International Football
Argentina’s ‘first fan’ reached Qatar six months early
Argentina’s self-styled “first fan” Marcelo Martinez is so keen to see Lionel Messi and team mates at the World Cup that he arrived in Qatar six months early.
The first travelling Argentinian fan – and possibly the first visiting fan full stop – flew into Doha on May 3 with his blue-and-white wig, and has been having a blast ever since.
“Wonderful things have been happening,” said the 54-year-old lawyer, who has found plenty of Qataris and expatriates sporting Argentina shirts. “They all love Messi and Argentina here.”
Martinez hopes Messi will finally lift the trophy at his fifth and final World Cup finals after winning so many other accolades in the game.
Martinez, having plenty of time on his hands, was able to serenade Argentina’s Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes when they visited Doha with Paris St Germain earlier this year.
“I was in the door of the hotel waiting for them, with my Argentinian flag and wig. Someone came along and asked me what I was doing, took my number then offered me his house for two months, which ended up being three,” he said.
“I didn’t have to do anything, just look after his pets while he was travelling to Argentina.”
Some local clubs have contacted Martinez to invite him to their games. After one match, fellow Argentinian Sergio Javier Vittor, who plays for Qatar’s Al-Sailiya, gave him his shirt.
MESSI EVERYWHERE
Several thousand Argentinians are expected to descend on Qatar for the tournament starting next month but not all are having an easy ride.
Engineers Federico Guevara and Justina Aguirre Saraviaandi, both 32, flew to Barcelona at the end of April, bought a motorhome and headed for the journey-of-a-lifetime to Qatar.
But they have just found out they cannot drive into Qatar and sleep in their vehicle as planned, and are appealing to Argentina’s embassy and football association for help.
“We set off with the same idea, that Qatar was opening its doors to the world, we checked it all out,” Guevara said from a stop in Bulgaria. “But they changed the rules. We have tickets, everything sorted out. Then they do this two months before.”
Qatar requires all drivers who hope to bring vehicles in after Nov. 1 to apply for a special permit costing $1,370.
Despite that issue, Guevara and Saraviaandi were enjoying the journey as far as it takes them.
“In Croatia, there’s a kid with a Messi shirt in every little village,” Guevara said. “In Montenegro, we got lost and ended up in a little street, and there was a mural of Diego (Maradona) which said, ‘Farewell, Golden Kid!’
“In the middle of Montenegro.”
-Reuters
In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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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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