Spanish top-flight soccer club Real Betis Balompié has launched a new uniform made from an unexpected material ― the invasive algae, Rugulopteryx okamurae, that, due to climate change, is posing an increasing threat to the ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.

The Seville-based La Liga team, currently mid-table, unveiled its uniform (including recycled ocean plastics) last week in the southern Spanish coastal town of Tarifa, whose coastline has been hit by the ecological invader, according to the club.

Divers symbolically retrieved the message-sending jerseys from the seabed ahead of their presentation. Betis players will wear the uniform for Sunday’s clash with Real Sociedad.

“The presence of invasive algae on our coasts is destroying our ecosystem,” the club wrote on Instagram. “To confront them, the first kit made with fibers created from these algae was born.”

The brown algae are native to the North Pacific Ocean and arrived off Spain’s coast circa 2015, most likely “through the ballast waters of merchant ships,” marine biologist Candela Sánchez Atienzar told the AFP news agency.

“When it arrived it started to spread out of control, there’s no invasion in the history of science described on this scale,” Sánchez recalled.

Climate change has seen algae proliferate off Spain’s coast in recent years, and there are no signs of slowing down as the Mediterranean Sea’s surface temperature soars to record highs each summer.

Spain is frequently referred to as “ground zero” of the climate crisis in Europe, with hotter summer heatwaves and devastating storms.

Removing the algae is an expensive process that now costs the southern Spanish coastal town of Estepona alone more than $1 million per year, reported El País newspaper.

Tarifa itself, meanwhile, is seeking to turn the algae into electricity and sustainable fertilizer using an experimental bioreactor.

MADRID (AP) — The former president of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, goes on trial Monday accused of sexual assault for kissing forward Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s victory at the Women’s World Cup final in 2023.

The kiss, which Hermoso said was without her consent, marred the celebrations of the women’s team’s achievement.

It sparked widespread outrage in society beyond football, and ignited one of the most embarrassing scandals in the history of Spanish soccer.

Rubiales also grabbed his crotch in a lewd victory gesture while standing near Spain’s Queen Letizia and Princess Sofia amid celebrations of Spain’s victory over England in Australia. He has denied any wrongdoing, but was forced to resign and was banned by FIFA. Rubiales had said he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.” He said the kiss was consensual.

The 47-year-old Rubiales is accused of sexual assault and of trying to coerce Hermoso to publicly support him. A judge ruled that Rubiales’ kiss was “unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion.”

Rubiales could face a fine or a prison sentence of one to four years if found guilty, according to court officials. A new law eliminated the difference between “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault,” sanctioning any unconsented sexual act. Prosecutors, Hermoso and Spain’s players’ association want a prison sentence of two and a half years for Rubiales, plus a payment of 50,000 euros ($51,800) for damages, and for him to be banned from working as a sports official. Hermoso is also asking for a court order banning Rubiales from being near her.

The judge also ruled that along with Rubiales, former Spain women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda, former sports director of Spain’s men’s team Albert Luque, and the federation’s former head of marketing, Rubén Rivera, should be tried for allegedly pressuring Hermoso to defend Rubiales, something she refused to do. They all also deny wrongdoing. According to the judge, there was sufficient evidence that Rubiales unsuccessfully pressured Hermoso to appear in a video he produced and published while public outrage over his actions mounted. The judge said there was also reason to believe Vilda likewise pressured Hermoso’s brother. Luque and marketing head Rivera were also involved in the alleged attempt to coerce her to support her disgraced boss, according to the judge. Prosecutors, Hermoso and Spain’s players’ association want a prison sentence of one and a half years for the three defendants.

The trial begins on Monday and is expected to last at least 10 days. Hermoso is set to testify on the first day. Among the nearly 20 witnesses who are also expected to testify are Spain’s men’s national team coach Luis de la Fuente and some of Hermoso’s teammates in the women’s national team, including former world player of the year Alexia Putellas. Rubiales is obligated to attend only the first and the last day, according to the court. The four defendants are expected to speak toward the end of the trial next week. Rubiales’ daughters are also set to testify at some point.

Hermoso and her teammates refused to play as long as Rubiales was in charge and returned to the team only weeks later when the government mediated an agreement with the federation interim president to overhaul its protocols and give more support to its women’s side. That included the elimination of the term “women’s” from the official team name. FIFA banned Rubiales for three years until after the men’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire before the next women’s tournament in 2027. Spain’s sports authority also ruled him unfit to hold a post in sports management for three years.

Rubiales’ other trouble

During his time as president of Spanish soccer’s governing body, Rubiales overhauled the format of the Spanish Super Cup in 2020, creating a four-team mini-tournament and moved the competition to Saudi Arabia as part of a deal that was reportedly worth 40 million euros (then $42 million) per tournament to the federation. Prosecutors opened a probe of that deal in 2022 following leaked audio between Rubiales and then-Barcelona player Gerard Piqué regarding millions of dollars in commissions. Piqué’s sports entertainment company Kosmos was involved in the deal with the federation and Saudi Arabia. They denied wrongdoing.

ROME (AP) — Lazio has fired the man who handled the Italian soccer club’s eagle mascot after he posted photos and videos online of his own prosthetic penis.

Falconer Juan Bernabé shared the images on his private social media accounts after undergoing surgery for a penile implant, which he said was for non-medical reasons.

Bernabé also gave an interview to controversial Italian radio show La Zanzara on Monday and elaborated on his reasons for undergoing the procedure.

Bernabé added that he felt “very proud” and “more masculine” being part of Lazio. The Serie A club clearly did not feel the same as it fired the Spaniard shortly afterward.

“Shocked to see the photographic images and video of Mr. Juan Bernabè and to read the statements that accompanied them, Lazio announces that it has stopped, with immediate effect, all relationship with this person, given the seriousness of his behavior,” the capital club said in a statement.

“The club realizes — and shares — the pain that the fans will feel at the loss of the eagle in the next home games, but believes that it is not possible to be associated … with a person who, by his own initiative, has made the continuation of the relationship unacceptable.”

The eagle — a bird that symbolizes ancient Rome — traditionally flies over Stadio Olimpico before home games.

Bernabè said he had no regrets about sharing the images.

Lazio suspended Bernabè in 2021 when he was filmed performing a fascist salute at the end of a match and chanting “Duce, Duce,” which was the name used to praise former fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini.

“I admire him so much,” Bernabè added in Monday’s radio interview.