Human Interest

The return of the Zambian Super League on Saturday has been put on hold after leaders Forest Rangers revealed that 28 players and staff had tested positive for COVID-19.

Rangers said on Saturday morning, hours before the scheduled re-start of the 2019-20 campaign, that they had 28 positive tests out of 58 conducted at the club ahead of their clash with Zanaco in Ndola.

Seventeen of the positive cases are players, this despite a club social media post on Tuesday, which has since been edited, that said all tests had come back negative.

Spain's health minister has expressed doubt about the prospect of spectators returning to soccer matches in September due to the threat of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.

The government's department for sport and organizing body LaLiga had hoped to let fans back into stadiums at a reduced capacity when the new season starts in September, increasing to 50% in November before full capacity returned in January.

In the early hours of Monday morning, Christopher Aurier — the 26-year-old brother of Tottenham defender Serge Aurier — was shot dead not far from a nightclub in the west suburbs of Toulouse. 

Christopher himself was a footballer who played for the RC Lens academy before stops in England, Qatar and Belgium. To commemorate his life, friends gathered at the Stade des Minimes, a local pitch where they played together, to pay tribute to him.

On July 11, 2020, the National Women’s Soccer League announced that teams would use the matchdays of July 12 and 13 to show support for Pride Month.

The league itself wrote and released the press release, which is a new and groundbreaking move.

The brother of Tottenham Hotspur's Ivory Coast defender Serge Aurier has been shot dead in France, the Premier League club said on Monday.

The brother, Christopher Aurier, was shot at a nightclub in the early hours of Monday morning in the southern French city of Toulouse, according to La Depeche, a French media outlet.

The suspected gunman fled the scene and is being sought by police, according to a French police source.

Serge Aurier, who is 27, joined Spurs in 2017 from French club Paris St-Germain.

Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha has been subjected to racist abuse on social media and the forward shared screenshots ahead of Sunday's Premier League game at Aston Villa.

The Ivory Coast international tweeted images of the messages he received from an individual on Saturday, which included one of members of the white supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan.

Woke up to this today. pic.twitter.com/Zal0F96htJ

Last month, NASCAR finally banned Confederate flags from racetracks around the country, saying the symbol runs contrary to the organization’s commitment to a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans. It got us thinking: What discrimination in soccer still exists that needs to be eradicated from the beautiful game?

Born in Rome on Nov. 10, 1928, legendary composer Ennio Morricone died in Rome on July 6, 2020, at the age of 91. Morricone composed over 400 scores for cinema and TV, but it’s his score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly that’s considered “one of the greatest and most original” in film history.

For our younger readers, you’ll likely recognize one of the tracks — “The Ecstasy of Gold” — from the introduction to Jackass Number Two.

A 16-year-old goalkeeper in Russia’s third tier is lucky to be alive after being struck by lightning during a training session on July 4. 

Ivan Zakborovsky can be seen in a video preparing to take a shot on goal while his teammates trained on the near touchline. Right before taking the shot a bolt of lightning struck Zakborovsky. His team, Znamya Truda, tweeted a video of the incident and an update on his condition.

Момент удара молнии

Kateryna Monzul will become the first female to take charge of the Ukrainian Cup final when Dynamo Kiev face Vorskla Poltava on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Football Association said on Monday.

Monzul, 39, was the first woman to referee a Ukrainian Premier League match when she took charge of Chornomorets Odesa against Volyn Lutsk in 2016.

She refereed the opening match of the 2015 Women's World Cup and the final between the United States and Japan as well as matches at the 2019 tournament including the quarterfinal.