The new World Cup, a necessary showcase for clubs: Infantino
All profits will go back to football
, he assures.
The new World Cup , a necessary showcase for clubs: Infantino
Europa Press and AFP
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 17, 2025, p. a10
Asunción. FIFA President Gianni Infantino emphasized the need to create a Club World Cup to ensure that teams can shine on a global scale
, just as national teams do. He reiterated that all the economic revenue generated by the competition will flow back to football
, also predicting that it will be a resounding success
.
Everything will come back to the same sport: prize money for clubs and solidarity funds for leagues around the world
, Infantino said during the 75th Ordinary FIFA Congress being held in Asunción, Paraguay.
The leader thanked everyone who has contributed to this success
and those who shared his vision of the need for a competition like this. We must ensure that clubs, not just national teams, can shine worldwide, investing and growing accordingly
.
The new Mundialito will be played from June 14 to July 13 in the United States and will feature a $1 billion prize pool for the 32 participating teams—including Pachuca, Real Madrid, and Atlético de Madrid—as well as a $250 million solidarity fund for non-participating organizations.
We have more countries represented in this first edition of the World Cup in 100 years because these franchises are multinational, with good players from all over the world
, he noted in statements reported on the website of the world's governing body. "The World Cup is, without a doubt, historic and will be a resounding success."
FIFA believes this new format will play a key role in ensuring the organization recovers the record $13 billion for the 2023-2026 cycle, as reflected in the detailed budget for 2026 and the revised budget for 2023-2026, approved on Thursday.
The FIFA President also reiterated his commitment to education as a way to eliminate racism and discrimination from society. "We are working on education in our Football for Schools program," he emphasized, while also making it clear that racism is not only a problem that must be addressed and overcome in football, but is a crime
.
The CBF will have a new president
Meanwhile, the interim president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) called for elections yesterday to renew the board next week, while ousted leader Ednaldo Rodrigues is fighting his departure before the Supreme Court.
The turbulence at the top of the CBF is a new blow to the national team , which had hoped to get back on track with the imminent arrival of its new coach, the Italian Carlo Ancelotti.
Barça players lead street parties
▲ Around 670,000 fans welcomed the newly crowned champions, led by Lamine Yamal, after the Catalan team won the national treble. Photo AFP
Europa Press
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 17, 2025, p. a10
Barcelona. A huge celebration took place yesterday in the streets of Barcelona. The Blaugrana team was welcomed by around 670,000 fans, according to the Guàrdia Urbana, who celebrated their La Liga title after beating Espanyol 2-0 on Thursday, with two matches remaining in the tournament.
After nearly four years of success, the Catalans finally achieved ecstasy. They also added the Super Cup and Copa del Rey crowns in the same season to the celebrations.
A bus carrying the players and manager Hansi Flick toured the city's streets on a patrol that began in the afternoon at the Spotify Camp Nou and ended at night at the Arc de Triomf. Heavy security was deployed throughout the tour, both by the club and by officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) and the Urban Guard.
The crowd was spectacular, supporting the players with chants, flares, and confetti. There were iconic moments, such as seeing Lamine Yamal lead the chants or goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny smiling when he heard the chant " Szczesny, smoker
."
Fermín López stated through a microphone that it was an incredible celebration. “I'm very happy to be at Barça and to be able to win titles. Everyone on the team is a Barça fan , and the fans are behind us. This is for them.”
Uruguayan Ronald Araujo described the season as extraordinary
. After the Champions League defeat to Inter Milan, he declared, "We're missing the Champions League , but it's coming, for sure. We have to believe."
For his part, Yamal indicated that it has been a dream
to be able to experience this party with the club of my life
.
The final stretch was through the streets of Fontanella and Trafalgar until reaching the packed Arc de Triomf, the final point of the mass celebration of Barça's victory, with fireworks and flares to culminate a long-awaited triumph.
The injured man remains in serious condition in the hospital.
While Barcelona celebrates with hundreds of fans, three of the 17 injured who were run over outside the RCDE Stadium remain in hospital, one of whom remains in serious condition.
The Catalan government's Department of Health updated its report of injuries in a statement yesterday, reducing the number of hospitalized patients from four to three, and reducing the condition of one injured person to serious, not critical.
The accident occurred before the match between Espanyol and Barcelona, when a woman lost control of the vehicle she was driving and hit the people in front of her.
Champion Charlyn Corral returns to Tri
From the editorial staff
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 17, 2025, p. a10
Now a champion of the Liga MX Femenil, Charlyn Corral has returned to the Mexican national team. Pedro López, the national team's manager, took over as a point guard for Pachuca, which won the local tournament, while also surprising the Tuzas striker with a call-up for a pair of friendlies the Tricolor will play against Uruguay.
Corral, a three-time scoring champion and key to Pachuca's first title in this tournament, now heads the list for the matches against the South Americans, which will take place on May 30 at the BUAP Olympic Stadium in Puebla and on June 3 at the Tlahuicole Stadium in Tlaxcala.
The forward has faced ups and downs with the national team after questioning the management of then-Tricolor women's coach Leonardo Cuéllar in 2015, who had been in charge of the team for 18 years. Since López's arrival at the national team, Corral has appeared intermittently with the squad.
Even before the final between Pachuca and América, López acknowledged that Corral is the best Mexican player of all time
.
▲ Charlyn Corral will participate in friendlies against Uruguay. Photo @ligaBBVAfemenil
In addition to Charlyn, Pachuca members Esthefanny Barreras, Kenti Robles, Karla Nieto, Myra Delgadillo, and Ella Sánchez, who received her first call-up, also stand out on the list.
In contrast, América, which finished runner-up in the Liga MX Femenil, will now only have Natalia Mauleón as its representative.
The rest of the squad is made up of Chivas goalkeepers Blanca Félix and Celeste Espino; as well as defenders Reyna Reyes (Portlan Thomas), Annia Mejía (Ciudad Juárez), Aaliyah Farmer (Tigres), Ana Mendoza (Pumas), Natalia Colin (Tigres), Karol Bernal (Rayadas), Rebeca Bernal (Washington Spirit), and Annika Rodríguez (Tigres).
In the midfield and attack will be Nicole Pérez (Rayadas), Jasmine Casarez (Ciudad Juarez), Christina Burkenroad (Rayadas), Diana Ordóñez (Houston Dash), María Sánchez (San Diego Wave) and Lourdes Bosch (Melbourne City).
▲ América's coach was sent off Thursday against Cruz Azul and upon leaving the field, he confronted the opposing fans, making a three sign with his right hand in reference to his three-time championship. AP Photo
Alberto Aceves
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 17, 2025, p. a11
The image of Brazilian André Jardine, sent off for demanding a red card from referee Luis Enrique Santander for midfielder Ignacio Rivero in the first leg of the semifinal against Cruz Azul, is not only a sequence of a play, but also a message for the América squad. The coach who was the architect of the three-time Liga champion added a touch of folklore to his exit from the Olímpico Universitario stadium by flashing a three with the fingers of his right hand to the opposing fans, who celebrated his anger. Although the gesture was replicated in videos and sports programs, the Disciplinary Committee yesterday only issued a one-match suspension for both involved players.
Hundreds criticized Jardine's attitude on social media. A coach who has shown how a group should be managed since his time at Atlético de San Luis, but who on Thursday came out of himself, singing the three titles with a bit of arrogance
, says the former goalkeeper of La Máquina, Óscar Pérez, when reproducing part of the transmission of the game in which the Brazilian walks towards the locker room, energetic, defiant, pointing with devotion to the shield where the three titles won between June 2023 and December 2024 appear. Very good Jardine in recognizing to the Cruz Azul fans that they cannot beat them in three games
, jokes the Argentine Emanuel Tito Villa, also with a sky blue past.
At América, they know that a defeat doesn't determine the final result in a playoff series, much less a red card. Their history is full of comebacks in the decisive stages, and on Sunday they need another one to stay in the race for a fourth championship. "We're more alive than ever
," warned Águilas captain Henry Martín, shortly after meeting with his teammates at the end of the 1-0 match against Cruz Azul. "You can never count this team out. We would have liked a different scoreline, but we've shown before that we know how to overcome adversity
."
The three-time defending champions finished second in the league during the regular season, ahead of La Máquina, who finished third, so a draw on aggregate propels them into the final against the winner of the series between Toluca and Tigres (tied 1-1 in the first leg). We won't have André (Jardine), but that's fine; the squad is mentally strong, and we'll get through this
," the Yucatecan forward is confident. The sky-blue team is looking to eliminate its arch-rival in the final phase for the first time since the Winter of 1999. Last Thursday, they extended their unbeaten streak to 19 games in all competitions and are just two shy of their all-time mark.
Will visit LAFC
In preparation for the second leg of the semifinal, América received confirmation from FIFA that LAFC of Major League Soccer will host the May 31 playoff match for the final spot at stake in the Club World Cup.
World football's governing body argued that it has given equal conditions to both teams
and that they will have the same number of tickets for their fans. This match is completely neutral and is governed by FIFA
, FIFA's competition director, Manolo Zubiría, stated in a video press conference.
The winner of the playoff will replace León, which was excluded from the Mundialito for being part of the same ownership group as Pachuca, another participating team, a situation prohibited by FIFA regulations. The exclusion was validated on May 6, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected La Fiera's appeal.
Toluca has the ideal team to be in the final
Karla Torrijos
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 17, 2025, p. a11
Superleader Toluca is just one step away from reaching a final in Mexican soccer again, a stage it hasn't reached since the 2022 Apertura tournament. But to achieve that, it must first defeat Tigres this Saturday in the second leg of the 2025 Clausura semifinals, which will be held at the Nemesio Diez Stadium.
After the Red Devils rescued a 1-1 draw in the first leg, a result that would have secured them a place in the title fight due to their better position in the table, the worst mistake
they could make would be to become complacent and not go for the win, as they have the ideal team to decisively defeat their powerful rival
, considered former player and former scarlet coach Héctor Hugo Eugui.
He pointed out that Toluca, which has not been crowned champion of Mexican soccer since the 2010 Bicentennial Tournament, has had a spectacular season, has excellent players, such as Marcel Ruiz, Paulinho and Alexis Vega, is solid in all its lines, and has everything it needs to advance to the final, it would be a complete mistake, at this point, not to try to finish the series
.
On the other hand, the current coach of the Correcaminos club of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (UAT), of the Expansion League, indicated that the team from the State of Mexico, led by the Argentine Antonio Turco Mohamed, must take full advantage of the advantage that the altitude of the city of Toluca gives them, since it normally affects the clubs from the north, it is a point in their favor that they should not let pass
.
No margin for error
He also commented that closing the series at home and with their fans gives Diablos an unbeatable opportunity to reach the final, and to do so, they must work very well, be convinced that they have to go out and win, everyone must put on the jersey and make a collective effort that is above all the Tigres team
.
Meanwhile, Franco Romero, the Scarlet midfielder, stated that his team has no margin for error in this Saturday's match, warning that they will strive for victory at all costs in order to subsequently fight for their eleventh league title.
We're going to play the second leg with the intention of winning it, of taking the lead in the opening minutes, and from there, trying to control the match. The important thing is to advance to the next round and be in the final. For us, there's no tomorrow. We have the ticket in our hands, it's up to us. We're going to give it our all to reach the final
," he said yesterday in a press conference.
For this match, whose actions will be officiated by referee Fernando Hernández, a security device with 966 elements will be implemented, in addition to the security personnel inside the stadium, as well as 85 mobile units and canine and equine pairs, which will protect both the interior of the Nemesio Diez and its surroundings.
Kidnapper of Pizarro's aunt sentenced to 260 years in prison
Martín Sánchez Treviño
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, May 17, 2025, p. a11
In Ciudad Victoria, Tamps., Eduardo Alfonso N was sentenced to 260 years in prison by a trial court for the crime of aggravated kidnapping against the relatives of soccer player Rodolfo Pizarro, which occurred on January 26, 2024. The defendant must pay 3 million 80 thousand pesos in damages and a fine of 42 thousand days of minimum wage. Eduardo Alfonso N murdered and kidnapped Pizarro's aunt; however, the player's mother and uncle were also in danger in that act.
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