German coach Marie-Louise Eta quickly found herself embroiled in controversy just hours after being appointed head coach of Union Berlin, becoming the first woman to lead a team in Europe’s top five leagues. She was subjected to a barrage of sexist and abusive comments on social media.

The German club was quick to respond, issuing a firm statement on its official accounts, affirming that “the Union family stands behind its coach,” in a clear message rejecting any questioning of Etta’s competence based on her gender. The club emphasized that the criteria for employment within the team remain performance and technical ability, not background or gender.

Union Berlin head off ‘blatant sexism’

The criticism was particularly striking, with some users questioning the players’ ability to accept instructions from a female coach, while other comments went so far as to mock the idea of ​​male coaches losing to her. The club described this as “blatant sexism,” emphasizing its complete rejection of such rhetoric.

Eta, who rose through the ranks at Union Berlin, possesses a wealth of experience, having previously managed the under-19 team and served as an assistant coach for the first team. This strengthens the management’s confidence in her ability to lead the team through this current phase.

The new coach’s first test will be against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, a match with implications far exceeding the three points. It presents Eta with a dual challenge: doing her job on the field and effectively silencing the criticisms circulating off the pitch.

Eta will take over temporarily until the end of the season, as Union Berlin strives to secure its Bundesliga status. The team currently occupies a mid-table position, relatively clear of the relegation zone. She will then transition to managing the women’s team, as per the pre-established plan.

The affair, which began with a historic appointment, has quickly transformed into a true test of European football’s capacity to embrace change, amidst persistent discrimination and institutional efforts to establish clear boundaries: competence first.

Featured image via the Canary

Hundreds of anti-fascists will assemble at 11.30am on Saturday 18 April, in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens. They’ll be aiming to resist the presence of fascist group Britain First, which is coming to the city for a second ‘March for Remigration’.

Britain First is a fascist group looking to ‘remigrate’ people of colour and cut our already-failing state infrastructure by 50%. Their activities include harassing and intimidating asylum seekers at local hotels, attempting to force entry into the buildings, and organising transphobic protests in the town centre.

Resist Britain First brings Manchester activists together

In February, a coalition of community and left-wing groups from Manchester united under the banner ‘Resist Britain First’. This counter-protest brought in over 1,000 demonstrators, severely disrupting the Britain First march. It led the co-leader of Britain First, Paul Golding, to say he’d ‘never seen anything like it’.

This event, however, saw attendees of Britain First’s march take part in several racist attacks on members of the public, clearly proving that their platform is one of racism and violence. Nothing makes this clearer than the words of Britain First’s co-leader Ashlea Simon, who said in 2020: “English people can’t be black, English blood is white.”

The February mobilisation also raised serious concerns about the conduct of Greater Manchester Police. Officers ignored a young woman who raised concerns about fascist protesters threatening sexual violence. Anti-fascist protesters were also subjected to serious police violence, with at least three requiring A&E treatment, including one protester whose head was split open by a baton.

A spokesperson for Resist Britain First said:

Britain First’s march in February showed that Britain First are not the party of concerned ‘patriots’ they claim to be, but violent racists.

Their attendees engaged in multiple violent hate crimes, attacking non-white people they came across unprovoked and showing the nasty street presence of Britain First’s hatred.

Resist Britain First came together to show that Manchester will not allow the ongoing spread of fascism and hatred to continue on our streets. As long as fascists try to march here, the people of Manchester will rise up and oppose them to make it clear that they have no place in our city.

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Celebrating that Manchester is a city united against fascism, the Resist Britain First coalition is calling for everyone who opposes racism, fascism and the rise of hatred to gather in Piccadilly Gardens at 11.30am on Saturday 18 April.

Resist Britain First includes:

• Salford Anti-Fascists.
• Manchester Feminist Coalition.
• No Borders Manchester.
• Young Struggle Manchester.
• Red Roots Collective.
• RS21 Manchester.
• Northern Police Monitoring Project.
• Anti-Fascist Action Manchester.
• Manchester Trans Liberation Assembly.
• South Asian Liberation Movement.
• Migrant Justice Manchester.

Fenna, from the Resist Britain First coalition, says:

As the child of a migrant, I am proud to live in a multiracial, working-class, and radical city like Manchester. We showed the fascists that they weren’t welcome in February, and we’ll show them again. Let’s all Resist Britain First.

Jai, from the Resist Britain First coalition, says:

The fascists like to pretend they represent us, but they don’t. I’m working class and proud to be part of the whole working class: that means people of all races and ethnicities. This April, we’ll show fascists Britain First exactly how class unity is the best defence against their racism and fascism.

Featured image via Resist Britain First

The 2026 FIFA World Cup represents an unprecedented economic milestone in the history of global tournaments, with total revenues expected to exceed $80 billion. This is driven by the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams and the accompanying surge in fan engagement and investment.

According to joint reports issued by FIFA and the World Trade Organization, the tournament is expected to attract approximately 6.5 million visitors to 16 cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with direct spending approaching $13.9 billion.

This spending will contribute an estimated $40.9 billion to global GDP, in addition to creating more than 824,000 full-time jobs in the tourism, transportation, retail, and service sectors.

The tournament kicks off on June 11 at the Azteca Stadium, with 104 matches scheduled – a historic first that reflects the scale of FIFA’s expansion.

US World Cup is money-making enterprise

Despite the shared nature of the event, the United States is projected to capture the largest share of the economic benefits, with an expected output of $17.2 billion, in addition to $3.4 billion in tax revenue and the creation of approximately 185,000 jobs.

Los Angeles stands out as one of the biggest beneficiaries, expected to generate $594 million from hosting eight games, surpassing the figures from Super Bowl 2022.

Meanwhile, the New York-New Jersey area will host the final on July 19.

High costs for fans

On the other hand, the tournament presents increasing financial challenges for fans, given the rising costs of travel, accommodation, and tickets. The average daily expenditure for an international visitor is estimated at $416, with an average stay of 12 days.

In Los Angeles, hotel prices are expected to jump by up to 90%, reaching approximately $480 per night, compared to normal rates.

The “dynamic pricing” system adopted by FIFA also contributes to raising ticket prices according to demand. Tickets for group stage matches start at around $700, while premium tickets for the final exceeded $10,000 during the final stages of sales.

While the 2026 World Cup represents a massive economic leap for the host countries, it also raises questions about the ability of fans to keep up with the escalating costs, which could reshape fan attendance at one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

In this context, FIFA President Gianni Infantino affirmed that this edition “will be the biggest in the tournament’s history, not only in terms of sporting impact, but also in terms of global economic impact,” noting that the World Cup represents “a real engine for growth, job creation, and strengthening interconnectedness between economies.”

Featured image via the Canary

Amidst escalating discussions about the readiness of the teams participating in the 2026 World Cup, the Italy national football team has once again become a focus of media analysis. This isn’t due to any direct sporting developments, but rather to hypothetical scenarios related to potential changes outside the traditional sporting context.

According to some media analyses, one of the proposed scenarios involves the possibility of Iran’s participation being affected by the escalating geopolitical tensions between Iran, the United States, and Israel. This factor is being viewed from the perspective of “organizational possibility,” not as an official decision issued by any party so far.

Italy holding out hope

From an organizational standpoint, FIFA has several mechanisms in place to deal with exceptional circumstances that may arise before the start of major tournaments, particularly regarding the withdrawal or inability of a team to participate after the list of qualified teams has been finalized. This theoretically opens the door to alternative options for filling any vacant spots.

An analytical reading of these scenarios indicates that the available options typically revolve around three main paths: maintaining continental balance by selecting a replacement team from the same continent; resorting to the FIFA rankings to select the highest-ranked team among those not qualified; or adopting an exceptional solution such as a playoff or a decisive match held before the tournament begins if time is short.

Within this context, Italy’s name emerges as one of the teams that might be discussed theoretically, given its high international ranking, footballing history, and technical and marketing weight. However, this proposal is not based on any official decision or announcement from FIFA so far, but rather on a potential scenario for dealing with a possible gap in the list of participants.

Continental representation

Conversely, FIFA’s priority in such cases seems to be maintaining balanced continental representation, which might lead to the option of replacing a team from the same continent in the event of any withdrawal. Here, the UAE’s national team is a prominent candidate, before considering more complex solutions related to rankings or organizing playoff matches.

The idea of ​​an “emergency playoff” before the tournament begins is raised in some analytical discussions as an exceptional solution to the time constraints, but it remains a complex option from an organizational and logistical standpoint, especially for a tournament the size of the World Cup and its associated marketing arrangements, global broadcasting, and meticulous scheduling.

Therefore, Italy’s return to the World Cup remains, for now, within the realm of theoretical assumptions linked to uncertain possibilities. The only certainty is that the list of participating teams in the 2026 World Cup remains as it was based on the official qualifiers, without any announced changes to date.

Featured image via the Canary

A report by Sportico reveals a radical shift in the income structure of top athletes throughout history. On-field earnings are no longer the sole determining factor in wealth creation, as income from outside competitions now exceeds 70% in many cases, driven by sponsorship deals, licensing agreements, and investments.

According to the ranking, which is based on adjusted total earnings for inflation, along with precise estimates including salaries, prize money, and commercial revenue, basketball legend Michael Jordan tops the list with a total of €3.011 billion, ahead of golf star Tiger Woods. Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, comes in third.

This ranking not only reflects athletic excellence but also reveals the exceptional ability of some stars to transform their careers into sustainable business ventures.

Off-the-field revenue: the new centre of gravity

The report confirms that the majority of athletes’ wealth now comes from outside of competition, as the sports industry expands and transforms into a massive entertainment and investment sector.

This shift isn’t limited to retired athletes; it’s also evident among stars still at the peak of their careers, such as Lionel Messi and LeBron James.

Despite the significant increase in player salaries and contracts in the modern era, a number of sports legends have maintained their prominent positions thanks to long-term investments and extensive commercial partnerships.

In terms of distribution, golf and football have the most prominent presence in the top ten.

Highest Earning Players of All Time (according to Sportico):

1. Michael Jordan – €3.011 billion

2. Tiger Woods – €2.503 billion

3. Cristiano Ronaldo – €2.190 billion

4. LeBron James – €1.764 billion

5. Lionel Messi – €1.729 billion

6. Arnold Palmer – €1.607 billion

7. Jack Nicklaus – €1.590 billion

8. David Beckham – €1.460 billion

9. Roger Federer – €1.455 billion

10. Floyd Mayweather – €1.364 billion

Featured image via the Canary

Liverpool don’t need reminding what a European night at Anfield can do but they’ll need every watt of that electricity to overturn a 2–0 deficit against Paris Saint‑Germain. Arne Slot has spent the week insisting his team’s history is their fuel, not their burden.

In his pre-match press conference, Liverpool manager Slot said:

The answer is already in the history of Liverpool. This group has shown it can come back after setbacks. This club has also shown it can do very special things in difficult moments.

Liverpool face a PSG with no fear

Meanwhile, Luis Enrique, Slot’s counterpart has been calm, bullish and utterly unmoved by the Anfield mythology. He said:

We know how difficult this game will be, I think tomorrow will be a very tight match. Our mentality is to win every match.

He also welcomed the challenge of the Anfield atmosphere:

We know how difficult it is to play here at Anfield, but it’s also a source of motivation for us.

Liverpool is a very high‑level team and thinking you’re the favourite is the best way to fail. For me, there isn’t one.

Salah’s Champions League curtain call

Mohamed Salah steps into Anfield tonight carrying more than Liverpool’s Champions League hopes. He carries a decade of expectation, a legacy, and the possibility that this may be the last time he hears the Champions League anthem in Liverpool red under the famous Anfield lights.

If it is his final Champions League night for the club, it comes with a strange balance: the danger of what could be lost, and the comfort of what he has already given. Since 2017, Salah has helped shape Liverpool’s modern European identity. Kyiv, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, his mark is firmly stamped on the biggest nights of the Jürgen Klopp era. He became the symbol of Liverpool’s return to the top, the player who made extraordinary numbers feel normal, and who turned pressure into performance.

Salah has never relied on sentiment. He deals in decisive moments. He can take control of a match with one run, one finish, one touch. If Liverpool are to turn the tie against PSG and keep their season alive, it will likely come through him: his movement, his composure, and his gift for making a small chance feel inevitable.

Whatever the result, Anfield will see him differently tonight. As they did against Fulham, grateful, anxious, and aware that eras rarely end with speeches. They end on nights like this.

The stakes

Liverpool must begin with intensity to build momentum, while PSG should stay composed and settle into the match. Both teams have experience in these situations. Slot needs confidence, and Enrique must maintain control. One team is fighting for survival, while the other seeks victory. Tonight, Anfield will determine the outcome.

Featured image via the Canary

UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese has spoken about the “rollercoaster” her life has become since standing up against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Albanese and opposition to genocide

Francesca Albanese has been personally sanctioned by the US and targeted by the Israel lobby for her refusal to back down in her condemnation and her calls for justice. Yet even in an article that flirts with accepting that Albanese’s lionisation by opponents of genocide is merited – and even uses the word genocide itself without ‘distancing-by-speech-marks’ – Guardian writer Julian Borger can’t quite resist the corporate urge to regurgitate debunked Israeli narratives.

Borger introduces the carnage in Gaza not as war crimes and genocide but as an “untreated wound of Israel-Palestine [that] has shown its capacity every generation to give the rest of the world a fever”, as if opposition to colonisation, apartheid, and slaughter is some kind of disorder.

He recycles Israel’s claim of the 2023 “Hamas attack…which killed about 1,200 people, provok[ing] a ferocious Israeli response”. Israel was known, very soon after October 2023, to have killed hundreds of its own citizens in ‘Hannibal’ attacks during the raid; the raid consisted of other groups, not just Hamas. Israel has killed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians since the raid, not the 75,000 Borger quotes – as the subject of his interview has frequently pointed out.

Yet he mentions none of that, despite its obvious aptness in his article. Not opposing genocide is the disease and its symptoms reach very far into Western and especially UK ‘mainstream’ media.

Steadfast

Borger also fails to point out the illegality of the sanctions the US has imposed on Albanese. But he does at least give some attention to their impact on the steadfast UN volunteer. And that’s where Albanese’s courage is given chance to shine through. Trump’s sanctions are massive blow to any prospect of a normal life – Albanese is unable to use a credit card, is severely limited in access to banking and relies on cash lent by family members. Yet she is without self-pity, even as she honestly describes the blow and its injustice:

It was bad. That sort of puts you together with mass murderers and drug dealers of international proportions. It was a paradox of facing one of the harshest forms of punishment without due process, because I’ve not even been afforded the possibility to defend myself. I’ve just been sanctioned without trial.

The article does address the Israel lobby’s threats against Albanese – and her 13-year-old daughter – and the cowardice of the World Bank, where her husband works. It mentions the Zionists’ threat to rape her child. But Borger expresses all of these impersonally and without attribution, like acts of God or natural disasters:

One anonymous caller said her daughter would be raped, giving the name of the school she attended in Tunis, Tunisia, where the family lives. Albanese went to the police for protection. While she doesn’t give details of the arrangements, she says: “I have what I need.”

Craven corporate media

Borger doesn’t make even a passing reference to the mass rapes of Palestinian prisoners that are common in Israeli concentration camps. He doesn’t mention Zionist death threats against other opponents of genocide, such as Hind Rajab Foundation director Dyab Abou Jahjah and his family. He doesn’t examine the UK government’s lawfare war on anti-genocide speech and activism, an obvious relative of Trump’s state terror – though Albanese refers to and condemns it, as well as the “monster” behind it, Keir Starmer.

But the cravenness of corporate media makes the courage of those who do stand up shine all the brighter – and so it is here. Albanese freely admits that the impact of the sanctions has been “brutal” enough to make her pause and consider, but she is unbowed:

That is when I started wondering: is it worth it? I have two kids. What if they harm them? I cannot take this responsibility. There is a lot that I’m putting on the line, but, at the same time, I don’t have any alternative. I still need to continue to throw water on the fire and I have a bigger bucket right now … and strong arms.

And Francesca Albanese finishes with a lesson for all of us as well as for the spineless establishment media, not to let fear stop us being free, and to stand in solidarity with those who need it:

My life has become a rollercoaster. I never imagined living without a bank card, but I do. People help me.

My freedom is stronger than my fear. You are defeated the moment you stop fighting.

Featured image via the Canary

Palantir’s UK head Louis Mosley – grandson of infamous British fascist Oswald Mosley – was forced to sit and take it on BBC television today, 13 April 2026, as former parliamentary candidate Faiza Shaheen told viewers some hard truths about his company.

The pair were on the programme to discuss Green party leader Zack Polanski’s call for the spyware company – which aids Israel in its slaughter of civilians in Palestine and Lebanon – to be removed from its contract to handle NHS patient data.

How could anyone argue? But they did, claiming that NHS data is in a mess and therefore Palantir is needed. But Shaheen wasn’t having it that a firm whose founders boasted about killing people and refused to say that the human race should survive should be anywhere near the NHS. So she let the rictus-faced Mosley have both barrels:

Featured image via X

We investigated the networks that claim to be grassroots organisations fighting antisemitism. But underneath the surface, all is not as it seems.

Our Fight and Stop The Hate UK have been active since October 2023. Both present as independent groups fighting Jewish discrimination, putting themselves amongst grassroots communities fighting antisemitism in the UK. Seems good, right?

Yet from our findings, which are so unbelievably shocking, we don’t understand how they are still operating.

Two groups, one mission

To the public eye, they are completely separate groups, but it turns out they are very close to one another.

Stop The Hate UK has been seen online praising the work of the founder and CEO of Our Fight, Mark Birbeck – a software developer from the UK who has worked with the likes of Shell and Lego. They have been vocal about how honoured they are to stand alongside him.

Stop The Hate UK claims they attend protests to ensure the ‘media coverage includes our voices and doesn’t solely focus on pro-Palestine activism’. In our opinion, this look less like an antisemitism campaign but more a PR mission.

The network within Our Fight

Our Fight was founded by Mark Birbeck. After 7 October 2023, the group’s website presents itself as if one person is writing all the articles under the author name of ‘Our Fight’. However, independent investigation website Power Base Info has found that there are in fact multiple people behind the site’s articles.

Investigations have led us to confirm that Mark is involved, with his name being shown as an author. We found this information via the website’s site map. One of the links had ‘author/mark’, which confirms to us he runs the website and publishes the articles written by himself and the contributors.

Most writers on the site have major connections to the LM Network, a libertarian ideological network with a long history of controversy, including Mike Fume, who is the founder of Living Marxism, now rebranded as Spiked. (The magazine has a habit of denying genocides.) Fume worked in communications for Nigel Farage’s Brexit party in 2019 and has spoken at many Our Fight events.

Sabine Beppler-Saphl, a German reporter for Spiked and a contributing author for Our Fight, has published Facebook posts stating that ‘Islam deserves no special protection’.

Another Our Fight journalist, Thomas Deichmann, is famously known for his article claiming ITN fabricated footage of Bosnian Muslim protestors in a concentration camp. Of course, the courts found this indefensible, and this resulted in the magazine that published it, Living Marxism, having to cease trading and rebrand to Spiked because they couldn’t afford the £375,000 in damages. Deichmann is also part of the LM and Spiked networks, along with Beppler-Saphl.

Then we have Niyak Ghorbani, an Iranian dissident and journalist, and arguably the most visible public face of the organisation. Ghorbani is pro-Israeli and is known to attend pro-Israeli demos in London. He is also a fan of GB News and Tommy Robinson, sharing their content across his platforms. So much for stopping the spread of hate.

Finally, we have Kurpa Patel. She is the most active on the ground among Our Fight activists. But her involvement goes far beyond that; she has been pictured wearing pro-IOF materials at demos and was even arrested by the police for doing this outside a Bob Vylan concert.

Calling yourself a ‘campaigner against hate’ whilst wearing the merchandise of a military that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians is a contradiction. It’s hard to wrap your head around. Her Facebook profile is also emblazoned with the term ‘Proud Zio’, just in case anybody was unsure.

The pattern

Looking behind both groups’ banners, it’s plain to see a constant pattern of the same belief: any criticism of Israel is antisemitism.

The consistent theme of posts and articles is to heap blame upon Muslims and pro-Palestine activists. This has no doubt been the source of much animosity. Many pro-Palestinian journalists have found themselves in conflict with these groups. They have been labelled as antisemites for speaking out about a government responsible for the ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

Let’s be clear: speaking up about the actions that Israel has taken towards the people in Gaza is not antisemitism. Nor is standing with the Palestinian people or calling for a ceasefire.

Choosing to say it is, is a deliberate political decision. It aims to protect a military force from facing the truth of its actions.

Who is funding this?

To date, we have found no evidence to suggest who is funding either of these groups. That said, it’s clear to see that multiple people involved across both organisations have connections to other networks that may be funded by pro-Israeli lobbies operating in the UK. Such networks have been known to fund these types of groups in the past.

Possible GDPR violations?

Our Fight has a section on its website where you can sign up to be a member and support via donations, handing over their personal data. Through our investigations, we saw they had no page on their site that contains any privacy policies. This is a legal requirement if you’re storing and handling other people’s data.

Our Fight and Stop The Hate UK: instruments of hate

Neither Our Fight nor Stop The Hate UK are the grassroots organisations they claim to be. Nor are they making any attempt to stomp out hate. If anything, both have been instrumental in amplifying hate, spreading discord, and celebrating the deaths of thousands of people in Gaza.

Muslims, pro-Palestinian activists, and independent pro-Palestine journalists have been consistently targeted by both groups. Some individuals have even been doxxed.

Palestinians and Muslims are an undeserving target of Zionist groups. But they will continue to be, as long as groups like Our Fight and Stop The Hate UK are publishing their vitriol.

Real antisemitism is unfortunately still alive and well, and we should treat it seriously when we are presented with it. But branding any and all condemnation of a genocide as antisemitism is reductive and disrespectful. It does nothing to bring an end to any conflict.

Featured image via the Canary

The Washington Post has published an article calling for the murder of Iranian negotiators to force Iran to capitulate to US and Israel demands that the aggressors have been unable to achieve militarily. Pakistani intelligence and its air force thwarted alleged Israeli plans to do just that.

In “Iran thinks it has leverage. Here’s how Trump can prove it wrong“, its author, Marc A Thiessen, demands a resumption of the illegal US-Israel war of aggression if Iran does not concede everything Trump (and therefore of course Israel) wants. And he calls specifically for the US to [emphases added]:

carry out a final barrage of leadership strikes, eliminating the Iranian officials who had been spared for the purpose of negotiations. Iran’s leaders must be made to understand that their lives literally depend on reaching a negotiated settlement to Trump’s liking. If they refuse to do so, they will be killed.

Washington Post is gutter journalism

Thiessen is a former Bush speechwriter who has defended the use of torture to achieve US ends. He is also a genocide-denying Israel fanatic who, almost ten years ago, was calling for there to be no peace in Palestine. When peaceful protesters gathered outside the White House in 2023 to demand an end to Israel’s genocide, Thiessen wanted all protesters to be pursued by police and accused the Democratic party of allowing itself to be filled with “antisemites” because Israel are “the good guys”.

Thiessen has been described as “nakedly propagandistic [and] flagrantly dishonest” and “selling [the Gaza] genocide”. He is a ‘senior fellow’ of the hard-right, neocon ‘American Enterprise Institute’. He has called for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and described the fake 2025 Gaza ‘ceasefire’ as Donald Trump:

[standing] astride the world and delivered something that had eluded every Republican and Democratic president: a Middle East peace.

Israel continues to slaughter and starve innocent Palestinians in Gaza and civilians in Lebanon, which it has invaded while bombing Iran.

In 2024, Thiessen said he was “stunned” by criticism of Israel’s raid in Gaza to retrieve four prisoners of war. The IOF murdered at least 274 civilians during the raid. Thiessen went on to say that anyone who criticised the raid “may be an antisemite”:

The author’s willingness to call, publicly, for the murder of peace negotiators is hardly surprising given the source. What ought to be surprising is the Washington Post giving him space to express his murderous, racist imperialism, as it does regularly. However, the paper has long served US imperialism and perhaps even more so since its take-over by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The article remains online at the time of writing.

Featured image via the Canary