PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — Former England international Andros Townsend escaped serious injury after being run over by a pitch roller in a bizarre incident at a Thai league match.
Townsend currently plays in Thai League 1 for PT Prachuap and made headlines on Saturday night when a clip emerged on social media that showed the 35-year-old being taken out by the vehicle during a warmup for the game against Pattani.
The former Tottenham and Crystal Palace winger saw the funny side, reposting the video on his Instagram account with the words “Make it look like an accident” and a laughing emoji. He also joked about the incident on his stories.
Screams were heard on the video and other players could be seen turning away and putting their hands on their head in shock.
The incident happened as Townsend attempted an aerial backheel and landed in the path of the vehicle, just as the driver appeared to look away. Townsend was run over by the roller, which continued to move over his legs and hip.
Townsend avoided serious injury and even managed to come on as a stoppage-time substitute in his team’s 3-0 win.
Townsend, who made 13 appearances for England, joined Prachuap in August from another Thai club, Kanchanaburi Power, which had just been relegated.
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FILE - Luton Town's Andros Townsend at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Luton Town, in Liverpool, England, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
ROME (AP) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Sunday she’ll soon introduce a measure to her government that would cap the number of foreign students in classrooms and ban the wearing of burqas and niqabs in schools.
Meloni told the youth wing of her nationalist conservative Brothers of Italy party that the measure would also make Italian language lessons compulsory for parents of foreign students having “serious difficulties integrating into the school system.”
“For us, anyone who comes to Italy and wants to build their future here must learn our language, understand our culture, and respect our rules,” she said to a standing ovation at the Gioventù Nazionale national festival in Rome. “It is the only serious way to welcome them.”
Meloni specifically referred to a ban on the burqa, an all-covering dress worn by some Muslim women, and the niqab, the veil worn by the most conservative Muslim women, in which, at most, only the eyes show. But Meloni didn't mention the hijab, the headscarf worn by some Muslim women.
Once approved by the government, the measure would need parliamentary approval within 60 days to pass into law.
Meloni, who has political roots in the far-right, has consistently been hawkish on migration. But she has evolved politically over her tenure as prime minister, shifting from a nationalist outlier to an establishment figure among European Union politicians.
However, she's also keen to boost her popularity before a general election next year and is introducing a string of policies that achieve that aim, including an exemption from a hated property tax on small- and medium-sized cars and scooters.
Earlier this month, Meloni’s conservative administration became Italy’s longest-serving uninterrupted government since World War II.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends at Fenix, the FdI youth festival, in Rome, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends at Fenix, the FdI youth festival, in Rome, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends at Fenix, the FdI youth festival, in Rome, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends at Fenix, the FdI youth festival, in Rome, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
