Lazio’s notorious ultras have once again made headlines, this time by calling for women to be banned from a section of the Stadio Olimpico which the hardcore fans have described as their “sacred space.”
Issued before the team’s opening Serie A match – which Lazio lost 2-1 to Napoli – the flyer read: “The Curva Nord represents for us a sacred space, an environment with an unwritten code to be respected.
“The first few rows, as always, have been experienced like the trenches. In the trenches, we do not allow women, wives and girlfriends, so we invite them to position themselves from the 10th row back.
“Those who choose the stadium as an alternative to a carefree and romantic day in [Rome’s] Villa Borghese [gardens], should go to other sections.”
Last season the club was fined after supporters displayed anti-Semitic stickers showing Holocaust victim Anne Frank in a Roma shirt. It was the latest in a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents.
Biles wears teal to highlight sexual abuse scandal
Olympic champion Simone Biles is back and she is breaking records again.
Less than a month after returning to competition following a two-year break, the American gymnast Sunday became the first woman to win five US Women’s Gymnastics Championships all-around titles.
The 21-year-old achieved the feat wearing a teal leotard, the designated color for survivors of sexual abuse, to highlight the scandal that has rocked the sport.
“It is for the survivors,” Biles told ESPN. “I stand with all of them, and I think it’s kind of special to unite.”
In January, Biles was among more than 100 gymnasts to say they were abused by ex-US team doctor Larry Nassar who received a prison sentence of up to 175 years after pleading guilty to criminal sexual conduct.
The American, who won four golds at Rio 2016, also became the first woman since Dominique Dawes in 1994 to post the top score on every event, winning in Boston with a total of 119.850 points.
Reigning world champion Morgan Hurd (113.300) was a distant 6.55 points behind, giving Biles her biggest winning margin of all her five titles.
She is also the oldest women’s all-around champion since Linda Metheny tied for the titled aged 24 in 1971.
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Real begins post-Ronaldo era with La Liga win
There will be tougher contests, but Real Madrid got off to a winning start in its opening league match of the season with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Getafe.
An inspired Gareth Bale, whose second-half strike doubled the European champions’ lead, ensured La Liga life began smoothly in the post Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedene Zidane era.
After a header from the Welshman hit the crossbar early on, he then helped set up Dani Carvajal for the opener before securing the three points with first-time finish in the 51st minute.
Victory will soothe the pain of Real’s 4-2 defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid in Wednesday’s Super Cup in Tallinn.
Over in Italy, Ronaldo’s debut ended with a dramatic 3-2 win for Juventus at Chievo as the Serie A champions came from behind even though the Portugal captain didn’t score in the game.
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Djokovic the history man
Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic can finally celebrate achieving a clean sweep.
The former world No.1 became the first player to win all nine Masters 1,000 tournaments with a straight-sets victory over Roger Federer in Cincinnati.
Djokovic, 31, had been a five-time runner-up at the Cincinnati event, losing to seven-time champion on three occasions.
“It’s a very special moment,” Djokovic told reporters. “It’s the first time I get to stand with a winning trophy in Cincinnati.”
Victory for Federer would have given him his 99th career title and leveled his head-to-head with Djokovic at 23-23 before the US Open, which starts on August 27.
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Man Utd attitude not good enough
Last month Paul Pogba was helping France to World Cup glory, but Sunday the Manchester United midfielder and his teammates succumbed to a humbling 3-2 defeat to Brighton in the English Premier League.
It was also the first time United had conceded three goals in a league match since October 2016.
The Frenchman has admitted his attitude was not right, saying that Brighton “had more hunger.”
“We did not deserve to win,” Pogba, who scored a late penalty in injury time as United suffered defeat in only its second league match of the season, told Sky Sports.
“The attitude we had was not like we wanted to beat them.
“I put myself first, my attitude was not right enough. We keep trying and pushing, and it is going to be a big lesson for us.”