MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican club Leon is set to be put up for sale to comply with Club World Cup regulations that prohibit multi-club ownership, but it won’t happen in the short term.
The decision was announced Thursday by the owner of Grupo Pachuca, Jesús Martínez, who hopes that FIFA will take the pending sale into account and let both teams participate in the expanded Club World Cup next year in the United States.
Grupo Pachuca owns Leon and Pachuca, and both clubs qualified for the 32-team tournament.
Martínez said he's spoken to FIFA and plans to meet with the president of CONCACAF, Victor Montagliani, to explain how the two teams operate.
“They are listening. We have been transparent and we are optimistic that we can move forward with this situation,” Martínez said after the draw held on Thursday in Miami. “They told us that after the draw they will make a decision, in mid-December or early January”.
FIFA announced last month that it will not allow multiple teams belonging to the same owner to participate in the tournament.
Alajuelense of Costa Rica complained to soccer's governing body that two Mexican teams owned by Martínez qualified to participate, and requested it be included instead of one of them.
“We have in our favor that we did not have the regulation before, because it came out a month ago,” Martínez said. “That is being analyzed, but on their part I see a great openness, the most important thing is to respect what was won on the field.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Presenter Samantha Johnson speaks on stage during the draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of lighting a woman on fire on a New York City subway and fanning the flames as she burned to death made his first appearance in court this week, while authorities were yet to publicly identify the victim.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was arraigned on murder and arson charges on Tuesday afternoon in a Brooklyn court, where he was remanded back to custody. He did not enter a plea and his lawyer did not speak to reporters assembled inside the courthouse. His next court date is scheduled for Friday.
Authorities allege that Zapeta, who federal immigration officials say is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, calmly approached the woman aboard a stopped F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on Sunday morning and set her clothing ablaze.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Sunday described the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
Here's the latest:
Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday, hours after police disseminated images of a suspect in the woman's death.
Police said three high schoolers called 911 after recognizing the person in the image, and officers found him on another subway train in the same gray hoodie, wool hat, paint-splattered pants and tan boots.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said Zapeta is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after he had been previously deported to Guatemala in 2018. It is unclear when and where he reentered the U.S., Carter said.
Zapeta was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court on Tuesday. He appeared before a judge in a white jumpsuit and did not speak.
Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg, during Tuesday's court hearing, alleged that Zapeta lit the woman’s clothing on fire and fanned the flames using a shirt.
Rottenberg added that under interrogation Zapeta claimed he didn’t know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself to interrogators in images of the attack.
A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a service center for Samaritan Daytop Village, which provides housing and substance abuse support. The organization did not respond to a request for comment.
The victim has not been publicly identified as of Thursday. Police have described her only as a woman.
On Thursday, Rev. Kevin McCall led community leaders in a prayer vigil for her at the Coney Island station.
Tisch said Sunday that the victim was “in a seated position” at the end of the train car when she was set on fire. NYPD transit chief Joseph Gulotta said police do not believe the suspect and the victim knew each other and they did not interact before or during the incident.
Police patrol the New York City subways, and there is a vast network of cameras in stations and all subway cars.
But the sheer size of the subway system — 472 stations with multiple entry points and millions of riders each day — makes policing it logistically difficult.
On Sunday, officers were at the station but were patrolling a different platform. They responded after seeing and smelling smoke coming from the fire.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year directed members of the state's National Guard to assist with random bag checks at certain stations.
Violent incidents on the subway and in stations often put people on edge, partly because many New Yorkers take the train multiple times a day and often have their own experiences with uncomfortable interactions in the system.
Broadly, crime is down in the city transit system this year compared to the same period in 2023. Data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority shows a 6% decline in what the agency calls major felonies between January and November of this year and 2023.
At the same time, murders in the transit system are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five in the same time frame last year.
High-profile incidents on the train often attract national attention and further unnerve passengers. Daniel Penny, a military veteran who placed an agitated subway rider in a chokehold, was acquitted of homicide this month.
“When you have these incidents, it overshadows the success and it plays on the psyche of New Yorkers,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a Monday interview on PIX 11, noting that many high-profile incidents in the transit system involve people with mental health issues.
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
A suspect, identified by police as Sebastian Zapeta, is facing murder and arson charges in New York City for allegedly setting a woman on fire inside a subway train and then watching her die after she was engulfed in flames, police said Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (WABC-TV via AP)
FILE - New York Police officers clear a train at the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Terminal, May 5, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, file)
