Paris (AFP) – Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo won a record-equalling fifth Ballon d'Or award for the year's best player on Thursday. The Real Madrid forward's second successive win drew him level alongside Barcelona rival Lionel Messi on five Ballon d'Ors, after beating the Argentinian and Brazilian Neymar. The 32-year-old was the top-scorer in last season's […]

Nyon (Switzerland) (AFP) – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko's lifetime Olympic ban will not affect his World Cup involvement, Russia's UEFA executive committee member Alexei Sorokin told AFP on Thursday. Mutko is head of the Russia 2018 organising committee but his involvement in the World Cup was thrown into doubt on Tuesday when he […]

London (AFP) – Video assistant referees will be used for the first time in English competitive football in this season's FA Cup, the Football Association said on Thursday. Brighton's third-round clash with Crystal Palace on January 8 has been selected for the trial of the technology, otherwise known as VAR, which is also to be […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho has refused to commit his future to the Premier League club, saying he does not know whether he will be the subject of a transfer bid in January. Barcelona made repeated efforts during the summer window to land the Brazil international but were rebuffed each time, leaving him […]

Rome (AFP) – European football governing body UEFA is set to refuse AC Milan's application for a voluntary agreement regarding Financial Fair Play rules, Italian press said on Thursday. With a loss of some 255 million euros ($300m) over the last three seasons, fallen Italian giants Milan are some way from complying with UEFA's limit […]

Paris (AFP) – French coaches Fabien Galthie and Christophe Urios were given a four-week touchline ban on Thursday over a physical altercation between the pair when their sides met two weeks ago. Castres boss Urios slapped Toulon's Galthie after the former's assistant Frederic Charrier and the latter got embroiled in an angry argument. The French […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham defender Danny Rose has played down fresh talk of a rift with manager Mauricio Pochettino, calling for an end to "silly" rumours after he was substituted against Apoel Nicosia. The England player was taken off in the 70th minute at Wembley on Wednesday after a tussle with Roland Sallai left him […]

Berlin (AFP) – Jonathan Klinsmann, the son of Germany great Jurgen Klinsmann, will make his professional debut in goal for Hertha Berlin in their Europa League match against Ostersund, coach Pal Dardai said. "Our goalkeeping coach Zsolt Petry convinced me we could play him," Dardai said, quoted by German daily Bild on Thursday. "(Reserve goalkeeper) […]

Nyon (Switzerland) (AFP) – Wembley Stadium in London will host four Euro 2020 matches originally set to be staged in Brussels, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said on Thursday. The European football governing body's executive committee decided "unanimously" to strip Brussels of its four matches due to the inability of Belgian organisers to guarantee the new […]

New York (AFP) – A Brazilian businessman told a US Federal Court on Wednesday that he helped set up a huge bribe to South American football officials to secure the rights for a new tournament. Fabio Tordin testified in New York at the trial of three South American football executives charged in connection with the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Portugal's favourite son Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to collect a record-equalling fifth Ballon d'Or on Thursday, but the Real Madrid star is not the only Portuguese footballer to be crowned the best in the world. The lesser known Ricardinho and Madjer have dominated their respective disciplines of futsal, an indoor five-a-side version […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp urged his Liverpool players not to succumb to the hype generated by their own scintillating performances after they crushed Spartak Moscow to reach the Champions League knockout rounds. Liverpool's 'Fab Four' shone in a 7-0 trouncing of Spartak on Wednesday, with Philippe Coutinho scoring a hat-trick, Sadio Mane claiming a […]

Paris (AFP) – Philippe Coutinho's hat-trick inspired Liverpool to score seven in their win over Spartak Moscow on Wednesday as they joined Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto in qualifying for the Champions League last 16. That quartet completed the line-up on the final night of group-stage action that was also notable for another Cristiano Ronaldo […]

Leipzig (Germany) (AFP) – A late strike from Talisca saw RB Leipzig end their first Champions League campaign with a bitter 2-1 defeat at home to Besiktas on Wednesday night. Porto's comprehensive 5-2 victory over Monaco in the other Group G game meant that even a win would not have been enough for Leipzig to […]

Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Inspired by Brazilians Bernard and Ismaily, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the Champions League last 16 with a 2-1 victory over a much-changed and subdued Manchester City on Wednesday. First-half goals from Shakhtar's Brazilian pair, both created by Brazilian-born Ukraine international Marlos, proved enough to ensure the Ukraine champions would go into […]