Johannesburg (AFP) – Veteran Yassine Chikhaoui scored to give Etoile Sahel of Tunisia a 1-0 win over 10-man Al Ahly of Egypt Friday as the CAF Champions League group phase kicked off. The 33-year-old midfielder controlled a superb long pass with his chest before slamming the ball past goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy after 50 minutes […]

Rome (AFP) – Twenty Italian top-flight football clubs on Friday co-signed an open letter to fans decrying racism in stadiums, saying it caused them worldwide shame. The letter comes in the wake of persistent racist chanting from the terraces of Italian stadiums that has disrupted a string of Serie A games. The letter said that […]

London (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended Paul Pogba's professionalism and says the Manchester United midfielder will be like a "new world-class signing" when he returns to fitness. After an uncomfortable summer of speculation following the World Cup winner's admission that he would like to leave, the campaign could not have gone much worse […]

London (AFP) – Marco Silva says he has not spent "one minute" thinking about speculation regarding his future at Everton and still feels he has the confidence of the board. Defeat by Norwich last week put Silva's position back under the microscope, with the Toffees down in 16th place ahead of Sunday's trip to high-flying […]

London (AFP) – Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has hailed the role of the club's fans in helping to make the King Power Stadium a formidable place to play for visiting teams. The Foxes are unbeaten at home this season and have lost just one of their past 12 Premier League games in front of their […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola says Manchester City cannot afford to lose any more games if they are to defend their Premier League title. The champions are currently third in the table and trail leaders Liverpool by nine points after 13 games. "I am not thinking how many games we have to win," […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has assured the families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster of the club's support after the police commander at the stadium was found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter. Retired chief superintendent David Duckenfield, 75, was cleared by a jury on Thursday following a six-week trial, leading […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says he cannot imagine the prospect of managing another club, refusing to say whether he would have been interested in the Arsenal job, which became available on Friday. The Portuguese was named as Spurs boss last week following Mauricio Pochettino's sacking and has started in style, winning his […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola has spoken of his sympathy for Unai Emery after the Arsenal boss was sacked but said reports linking his assistant Mikel Arteta with the Emirates job were "not a question for me". The Manchester City boss faced Emery when the latter was in charge of Valencia in La […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Ex-Brazilian football chief Ricardo Teixeira was banned for life from football on Friday for bribery, FIFA announced. World football's governing body said the Brazilian was banned and fined one million Swiss francs (907,000 Euro) for taking bribes for marketing and media rights for continental and Brazilian football competitions between 2006 and 2012. […]

Dortmund (Germany) (AFP) – Jadon Sancho was dropped from Borussia Dortmund's starting lineup at Barcelona this week following another disciplinary problem, club officials said on Friday, but the English starlet is not being sold. Sancho did not start Wednesday's Champions League game. He came on at half-time with Dortmund losing and scored a remarkable goal […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal are looking for a new manager following the sacking of Unai Emery after just 18 months in charge. Here, AFP Sport looks at five of the favourites to step into the hot seat at the Emirates: Nuno Espirito Santo For: Nuno Espirito Santo is a former goalkeeper who has impressed in […]

London (AFP) – Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has signed a new four-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Friday. Smith guided Villa back to the Premier League last season via the Championship play-offs after replacing Steve Bruce at Villa Park in October 2018. "I'm really happy to have committed my long-term future to […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool midfielder Fabinho will be out for more than a month after suffering ankle ligament damage during this week's Champions League clash with Napoli, the club said on Friday. The Brazilian, who has this season established himself as a first-choice pick for Jurgen Klopp's Premier League leaders, was substituted after just 18 […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal's decision to sack Unai Emery turns a harsh spotlight on Everton boss Marco Silva and West Ham's Manuel Pellegrini, who are running out of time to save their Premier League jobs. Emery was dismissed after a winless run of seven games, with a 2-1 Europa League defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt on […]