Haaland skips Ballon d’Or and travels to Sweden to watch friend clinch domestic league title

He posted a picture on Instagram of himself wearing a Malmo jersey, which has the same light blue color as City’s shirt. (AP)
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Updated 29 October 2024
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Haaland skips Ballon d’Or and travels to Sweden to watch friend clinch domestic league title

MALMO: Erling Haaland skipped the Ballon d’Or gala in Paris on Monday to watch a friend clinch the Swedish league title with Malmo instead.

The Manchester City striker, who was nominated for the Ballon d’Or but was not considered among the favorites, was seen in the stands in Malmo as the defending Swedish champion beat IFK Goteborg 2-1 to secure the title with two rounds remaining.

He posted a picture on Instagram of himself wearing a Malmo jersey, which has the same light blue color as City’s shirt.

Haaland’s Norwegian friend Erik Botheim plays for Malmo as a forward.

Malmo, which is eight points clear of Hammarby in the league table, has won the Swedish title a record 24 times.

Because of the long winter, the Swedish league starts in the spring and ends in the fall unlike most of the European leagues.


Mid East Falcons finish strong with victory over Arabia Wolves

Updated 08 December 2025
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Mid East Falcons finish strong with victory over Arabia Wolves

  • Abu Dhabi franchise beat their Dubai counterparts 3-2 to finish the inaugural Baseball United season joint top with Mumbai Cobras

DUBAI: Five pitchers combined to complete a five-hit, two-run game, while Jake Hjelle and Federico Celli each drove in a run, to give the Mid East Falcons a 3-2 victory over the Arabia Wolves at Baseball United Ballpark on Sunday.

Left-handed starter Shotaro Kasahara worked for 3.0 IP, allowing only one hit, with three walks and one strikeout. Yunis Halim, who earned the victory, pitched two scoreless innings, with one walk.

Stephen Mufareh (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER), Yudai Mizuchina (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO), Shotaro Nakata (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 SO) and Yokohama Baystars prospect Haru Shoshioka, who earned the save (1.0 IP, 1 SO), completed the pitching line for Mid East.

As for the offense, Alejandro de Aza went 2-for-3 with one run scored and Federico Celli went 1-for-4 with one RBI. Celli reached nine RBIs in the last two games.

With this result, the Mid East Falcons finished the season tied 6-3 with the Mumbai Cobras in the final standings. Both will dispute the United Series starting on Dec. 12.

Other highlights:

Michael Robles went 1-for-3 with a triple and one RBI, as the standout performer in the Wolves’ offense.

Angelo Cabral took the loss, after 4.0 IP, where he allowed four hits, two earned runs, gave up one walk and struck out three.

Arabia allowed a total of 20 runs in this regular season final series, with only nine runs scored.

With this result, the Wolves ended with a 4-5 record.