FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Luis Suarez is going to play alongside Lionel Messi for at least one more year.
Suarez and Inter Miami have agreed on a one-year contract extension for the coming season, the team announced Wednesday.
The financial terms weren't disclosed. Suarez made $1.5 million this year in his first Inter Miami season, one in which the Uruguayan striker scored 20 goals — tied with Messi for the team lead — in Major League Soccer regular season play and a team-best 25 goals across all competitions.
“I’m very happy, very excited to continue for another year and to be able to enjoy being here with this fanbase, which for us is like family," Suarez said in comments distributed by the team. “We feel very, very connected with them, and hopefully, next year, we can bring them even more joy.”
Inter Miami set MLS records for points (74) and winning percentage (.765) during this MLS regular season, one in which the club went 22-4-8 and captured the Supporters Shield. The club failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs, falling to Atlanta United in the best-of-three series.
The contract extension for Suarez, who turns 38 in January, keeps the Inter Miami core of stars with Barcelona ties together. Suarez plays at Inter Miami alongside Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, a group that teamed up with the powerhouse Spanish club in past years. And newly named Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano — his hiring was made official on Tuesday — also played with that foursome at Barcelona.
“In 2024, Luis brought to Inter Miami all of the elements that make him one of the greatest strikers of all time," Inter Miami football operations president Raul Sanllehi said. "He performed at an elite level for us, and we’re excited to see that continue next season. Luis was not only our leading scorer this season, but also a leader for the group. His impact cannot be understated.”
Suarez has represented Uruguay in the last four World Cup competitions. He's played for Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, among other clubs, and has earned a slew of honors — Dutch player of the year, FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball, Premier League Player of the Season and World Cup All-Star Team among them.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Benjamin Suarez, center, Luis Suarez's son, fights for the ball during a Newell's Cup soccer match against Penarol in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Farid Dumat Kelzi)
Benjamin Suarez, Luis Suarez's son, fights for the ball during a Newell's Cup soccer match against Penarol in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Farid Dumat Kelzi)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Transgender students from kindergarten through college at Ohio public and private schools will be banned from using multiperson bathrooms that fit their gender identities under a measure that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he has signed.
DeWine signed the law out of public view Tuesday over the objections of Democrats, teachers' unions and civil rights groups, which had hoped that his objections to a ban on gender-affirming care for minors last year would carry through and prompt another veto. It takes effect in 90 days.
The governor issued no statement regarding the signing.
The Republican-backed measure — labeled the "Protect All Students Act” — requires public and private schools, colleges and universities to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations “for the exclusive use” of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in school buildings and other facilities used for school-sponsored events. It contains no enforcement mechanism.
“It revolves around safety, security, and, I think, common sense. It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable,” said Republican Ohio state Sen. Jerry Cirino, the bill’s sponsor.
School employees, emergency situations and people assisting young children or someone with a disability are exempted from the restrictions and schools can still offer single-use or family bathrooms.
Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, which backed the bill, said in a statement, “Common sense is on a winning streak in America today. No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio’s kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine’s decision to sign this bill."
The ACLU of Ohio was among the groups that had lobbied for a veto, condemning the measure as a violation of the right of privacy of LGBTQ+ Ohioans that will make them less safe.
Equality Ohio, the state's LGBTQ+ advocacy and legal aid organization, said the law poses risks to transgender youth “or anyone perceived as transgender by authorities.”
“We are deeply disappointed that Governor DeWine has allowed this dangerous bill to become law that puts vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment," Executive Director Dwayne Steward said in a statement. The group said it will continue to fight “for a state that embraces and respects all its residents.”
With DeWine's signature, Ohio adds to the pushback that's cropped up nationally among many Republican politicians, including President-elect Donald Trump, as transgender people have gained more visibility and acceptance on some fronts in recent years.
Twenty-six states have now adopted laws restarting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Dec. 4 on whether Tennessee’s ban on such treatments can continue to be enforced; any ruling is likely to impact policies in other states, too.
At least 11 states have adopted laws, like Ohio’s, barring transgender girls and women from girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools – and in some cases, in other government facilities.
And at least 24 states have laws dictating which sports competitions transgender girls and women can join.
Ohio's bathroom bill was debated for 19 months before finally clearing the GOP-led Legislature on Nov. 13, during Transgender Awareness Week. It was tacked onto a separate piece of legislation by the Ohio House that related to the state's College Credit Plus program, which allows high-schoolers to earn college credit.
Trump's campaign leaned heavily into opposing transgender rights in the last weeks of his race against Vice President Kamala Harris, including Trump's vow at a Madison Square Garden rally that “we will keep men out of women’s sports” and campaign ads saying, “Kamala's for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
It’s not clear what policies Trump might adopt once he takes office in January. But bills relating to gender issues are already being queued up in state legislatures that come into session early in 2025.
In Texas, for instance, there are proposed measures to bar using state money to pay for "gender reassignment,” to use state money to pay to reverse gender transitions, and to give people who receive gender-affirming care before they turn 15 until they turn 25 to sue their doctors for malpractice, among others. Democrats in the Republican-dominated legislature there have also introduced some bills intended to protect people from discrimination on the basis of “gender identity or expression.”
In Ohio, a law that both bars gender-affirming care for minors and blocks transgender girls and women from participating in girls and women’s sports competitions took effect in August. It took a rocky path, though. The measure became law only after the legislature overrode DeWine’s veto. And after that, a judge put enforcement on hold for about four months before allowing it.
FILE - Mike DeWine speaks, Jan. 14, 2019, in Cedarville, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, Pool, File)
