Russia 2018:Twelve Players Who Have Been Ruled Out of the World Cup

Study names Spain as World Cup favourites

June 14, 2018, is the start of the World Cup and a day marked on the calendar for all football lovers.

It's a date that no player wants to miss out on, however there will be several high-profile absentees in this highly anticipated summer competition.

These are 12 of the players who will not be able to represent their countries in Russia 2018.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (England)

The Liverpool player and former Arsenal man suffered a knee injury in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, which means he will miss both the final of the European competition and the long-awaited World Cup.

The club's statement made it clear.

"Chamberlain's season has come to an end," it said.

Jakob Johansson (Sweden)

The Swedish midfielder of AEK Athens picked up a knee injury in the second leg of the World Cup playoffs against Italy.

Johansson was the scorer of the only goal in the first leg and instantly became Sweden's hero.

Thanks to him, his national team are in the World Cup.

Laurent Koscielny (France)

The Arsenal defender was injured in the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals, tearing his Achilles tendon.

Antoine Griezmann, who shares a close relationship with his French teammate, showed a face of major concern for Koscielny during the scene.

Mathias Corujo (Uruguay)

The Penarol midfielder recently picked up an injury and the club have announced he will have to go to the operating room.

Therefore, he will be forced to miss out from the World Cup.

Youssef Msakni (Tunisia)

The midfielder of Qatar's Al Dhail suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his knee in early April.

Although he is not a well-known player in Europe, he is the star of Tunisia and the team will have to fight without his services in Russia.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)

The controversial player from Sweden will not feature in the World Cup, as the Swedish FA confirmed his absence after rumours of a return surfaced.

His high-profile move to Los Angeles Galaxy, after a weak season between injuries and other reasons with Manchester United, leaves him off the list for Russia 2018.

Lars Stindl (Germany)

A ruptured ligament forces the German to miss out on the World Cup, as he will have to undergo surgery.

Despite not being a regular figure in the German attack, the player was summoned in the team's past friendlies against Spain and Brazil and had impressive performances.

Karim Benzema (France)

After his problems with the French justice system and his clashes with coach Didier Deschamps, it is already clear that the striker will not join his team on their Russia 2018 journey.

Danilo Pereira (Portugal)

Danilo Pereira, a regular starter at Porto, will also miss the World Cup due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Aleksandr Kokorin (Russia)

He suffered an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee during a match against Leipzig, leaving Zenit without many options in attack.

He will miss the remainder of the season and the World Cup.

Zouhair Feddal (Morocco)

Feddal has already undergone surgery after tearing his Achilles tendon during a game against Villarreal.

The Moroccan was interviewed after his injury and the player made it clear he would not arrive in time for the World Cup.

Santi Cazorla (Spain)

After eight operations and an infection, the Arsenal player will once again sit out from a great competition.

A fissure in the ankle and several torn ligaments has been the life of Santi Cazorla since 2013.

In addition, players to add to this list who are a serious doubt to play in the World Cup are Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Serge Gnabry and Emre Can.

From MARCA, we wish a quick (or very soon) recovery to all the players who are in a race against time to reach the tournament of the year, the 2018 FIFA World Cup.



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Jamie Acourt: 'Most wanted' man arrested in Barcelona

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Image captionJamie Acourt, pictured in police custody in Spain, faces an extradition hearing

One of Britain's most wanted fugitives, Jamie Acourt, has been captured in Spain on suspicion of drug offences.

Armed officers detained Mr Acourt after he left the Metropolitan Sagrada Familia Gym in Barcelona on Friday afternoon.

The 41-year-old from south London is wanted by police investigating the large-scale supply of drugs.

A former suspect in Stephen Lawrence's murder in 1993, he has always denied any involvement in the killing.

He was arrested as part of operation Captura, a joint effort by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Metropolitan Police and Spanish National Police.

A senior Spanish police source told the BBC police believe Mr Acourt had taken "great care" and "plenty of security measures" to avoid getting caught.

'Extradition proceedings'

"He had protection. He had help. He didn't live a normal, relaxing life. He was using false identities, false names," the source said.

Police believe Mr Acourt was using four or five different branches of the Metropolitan chain of gyms in Barcelona.

The BBC understands from a source at the gym that he had been a member at the one near the Sagrada Familia cathedral for "a long time" and he was seen there on a regular basis.

Police said he was moving around Spain and spending time in "places where a tourist could disappear".

Recently, police believe he had been living in Barcelona.

Image copyrightPA

Image captionJamie Acourt at the 1998 public inquiry into the killing of Stephen Lawrence

The investigation to find him took years and was a close collaboration between Spanish National Police and the NCA.

When arrested he told police he was an Italian tourist, according to the source.

Mr Acourt was last seen in the UK on 1 February 2016, in the Eltham area and was known to visit south-west London and areas of Surrey.

A spokesman for the Met said: "The European Arrest Warrant was issued as part of the Met's efforts to trace Mr Acourt in relation to an investigation into the unlawful supply of controlled substances.

"This relates to an investigation launched in 2016 by detectives from the Serious and Organised Crime Command.

"Extradition proceedings now await."

Steve Reynolds, the NCA's regional head of international operations, told Radio 4's Today Programme that many fugitives "believe they can hide in plain sight" among Spain's large British community.

Mr Reynolds said Mr Acourt's extradition is likely to take "days or weeks rather than months".

Mr Acourt will appear at court in Madrid early next week for an extradition hearing.

He is due to appear at Spain's High Court in Madrid for a bail hearing later and an extradition hearing will follow in the coming days.

Japan bullfighting: Women allowed into 'pure' ring after ban lifted

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Image captionNo bull is killed in Japanese bullfighting

A woman has been allowed to enter a Japanese traditional bullfighting ring for the first time after a ban was lifted in a bid to modernise the sport.

Yuki Araki accompanied her animal on the opening day of the season in Hokkaido island's Yamakoshi district.

Women had previously been banned once the ring was deemed to have been purified with salt and rice wine.

Japanese bullfighting, known as "togyu", differs from the Spanish version in that no bull is killed.

Instead two of the animals lock horns and attempt to push each other back. The bulls have coaches to encourage them and the fight is over if one gores the other.

There is no bullfighter in the centuries-old sport.

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Bullfighting officials said the move was necessary for the sport to appeal to the #MeToo generation.

In recent months Japanese women have spoken out about sexual harassment. Two top officials subsequently resigned over sex scandals.

"Equality for men and women is a trend of the times," said Katsushi Seki, an official with the Yamakoshi bullfight organisation.

"By opening the ring to women, we hope this traditional bullfighting will continue far into the future," he told AFP.

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Image captionThe ring had been regarded as a pure space forbidden to women

The move to lift the ban on women also follows an incident in a sumo wrestling ring last month where women performing first aid on a man who had collapsed were ordered by a referee to leave because women were banned from the space.

The women ran into the ring when the mayor of the central city of Maizuru, Ryozo Tatami, became ill while giving a speech.

Traditionally seen as "impure", women are not allowed into sumo rings, which are regarded as sacred.

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The head of Japan's sumo association later apologised to the women.

India girl, 16, burnt alive after Jharkhand rape

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Image captionThe latest incident comes as India reels under a string of violent sexual crimes.

A 16-year-old girl in India was burnt alive after her parents complained to village elders that she had been raped, according to police.

Fourteen people have been arrested in connection with the attacks in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.

Police said the elders had ordered the accused rapists to do 100 sit-ups and pay a 50,000 rupee (£550; $750) fine as punishment.

They were so enraged they beat the girl's parents then set her on fire.

"The two accused thrashed the parents and rushed to the house where they set the girl ablaze with the help of their accomplices," Ashok Ram, the officer in charge of the local police station, told AFP news agency.

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The girl was believed to have been abducted from her home while her parents were attending a wedding.

Local police said she was raped by two men in a forested area near the village of Raja Kendua.

Upon discovering the assault, her parents went to village elders to pursue charges against the suspected perpetrators.

Councils of village elders carry no legal weight. However, they have significant influence in many parts of rural India and are a way of settling disputes without having to go through India's expensive judicial system.

Police in the state say that they have arrested 14 of the 18 people they want to investigate with regards to the rape and subsequent murder.

One of the two men accused of carrying out the attack has yet to be arrested, Bokaro inspector general of police Shambhu Thakur told the Hindustan Times.

However, several village elders have been charged with passing unlawful orders and tampering with evidence.

The latest incident comes as India reels from a string of violent sexual crimes.

About 40,000 rape cases were reported in India in 2016. Many cases, however, are believed to go unreported because of the stigma that is attached to rape and sexual assault.

Kilauea: Earthquakes follow eruptions from Hawaii volcano

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Media captionLava flows are continuing from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii

A number of strong earthquakes have hit Hawaii's Big Island, a day after the eruption of the Kilauea volcano.

One 6.9 magnitude quake, south-east of the volcano, was the most powerful to hit the US state since 1975.

It briefly cut power and sent people fleeing from buildings but there was no tsunami warning.

Meanwhile, several fresh eruptions spewed fountains of lava 30m (100ft), destroying several homes and leaving fissures on three streets.

The Civil Defense Agency told any remaining residents to evacuate.

It said there were deadly levels of dangerous sulphur dioxide gas in the air and emergency crews would not be able to help anyone affected.

The new volcanic activity in Mt Kilauea's lower east rift zone amounted to "vigorous lava spattering", the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, adding that additional outbreaks in the area were likely.

Image captionThe USGS said "vigorous lava spattering" was happening

The lava was not travelling more than a "few tens of yards" from the vents, which were on streets in the Leilani Estates neighbourhood near Big Island's eastern tip, the USGS said.

However, ground deformation was continuing and there was high earthquake activity in the area, it said. Meanwhile, the level of the lava lake inside the volcano was continuing to drop.

Two homes were destroyed in the latest activity, ABC quoted Hawaii island Mayor Harry Kim as saying.

Maija Stenback, an eyewitness, told the BBC the eruption "was like when someone plays the bass really heavy: you could really feel the power and the lava.

"The colour was unbelievable, and the sound was unbelievable," she said.

"You could hear and feel the eruption a good half a mile away, and the closer you got, the more you could feel it."

But Joyce Jennett, 52, and her husband Roger said they were refusing to leave their home, 1.2 miles (2km) away from the eruption.

"We'll stay until they make us leave," Ms Jennett said.

A spokesperson for Hawaii's Mayor, Janet Snyder, said "elevated levels" of sulphur dioxide were stopping people returning to evacuated areas.

"It is quite toxic and in fact, even our first responders find it too hazardous at this time to go back into the sub-divisions without heavy, protective equipment," she said.

Image captionSteaming cracks appeared moments before a fissure opened early on Friday morning

Thursday's eruption prompted a local state of emergency and the mandatory evacuation of 1,700 residents.

Community centres have been opened to provide shelter for evacuees.

Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the eruption follows a series of recent earthquakes.

Officials had been warning residents all week they should be prepared to evacuate as an eruption would give little warning.

A volcanic crater vent - known as Puu Oo - collapsed earlier this week, sending lava down the mountain's slopes towards populated areas.

Hawaii's Governor, David Ige, said he had activated military reservists from the National Guard to help evacuate thousands of people.