Milan (AFP) – The sale of AC Milan to a Chinese consortium was officially postponed Friday after their failure to meet financial demands by the agreed deadline of March 3. Berlusconi agreed in August 2016 to sell the club to Sino-Europe Sports (SES) in a deal that values the Serie A giants at 740 million […]

Paris (AFP) – French football legend Raymond Kopa, who won the European Cup three times with Real Madrid in the 1950s, died Friday aged 85 after a long illness, his family said. The French Football League announced that a minute's silence would be observed before all weekend games in honour of the man who rose […]

Belgrade (AFP) – An "Eternal Derby" tainted by ultranationalism: the recurring duel between Belgrade's Partizan and Red Star, which next takes place on Saturday, has become more about hooligans and police than sport. Nowadays a pretext for clashes between supporters of the rival teams, the event was for a long time a celebration of Yugoslav […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Liverpool have a fine record against the Premier League's leading sides this season, which is just about the only solace for Jurgen Klopp as he prepares for Saturday's crucial clash with Arsenal. The Reds' 3-1 defeat at Leicester on Monday exposed significant defensive weaknesses once again as a campaign that once promised […]

Madrid (AFP) – Pedro Leon was mocked by Jose Mourinho for not being Zinedine Zidane when at Real Madrid. Now the in-form Eibar winger could deal a huge blow to Zidane's hopes of landing the La Liga title. After Gareth Bale lost his head and Madrid their La Liga lead in a 3-3 draw with […]

Milan (AFP) – On-loan Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has yet to decide his future but has no doubts about Roma's approach when they face Napoli looking to stay in Serie A title contention Saturday. "They will fight for the win and openly challenge us," Szczesny said. "But these are games when mentality makes the difference. […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Growing uncertainty over the futures of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney threatens to overshadow Manchester United's all-important quest to return to the Champions League. Ibrahimovic, the former Paris Saint-Germain striker, has been a huge success during his first season in England yet recent comments have cast doubt over whether there […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger has compared being a football manager to entering the priesthood as both jobs involve making all-consuming personal sacrifices. The 67-year-old Frenchman has been at Arsenal for 20 years and is hoping to extend that stay with a new contract at the end of the season although there have been calls […]

Madrid (AFP) – Sevilla moved to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as Vicente Iborra's first-half winner earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. In a battle between the two principal candidates to take over at Barca next season after Luis Enrique announced his decision to step down at the end of […]

Madrid (AFP) – Concern for Fernando Torres overshadowed Atletico Madrid's 1-1 draw at Deportivo la Coruna on Thursday as the former Liverpool suffered a "traumatic brain injury" after being knocked unconscious. Torres was hit from behind by Deportivo's Alex Bergantinos in a clash of heads five minutes from time and hit the ground hard as […]

London (AFP) – Ivory Coast international striker Wilfried Bony says his prolonged omission from the Stoke team is "painful" as he continues to be overlooked for selection by manager Mark Hughes. The 28-year-old — who has scored just twice in 11 games since his loan move from Manchester City last August — added he had […]

NBC Sports' popular Behind The Badge documentary returns this weekend with the first of a four-part series about Premier League club West Bromwich Albion. Previously, NBC Sports has featured Crystal Palace and Watford. Both were critically received and featured plenty of fly-on-the-wall footage to give soccer fans a unique perspective on what it's like to […]

Rostov-on-Don (Russia) (AFP) – A mystery fan offered Russian side Rostov a bribe of nearly $3,000 to allow his son to lead Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic onto the pitch as a mascot in next week's Europa League clash. "Yesterday a man called the club and offered 170,000 rubles for his son to lead out […]

Abuja (AFP) – Ahmad Ahmad insisted Thursday he can bring widespread, meaningful change to African football if he unseats Issa Hayatou as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Ahmad, a CAF executive committee member and head of the Madagascar football federation, made a whistle-stop visit to Nigeria to canvas for support in the […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick admits he doesn't know if his future lies at Old Trafford despite being awarded a testimonial. Carrick's contract expires at the end of the season but his continued importance to United was emphasised by a composed display as a second-half substitute in last weekend's League Cup final […]