Sports
Football legend Diego Maradona dies of heart attack


Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona, has died of a heart attack at the age 60.
He died at home on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Matias Morlahas, barely two weeks after having surgery on a blot clot in his brain.
The Argentine news outlet Clarin broke the news on Wednesday afternoon, describing the news of Maradona’s passing as having a ‘worldwide impact’.
The sad news was later confirmed by Maradona’s lawyer. Soon, tributes were pouring in from all over the world of football.
Maradona left hospital on November 11 just eight days after he was admitted for emergency brain surgery.
The iconic former Argentinian footballer was driven away from the private Olivos Clinic just before 6pm on November 11 as hundreds of fans of photographers tried to get a glimpse of him.
Maradona was hospitalised the previous week and had to have an emergency operation to remove a blood clot from his brain.
Argentinian TV reporters travelling on motorbikes filmed the ambulance carrying him leaving before following the vehicle to transmit every inch of his journey.
His lawyer had said that the 60-year-old would continue to receive treatment for alcohol dependency.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time on the pitch, Maradona’s life off the pitch was equally notorious – amid battles with drug and alcohol addiction, dailymail.co.uk reports.
He won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, having knocked England out of the tournament in a match which saw him score the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal.
Maradona, who was the coach of Gimnasia Esgrima in his home country, had been admitted to hospital on several occasions since his retirement.
He almost died of cocaine-induced heart failure in 2000 and underwent years of rehabilitation.
Maradona, who was well known for having a wild lifestyle during and after his playing days, had a gastric bypass operation to lose weight in 2005.
He also fell ill at the last World Cup in Russia, where he was filmed passing out in an executive box when Argentina beat Nigeria in Group D.
Maradona began taking cocaine in the mid-1980s – during the height of his playing days, going on to develop an addiction to drugs and alcohol over the next two decades.
His drug use began in 1982 and reportedly grew worse in 1984 when he moved to Napoli and had connections with the Comorra.
In 2014, Maradona said of his drug use: ‘I gave my opponents a big advantage. Do you know the player I could have been if I hadn’t taken drugs?’
His first real punishment came in 1991 when he was banned for 15 months by Napoli after testing positive for cocaine.
Later in the same year, he was arrested in Buenos Aires for possessing half a kilo of cocaine, and was given a 14-month suspended sentence.
In 1994, Maradona was back in the fold with the Argentina national team, making headlines around the world for a now-famous screaming celebration into the camera lens after a goal against Greece.
His tournament was to come to an early end, though, after he was expelled days later for testing positive for five variants of ephedrine, a banned substance. He was banned for 15 months, ending his international career.
In 1995, he moved to Boca Juniors but two years later, he failed a drugs test for the third time in six years, putting an end to his playing career.
Officially, a ‘prohibited substance’ is all that has been revealed about that test, but Boca President Mauricio Macri has said in interviews that cocaine was found in a urine sample.
In 1996, Maradona said publicly: ‘I was, am and always will be a drug addict.’
In 2000, the football legend suffered an overdose, and in 2004 he had a heart attack.
A year later, he was forced to have gastric bypass surgery, and in 2007 he was back in hospital again, this time suffering hepatitis.
It is then understood he stopped taking drugs, telling a journalist in 2017 that he hadn’t taken drugs for 13 years and was feeling ‘great’.
He has been drinking alcohol since 2004, though, hitting the headlines at the 2018 World Cup for his bizarre antics at a number of Argentina games.
A video emerged of him drinking tequila on a plane, and he claimed he ‘drank all the wine’ ahead of their win over Nigeria.
Sports
Fiorentina player struck by object thrown from West Ham fans


Fiorentina player struck by object thrown from West Ham fans
The 2022/2023 Europa Conference League final match on Wednesday was stopped briefly after West Ham United fans threw objects towards Fiorentina’s players.
Plastic pint glasses were hurled from the West Ham end throughout the first half of the match at the Eden Arena in Prague.
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Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande eventually halted play after Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi was hit by another missile as he went to take a corner-kick shortly before half-time.
Biraghi had suffered a cut to the back of his head and required treatment and a bandage.
A message over the PA system urged supporters to stop throwing objects on to the pitch and to respect the players, before play eventually resumed with the score still 0-0.
The match later ended 2-1 in favour of West Ham, after a late goal by Jarrod Bowen.
Fiorentina player struck by object thrown from West Ham fans
(dpa/NAN)
Sports
Messi heading for Inter Miami in MLS after PSG exit


Messi heading for Inter Miami in MLS after PSG exit
LIONEL Messi has announced he is to join Major League Soccer (MLS) side Inter Miami.
The 35-year-old Argentina forward had been strongly linked with a move to Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, to join a league which already features Cristiano Ronaldo and now Karim Benzema.
However, with Messi’s two-year contract at Paris St-Germain (PSG) coming to an end this month, the World Cup winner confirmed he was set to head to the U.S.
“I made the decision that I am going to go to Miami,” Messi said.
“I still haven’t closed it 100 per cent. I’m missing some things, but we decided to continue on the path.”
MLS franchise Miami are co-owned by former England captain David Beckham.
The Florida side recently sacked Beckham’s former Manchester United and England team-mate Phil Neville as coach.
They are currently bottom of the 15-team Eastern Conference, but remain a fiercely ambitious club.
Messi had also been linked with a move back to his former club FC Barcelona.
But he confirmed that when that was not set to go through, he opted for a fresh challenge in the U.S.
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“If the FC Barcelona thing didn’t work out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more in my family,” he said.
“I really wanted, I was very excited to be able to return (to FC Barcelona), but after having experienced what I experienced and the exit I had, I did not want to be in the same situation again —– waiting to see what was going to happen.
“I heard that they had to sell players or lower players’ salaries and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that, nor take charge of obtaining something that had to do with all that.”
PSG announced last week that Messi would be leaving and he had reportedly been offered a deal worth 400 million euros (343.5 million pounds) per year to move to Saudi Arabia.
Messi revealed that while his heart may have been pushing him towards a return to the Nou Camp, it was a move which he was not totally in tune with.
He felt it could have left him open to more issues down the line, having had to “walk the bullfight” at the end of his previous stay.
“I also wanted to look for something else and a bit of peace of mind,” Messi said.
“I had offers from other European clubs, but I didn’t even evaluate them because my idea was to go to FC Barcelona.
“If the FC Barcelona thing didn’t come out, analysing it, then (I was) leaving European football and much more (doing so) after winning the World Cup, which was what I needed to close my career on this side.
“Going to live in the U.S. in a different way and enjoying day-to-day much more, but with the same responsibility of wanting to win and always doing things well, but (now) with more peace of mind.”
Messi had talked with FC Barcelona manager and close friend Xavi over a potential return, but said he “spoke very little, once or twice at most” with president Joan Laporta.
“We were very excited, because when something came out we would discuss if he really wanted me to come back, if it was good for the team and for him, and we kept in communication,” Messi said.
“We never even got to talk about the contract. A proposal was passed over, but never a formal, written, signed proposal, because there was still nothing and we did not know if it was going to be possible or not.
“There was the intention, but we couldn’t advance anything, we didn’t even talk about money formally.
“If it had been a matter of money I would have gone to Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. It seemed like a lot of money to me and the truth is that my decision was for the other side and not for money.”
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FC Barcelona issued a statement which claimed that the club had “presented” a proposal for Messi’s return which had been desired by both parties.
The club added that they were later informed of the player’s decision to instead head to Miami.
“President Laporta understood and respected Messi’s decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands, further away from the spotlight and the pressure he has been subjected to in recent years,” the club statement read.
“Both Joan Laporta and Jorge Messi also agreed to work together to promote a proper tribute from Barca fans to honour a footballer who has been, is, and always will be beloved by Barca.”
On its part, MLS welcomed Messi’s decision.
“We are pleased that Lionel Messi has stated that he intends to join Inter Miami and MLS this summer,” a statement from the organisation read.
“Although work remains to finalise a formal agreement, we look forward to welcoming one of the greatest football players of all time to our league.”
In spite of not making a return to FC Barcelona as a player, Messi, a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, intends to eventually settle back in the city with his family.
“Obviously I will like to be close to the club (in the future). What’s more, I’m going to live in FC Barcelona,” he said. “It is one of the things that we have very clear with my wife, my children.
“Hopefully, I don’t know when, but one day I can contribute something to the club and help because it is a club that I love as I always said.
“I appreciate the love I had from people during my career and I will like to be here again, yes.”(dpa/NAN)
Sports
Benzema strikes Saudi Arabia huge deal


Benzema strikes Saudi Arabia huge deal
Karim Benzema has completed his move to Saudia Arabian club Al-Ittihad after leaving Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old spent 14 years with Real Madrid, winning five Champions League titles, five Club World Cups, four LaLiga titles, four UEFA Supercups, three Copas del Rey and three Spanish Super Cups as well as leaving as the second top scorer in the club’s history with 354 goals across all competitions.
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The Frenchman’s exit as a free agent came amid widespread reports he was set to move to Saudi Arabia and that switch has now been confirmed, with Benzema now set to go head to head with former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo next season.
Benzema has signed a deal to 2026 and, according to reports, will earn around € 200m per year at Al-Ittihad.
Benzema strikes Saudi Arabia huge deal
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