Sports
UEFA Championship, Olympic Boost Travel in 2024 by 7% – WTO
By the end of 2024, international tourist arrivals had almost reached their 2019 levels, suggesting complete recovery for the sector, according to UN Tourism.
Image credit: Opta Analyst
The World Trade Organization (WTO) says that the UEFA European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympics in France, boosted international travel by seven percent in 2024.
Ohibaba.com exclusively reports that WTO disclosed this in its international trade statistics for the third quarter of 2024, released on Tuesday, February 2025.
Said WTO: ” International travellers’ expenditure in foreign economies increased by 10 per cent in Q3 2024, and in the first three quarters of 2024, global travel receipts were 15 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Growth is stabilizing after the post-pandemic surge, and visa-free schemes adopted throughout 2024 by many economies have benefited international tourism worldwide.
” By the end of 2024, international tourist arrivals had almost reached their 2019 levels, suggesting complete recovery for the sector, according to UN Tourism.
Travel in 2024 was also boosted by the UEFA European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympics in France, and Europe’s travel exports grew by 7 per cent from an already high base in 2023.
Many African economies recorded double-digit growth, including Namibia (+32 per cent), Morocco (+19 per cent) and Tanzania (+18 per cent).”
Sports
Lightning kills 24-year-old Thailand footballer during match
Video footage from the match shows players running across the rain-soaked pitch when a lightning bolt suddenly struck the ground near them, producing a bright flash followed by flames and smoke.
•Safwan Awae
A 24-year-old footballer,Safwan Awae has died and 12 other players were injured after lightning struck a football pitch during a match in southern Thailand.
The incident occurred on August 4, 2026, at Santiphap Stadium in Narathiwat province as a monsoon storm brought heavy rain during the game.
Video footage from the match shows players running across the rain-soaked pitch when a lightning bolt suddenly struck the ground near them, producing a bright flash followed by flames and smoke.
The lightning struck Safwan Awae, who collapsed on the pitch.Spectators and others at the stadium immediately rushed onto the field in an attempt to help the player, while emergency responders were called to the scene.
Sports
Ugandan soccer star dies after assault in capital
“David was not just a footballer. He was both a leader and an inspiration to a generation. As Captain of SC Villa, he led with courage, humility and passion. In the Uganda Cranes jersey, he carried the hopes of a nation,” the Federation of Uganda Football Associations said in a statement.
• David Owori, SC Villa captain
Uganda international footballer David Owori, captain of one of the country’s biggest soccer clubs, has died after an assault in the capital Kampala, police said.
Owori, 28, captain of SC Villa, was critically injured by unidentified assailants in a suburb of Kampala on Tuesday, police spokesperson Racheal Kawala said.
He was found unconscious by passers-by, who took him to a nearby hospital.
He was transferred to another hospital where he was later pronounced dead, Kawala said.
“David was not just a footballer. He was both a leader and an inspiration to a generation. As Captain of SC Villa, he led with courage, humility and passion. In the Uganda Cranes jersey, he carried the hopes of a nation,” the Federation of Uganda Football Associations said in a statement.
Sports
FIFA back Infantino at crisis meeting but shelve World Cup privatisation plan
Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within his organisation, over his handling of the aborted plan to open the World Cup to private investment , fuelling calls for him to step down.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has received the “full support” of senior directors on Wednesday at a crisis meeting in Morocco.
Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within his organisation, over his handling of the aborted plan to open the World Cup to private investment , fuelling calls for him to step down.
In a statement Wednesday, FIFA’s leadership acknowledged “that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media”.
After Wednesday’s meeting in Rabat, the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance said in a statement they “reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations.
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