UEFA bans Ajax and Eintracht ticket sales for fan disorder

UEFA has banned Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt from selling tickets to fans for games in London next month as punishment for disorder.

UEFA’s disciplinary panel punished Ajax on Thursday for crowd disturbances and damage to the stadium in a 3-0 Champions League win at Valencia this month. That means there won’t be an away section for Ajax at its next away game, at Chelsea on November 5. In a similar case, Eintracht is banned from selling tickets to Europa League games at Standard Liege on November 7 and Arsenal on November 28.

KOREAN STRIFE

South Korea’s national federation has asked the sport’s continental body to consider action against North Korea for staging their 2022 World Cup qualifier behind closed doors, according to a local media report on Friday. Tuesday’s game in Pyongyang, the first between the two teams on North Korean soil in 30 years, ended in a 0-0 draw in front of empty stands. It was not broadcast after the North refused to screen it live.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) wrote a letter of complaint to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that fans and media were not allowed to attend the match.

RAPINOE’S PAY FIGHT

NEW YORK: Megan Rapinoe is enjoying the whirlwind of a twotime World Cup winner.

Rapinoe says there’s a “major discrepancy” in pay for accomplishing the same success on the field compared to the U.S. men’s team. The 34-year-old said she can’t understand why female athletes must fight their soccer federation so hard for pay and benefits. “I guess other than just not believing that we deserve it or not willing to pay,” she said.

“I think it’s really counterintuitive. Soccer in general is growing exponentially in the country, so why not be able to leverage your best assets instead of fighting them all the time?”