London (AFP) – Scottish Premiership champions Celtic announced on Saturday they have decided against extending the contracts of both Jozo Simunovic and Jonny Hayes. "I would like to sincerely thank both Jozo and Jonny, brilliant lads who have given their all to Celtic over a number of years," said Celtic manager Neil Lennon. "Jozo has […]

London (AFP) – "The British sporting recovery has begun" the UK government proclaimed as it approved the return of domestic competitive action behind closed doors from June 1. Major professional competitions have been shut down since March because of the coronavirus. But with much of the country still in effective lockdown, Culture, Media and Sport […]

Berlin (AFP) – Schalke's American midfielder Weston McKennie on Saturday wore a 'Justice for George' armband as part of the growing protests over the death of an unarmed black man during a police arrest in Minneapolis in the United States. "To be able to use my platform to bring attention to a problem that has […]

London (AFP) – The British government has approved the return of domestic competitive sport behind closed doors from June 1. Major professional competitions have been shut down since March because of the coronavirus. But Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Oliver Dowden, issuing the government's 'phase three' guidance, said Saturday: "The wait is over. Live British […]

Berlin (AFP) – Werder Bremen boosted their survival hopes in Germany's top flight on Saturday with a 1-0 win behind closed doors at Schalke, who are winless in 11 games and continue to plummet down the Bundesliga table. Florian Kohfeldt-coached Bremen took a key step towards safety when midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt scored their first-half winner. […]

London (AFP) – Harry Kane believes Tottenham Hotspur will have to win eight of their remaining nine Premier League games if they are to qualify for next season's Champions League. The north London club were seven points adrift of the top four when the coronavirus shut down the season in March. Then it was thought […]

London (AFP) – Andros Townsend has thanked Crystal Palace for their backing during the coronavirus crisis but understands why some players may be reluctant to return to training during the pandemic. Palace returned to contact training this week as English top-flight clubs continued their build-up to a restart of the season on June 17 after […]

Madrid (AFP) – La Liga have confirmed players will be allowed to return to full training on Monday, giving them 10 days to work together before the season restarts in Spain on June 11. This is the final phase of La Liga's staggered training programme as teams get set to complete the remaining 11 rounds of the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona could suffer from the new rule that allows teams to make five substitutions in a match instead of three, their coach Quique Setien has said. FIFA has made the temporary change to ease the physical strain on players, who are returning to a congested period of games after a lengthy break […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich players have accepted a salary cut which will last until the "end of the season" to help the Bundesliga champions through the coronavirus crisis, club president Herbert Hainer said on Saturday. In April, the Bayern squad took a 20-percent reduction in salary, but Hainer did not specify how large the […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham striker Troy Parrott is set to miss the restart of the Premier League season after his club said on Saturday that he had surgery to remove his appendix. The 18-year-old, who has made four appearances in all competitions this season, was suffering from appendicitis. "The young striker was found to have […]

London (AFP) – Local police have said they would be "ready" to hold any possible Liverpool Premier League title-clinching match at Anfield, despite the UK's football policing lead suggesting otherwise. On Friday, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts of South Yorkshire Police, said games, including any match in which Liverpool can seal the title, would be […]

Paris (AFP) – It is the land of the world champions, but is it really a football country? That is the question some in France have been asking this week while its European neighbours work to bring the sport back after the coronavirus shutdown. Debate has raged ever since the French league decided to bring […]

Berlin (AFP) – Exciting youngster Kai Havertz broke another Bundesliga record on Friday after scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory at Freiburg which moved Bayer Leverkusen into third place. Havertz, 20, became the first player in the history of the league to reach 35 goals before turning 21 years old eight minutes after the […]

Milan (AFP) – Serie A on Friday confirmed that top-flight football will return to Italy after a three-month coronavirus-enforced absence on the weekend of June 20-21. Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora on Thursday gave the government's approval for a restart on June 20, in a championship which has been suspended since March 9. "The clubs welcomed […]