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FIFA Women’s World Cup: Controversy over ‘outrageous’ broadcast blackout threat

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FIFA is blamed for Women’s World Cup rights values after ‘outrageous’ broadcast blackout threat

Infantino said that broadcasters from those territories had offered only £800,000 — £8million ($1m-$10m) for the Women’s World Cup compared with the £80m-£160m ($100m-$200m) for the men’s.

But Moya Dodd, a former Australia international and ex-FIFA Council member, called Infantino’s comments “outrageous” and said FIFA was part of the problem.

“Now that FIFA has decided to sell the rights separately, it’s no surprise that the buyers don’t want to pay the same big numbers twice,” Dodd told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Effectively, the industry was trained to pay big money for the men’s World Cup and treat the women’s equivalent as worthless. At the same time, the women were told they didn’t deserve prize money or equal pay because they didn’t bring the revenues.

“It’s actually quite outrageous. For FIFA to now say that all women’s revenues will go straight into women’s football overlooks the fact that the value of the women’s rights have until now been used to inflate the value of men’s football.”

Speaking to the Unofficial Partner sports business podcast, she added: “I think it’s a bit rich to be scolding the broadcasters for underpaying because when you look at the history, FIFA itself never put any value on the women’s rights.”

Dodd said that instead of threatening broadcasters FIFA should review all of its bundled deals and attribute a fair proportion to the women’s game.

“If in fact the Women’s World Cup gets 50 to 60 per cent of the viewers of the men’s, as FIFA says, that should amount to a sum in the billions,” she said.

Infantino confirmed in March that the total prize money for the Women’s World Cup this summer would be five times the pot at the tournament’s last edition in 2019 — a move that global players’ union FIFPRO described as “significant progress … on the pathway to equal prize money”.

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Immigration officer charged with accepting bribes from migrants to change legal status

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An immigration officer from Pennsylvania has been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for adjusting immigrants’ legal status over a nearly decadelong period.

Amara Dukuly, 43, of Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, was arrested and charged with bribery of a public official, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Thursday.

Dukuly had allegedly used his status as a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer since 2015 to receive payments in exchange for adjustments to some people’s immigration statuses. Those adjustments include receiving a green card, work authorization documents, or visas.

USCIS handles “processing immigration and naturalization applications and establishing policies regarding immigration services.”

“Dukuly did not have the authority to do any of the things he promised these individuals,” the press release says. “After corruptly seeking, receiving, and accepting money in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act, Dukuly converted the monies he obtained from these bribes for his personal benefit.”

The case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Eve will lead the prosecution.

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Bernice King’s Redemption Bank is now the first Black-owned in the West

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In 2023, a group of Black investors based in Atlanta agreed to buy a white-owned bank, Holladay Bank & Trust, and convert it into a Black-owned one. The investors included Dr. Bernice A. King, a daughter of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr; Ashley D. Bell, a former White House policy adviser, and former NFL player Dhani Jones.

They planned to rename the Utah-based institution Redemption Bank and said they wanted to provide financial services to Black communities historically underserved by financial institutions while offering online banking services and small business loans.

The deal, which was awaiting regulatory approval, would mark the first time Black investors purchased a non-Black bank, a statement by Redemption Holding Company said at the time. It would also be the first time in American history that an existing commercial bank would become a Black-owned Minority Depository Institution (“MDI”) through acquisition, the statement added.

After two years, Redemption has finally completed its acquisition of Holladay Bank & Trust. It makes it the first time a bank has been owned by a Black-led investment group in the Western U.S., the AP reported this month.

The acquisition got delayed due to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023, Bell, CEO and chairman of Redemption Holding, told the AP.

“This process has undoubtedly taken longer than any of us anticipated,” Bell said. “However, we are grateful for the diligence of the staff at the FDIC, the leadership of the (American Bankers Association), and the renewed sense of urgency from the new administration this year, all of which helped bring everything together.”

While Bell is the CEO, King is expected to be Redemption Bank’s senior vice president for corporate strategy and serve on the company’s advisory board.

With about $65 million in assets, Redemption Bank will be the first Black-owned bank not physically located within an economically vulnerable community and the first in the Rockies, according to the AP.

It will also be the only one located in the Black-banking desert that stretches from Houston to Los Angeles, the AP added.

The company will further become the 24th Black-owned bank in the nation, termed as Minority Depository Institutions (MDI). MDI is a federal designation for banks and unions that are owned or controlled by minority groups. The most recent MDI was Adelphi Bank, launched in January 2023.

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Crockett questions Melania Trump’s reported ‘Einstein visa’: ‘The math ain’t mathin”

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) questioned first lady Melania Trump’s reported “Einstein visa” at a House hearing Wednesday.

“Let me remind y’all that Melania, the first lady, a model — and when I say model, I’m not talking about Tyra Banks, Cindy Crawford or Naomi Campbell level — applied for and was given an EB-1 visa, and what that stands for is an Einstein visa. Now y’all that don’t know, let me tell you how you receive an Einstein visa,” Crockett said.

“You’re supposed to have some sort of significant achievement, like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer, being an Olympic medalist, or having other sustained extraordinary abilities and success in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. Last time I checked, the first lady had none of those accolades under her belt,” the Texas Democrat added. “It doesn’t take an Einstein to see that the math ain’t mathin’ here.”

The Washington Post has reported that Trump in 2001 was given a green card via the elite EB-1 program. The program has been used by people such as academic researchers and multinational business executives, as well as people who have demonstrated “sustained national and international acclaim,” according to the Post.

Crockett’s comments came amid already heightened tensions over immigration in the U.S. as President Trump and his administration pursue an immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration has recently looked to social media more as a national security tool to vet immigrants, raising concerns the action could result in a chilling effect on political speech in the U.S.

The State Department announced earlier this month it was relaunching interviews and processing foreign student visas, with applicants having to make their social media accounts public for vetting or face possible denial.

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