16/04/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | APR 16, 2026

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Iraola’s next chapter beckons

Kompany praises landmark step for women in sport THE appointment of Marie-Louise Eta as interim coach of Union Berlin – the first woman to coach a top-flight team in Germany – is a special moment that will open doors for young girls in the sport, Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said yesterday. On Saturday Eta became the first female coach to lead a Bundesliga team when she was appointed as interim coach at Union. “I am actually really happy (with Eta’s appointment),” Kompany told yesterday. “I think these are key moments. It is easy to minimise them and say ‘she is just a coach like everybody else and that is how we have to treat her as colleagues’. But in the end it is something special,” the Belgian added. “It opens a lot of opportunities to little girls who now play football and think ‘I can coach anywhere, make a real career and be successful’. These stories are really important. “I wish her all the best and the only part I wish she is not treated like a man, is being patient with her, because the coaching job lacks patience on the leadership level.” The 34-year-old Eta had been coaching Union’s Under-19 team and will take charge of the club’s women’s team from next season. Union Berlin on Monday condemned sexist online abuse directed at Eta following her appoint ment, saying it was disappointing that the club had to respond to such criticism in 2026, calling the discourse “insane” and “embarrassing”. – Reuters “(After the first leg) Barcelona filed a protest relating to a referee decision. On 13 April 2026, the Uefa Control Ethics and Disciplinary Body declared the protest to be inadmissible,”said Uefa in a statement. Five-time Champions League winners Barca said last week the decision not to award them a penalty was a “major error” which influenced the result and were upset referee Istvan Kovacs was not told to review the incident by the VAR team. – AFP Uefa reject Barca handball complaint EUROPEAN football governing body Uefa yesterday rejected Barcelona’s complaint over a handball incident in their Champions League quarterfinal first leg defeat by Atletico Madrid, hours before the second leg. Diego Simeone’s side won 2-0 at Nou Camp last week and Barca were upset by an incident where Atletico defender Marc Pubill touched the ball with his hand after it appeared a goal kick had been passed to him.

Ű BY LAWRENCE OSTLERE

“It has been an honour to manage AFC Bournemouth and I am proud of what we have achieved together,” Iraola said in a statement. “I’m thankful to the players and staff that I’ve worked with, as well as Bill [Foley, the club chairman], who have all made my time here so special. “As for the fans, you have continued to show your fantastic support to myself and the team, and for that I will always be grateful. I feel this is the right moment for me to step away, but I will always carry fantastic memories of this club.” Foley said: “Andoni has been instrumental in shaping the direction of this football club over the past three seasons. He brought intensity, innova tion, and a clear philosophy that elevated AFC Bournemouth both on and off the pitch. “We are incredibly thankful for his leadership and will always have great memories of our time working together, as well as the things we accom plished.” – The Independent

his successful three-year tenure on the south coast,” a statement read. The news is a blow to the south-coast club as they seek to build on their impressive spell back in the Premier League. Iraola caught the attention of clubs all over Europe with Bournemouth’s high intensity style, and several of his players have been sold to European giants for large profits. Bournemouth are currently 11th in the table after beating league leaders Arsenal on the week end to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games, the club’s longest in the top flight, and are still in the hunt for European football next season. Iraola had been linked with a number of Premier League positions including Manchester United, when Michael Carrick’s short-term con tract expires this summer. But his family is thought to prefer a return to Spain’s Basque Country, where Iraola was born and where he spent most of his playing career.

ANDONI IRAOLA will leave Bournemouth at the end of the season, saying he is “proud of what we achieved together”. The Spanish manager is being chased by Athletic Bilbao, the club where he made more than 400 appearances as a player, and Bournemouth confirmed that Iraola’s time at the Vitality Stadium will come to a close this summer. Bournemouth had held talks with the 43-year old in an effort to negotiate a new deal for their highly sought-after manager, whose contract expires in July. But those talks failed and Iraola will depart, having led the club to finishes of 12th and ninth in his first two seasons in the Premier League. “AFC Bournemouth can confirm that head coach, Andoni Iraola, will leave the club at the con clusion of the 2025/26 season, bringing an end to

No hiding for Carrick Defeat to Leeds reveals cracks that go far beyond refereeing decisions

Ű BY RICHARD JOLLY

players of blame. United were awful in the first half against Leeds. Carrick said their 24-day gap between games was no excuse, but did not even attempt a convincing explanation for their dis mal start. Perhaps the harsher words were delivered behind closed doors; so far, Carrick’s excellent results have allowed him to be an encouraging voice to players whose confi dence was battered by a combination of defeats, Amorim’s more brutal comments and the former United footballers among the punditocracy. Yet Leeds exposed faultlines; perhaps United are neither as bad as they looked under Amorim or as good as they appeared in their first 10 games under Carrick. His own decision-making, which had seemed flawless in his stellar start, could be questioned. Two of his four changes were enforced but dropping Diogo Dalot for Noussair Mazraoui, who struggled, looked an error. And United have short-term issues at the heart of the defence, longer-term ones in the middle of the midfield. Martinez will be suspended for Suday’s trip to Chelsea, Harry Maguire may be, Yoro was poor – and, notably, does not look to be part of Carrick’s preferred team – while Matthijs de Ligt is no nearer to returning from his back injury. Casemiro showed his extraordinary ability in the pen alty area, scoring one goal, being denied another only by Calvert-Lewin’s clearance off the line. His immobility is no secret; it will not be United’s problem next season but with Kobbie Mainoo sidelined, Manuel Ugarte started and extended his wretched record. A supposed defensive midfielder makes them worse at defending. After accusing the officials, Carrick defended Ugarte. A midfield overhaul beckons. While he has his gripes with the men in black, the con text is that United have had a colossal advantage, forged in part by the incompetence of Amorim’s side last season. Without European football, they will play around 20 fewer games than their immediate rivals. That will change next season, along with task for Carrick, assuming he again occupies the dugout. – The Independent team could do some unplanned work on the chassis and upgrades that had not been sched uled so early. While the race team had been encouraged to take some time off, other parts of the company were working harder than planned. “What I know we’ve got in the pipeline will lift us certainly a little bit more into that midfield bat tle, whereas at the moment we’re more to the middle-to-the-back of it,” said Permane. “We seem to be able to do a very good job in qualifying and then we haven’t been so competi tive in the races.” – AFP

P ART of Michael Carrick’s appeal to Manchester United lay in his ability to be measured and mild mannered. It was a trait he displayed in his playing days; he was the least likely member of the squad to say anything controversial. No wonder Carrick felt the ideal antidote to Ruben Amorim, who was just too quotable for his own good. So Carrick has emerged as an unlikely outspoken critic of the officiating. Fresh from United’s complaint to PGMOL about the decisions in their 2-2 draw at Bournemouth came what he called “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen,” to dismiss Lisandro Martinez for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair in the 2-1 defeat to Leeds. Carrick also argued Noah Okafor’s opening goal should have been disallowed for a challenge by Calvert-Lewin on Leny Yoro; calling it a “fore arm smash” which made it sound considerably more brutal than it was. All of which may have served as a reminder that he spent seven years playing for the mas ter of the deflection tactic, Sir Alex Ferguson. Carrick is considering appealing against Martinez’s red card; the appeal would surely fail, however. Whether or not the Argentine intended to grab Calvert-Lewin’s locks, and while it was at the less violent end of the spectrum for violent conduct, there is now precedent for such sendings-off. It was Martinez’s first in a United shirt; while far worse misdemeanours predate Carrick’s appointment, the surprise is that he was not shown red quite some time ago. If Carrick may not be receptive to the theory decisions even them selves out – eventually, in some cases – there is always a case of dou ble standards when a manager is willing to scapegoat officials while sparing their

Man United manager Michael Carrick reacts after loss to Leeds United in the English Premier League match at Old Trafford on Tuesday. – REUTERSPIC

Racing Bulls plan quick-succession upgrades after race cancellations RACING BULLS will bring upgrades to the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix in quick succession next month after the cancellation of Formula One races in the Middle East disrupted the schedule. The Red Bull-owned team’s boss Alan Permane told reporters in a video call yesterday that the situation was a result of Miami becoming the fourth round of the season rather than the sixth. but is now the fifth. “We had a pretty decent upgrade planned for Bahrain which of course we will see in Miami,”said Permane, adding that there would now be more sets of parts available. “We had another upgrade planned for Montreal, so we will have a sort of quick double hit there. just the way the calendar has fallen.” Racing Bulls are seventh in the 11-team stand ings after three races with British rookie Arvid Lindblad and New Zealander Liam Lawson.

They are only two points behind sister team Red Bull and Renault-owned Alpine and four adrift of Haas with the four teams far behind the top three and also well clear of the bottom four. Permane said the team had done a good job so far and expected the upgrades to allow Racing Bulls, who have scored in every race, to stay within the midfield quartet. He said the lack of races in April meant the

“There was no way to bring them both (to Miami). The Montreal one we can’t bring earlier, so it’s a slightly strange situation where we’ll bring a new, quite decent upgrade, a new component, and then almost replace it straight away. That’s

Racing Bulls had planned to bring their first major upgrade to Bahrain, which would have been round four, with the second destined for Montreal which would have been the seventh