Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

France Football has announced that there will be no Ballon d'Or awards or ceremony this year, due to the "lack of sufficient fair conditions". The prestigious award has been handed out to the best player in the world since 156, but the decision to cancel this year comes as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the detrimental effects it has had on football. In a statement in their official website, France Football said: “For the first time in its history, which began in 1956, the Ballon d'Or will not be awarded in 2020, due to the lack of sufficient fair conditions.  “Messi and Rapinoe (as well as [Mattijs] de Ligt and Alisson, winners of the Kopa and Yachine Trophies [for young player and goalkeeper]) will have to wait a year. The winners of the last edition will have no successors at the end of the year. Because there will be no Ballon d'Or 2020 edition. "Why? Because such a singular year cannot - and should not - be treated ...

Lionel Messi has not had his best season, but continues to make history in grand style. He scored two goals against Alaves in the ultimate La Liga game of the season, taking his total league goals tally to 25. He finished the season as the league's top scorer. This is his seventh La Liga golden boot, and fourth consecutive. Prior to this season, he and Telmo Zarra held the record for most La Liga golden boots (Pichichi Trophy). Now, he is the sole holder of the record. Messi also recorded 21 assists over the course of this campaign, breaking the record held by his former Barcelona teammate Xavi. Messi's closest challenger for league goals this season was Karim Benzema with 21. Worth noting is the fact that Messi has had his lowest goals tally in La Liga since 2008-09, despite being the league's top scorer this year. Barcelona lost their League title to Real Madrid this season. Real Madrid closed the season with 87 points and Barcelona, 82.

Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub, on Monday said Glee star Naya Rivera used the last of her strength to save her 4-year-old son before dying. "She mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself," Ayub said. During the news conference, the sheriff's office said her body was found on Monday, five days after Rivera's disappearance.  Sheriff Ayub said Rivera rented a pontoon boat on July 8 at a dock on the lake and left around 1 p.m. Her son, Josey, told the police that he and his mum had gone swimming while on the water. Josey was found asleep wearing a life jacket, on the rental pontoon boat after it was overdue for return. Another life jacket was found on the boat. “It was during that time that her son described being helped into the boat by Naya, who boosted him onto the deck from behind. He told investigators that he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water,” Ayub said. Naya's body was found fl...

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo rescued a draw for Juventus vs Atalanta yesterday after converting two penalties awarded for handball. Though the handballs were accidental, referee Pierro Giacomelli had to follow the new rules and award them. Atalanta who have scored the most goals in Serie A this season, would have climbed to second place and cut the gap between them and Juventus to six points had they won. They have scored 19 more goals than any Serie A side this season. Atalanta controlled long periods of the game, with two goals from Duvin Zapata and Ruslan Malinovskiy. Juventus savior Cristiano Ronaldo took his league goals tally to 28 goals in 28 league games with his two goals from the spot kick. Ronaldo has now concerted 11 of 11 penalty kicks in Serie A this season, a tie with Roberto Baggio's 1997/1998 record for most penalty goals scored without missing in a single Serie A season (assuming he doesn't miss any for the rest of the season). Ronaldo has scored 17.1%...

Lionel Messi continues to be of utmost importance to Barcelona in his thirties. He made more history yesterday as Barcelona played Real Valladolid. Messi provided the assist to Arturo Vidal's goal - the lone goal of the night and winner for Barcelona. This was Messi's 20th assist of the season. Only Xavi has achieved such a feat in the history of La Liga. Xavi achieved that in the 2008/2009 season.  Messi has scored 22 league goals this season in addition to his 20 assists. He is only the second player to achieve this feat in Europe's top five leagues this century. Thiery Henry was the first, scoring 24 goals and contributing 20 assists for Arsenal during the 2002/2003 Premier League season. So far, Messi is the highest goalscorer in La Liga this season, with Karim Benzema following with 18.

India has overtaken Russia as the country with the third highest number of coronavirus cases. Only the United States and Brazil have more. Today, Tuesday, 7th July, India's death toll from Covid-19 has crossed 20,000 and total number of cases has surpassed 700,000. Over the weekend, India reported its highest-ever single-day increase in new cases, with close to 25,000 new infections in 24 hours. Johns Hopkins University data shows that India ranks eighth in terms of fatalities despite ranking third in terms of total coronavirus cases. According to data from India's health ministry, more testing is going on, with close to 250,000 Covid-199 tests being administered on a daily basis. India imposed a nationwide lockdown in March when its total number of cases were relatively low, and eased it in early June in a bid to revive the economy. Nonetheless, schools remain shut. The Taj Mahal and other monuments were scheduled to reopen to tourists on Monday now remain closed indefinitel...