Lakers accuse NBA of cheating after referee misses foul

A Turkish shoemaker has been making specially-designed shoes for star athletes with giant feet at his shoe shop in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul on Friday. Oncel Kalkan, who has been working in Istanbul for 41 years, designs dress shoes for athletes from all over the world, mostly NBA stars with big feet who struggle to find the right size.

For the first time in Algerian football history, four female match officials were appointed to referee in a match held on Saturday between ES Ben Aknoun and RC Kouba in Algiers. The referee committee of the Algerian Football Association appointed four female officials to run the 22nd and last round of the Ligue 2.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣

Bucks fans were seen in front of the official team shop outside the home stadium of the Milwaukee Bucks Fiserv Forum on Wednesday in downtown Milwaukee after their side won the NBA title the previous night. The Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA championship in 50 years with some fans having waited their whole lives to see the team.

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the Milwaukee Bucks at the White House after their victory in the 2021 NBA Finals.

Mali's Ibrahima Koné may have scored the winning goal against Tunisia, but the man everyone's talking about is the referee, who blew his whistle too early and ended the game in confusion. Also on Day 4, Gambia make a triumphant entry into their first-ever AFCON tournament with a 1-0 victory against Mauritania, and Ivory Coast jump to the top of Group E after beating Equatorial Guinea. Alison Sargent is joined by James Vasina and sports editor Simon Harding from Cameroon to discuss all the action.

Enes Kanter Freedom is a Turkish-born basketball player who is now a US citizen and plays for the Boston Celtics. He is also a human rights activist. In an interview with FRANCE 24, Freedom criticised billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk for opening a Tesla showroom in China's Xinjiang region, where the minority Uighurs are persecuted. He also accused Nike – the NBA's main sponsor – of "modern slavery" in China. Ahead of the Beijing Olympics, Freedom called on athletes to make their voices heard, saying the diplomatic boycott was "good but not enough".

Salima Mukansanga on Tuesday became the first female lead referee at an Africa Cup of Nations soccer match. At a soccer club in Rwanda's Kigali, members of the women's team are gathered around the television.

Salima Mukansanga, the first woman to officiate an Africa Cup of Nations match, says female referees deserve their place.

Africa's biggest football tournament is on in Cameroon and Rwanda's Salima Rhadia Mukansanga is the first woman to referee a match at the AFCON tournament. Salima took charge of the Zimbabwe vs Guinea game on January 21 and managed the men with grace and firmness.

With the AFCON quarter-finals done and dusted, Eurosport's Ruben Slagter joins us to take a look at which teams impressed the most. Cameroon cruised through against Gambia, Burkina Faso shocked Tunisia, Egypt impressed against Morocco and Senegal showed their quality when they beat Equatorial Guinea. Plus, FRANCE 24 Sports Reporter James Vasina catches up with referee Salima Mukansanga. The Rwandan, now a pioneer for women officials, takes us through her journey to reach the top of the men's game.

Salima Mukansanga, 33, became the first female referee to officiate a game at the Africa Cup of Nations when she oversaw the Zimbabwe-Guinea tie in this year's group stage. She sat down with FRANCE 24's James Vasina to tell us more about her journey and what her experience means for women in the male-dominated world of football.