Gala Ceremony for Best FIFA Football Awards to be Held in London in January

FILED - 29 March 2023, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Visitors watch the FIFA Women's World Cup trophy during a tour to promote the women's tournament. Photo: Joao Gabriel Alves/dpa
FILED - 29 March 2023, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Visitors watch the FIFA Women's World Cup trophy during a tour to promote the women's tournament. Photo: Joao Gabriel Alves/dpa
TT

Gala Ceremony for Best FIFA Football Awards to be Held in London in January

FILED - 29 March 2023, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Visitors watch the FIFA Women's World Cup trophy during a tour to promote the women's tournament. Photo: Joao Gabriel Alves/dpa
FILED - 29 March 2023, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Visitors watch the FIFA Women's World Cup trophy during a tour to promote the women's tournament. Photo: Joao Gabriel Alves/dpa

The Best FIFA Football Awards will be staged in London in January, world soccer's governing body said Friday.
The gala event, which will see the likes of Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Pep Guardiola, Aitana Bonmati and Emma Hayes in contention for big prizes, will be held on Jan. 15.
It is the eighth edition of the awards, which celebrates the “planet’s top players, coaches, fans, goals, and acts of fair play.” It is the third time it has been hosted in London, following previous ceremonies in 2016 and 2017.
FIFA did not say which venue had been chosen for the ceremony.
Eight awards are voted for by coaches, captains, journalists and fans. They include the best men's and women's player, coach and goalkeeper.
Among other awards is the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year.
Messi was named the best men's player in 2022 and Alexia Putellas won the women's award.
Argentina's World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni and England's European Championship winning coach Sarina Wiegman won the awards for their respective coaching categories.
Women's World Cup stars Bonmati, Linda Caicedo and Lauren James are among the nominees for the women's player award this year.
Messi, Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are among the names up for the men's award.
Guardiola is up for the best men's coach award after winning the treble last year with Manchester City. New US women's coach Emma Hayes is among a strong field in the women's category, with Wiegman and Barcelona's Champions League-winning coach Jonatan Giraldez among the nominees.



South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

 Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
TT

South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

 Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)

South Korea expressed regret that its delegation of athletes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organizers the mistake will not happen again.

As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine, the announcer introduced them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" - the official name of North Korea - in French and English.

The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.

South Korea's vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, had requested a meeting with International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach, the ministry said in a statement.

"We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games when the athletes of the Republic of Korea were entering," it said.

South Korea's National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games' organizers and requested that the error will not be repeated.

South Korea's delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which is returning to the Games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.