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Basque

Title: Following fake documents, Malaysian defender Facundo Garces dropped from Alaves

by Alex Carter - Sports Editor October 20, 2025

written by Alex Carter - Sports Editor

Alaves Defender Facundo Garces Suspended⁢ Following FIFA Ruling on False Naturalization Documents

Vitoria-Gasteiz, alava, Basque⁣ Country – Spanish‍ La liga club ‍Alaves has sidelined defender Facundo Garces after FIFA ‌determined he was improperly naturalized to play ⁤for the ⁣Malaysian national team. The suspension stems from discrepancies in⁣ documentation submitted to FIFA regarding Garces’s grandmother’s birthplace, a key requirement for his Malaysian citizenship.

Garces, 26, received a Malaysian⁢ passport on June 2, 2025, through lineage tracing to his grandmother. He later played twice for‌ Malaysia ‍before FIFA investigated and found the documentation asserting his grandmother’s Malaysian birth to be inaccurate. FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee issued sanctions against Garces on September 26, 2025, prompting Alaves to initially exclude him from their September 27th La Liga match against Mallorca.

Alaves responded to FIFA’s punishment with two official statements, affirming respect for the ruling while upholding the principle of presumption of innocence and expressing hope for a swift resolution. The club subsequently imposed a temporary suspension‌ on garces on September 29, 2025, removing⁣ him from team selection until the legal process ‌concludes.

“We responded to FIFA’s punishment with respect, upholds the principle of presumption of innocence, and hopes that the case can be resolved as quickly⁢ as possible,” Alaves stated.

Garces last appeared in a ‍match for alaves on September‌ 24, 2025. The situation raises questions about the integrity of⁢ player naturalization processes ‍and potential repercussions for ‍both the player and the Malaysian ⁢Football Association (FAM). As‌ of late October 2025, nearly a month ⁢after FIFA’s initial statement, no positive developments have emerged regarding Garces’s case.

October 20, 2025 0 comments

World

ETA heirs stronger than ever after Basque elections

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com April 22, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

Spain

EH Bildu did not become the largest party, but achieved its best result ever. Remarkable enough after a campaign that was not about nationalism at all.

“A new era is dawning,” said Pello Otxandiano, Basque party EH Bildu’s candidate for the post of prime minister, as Sunday’s “impressive” election results came in. Never before has the left-wing, separatist party won more seats in the Basque parliament. Moreover, with 27 seats, the party is on par with the moderate nationalists of the PNV (Partido Nacionalista Vasco, ed.). This moderate, centre-right, nationalist party has ruled the Basque Country almost continuously since the start of Spanish democracy for almost forty years.

Once again, the PNV will be able to provide the prime minister, or lehendakari as it is called in Basque, with the support of the Social Democratic party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The PNV also supports the prime minister’s government coalition in Madrid. But something has changed in the Basque Country. Never before have the two nationalist forces obtained almost 75 percent of the seats. While the campaign was not about independence at all, but rather about social and economic issues. A big difference with the Catalan elections that are coming up in three weeks.

A party like any other

In that sense it was a remarkable victory party at EH Bildu. Because Otxandiano took the floor amid cries for independence. What’s that like? EH Bildu is a young party that emerged after a legal battle from the ashes of Batasuna, the political wing of the Basque terrorist movement ETA. In 2011, the Spanish Supreme Court declared the party ‘illegal’ and therefore banned, but the Constitutional Court removed that stamp. 2011 was also the year in which ETA announced that it would renounce violence. The movement was only actually disbanded in 2018. That EH Bildu was able to become so big says a lot about how the Basque Country has changed.

Otxandiano shook up the campaign by refusing to label ETA as a terrorist movement in an interview. But that didn’t stick. As a reporter from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo noted: for many young people, EH Bildu is now a party like any other party. She also did remarkably well among young voters. Today only 22 percent of Basques are in favor of independence. In 2005, that number was highest at 37 percent. The Basques have learned from the Catalan deconfiture and have not reacted abruptly.

“Strategic patience”

Independence remains an important goal of EH Bildu, which, according to strongman Arnaldo Otegi, requires “strategic patience”. For years, Otegi’s posters hung everywhere in the streets of the Basque Country, asking for his freedom. He was in jail because of his past as an ETA member.

In Spain, many analysts see with dismay how EH Bildu is becoming more important. Or as Joaquín Manso, editor-in-chief of El Mundo, wrote on Sunday: “Today the divisive political project has been normalized once and for all. It needed 853 murders to be successful. Even if Bildu is not yet the largest party in the Basque Country, it has become the only real political alternative in the Basque Country.”

April 22, 2024 0 comments

Sport

Vingegaard only operated on a collapsed lung five days after a fall, Tour winner still in Basque hospital

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com April 10, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

cycling

Jonas Vingegaard underwent surgery for the first time on Monday after his crash in the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country last Thursday. This involved surgery on his collapsed lung, which had to be done first before his fractures could be treated.

It was only four days after the crash in the Tour of the Basque Country that Jonas Vingegaard underwent surgery for the first time. It involved an operation on his collapsed lung, as the Spanish sports newspapers AS and Marca know. Vingegaard remains in the Intensive Care Unit at the Txagorritxu Hospital in Vitoria, Basque Country.

The Danish two-time Tour winner also suffered a lung contusion, a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. But a collapsed lung was diagnosed on Friday and that had priority.

Vingegaard is assisted by his wife Trine Hansen, who arrived in the Basque Country a few hours after the accident.

Questions arise about Vingegaard’s preparedness for the Tour de France, which starts in Florence on June 29. Merijn Zeeman, sporting manager of Visma-Lease a Bike, has already announced that Vingegaard will not make it to the first altitude training stage towards the Tour, from May 6.

April 10, 2024 0 comments

Sport

Mikel Landa suffers a broken collarbone in a new crash in the Tour of the Basque Country

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com April 5, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

cycling

Soudal Quick-Step is not spared from damage in the Tour of the Basque Country. After the heavy fall and retirement of leader Remco Evenepoel, the team also lost master servant Mikel Landa today. He also suffered a broken collarbone.

The 34-year-old Bask crashed in stage five together with teammate Gil Gelders, among others, about 78 kilometers from the finish. Afterwards, Landa was taken to a local hospital in an ambulance. There, X-rays revealed a broken collarbone, reports Soudal Quick-Step. Landa, a key member of the Evenepoel climbing train, will undergo further investigation before a decision is made on his treatment.

The damage to teammate Gelders was limited to bruises. He also disappeared from the race after his crash, just like Spaniard Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar Team) who was also involved in the crash.

On Thursday, Soudal lost Quick-Step Evenepoel after a serious high-speed crash in a descent. The Belgian champion broke his collarbone and shoulder blade. Evenepoel has to make a cross over Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, Quinten Hermans and Steff Cras, among others, were also involved in the crash.

April 5, 2024 0 comments

Sport

Evenepoel and Vingegaard retire after a heavy crash in the Tour of the Basque Country

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com April 4, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

cycling

Drama in the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country. The great tenors Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic all fell and had to give up. Louis Meintjes eventually won the stage.

Remco Evenepoel went straight in a bend, just managed to avoid a tree and then crashed. Afterwards, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, among others, also fell, as did Quinten Hermans. Evenepoel immediately grabbed his collarbone and left the race, the same for the Danish Tour winner.

Vingegaard remained on the ground for a long time with medical staff around him and was taken away on a stretcher. His Visma-Lease a bike team has now confirmed that he is conscious. Evenepoel was taken to hospital by the team management. Roglic seemed to be in the least serious condition, but also fell hard in a ditch and got into a support car. Also involved in the crash were: Jay Vine, Sean Quinn, Alexander Cepeda and Natnael Tesfatsion. The latter was the first to hit the asphalt, just behind Evenepoel.

The passage on the Untzilla was canceled and the course has been neutralized up to the Eskoriatza, according to the race organization. However, the peloton did not want to resume the race and rode in group to the finish. The leading group of six men went for the overall victory, Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty) was the first to cross the line.

“It looks serious”

“It could have been much worse for Remco, because there were rocks and trees everywhere. I don’t know exactly what he slid into, I don’t know what’s under that grass. But it does look serious,” said sports director Patrick Lefevere at a press conference in the run-up to Paris-Roubaix.

For now we have to wait for the verdict. “Grabbing the shoulder is never a good sign for a cyclist,” he said. “It is also the worst possible time to have this happen. We will have to wait for the medical report first. And now? Give up and no breaks, Liège is still fourteen days away. A lot can happen in that time. But if you’re dealing with a breakup, it stops here. The Tour? I don’t think this will mortgage that one. It may be a setback, after all the effort. But as a rider you always have to get up and move on. We are in the corner where the blows are falling, but it is difficult for us to put the bicycles aside.”

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April 4, 2024 0 comments

Sport

Quinten Hermans sprints to victory in the Basque Country, leader Roglic falls

by Chief editor of world-today-news.com April 3, 2024

written by Chief editor of world-today-news.com

In what was the longest stage of this Tour of the Basque Country, the riders were presented with six climbs, a total of more than 3,000 meters of elevation gain. The favorites could measure themselves for the first time, but with the last pass 18 kilometers from the finish, it was also possible to sprint with a large group in the finish town of Altsasu.

Four riders certainly had no doubts and opted for the open water. Their names: Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), James Fouché (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Eric Fagundez (Burgos-BH) and our compatriot Tom Paquot (Intermarché-Wanty). Their maximum lead was just under 5 minutes.

With the penultimate climb in sight, the peloton gradually increased the pace. Jousseaume, Fouché and Fagundez were so grateful for the effort. Paquot struggled a bit, but the Belgian was caught a few kilometers before the foot of the Olaberria (1.6 km at 7.5%).

Val Roglic

And then there was suddenly a commotion in the peloton, because Primoz Roglic had also fallen to the ground in a crash. The yellow jersey was groggy for a moment, but then jumped back on the bike. With a deficit of two minutes, the situation did not look rosy for the Slovenian, who seemed to escape with only a few injuries.

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Roglic was lucky, because there was no attack on the Olaberria. And because the pace at the front dropped considerably after the climb, he was eventually able to join up again. The Bora-Hansgrohe leader could thank not only his teammates Sobrero and Buchmann, but also the entire peloton.

With the return of the yellow jersey, the race could now really get going. The Lizarrusti (6.4 km at 4.7%) offered the ideal backdrop for this. On the flanks of that final climb, Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike dictated the pace. Remco Evenepoel was well hidden a little further away. An indication that he wouldn’t try anything today?

No fireworks

Because none of the top riders went, Louis Meintjes only accelerated about two kilometers from the top. And since none of the favorites moved, the South African from Intermarché-Wanty was able to round the top with a lead of 15 seconds. But Meintjes was apparently only concerned about the mountain points, because a little later he stopped his legs and let the peloton catch up.

We headed to the finish in Altsasu with a large group. In the run-up to this, Evenepoel showed up briefly. He won the intermediate sprint for the bonus seconds.

In the run-up to the sprint, the peloton was again startled by a crash. Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez, among others, were on the ground. In the subsequent sprint there was ultimately no limit for Quinten Hermans, who came out at the right time and was faster than Edoardo Zambanini and Alex Aranburu.

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In the rankings, Primoz Roglic retains his yellow leader’s jersey. After winning the intermediate sprint, Remco Evenepoel is still 7 seconds behind the Slovenian.

The Tour of the Basque Country ends on Saturday in Eibar. On Thursday the riders will have a trip between Etxarri Aranatz and Legutio over 157.5 kilometers. Last year the overall victory in the Basque Country went to the Danish two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard. Primoz Roglic won the Basque Cycling Tour in 2018 and 2021.

April 3, 2024 0 comments

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