Soccer, 1. FC Kaiserslautern: A pre-Christmas surprise at 1. FC Kaiserslautern – Markus Merk resigns from all positions with immediate effect. Merk, who was elected to the supervisory board and advisory board of the four-time German championship in December 2019, sees the declared goal of economic and sporting renovation and stabilization as having been achieved after two years, reported the Rheinpfalz on Tuesday. At the annual general meeting of the FCK last Wednesday, the 59-year-old was absent for private reasons. For Merk, Carsten Krick should move up to the supervisory board of the registered association.
Soccer, Rafinha: After relegation with Gremio Porto Alegre, the former Bundesliga professional Rafinha has found a new club in the first Brazilian soccer league. São Paulo FC announced the signing of the 36-year-old on Monday evening (local time). Accordingly, the legal defender signed a contract until December 31, 2022 with the option of an extension of one year. Rafinha, who played for the German record champions FC Bayern Munich from 2011 to 2019, returned to his Brazilian homeland for Flamengo Rio de Janeiro in 2019. With Flamengo he won, among other things, the Brazilian championship and the Copa Libertadores, comparable to the Champions League. In August 2012, Rafinha moved to Olympiacos, but terminated the contract with the Greek first division club in February 2021 in order to return to Brazil. In March 2021, Grêmio announced him as a reinforcement for the 2021 season, in which the traditional club from the south of the country was last relegated to the second division. Rafinha came to Gremio on 43 appearances.
Racism, Duisburg: Former international Cacau speaks out against dropping games in an incident of racism by an individual. “This would offer a single person a platform,” said the former integration officer of the German Football Association (DFB) in an interview with Spox and Goal: “You would then determine with your action over a thousand other viewers.” The third division game between MSV Duisburg and VfL Osnabrück was canceled on Sunday after a racist insult against VfL professional Aaron Opoku. The broad masses wanted to see football and “stand together for the sport”, said Cacau: The abandonment of the game in Duisburg was a special situation because “the victim was very much affected by it”. He was happy “how the referee dealt with the players and how the fans and clubs reacted to the situation. That was exemplary”. The referee “acted in the interests of the victim,” praised the 40-year-old. Duisburg and Osnabrück have jointly spoken out in favor of a replay.
Basketball, NBA: The Boston Celtics lost the important home game against the Philadelphia 76ers and missed the jump to a direct playoff place of the NBA. With Dennis Schröder on the starting grid, the record champions lost 103: 108 on Monday evening (local time). Schröder hit only three of his ten throws and stayed at a total of eight points. The Celtics have 15 wins and 16 losses, the balance of the 76ers in sixth place in the Eastern Conference is exactly the opposite. Joel Embiid had an outstanding game with 41 points for the Philadelphia team. In the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors drew level with the Phoenix Suns at the top of the table. The team around superstar Steph Curry won the home game against the Sacramento Kings 113: 98. Curry got 30 points, Draymond Green posted a triple double with 16 points, eleven rebounds and ten assists.
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