The ball used for Saturday's Champions League final will carry a message of peace, and will be auctioned off following the match.
The final will be held in Paris, with 13-time champions Real Madrid taking on Liverpool in a repeat of the 2018 showdown.
That match four years ago was held in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, which has been under attack from Russia since the end of February.
Sport has united in its condemnation of Russia's actions, with football no different.
This year's Champions League showpiece was meant to be held in St Petersburg, but UEFA swiftly moved the match to Paris following Russia's invasion.
Russian clubs, meanwhile, will be unable to compete in UEFA competitions, while Russia's national team were removed from their World Cup qualifying play-off by FIFA.
Adidas, the manufacturers of this season's Champions League ball, have now revealed the match ball for the final.
The special edition ball will not be available for retail, and instead will be auctioned to help fund humanitarian efforts. It will also be inscribed with the words 'мир | PEACE'.
An Adidas statement read: "Using one of sport's biggest stages as an opportunity to unite the world in a global message of peace... the match ball will be auctioned after the game with the proceeds going to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to help protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution."
"Placed on the ball in bold lettering as a statement from UEFA, 'мир' in Cyrillic script can be translated as 'peace', which sits above the word in English – PEACE.
"The ball is designed to carry a simple message of peace, belonging, and hope that will be passed from player to player with every kick of the ball and beyond the Stade de France to the furthest corners of the world. The broader design of the ball is noticeably devoid of colour, featuring pure white panels to symbolise truce and unity."
Lydia Bedford takes Brentford Under-18s reins in landmark appointment for women
Lydia Bedford has been announced as Brentford Under-18s head coach in a landmark appointment.
Bedford has left her position as assistant boss with Arsenal’s women team to become the first female coach to take the reins at a men’s professional side in England.
The former Leicester manager is set to work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who will join as assistant coach from Forest Green.
Brentford director of football Phil Giles said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff.
“I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond.”
Kyogo Furuhashi ‘bullish’ about making Scottish Cup final – Ange Postecoglou
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is “bullish” about his chances of making the Scottish Cup final despite not training so far this week.
The Japan international went off with a leg knock during last Saturday’s 5-0 win over Aberdeen after coming off worse in a 50-50 with Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos.
The 28-year-old has scored 33 goals this season and won a clean sweep of Scotland’s player of the year awards, and he has an impressive record in cup finals, with match-winning doubles in the League Cup in each of his two seasons with Celtic.
Boss Ange Postecoglou said: “Kyogo is progressing. He hasn’t trained yet. The plan is to get him out there tomorrow (Friday) and see how he goes. He is doing some individual stuff this afternoon.
“He always is, but he is still pretty bullish about playing so we will just see how he goes.
“We will be guided by him a little bit. We have done that in the past. He has had a couple of times, whether it’s with his shoulder or in last year’s League Cup final he went in with a hamstring that wasn’t totally healed and scored a couple of goals.
“So I will be guided by him. He is very strong mentally so if he gives us the green light we will put him in there.”
The only definite absentee is Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy, who has been nursing a back problem in recent weeks.
Postecoglou said: “(Alistair) Johnston is fine, he has trained all week and (Sead) Haksabanovic is back in so he is available as well. The only real absence is Aaron Mooy.”
UEFA awaits reports following Jose Mourinho’s rant at referee Anthony Taylor
UEFA is awaiting the match official’s reports before deciding whether to take action against Jose Mourinho for his rant at referee Anthony Taylor after Roma’s Europa League final defeat, the PA news agency understands.
Roma boss Mourinho was critical of Taylor in his post-match press conference after his side’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Sevilla in Budapest on Wednesday night.
And in video footage which later emerged on social media, the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager is seen gesticulating at Taylor and officials in the stadium car park and heard saying “disgrace”.
Taylor booked Mourinho during the game, which finished 1-1 after extra time before Sevilla sealed their seventh Europa League triumph by winning 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out.
Tempers simmered on and off the pitch in a disappointing final, with 13 players shown yellow cards, seven of them to Roma players, while fourth official Michael Oliver had his work cut out to keep control of both dug-outs.
The game was littered with delays, with a total of 25 minutes’ stoppage time added to the 120 minutes of playing time.
Mourinho lost for the first time in his sixth major European final, while Sevilla extended their record number of tournament wins following previous successes in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
