This article was originally published on January 11th, 2019.
Here is this week's dose of “5-Point Friday”. A weekly round-up of the sports news and stories that I find most interesting and enjoyable.
Soccer news that interests me -
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that Egypt will be hosting the 2019 African Cup of Nations. Egypt beat out South Africa, the only other nation to bid, by 16 votes to 1, at a CAF executive committee vote in Senegal. The original host nation Cameroon had been stripped of staging the tournament back in November, due to slow preparations.
Athletics news that interests me -
Vatican City announced that they are launching an athletics team. The world's smallest country has stated that its aim is to compete in international competitions, including the Olympics. “The dream that we have often had is to see the Holy See flag among the delegations at the opening of the Olympic Games,” said Monsignor Melchor Jose Sánchez de Toca y Alameda, the team president and the head of the Vatican’s sports department. The team currently consists of Swiss Guards, priests, nuns, pharmacists, and a 62-year-old professor.
Sports industry professional I met -
This week I spoke with ESPN Deportes broadcaster Francisco Rivera (@FX_Rivera). Rivera was recently featured in the ESPN article 'How Spanish hockey announcers translate the game.' I was able to learn about how his career has developed over the years and being named "Top 35 under 35 Latinos in Entertainment."
Soccer news that concerns me -
Scottish referee John Beaton was given a police escort to his game, at the weekend. Beaton recently received criticism for his handling of the Old Firm derby. Police Scotland announced that Beaton received death threats after the game. Prospect the union for referees in Scotland released a statement saying that the abuse of referees has reached a "crisis point."
What I've been listening too -
This week I took the time to listen to former MLS player John Wilson's TEDxCharleston talk, 'That's why they call it play - the joy of sports.' Wilson reminds us reminds about how only 2% of high school athletes get scholarships to play for a collegiate level and even less progress to become professionals. During the talk, Wilson explains that it is important to understand why we play sports and that we should play for ourselves and not others so that we can keep the joy in our sports.
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Jonathan