分类： sports

A fresh controversy has erupted in Australian Rules Football after Western Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge launched a scathing rebuke of the AFL’s decision to uphold a staging fine against forward Will Lewis, accusing the league of dismissing clear medical evidence to set a troubling new precedent for future disciplinary cases.

The penalty stems from an incident during last Friday’s match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the Bulldogs fell to the Sydney Swans. Lewis was issued a AU$1000 fine for alleged intentional staging during the game’s fourth quarter. In a bid to overturn the charge, the Western Bulldogs club submitted official medical documentation proving Lewis had been struck hard in the solar plexus during the play, a blow that left him temporarily unable to breathe and forced him to remain on the ground.

Despite the submission, the AFL declined to reverse the fine. Beveridge told reporters this outcome now establishes a new, unwelcome standard that all Australian Football League clubs will have to navigate going forward. “In this one, he’s actually copped one in the solar plexus, it’s knocked the wind out of him,” Beveridge explained. “He’s hit the deck and then he’s obviously been charged with staging … what the AFL are saying to us is if you get hit, regardless if you do or don’t, if you stay down you can still be charged with staging.”
Beveridge emphasized that the medical submission clearly confirmed Lewis could not have gotten back to his feet immediately due to his injury, yet the league brushed this evidence aside. “The AFL has obviously thumbed their nose at it and said, ‘We just think you’ve staged’,” he said. “It’s changed now to what staging is, it’s totally contingent on how long you stay down, not whether or not you actually got hit because he got hit.”
The coach also came to Lewis’ defense, pushing back against any implication that the forward intentionally faked an injury to gain an advantage. “I feel for him because I don’t want him to be tarred with a brush that he’s put on an act because he hasn’t,” Beveridge said. “It just means now that if doctors from the football clubs, if they put forward submissions that a player is in discomfort, has been hit, the AFL will now ignore that and base it on what they see.”
Beyond the disciplinary controversy, Beveridge also confirmed that key Bulldogs ruckman Tim English is in fitness doubt ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated match against the West Coast Eagles. English played through discomfort in last week’s loss to the Swans, and his availability for the upcoming clash remains uncertain. He will need to get through a full training session without issue and pull up well by Friday to be confirmed as a starter.
Beveridge noted that English has struggled for consistent form this season, a slump he attributes in part to disrupted game time from a recent concussion that has also dented the big man’s confidence. The coach, however, remains optimistic that consistent selection will help English return to his dominant best. “A bit like our midfield group this year, we’ve had some inconsistency through them working together, individuals at times and Tim’s in that,” he said. “But he’s obviously had some disruptions with the concussion, so a part of it might be a confidence thing. I’ve got every thought in my head that he’s going to be able to move towards being influential again – whether that is this week or not remains to be seen.”

For rising Australian Football League star Sam Darcy of the Western Bulldogs, a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture has done nothing to dim his competitive fire or alter his signature playing style. The 22-year-old superstar, who suffered the devastating knee injury during the club’s round 6 clash against Geelong, has confirmed his rehabilitation is progressing without any unexpected setbacks, and he is on track to begin light running as soon as next month.

Darcy opened up about his recovery journey Wednesday, stepping away from his training regimen to help the AFL and hardware chain Bunnings launch the first-ever National Footy Sausage Sizzle, a community fundraiser that will see more than 260 local footy clubs host barbecues this weekend to raise much-needed funds for grassroots programs. The young forward said he had completed the hardest phase of his recovery, the initial months spent reducing swelling and relearning how to walk comfortably after surgery.

“I saw the surgeon today, and he’s really happy with how everything is progressing,” Darcy told reporters. “Everything is on track. I work closely with the club’s physiotherapy team every day, and we haven’t hit any hiccups so far. The first couple of months were definitely the toughest part — getting the swelling under control, relearning to walk — but now I’m moving around comfortably. I’m doing regular work on the spin bike, swimming laps in the pool, and putting in daily work at the club. The hardest part of this process is behind me.”

From here, Darcy will shift his focus to building strength and gradually reintroducing weight-bearing movement. He is scheduled to begin sessions on the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill at the 16-week post-surgery mark, with full light running set to start in just over a month. The rehab team is taking a conservative approach to ensure the injured knee heals fully and reduces the risk of future complications, a timeline Darcy says he is comfortable with.

Notably, Darcy has a genetic predisposition that put him at higher risk of a serious knee injury over the course of his career. Even with that context, the 2025 Mark of the Year winner — who earned the award for a spectacular acrobatic mark against Melbourne — says he has no plans to rein in his aggressive, instinctive style of play when he returns to the field.

“Not at all — I don’t think I need to change anything,” he asserted. “I just need to focus on building my strength, refining my running mechanics, and making sure everything moves efficiently and smartly. I still want to play with aggression, lean into my strengths, play on instinct, and keep a free mind out on the field. I’m not going to spend every play worrying about getting hurt again.”

Darcy says he draws inspiration from the dozens of AFL and other professional athletes who have returned to peak form after ACL injuries, and he is fully confident he can get back to his best. “I’m confident I can get 100 per cent back to my top level,” he said. “A lot of players have gone through this same injury across AFL and other sports, and that gives me a lot of motivation. I fully believe this whole process is going to go smoothly.”

The young star admitted that sidelining him for the rest of the season has been a difficult adjustment. Ever since his junior playing days, game day has always been the highlight of his week, and sitting on the sidelines has been a frustrating experience. Even so, he is keeping his focus on his recovery and his eventual comeback, with his competitive mindset fully intact.

The 202X FIFA World Cup has entered its most intense phase, with the first of four eagerly anticipated quarter-final matches kicking off Thursday as defending runners-up France face off against Morocco at Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium, outside Boston. After four weeks of breathtaking on-pitch action that managed to overshadow pre-tournament concerns over exorbitant ticket prices and geopolitical tensions, the largest and most logistically challenging World Cup in history has been narrowed down to the final eight contenders, all still vying for the sport’s biggest prize.

Heading into Thursday’s showdown, France stand out as the tournament’s most formidable attacking force, and are targeting their third World Cup crown overall. Les Bleus have stormed into the final eight in devastating form, racking up 14 goals across five matches, with captain and star forward Kylian Mbappe already netting seven of those strikes, putting him level with Norway’s Erling Haaland just one goal behind Golden Boot leader Lionel Messi of Argentina. England’s Harry Kane sits close behind on six goals, creating a four-way race for the tournament’s top scorer honor that adds extra drama to the remaining fixtures.

Thursday’s clash is a rematch of the iconic 2022 Qatar World Cup semi-final, where France claimed a narrow victory over Morocco before going on to lose a legendary final against Argentina on penalties, a result that stoked long-running tension between the two nations. For Morocco, this tournament has already been a success: the African champions cruised through their group stage, knocked out the Netherlands in the round of 16, and comfortably defeated Canada to book their spot in the last eight. Under head coach Mohamed Ouahbi, who led Morocco to a surprise under-20 World Cup title last year, the Atlas Lions have built a reputation for a dangerous blend of technical skill, physical intensity, and sharp tactical discipline that makes them a serious threat to France’s title hopes.

French head coach Didier Deschamps, who is set to step down from his role after the conclusion of this tournament, has moved to dismiss concerns over the appointment of Argentine match officials for Thursday’s tie, with a potential repeat of the 2022 World Cup final still on the cards if both France and Argentina progress to the final. “There is nothing I can do about refereeing appointments. I just try to have confidence in the officials,” Deschamps told reporters. “Our opponents are Morocco. I can’t consider the referee to be an opponent.”

The winner of France vs Morocco will advance to the tournament semi-finals, where they will face the victor of Friday’s quarter-final between European champions Spain and Belgium, held in Los Angeles. Spain, who have not conceded a single goal across their run to the last eight, eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in the round of 16, and while they have not matched France’s free-scoring attacking form, they are widely expected to give a strong test to Belgium, who defeated the United States 4-1 in their round of 16 tie to secure their quarter-final spot.

On the opposite side of the draw, tournament holders Argentina will face Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday, after a dramatic late comeback that kept their dream of becoming the first back-to-back World Cup winners since Brazil in 1962 alive. Argentina were pushed to the brink by Cape Verde in the round of 32, and pulled off an incredible “Houdini act” against Egypt in Atlanta on Tuesday, erasing a two-goal deficit late in the match to seal a 3-2 win that kept their title defense on track. “We didn’t want today to be the end, we didn’t want to go home,” Messi, who already has eight tournament goals, said after the comeback win.

The winner of Argentina’s clash with Switzerland will go on to face either Norway or England in Atlanta. England booked their quarter-final spot with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Mexico at Estadio Azteca, a drama-packed win that has renewed belief among the Three Lions that they can end their 58-year wait for a major tournament title. Standing in their way is a formidable Norway side led by in-form star Erling Haaland, who scored both of his team’s goals in a round of 16 win over Brazil on Sunday.

Off the pitch, the Egyptian Football Association has filed an official complaint to FIFA over the officiating in their defeat to Argentina, calling for the entire refereeing team that oversaw the match to be removed from the remainder of the tournament. The complaint alleges “serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards” that directly caused Egypt’s elimination. In unrelated off-the-field news, Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic announced he would step down from his role after nine years in charge, a tenure that included a surprise run to the 2018 World Cup final.