Zurich (AFP) – Qatari football official Saoud Al-Mohannadi on Thursday won his appeal over a one-year ban handed to him by an independent ethics committee for refusing to help in an investigation, FIFA announced. Al-Mohannadi was punished for refusing to cooperate with a corruption inquiry and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,900) although his ban was […]

London (AFP) – Watford will salute their former manager Graham Taylor, who died earlier this year, with a memorial friendly against Aston Villa on July 29. Taylor's passing in January at the age of 72 sparked tributes from across the world of football and Watford have decided to play an annual pre-season fixture for the […]

London (AFP) – Theo Walcott says Arsenal have finally steadied the ship after ending a "challenging few weeks" with an important victory over West Ham. Arsene Wenger's fifth placed side won the London derby 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday for their first league win since February. England winger Walcott was on the scoresheet, […]

London (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp has told his Liverpool stars to copy Chelsea's blueprint as they fight to qualify for the Champions League. Klopp's side conceded an 87th minute equaliser in a damaging 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at Anfield on Wednesday. That late slip means the gap to fifth-placed Arsenal was cut to six points, […]

Milan (AFP) – Gonzalo Higuain defiantly drew a line under his controversial move to Juventus with a brace against Napoli, picking out the president of his former club and mouthing: "It's your fault". With a 3-1 lead from the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final, Juventus travelled to Naples on Wednesday expected to secure […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City's owners have confirmed their purchase of Uruguayan club Atletico Torque as the Abu Dhabi-based investors add to their growing portfolio. City's parent company, City Football Group (CFG), announced second tier Atletico will become part of their global network of clubs. They already own Major League Soccer's New York City, Melbourne […]

Zurich (AFP) – Brazil surged to the top of the FIFA world rankings for the first time in seven years on Thursday, made all the sweeter as they usurped great rivals Argentina. It caps a terrific week for forward Neymar and Brazil — last week they became the first country to qualify for the 2018 […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – Mexico's stranglehold on the CONCACAF Champions League will be assured once more after Tigres UANL downed Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 to set up a final showdown with Pachuca. Mexican teams have been near-invincible in the CONCACAF region's premier club competition over the past decade, winning every title since 2006. […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger praised Mesut Ozil after the German World Cup winner helped Arsenal to a 3-0 Premier League victory over struggling West Ham and maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League on Wednesday. The result lifted the Gunners above Manchester United into fifth place in the Premier League table — […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp said he felt like being sick after Liverpool conceded a damaging late equaliser in their 2-2 draw against Bournemouth. Klopp’s side looked set for a crucial victory in their chase for Champions League football on Wednesday, having recovered from Benik Afobe’s early goal to lead 2-1 through finishes from Philippe […]

Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino praised his team's "big character" in scoring three late goals to beat Swansea 3-1 and keep alive their Premier League title hopes on Wednesday. Goals in the final 10 minutes from Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min and Christian Eriksen kept them seven points behind leaders Chelsea — […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea will require 18 more points to win the Premier League title, manager Antonio Conte told his players after their 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea's lead was cut to seven points after they lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace at the weekend, but they preserved their advantage […]

Rome (AFP) – Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain scored twice to send former club Napoli crashing out of the Italian Cup semi-finals on a night of bitter emotions on Wednesday. Napoli won the second leg 3-2 but it was little consolation after they had been soundly beaten 3-1 in the first match in Turin as Juventus […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Newly-crowned champions Celtic dropped points for only the third time this season as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Partick Thistle at Parkhead. The much-changed Glasgow giants, who claimed their sixth Scottish Premiership in a row with a 5-0 hammering of Hearts on Sunday, took a 50th minute lead through […]

Kingston upon Hull (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Hull climbed out of the bottom three of the Premier League for the first time since October and pushed Middlesbrough closer to relegation with a vital 4-2 home win on Wednesday. Marco Silva's side trailed to Alvaro Negredo's opener, but Lazar Markovic equalised before Oumar Niasse and Abel […]