London (AFP) – Gordon Strachan has stepped down as Scotland manager following the team's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup, the Scottish Football Association announced on Thursday. The SFA said Strachan and his assistant Mark McGhee would leave "with immediate effect" to give his successor maximum time to prepare for the Euro 2020 […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Sami Khedira has taken a swipe at the makers of FIFA 18 on Thursday for getting his hair wrong in the latest edition of the popular video game. While many players such as Chelsea's Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi and Manchester City's France defender Benjamin Mendy are unhappy with their FIFA ranking, […]

Geneva (AFP) – Switzerland said Thursday it has opened a criminal corruption probe targeting the head of Paris Saint-Germain football club and BEIN media, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and disgraced former FIFA executive Jerome Valcke. The allegations against the powerful Qatari sports executive Al-Khelaifi and Valcke, who was Sepp Blatter's long-serving right-hand man at FIFA, relate to […]

Ingolstadt (Germany) (AFP) – Bayern Munich have "no more excuses", interim captain Thomas Mueller told AFP after veteran German coach Jupp Heynckes took over as manager of the Bundesliga champions. Heynckes, 72, came out of retirement to take charge of the squad — his fourth stint with Bayern — when Carlo Ancelotti was sacked after […]

London (AFP) – Adrien Silva is now training with Leicester City while the Premier League club consider going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over his transfer saga. The Foxes' appeal to FIFA to secure the registration of the Portuguese midfielder was last week rejected by world football's governing body. Leicester and the Football […]

London (AFP) – Gordon Strachan has stepped down as Scotland manager following the team's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup, the Scottish Football Association announced on Thursday. The SFA said Strachan and his assistant Mark McGhee would leave "with immediate effect" to give his successor maximum time to prepare for the Euro 2020 […]

Geneva (AFP) – Switzerland has opened a criminal probe targeting Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris Saint-Germain, and FIFA's former secretary general Jerome Valcke, over alleged corruption in the sale of World Cup media rights. "The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has opened a criminal proceeding against the former Secretary General of FIFA […]

Shanghai (AFP) – The Chinese FA said Thursday it will bring in foreign referees to officiate selected Super League games starting this weekend and later introduce the use of video replay in response to recent pitch controversies. Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson will oversee Saturday's game between Tianjin Quanjian and Shandong Luneng, accompanied by another two […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Sion club president Christian Constantin, caught on tape slapping a prominent critic in the face after a match last month, has been banned for 14 months, the Swiss Football League said Thursday. Constantin's assault of former Swiss national team coach and current TV pundit Rolf Fringer on September 21 also earned him […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger conceded on Thursday he may have no option but to sell star players Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in the January transfer window. The pair are both out of contract at the end of the season and are yet to agree new deals. As things stand, they will […]

Sydney (AFP) – Graham Arnold and hardman Kevin Muscat were named as potential Australia coaches on Thursday after Ange Postecoglou failed to allay fears he'll quit even if the Socceroos qualify for the World Cup. Postecoglou declined to confirm or deny reports Wednesday that he planned to walk, either before or after the Socceroos face […]

New York (AFP) – Calls to oust US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati abounded on Wednesday as the humiliation sunk in of the Americans failing to qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup. A 2-1 loss Tuesday at Trinidad and Tobago combined with triumphs by Honduras and Panama eliminated the US squad, which had not […]

Baghdad (AFP) – Iraqi football supporters decked out in red cram into a cafe in Baghdad to cheer on their shared love — Manchester United. Shouting, cursing and — eventually — celebrating, they watch as the team from the north of England notches up a win half way around the globe. "United! United! United!", they […]

Washington (AFP) – Disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, the Trinidad businessman banned for life from football after charges in a US corruption investigation, was joyful at the Americans ouster from the 2018 World Cup. "I wanted to party," Warner said in a Trinidad radio interview, according to a story on the Trinidad Express newspaper […]

The Hague (AFP) – Dutch football fans are in mourning after the once mighty Oranje failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, plunging the inventors of "total football" into a collective bout of soul-searching. Not even two goals from retiring legend Arjen Robben against Sweden could save the stuttering Dutch football machine, which now […]