The summit match between Paris Saint-Germain, the defending champion, and Lyon, in the eighth stage of the French Football League, was postponed from Sunday to Monday at the request of the police prefecture. Due to the protests in Paris, according to what the League announced on Friday.
The association stated in a statement that it “took note of the decision issued by the police to prevent the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais, which was scheduled for Sunday evening, at 8:45 (19:45 GMT)... and decided to reschedule the match to be held on Monday evening at 8:30.”
This is the fourth rescheduling of matches over the weekend in the first and second divisions, while the French authorities are preparing for a new wave of protests in Paris and various parts of the country, following the outbreak of one of the worst cases of urban violence in years, coinciding with demonstrations that broke out a week ago.
Red Bull driver, Dutchman Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion, on Thursday criticized the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which is full of bumps, describing it as “unacceptable,” before it hosts this weekend the 18th round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
The Dutchman said in a press conference during the United States Grand Prix: “I love this track, and I love this city. It is one of the most beautiful trails and one of the best places to come. But the bumps here (on the track) are unacceptable.”
He added: “In recent years, they have tried to reduce it here and there, but this is just putting a band-aid on a much bigger problem, which is what is under the ring. This is the area that must be strengthened before anything else.”
The track is located on relatively soft ground that tends to move depending on weather conditions.
Verstappen won the last two rounds in Malaysia, which hosted the Bahrain Grand Prix and Singapore, and in Austin he is seeking to achieve his fifth victory at the track in Texas after 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
The Dutchman, winner of 73 races, continued: “It is really bad. Of course, you can use the excuse of the land as the problem, but they should have taken care of that before that, and made sure to strengthen the foundations better.”
The 29-year-old added: “From what I saw during the World Endurance Championship - the round that was held in early September - the track was full of bumps, so I am not keen to come back here, given what this might do to my spine. I was joking about this before I came here, but it's actually no joke. "We've been talking about this problem for years, and now things are getting out of control."
Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), the current world champion, shared the opinion of his Dutch friend, and even revealed that he sometimes has to take medication for headaches because of the tracks full of bumps.
As for Mercedes driver, British George Russell, for his part, he believed that the tracks should be completely resurfaced every two years, while acknowledging that these protrusions “are part of racing.”
Since joining the Formula 1 calendar in 2012, the Circuit of the Americas has been subjected to harsh criticism due to the bumps spread on the track.
However, it was completely repaved in 2024, a year after Verstappen said the track fell short of Category 1 requirements due to bumps. This year, adjustments were made at Turns 9 and 11, where drivers were having more trouble.
Czech Marie Bouzkova became the first to qualify for the semi-finals of the women's singles tournament in the 500 points category of the Ningbo Tennis Championship.
Bouzkova defeated her compatriot Sarah Belic 6-3, 6-4, on Friday, in the quarter-finals of the competition, currently being held in China, to advance to the semi-finals for the 16th time in her career in the WTA competitions.
This is the third time that Bouzkova has qualified for the semi-finals of a professional tournament this year, after she reached the same round in the tournaments in Bogota, on clay courts, and in Nottingham, on grass courts, noting that she won the title in both competitions.
If Bouzkova continues her successful journey in Ningbo, she will have won a title on every type of court during the current season.
Bouzkova, who won the Prague Championship twice, hopes to reach the final of one of the competitions in that category for the 11th time in her career with the white game, an achievement she has not achieved in more than two years.
The Czech player will meet in the semi-finals with the winner of the match between Canadian Laila Annie Fernandez and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, which will be held later on Friday, in the quarter-finals of the tournament, which will be held on hard courts.
