London, United Kingdom | AFP | English Premier League clubs voted on Thursday to shut the 2018 close-season transfer window before the start of the 2018-19 campaign. Following complaints by managers that transfer activity disturbs their preparations, clubs will not be able to register new players after 1600 GMT on the …
Read More »Rooney faces Everton drink-driving punishment
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Everton forward Wayne Rooney will be punished “internally” after being charged with drink-driving, manager Ronald Koeman said on Thursday. Rooney, England’s all-time record goalscorer and former captain, was pulled over by police near his home in Cheshire, northwest England in the early hours of Friday …
Read More »Rio probe puts IOC back under Olympics corruption spotlight
Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | The Rio 2016 cash-for-votes inquiry in Brazil has placed the International Olympic Committee under a fresh cloud of corruption less than a week before it is due to award the 2024 Games to Paris. Almost two decades after its image took a battering with the …
Read More »La Liga chief says PSG make mockery of system
Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP | Qatari-owned French side Paris Saint-Germain are “laughing” at the financial fair play (FPP) system, a combative Javier Tebas, president of Spain’s La Liga, said on Wednesday. The 55-year-old also warned that if he was not satisfied with UEFA’s response to La Liga’s concerns regarding …
Read More »Mbappe turned down Arsenal to seal PSG switch
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Paris Saint Germain forward Kylian Mbappe says he rejected an approach from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in favour of moving to the French giants. Mbappe spoke with Wenger over the possibility of leaving Monaco to join the Gunners, but instead he decided to return …
Read More »‘I’ve lost it!’ Tearful Syrian commentator goes viral
Hong Kong, China | AFP | A video in which a TV commentator broke down in tears while celebrating Syria’s priceless World Cup qualifying equaliser against Iran has gone viral, racking up more than one million views online. When Omar Al Soma scored in the 93rd minute, earning Syria a …
Read More »FIFA orders SAfrica to replay Senegal WC qualifier
Paris, France | AFP | FIFA on Wednesday ordered a World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal to be replayed after the referee was banned for match fixing. The November 2016 tie, which will be restaged in November, was won by South Africa 2-1 after Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey …
Read More »Brazil police say Rio Olympics were bought in corrupt scheme
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazilian officials said that the country’s Olympics chief was the “lynchpin” in a plot to bribe the International Olympic Committee into awarding Rio de Janeiro last year’s Games. Brazilian police said in a statement they were probing “an international corruption scheme” aimed at …
Read More »Keino to step down as Kenyan Olympic chief
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan Olympic chief Kipchoge Keino said Wednesday he will not stand for re-election during the General Assembly in Nairobi on September 29. The 77-year-old double Olympic gold medallist has been at the helm of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) since 1999 when he …
Read More »Argentina, Chile stumble again, Uruguay on brink
Montevideo, Uruguay | AFP | Argentina and Chile’s World Cup qualification hopes were left on a knife edge Tuesday after the South American heavyweights slipped up once again on the road to next year’s finals in Russia. Argentina needed a second-half own goal to help them snatch a 1-1 draw …
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