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    What to Know About the Attacks on Israeli Soccer Fans in Amsterdam

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    Dutch and Israeli officials described the clashes after a soccer match as antisemitic.A soccer game between Dutch and Israeli teams in Amsterdam on Thursday night led to dozens of arrests, in what officials in Israel and the Netherlands described as antisemitic attacks on the fans of the Israeli team.As of Friday, many details of what happened on Thursday, including the identities and affiliations of those involved in the attacks on fans, are still unclear.Here’s what you need to know:What happened in Amsterdam?How many people were hurt?Who attacked the Israeli fans?Who are the teams involved?What happened before the game?What happened after the game?What happened in Amsterdam?Dutch officials said that attackers had assaulted Israelis, and the Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands said that some victims had been kicked or beaten.The attacks unfolded over several hours in multiple locations, with many taking place in the hours after the game ended.Officials said that 62 people had been arrested in connection with the violence and that most had been later released. El Al, an Israeli airline, sent planes to transport Israeli citizens back to Israel.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Stan Asofsky, Vociferous Courtside Superfan of the Knicks, Dies at 87

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      For decades, beginning in 1959, he was a regular presence at Madison Square Garden (in two locations), befriending players and heckling opposing players and refs.Stan Asofsky was more than a rabid New York Knicks fan. He was a ticket holder with access, reflecting a time when professional sports venues were far less fortified and class-segregated. When one didn’t have to be Spike Lee, or Taylor Swift, to walk in a celebrity athlete’s world.Or play. During the 1960s, Mr. Asofsky delivered crisp bounce passes to Cazzie Russell, a young Knicks forward, while Russell practiced jump shots at the 92nd Street Y, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Then they would shower and walk a few blocks south to the hot-dog emporium Papaya King, so Russell could rehydrate with a glass of tropical juice.“He wasn’t getting enough minutes, and he wanted the workout,” Mr. Asofsky told me in 2009. “I said, ‘Come to our Y.’ He said, ‘Are there ballplayers there?’”Mr. Asofsky, who died on Sept. 12 at 87, was more than a prideful gym rat with a bum knee, not to mention a superfan; he could also be an accommodating friend: He once set Russell up on a blind date, with a woman who worked with Mr. Asofsky in CBS’s publishing division, as he recalled in the 2009 interview, for a book I was writing about the Knicks’ glory days.Certainly seat location helped in the creation of the insider persona that Mr. Asofsky developed alongside Fred Klein, his front-row companion for a half century at two Madison Square Garden locations.Long before there was such a thing as celebrity row, where Mr. Lee has stretched his vocal cords and enhanced his exposure as a premier filmmaker, Mr. Asofsky and Mr. Klein were the arena’s best-known baiters of Knicks’ opponents and referees alike.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      New York Liberty Fans Get Creative With Jerseys, Art and Cross Stitches

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      As their favorite team in the W.N.B.A. experiences a surge in popularity, fans are expressing their love creatively.Eric Trude walked into Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon wearing one of the custom jerseys that he had designed to honor two of his great loves — hockey and the New York Liberty. Nobody was as surprised as he was.Trude, originally from Northern Virginia, grew up hating New York sports teams. Basketball was never his thing.Now, he’s collecting signatures from his favorite Liberty players on the back of his seafoam-green jersey that bears the name of one of the team’s star players, Sabrina Ionescu, on the nameplate. Call him a convert.As new fans of the W.N.BA. find their way to the game, they are expressing love for their favorite teams creatively — with homemade apparel, crochet, embroidery, painting and even crop art (or creating art out of seeds). No group is as thrilled as Liberty fans, who are hoping the team will win its first championship in the franchise’s nearly 30-year history against the Minnesota Lynx this week.The boom in creative pursuits and art based on the players is dovetailing with the W.N.B.A.’s surge in popularity.The hype wall in Eric Trude’s home.Eric Trude

      @samwojart Game Day 🏀 Let’s go @nyliberty 👏 . . . . #wnba @WNBA #newyorkliberty #ellie #newyork #art #basketball ♬ Welcome To New York – Taylor Swift We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Queens Is Abuzz Over Two Americans in the U.S. Open Finals

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      For the first time in more than two decades, an American man and an American woman will play in the U.S. Open singles finals.Outside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, dozens of tennis fans gathered, looking up at a screen broadcasting the match inside, the all-American men’s semifinal between Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz.Many didn’t have tickets to be inside Arthur Ashe, but they were content just to be nearby and part of the atmosphere. Fans at the U.S. Open have been abuzz this week, excited that for the first time in more than two decades both an American man and an American woman will play in the U.S. Open singles finals.Jessica Pegula will play Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s final on Saturday afternoon, and Taylor Fritz will take on Jannik Sinner for the men’s title on Sunday.With Americans’ presence guaranteed in the finals, the grounds at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens have felt almost like the Fourth of July. Fans have been cheering more loudly than usual for American players, flocking to practices to catch a glimpse of their favorites and draping themselves in red, white and blue.The last time the United States was represented in the men’s and women’s finals at the U.S. Open was in 2002. That year, the finals were an all-American affair with Pete Sampras defeating Andre Agassi in the men’s final, and Serena Williams taking the women’s title in a match against her sister, Venus Williams.Houston Bigelow of Washington, D.C., wore his support on Friday.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesGinny DeHart, left, and Jen Otto traveled from Mississippi for the Open.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In Oakland, Roots and Ballers Try to Fill Void Left by Raiders and A’s

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      On a cool May night, as the sun set over San Francisco in the distance, drummers and flag-waving fans led cheers of “Ohhhh-O-O-O Oakland” (to the tune of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes) and “Let’s go, Oakland!” (clap clap, clap clap clap) as one of the city’s biggest sports teams pulled out a nail-biting victory.But the nearly 4,000 fans were not in Oakland, and they were not cheering for a team from one of the major American professional sports leagues. The setting was a rented college stadium in nearby Hayward, and the game was a home match for the Oakland Roots, a soccer team that plays in the U.S.L. Championship, a second-tier league. The Roots defeated Orange County S.C., 2-1, on a late goal, before making the journey back home up Interstate 880.At the same time, 20 miles north, construction workers were racing to put the final touches on a $1.6 million renovation of Raimondi Park, a city park in West Oakland. The park’s previously run-down baseball field was being transformed into the home of the Oakland Ballers, an independent league team that began competing this summer.The Roots play their home games at a rented college stadium.Ian C. Bates for The New York TimesNearly 4,000 fans turned out to watch a Roots victory.Ian C. Bates for The New York TimesOakland has had an exodus of sports teams over the past half decade. The Warriors of the N.B.A. moved across the bay to San Francisco, the Raiders of the N.F.L. decamped for Las Vegas, and, after this season, the Athletics will play their next three or more Major League Baseball seasons in Sacramento while they settle on a permanent home. In a city that once had three teams from the country’s major sports leagues, there will soon be none. (A new W.N.B.A. franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, will begin play next season … in San Francisco.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      LeBron James Faces the Basketball World He Helped to Create

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      James is the sport’s global ambassador, and at the Olympics, he is playing in front of — and against — people who grew up dreaming of seeing him in person.LeBron James lowered himself into a cold tub the size of a large Jacuzzi at a practice facility at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas last month.He had just finished a session with the U.S. men’s basketball team ahead of his first Olympics in 12 years. As the icy water got to work on his 39-year-old muscles, he thought about the first time he ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean.“I was, like, super intimidated and super scared to just be out of the country,” James said.He was 15 and had joined a group of basketball players from Ohio for a trip to Italy. They stayed with local families and did some sightseeing. He smiled at the memories, fuzzy as they were.He had been hesitant to go, but his high school coach, Dru Joyce II, recalled in an interview telling James he needed to “see how big the world was.”In the decades since, the world has changed, and so has James.At the Paris Games, he is playing in front of — and against — people from around the globe who grew up dreaming of one day seeing him in person. During James’s two decades in the National Basketball Association, the sport’s popularity has exploded internationally. A fascination that began with greats like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant has been supercharged during the James era. Because of advances in technology and lucrative media rights deals, teenagers in countries like the Philippines, Uganda and Brazil can easily watch his games. His was the best-selling N.B.A. jersey in the world last year.Now, far removed from the teenager who was frightened to leave the country, James is basketball’s global ambassador, his presence marketing the game better than anything else. On an Olympic roster replete with All-Stars, James is the unquestioned star as the team prepares for its quarterfinal matchup against Brazil on Tuesday. His otherworldly talent, unique personal story and career longevity have meant that fans around the world have spent 22 years voraciously consuming content about him. Some of them love the game because of him. Some don’t love the game, they just love James.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Black-Clad Ultras Are a Fixture at Euro 2024

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      Hard-core fan groups, embracing a strong nationalistic streak, have provoked pushback from soccer’s authorities at the European Championship.The instructions were concise and clear.Those hoping to march to the stadium with Hungary’s fans for their soccer team’s first game of the European Championship were expected to report by 10 a.m. sharp, five hours before kickoff.A strict dress code would apply. Some could wear black. Others were to stick with red, white and green, the colors of the country’s flag. Under no circumstances was there to be any flashiness. “Gaudy colors, clown hats and bagpipes” were all prohibited. They were, prospective marchers were reminded, “going to a soccer stadium, not a circus.”The hectoring and slightly priggish tone felt jarring, considering the source of the orders: the official Facebook page of the Carpathian Brigade, a virulently nationalistic faction of hard-core fans — ultras, as such groups are known — that provides the Hungarian national team with its vociferous and volatile backing.The Carpathian Brigade has, in recent years, become perhaps Europe’s most infamous ultra group, its reputation forged by clashing with the police, showering opponents with racist abuse and displaying homophobic banners. In 2021, during the last European Championship, it had to remind members to cover up any Nazi-related tattoos so as not to contravene German law.None of that has stopped its growth. If anything, it has accelerated it. Drawn by the Carpathian Brigade’s voluble Hungarian patriotism and unabashed right-wing values — an ideology that both echoes and trumpets the populist rhetoric of Viktor Orban, the country’s prime minister — the group may now be able to call on as many as 15,000 members.It is also not alone. Black-clad ultras have been a fixture at Euro 2024 this month, with detachments — sometimes numbering a few hundred, sometimes a little larger — visible across Germany and at games involving Albania, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia, among others.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Borussia Dortmund Deal with Weapons Maker Rheinmetall Stirs Debate in Germany

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      For some fans of Borussia Dortmund, an advertising deal with Rheinmetall, a major arms manufacturer, has overshadowed the run-up to the Champions League final on Saturday.Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s most successful soccer clubs, is rooted in the industrial Ruhr region and prides itself on retaining its working-class roots, community engagement and anti-establishment mentality.That’s why, in the week before one of the biggest games in the club’s history, some Dortmund fans are angry about a sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall, a major German weapons producer. Everyone from club officials to lawmakers have weighed in on the move, which has provoked a debate about the normalization of the military in German society. Still, many fans would rather just focus on Dortmund’s appearance in the showcase game of the European season, the Champions League final on Saturday against Real Madrid. Dortmund’s three-year partnership with Rheinmetall, announced on Wednesday, includes advertising and marketing rights in Dortmund’s stadium and club grounds but not — crucially for some — a place on the team’s famed black and yellow jerseys. Neither side would confirm the amount of the deal.Generations of Germans, raised on the postwar idea that “never again” should their nation foment an armed conflict, remain uneasy associating with the defense industry. Unlike in the United States, where professional and college-level sports games often feature soldiers in uniform unfurling American flags and flyovers from fighter jets, at sporting events in Germany outward displays of patriotism and associations with the military are rare.Some fans would like to keep it that way.“Borussia Dortmund is a soccer club that has been a standard-bearer for tolerance and social projects,” said Inge Fahle, a retired teacher from Dortmund and a fan of the club since childhood. “A sponsorship with a weapons manufacturer just doesn’t work,” she said.Hans-Joachim Watzke, Dortmund’s chief executive, said in a statement that the club was “consciously opening ourselves up to a dialogue” by becoming partners with a weapons manufacturer. He said the partnership reflected the role that a company like Rheinmetall has come to play in German society, since the country stepped in to support Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Spring Training at Coachella: Can the M.L.S. Cash In on Its Preseason?

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      AEG, the entertainment giant, is trying to organize large-scale training camps marketed to fans, as other sports have done. Will it work?On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Dan Perkin and Scott Bissmeyer, work buddies on vacation, sat on metal bleachers watching the Portland Timbers play the San Jose Earthquakes in the first of four preseason Major League Soccer games that day.They had spent $125 each on V.I.P. day passes, which included food, drink and access to tents to keep cool. Self-described “M.L.S. road trippers,” they have visited numerous M.L.S. stadiums, and have watched teams in Tucson, Ariz., where as many as 11 clubs came together for preseason training in the past.But this year, with 12 M.L.S. teams — along with two from the United Soccer League and four from the National Women’s Soccer League — gathered at a 1,000-acre property outside Palm Springs, Calif., for preseason training, Mr. Perkin and Mr. Bissmeyer decided to check it out.“Compared to Tucson, they put on a nice operation here,” Mr. Perkin said of the site, the Empire Polo Club, best known as the annual site of the Coachella Music Festival. “If you’re going to drive six hours, we might as well treat ourselves.”Attendance was expected to grow about 40 percent this year.Dan Perkin and Scott Bissmeyer are self-described “M.L.S. road trippers.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More