London (AFP) – Bournemouth's Charlie Daniels and Swansea's Alfie Mawson have become the first English players to pledge at least one percent of their wages to Juan Mata's Common Goal project. The Manchester United and Spain midfielder launched the initiative in August, which supports football-based projects around the world. Giorgio Chiellini, Mats Hummels and Serge […]

London (AFP) – Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson says he has worked hard to keep his players' feet on the ground after they finally scored their first goals and won their first game of the Premier League season. Palace visits Newcastle on Saturday hoping to build on last week's shock 2-1 defeat of Premier League […]

London (AFP) – Everton on Friday banned a fan who appeared to try and strike a Lyon player while holding a child during their Europa League tie as police probed crowd trouble at Goodison Park. Thursday's ugly scenes erupted after Ashley Williams barged into Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes midway through the second half of the […]

London (AFP) – Leicester City caretaker manager Michael Appleton believes the owners of the former Premier League champions could face questions from players over Craig Shakespeare's sacking. Appleton was placed in charge following Shakespeare's dismissal on Tuesday and described the atmosphere among the squad as "cheesed off" and "raw" when he took his first training […]

London (AFP) – British police said Friday they are investigating crowd trouble at the previous evening's Europa League match at Goodison Park, during which an Everton fan holding a child appeared to strike a Lyon player. Thursday's ugly scenes erupted after Ashley Williams barged into Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes midway through the second half. "Merseyside […]

Geneva (AFP) – FIFA's disgraced ex-president Sepp Blatter has told AFP he will go to next year's World Cup in Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, despite being banned from football. "I will go to the World Cup in Russia. I received an invitation from President Putin," the 81-year-old said in an interview. […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Al Ahly of Egypt can draw comfort from history as they face a win-or-bust CAF Champions League semi-final return match at home to Etoile Sahel of Tunisia this weekend. The winners of the elite African club competition a record eight times have not gone more than three seasons this century without reaching […]

Sydney (AFP) – Coach Ange Postecoglou said Australia were one of the best-organised national teams in the world and would be better prepared than Honduras at next month's World Cup play-offs. The Socceroos face a home-and-away play-off against Honduras, the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF federation, for a spot at next year's World Cup finals […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City will be aiming to continue their recent scintillating form when the free-scoring Premier League leaders host Burnley on Saturday. Pep Guardiola's side are two points clear of second-placed Manchester United as they chase a first English title since 2014. While City have been finding the net at a record-breaking rate, […]

Paris (AFP) – Lyon piled the pressure on Everton manager Ronald Koeman with a 2-1 Europa League win at Goodison Park on Thursday, while Olivier Giroud's acrobatic late strike snatched Arsenal a 1-0 victory over 10-man Red Star Belgrade. Nabil Fekir's penalty put French side Lyon ahead early on as Everton struggled for inspiration with […]

Paris (AFP) – Olivier Giroud scored a fantastic late winner as Arsenal edged to their third straight Europa League win by beating 10-man Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in Serbia on Thursday. Arsene Wenger's men rode their luck at times in an uninspiring performance, before Giroud struck in the 85th minute after Red Star had seen […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United have agreed a deal with the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia to help develop football in the country. United will lend business and sporting expertise to clubs and sporting organisations in Saudi Arabia to boost the game's growth. The partnership forms part of Saudi Vision 2030 — the plan […]

Zurich (AFP) – FIFA on Thursday reached a deal it hopes will lead to footballers union FIFPro withdrawing its complaint to the European Commission over "transfer market madness". World football's governing body FIFA plans to launch an investigation into transfers after this summer's record-breaking window sparked renewed unease at FIFPro. Neymar's staggering world record 222 […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris says his decision to stay at the club has been vindicated by the major progress made under manager Mauricio Pochettino. Lloris was considering his future when Pochettino arrived at the club in 2014 after two seasons of upheaval during which managers Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood were […]

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Bayern Munich's stars have been reminded of their 2013 treble under "father-figure" coach Jupp Heynckes after scoring eight goals without reply in their two games following his return. "He's brought the energy and passion which he had in 2013," enthused Bayern captain Thomas Mueller, who scored in their 3-0 Champions League […]