Michel Platini has withdrawn his candidacy for the FIFA presidency in order to clear his name over allegations of corruption.
Platini is currently serving an eight-year ban from all football-related activity, a sanction handed down by the FIFA Ethics Committee, over an alleged disloyal payment made by Sepp Blatter to the Frenchman in 2011.
In an interview with French sports newspaper L Equipe, an extract of which was published on Thursday, he said: I no longer put myself forward to be president of FIFA, I have withdrawn my candidacy.
I cannot do it, I do not have the time to see voters, meet people, to fight with the others.
By removing myself, I have made the choice to dedicate myself to my defence against a dossier in which there is no mention of co…
Victor Lindelof s agent has confirmed the rumoured Barcelona target is attracting interest from one of Europe s top clubs.
LaLiga champions Barca are believed to be in the market for a new centre-back after missing out on Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt, who appears set to join Juventus.
Manchester United defender Lindelof has reportedly emerged as an option to rival starters Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet amid reports the club are prepared to part with Samuel Umtiti.
United are said to be among Umtiti s suitors but it remains to be seen whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be willing to lose Sweden international Lindelof.
Lindelof is on the radar of a great European club, but leaving United depends on the English club, Hasan Cetinkaya, the 24-year-old s a…
Neymar says he fell in love with Andres Iniesta s football ability after joining the Spanish football icon at Barcelona.
Iniesta confirmed on Friday that this will be his last season at Barca, with the captain set to lead the Catalan giants to another domestic double.
The Chinese Super League has been mooted as the most likely destination for Iniesta and his former Barcelona team-mate Neymar was among those to pay tribute to the midfield genius.
Maestro, an honour to be part of his career in Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar wrote on Instagram.
I already admired you from afar and after I came to be closer I fell in love with his football and more for the person that you are out of the field.
I will always tell my friends, childr…
Whatever side he selects, Pochettino has no doubt the talented teenagers will have what it takes to make the step up.
“We are thinking to start with 11 players that can perform in the way that we want,” Pochettino told a press conference.
“(We want to be) right in our assessment, in our risk because you have many injuries and the squad is not big at the moment.
“We are going to use four or five young guys from the academy – 17 years old, 16 years old – but Chelsea has always produced good talent, young kids and now is a good opportunity.
“It is not because it is our philosophy at the moment, it is because we need to bring young guys to the first team because we have some players that cannot play tomorrow.
An injury update ahead of to…
Market: Tranmere Rovers win
Odds: 11/8 @
In a showdown between two sides battling it out at opposite ends of the League Two table, Tranmere will make the trip to a struggling Colchester on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Colchester might have managed to pick up a much-needed 2-1 win against Carlisle when opening March, it appears that was just a minor bounce for the Essex strugglers. With some in their camp still looking over their shoulder at the drop zone and only continuing on what has been a hugely worrying run of form, The U s were last seen over the weekend when getting hit with a 1-0 defeat against Port Vale. Collecting just a pair of points from their last five League Two matchups and with just a single win to their name since way back on D…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp loves his reinvented midfield and believes the club have done good business this summer.
The £35million signing of Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch, with the deal expected to be finalised before the deadline after the 21-year-old flew to Merseyside for his medical on Thursday, will complete a total rejuvenation of the Reds’ engine room.
Klopp was always planning to revamp his midfield this summer but even he did not expect to change the whole unit, only for the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia to force him into a radical overhaul.
Argentina’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai were early arrivals as part of the planned revamp, but the addition of Wataru Endo an…
Steve Cooper said his Nottingham Forest players used the “belief and frustration” from their narrow defeat at Old Trafford to steer them to a surprise win at Chelsea.
Anthony Elanga hit the only goal of the game early in the second half, making the most of Moises Caicedo losing possession as Forest secured a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Having already suffered close defeats at Arsenal and Manchester United in the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign, a win in west London would have pleased Cooper.
Your Player of the Match is !
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC)
Asked if the belief from the performance at United had helped his players heading into the game at Chelsea, he replied: “Yes, I definitely think that – and also the frustrat…
American striker Jozy Altidore says it would be a pleasure to return to the Premier League, amid reported interest from Sunderland.
The 23-year-old bagged 31 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions for Eredivisie outfit AZ last season, form that has seen him linked with several European clubs.
But Altidore – who spent an unsuccessful season on loan at Hull City in the 2009-10 Premier League season, in which he scored just two goals in 30 appearances – has stated a preference to return to England.
It is a fantastic league, anyone will tell you that, Altidore said.
If you look at everything, the Premier League is probably the biggest league in the world. Everybody knows that and it would be a pleasure to play in a league like that again.
The United S…
Juventus will look to move into second place in Serie A when they face Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday.
Roma continued their 100 per cent start to the season with a 2-0 win over Napoli on Friday, meaning a win for Antonio Conte s men will move them three points clear of Rafael Benitez s side.
Juve have dropped points only once in the league this season, a 1-1 draw with Inter in September, and are currently on a four-game winning streak domestically.
Conte s men will fancy their chances of returning to Turin with three points, thanks to Fiorentina s mixed recent form and Juve s impressive record in Florence.
Vincenzo Montella s side have not won in their last three Serie A games and failed to beat Juventus in their last 10 competitive attempts…
Suspended UEFA president Michel Platini is confident the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will overturn his six-year ban from football.
Platini arrived in Lausanne on Friday to contest his sanction related to a disloyal payment made by then FIFA chief Sepp Blatter in 2011.
The Frenchman s sanction was reduced from eight years by the FIFA Appeal Committee earlier this year, but he has taken his fight to CAS to try and clear his name.
I m fine, he is quoted as saying by L Equipe on arrival at CAS.
Today is the start of the game, a new game, a final and we re all on the same line.
I am optimistic we will win.
…