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FIFA delegation set to meet Iran soccer officials for World Cup talks

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A FIFA delegation is set to meet officials from the Iran Football Federation (FFIRI) on Saturday to offer reassurance over the team’s participation at the 2026 World Cup in the United States.

Sources briefed on the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated the meeting is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey, and the FIFA delegation will be led by the federation’s secretary general Mattias Grafstrom.

Iran’s participation at the World Cup has been in doubt since the American-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which sparked a wider conflict across the Middle East.

President of the FFIRI, Mehdi Taj, told reporters on Thursday, in quotes carried and translated by Reuters: “I think it’s a decisive meeting, meaning they have to give us some guarantees, because the visa issue hasn’t been resolved yet.”

Multiple Iranian soccer officials were denied U.S. visas ahead of December’s World Cup draw, while at least one was turned back by Canadian authorities en route to April’s FIFA Congress.

Speaking in April, U.S., Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s soccer team will be welcome at the World Cup but anyone deemed to have links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be denied entry.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House his administration “would not want to affect ⁠the athletes” of Iran but Rubio said anyone deemed to be “terrorists” who “pretend they are journalists or athletic trainers” would not be allowed into the country.

The IRGC has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. and other governments.

FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, has consistently said that Iran will compete at the World Cup as planned.

Iran are due to play group-stage matches in Los Angeles, against Belgium and New Zealand, and Seattle, against Egypt, during the tournament that is being co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada between June 11 and July 19.

In February, Iran’s embassy said it was negotiating with FIFA to move its World Cup matches from the U.S. to Mexico, though football’s world governing body said it had no intention of allowing the change.

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How to watch Royals vs. Cardinals: TV channel and streaming options for May 16

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May 16, 2026

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The Kansas City Royals bring a five-game losing run into a road contest versus the St. Louis Cardinals, at 2:15 p.m. ET on Saturday. Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.55 ERA) gets the start for the Royals, who are 19-26 this season and fifth in the AL Central. Kyle Leahy (4-3, 4.31 ERA) is expected to start for the Cardinals, who are 26-18 and third in the NL Central.

How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Royals vs. Cardinals odds

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Injury reports

Royals

Jonathan India: 10 Day IL (Shoulder), Cole Ragans: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Bailey Falter: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Carlos Estévez: 15 Day IL (Foot), Alec Marsh: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), James McArthur: 60 Day IL (Elbow)

Cardinals

Ramón Urías: 10 Day IL (Elbow), Matt Pushard: 15 Day IL (Knee), Lars Nootbaar: 60 Day IL (Heels)

Stats to know

  • Bobby Witt Jr. is hitting for a .309 BA, .381 OBP and .506 SLG with a 17.3% strikeout rate and a 10.9% walk rate. His OPS is .887 and he has scored 22 runs. In 202 plate appearances, he has hit seven home runs and driven in 23 runs. Witt has been crafty on the base paths, recording 13 steals on 15 attempts.
  • In 191 plate appearances, Maikel Garcia has hit three long balls, tallied 18 RBIs and scored 24 runs. He is batting .265/.335/.400 and has posted a 14.7% strikeout rate and a 9.9% walk rate. Garcia has recorded four steals on seven attempts.
  • St. Louis’ Jordan Walker is slashing .303/.376/.594 this season with 13 home runs (8th in MLB), 34 RBIs (6th in MLB) and an OPS of .970 (8th in MLB). He has a 27.4% strikeout rate and a 10.2% walk rate in 186 plate appearances, and he has scored 34 total runs. Walker has recorded seven steals on 10 attempts.
  • In 189 plate appearances, Alec Burleson has slashed .276/.344/.447 this season. He has hit six long balls and driven in 31 runs (10th in MLB) with a strikeout rate of 16.4% and a walk rate of 9.5%. and has scored 21 runs.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

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How to watch Diamondbacks vs. Rockies: TV channel and streaming options for May 16

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May 16, 2026

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A pair of the league’s top hitters face off when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies meet at 3:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, at Coors Field. Ildemaro Vargas has a .347 batting average (first in league) for the Diamondbacks, while Troy Johnston ranks seventh at .318. Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0, 2.25 ERA) gets the start for the Diamondbacks, who are 21-22 this season and third in the NL West. Tomoyuki Sugano (3-3, 4.07 ERA) is starting for the Rockies, who are 17-28 and fifth in the NL West.

How to watch Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies

Diamondbacks vs. Rockies odds

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Injury reports

Diamondbacks

Carlos Santana: 10 Day IL (Groin), A.J. Puk: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Cristian Mena: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Jordan Lawlar: 60 Day IL (Wrist), Blake Walston: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Corbin Burnes: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Andrew Saalfrank: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Justin Martinez: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Pavin Smith: 60 Day IL (Elbow)

Rockies

Chase Dollander: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Ryan Feltner: 15 Day IL (Tricep), Jimmy Herget: 15 Day IL (Shoulder), Kris Bryant: 60 Day IL (Back), Jeff Criswell: 60 Day IL (Elbow), McCade Brown: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), RJ Petit: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Pierson Ohl: 60 Day IL (Elbow)

Stats to know

  • Arizona’s Vargas has hit seven home runs this season. He has also tallied 30 RBIs (12th in MLB) and has scored 24 runs. In 151 plate appearances, he has recorded a .347 BA, .369 OBP and .576 SLG with a 3.3% walk rate and a 10.6% strikeout rate.
  • In 172 plate appearances, Corbin Carroll is hitting .271/.378/.500 with a .878 OPS and six steals on six attempts. He has hit five long balls, driven in 20 runs and scored 28 times.
  • Mickey Moniak is hitting for a .306 BA, .352 OBP and .672 SLG with a 25.5% strikeout rate and a 6.2% walk rate. His OPS is 1.023, which ranks 3rd in MLB, and he has scored 21 runs. In 145 plate appearances, he has hit 12 home runs (9th in MLB) and driven in 26 runs.
  • In 179 plate appearances, T.J. Rumfield has hit six long balls, tallied 22 RBIs and scored 18 runs. He is batting .273/.341/.441 and has posted a 16.8% strikeout rate and an 8.4% walk rate.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

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Martin Paterson: Why Notts County boss will be chopping trees ahead of play-off final

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23 minutes ago

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May 16, 2026

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As for the music, he would only offer one artist up as essential listening.

“George Strait. The only one. He’s a legend,” he said.

While veteran US musician Strait will be the soundtrack to the rest of Paterson’s weekend, the Notts head coach will have a number of former managers with promotion-winning pedigree – including former Burnley bosses Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe, who is now Newcastle United manager – to use as sounding boards in the coming week.

And former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis, the manager that Paterson began his playing career under, got in touch before Friday’s semi-final second leg to put across a no-nonsense point.

“The gaffer texted me about clean sheets,” Paterson said of his exchange with Pulis.

“And I’ve got lots of mentors that I speak to because I don’t know everything and I’m not always going to be right.

“So I use a lot of mentors to try and get better and improve and that should be reflected with my team as well. we’re always trying to get better.”

What he is trying to achieve at Notts this season is to return the world’s oldest professional football club to League One after an 11-year absence.

Since the Magpies dropped out of the third tier in 2015 they have gone through ownership changes, financial troubles and endured four seasons of exile in the National League after being relegated from League Two in 2019.

“We know this [the semi-final win] was just a step on the way and we’ve got another big game coming up,” Paterson said”

“We will need to improve on certain aspects, which is great – that’s coaching and that’s being a football team that wants to improve. But I have to say I’m very proud of the team.”

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