Nearly 3,000 officials, including police, guards and health officials, will work to secure the Champions League quarterfinal matches this week in Madrid. Real Madrid will host Wolfsburg on Tuesday and Atlético Madrid will host Barcelona on Wednesday. Officials "are taking into account the number of fans of both the home teams and the visitors, as well as the capacity of the stadiums" -- 81,044 at the Santiago Bernabéu and 54,907 at the Vicente Calderón (EFE, 4/11).
Football players in Colombia "sat down on the field to protest a decision to play matches during the day" to help the government "stave off an energy crisis." The sit-down protests lasted only a few minutes and "took place in at least eight stadiums hosting top-tier matches during the weekend." Players said that they were not "consulted about the change" and warn that playing games during the tropical daytime heat "is dangerous and could lead to dehydration" (AP, 4/10).
A match in the Saudi Professional Football League was stopped in the middle by the referee "to fix the haircut of three players, whose haircut was not in accordance with Sharia law." During the Friday encounter between the teams of Ahad and al-Bathin, the referee stopped the match and "took the three players aside, where he fixed their Mohawk haircuts, in front of the eyes of the crowd that attended the match" (JERUSALEM POST, 4/11).
FIFA said on Monday that Equatorial Guinea has been kicked out of the 2020 women's Olympic football tournament after a player "was found to have used two passports with conflicting details" (REUTERS, 4/11).
ManU is facing a £5,000 ($7,100) fine for arriving late to Sunday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham, which caused kickoff to be delayed by 30 minutes. ManU’s coach "encountered heavy traffic en route to White Hart Lane" from its team hotel ahead of the 3-0 defeat by Spurs. In a bid to "dodge the congestion," the coach driver took an alternative route only to "cause further delay due to a low tunnel the vehicle couldn’t fit under" (London DAILY MAIL, 4/11).
Scottish Championship side Rangers Manager Mark Warburton accused Hampden bosses of "being cheapskates as they prepare to rip up the playing surface again." Warburton admitted he is "praying for a week of good weather to prevent the Old Firm showdown on Sunday becoming a farce." National Stadium chiefs confirmed minutes after the Light Blues’ 4-0 win over Peterhead that they are "re-laying the pitch just five weeks after it was replaced" at a cost of around £200,000 ($285,000) for the League Cup final (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 4/11).
Serie A side Palermo fans threw fireworks and halted the match against Lazio in each half on Sunday. The match was stopped for "nearly five minutes in the second half -- the longest of the two interruptions -- after a firework exploded seconds after Lazio midfielder Antonio Candreva ran past it" (AP, 4/10).
