trying to lock up first spot in the West.

“They’re obviously at the top end of the table so we know they’re going to be a good team. They’re fighting it out with the (L.A.) Galaxy. We’re in a slightly different battle at the moment,” Armstrong said.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge. But these are the type of games you want to play in. And you always enjoy the big matches.”

LOS ANGELES FC (17-8-7) AT VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-11-8)

Sunday, B.C. Place

INS AND OUTS: Both sides will be missing some major players due to international call-ups. Vancouver’s Ali Ahmed (Canada), Sam Adekugbe (Canada), Cubas (Paraguay), Gauld (Scotland), Picault (Haiti) and Pedro Vite (Ecuador) are all with their national teams, while L.A. will be without Bouanga (Gabon), Cristian Olivera (Uruguay) and Maxime Chanot (Luxembourg). LAFC’s Lorenzo Dellavalle and Jesus Murillo are also out with knee injuries.

HISTORY BOOKS: Sunday’s game will mark the 20th all-time meeting between the two clubs. LAFC has fared better and holds a 9-5-4 edge in the matchups, but the clubs have split their two previous games in 2024.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS: Vancouver won its third-straight Canadian Championship title in September, while L.A. is the reigning U.S. Open Cup champion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.