Seoul (AFP) – South Korean FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-Joon on Friday accused soccer's governing body of overlooking an "election fraud" favoring rival and front-runner Michel Platini. Chung claimed last week that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had sent "unsolicited" letters to almost every AFC member association supporting Platini's candidacy. He urged FIFA's Ad-hoc Electoral Committee […]

What a difference two weeks makes. David de Gea was minutes away from joining Real Madrid. A stage had been built at the Bernabéu to introduce Florentino Pérez’s latest Gálactico, and the Spanish international had a suit ready for the occasion. A couple of weeks and a few rounds of finger-pointing later, Spanish Dave has […]

Paris (AFP) – UEFA will increase drug testing measures ahead of Euro 2016 in France, European soccer's governing body said on Friday. "In advance of the UEFA EURO 2016 tournament, UEFA will conduct the largest pre-tournament testing program ever implemented. All players with the potential to be selected for participating teams will be subjected to testing […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea's troubled start to their Premier League title defense suffered a fresh blow on Friday when it emerged that goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois requires knee surgery. Sources close to the player, who has a torn meniscus in his right knee, expect the Belgian star to be sidelined for between 10 and 12 weeks. […]

Andy Carroll is in contention to make his return to the West Ham side in time to face boyhood club Newcastle on Monday night. The 26-year-old has been sidelined since February when he required surgery on a serious knee issue. But now he is fit and has been training with the first team for a […]

Just the three massive derby matches this weekend for us to savor, as domestic soccer returns following an international hiatus. England, Italy and Argentina will all have their biggest rivalries played out. In addition, there’s a massive crunch clash from the Premier League and an encounter between the two previous champions in Spain at what […]

Chelsea's loan policy has come under further scrutiny after FIFA confirmed it had received a complaint from Fiorentina over Mohamed Salah's switch to Roma. The Premier League champions allowed Salah, a January 2014 arrival from Basle, to join Fiorentina on loan in February and the Egypt winger impressed in Serie A. Fiorentina have complained to […]

Manchester City playmaker David Silva has been ruled out of Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip to Crystal Palace with an ankle injury. The Spaniard is expected to be fit for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Juventus but midfielder Fabian Delph (hamstring) faces a month out with the injury suffered on international duty. Bacary Sagna is […]

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has signed a four-year extension with the club, keeping him at Old Trafford until 2019. There is also an option to extend the deal for a further year. The news of De Gea's renewal comes shortly after a proposed transfer with Real Madrid collapsed last week after the required paperwork did […]

Unbridled optimism is standard for Bayern Munich. Bayern is one of the rare clubs whose, no matter the circumstances, fans will always see the glass as half full. Even during last year’s capitulation to Barcelona in the Champions League, the sense was that this was an aberration of some kind. Barcelona were not better than […]

“Making the film has always been the goal, not having an office with bagels and coffee and tons of overhead”. So said Tyler Gooden the director of The FC Start Movie. Bagels and coffee aren’t bad companions to have though in creating an animated featurette and feature. The making of The FC Start Movie has […]

In a Paris Saint-Germain team that includes players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria, Thiago Silva and Marco Verratti, it can be easy to overlook midfielder Blaise Matuidi. However, the France international may just be as important to his club as any of the aforementioned players. No, Matuidi doesn’t score double-digit goals […]

Paris Saint-Germain will rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Friday's home Ligue 1 clash with Bordeaux ahead of next week's opening round of Champions League games. Ibrahimovic suffered an abdominal injury on international duty with Sweden in a Euro 2016 qualifier against Russia last week and Paris coach Laurent Blanc admits the 33-year-old needs a rest. "He […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United have opened contract talks with David de Gea less than two weeks after the Spain goalkeeper was on the verge of joining Real Madrid, according to reports on Thursday. De Gea was on course to get his wish of a move to Real on transfer deadline day until an administrative […]

Tim Howard was the United States’ goalkeeper, then he took a year off and Brad Guzan became the man between the sticks for Jurgen Klinsmann. Now Howard is back and, after the Confederations Cup final, the two goalkeepers will have a Battle of the Bald for the job. But that competition comes with a hole […]