Paris (AFP) – A Ballon d'Or award for goalkeepers will be handed out for the first time this year, the organisers, France Football magazine, announced on Thursday. The Yashin Trophy will be named after the Soviet international, Lev Yashin, the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or itself. The Ballon d'Or for best male […]

London (AFP) – Hate crime reports at football matches in England and Wales rose by almost 50 percent during the 2018/19 season compared to the previous campaign, government figures showed on Thursday. Incidents of hate crime were reported at 193 matches between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019, a 47 percent rise from 131 […]

Toulouse (France) (AFP) – A football fan has been fined in France for running onto the field during a Ligue 1 game in Toulouse and taking a selfie with hero, Kylian Mbappe. The fan seized his photo opportunity in added time at the end of the first half on 31 March with the match still […]

London (AFP) – Former Newcastle Under-23s coach Peter Beardsley has been suspended from all football-related activity for 32 weeks after he was found guilty of making racist comments. The England international, who played for Newcastle and Liverpool, was charged earlier this year by the Football Association with three counts of using racist language. The 58-year-old's […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona expect to record revenues of more than one billion euros for the 2019-2020 season, becoming the first football club to pass the mark, the Catalan club announced on Thursday. According to figures released ahead of the general meeting of their "socios" (supporters, shareholders) scheduled for October 6, Barca expect a revenue […]

Paris (AFP) – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane could only hold his hands up after his side were outclassed by Paris Saint-Germain in their opening Champions League game of the season on Wednesday, going down 3-0 in the French capital. "They were superior to us in everything," Zidane admitted after the match at the Parc […]

Milan (AFP) – Antonio Conte branded himself a 'jackass' for his tactical blunders which saw Inter Milan struggle to a draw in their European opener this week, but warned they would kick back into gear on Saturday against city rivals AC Milan. Conte's side rescued a 1-1 draw against Czech outsiders Slavia Prague in the […]

The Hague (AFP) – A senior Central African Republic football official and an alleged militiaman nicknamed Rambo heard war crimes charges against them at the International Criminal Court on Thursday. Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom stand accused over murders, torture, enlistment of child soldiers, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed against […]

Paris (AFP) – Angel Di Maria was hailed as "exceptional" after scoring twice against his former club as Paris Saint-Germain shrugged off the absences of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 on Wednesday to get off to the perfect start in the Champions League. Di Maria beat Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois at […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain launched their latest quest for Champions League success with a statement win over Real Madrid on Wednesday, while a late Atletico Madrid comeback foiled Juventus as Manchester City eased to victory in Ukraine. French giants PSG have failed to make their mark in Europe, crashing out of the Champions League […]

Madrid (AFP) – Hector Herrera grabbed a dramatic point on his Atletico Madrid debut with a late header that saw his side come back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in their Champions League opener against Juventus on Wednesday. Herrera came off the bench to crash home Kieran Tripper's last-minute corner and complete the […]

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski scored as Bayern Munich eased to a 3-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in their opening Champions League group-stage match at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday. After Kingsley Coman gave Bayern a first-half lead, Lewandowski poked home ten minutes from time for his ninth goal in six matches before […]

Paris (AFP) – Angel Di Maria scored twice against his former club as Paris Saint-Germain shrugged off the absences of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 on Wednesday to get off to the perfect start in their latest bid for Champions League success. Di Maria beat Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois at his […]

Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Manchester City ignored their defensive injury crisis to make a flying start to the Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. City boss Pep Guardiola was forced to deploy Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho at centre-back after losing Aymeric Laporte and John Stones to recent injuries. But Fernandinho […]

Piraeus (Greece) (AFP) – Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino questioned his side's attitude after letting a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 away to Olympiakos in their Champions League opener on Wednesday. Despite a slow start, two goals in four first-half minutes from Harry Kane and Lucas Moura put last season's Champions League finalists on course […]