Month: November 2020

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BLATTER, PLATINI PROBE SHIFTS TO FRAUD ACCUSATION.

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini are now being investigated for “fraud” and “breach of trust” in Switzerland, a source with access to the probe said on Friday.

The former power brokers of world football were originally part of a legal procedure opened in 2015 over a 2011 payment to Platini of two million Swiss francs ($2.2 million).

The Swiss prosecutors have decided to change the focus of their investigation, the same source said.

Former Juventus and France midfielder Platini received the payment from FIFA for advisory work completed in 2002.

Prosecutors are investigating on suspicion of “complicity in unfair management, embezzlement and forgery”.

The Swiss Public Ministry of the Confederation (MPC) in Bern has the power to use further legal manoeuvres to call for the sum to be paid.

Platini’s entourage told AFP on Friday the Swiss prosecutors were “maintaining this five-year-old case artificially by widening the accusations”.

FIFA deemed the payment authorised by Blatter a “disloyal payment” and suspended Blatter and Platini from all football-related activities, which prevented the former UEFA chief from running for another term as president in 2016.

In a statement to AFP on Friday, Blatter said: “I have done nothing wrong in making back payments based on a joint agreement.”

Blatter was removed from office in 2015 after 17 years at the head of FIFA.

Football’s world governing body has been rocked by a number of scandals over the last decade.

In October, former FIFA number two Jerome Valcke was handed a suspended 120-day sentence and fined 1.65 million euros ($1.92 million) by a Swiss court over the allocation of World Cup TV rights.

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GUARDIOLA IN DOUBTS OVER AGUERO RETURN DATE FROM INJURY.

Pep Guardiola admitted he was unsure about the timetable for Sergio Aguero’s return to Manchester City’s team.

The striker, 32, has hardly played this season due to ongoing issues related to a knee injury.

Aguero is expected to return this week but the City boss issued a note of caution, saying: ‘Sergio depends how he wakes up. He makes good training sessions and then has some niggles.

He woke up with a little problem in his knee. We know the injury he had is not easy for the recovery.

‘We have to handle it as best as possible.’ In Aguero’s absence City had struggled for goals prior to the thumping 5-0 win against Burnley.

Despite the result, Guardiola warned his forwards that they must start hitting individual targets or face sitting on the bench — suggesting he is ready to ditch mass rotation in matches over the next month and will only pick players on performances.

It’s not about rotation now,’ Guardiola said. ‘The players who don’t make mistakes — like John Stones in defence — deserve to play more games.

‘The goals today help us, of course — especially for Riyad Mahrez. Gabriel Jesus has to score goals too.’

Mahrez answered his critics with a hat-trick, while Guardiola started both Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden on the bench.

He added: ‘Sterling when he plays has to score. They have to score more goals. That is why they are here. It depends on the player, their performance on the pitch.’

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KLOPP REAFFIRMS CASE FOR FIVE SUBSTITUTES.

Jurgen Klopp has reiterated the need for five substitutions in Premier League games after Liverpool’s draw at Brighton.


James Milner was forced off with a hamstring problem at the Amex Stadium, while Nathaniel Phillips also required treatment after a nasty-looking fall.

Brighton also lost two players with Neal Maupay and former Reds midfielder Adam Lallana succumbing to injury during Saturday’s lunchtime encounter.

Top flight clubs resisted proposals to extend the five substitutes option implemented during Project Restart, meaning only three changes can be made.

Klopp admits he does not know if or when another vote will be held and cited player welfare as the reason for his continuing reference to the subject.

He said: “If it was about me, I’d have never mentioned it. But it’s about the players.

“Whenever it happens, it will be good for the players. Brighton play one game a week and lost two players with muscle injuries.

“In this period, five subs is not for tactical changes. Today, we made an early sub at half-time, then a second sub, then you have to be brave to make a third sub.

“If you’re not brave, you have to wait until pretty much the 90th minute.

“If we had five subs today, I’d have taken off Andy Robertson, 100 per cent. We don’t have a lot of options at the moment so you can’t just bring them all through the season.

“It’s not the solution, but it’s a little help, that’s all.”

Liverpool were denied goals in either half at Brighton due to VAR deeming that both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were marginally offside for them.

The technology also awarded Brighton two penalties with Maupay missing first before Pascal Gross rectifying it by equalising in stoppage time.

On the decisions, Klopp added: “I was told Mo and Sadio were offside by a very small margin.

“I didn’t see it, I heard that, but it sounds like offside twice, even though it was close.

“The second penalty is a penalty because the referee whistled it. There was contact and if the referee thinks it’s enough, we can’t change that, obviously.”

Klopp also expects Milner, as well as longer-term absentees Thiago Alcantara and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, to miss Liverpool’s upcoming two matches.

Tuesday’s clash of Ajax in the Champions League has taken on added importance with qualification for the knock-out stage still yet to be confirmed.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ visit to Anfield next weekend will also see a long-awaited return of supporters to the stadium for a first time since mid-March.

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EDEN HAZARD INJURED IN REAL LOSS TO ALAVES.

Real Madrid star Eden Hazard has given manager Zinedine Zidane another injury headache after he was forced off injured after 28 minutes away at Alaves.

The Belgian international pulled after seeing his shot blocked inside the Alaves box and immediately signalled his discomfort to the bench.

Zidane opted to substitute the Belgian star to avoid any further damage, with Brazilian teenager Rodrygo Goes sent on as his replacement.

Hazard has endured a miserable time with injuries following his 2019 move to the Santiago Bernabeu from Premier League giants Chelsea.

He missed a total of 24 games during Real Madrid’s La Liga title win in 2019/20, with the club opting to send him for surgery on a broken foot at the start of 2020.

The 29-year old also missed the start of the current campaign after suffering a serious of minor injuries over the summer, before being sidelined for two weeks in September after testing positive Covid-19.

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REAL MADRID 1-2 ALAVES: ALAVES BEAT REAL AT BERNABEU FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 20 YEARS.

Alaves earned a shock win over Real Madrid on Saturday evening at the Bernabeu, climbing to ninth in the La Liga table while Real Madrid stay fourth.

There were goals from Joselu and Lucas Perez for Alaves, who got their first away win against Real Madrid since May 2000.

Madrid got a goal back late through Casemiro, but it wasn’t enough, and to add to Zinedine Zidane’s woes, Eden Hazard limped off the pitch in the first half.

The unusual start to the season continues as the likes of Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid lead the LA Liga ta me while giants of the Spanish league Real Madrid and Barcelona stand aloof.

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WESTBROM 1-0 SHEFFIELD UTD: GALLAGHER EARNS HAWTHORNS FIRST VICTORY.

West Brom move out of the relegation zone after a close-fought victory over Sheffield United, courtesy of a goal from Conor Gallager.

The on-loan Chelsea man was alone at the edge of the box when Sander Berge cleared Matheus Pereira’s corner to him and he side-footed past the onrushing players into the corner of the net.

Albion had Sam Johnstone to thank for preserving the lead as the ex-Manchester United goalkeeper made a string of saves, the best of which tipping over at full-stretch a header from former Baggie Ollie Burke.

The Baggies came close to extending their lead when Kyle Bartley met Pereira’s corner with a bullet header that Aaron Ramsdale dived smartly low to his right to turn away.

George Baldock had the Blades’best two chances to get on the scoresheet early in each half but spurned them both.

Albion move above Burnley into 17th, while the Blades remain propping up the table with a solitary point.

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EVERTON 0-1 LEEDS UTD: RAPHINHA STRIKE RETURNS WHITES TO WINNING WAYS.

Raphinha’s first Premier League goal gave Leeds United a 1-0 win at Everton in an enthralling encounter.

The Brazilian midfielder’s shot, the 35th of the match, found the bottom corner in the 79th minute to earn Leeds a first win in four matches.

The two goalkeepers had excelled throughout.

Jordan Pickford denied Patrick Bamford, Raphinha, Jack Harrison and Helder Costa, while at the other end, Illan Meslier made eight saves, including superbly from Abdoulaye Doucoure and then from Richarlison.

When Harrison did beat Pickford on two occasions, his first effort was cleared off the line by Ben Godfrey while his header came back off a post.

But Raphinha finally broke the deadlock to secure Leeds’ first Premier League win at Goodison Park which lifts them to 11th on 14 points, two behind Everton in sixth.

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AL AHLY BEAT ZAMALEK 2-1 TO LIFT CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOR RECORD NINTH TIME.

Al Ahly’s Mohamed Magdi scored a stunning goal four minutes from time as they beat bitter Cairo rivals Zamalek 2-1 to claim the 2019-20 CAF Champions League title and extend their record number of wins in Africa’s elite club competition to nine.

The teams were locked at 1-1 at the Cairo International Stadium when midfielder Magdi collected a loose ball 30 metres out, showed neat control under pressure and volleyed into the corner of the net.

It sparked wild scenes of celebration from the players, and might have been applauded by 100,000 fans in the stadium but instead was netted in front of empty stands due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The title win is a second for Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane after the South African led Mamelodi Sundowns to victory in 2016, when they also beat Zamalek in what was then a two-legged decider.

Friday’s match is the first time since the inaugural African Champions Cup final in 1965 that the final was a single game.

Ahly took an early lead when Amr Soleya headed an in-swinging corner into the net inside five minutes, reward for some early pressure as they made the brighter start.

But Zamalek grew more dominant as the half wore on and levelled thanks to a touch of magic from winger Shikabala.

He collected the ball out wide on the right, skipped past three defenders and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the goal from the edge of the box.

Zamalek continued to take the game to their rivals and were unlucky not to go ahead just past the hour when Ahmed Sayed’s thunderous 35-metre drive smashed into the post.

But Magdi settled the contest with his own moment of brilliance as Ahly won the title for the first time in seven years to make up for final defeats in 2017 and 2018.

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SASSUOLO 0-3 INTERMILAN: CONTE’S MEN WIN AT SASSUOLO TO END HOST UNBEATEN START.

Inter Milan recorded a confidence-boosting 3-0 win at Sassuolo on Saturday to end the home side’s unbeaten start in Serie A.

Alexis Sanchez scored early on and a Vlad Chiriches own goal shortly after doubled Inter’s lead. Roberto Gagliardini scored in the second half as Inter recorded only its second win in its past seven matches.

Inter played with the ferocity coach Antonio Conte had been demanding and Sassuolo barely had a sight of goal apart from a curled effort from Filip Suricic that hit the outside of the right post.

Inter moved second, level on points with Sassuolo but above it on goal difference. Head-to-head record is the first tiebreak at the end of the season. They are both two points below AC Milan, which hosts Fiorentina on Sunday.

Juventus can move a point above Inter with a win at Benevento later Saturday. Atalanta was also playing later, against Hellas Verona.

Sassuolo knew it could move top with a win at Inter. The Nerazzurri were looking to bounce back from a midweek home defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Just like in all the Serie A matches this weekend, there was a tribute to Diego Maradona, who died on Wednesday in his native Argentina. That included a minute’s silence for the former Napoli player, while his image was also projected again on the stadium screens in the 10th minute, in honour of his jersey number.

Inter got off to the perfect start when Chiriches’ clearance was intercepted by Lautaro Martinez, who then rounded goalkeeper Andrea Consigli. Chiriches got back but Martinez managed to roll it across for the easiest of goals for Sanchez.

The visitors’ doubled their lead 10 minutes later as a corner from the left came to Arturo Vidal and his cross bounced off Chiriches and squeezed into the bottom right corner.

Chiriches’ day went from bad to worse as he limped off with a suspected hamstring injury at the end of the first half.

Inter all but sealed the result on the hour with a splendid finish into the bottom left corner from Gagliardini after a cross from Matteo Darmian.

Conte had rested Romelu Lukaku and only put the forward on for the final 11 minutes. That was still time enough for him to find the back of the net, but it was ruled out for offside.

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STUTTGART 1-3 BAYERN: GERMAN GIANT COMPLETES A SPIRITED FIGHTBACK IN BUNDESLIGA.

Bayern maintained their place at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart, thanks to goals from Kingsley Coman, Robert Lewandowski and Douglas Costa.

The hosts took a shock lead on 20 minutes, when Tanguy Coulibaly side-footed home following a great ball across the box by Silas Wamangituka.

That lead was extinguished on 38 minutes however, after Coman struck home from the edge of the box to round off a clinical counter-attacking move.

Stuttgart thought they had put their noses in front once again immediately after, but Philipp Forster’s goal was disallowed for a foul spotted in the build-up by VAR. And Bayern took full advantage, with Lewandowski drilling home a rocket from outside the penalty area on the stroke of half-time.

The hosts pushed their visitors hard in the second half, and went close to stealing a point at the end, but Waldemar Anton’s strike whistled just wide of the post.

Bayern confirmed all three points through substitute Costa’s late strike, securing Die Roten’s place at the top of the Bundesliga for another week.