Doha (AFP) – High-spending World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar are splurging almost $500 million every week on major infrastructure projects for football's biggest tournament, the country's finance minister said on Tuesday. That eye-watering level of spending could continue until 2021, Ali Shareef Al-Emadi said. "We are spending close to $500 million per week on capital […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has insisted he has no problem with Germany's World Cup winner Mario Goetze, who has been left out of Wednesday's German Cup tie against Hertha Berlin. The attacking midfielder was kept on the bench for Saturday's 1-0 win over RB Leipzig and will miss the round of […]

Berlin (AFP) – An RB Leipzig fan has described how hooligans in Dortmund attacked their group, which included children, with stones and bottles and levels of hatred towards the Red Bull-backed club which have shocked German football. Hooliganism is nothing new in German football, but Saturday's violence meted out to RB Leipzig supporters, including young […]

London (AFP) – Claudio Ranieri was told Tuesday he is safe from the sack as the Thai owners of struggling champions Leicester vowed their "unwavering support" to the under-fire manager. Ranieri's side are just one point above the relegation zone after Sunday's 3-0 defeat against Manchester United and speculation had mounted that the Italian was […]

Sydney (AFP) – Australia's Tim Cahill has apologised for swearing at a referee after he was bizarrely sent off before he even made it onto the pitch in last week's explosive Melbourne derby. The former Everton forward, now with Melbourne City, was about to come on as a substitute when he made his comments to […]

London (AFP) – The urgent tone in Kasper Schmeichel's voice said everything about the fate that has befallen Leicester City, fairytale Premier League champions become shock relegation candidates. "We're the reigning champions and quite frankly it's been terrible. It's been embarrassing," the Danish goalkeeper told a television reporter after Leicester's 3-0 defeat at home to […]

Madrid (AFP) – Spain's public prosecutor asked for a seven-month prison sentence to be handed down to Atletico Madrid's French defender Lucas Hernandez, Spanish media said Monday. Hernandez, 20, was arrested Friday after his girlfriend was taken to hospital with minor injuries following an altercation between the pair. Neither party made a complaint against the […]

Barcelona (AFP) – The pressure is on Atletico Madrid to score goals in their Spanish Cup semi-final second leg against Barcelona, the Catalans' coach Luis Enrique said on Monday. Barca edged last week's first leg at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid 2-1 meaning Atletico need to score at least twice, due to the away goals […]

Milan (AFP) – Inter Milan pair Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic were handed two-match bans for offences against the referee during their 1-0 defeat to Juventus, Serie A officials announced on Monday. As Juventus secured an 18th win of the season on Sunday that pushed them six points clear of second-placed Napoli, Inter endured a […]

Paris (AFP) – Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said his free-scoring side must cope with building pressure after opening up a three-point lead over their title rivals in the hunt for a first Ligue 1 crown since 2000. Radamel Falcao scored twice as Monaco outclassed Nice 3-0 on Saturday to pull clear of their Cote d'Azur […]

London (AFP) – Out-of-favour Manchester United forward Anthony Martial took to Twitter on Monday to tell fans to ignore speculation he could be on his way out of the club. British newspaper The Sun claimed Martial, 21, could join Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season after struggling to convince manager Jose Mourinho of […]

Rome (AFP) – Marek Hamsik says he remains in awe of Argentina legend Diego Maradona but the Slovakia midfielder won't hold back as the former Napoli hero's 115-goal club record comes into sight. Hamsik and Dries Mertens struck memorable hat-tricks in a 7-1 rout at Bologna on Saturday as Napoli boosted their hopes of a […]

Cairo (AFP) – The Egyptian president and newspapers applauded the "dignity" of the national football team on Monday, calling them champions despite agonisingly losing the Africa Cup of Nations final 2-1 to Cameroon. Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny gave Egypt the lead midway through the first half on Sunday and they looked to be on course […]

Libreville (AFP) – Cameroon celebrated the most improbable of victories at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday which coach Hugo Broos hoped would pave the way towards a bright future for his team. The Indomitable Lions showed remarkable character to come from behind and beat Egypt 2-1 in a brilliant game at the Stade […]

London (AFP) – Watford striker Troy Deeney's "light bulb" moment came when the cell door slammed and he contemplated a 10-month jail term for affray five years ago, he told AFP. The 28-year-old, locked up for assaulting a student outside a pub, entered prison with words from his mother ringing in his ears — that […]