KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Current will embark on a search for a head coach as current coach Vlatko Andonovski shifts focus to his role as sporting director for the National Women's Soccer League club.
Andonovski, who has served in both roles for the team, will continue as coach until a successor is named, the Current announced Friday.
The Current also said that Ryan Dell, the head of soccer operations, has been promoted to general manager. The moves were part of a “long-planned” staffing model with separate individuals holding those three key positions.
“To continue the club’s upward and global trajectory, we must put in place an organizational structure that reflects the growth of what we’re doing within the KC Current ecosystem and beyond," Current co-owners Angie and Chris Long said in a statement. "These changes will allow us to further carry out our mission of staying at the forefront of women’s soccer globally.”
This past season, Andonovski's second as coach, the Current set NWSL regular-season records for points (65), wins (21), home wins (11), road wins (10), shutouts (16) and fewest goals conceded (13).
Gotham FC eliminated Kansas City from the NWSL playoffs last weekend with a 2-1 quarterfinal victory.
“It’s vital to move into this role to keep growing this club with the aim of being a perennial contender on the global stage and a top developer of talent," Andonovski said. “From world-class soccer to the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s team to the best fans in the country, I am proud of what has been built here in the city that means so much to me.”
Andonovski served as the coach of the U.S. women's national team for four years from 2019-23.
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FILE - FC Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski watches from the sideline before the NWSL soccer championship match in Portland, Ore. on Oct. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s humanitarian aid coordination office is downsizing its appeal for annual funding in 2026 after support this year, mostly from Western governments, plunged to the lowest level in a decade.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday it was seeking $33 billion to help some 135 million people cope with fallout from wars, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics and food shortages. This year, it took in $15 billion, the lowest level in a decade.
The office says next year it wants more than $4.1 billion to reach 3 million people in Palestinian areas, another $2.9 billion for Sudan — home to the world's largest displacement crisis — and $2.8 billion for a regional plan around Syria.
“In 2025, hunger surged. Food budgets were slashed — even as famines hit parts of Sudan and Gaza. Health systems broke apart," said OCHA chief Tom Fletcher. "Disease outbreaks spiked. Millions went without essential food, healthcare and protection. Programs to protect women and girls were slashed, hundreds of aid organizations shut."
The U.N. aid coordinator sought $47 billion for this year and aimed to help 190 million people worldwide. Because of the lower support, it and humanitarian partners reached 25 million fewer people this year than in 2024.
“I know budgets are tight right now. Families everywhere are under strain," Fletcher said. “But the world spent $2.7 trillion on defense last year – on guns and arms. And I’m asking for just over 1% of that.”
He has called for “radical transformation” of aid by reducing bureaucracy, boosting efficiency and giving more power to local groups. Fletcher cited “very practical, constructive conversations” almost daily with the Trump administration.
“Do I want to shame the world into responding? Absolutely," Fletcher said. "But I also want to channel this sense of determination and anger that we have as humanitarians, that we will carry on delivering with what we get.”
FILE - A convoy of vehicles loaded with food and other aid is en route to Sweida on the international highway in rural Daraa province, Syria, July 20, 2025, heading to the city of Busra al-Sham. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)
FILE - Palestinians grab sacks of flour from a moving truck carrying World Food Programme aid as it drives through Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
FILE - People carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid that was unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)
FILE - Women displaced from El-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)
