Barcelona (AFP) – A vote of no confidence against Barcelona's beleaguered board was launched by a disgruntled member of the club on Friday with the aim of removing president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Agusti Benedito, who lost out to Bartomeu in club elections in 2015, attended the club's offices at the Camp Nou stadium to request […]

London (AFP) – Everton striker Wayne Rooney has been charged with drink-driving, British police said Friday. Rooney, England's all-time record goalscorer and former captain, was stopped by police near his home in Cheshire, northwest England, in the early hours of Friday. "The man was arrested shortly after 2.00am (0100GMT) today, Friday 1 September, after officers […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain's Brazilian superstar Neymar has moved into a five-storey, 1,000-square-metre (10,800 square foot) mansion in the posh western Paris suburb of Bougival, sources said Friday. The town has been home to a host of celebrities in the past including French actor Gerard Depardieu and Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho, and is just a […]

Osijek (Croatia) (AFP) – ​Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren testified Friday in the multi-million euro corruption trial of former Dinamo Zagreb boss Zdravko Mamic, considered the most powerful man in Croatian football. Mamic is accused of abuse of power and graft that cost Dinamo more than 15 million euros and the state 1.5 million euros, with […]

Madrid (AFP) – Italy's plans for a vital World Cup qualifier away to Spain on Saturday were dealt a huge blow when veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini injured a calf muscle in training on Friday. The Juventus centre-back has been ruled out for both the trip to Madrid and Tuesday's qualifier at home to Israel. "Giorgio […]

London (AFP) – A thief was convicted Friday of trying to steal a £22,000 ($28,450, 23,900 euros) watch from West Ham and England striker Andy Carroll. Motorbike-riding Jack O'Brien, 22, pulled up alongside Carroll's Jeep Wrangler car near Hainault, north-east London, as the footballer was driving home from the Hammers' training ground on November 2 […]

London (AFP) – Everton striker Wayne Rooney has been charged with drink-driving, British police said Friday. Rooney, England's all-time record goalscorer and former captain, was stopped by police near his home in Cheshire, northwest England, in the early hours of Friday. "The man was arrested shortly after 2.00am (0100GMT) today, Friday 1 September, after officers […]

London (AFP) – English Premier League clubs spent a record £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion, 1.5 billion euros) on players in a summer transfer window but were still living "well within their means" according to figures published by football analysts Deloitte on Friday. The window, which closed in England on Thursday, also saw teams from English […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic hit back at his critics Friday, vowing to continue in the job after leading the Blue Samurai to their sixth successive World Cup. Following Thursday's 2-0 home win over Australia in their penultimate Asian qualifier for next year's finals in Russia, the firebrand Franco-Bosnian revealed that he had […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Marcello Lippi said his China side must improve and were lucky to snatch a late 1-0 home win over Uzbekistan to keep alive their slender World Cup hopes. A Gao Lin penalty with six minutes left at an energised Wuhan Sports Center Stadium ensures that China's wafer-thin chances of making Russia 2018 […]

London (AFP) – Premier League champions Chelsea completed a challenging transfer window on Friday by bringing in England midfielder Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City and Italy right-back Davide Zappacosta from Torino. Chelsea manager Antonio Conte saw moves for several targets fail to come off over the course of the transfer window, but has managed to […]

Montevideo (AFP) – Philippe Coutinho shrugged off his transfer disappointment with a goal as Brazil beat Ecuador to guarantee top spot in South America's 2018 World Cup qualifying race on Thursday while Chile and Argentina stumbled once more. Liverpool star Coutinho, who had seen his hopes of a dream move to Barcelona dashed earlier Thursday […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Japan saluted its national football side Friday after they stormed into next year's World Cup with a comprehensive 2-0 win over fierce rivals Australia. Local media paid tribute to Japan's "generation next" after goals from Takuma Asano and Yosuke Ideguchi on Thursday secured a sixth successive finals appearance for the Blue Samurai. […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Australia need to hit back immediately after a lacklustre 2-0 defeat by Japan dented their chances of reaching next year's World Cup. The Asian champions were comfortably beaten in Saitama on Thursday and will be looking to beat Thailand handily at home in their final Group B qualifier on Tuesday — and […]

London (AFP) – France international centre-back Mamadou Sakho has joined Crystal Palace from Liverpool on a permanent basis, his new club announced on Friday. The 27-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Palace, helping the south London club avoid relegation, after falling out of favour with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. He […]