Star midfielder Busquets to retire after career having Messi's back in Barcelona and MLS

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Sergio Busquets was a maestro in midfield, the one who recovered the ball, started attacks and delivered that key pass for superstar teammates like Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta to turn into goals in Barcelona’s heyday.

The 37-year-old Spanish world champion will soon end his hugely successful career, retiring from soccer at the end of his current season with Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer team said Thursday.

Busquets is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders of his generation, forming a storied three-man midfield at Barcelona with Iniesta and Xavi Hernández behind Messi.

Busquets debuted for Barcelona in 2008 under Pep Guardiola and went on to play 722 matches for the club — putting him third all-time behind Xavi and Messi – while winning nine Spanish league titles and the Champions League three times.

He wasn’t fast or ripped with muscles. He rarely scored. But his lanky frame belied a tenacious tackler and an expert passer, making him the ideal anchorman for the best teams both Barcelona and Spain have ever had.

Barcelona called him “a cornerstone of the finest Barça side of all time.”

He played 143 games for Spain, winning the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012. He was Spain's captain upon retiring from international competition in 2022.

In 2023, Busquets joined Inter Miami where he was reunited with Messi and other former Barcelona teammates Luis Suárez and Jordi Alba. The team said Busquets has had an “extraordinary career” and is “one of the greatest midfielders in football history.”

Former teammates — and rivals — praised him on social media.

“What a privilege it was to play with you all those years, brother,” Iniesta wrote on Instagram. “Your way of playing was one of a kind, and we will never forget it.”

Former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, Busquets’s club rival and his teammate with Spain, recalled their time shared on the field as well as Busquets' “modest and authentic character."

“(You were) a rival most of the time, other times my teammate, (but) you always stood out thanks to your class, vision, and talent,” Ramos wrote on X.

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FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronald, bottom, tries to get the ball from Spain's Xavi Hernandez, left, Spain's Sergio Busquets, right, and Spain's Andres Iniesta, during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Spain and Portugal at the Green Point stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, June 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

FILE - Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, left, is congratulated by teammates Sergio Busquets, center, and Xavi Hernandez after scoring against Racing de Santander during their Spanish La Liga soccer match at El Sardinero stadium in Santander, northern Spain Sunday Aug. 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos, File)

FILE - FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, right, celebrates scoring against Atlante FC with teammates Xavi, left, and Sergio Busquets during their semifinal soccer match of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets (5) defends against Charlotte FC midfielder Djibril Diani (28) during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.

Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges," according to the nation's electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.

The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls were expected to close at 4 p.m., but voting was extended one hour until 5 p.m. local time. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.

In the morning, impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.

“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.

Wine, the candidate, alleged electoral fraud, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming that there was “ballot stuffing.”

Wine wrote in a post on X that his party's leaders had been arrested. “Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” the post said.

Museveni told journalists he was notified that biometric machines weren't working at some stations and that he supported the electoral body's decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on allegations of fraud.

Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.

Nganda said the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support. "It’s going to be chaos,” he said.

Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.

Emmanuel Tusiime, a young man who was among dozens prevented from entering a polling station in Kampala past closing time said the officials had prevented him from participating.

“My vote has not been counted, and, as you can see, I am not alone," he said he was left feeling “very disappointed.”

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.

The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and possible vote tampering.

Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.

There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.

Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.

Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.

“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.

The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.

“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."

Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”

Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.

Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)