Libya - players.bio

Afghan women’s refugee football team to make tournament debut in UAE

The Afghan women’s refugee team will take the field for the first time in an international tournament when they compete in a four-team friendly competition in the United Arab Emirates next month, world governing body FIFA said on Wednesday. The team’s creation stems from the Taliban’s ban on women’s sports following their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, prompting players to flee the country fearing persecution. The “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series” tournament will run from October 23-29 in Dubai and feature the nearly-formed Afghan refugee squad alongside the UAE, Chad and Libya’s regular teams. “Ensuring that all women have access to football is a priority for FIFA and a key element in shaping the future of our sport,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “We are aware of the potential the game has both on and off the pitch.

Sudanese clubs seek league title amid civil war

JOHANNESBURG: A civil war in Sudan has not prevented clubs competing to be national champions and qualify for the 2025/26 Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions.Here, AFP Sport also reports on why the Libyan championship play-offs will be staged in Europe, and a huge boost for Burkina Faso as they seek a maiden World Cup appearance.An eight-club mini-league is being held in Sudan amid a civil war, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and trigged a massive hunger and displacement crisis, according to the United Nations.Matches are being staged at two stadiums in a northeastern area controlled by the Sudanese army, who have been battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.The top two finishers, currently Al Hilal and Al Merrikh after three rounds, qualify for the Champions League while those coming third and fourth go into the second-tier Confederation Cup.Al Hilal, winners of the Sudanese championship a record 30 times, have lost Democratic Republic of Congo-born coach Florent Ibenge to Tanzanian club Azam.Ibenge joined the Omdurman outfit in 2022 and guided them to the Champions League quarter-finals last season despite being unable to play at home due to the civil war.The 63-year-old Congolese inherits a club that finished third in the last Tanzanian title race behind Young Africans and Simba and will compete in the Confederation Cup.Libya will stage the six-club national championship play-offs in Italian city Milan from July 15-31 instead of in the north African country owing to the political situation there.The west of the nation, including the capital Tripoli, is run by a United Nations-recognized government, but a rival administration controls the east.Leagues based in the

Lionel Messi scores on free kick to lift Inter Miami over Porto

ATLANTA: Lionel Messi connected on a free kick in the 54th minute to propel Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over FC Porto in a Group A match of the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday afternoon. After Porto struck first on Samu Aghehowa’s penalty kick in the eighth minute, Marcelo Weigandt assisted on Telasco Segovia’s game-tying goal in the 47th. Miami found its second goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half against Porto goalkeeper Claudio Ramos as Messi scored on the 68th free-kick goal of his illustrious career. Each team netted their first goals of the tournament after Miami tied Al Ahly 0-0 on Saturday and Porto suffered the same result against Palmeiras on Sunday. After VAR review confirmation, it was determined that Miami’s Noah Allen committed a tripping penalty in the box against Joao Mario, leading to Aghehowa’s penalty goal that was deflected by goalkeeper Oscar Ustari and in for the game’s first goal in the eighth minute. Aghehowa, 21, had 19 goals in 30 Primeira Liga matches for the Portuguese side this past season. Miami knotted the score at one less than 90 seconds into the second half, as Weigandt’s cross into the center of the box was finished by Segovia, who fired in the equalizing goal past a sprawling Ramos. Miami then continued its great start to the second half, as Porto’s Rodrigo Mora’s foul led to Messi’s successful free kick — perfectly placed in the top right corner in the 54th minute.

World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle second round by Bublik

HALLE WESTFALEN, Germany: Defending champion Jannik Sinner lost his second-round match on grass at Halle on Thursday to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, the Italian’s first tournament since his French Open final defeat. The world number one fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Bublik for the 23-year-old’s first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 since the summer of 2023. A few days before his defeat to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the title match at the French Open, Sinner had easily dispatched Bublik in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, dropping only six games. On Thursday, ten days before Wimbledon, Bublik claimed his second victory in six ties against Sinner. The Kazakh will play Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day. Earlier world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle. The 28-year-old German won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) against the 46th-ranked Sonego and next plays another Italian, Flavio Cobolli for a place in the semifinals. A finalist in Halle in 2016 and 2017, Zverev recorded his fifth victory in as many meetings with Sonego, a year after beating him at the same stage of the same competition. Sonego took advantage of his only chance to break in the first set at 4-3.

Contacts

Libya Sport News

Afghan women’s refugee football team to make tournament debut in UAE

Sudanese clubs seek league title amid civil war

Lionel Messi scores on free kick to lift Inter Miami over Porto

World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle second round by Bublik

Coco Gauff loses in Berlin in first match since French Open title, turns attention to Wimbledon

Palmeiras ease past Al Ahly in Club World Cup

Soccer fans storm field in Libya and a Portuguese referee is injured during a suspended match

What the Trump travel ban means for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games