data-mm-id=”_1dev45ry0″>Angela Carini's decision to abandon her boxing match after just 46 seconds against Algeria's Imane Khelif created a firestorm at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.The Italian's assertion that Khelif was "too strong" of an opponent reignited the debate around gender eligibility in sports, and it prompted the International Olympic Committee to defend its tournament rules, the same as the Tokyo Games' boxing guidelines, and denounce the International Boxing Association's 2023 ban of Khelif as "sudden and arbitrary."On Friday, Carini felt the weight of her actions and the subsequent fallout.In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Carini said she was saddened by the controversy and felt "sorry for my opponent." She also expressed no dissatisfaction with Khelif being allowed to compete by the IOC, which clarified that "the gender and age of athletes are based on their passport.""If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision," Carini said.Carini had dreams of winning a medal in Paris to honor her late father and coach, who died shortly after she competed in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. Admittedly overwhelmed with disappointment, she expressed regret for leaving the ring without shaking Khelif's hand.“It was not intentional, in fact I apologize to her and to everyone,” Carini said. “I was angry, because my Games had already gone up in smoke. I have nothing against Khelif and on the contrary if I happened to meet her again I would give her a hug.”After Carini chose to quit her round-of-16 match, Khelif and Chinese Tapei’s Lin Yu‑ting, who was disqualified by the IBA for the same reason as Khelif's ban at the 2023 world championships, quickly became targets for criticism and scorn, particularly on social media.The IOC issued a statement to call out "the misleading information" about Khelif and Lin, adding that they "have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women's category."“All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent," Carini said. "She had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight."
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Open contest
In recent years, matches between Red Star and Partizan have always yielded little in terms of goals, and this time it was no different, but it should be said that it wasn t for lack of trying. They usually play cautiously and with a lot of grit and passion.
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Prediction: Spezia to win 1-0
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Spezia and Hellas Verona will face each other in the Serie A Relegation tie-breaker this coming weekend. The match between Leonardo Semplici’s side and Marco Zaffaroni’s team will be held at the Mapei Stadium in Città del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Sunday. This is first Serie A relegation play-off since 2005. The loses of the tie will join Sampdoria and Cremonese in Serie B next season.
Spezia
Spezia are a small club in Italy whose stadium, Stadio Alberto Picco, does not even hold 12,000 fans. Leonardo Semplici’s side finished as low as 16th in the Serie A table last season, and they have ended up 17th in the standings this time around.
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Patrice Evra has revealed Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore wrote to him to apologise for the Reds backing of Luis Suarez following a controversial incident in 2011.
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Suarez was subsequently charged by the Football Association (FA) and banned for eight matches.
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Jamie Carragher a key member of Liverpool s team at the time – apologised to Evra while working alongside him as a pundit last October.
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Former winger Munoz won both the LaLiga title and the UEFA Cup while at Valencia, before moving into management with Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi and moved to Watford in December 2020.
A short statement on the Owls’ club website read: “Sheffield Wednesday are delighted to announce the appointment of Xisco Munoz as our first team manager.
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The club captain scored just four minutes after David Luiz had equalised as the Gunners fought back to win the Group B clash after a Bernd Leno mistake saw them fall behind early in the second half.
Thomas Partey made his first start for the club in a match from which Rapid will feel they should have taken something, with goalscorer Taxiarchis Fountas unable to capitalise on further Leno errors.
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Emery lasted just 18 months in the job, paying the price for a winless run that spans seven games following Thursday s 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in front of a sparse crowd at the Emirates Stadium.
Former Gunners midfielder Freddie Ljungberg has been promoted to take charge in an interim capacity, but what about the contenders to replace Emery on a permanent basis?
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