PARIS (AP) — Instead of having names on their jerseys, soccer players from Toulouse and Lorient will have pictograms of different disabilities during their Ligue 1 game on Saturday.
The measure is part of a French soccer league awareness campaign aimed at providing better long-term stadium facilities for people with disabilities. Seven disabilities feature on the pictograms: visual, cognitive, hearing, intellectual, debilitating illnesses, motor and intellectual.
“This design embodies a collective commitment to the inclusion and visibility of people with disabilities,” the Ligue de Football Professionnel said Tuesday in a statement. “The seven pictograms form the central part of the awareness campaign deployed around the match.”
Saturday's game will have an accessible shuttle service for people with disabilities; an AD (audio description) service; visual help devices, and spaces specifically designed for those with sensory and autistic disability, with dedicated staff on site.
The 33,000-seater Stadium de Toulouse's forecourt will also be transformed into an awareness space, the LFP added.
The event is called “Most Inclusive Match” and is being organized by the LFP in conjunction with Spain-based events planner World Football Summit and Portugal-based Integrated Dreams, a non-profit association working for the inclusion of disabled people in the sports industry.
Toulouse is the first French club to host the event, which has been held at soccer clubs in Spain over the past three years by Real Betis, Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad.
Prior to Saturday's match itself, awareness campaigns and a disability-focused job fair will take place. A Toulouse business school is hosting a conference focusing on inclusion and innovation in education and business, followed by workshops. Several associations are offering introductory sessions about blind soccer and wheelchair rugby, which both featured at the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024.
Toulouse and Lorient players will then enter the field of play for Saturday's game accompanied by children with disabilities and able-bodied children, reinforcing the message of inclusion.
A ceremonial kickoff is to be performed by two-time Paralympic badminton champion Lucas Mazur and 21-year-old French actress Mayane, who has Down syndrome. They are event ambassadors.
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FILE - Lorient players celebrate after Lorient's forward Jordan Ayew, right, scored against Marseille , during the League One soccer match between Marseille and Lorient, at the Velodrome Stadium, in Marseille, southern France, April 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)
FILE - Toulouse players celebrate after winning the French Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Toulouse, at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, April 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
MIAMI (AP) — Aaron Judge walked slowly back and forth in the United States dugout Tuesday night while Venezuelan players shed tears and fell to their knees to celebrate the country's first World Baseball Classic title.
Other players from the Americans' $320 million roster stood frozen for several minutes before receiving their silver medals. Bryce Harper, who hit a tying homer in the eighth inning, went over to shake hands with Team Venezuela players before leaving the field.
“In those moments, it's like the Olympics or anywhere else,” Harper said. “I'm really happy for them. Obviously, I want to win no matter what. That's what I play for, is to win a championship and a goal medal. But in that moment it's not about me, it's about us and our game.”
Team USA brought its most loaded roster ever to baseball’s premier international event, but the Americans lost their second straight WBC final after winning the championship in 2017.
“Obviously disappointed,” Judge said. “All of us put on this uniform to go out there and win a gold medal. We fell short of that.”
The U.S. produced just three hits Tuesday night and four runs over the final two games of the WBC — well short of offensive expectations for a roster of players who combined for 382 home runs and 1,111 RBIs last MLB season.
Three years after losing to Shohei Ohtani and Japan in 2023, the Americans were again disappointed, this time by an energetic Venezuelan team led by All-Stars Ronald Acuña Jr., Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez mowed down the Americans' fearsome lineup with measured ease on Tuesday, leaving the colorful celebration to his teammates who met him with claps as he stoically exited the mound in the fifth.
Rodríguez fanned Judge — the U.S. captain went 0 for 4 — twice among four strikeouts and held the Americans to just one hit over 4 1/3 innings.
“I’m not going to make any excuses for us,” said United States manager Mark DeRosa. "I think at the end of the day ... it’s early in spring training. Guys are getting ready for the season. Eventually I think the tournament gets moved and I think the guys are in better form pitching-wise.
“But ultimately it’s who gets hot at the right time, who gets a big swing.”
The Americans have won just one title in six iterations of the tournament. DeRosa indicated that the U.S., which has received more buy-in from marquee MLB position players over the years, is still lacking the same commitments from star pitchers.
Reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal participated this year but made just one start in pool play in order to stick with his ramp-up schedule for the regular season with the Detroit Tigers.
“I think every position player wants to play in it," DeRosa said. “I think from a pitching standpoint, everybody’s at different stages in their career. You've got to get buy-in from the team. You’ve got to get buy-in from the player. You've got to get buy-in from the agent. I think everybody in their heart ... wants to do it. It’s just, what’s the timing of where they are at in their career?”
Venezuela's bullpen gave up only two hits, including Harper's two-run homer over the center-field fence against Andrés Machado in the eighth.
Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth and pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith’s throw, then came home on Eugenio Suárez double. Suárez spread his arms wide and pointed to the sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at the plate.
It signaled another brutal finish could be coming for the U.S., which lost the 2023 WBC title game when Ohtani struck out Mike Trout to win it for Japan.
The American roster was made up of players who have combined for more than 2,300 home runs and 419 saves, and nine of them have played in a World Series.
But they never quite displayed the full extent of their offensive firepower. They hit .250 over seven games with 44 runs, 10 homers and 40 RBIs.
DeRosa said he was surprised by the lack of offense “because of the names at the back of the jersey, but not surprised because of where they’re at in spring training."
“That’s my answer,” he added. “I really don’t have a rhyme or reason to why. I just think you’re either hot or not in a seven-game blast like this.”
After the U.S. beat the Dominican Republic 2-1 in the semifinals, DeRosa said he was still waiting for his team to break loose at the plate.
That will have to wait another three years.
This story has been corrected to show Eduardo Rodríguez pitched 4 1/3 innings, not 5 1/3 innings.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Former MLB player Clayton Kershaw carries a silver medal after the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States pitcher Tyler Rogers walks the pitchers mound during the ninth inning in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States manager Mark DeRosa hugs starting pitcher Nolan McLean at the end of the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States right fielder Aaron Judge shakes hands with manager Mark DeRosa after receiving their silver medals following the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States manager Mark DeRosa relieves United States pitcher Nolan McLean during the fifth inning in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States pitcher Nolan McLean reacts after walking Venezuela Ronald Acuña Jr. during the third inning in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States Aaron Judge gestures after striking out during the fourth inning in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
