MT Melsungen wins and leads its group — and more

Despite a tough struggle against Kristianstad, MT Melsungen ultimately secured the win.

Goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic was named the matchwinner.

Christopher Price, a New England Patriots beat writer, has advised the reigning AFC champions to avoid acquiring superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill at all costs. Price argues that the team would be better served pursuing a different veteran wide receiver instead, though he did not specify which player he had in mind.

'No racism' gesture in soccer: Explaining FIFA's cross-arm 'X' signal used in La Liga and Champions League originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Developing effective and widespread anti-racism protocols has been a major emphasis by global football over the past decade.

While FIFA has championed its three-step process of pause, halt, and abandon a match affected by racial abuse, critics argue that in practice this has not achieved the desired effect.

One of the most troubled regions plagued by instances of such abuse is the Spanish professional league, where a number of black players have reported being subjected to chants, insults, and other targeted abuse across multiple spheres, including at matches, on social media, and throughout daily life.

Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior has been vocal in his demands for authorities to stamp out racism, even calling for Spain to be stripped of hosting rights for the 2030 FIFA World Cup if the problem is not tackled sufficiently.

Perhaps they have heeded those calls at last. The Spanish federation, along with La Liga, became the first to adopt a new anti-racism procedure in fall of 2024 which FIFA hopes will become standard across all leagues and competitions around the globe.

MORE: All the latest soccer news | Barcelona news | Real Madrid news

What is FIFA's 'no racism' cross-arm gesture?

FIFA has implemented a new gesture for referees and players to signal that racial abuse is occurring during a game.

Per the new guidelines from soccer's governing body, players and referees will have the ability to cross their arms at the wrists in an X to signal an instance of racist abuse. Players may use it to get the referee's attention, while referees can use it to indicate to the viewing public what has occurred.

Should this happen, the referee will immediately begin the three-step process already in place to handle racial abuse. The first of the three steps is to pause the game until the abuse ends, and should it not, the next two steps of suspending the match and abandoning the match will be taken in appropriate measure.

"By crossing their hands at the wrists, players can signal directly to the referee that they are being targeted by racist abuse, prompting the referee to start the anti-discrimination three-step procedure," FIFA explained in its anti-discrimination announcement.

Additionally, if the referee notices or identifies racial abuse themselves, they can also use the gesture to signal that the three-step process is being adopted.

MORE:Antonio Rudiger claims racial abuse during Club World Cup match against Pachuca

When and how is the 'no racism' gesture used?

In leagues where the guidelines are adopted, players are able to utilise this gesture when being targeted by racial abuse.

The crossed arms will signal to referees that they are the target of abuse and allow the official to take appropriate action.

Referees themselves can also use the gesture to signal that the match is being affected by racist insults and that the three-step protocol has been initiated.

While nothing fundamental is changing with this guideline, what it will hopefully do is to allow for greater transparency for viewers, which in turn will, theoretically, force referees to take more immediate action when abuse occurs.

As it stands, discussions about racist abuse on the pitch between players and officials are often difficult to identify in the moment, and thus referees can waver in their ability to implement the three-step process. Under this guideline, everyone will immediately know a player has been abused, which will put pressure on the referee to react promptly.

During the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Antonio Rudiger informed the referee of racial abuse by a Pachuca player, at which point the official signaled such by crossing his arms during the stoppage.

O árbitro Ramon Abatti Abel fez o sinal do protocolo antirracismo após uma discussão do Rudiger com o argentino Gustavo Cabral.

📸 Reprodução pic.twitter.com/DC76vycYMK

— Papo de Boleiros 🇧🇷 (@_papoboleiros) June 22, 2025

When did La Liga, FIFA implement the 'no racism' gesture?

As no specific timeline for implementation was given by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) at the moment of publication, it appeared that La Liga will begin implementing this part of the anti-racism procedures immediately, and that was indeed the case.

"The Royal Spanish Football Federation, together with La Liga, will incorporate the gesture for racist incidents that was approved at the last FIFA Congress held in Bangkok into the Protocol for Action on Public Incidents," said the RFEF in a statement. "An agreement was adopted unanimously to continue fighting racism together and efficiently."

Spain has witnessed a number of instances of racial abuse at football matches, with high-profile incidents both during and around La Liga matches. Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. has often been the target of racial abuse and has been an outspoken critic of what he considers to be the country's systemic issue with racism. Most notably, Vinicius posited that Spain should lose the right to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup if the problem isn't stamped out.

Steps have been taken towards reducing the problem. In June 2024, three men were jailed for racially abusing Vinicius in a match between Madrid and Valencia at Mestalla in May 2023.

The Brazilian posted on X: "Many people asked me to ignore it, others said that my fight was in vain and that I should just 'play football'. But, as I've always said, I'm not a victim of racism. I am an executioner of racists. This first criminal conviction in Spanish history is not for me. It's for all black people.

"Let the other racists be afraid, ashamed and hide in the shadows. Otherwise, I'll be here to call them out. Thank you to LaLiga and Real Madrid for helping to bring about this historic condemnation. There's more to come."

Do any other leagues use the 'no racism' gesture?

By the end of the 2024/25 European season, no other top leagues used the crossed-arms gesture, but La Liga was not the first worldwide competition to implement the process.

The gesture is in place at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which is currently in action in Colombia.

It was then implemented for all subsequent FIFA competitions, including the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States where the Rudiger incident took place.

Vinicius Jr racially abused during Champions League match

After scoring the opening goal of Real Madrid's knockout playoff first leg at Benfica in February 2026, Vinicius Jr. informed the match official that he had been the target of a racist comment by a Benfica player.

Replays showed Gianluca Prestianni covering his mouth with his shirt before saying something to Vinicius in the aftermath of his celebration, at which point the Real Madrid star immediately runs to inform the referee what he has heard.

At that point, French referee Francois Letexier made the crossed-arms gesture to indicate there had been racial abuse, and the match was stopped for nearly 10 minutes as the situation was resolved.

How the incident played out in full:

▪️ Vinícius Júnior scores a worldie strike.
▪️ He is booked for celebrating overtly.
▪️ Gianluca Prestianni says something to Vini.
▪️ Vini then charges over to referee who initiates the racism protocol. https://t.co/wUMWvXvRtUpic.twitter.com/2zAag49es1

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) February 17, 2026

Throughout the stoppage, Vinicius Jr refused to continue playing the match, and multiple Real Madrid players protested the continued involvement of Prestianni in the match proceedings.

Eventually, the game resumed in the 61st minute, but there was a tense atmosphere in Estadio da Luz as the game continued. The CBS Sports broadcasters commented shortly after that "some of the air has been sucked out" of the match environment with what occurred.

Real Madrid's Champions League match at Benfica was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused during the game. The Brazilian winger was visibly upset, leading to chaotic scenes as the match was temporarily stopped.

Galatasaray lå under ved pause, men vendte til 5-2-seier over Juventus i første utslagsrunde i mesterligaen og tok et langt steg mot åttedelsfinale.
Teun Koopmeiners vendte til 2-1-ledelse for gjestene etter Gabriel Saras tidlige ledermål for Galatasaray, men etter pause gikk alt galt for Luciano Spallettis lag i Istanbul.
Noa Lang og Davinson Sanchez ga hjemmelaget ledelsen 3-2 med hvert sitt mål før Juventus-innbytter Juan Cabal ble utvist med to gule kort. Mot ti gjestespillere økte Lang og innbytter Sacha Boey ledelsen hver sin gang.
– Jeg er glad for å ha scoret to mål. Vi spilte en god kamp mot et stort lag, men dette er ikke over ennå. Vi må prestere i Torino også, sa Lang til uefa.com.
En frustrert Juventus-trener Spalletti pådro seg gult kort på sidelinja.
(NTB)