Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr have been banned from registering new players due to “outstanding debts”, FIFA has said. Former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Ronaldo moved to the Middle East in January, with a host of star names having followed since as the kingdom seeks to build the Saudi Pro League into one of the world’s best. However, FIFA has now imposed a ban on the club’s transfer activity. A spokesperson for the global governing body said: “The club Al Nassr is currently prevented from registering new players due to outstanding debts. “The relevant bans will be lifted immediately upon the settlement of the debts being confirmed by the creditors concerned.” Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has an estimated net worth of over 600 billion US dollars (almost £460bn) bought a majority stake in Al Nassr as well as three other Saudi clubs in June. The club have further strengthened their squad with the signing of Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Stars of the upcoming Women’s World Cup have pledged to neutralise the climate impact of their flights to and from Australia and New Zealand by donating money to climate resilience and carbon offsetting initiatives. A collection of 44 leading players from four different countries, including Danish international Sofie Junge Pedersen, Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming and Italian defender Elena Linari, have committed to take responsibility for their environmental impact at the tournament. The initiative was created by 31-year-old Pedersen, who has won 85 caps for Denmark, and is being facilitated by Common Goal, the social and environmental collective movement in global football, and Football For Future, the UK-based climate advocacy group. Although there are 44 players currently signed up, it is hoped that number will reach at least 50 by the time the World Cup gets underway later this month. Pedersen explained: “I want to ensure my World Cup experience has a positive environmental legacy. Climate change is the biggest issue humanity faces, and I want to be part of the solution. While there are no current sustainable solutions to aviation, as players we are setting an example, and taking a tangible step in the right direction.” Chelsea and Canada star Fleming added: “This is a topic I feel passionate about, and I hope this action my teammates and I are taking accelerates the climate conversation and sets a precedent for what athletes can do to push for more environmental policies in football.” The campaign recognises that these donations are only short-term tools to compensate for players’ flights to and from the World Cup but the stated aim is to inspire everyone in football to take responsibility for tackling climate change, with the hope that governing bodies will make carbon-offsetting a key criteria to hosting tournaments int he future. The campaign relies on a rigorous and scientific methodology to calculate the environmental impact of the players’ flights to and from the World Cup, directly referencing the flight’s carbon tonnage. The players will then donate the money to a combination of climate resilience, carbon offsetting and adaptation initiatives run by WWF (Australia, New Zealand) and DanChurchAid. These initiatives are based in Australia, New Zealand, and Uganda. Read More Lionesses bonus row could drag on until after World Cup Sam Kerr ready for her ‘Cathy Freeman moment’ at Women’s World Cup ACL injuries are keeping stars out of the Women's World Cup

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A Taylor Swift fan was shocked to find “creepy” electronic music when she played her new Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) vinyl of the new album. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was released on July 7, 2023 and quickly broke the Spotify record for the most single-day streams for any album in 2023 so far. It is also the most streamed country album in Spotify history. As well as impressive streaming feats, many fans have also opted for physical copies of the album, with over 225,000 vinyl sales, less than a week into its release. Rachel Hunter, a British fan of Swift, couldn’t wait to listen to her copy of Swift’s latest re-recording after returning from vacation. But, as she found out, it seems not every vinyl was pressed correctly. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “This voice started, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, do I have, like, a secret message from Taylor on my album?’” Hunter said Speaking to NBC News. “And I was like, that’s not Taylor Swift.” In her confusion, Hunter posted a now viral TikTok over the mysterious album, asking “does anyone else’s Speak Now vinyl not have Taylor Swift on it?” @mischief_marauder send help I got speak now (not Taylors version) this is so funny #speaknowtaylorsversion @Taylor Swift @Taylor Nation #erastour #speaknoworchid Hunter proceeds to play the album, instead of hearing Swift’s voice, she instead hears the song “Happy Land,” an electronic song by the group Ultramarine. On the B-Side of the album is the song “Soul Vine (70 billion People)” by Cabaret Voltaire. After posting the vinyl to TikTok fans quickly discovered that the songs appear on the album “Happy Land: A Compendium of Electronic Music from the British Isles 1992-1996 Volume 1.” “Happy Land” is distributed by the record label Above Board Distribution, whilst Swift’s album is distributed by Universal Musical Group. “Due to a pressing blunder, some Taylor Swift fans received a misprinted copy of ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),’ which we have learned features audio of ‘Happy Land (A Compendium of Music from the British Isles 1992-1996),’” said Dan Hill, the founder and managing director of Above Board, in a statement to NBC News. “While this error was beyond our control, we sincerely hope anyone who received what is Not Taylor’s Version of the vinyl enjoys the beats. It might very well end up being a collector’s item!” Hunter said she’s decided to keep the mistresses vinyl, unless someone wants to offer her VIP tickets for Swift’s tour, she joked. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Vandals set fire to and destroyed a seminal artwork by one of Italy’s most famous living artists on Wednesday 12 July. By the time flames were doused, all that was left of the installation by Michelangelo Pistoletto was a charred frame. Mr Pistoletto’s artwork, titled “Venus of the Rags” had been on display outside Naples’ City Hall since 28 June. It featured a large plaster neoclassical nude Venus, inspired by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen’s 19th century “Venus with Apple,” picking through a mountain of rags. Pistoletto told the Corriere della Sera daily newspaper that there could be many reasons for the attack. Read More Towering plumes of black smoke pour out of huge east London fire Fire breaks out after explosion rips through building in Tokyo Washington Tunnel Five fire continues to spread now burning over 300 acres

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RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 13, 2023--