Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazil's Chapecoense football club, all but wiped out in an air crash last November, won their first silverware since the tragedy by taking the state championship Sunday. Some 20,000 supporters packed the home stadium in Chapeco to watch their team win the Santa Catarina state title for the second year […]

Athens (AFP) – Olympiakos were confirmed Greek champions on Monday after the Super League overwhelmingly voted in favour of them keeping the title. It came hours after the Greek football federation rejected an appeal by second-place PAOK, who wanted the Piraeus club to be docked six points for fan violence during last month's Greek Cup […]

Manama (AFP) – Any attempt by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pressure FIFA over the issue of Israeli clubs in the West Bank was unprecedented, Palestinian football chief Jibril Rajoub said Monday. Rajoub, speaking after the Asian Football Confederation's congress in Bahrain, was responding to media reports that Netanyahu had personally telephoned FIFA president […]

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – An Asian Cup qualifier between North Korea and Malaysia will be played in Pyongyang, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced Monday, despite strained ties over an assassination in Kuala Lumpur. The killing of Kim Jong-Nam — the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un — in February sparked a diplomatic […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel is likely to leave the club at the end of the season after public disagreements with the Bundesliga side's bosses, German media said on Monday. The latest sign of friction came at the weekend when chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted his relationship with Tuchel was strained over the […]

Tehran (AFP) – Iranian student Reza Parastesh looks so much like his sporting hero Lionel Messi that it almost landed him in jail for disrupting public order this week. So many people came out to take selfies with Parastesh in the western city of Hamedan over the weekend that police rushed him into a station […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante completed a prestigious awards double on Monday when he was named footballer of the year by Britain's Football Writers' Association. The France international, 26, won the Premier League title with Leicester City last season and is closing in on a second successive triumph with Chelsea. He beat team-mate […]

The Hague (AFP) – Veteran coach Dick Advocaat looks set for a third stint in charge of the floundering Dutch national side after reaching an agreement with the football federation, local media reported Monday. The paperwork for the return of the 69-year-old, currently at Turkish club Fenerbahce, "most likely will be completed this week", his […]

Manama (AFP) – FIFA president Gianni Infantino claimed on Monday that the finances of football's governing body were "extremely solid", despite it posting a $369 million loss earlier this year. Speaking at the Asian Football Confederation's congress in Bahrain, Infantino said the losses were in line with FIFA's "business model" and there was no need […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Shanghai SIPG's Brazilian striker Hulk insisted he likes and respects "all of the Chinese people" as he rejected claims of a racially motivated assault on an assistant coach in the Chinese Super League. Guizhou Zhicheng's head coach Li Bing has accused the muscular Brazilian of punching his assistant coach Yu Ming at […]

New York (AFP) – Reigning Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player David Villa celebrated his contract extension with New York City FC with a goal in Sunday's 3-1 win over Atlanta United. Former Spain and Barcelona star Villa returned from a one match absence due to illness and quickly made his presence felt at Yankee […]

Paris (AFP) – Atletico Madrid and Monaco will attempt to overturn daunting first-leg deficits in the Champions League semi-finals this week and publicly they insist they can pull off the improbable. Atletico coach Diego Simeone went as far as to say that coming back from 3-0 down to holders Real Madrid in their derby at […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho stoked the embers of his rivalry with Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger after his side's damaging 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium. Second-half goals by Granit Xhaka and United alumnus Danny Welbeck earned Arsenal victory on Sunday as Wenger overcame Mourinho in a Premier League game for the […]

Liverpool (AFP) – A disappointed Jurgen Klopp said the "really dry" Anfield pitch was partially to blame for Liverpool's drab 0-0 home draw with Southampton that damaged their Champions League ambitions. James Milner's second-half missed penalty summed up an afternoon of frustration for Liverpool on Sunday as they failed to score against Southampton for the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Celta Vigo's collapse in form continued as a much-changed side was swept away 3-0 by an on fire Malaga on Sunday. Ahead of Celta's trip to Manchester United in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final, coach Eduardo Berizzo made nine changes from the side that lost Thursday's first leg 1-0. […]