From @TheAthleticFC: Ahead of the World Cup, Portugal's head coach Roberto Martinez explained why he still selects Cristiano Ronaldo. "A unique footballer that has changed the game. His commitment to the game is still an example for many young players." https://t.co/Cg3bLiieFf
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, held indefinitely without charge since December 2024, and now in solitary confinement. If they’re doing this to the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, you know how they’re treating everyone else. Just as he didn’t abandon his patients, we can’t abandon him.
Record deal: The Chiefs are adding two years to Patrick Mahomes’ contract, tying him to Kansas City through the 2033 season at a value of $504.75 million, making it the first NFL deal valued at over a half-billion dollars, per @RapSheet and me.
Equity Sports CEO Chris Cabott, and Chiefs GM Brett Veach and his staff, put the finishing touches on the landmark agreement today.
.@Cristiano Ronaldo is not only soccer’s highest-paid player but the world’s top-earning athlete from any sport, an honor he has claimed for four years straight.
He heads into his sixth World Cup still seeking his first title in the competition—the rare missing hardware in his GOAT-worthy trophy case.
See our full list of the highest-paid players competing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: https://t.co/u9Dc6WOt3H
📸: Image Photo Agency via Getty Images
🔴 Israel closed Gaza’s crossings after Iran and Israel traded fire yesterday, halting the departure of critically ill patients in need of treatment abroad.
According to doctors, around 4,000 cancer patients and 20,000 patients are unable to leave the territory for life-saving care.
20-year-old Malak Naim died after repeated delays prevented her from accessing treatment outside Gaza until it was too late, Gaza Notifications reports. Medical officials say the collapse of Gaza’s oncology system and restrictions on medical evacuations have turned many otherwise treatable cancers into death sentences, per Al Jazeera.
🚨 Denzel Dumfries has signed his official contract at Real Madrid after medical done last week.
It will be valid for 4 years, same as Ibou Konaté - June 2030.
Inter receive €20m.
So far at the 2026 FIFA Epstein Cup before a ball kicked:
- Senegal & Uzbekistan squads treated like criminals upon arrival given full cavity searches;
- Africa’s best referee sent back to Somalia despite having a diplomatic passport;
- Iraq team photographer sent back despite valid visa;
- AIPS (international sport journalist association) calling on FIFA to sort out unacceptable visa issues of African & Iranian journalists;
- 90% of Moroccan fans with tickets denied entry
- 14 members of Iran backroom staff denied visas
Not a word from Gianni ”today I feel black/gay/disabled etc” Infantino.
⭕️ The World Cup Is Here. Not Everyone Is Welcome
As the FIFA World Cup gets underway on U.S. soil, a pattern of visa denials and border incidents is casting a dark shadow on the tournament.
◽️ Iraq: Striker Aymen Hussein was held for nearly seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport upon arrival for a pre-tournament friendly. The team’s photographer was denied entry outright over what U.S. Customs and Border Protection described as “vetting concerns,” with no further details provided. Iraq is making its first World Cup appearance in 40 years. (Chicago Sun Times)
◽️ Morocco: At least 90 fans from two major supporters’ groups were denied U.S. visas ahead of the tournament, most under a clause citing doubts about their intention to return home — despite documented travel histories to Russia 2018, Qatar 2022, and the Paris Olympics. Some lost tens of thousands of dirhams in non-refundable bookings. (Canary)
◽️ Somalia: FIFA-appointed referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the U.S. and immediately sent back, according to journalist Romain Molina. Even a diplomatic passport secured through the Somali embassy in Nairobi was not enough to gain entry.
Real Madrid hasn't won a major trophy in two years. It just became the highest-earning sports team in history anyway, beating the Dallas Cowboys. The man behind it isn't a coach or a player. He builds skyscrapers for a living, and he doesn't even own the club.
His name is Florentino Pérez, and he runs the biggest construction company in Spain, one of the largest anywhere. Real Madrid belongs to its fans, about 90,000 of them, who vote every few years on who runs the place. This Sunday they picked him again. It was the first time in twenty years that anyone even ran against him, and he'll be in charge until 2030.
His smartest move had nothing to do with football. When he took over in 2000, the club was buried under close to 300 million euros of debt. So he talked the city into letting developers build office towers on Real Madrid's old training ground. The land sold, four skyscrapers went up that still stand on the Madrid skyline, and the debt was gone almost overnight, with plenty left to start buying the best players alive. (Years later the EU looked into whether the city had overpaid on purpose to bail the club out. Nothing came of it.)
Then came the players fans still argue about, one global superstar nearly every summer: Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham. Pérez never pretended it was only about football. When his marketing chief heard Manchester United would sell Beckham for about 35 million euros, he called Pérez yelling that it was a steal. United had priced a footballer. Madrid was buying a worldwide brand it figured was worth ten times more in shirts and sponsorship deals. Within a year of signing him, Madrid had passed United as the most profitable club on earth. Pérez wanted his club to run like Ferrari, a name so strong the money keeps coming whether you win on Saturday or not.
The new stadium is the same idea in concrete. He spent 1.3 billion euros rebuilding it over one thing that bugged him: a football ground hosts maybe 25 games a year and sits dark the other 340 days. His version barely sleeps. It hosts concerts and tours now, and last November it held an American football game. The pitch even slides underground so the place can be rented out without wrecking the grass. Running flat out, it's built to bring in close to a million euros a day.
He has still won plenty on the field, seven Champions League titles across his two spells, from Zidane's famous volley in 2002 to the trophies in 2022 and 2024. But the number that explains him best is simpler. Last year, with nothing big to show for it on the pitch, the club's value still climbed 41 percent. So this week 90,000 fans gave him four more years, and he still doesn't own a single share of the club he turned into the highest-earning team in world sport.
• Signed Dumfries and Konaté in one day.
• Brought back Nico Paz and Endrick.
• Reunited with José Mourinho.
• Secured Vinícius Jr.’s renewal.
• Gvardiol is almost a done deal.
• Realized Mbappé can’t play as a striker.
• Still has a few days left in the campaign.
• Promised more signings this summer.
DON FLORENTINO PÉREZ IN HIS PRIME IS BACK. 🔥🤍