Author: Brooks Peck

Cat stares down Fenerbahce’s bench

Having successfully proven their dominance over football in England, the world’s cats are now aiming to extend their influence to other countries.

A member of the Feline Football Rebellion (FFR) made an appearance during Fenerbahce’s match against Kayserispor on Saturday. It slowly walked in front of the Fener bench (the Fenerbenhce?), staring down the players, who were all smart enough to not make any sudden movements as it passed by.

Fenerbahce went on to win 1-0 in extra time thanks to a 113th minute goal from Diego, putting them in the quarterfinals of the Turkish Cup.

Greek match begins with sit-down protest over migrant deaths

Immediately after the opening kickoff in a match between Greek second-division sides AEL Larissa and Acharnaikos, all 22 players sat down on the pitch for an eerie two-minute protest.

From Reuters:

As the crowd waited for the match to start all 22 outfield players — as well as coaches, officials and substitutes — sat down for two minutes in respect of the hundreds of refugees who have died trying to escape conflict or persecution in countries like Syria and Iraq.

Twenty-four people attempting to cross to Europe from Turkey drowned when their boat sank off a Greek island on Thursday.

When the players rose back to their feet, their gesture was celebrated with respectful applause.

These types of protests always make for powerful images.

DTotD: Fred punches opponent in the back of the head, gets sent off

Remember Fred, the scapegoat for all of Brazil’s problems at the 2014 World Cup up until Neymar was murdered by Colombia? Well, he decided to release his pent-up frustration on the back of an opponent’s head during a cup tie between Fluminense and Atletico-PR.

While a teammate tied his shoe during preparations for a free kick, Fred viciously punched Paranaense defender Leo in the head, knocking him to the ground.

The referee showed Fred a red card (he also sent off Leo, for reasons that remain unclear) and Flu went on to lose 1-0. So that’s what Fred’s up to these days.

This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events. 

Thanks to Ryan Lloyd for the tip!