🌏 FIFA Suspends Spain Football Head Over Inappropriate Kiss, Women Pole Vaulters Share Gold And More

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FIFA has suspended the Spanish Soccer Federation President Luis Rubiales as it investigates his behavior during the Women’s World Cup final, in which he appeared to kiss a Spanish soccer player without consent.

The incident occurred during the medal ceremony following the Spain’s 1-0 victory over England in the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Sydney on Sunday Aug. 20.

In a video, Rubiales can be seen hugging soccer player, Jennifer Hermoso, before grabbing her head and kissing her on the mouth.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the president for 90 days on Saturday after it opened an investigation to address Rubiales inappropriate behavior during the event on August 24th.

The suspension comes just days after Rubiales refused to resign during a press conference, calling it “persecution”.

He said that the kiss had been “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consented”.

“I will not resign,” he said almost five times among cheers of a mainly male audience.

On Saturday, Hermoso issued a statement, saying that she had given no consent.

Hermoso has refused to play for the national team while the current leaders remain, and a dozen other woman players have made similar declarations, according to the New York Times.

Spanish soccer teams have shown their support for Hermoso by displaying banners that read, “We Are All With Jenni”.

And women soccer associations, including Australia and UK, have issued statements of support.

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In a heartwarming show of sportsmanship, USA’s Katie Moon and Australia’s Nina Kennedy decided to share the gold medal for women’s pole vault at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday Aug. 23.

After a gruelling match that lasted more than two hours, Moon and Kennedy both cleared 4.90 meters but were both unsuccessful at clearing 4.95 meters after three tries each.

Instead of heading into a jump-off, the two women made a groundbreaking decision then – to split the gold medal.

“I didn’t think she’d want to share it, I thought we might have had to keep jumping,” Kennedy said. “But, you know, I kind of looked at her and said, ’Hey, girl, you maybe wanna share this?

“And the relief on her face – and you could see it on my face – and it was mutual. And yeah, absolutely incredible to share a medal with Katie Moon. You know, we’ve been friends for so long, so it’s super special,” she told reporters afterwards, according to Reuters.

This is the first time two athletes are sharing a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.

It is the second consecutive time Moon, whose personal best is 4.95 meters, has won gold at the world championships.

Meanwhile, in clearing 4.9 meters, Kennedy broke not only her own record but also Australia’s by eight centimeters.

“To win a gold medal, it is just a dream come true. I knew I could get on the podium, but it was a miracle to get the gold,” Kennedy said.

“What a battle it was,” Moon said. “We both motivated each other. It was tiring but worth the effort. What an amazing night.”

South Korean volleyball player Lee Da-hyun has lit up the internet with a viral video showcasing her dance moves after scoring during a match.

The 22-year-old volleyball player competed at the All-Star Game in early February.

Lee represented Team Z-star in a face-off against Team M-star for a match between millennials and Gen Z.

After scoring for her team, Lee started dancing to the TikTok hit “Ting Ting Tang Tang” from Vietnamese singer Hoang Thuy Linh to the audience’s cheers.

To everyone’s surprise, a player from the opposing team, Kim Yeon-koung, also known as the “Queen of Volleyball” and the former Captain of South Korea’s National Team, then responded with her own dance to the delight of the fans.

The dance video of Lee dancing took the internet by storm, with some videos receiving more than 10 million views.

After the All-Star Game game ended, other players also showed off their dance moves to the camera.

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