WTF

Colombia's soccer chief and the head of South American football confederation CONMEBOL have written to FIFA complaining of "erroneous and discriminatory conclusions" in the assessment of the country's bid to host the 2023 Women's World Cup.

The Colombian proposal to bring the tournament to South America for the first time received the lowest score in an evaluation of three bids to host the tournament carried out by world soccer's governing body ahead of next Friday's vote.

The Premier League returned Wednesday after a 100-day hiatus like it had just left its keys, wallet and cell phone. Nothing has changed: Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United featured a heinously controversial abuse of technology, and Manchester City vs. Arsenal continued the ballad of David Luiz. 

Former Bradford City left back Tyrell Robinson has admitted in court to engaging in sexual activity with an underage girl in August of 2018 and to distributing child pornography through Snapchat. Robinson could very well be facing jail time after being bailed and sentenced to a later date.

The 22-year-old was playing for Bradford in League One when the club first suspended him back in 2018. After police announced the charges against Robinson in February of 2020, Bradford released the winger for gross misconduct.

Two of Brazil's top soccer clubs, Botafogo and Fluminense, said on Tuesday they would defy an order from their federation to resume playing competitively this week, as the country's daily coronavirus death toll hovers around 1,000.

The Rio de Janeiro state football federation proposed that the state championship, one of several state-wide tournaments that take place in Brazil before the national leagues begin in the second half of the year, restart on June 18, pending state government approval.

BELGRADE — Holders Partizan Belgrade beat bitter city rivals Red Star 1-0 on Wednesday to reach the Serbian Cup final as fans were allowed to attend games in unrestricted numbers for the first time since the coronavirus halted soccer in the Balkan nation in mid-March.

A near-capacity 25,000 crowd turned out for a tense Belgrade derby in a familiar atmosphere at Partizan's stadium as both sets of fans lit flares and taunted each other, with Bibras Natcho settling the match in the 58th minute.

BELGRADE — Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has offered a message of support to the players of a Serbian third-tier club who have gone on hunger strike over unpaid wages.

The strike involves around 25 players, according to Serbian media, from the club FC Borac, which was disbanded owing unpaid wages before its owners bought another local club and renamed it FC Borac 1926.

Serbian Matic, one of the country’s most popular internationals, rallied behind the striking players in a message on the Facebook page of global players' union FIFPRO.

BUCHAREST — A Universitatea Cluj fan was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for trying to kill a police officer during a Romanian first division relegation playoff match last year.

Vidrean Ovidiu Traian was found guilty of attempted murder after he hit the policeman over the head with a seat, leaving him unconscious and covered in blood, during the game in June against AFC Hermannstadt at the Cluj Arena.

The incident took place amid clashes between Universitatea supporters and police with fans throwing seats, stones and other objects at the officers.

Sam Kerr can claim a league title in her first season in England, even if her side wasn’t atop the Women's Super League table when the last match was played before the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down league play.

The English FA announced Friday that Chelsea would be awarded the Women’s Super League crown based on a points-per-match basis. Manchester City was atop the table with 40 points from 16 matches, but Chelsea’s 39 points from 15 matches were rewarded with the trophy.