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Soudebeh Bagherpour, the middle blocker for the Iranian women's volleyball team, expressed satisfaction with the team's strong performances against leading continental teams at the Asian Women's Volleyball Championship.

Bagherpour pleased with Iran's performance in Asia

At the 2026 AVC Women Asian Continental Championship, the Iranian national team lost to Japan with a score of 3:0 (25–21, 25–16, 26–24) on Sunday.

After Iran finished fourth in Tianjin, Bagherpour commented on the team's campaign. She noted: 'Today we played against a team that participated in the National Champions League in volleyball about a month ago. According to our analysis, we gave everything we had to beat Japan, but unfortunately, it was not enough.'

Bagherpour added that the team fought hard in the third set, but Japan showed a higher level of play. 'Their excellent defense and ability to keep the ball in play created pressure on us, and ultimately they won the match.'

The Dutch football federation (KNVB) has stated that FIFA requires new leadership and expressed a desire to organize a summit concerning the future of the world governing body for football, specifically excluding the current president, Gianni Infantino.

The 56-year-old Swiss official has faced significant backlash due to his stalled FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative, which aimed to incorporate private funding into major FIFA events, including both the men's and women's World Cups.

In a formal communication addressed to Aleksander Ceferin, the head of UEFA, the KNVB conveyed that it had lost faith in Infantino and asserted that fundamental changes within FIFA were necessary.

Infantino, who secured his position in 2016 following Sepp Blatter's departure, was reportedly poised for an unopposed fourth term in Rabat next March, enjoying the positive momentum from a highly successful World Cup.

However, the failure of his proposal has led to a decline in support; the Norwegian FA has called for his resignation, and now the Dutch federation is considering a complete restructuring of FIFA without him leading the organization.

Victor Montagliani, the president of CONCACAF, is considered the most likely candidate to challenge Infantino, given that Ceferin has announced he will not run for office. Any challenge must be submitted by November 18.

The KNVB's statement explicitly noted, 'The KNVB no longer has confidence in the leadership of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.' Furthermore, they specified, 'We believe FIFA needs new leadership from 2027 onwards. But a new President alone is not enough. The way FIFA is governed must change as well.'

While UEFA has been actively opposing Infantino—most recently by threatening legal action alleging 'criminal mismanagement'—the KNVB emphasized that its proposed transformation should not be perceived as merely a European agenda for the entire globe.

The federation stressed the importance of developing this new path collaboratively with FIFA's 211 Member Associations and confederations globally. The KNVB outlined three key priorities for this change: establishing good governance for a more equitable distribution of power, centering football's social influence within FIFA, and increasing financial investment in football across the world.

A primary criticism leveled against Infantino concerns a perceived lack of transparency, which contradicts his initial promises upon election, alongside making decisions either unilaterally or involving only a small circle of close associates.

This issue was evident with the FFE, as The New York Times reported that five senior FIFA directors were informed of the proposal during a meeting held at a hotel in New York shortly before the World Cup final in the United States last month.

The KNVB argued that 'FIFA should not depend on one individual,' detailing that the President, FIFA Council, Congress, and Secretary-General each possess distinct roles and responsibilities. They elaborated that 'The President represents and unites. The Council governs and supervises. Congress decides. The Secretary-General leads the organisation.' This structure, they maintained, necessitates enhanced transparency, independent monitoring, and space for dissenting opinions.

To facilitate this discussion, the KNVB proposed an International Summit on the Future of FIFA, suggesting that all relevant football associations and confederations participate. The KNVB offered to host this summit in Amsterdam, citing its historical significance to FIFA. They concluded that the 2027 presidential election must address not only who will lead FIFA but also what kind of FIFA they wish to establish.

When contacted by AFP, UEFA stated a preference to maintain privacy regarding the correspondence, adding only that they value their long-standing and productive working relationship with KNVB.

The Pakistani cricket team has long been unable to achieve respectable results against strong opponents, especially in Test matches, where their play has been extremely disappointing. During the Test series between Pakistan and England, the Pakistani batsman once again performed poorly.

In the second match of the series, held at Lord's against England, the entire Pakistani team suffered a humiliating defeat in the first innings, scoring only 110 runs. In the second innings, the team barely managed to hold on, losing three wickets at a score of 14.

The team's main reliable batsman, Babar Azam, once again failed to meet expectations. In the first innings, he was dismissed, scoring only 8 runs. In the second innings, where high expectations were placed on him, he also failed to demonstrate his strength, being dismissed at 6 runs.

Mohammad Yusuf, a former captain and outstanding batsman for Pakistan, became angry at such a lackluster performance by Babar Azam and other batsmen. He directly blamed the team's coaching staff for the players' poor form.

Mohammad Yusuf stated in his post on social media platform X that he had warned about this problem many years ago, but some so-called coaches around Babar Azam and other players did not allow him to work on easily solvable issues. He emphasized that this failure has led to the current slump in Pakistani cricket.

Expressing his dissatisfaction on platform X, Mohammad Yusuf called these coaches 'toxic' to the sport. He noted that they lack vision; they not only hinder player progress but also guide the most talented cricketers down the wrong path.

Yusuf also cautioned young players, saying that if cricketers do not understand whose advice to take and whose to ignore, their careers will end much sooner than expected.

The former captain expressed deep regret that he had warned about the technical deficiencies of Babar Azam and other players several years ago. According to Yusuf, the technical errors that could have been corrected very easily were not fixed by these coaches. He concluded that this negligence is what has caused Pakistani cricket to go through such a difficult period.

Yusuf openly stated that the weak technique of Pakistani batsmen was fully exposed to international bowlers, whether on pitches in Bangladesh or England. What could have been corrected earlier has become the team's main weakness, causing the Pakistani team to look completely helpless and struggling at the international level today.