Frankfurt am Main (AFP) – German MPs have blasted a World Cup promotion by Nutella chocolate spread, after they worked out people would have to scoff almost 16 kilos of the sugary treat to earn a football. "Once again, the food industry has used the football World Cup to market sweets to children," Greens party […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Hundreds of football fans flocked to cheer Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta when he arrived in Japan on Wednesday to join his new club Vissel Kobe. The 34-year-old Spanish World Cup winner, who lifted 32 major trophies at Barca and made over 600 appearances for the Catalan giants, completed a big-money move to […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda is swapping football for finance, after launching a venture capital fund with Hollywood star Will Smith to invest in startups addressing social problems, the striker's agent said Wednesday. The Dreamers Fund, set up in April in Los Angeles, aims to raise about $100 million from investors, with Japanese […]

Panama City (AFP) – Hernan Dario Gomez said on Tuesday that he was quitting as coach of Panama after leading the nation to their first World Cup finals. "Now, for me, it is the time for the difficult act of moving my feet from the place where I have put my heart," wrote the Colombian […]

Berlin (AFP) – Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player and a coach, welcomed Didier Deschamps on Tuesday "to our club!" Beckenbauer won the World Cup as player with West Germany in 1974 and as Germany manager in 1990. He followed Brazilian Mario Zagallo, who won as a player in 1958 and […]

Moscow (AFP) – Heavy rain has damaged parts of the interior and landscaping around the Volgograd Arena, a new stadium that hosted four matches during the World Cup, the company in charge of its construction said Tuesday. The company Stroitransgaz said on its website that "work on clearing up the damage started immediately" at the […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Former US president Barack Obama on Tuesday singled out the African heritage of many players in France's World Cup-winning football team in a speech paying tribute to Nelson Mandela. Speaking in Johannesburg to mark 100 years since Mandela's birth, Obama said that embracing diversity "delivers practical benefits since it ensures that a […]

London (AFP) – Daley Blind has returned to former club Ajax from Manchester United, telling his Twitter followers on Tuesday it was "time to go home". Blind has signed a four-year deal with the Amsterdam club, having left Ajax for United in a £14 million deal ($18 million, 16 million euros) four years ago. Ajax […]

Reykjavik (AFP) – Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson stepped down on Tuesday, a few weeks after leading the tiny nation at its first World Cup. "If I had to continue, I would have done it with the same preparation, the same motivation but at some point, this kind of routine can lead to a certain weariness," […]

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro believes Africa and not France are the true winners of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. France beat Croatia 4-2 in Sunday's final in Moscow, but with a team featuring number players of African heritage. "The French team seems like the African team, in reality Africa won, the […]

Geneva (AFP) – Peruvian football star Paolo Guerrero can play for his Brazilian club Flamengo when it resumes competition this week, despite his suspension for cocaine use, Switzerland's top court said Tuesday. In late May, the Swiss Federal Tribunal put a provisional stay on a suspension given to Guerrero by the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration […]

London (AFP) – West Ham United manger Manuel Pellegrini believes the London club's record signing, Felipe Anderson, will give his team a "new dimension". The 25-year-old Brazilian attacking midfielder signed for a reported £33.5 million ($44 million, 38 million euros), potentially rising to £42 million, from Italian club Lazio on Sunday. "We feel he will […]

Shanghai (AFP) – English Premier League club Arsenal has launched an investigation after it was caught up in an alleged fraud involving its sponsorship deal with Chinese carmaker BYD. Arsenal said the deal, which was launched with great fanfare in May, was among those affected after BYD revealed what it described as a plot to […]

Sydney (AFP) – Once dismissed as too small to be a professional, Australia's Tim Cahill, who retired from international football Tuesday, became a giant of the game and his nation's most prolific goalscorer. Cahill hung up his boots after scoring a record 50 goals in 107 appearances since his debut in 2004, weeks after he […]

Sydney (AFP) – Australia's all-time leading goal-scorer Tim Cahill retired from international football Tuesday, ending an illustrious career that has taken him to four World Cups. The 38-year-old, who scored 50 international goals in 107 appearances, last played for the Socceroos when he came off the bench for their final group game against Peru at […]