BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Brazilian team Botafogo could give owner John Textor his biggest soccer success yet if it beats Atletico Mineiro in the Copa Libertadores final on Saturday.
The American businessman also owns several European soccer teams but has come under widespread criticism from fans there because of financial difficulties and poor results. He's had his share of critics in Brazil, too, after making unproven allegations about match-fixing when Botafogo squandered a 13-point lead to miss out on the league title last year.
Seeing Botafogo lift its first continental title would be a rare triumph.
Botafogo was relegated from the Brazilian league in 2020 but has risen to prominence again with Textor’s investment. He was part of a wave of foreign owners who came into Brazilian soccer after a 2021 law change paved the way for private investments.
Textor's Eagle Football also owns Crystal Palace in the Premier League, French club Lyon and RWD Molenbeek in Belgium.
At Botafogo, he has spent big on star signings such as Argentina midfielder Thiago Almada for $25 million and winger Luiz Henrique for $21 million. The team is also on the verge of winning the Brazilian league for the first time since 1995, after climbing back to the top of the table with a 3-1 win at Palmeiras on Tuesday. A victory at Internacional next week could could clinch the domestic trophy for the Rio de Janeiro-based team.
The team's Portuguese coach Arthur Jorge, who arrived at the club in April, insisted he's not under any pressure going into the final.
"I am living an adventure that has been extraordinary,” Jorge said.
If Botafogo wins, Jorge would join his compatriots Jorge Jesus (Flamengo 2019) and Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras in 2020 and 2021) as European coaches with a Copa Libertadores title.
However, Botafogo will be without injured striker Júnior Santos, who is the competition’s leading with nine goals despite not having played since having surgery on his left leg in July, before the round of 16.
Atletico Mineiro also has wealthy owner in Brazilian billionaire Rubens Menin, a construction mogul. The Belo Horizonte-based club won its first and only Copa Libertadores title in 2013 after a penalty shootout against Paraguay’s Olimpia.
And while Botafogo is on a high, Mineiro has not won any of its last 10 matches since beating River Plate in the first leg of the Libertadores semifinals. It eliminated defending champion Fluminense of Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Mineiro will rely on veteran striker Hulk, 38, and his younger attacking partner Paulinho — on loan from Bayer Leverkusen — to break down Botafogo’s defense. Hulk has four assists in this edition of the Copa Liberadores.
The club also counts on the experience of midfielder Gustavo Scarpa and center forward Deyverson, who both won the competition with Palmeiras in 2021.
“We are going to Buenos Aires with the faith and conviction that we will win,” said coach Gabriel Milito, who can become the first Argentine to win the trophy with a Brazilian team. “We have to play the final with a lot of courage, with a lot of confidence. We know that we have to neutralize their offensive game very well and we also have to generate danger through ours.”
Whoever wins at the Monumental de Nunez Stadium in Buenos Aires will give Brazil its sixth consecutive Copa Libertadores title and the 24th in history, just one less than host Argentina.
Dozens of buses left Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and other cities in Brazil early in the week filled with fans going to watch the match in the Argentine capital.
The winner gets prize money of $23 million and a spot in the Club World Cup in the United States next year.
Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
AP journalist Marcelo Androetto contributed to this report.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Coach Gabriel Milito of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro arrives at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, for the upcoming Copa Libertadores final soccer match against Brazil's Botafogo. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Coach Artur Jorge of Brazil's Botafogo arrives at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Copa Libertadores final soccer match against Brazil's Atletico Mineiro. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Hulk of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro arrives at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, for the upcoming Copa Libertadores final soccer match against Brazil's Botafogo. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Parliament on Friday in a world-first law.
The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.
The Senate passed the bill on Thursday 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the legislation by 102 votes to 13.
The House on Friday endorsed opposition amendments made in the Senate, making the bill law.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the law supported parents concerned by online harms to their children.
“Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them,” Albanese told reporters.
The platforms have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.
Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the legislation had been “rushed.”
Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the platforms in Australia, said questions remain about the law’s impact on children, its technical foundations and scope.
“The social media ban legislation has been released and passed within a week and, as a result, no one can confidently explain how it will work in practice – the community and platforms are in the dark about what exactly is required of them,” DIGI managing director Sunita Bose said.
The amendments passed on Friday bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.
Critics of the legislation fear that banning young children from social media will impact the privacy of all users who must establish they are older than 16.
While the major parties support the ban, many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.
Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minority Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.
“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.
Exemptions will apply for health and education services including YouTube, Messenger Kids, WhatsApp, Kids Helpline and Google Classroom.
Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary. “The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.
“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.
Online safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online, described the Senate vote as a “monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online.”
“It’s too late for my daughter, Carly, and the many other children who have suffered terribly and those who have lost their lives in Australia, but let us stand together on their behalf and embrace this together,” she said.
Wayne Holdsworth, whose teenage son Mac took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, had advocated for the age restriction and took pride in its passage.
“I have always been a proud Australian, but for me subsequent to today’s Senate decision, I am bursting with pride,” Holdsworth said.
Christopher Stone, executive director of Suicide Prevention Australia, the governing body for the suicide prevention sector, said the legislation failed to consider positive aspects of social media in supporting young people’s mental health and sense of connection.
“The government is running blindfolded into a brick wall by rushing this legislation. Young Australians deserve evidence-based policies, not decisions made in haste,” Stone said.
The platforms had complained that the law would be unworkable and had urged the Senate to delay the vote until at least June 2025 when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies will report on how young children could be excluded.
“Naturally, we respect the laws decided by the Australian Parliament," Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms said. “However, we are concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people.”
Snapchat said it was also concerned by the law and would cooperate with the government regulator, the eSafety Commissioner.
"While there are many unanswered questions about how this law will be implemented in practice, we will engage closely with the Government and the eSafety Commissioner during the 12-month implementation period to help develop an approach that balances privacy, safety and practicality. As always, Snap will comply with any applicable laws and regulations in Australia,” Snapchat said in a statement.
Critics argue the government is attempting to convince parents it is protecting their children ahead of a general election due by May. The government hopes that voters will reward it for responding to parents’ concerns about their children’s addiction to social media. Some argue the legislation could cause more harm than it prevents.
Criticisms include that the legislation was rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, is ineffective, poses privacy risks for all users, and undermines the authority of parents to make decisions for their children.
Opponents also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of the positive aspects of social media, drive them to the dark web, discourage children too young for social media to report harm, and reduce incentives for platforms to improve online safety.
AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
EDITORS AND LIBRARIANS: KILL FROM YOUR SYSTEMS, ARCHIVES AND PUBLISHED PLATFORMS PHOTO CAN801 (ID: 24333812519561) SLUGGED AUSTRALIA SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRANSMITTED ON FRIDAY, NOV. 29, 2024 ACT. THE PHOTO IS RESTRICTED FROM USE IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gestures during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gestures during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
