International Football
MALMO SUPPORTERS INSIST ON IBRAHIMOVIC STATUE MUST GO
“We are angry because he believes he can do whatever he likes and still be loved. He doesn’t understand how it is to be a true supporter.”
Simon Bengtsson is just one of many Malmo fans who is not ready to forgive Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It has been a rough few months for the Sweden legend in his home city.
The veteran striker has seen his legacy as a Malmo icon toppled, both figuratively and literally, as investment in rival Allsvenskan club Hammarby and the boast that he wants to make them “the biggest in Scandinavia” proved the breaking point in a relationship that stretches back 25 years to when he first joined the club as a kid.
The statue honouring Sweden’s record goalscorer was only unveiled in Malmo in October, a beaming Ibrahimovic proclaiming to the sizeable crowd in attendance that it was dedicated to “everyone out there who doesn’t feel welcome”.
The striker was referring to difficulties he faced as an extrovert growing up in then homogenous Sweden – little did he know the statue itself would soon become persona non grata.
In the early hours of 5 January, vandals sawed the sculpture at the ankles until it collapsed, the final blow in a string of attacks following his investment in Hammarby that included cutting off the nose, spray-painting, and even an attempt to set the structure on fire.
The vandals account for the extreme end of the spectrum in the anti-Zlatan crowd, but the feeling of anger and disappointment is widespread.
“I would say a large majority of Malmo fans are disappointed with Zlatan,” Bengtsson tells the BBC. “Nobody I know defends him. Of course some think the vandalism is wrong but at the same time they understand why people have done it.”
Though he never won a trophy in Sweden and played fewer than 50 senior matches for Malmo, the club’s supporters used to see Ibrahimovic’s globetrotting success as a source of personal pride, thrilled to watch one of their own make it big. Now, they feel hoodwinked, and that sense of pride was not reciprocated.
“Before, he was something you were proud of. A global superstar brought up in our club, but now you don’t want to hear anything about him,” Bengtsson insists.
“He thinks we should be grateful for what he did for us but really he won nothing at Malmo. He was sold for a lot of money and that’s all.”
Fellow Malmo fan Alexander Ivanovski explains that there is a strong feeling of betrayal caused by Ibrahimovic’s decision to try to help Hammarby grow and not Malmo: “The reason it cuts so deep is it goes against what he always said. He has always said Malmo is his home town, he will always love Malmo and there is no club that’s bigger or can be bigger”.
The way Ibrahimovic chose to announce the business move made matters even worse, according to Ivanovski. “If he purchased the 25% and didn’t talk about it, or said something about Malmo, it would have been more accepted.
“But he bought a quarter of the club then said he wants to make them the strongest in Scandinavia. He didn’t just put in the knife, he turned it around to damage the Malmo fans even more.”
The outrage is so prevalent in the city that it has created an unwelcome dilemma for the local authority over what they should do with the statue.
Restore it, and the vandalism will likely continue unless resources are invested in tightening security, a move that isn’t likely to go down well among taxpayers in a one-club football-mad city. Move it elsewhere, and the message is that the vandals won.
What lawmakers will not be able to do is bury their heads in the sand. A petition demanding the sculpture be moved already has eight times the necessary number of signatures to ensure it is debated by the local government by the end of February.
Kaveh Houseeinpour, vice chairperson of Malmo’s official fan organisation MFF Support, is in no doubt regarding what should happen.
“We said as soon as he bought a stake in Hammarby that the statue should be moved. It was unavoidable that it would be vandalised unfortunately. For the sake of everyone it should have been moved straight away,” he said.
“After years abroad he has lost his grounding in the city and the club. The Malmo mentality of ‘us against the world’ created Zlatan, Zlatan didn’t create Malmo.”
Ibrahimovic left Malmo 19 years ago, and sold the property he once owned in the city back in 2015, so it is hardly a surprise that he isn’t on top of the zeitgeist there.
Perhaps, as the artist behind the statue suggested earlier this week, the sculpture would strike a better connection in a city where he has spent more of his adult life, and has a greater understanding of the prevailing mood: Milan.
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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