Monaco (AFP) – Ligue 1 strugglers Monaco on Friday unveiled Russian businessman Oleg Petrov as the club's new CEO, a week after the departure of his compatriot Vadim Vasilyev as vice-president. Petrov, 55, is a friend of Monaco's Russian billionaire owner, Dmitri Rybolovlev, but has no experience of running a football club. A fluent English, […]

Paris (AFP) – Arsenal will face French side Rennes in the last 16 of the Europa League, while Chelsea were paired with Dynamo Kiev in Friday's draw. Both Premier League clubs will be at home in the first leg on Thursday, March 7, with the return matches scheduled for March 14. Arsenal's draw means that […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be the next permanent manager of Manchester United. The clubs meet on Sunday in a showdown of Premier League giants. Solskjaer has won 11 of his 13 matches since taking interim charge following Jose Mourinho's sacking in December, with the only […]

Monaco (AFP) – Ligue 1 strugglers Monaco on Friday unveiled Russian businessman Oleg Petrov as the club's new vice-president, succeeding Vadim Vasilyev. Petrov, 55, is a friend of Monaco's Russian billionaire owner, Dmitri Rybolovlev, but has no experience of running a football club. The former soldier, who speaks fluent English, Portuguese, Spanish and Greek as […]

London (AFP) – Maurizio Sarri says Chelsea would have to sell one of their established wingers in order to satisfy Callum Hudson-Odoi's desire for immediate first-team action. Teenage prospect Hudson-Odoi has grown restless at Stamford Bridge and handed in a January transfer request as offers came in from German champions Bayern Munich. The 18-year-old, who […]

Paris (AFP) – Premier League club Chelsea have been banned from signing new players in the next two transfer windows as punishment for breaking rules on registering under-age players, FIFA said on Friday. It means the club will be unable to make signings until the end of January next year. "The Disciplinary Committee sanctioned Chelsea […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has joked that he might invite Alex Ferguson to deliver Manchester United's team talk before their eagerly awaited Premier League meeting with Liverpool. The legendary former United manager has acted as Solskjaer's mentor since the Norwegian took over as the club's interim boss in December. Solskjaer's impressive […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid and Barcelona face two Clasicos in four days next week but La Liga's greatest rivals are not so much revving up for the double-header but crawling reluctantly towards it. This weekend, Barca travel to fourth-placed Sevilla on Saturday and Madrid to Levante on Sunday, when priorities, rest and rotation will […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool travel to Manchester United on Sunday facing the toughest assignment of their Premier League run-in on paper as Tottenham seek to sneak back into the heart of the title race. The trip to Old Trafford is effectively Jurgen Klopp's team's game in hand as they bid to open up a three-point […]

Berlin (AFP) – Niko Kovac wants his Bayern Munich side to show the same defensive discipline that saw them shut out Liverpool in the Bundesliga title race as they set their sights on stuttering leaders Borussia Dortmund. Bayern conceded sloppy goals — including a Bundesliga record fastest own goal after just 13 seconds — in […]

Paris (AFP) – Arsenal and Chelsea reached the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday after the Gunners comfortably saw off BATE Borisov 3-0 and Maurizio Sarri's troubled side relieved some of the pressure on him with the same scoreline against mediocre Malmo. After falling 1-0 in Belarus, Arsenal were level on aggregate after […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Success-starved Kaizer Chiefs were finally paired with top-flight opponents in the 2019 South African FA Cup when the last-eight draw was made Thursday in Johannesburg. After twice needing extra-time to get past third-tier rivals Tornado and The Magic, the record 13-time winners of the competition were drawn at home to Cape Town […]

Paris (AFP) – Arsenal reached the last 16 of the Europa League by comfortably seeing off BATE Borisov 3-0 on Thursday and overturning a first-leg deficit that had threatened one of the tournament favourites with elimination. BATE came into the clash at the Emirates with hopes of an upset after beating Arsenal 1-0 in Belarus last […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was fined £45,000 ($59,000) by the Football Association on Thursday for suggesting referee Kevin Friend had favoured West Ham in his side's 1-1 draw at the London Stadium earlier this month. Klopp, whose side are currently second on goal difference in the Premier League behind Manchester City, said […]

Zagreb (AFP) – Croatia's fugitive football strongman Zdravko Mamic was hit with new charges Thursday of embezzling more than two million euros ($2.3 million) from his Zagreb team, prosecutors and local media said. Mamic, the former boss of Dinamo Zagreb, fled to Bosnia after he was convicted of graft last June related to player transfers. […]