66-596: The Kansas City Current are an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri , that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an expansion team in 2021 . The team plays its home games at CPKC Stadium . The Kansas City area last had an NWSL team in 2017, when two-time champions FC Kansas City ceased operations and its player-related assets were transferred to expansion team Utah Royals FC . Three years later,
132-808: A Paralympic event. The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's football competition organized by CONCACAF that often serves as the qualifying competition to the Women's World Cup and the Olympics. The CONCACAF W Gold Cup had its inaugural edition in 2024 . It featured 12 national teams (8 from the CONCACAF region, and 4 invited from the CONMEBOL region) and was won by the United States . European women's tournaments featuring national teams were held in Italy in 1969 and in 1979 as
198-571: A 53,000 strong crowd), women's football in England was halted in December 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on association members' pitches, the FA stating that "the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged." Players and football writers have argued that this ban was due to envy of the large crowds that women's matches attracted, and because
264-467: A ban from 1921 to 1970 in England that disallowed women's football on the grounds used by its member clubs. In many other nations, female footballers faced similarly hostile treatment and bans by male-dominated organisations. In the 1970s, international women's football tournaments were extremely popular, and the oldest surviving continental championship was founded, the AFC Women's Asian Cup . However,
330-585: A crowd of 22,000. The tournament ran for a second year in season 1918–19, the winners being the ladies of Palmer's shipyard in Jarrow , who defeated Christopher Brown's of Hartlepool 1–0 at St James' Park in Newcastle on 22 March 1919. At the time of the First World War , female employment in heavy industry spurred the growth of the game, much as it had done for men fifty years earlier. A team from England played
396-518: A number of European women's leagues. However, the popularity and participation in women's football continues to grow. In 2022, FC Barcelona had the two largest reported attendances for women's football since the 1971 Women's World Cup final between Mexico and Denmark (110,000) at the Azteca Stadium , when they played Real Madrid (91,553) and Wolfsburg (91,648) at Camp Nou for the 2021–22 UEFA Women's Champions League . In April 2024,
462-726: A retroactive recognition decided in 2003 . The first FIFA Women's World Cup was held in China in November 1991 and won by the United States . The runners-up, Norway , became the 1995 champions, beating Germany in that final, in Sweden. The United States won the 1999 final on penalties against China (with a competition-record crowd of over 90,000 in Pasadena ). Germany won consecutive world titles in 2003 and 2007, winning finals against Sweden and Brazil respectively. Japan became champions in 2011 ,
528-512: A stake in the team as well. In January 2023, Patrick became a member of the ownership group as well. The Longs named Huw Williams , former general manager of FC Kansas City, as the team's inaugural head coach. The franchise played their first season as Kansas City NWSL, playing their home matches at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas, but ended their first season in Kansas City with 16 points from 24 games, 14 of which were losses. Huw Williams
594-485: A team from Ireland on Boxing Day 1917 in front of a crowd of 20,000 spectators. The Irish side of this match was dramatised in the play Rough Girls in 2021. Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. of Preston, England played in one of the first women's international matches against a French XI team in 1920, and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in the same year, winning 22–0. Despite being more popular than some men's football events (one match saw
660-554: A woman did not speak at the FIFA Congress until 1986 ( Ellen Wille ). The FIFA Women's World Cup was first held in China in 1991 and has since become a major television event in many countries. Women may have been playing football for as long as the game has existed. Evidence shows that a similar game ( cuju , also known as tsu chu ) was played by women during the Han dynasty (25–220 CE), as female figures are depicted in frescoes of
726-452: A women's match in 1892. The British Ladies' Football Club was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. Honeyball and those like her paved the way for women's football. However, the women's game was frowned upon by the British football associations, and continued without their support. It has been suggested that this was motivated by a perceived threat to the "masculinity" of
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#1733085448284792-484: Is a competition for women's national football teams governed by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). India won the first 5 editions, beating Nepal four times and Bangladesh once in the final. Bangladesh is the current champion having defeated Nepal by 3–1 goals on 19 September 2022 in the final. The OFC Women's Nations Cup is a women's football tournament for national teams who belong to
858-484: Is an international women's football competition held every two years and sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was first contested in 1991, but was not held biennially until 1998. Nigeria is the most successful nation in the tournament's history with 11 titles. The CAF Women's Champions League is an international competition that involves the top women's club teams from countries affiliated with
924-613: Is the team sport of association football played by women . It is played at the professional level in multiple countries , and 187 national teams participate internationally . The same rules, known as the Laws of the Game , are used for both women's and men's football. After the "first golden age" of women's football occurred in the United Kingdom in the 1920s, with one match attracting over 50,000 spectators, The Football Association instituted
990-475: The 1966 World Cup . The ban in England was maintained by the FA for nearly fifty years, until January 1970. The next year, UEFA recommended that the national associations in each country should manage the women's game. In 2002, Lily Parr of Dick Kerr's Ladies was the first woman to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame. She was later honoured with a statue in front of
1056-530: The 1971 Women's World Cup , was hosted by Mexico the following year. The final, also won by Denmark, was played at Estadio Azteca , the largest stadium in North America at the time, in front of crowds estimated at 110,000 or 112,500 attendees. During the 1970s, Italy became the first country to have professional women's football players on a part-time basis. Italy was also the first country to import foreign footballers from other European countries, which raised
1122-473: The 2022 NWSL season . On October 30, 2021, the team revealed its permanent name as Kansas City Current with a new crest for the 2022 season. Kansas City played its 2021 home matches at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. The club hosted all home matches at Children's Mercy Park in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In October 2021, the club unveiled plans to construct the first purpose-built stadium built exclusively for women's professional soccer. The stadium
1188-564: The 2023–24 A-League Women season set the record for the most attended season of any women's sport in Australian history, with the season recording a total attendance of 284,551 on 15 April 2024, and finishing with a final total attendance of 312,199. The first known World Cup tournaments for women's teams are the 1970 Women's World Cup in Italy and the 1971 Women's World Cup in Mexico, both of which hold attendance records and were organised by
1254-588: The English Ladies' Football Association was formed, with 58 affiliated clubs. A silver cup was donated by the first president of the association, Len Bridgett. A total of 23 teams entered the first competition in the spring of 1922. The winners were Stoke Ladies who beat Doncaster and Bentley Ladies 3–1 on 24 June 1922. In 1937, the Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. , who had lost to Scotland's Rutherglen Ladies in 1923 but continued to be proclaimed as "world champions", played
1320-527: The Kansas City Comets , California Cougars and Philadelphia Kixx of the Major Indoor Soccer League in his indoor career. On February 8, 2015, Andonovski and Wichita B-52s coach Kim Røntved came out of retirement to play against each other for their respective teams for one game. On December 5, 2012, Andonovski signed a contract to become the head coach of FC Kansas City . He
1386-838: The National Women's Soccer League , as well as the Missouri Comets in the Major Arena Soccer League . A central defender , Andonovski played six seasons for multiple clubs in Europe, such as FK Rabotnički , Makedonija GP and FK Vardar , competing in the First Macedonian Football League , European Cup and Intertoto Cup . In 2000, Andonovski signed with the Wichita Wings of the National Professional Soccer League and later played for
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#17330854482841452-516: The North Carolina Courage , and Claire Lavogez from Bordeaux . All three players would not finish the season on the roster due to season-ending injuries, the likes of which kept both Mewis and Williams from playing a single game in the regular season. The Current had a 13-match unbeaten streak in the middle of their 2022 campaign, propelling the team to their first playoff appearance in the 2022 NWSL Playoffs , and an eventual matchup against
1518-715: The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The competition has served as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA Women's World Cup since 1991. After the lifting of the FA ban, the Women's Football Association held its first national knockout tournament , the 1970–71 WFA Cup . Southampton Women's F.C. was the inaugural winner and became the Cup-winner eight times. From 1983 to 1994, Doncaster Belles reached ten out of eleven finals, winning six of them. As of 2023, Chelsea are
1584-664: The Portland Thorns in the NWSL Championship . Portland would go on to defeat Kansas City 2–0 in the matchup. In 2023, the Current had a poor regular season showing, finishing 11th out of 12 teams, but had advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup , where they lost to the tournament's eventual champion, North Carolina Courage . After three matches into the season, the team parted ways with Matt Potter as head coach and named Caroline Sjöblom as interim head coach for
1650-508: The UEFA Women's Championship was then dominated by Germany , who won eight titles, including six in a row from 1995 to 2013. The only other teams to win, as of 2022, are Norway in 1993 , the Netherlands at home in 2017 , and England at home in 2022 . The UEFA Women's Champions League is an international competition that involves the top women's club teams from countries affiliated with
1716-555: The Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), was launched in 2009 and folded in late 2011. The following year, the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) was launched with initial support from the soccer federations of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In 2017, Liga MX Femenil was launched in Mexico and broke several attendance records. The league is composed of women's teams of the men's counterpart teams in Liga MX . On 20 March 2024,
1782-593: The 1982 appearance of the first women's league, Galanita. The Pertiwi Cup , which drew contestants from throughout all of Indonesia, was first played in 2006. The first professional league was held in 2019 under the name Liga 1 Putri . In Australia, the W-League, now known as A-League Women , was formed in 2008. In 2015, the Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL) was launched with an affiliated second division, CWFL. Previously, The Chinese Women's Premier Football League
1848-560: The 2022 season, and relocated their home matches to the nearby Children's Mercy Park , in Kansas City, Kansas. A team training facility and headquarters opened in Riverside, Missouri in June 2022, and in July 2022 the ownership group announced plans for their future stadium in downtown Kansas City , Missouri. The club made significant roster moves with the additions of Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams from
1914-671: The African governing body CAF . The AFC Women's Asian Cup is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football competition and premier women's football competition in the AFC region for national teams. The SAFF Women's Championship , also called the South Asian Football Federation Women's Cup ,
1980-487: The Current became the first NWSL team to sell out every home match. Due to the short turnaround between the team's founding and the 2021 NWSL season , the ownership announced in January 2021 that the team would play its inaugural season under the temporary name Kansas City NWSL with temporary crest and colors; a full brand development process would take place so that a permanent team name, crest, and colors will be in place for
2046-643: The Current defeated the Portland Thorns by a score of 5–4. The Blue Crew, a supporters group of the defunct FC Kansas City , has continued to support the new NWSL team in Kansas City. Other supporter groups include Surface Tension (drumline) and The Undertow. On June 13, 2021, CBS affiliate KCTV agreed on a multi-year deal to become the official local television partner through the 2023 season (in addition to any matches already scheduled by CBS Sports for national broadcast). The station and its MyNetworkTV affiliate KSMO-TV will broadcast eight matches locally in
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2112-508: The D1 title to PSG until 2021 when PSG finished ahead of Lyon, and won five Coupe de France finals against Paris. In 2017 both teams reached the Champions League final, with Lyon beating Paris after a penalty shoot-out and winning its fourth title in the competition. While a number of features continue to improve, this is not the case for female coaches. They continue to be under-represented in
2178-644: The Edinburgh City Girls in the "Championship of Great Britain and the World". Dick, Kerr won the competition with a 5–1 scoreline. The 1939 competition was a more organised affair and the Edinburgh City Girls beat Dick, Kerr 5–2 in Edinburgh , following this up with a 7–1 demolition of Glasgow Ladies in Falkirk to take the title. The English Women's FA was formed in 1969 as a result of the increased interest generated by
2244-534: The European Competition for Women's Football . They were not recognized as "official" by UEFA, which opposed women's football until the 1970s. The UEFA championship began in 1984 under the name European Competition For Representative Women's Teams . Now, it is also commonly referred to as the UEFA Women's Euro. The 1984 tournament was won by Sweden . Norway won the 1987 edition. Between 1987 and 2013,
2310-594: The European governing body UEFA . The Copa América Femenina is the main competition in women's football between national teams that are affiliated with CONMEBOL . The Copa Libertadores Femenina , formally the CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina , is the international club competition for women's teams that play in the CONMEBOL region. The competition started in 2009 in response to the increased interest in women's football. The Women's Africa Cup of Nations
2376-492: The FA had no control over the money made from the women's game. Dick, Kerr Ladies player Alice Barlow said, "we could only put it down to jealousy. We were more popular than the men and our bigger gates were for charity". Despite the ban, some women's teams continued to play. The Northern Rugby Union did not follow the FA ban, so the short-lived English Ladies Football Association (1921–1922) played some of its matches at rugby grounds. In other countries, women's football
2442-616: The L. League – still in existence today as Division 1 of the Nadeshiko League . In 2020, Japan established the first-ever women's professional league in Asia, the WE League , which started on fall 2021. In Indonesia, the first recorded "national" women's football event, known as the "Kartini Cup", took place in 1981. The competition was held on an amateur level. Later competitions were also held in an amateur and semi-professional level, including
2508-618: The Olympic women's teams do not have restrictions on professionalism or age. The participation of Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic tournament was a bone of contention because England and other British Home Nations are not eligible to compete as separate entities. Eventually, both the women's and men's Great Britain teams fielded some players from the other home nations, but without their associations' active support. Although there are women's teams of blind football (5-a-side) and cerebral palsy football (7-a-side), women's football has never been
2574-515: The Reign's 2019 season . Despite losing a significant number of players to various injuries and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup , Andonovski managed the team to a 4th-place finish in the NWSL and a second straight playoff berth. Andonovski was named the head coach of the United States women's national team on 28 October 2019. Andonovski led the United States to a bronze medal in the 2020 Olympics , which
2640-508: The Royals also had to cease operations after controversies from the team's owner Dell Loy Hansen , and a Kansas City-based ownership group led by financial executives Angie and Chris Long took advantage to secure an expansion team along with the Royals' player-related assets on December 7, 2020. Brittany Mahomes , wife of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes , a former college soccer player at University of Texas at Tyler and fitness trainer, purchased
2706-613: The WPSL 2024 season. List of players that were called up for a FIFA Women's World Cup while playing for Kansas City Current. In brackets, the tournament played: League championship(s): (0) League cup(s): (1) as of the 2024 regular season As of May 14, 2023. Only competitive matches are counted. Includes NWSL regular season, playoffs, and Challenge Cup matches. Top 10 as of October 14, 2024 Women%27s association football Women's association football , more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer ,
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2772-469: The club's inaugural season. Brad Porter will serve as the play-by-play commentator, joined by Aly Trost as the color analyst. The Current founded an affiliated reserves team in the amateur Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) in 2022. Under head coach Huw Williams , The team finished its first regular season atop the WPSL's Heartland Division with an 8–0–0 record, +49 goal differential on 47 total goals scored (including an opponent's forfeit), second-most in
2838-423: The club's owners attributed to construction costs and a redesign increasing the stadium's capacity from 11,000 to 11,500. Angie and Chris Long requested $ 6 million in tax credits from the state of Missouri to supplement their private funding, in part because the lease agreement prohibited them from pursuing any local tax incentives. The stadium was completed in 2024. The first match was held on March 16, 2024, in which
2904-465: The country's first senior football world championship. The United States won the tournament again in 2015 and 2019 . Spain won the tournament for the first time in 2023 . Since Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament , a Women's Football Tournament has been staged at the Olympic Games . Unlike in the men's Olympic Football tournament (based on teams of mostly under-23 players),
2970-539: The first professional women's soccer league in the United States, the WUSA , was launched and lasted three years. The league was spearheaded by members of the World Cup-winning American team and featured players like Mia Hamm , Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain , as well as top-tier international players like Germany's Birgit Prinz and China's Sun Wen . A second attempt towards a sustainable professional league,
3036-580: The first round proper getting more than the women's winners. Vlatko Andonovski Vlatko Andonovski ( Macedonian : Влатко Андоновски ; born 14 September 1976) is a Macedonian-American association football manager and former player who is the head coach and sporting director of the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League . He was the head coach of the United States women's national team from 2019 to 2023. Andonovski previously coached FC Kansas City and Reign FC of
3102-399: The game. In August 1917, a tournament was launched for female munition workers' teams in north-east England. Officially titled the "Tyne Wear & Tees Alfred Wood Munition Girls Cup", it was also known as "The Munitionettes' Cup". The first winners of the trophy were Blyth Spartans , who defeated Bolckow Vaughan 5–0 in a replayed final tie at Middlesbrough on 18 May 1918 in front of
3168-448: The inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup tournament held in 1991 to the 1,194,221 tickets sold for the 1999 Women's World Cup , visibility and support of women's professional football had increased around the globe. However, as in some other sports, women's pay and opportunities are lower in comparison with professional male football players. Both national and international women's football have far less television and media coverage than
3234-516: The international women's association FIEFF . Some other major tournaments were the Women's World Invitational Tournament in Taiwan (1978–1987) and the Women's Mundialito in Japan and Italy (1981–1988). FIFA effectively ignored women's football prior to the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament in China. FIFA's first officially-recognised women's international match is France–Netherlands (1971), albeit
3300-529: The league in collaboration with the NWSL , announced a new international competition named Summer Cup . This competition will feature six teams from Liga MX Femenil that will compete against teams from the NWSL. The inaugural edition is scheduled to kick-off in July 2024. A 2014 FIFA report stated that at the beginning of the 21st century, women's football was growing in both popularity and participation, and more professional leagues were being launched worldwide. From
3366-517: The league. In postseason play, the Current II defeated FC Milwaukee Torrent 7–0 on July 7, 2022, and then defeated Indios Denver FC 6–1 on July 16, before falling to Colorado Rapids Women 3–2 in the Central Region finals on July 17. In November 2022, Huw Williams departed from the club. The Kansas City Current II club was left off the schedule for the 2023 season, and marked as an expansion team for
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#17330854482843432-473: The match 5–4 in front of a sell-out crowd. Rookie Alex Pfeiffer became NWSL's youngest goalscorer (16) in the match, and the overall goals tied a record for most in a single match in NWSL history. The team's offense was bolstered by newly-signed forward Temwa Chawinga , who became the first player in NWSL history to score 20 goals in a season, and would be awarded the NWSL Golden Boot . The Current finished
3498-510: The men's equivalent, but also generally have far lower average attendances. This discrepancy is on-going, while research indicates some viewers are not even able to distinguish between professional women's and men's football. Olympique Lyonnais main rivalry is with Paris Saint-Germain , with matches between the two teams sometimes referred as the "Classique féminin". Paris is OL's main contender for national titles, as they finished in second place of D1 Féminine seven times. Lyon had never lost
3564-580: The museum. It was not until 2008 (87 years later), that the FA issued an apology for banning women from the game of football. In 1970, the Torino-based Federation of Independent European Female Football (FIEFF) ran the 1970 Women's World Cup in Italy, supported by the Martini & Rossi strong wine manufacturers, and entirely without the involvement of FIFA . This event was at least partly played by clubs and won by Denmark. A second edition,
3630-528: The period playing tsu chu . Annual matches being played in Midlothian , Scotland, are reported as early as the 1790s. In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardized rules to prohibit violence on the pitch, making it more socially acceptable for women to play. The first match of an international character took place in 1881 at Hibernian Park in Edinburgh , part of a tour by Scotland and England teams. The Scottish Football Association recorded
3696-459: The profile of the league. Players during that era included Susanne Augustesen (Denmark), Rose Reilly and Edna Neillis (Scotland), Anne O'Brien (Ireland) and Concepcion Sánchez Freire (Spain). Sweden was the first to introduce a professional women's domestic league in 1988, the Damallsvenskan . In 1989, Japan became the first country to have a semi-professional women's football league,
3762-437: The remainder of the season. In the club's final match at Children's Mercy Park, the attendance was over 15,671, in what will now stand as a club record as they moved into CPKC Stadium. In October 2023, the team hired former U.S. women's national team and FC Kansas City manager Vlatko Andonovski to lead the team. CPKC Stadium held its first match between the Current and the Portland Thorns on March 16, 2024. Kansas City won
3828-473: The season scoring a league-record 57 goals, made by 18 different players, another NWSL record. They won two regular season trophies–the inaugural Summer Cup against NJ/NY Gotham FC and The Women's Cup against Atlético Madrid Femenino . The team lost in the semifinal round of the NWSL playoffs against the Orlando Pride . Chawinga was voted NWSL's Most Valuable Player . With their new purpose-built stadium,
3894-435: The team, it moved from Seattle to Tacoma, Washington after the 2018 season and rebranded itself as Reign FC; it would rebrand again in 2020 as OL Reign . Andonovski holds a USSF Pro License and a United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) Goalkeeping Diploma and has been involved with many youth teams and clubs in the Kansas City area. Andonovski received significant praise from media and players alike for his role in
3960-479: The title holders and Arsenal are the club with a record 14 wins. Despite tournament sponsorship by some companies, entering the cup actually costs clubs more than they get in prize money. In 2015, it was reported that even if Notts County were to win the tournament, the £8,600 winnings would leave them out of pocket. The winners of the Men's FA Cup in the same year received £1.8 million, with teams that did not even reach
4026-406: Was built in Kansas City, Missouri , at the Richard L. Berkley Riverfront Park with a capacity of 11,500 and estimated cost of $ 117 million. The project was proposed to be entirely privately financed through the ownership group, with the team signing a 50-year lease for the site at which the stadium will be located. The costs increased from $ 70 millions to an estimated $ 117 million in May 2022, which
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#17330854482844092-453: Was criticized by some observers as an underperformance from a team which had won four previous Olympic gold medals. He remained with the team through the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup , at which the U.S. was eliminated in a penalty shootout against Sweden in the round of 16, which was the team's earliest exit in a World Cup. Less than two weeks later, on August 16, Andonovski resigned as head coach. On October 23, 2023, Andonovski returned to
4158-436: Was further debilitated by nationwide bans which often resembled the English FA's measures. The German Football Association banned women's football from 1955 until 1970. Women's football was also banned in France from 1941 to 1970. In Brazil, the Vargas regime and the military dictatorship legally prohibited women and girls from playing football from 1941 to 1979. Following the FA ban on women's teams on 5 December 1921,
4224-407: Was hired as the head coach of Kansas City Comets on 29 August 2013, after being an assistant under Kim Røntved for three seasons. During the 2014 year of both programs, Andonovski won both the MISL Championship with the Comets and the NWSL Championship with FC Kansas City. On November 7, 2017, Andonovski moved to Seattle Reign FC, succeeding Laura Harvey as head coach. During his tenure with
4290-417: Was initiated in 1997 and evolved to the Women's Super League in 2004. From 2011 to 2014, the league was named the Women's National Football League. The Indian Women's League was launched in 2016. The country has held the top-tier tournament, Indian Women's Football Championship , since 1991. In 1985, the United States women's national soccer team was formed. Following the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup ,
4356-482: Was relieved of duties as manager and replaced with Matt Potter for the 2022 season, but remained with the franchise as director of soccer operations until November 2022 when it was revealed he was confronted by the team's roster for disrespectful and inappropriate behavior. This came in light of the NWSL's league-wide Yates Report . In May 2022, the team hired Allison Howard as its first team president. Kansas City unveiled their new team branding as Kansas City Current for
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