Month: May 2022

The UEFA Champions League, soccer’s governing body, announced Monday the Russian women’s soccer team will be banned from the Women’s European Championship in July and from participating in qualifying for next year’s World Cup over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian team will be replaced by the Portuguese team for the tournament that will be played from July 6-31 in England.

Russian soccer faced a slew of bans following the invasion.

“Further to its 28 February 2022 decision to suspend all Russian representative teams and clubs from participating in UEFA competition matches until further notice, the UEFA Executive Committee today took a series of decisions relating to the implications of that decision for its upcoming competitions, in order to ensure their smooth staging in a safe and secure environment for all those concerned,” UEFA said in a press release.

UEFA also denied Russia’s bid to host the men’s European championships in 2028 and 2032.

Russian club teams will also be barred from participating in the Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League next year.

The Russian national men’s team was already banned from the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

Source: Voice of America

Hundreds of A-listers dressed to the theme of “gilded glamour” gathered Monday in New York for the annual Met Gala extravaganza known as “the party of the year.

The fundraiser is back in its usual early May slot after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event and delayed last year’s edition to autumn.

Some 400 celebrities from the worlds of music, film, fashion, sports and more strutted their stuff at the over-the-top costume parade on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s carpeted steps.

The invitation-only guest list is a closely guarded secret, but frequent attendees have included Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Elon Musk.

Some of the more eye-catching outfits worn over the years have included Beyoncé’s “naked dress” and Kim Kardashian’s face-covering black bodysuit.

In 2019, the last edition before the pandemic, Lady Gaga did a striptease of four different outfits, starting in a billowing fuchsia dress and ending in black lingerie.

Also grabbing headlines that year was singer and actor Billy Porter, who dressed as a sun god. With outstretched golden wings, he was carried in by six shirtless men.

At last year’s event, held in September, left-wing politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez caused a stir by wearing a dress emblazoned with the slogan “Tax the Rich.”

That struck a nerve at the celebration of fashion where tickets cost $35,000 and tables go for up to $300,000.

The gala — overseen by the high-priestess of fashion, Vogue magazine editor-in-chief Anna Wintour — raises millions of dollars for The Met’s Costume Institute.

Last year, the event raised more than $16.4 million for the institute.

The dress code comes from the annual exhibit that the party coincides with. This year’s is “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” a retrospective from the late 19th century to the present.

Monday’s gala was co-hosted by actor-couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Oscar-winning actress Regina King, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway hit “Hamilton.”

This year’s honorary presidents are Instagram boss Adam Mosseri and designer Tom Ford, who was expected to dress many of the attendees.

The gala was first held in 1948 and was for a long time reserved for New York’s high society. Wintour took over running it in 1995, transforming the event into a catwalk for the rich and famous.

Source: Voice of America