Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter appeared before the world body's ethics judges Thursday to answer corruption allegations as Switzerland announced it has frozen tens of millions of dollars in accounts linked to soccer bribes. Blatter, who with vice president Michel Platini faces a long suspension, arrived at FIFA's base in Zurich in a black Mercedes […]

Expect the main criticism of Chelsea's parting with Jose Mourinho to center on turnover, a word only used when "change" is not ominous enough. But that kind of cynicism's to be expected after another managerial change at Stamford Bridge. Since Roman Abramovich assumed control of the club 12 years ago, 11 men with 12 tenures […]

Pep Guardiola, strongly linked to a move to the Premier League, has told Bayern Munich he will be leaving the club at the end of the season, German media reported on Thursday. The Spaniard's three-year contract expires next June, and Bayern's head coach has said he will announce "before Christmas" whether he will extend his […]

Luis Suarez fired a hat trick as Barcelona overcame the loss of Lionel Messi to kidney problems to beat China's Guangzhou Evergrande 3-0 and reach the Club World Cup final on Thursday. The Spanish giants will face Argentina's River Plate in Yokohama on Sunday when they will be chasing a record third title. SEE MORE: […]

Simone Zaza struck twice while Paulo Dybala and Paul Pogba added late goals as holders Juventus cruised into the Italian Cup quarterfinals with a 4-0 rout of Torino on Wednesday. After a poor start to the season, last year's double winners Juve have enjoyed a Serie A revival to move within six points of leaders […]

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit his 27th goal of the season on Wednesday to help Borussia Dortmund seal a 2-0 win at Augsburg to reach the quarterfinals of the German Cup. Aubameyang, the Bundesliga's top-scorer with 18 goals in 16 games, slotted home a Lukasz Piszczek pass on 61 minutes to give Dortmund the lead at Augsburg. […]

You might have heard, Abby Wambach is retiring today. So that means one last media circus. One last round of interviews. One last word cloud of sound bites. Wambach deleted her Twitter account as part of a Gatorade campaign. She was on Bill Simmons' podcast. US Soccer busted out one last T-shirt to grab that […]

American Abby Wambach, whose 184 goals make her the top scorer in international soccer history, retired with a bang on Wednesday, saying the US Soccer Federation should fire men's coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The 35-year-old striker helped the Americans win this year's Women's World Cup and was set to make her farewell as a player in […]

Gary Neville claimed his first victory as a head coach at the third attempt as Valencia eased into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey with a 2-0 win over Barakaldo on Wednesday. Already leading 3-1 from the first leg against the Basque side from the third tier of Spanish soccer, Santi Mina ensured […]

Down by two goals midway through the second half at the Camp Nou, most teams would have packed it in. Some may have kept attacking only to be obliterated for daring to do so, but even fewer would have been able to stem the tide, far less muster a comeback. When Barcelona go ahead, the […]

Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa, who has been a key part of the national squad for two decades and was named FIFA women's player of the year in 2011, is to retire, her agent said Wednesday. The 37-year-old scored 83 goals in 205 appearances for Japan in an career that extended over six World Cups including […]

The 82,000-seat stadium of football's New York Giants and New York Jets will be the site of next year's Copa America Centenario final, the US Soccer Federation announced Wednesday. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey will host the championship game of the unique showdown between North and South American national teams on June 26. […]

Sergio Aguero could be available for Manchester City's table-topping Premier League clash with Arsenal on Monday after returning to full training on Wednesday, the club announced. Aguero, 27, has missed four games with a heel problem sustained against Southampton last month, but City said on their official website that the Argentina striker was back training […]

Michel Platini has decided not to attend his hearing before FIFA's ethics committee in Zurich, scheduled for Friday, his lawyers told AFP on Wednesday. A statement from the legal representatives of the suspended UEFA president said he chose to boycott the hearing after "the verdict was already announced to the press by a spokesman ... […]

The head of German sportswear giant Adidas hinted for the first time on Wednesday at the possibility of cutting links with FIFA in the wake of the corruption allegations dogging the bidding process for the 2006 World Cup. "If FIFA succeeds in reforming itself — and in my view they're making good progress here — […]