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FOOTBALL

Women’s American football goes global in Sweden

It is hard to avoid the football World Cup at the moment, but in one corner of Stockholm attention is focused not on round balls, but on oval balls. And they are not being kicked around by muscled Calvin Klein models, but by the world’s best female American football players, who are competing in the first ever Women’s World American Football Championship.

The competition is the brainchild of Tommy Wiking, a Swede and the President of the International Federation of American Football.

“I was tired of listening to all the poor excuses people were giving for not holding a women’s world championships, so I thought it was time to do something about it,” he told The Local.

Six countries are competing in the first ever world championships, which kick off on Sunday at the Zinkensdamms IP Stadium in Stockholm.

According to the IFAF, two previous international women’s American football games have been played, both between Sweden and Finland.

“The women’s game is still in the early stages,” said Tommy Wiking, but added that it is increasing in popularity.


“In Sweden, men and women often play in the same team,” he said.

The USA, perhaps unsurprisingly, start the tournament as favourites. They take on Austria on Sunday, while hosts Sweden face number two seed Canada. Finland and Germany have their first games on Tuesday, against Austria and Sweden respectively.

Wiking said he didn’t expect large crowds at the tournament:


“We’re not expecting lots of people, but the important thing is that we make a start,” he said.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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