Tag: Costa Rica

The Story: The voters in Costa Rico, a Central American republic, cast their ballots for President last weekend as between two candidates for President, Jose...

Although sports betting still dominates, bookies are increasingly eager to get into the political betting market and salivating over the prospect of taking odds on how many times Mr. Trump calls Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” or mentions her infamous ancestry test in a hypothetical 2020 presidential debate. Dave Mason, the BetOnline.ag sportsbook brand manager, said the market has been growing over the years. Scott Cooley, a spokesman for BetDSI, said the presidential election surpassed the Super Bowl that year. While political gambling for money is generally illegal in the U.S., that hasn’t always been the case. That can make oddsmakers more accurate than polls in some cases. There are ways to put money on politics legally. They get to bet on, among other things, how many times Mr. Trump would refer to the “wall,” “crooked Hillary” or “small hands” in debates. “His actions make it easy to create newsworthy prop bets and futures markets,” Mr. Cooley said. “There is not a lot of scientific data [on political betting], where the Super Bowl spread is tried and tested,” Mr. Mason said. “It is more coming up with stuff, throwing it against the wall and seeing what sticks.” The Washington Times welcomes your comments on Spot.im, our third-party provider.

Hours later, it emerged that one of the tournament’s most popular players, the Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah, was considering retiring from his national team in the wake of his interactions with a Chechen politician. FIFA’s political problems began when the Swiss players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both made the so-called double-eagle symbol with their hands after scoring in a 2-1 victory against Serbia. The gesture, made by linking the thumbs and fanning out the fingers on both hands, is a nationalist sign that many with ethnic Albanian roots make to symbolize the black eagle in Albania’s flag. In Serbia, however, the gesture was viewed as a provocation. Serbia’s soccer federation faced its own disciplinary proceeding, though, for a display of political messages by its fans during the game. Image Then came word that Salah, Egypt’s biggest star, was considering retiring from the national team once the World Cup ended after he was drawn into a political controversy related to his federation’s decision to live and train in Chechnya during the tournament. Salah has become one of the world’s highest-profile players over the past year, and he was the star attraction at Egypt’s training facility in Grozny, the capital of the Russian province of Chechnya. On the eve of the tournament, photos emerged of Salah alongside Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, at Egypt’s first training session. If Serbia defeats Brazil and Switzerland loses to Costa Rica, the Serbs could advance ahead of Switzerland. Switzerland has no beef in this battle.” Others pointed to another hand gesture that has not yet been punished: the Serbian three-finger salute, which is seen as a nationalist symbol.

On the left boot’s heel was the flag of Switzerland. On the right, the flag of Kosovo. So after Shaqiri broke free of Serbia’s offside trap in the final minutes of the game and slid the ball with his left boot, his Swiss boot, under the onrushing Serbia goalkeeper, Vladimir Stojkovic, he peeled away and made a two-handed eagle gesture with his fingers. It is a nationalistic sign that many with ethnic Albanian roots make — Granit Xhaka made it after he scored Switzerland’s first goal earlier in the second half — to mimic the black eagle in Albania’s flag. “If he loves Kosovo that much and never misses a chance to flaunt the flag, why did he refuse a chance to play for their team?” the Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic said when asked about Shaqiri’s boots. “As I said a hundred times, let me say it for the 101st time,” Serbia’s Mladen Krstajic said before the game, “I am not into politics.” Yet politics was never far away on Friday, and Kosovo — even as it was not playing — remains a continuing issue. The punishment led the Serbian football federation to issue a statement urging fans attending the “high-risk game” on Friday not to display political banners. “We do have a lot of immigrants in our team, but Shaqiri and Xhaka are both Swiss and from Kosovo,” the Swiss supporter Andreas Podolak said. It was Shaqiri, who was booed every time his face appeared on the stadium’s video screen and every time he touched the ball. As the game ended, heavy rain began to fall, and Shaqiri gave a thumbs up to Serbian fans as he left the field.

At the time, Costa Rica had just elected Carlos Alvarado as its new president. But they will have a steep hill to climb as they try to form a government: in the Legislative Assembly, Alvarado’s Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) counts only ten of the 57 members of congress. Pulling together The group was created the day after the first round of elections in February. Many people used the groups to encourage others to vote, but others went further and actually offered hospitality, opening their houses to fellow Costa Ricans who don’t live near a voting centre. Days prior the elections, members of the group proposed different strategies to increase the votes. Many of these tactics worked as users flooded Facebook with pictures of their loved ones after voting, adding captions like “this is my grandma, I convinced her to vote”. Ottón Solís, founder of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), took heart on this uncommon electoral behaviour: “Even though we won this second round, the great winner here is Costa Rica. Democracy won.” Ottón’s message seems to resonate with Carlos Alvarado’s plan to form a National Unity Government, one that will assemble a more democratic cabinet by including all parties represented in the Legislative Assembly. I think that the message from the people was talk to each other.” These efforts towards unity in the country reflect an integral part of the Costa Rican national imagination: this is a country that celebrates democracy and peace. In this year’s election, division almost became the new narrative – but in the end, these deeper values won the day.