DUBLIN (AP) — South Africa star Eben Etzebeth was suspended for 12 matches on Thursday for eye gouging against Wales last weekend.
The suspension covers matches for the Durban-based Sharks starting from this weekend to the end of March. The Sharks deregistered Etzebeth this week in anticipation of a lengthy ban.
Etzebeth was red-carded on Saturday at the end of the record 73-0 win over Wales in Cardiff. In a scuffle with Alex Mann, Etzebeth was caught on video with his right thumb in Mann's left eye.
It was the first red card of Etzebeth's 13-year international career. The two-time Rugby World Cup winner has played the most tests for the Springboks, 141.
The gouge was determined to be intentional by an independent disciplinary committee. Etzebeth pleaded guilty and apologized.
Regarding a sanction, the panel started at 18 weeks and reduced it by six weeks taking into consideration his previous disciplinary record.
He was the third lock to be red-carded during the Springboks' five-match unbeaten tour of Europe in November. Lood de Jager was suspended for four matches but Franco Mostert's red card was rescinded.
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Tempers fray between South Africa's Eben Etzebeth and Wales's Alex Mann during the rugby union international match between Wales and South Africa in Cardiff, Wales, Saturday Nov. 29, 2025. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
CARACAS (AP) — Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado demonstrated Saturday in several cities worldwide to commemorate her Nobel Peace Prize win ahead of the prestigious award ceremony next week.
Dozens of people marched through Madrid, Utrecht and other cities in support of Machado, whose organization wants to use the attention gained by the award to highlight Venezuela ’s democratic aspirations. The organization expected demonstrations in more than 80 cities around the world on Saturday.
The gatherings come at a critical point in the country’s protracted crisis as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump builds up a massive military deployment in the Caribbean, threatening repeatedly to strike Venezuelan soil. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is among those who see the operation as an effort to end his hold on power, and the opposition has only added to this perception by reigniting its promise to soon govern the country.
“We are living through times where our composure, our conviction, and our organization are being tested,” Machado said in a video message shared Tuesday on social media. “Times when our country needs even more dedication because now all these years of struggle, the dignity of the Venezuelan people, have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Machado won the award Oct. 10 for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado, 58, won the opposition’s primary election and intended to run against Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González, who had never run for office before, took her place.
The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. It all increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.
González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Meanwhile, Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in what ended up being an underwhelming protest in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, the day before his inauguration for a third term, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
