Month: December 2020

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football Sports News

FIFA APPROVES MATERNITY LEAVE FOR WOMEN PLAYERS.

Football governing body, FIFA on Friday approved landmark measures to protect women footballers.

The FIFA Council approved new rules, including a minimum 14-week paternity leave for female players — with at least eight weeks after birth.

After the completion of a player’s maternity leave, her club will be under an “obligation to reintegrate her” into football activity and “provide adequate ongoing medical support”. “The players are the protagonist of the game, they are the most important part of the game and we have to make sure that we set the stage for them to shine.

When it comes to female players, we should bring more stability to their careers. For example, if they need to take a maternity leave, then they don’t have to worry,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a video tweeted on the governing body’s Twitter handle.

“If we are serious about boosting the women’s game, we have to look at all these aspects,” he added.

Without providing too many details, the FIFA president said new rules would also be introduced to give greater stability to coaches.

Coaches develop how we play and inspire the players, they too need job security and we have established minimum standards to protect them,” he said.

The mandatory 14-week maternity leave would see players guaranteed a minimum two-thirds of their contracted salary, while FIFA also made it harder for clubs to part company with pregnant players, saying “no female player should ever suffer a disadvantage of any sort on the basis of her pregnancy”.

The revamped FIFA Club World has been pushed back further. FIFA, in a media release, said that a Club World Cup, in the current format with seven teams, be organised for late 2021 and the hosting rights for this competition be awarded to Japan.

The next FIFA Council meeting is set to be held on March 19, 2021.

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football Sports News

JAPAN TO HOST 2021 FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP.

FIFA named Japan the host nation for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup on Friday, with an undisclosed date during late winter.

“Following the postponement of the revamped FIFA Club World Cup, initially planned to take place in 2021 in the slot previously reserved for the FIFA Confederations Cup, the Council decided that a Club World Cup, in the current format with seven teams, be organised for late 2021 and the hosting rights for this competition be awarded to Japan,” FIFA said in a statement.

Japan is the eight-time Club World Cup host, last being in 2016.

In 2019, FIFA said the Confederations Cup would be abolished for an enlarged Club World Cup.

China was due to host the tournament next summer with a revamped 24-team format but play was postponed because of fixture congestions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the virus forced football confederations in Europe and South America to delay the UEFA EURO 2020 and Copa America. Those competitions will be held in June and July.

2021 will see two FIFA Club World Cup tournaments — a rare occurrence for FIFA — as Qatar is set to host the 2020 edition in February and Japan will organize the 2021 edition next winter.

The original date for the Club World Cup was December but FIFA had to pick another date amid the pandemic.

Last month FIFA said that the 2020 edition of the Club World Cup will be held Feb. 1-11 in Qatar.

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football Sports News

MESSI AND BARCELONA FINED OVER MARADONA JERSEY TRIBUTE.

Lionel Messi and Barcelona have been fined a combined €780 after the player was shown a yellow card for lifting his shirt to pay tribute to the late Diego Maradona following his goal in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Osasuna.

Messi, who was fined €600 while his club were fined €180, paid homage to Maradona by taking off his Barcelona shirt to reveal a Newell’s Old Boys shirt beneath belonging to Maradona.

The Spanish football federation’s competition committee rejected Barca’s protests against the punishment and their suggestion it should be waived as the gesture was a tribute to Maradona.

The committee’s statement said that while it accepted the gesture was a tribute, Article 93 of the disciplinary code states that a player should be punished for removing their shirt when celebrating, irrespective of the motive.

The statement added that Messi could only have had the sanction waived if he had been given the booking in error. Messi’s booking pushes him one game closer to a ban.

Messi is a supporter of Newell’s Old Boys having played for the club’s junior team before leaving for Barca aged 13.

He had also paid tribute to Maradona, who played for the Rosario based side in 1993, when the World Cup winner died last Wednesday.

“He has left us but he isn’t going anywhere because Diego is eternal,” Messi wrote on Instagram.

Meanwhile, Newell’s Old Boys said on Wednesday they’ve begun to sell replicas of that jersey after receiving “hundreds of inquiries” about it.

“Leo Messi … decided to remember and pay homage to a genius of global football … in a show of love and respect to one of the greatest in history,” the Rosario club stated.

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football Slides Sports News

SEVILLA 0-4 CHELSEA: GIROUD SCORES ALL FOUR AS BLUES THRASH SEVILLA IN SPAIN

Olivier Giroud scored four goals as Chelsea beat Sevilla 4-0 to secure top spot in Champions League Group E on Wednesday night.

Christian Pulisic was back in the XI for Frank Lampard, following his first appearance as a substitute in a 0-0 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur since returning from an injury layoff.

Kai Havertz teed up Giroud for an early Chelsea strike with the France forward curling a left-footed shot past Alfonso Pastor as he was falling away from the goal.

Chances were hard to come by for both teams throughout the remainder of the first half as Chelsea took their 1-0 lead into the dressing room.

Giroud doubled his tally and Chelsea’s lead nine minutes into the second half, chipping the ball over Pastor after being played in by Mateo Kovacic.

A glancing header from a N’Golo Kante cross gave Giroud his third of the match to give Chelsea some breathing room as they saw out their group-topping win with one match left to play.

Giroud scored his fourth from the penalty spot, sending Pastor the wrong way after Sergio Gomez had taken him down in the area as the two ran onto a whipped in cross.

The result left Chelsea with 13 points from five games, three ahead of second-placed Sevilla with a better head-to-head record against the Spanish side after their 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge in the reverse fixture.

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football Slides Sports News

MAN UTD 1-3 PSG: FRENCH CHAMPIONS DENTS UNITED HOPES OF NEXT ROUND QUALIFICATION

Neymar scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat 10-man Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to throw Champions League Group H wide open.

United, PSG and RB Leipzig are all on nine points heading into next week’s final round of games in which the United go to Leipzig and PSG host Istanbul Basaksehir.

United knew a point would be enough to secure a place in the round of 16 and they really should have wrapped the game up well before Marquinhos put PSG 2-1 up in the 69th minute and Fred received his marching orders a minute later.

It was surprising Fred was still on the field by that stage having received only a yellow card following a VAR review of an off-the-ball head-to-head clash with Leandro Paredes.

The pair were involved in a strong challenge later in the first half for which Paredes was booked but despite having plenty of options on the bench, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided against substituting Fred, a costly mistake.

Neymar fired PSG into a sixth-minute lead after a Kylian Mbappe shot was deflected and fell kindly to the former Barcelona forward who drilled the ball into the bottom corner.

United drew level in the 32nd minute through a Marcus Rashford shot which deflected off the outstretched leg of Danilo to beat PSG keeper Keylor Navas.

United created several good chances after the break but failed to go ahead.

After good work from Edinson Cavani and Rashford down the right, Anthony Martial fired over the bar from a promising position.

Cavani was sent through and launched an audacious chip over the advancing Navas but the ball struck the crossbar — Martial’s follow up shot was brilliantly blocked by Marquinhos.

The defender struck the bar himself with a looping header over David De Gea and the goalkeeper pulled off a great save to keep out a low shot from substitute Mitchel Bakker.

Then came the minute that changed the game — a half-cleared corner rattled around the box before it was poked in by Marquinhos.

Fred was dismissed after a foul on ex-United midfielder Ander Herrera as things fell to pieces for the home side.

Paul Pogba was thrown on and went close with a superb volley from outside the area but as United threw men forward they left holes at the back.

Mbappe powered through with a speedy run from deep but side-footed wide before the outcome was settled when Rafinha set-up Neymar for a simple tap-in.

PSG now have the head-to-head advantage over United and the easier task on paper next week while Solskjaer’s men have plenty to do in Leipzig.

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SHAKTAR 2-0 REAL MADRID: SHAKTAR GRAB COMFORTABLE HOME WIN AS ZIDANE’S MEN DROP TO THIRD ON GROUP B TABLE.

Real Madrid’s Champions League hopes are hanging in the balance after they lost 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, leaving them third in Group B with one round of games remaining.

The 13-times European champions went behind in the 57th minute when Shakhtar substitute Dentinho capitalised on a lapse in concentration by Raphael Varane to score in an empty Olympic Stadium, where Madrid won their last Champions League in 2018.

Israeli forward Manor Solomon then wrapped up the home side’s shock win over the Spaniards in the 82nd with a solo run on the counter and finish into the bottom corner.

Dentinho came on in the first half to replace striker Junior Moraes, who was injured after being hauled down by Varane in a bid to prevent the forward racing towards goal unchallenged.

Shakhtar, who beat Madrid 3-2 away in October, are second in Group B on seven points, level with Zinedine Zidane’s side but above them due to their superior head-to-head record.

Real host leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach next week in their final game when Shakhtar visit bottom side Inter Milan.

Madrid’s run of qualifying from the group stage for a record 23 consecutive seasons is in serious danger but Zidane vowed to fight on, dismissing suggestions he could resign as he did in May 2018 after lifting a third straight Champions League crown.

“I’m optimistic. This is a difficult moment but we need to show our character now and stand tall,’ he said.

‘What happened today is a real shame because we did not deserve it but we have to win our next game. We’re going to believe in ourselves and we’re going to fight, you can be sure about that,’ he added at the post-match news conference.

The Spanish champions pulled off a 2-0 win at Inter in their last European game while the Ukrainians were hammered 4-0 away to Gladbach, though Zidane’s side were brought back to earth with Saturday’s shock 2-1 home loss to Alaves in La Liga.

Real were missing record signing Eden Hazard after another injury to the Belgian and were still without captain Sergio Ramos, though they were boosted by the return of Karim Benzema.

They looked the better side before the interval and nearly scored an early goal when Marco Asensio hit the post from a tight angle, but the second half belonged to Shakhtar who savoured another upset win over the kings of European football.

Shakhtar’s Solomon said: ‘It’s been a great match and great result for us. Six points in two games against Real is a dream come true. Now we have a good chance to qualify for the knockout stage but we have a very tough game with Inter ahead of us.’

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F1 Sports News

RUSSELL REPLACES HAMILTON AT MERCEDES FOR SAKHIR GP AFTER BRITISH STAR TESTS POSITIVE TO COVID-19.

Williams driver George Russell will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Williams, which is an engine customer of Mercedes, agreed to release the 22-year-old for this weekend’s race and has announced it will replace Russell with its reserve driver Jack Aitken.

Russell has a contract with Williams until the end of 2021, but is managed by Mercedes and has a separate long-term deal with the world champions.

When news broke of Hamilton’s positive test on Monday, Mercedes approached Williams over Russell’s availability and once a deal was struck the two teams confirmed the driver switch on Wednesday morning.

It is not clear if there is an option in place for Russell’s release from his Williams contract to stretch to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix the following weekend if Hamilton fails to return a negative COVID-19 test in time.

“Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to everybody at Williams for giving me this opportunity,” Russell said. “I might be wearing a different race suit this weekend, but I’m a Williams driver and I’ll be cheering my team on every step of the way.

“I see this as a great chance to learn from the best outfit on the grid right now and to come back as an improved driver, with even more energy and experience to help push Williams further up the grid. A big thank you also to Mercedes for putting their faith in me.

“Obviously, nobody can replace Lewis, but I’ll give my all for the team in his absence from the moment I step in the car. Most importantly, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff added: “First and foremost, I wish to thank our loyal partners at Williams for their collaboration and open-mindedness in making it possible for George to race for Mercedes this weekend.

“The conversations with the team at Williams were positive and pragmatic, and those were the key factors in reaching an agreement.”

He has not scored a point in his 36 F1 starts, although that is largely down to Williams’ lack of competitiveness. In qualifying he has outperformed his two teammates, Robert Kubica and Nicholas Latifi, at every grand prix since he has driven at.

Russell is familiar with the Mercedes team and has completed four days of official testing with the world champions, with his last outing taking place in Bahrain last year.

He has been tipped as a potential replacement for Valtteri Bottas in 2022 and the two drivers will be matched as teammates this weekend.

“It will not be a straightforward task for George to make the transition from the Williams to the W11, but he is race-ready and has detailed understanding of the 2020 tyres and how they perform on this generation of cars,” Wolff added. “George has shown impressive form this year with Williams, playing an instrumental role in their climb up the grid, and I am optimistic that he will deliver a strong performance alongside Valtteri, who will be a demanding reference for him.

“This race will mark a small milestone for us, as we see a member of our Junior programme compete for the works Mercedes team for the first time. We have a job to do this weekend, and the full focus of our sporting efforts will be behind Valtteri and George in order to maximise our points score as a team.

“But, of course, our thoughts are also with Lewis, and we will be supporting him as much as we can to make a rapid recovery during his period of self-isolation.”

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football Sports News

ALISSON TO MISS TWO WEEKS DUE TO HAMSTRING INJURY.

Alisson Becker will be sidelined for up to two weeks with a hamstring injury with the Brazilian goalkeeper likely to miss games against Wolves, Midtjylland and Fulham.

Alisson felt his hamstring during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday and was replaced by 22-year-old Caoimhin Kelleher for Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Ajax in the Champions League.

Kelleher produced a fine performance, including a crucial reflex save to deny Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as Liverpool booked their place in the knockout rounds.

And manager Jurgen Klopp provided an update on the extent of Alisson’s injury, emphasising it was an injury and not a Covid-19 infection or isolation.

He told BT Sport: ‘So, it’s not Covid, I think it’s something we have to mention when it’s not the case – and it’s not the case.

‘He told us after the last game that he felt in the 60th, 70th minute his hamstring. [We] did a scan, it’s a little one but enough for today and probably for another week.

‘We don’t know exactly, we have to wait and I’ve never heard about a hamstring that is only four or five days, so 10-14 days I think.’

Klopp sprung a surprise by favouring Kelleher, who had only previously made four appearances for the club, all in the FA Cup or EFL Cup, ahead of Adrian.

And after a clean sheet, Klopp was full of praise for the Irishman: ‘I really think Adrian has done a fantastic job for us, he kept a lot of clean sheets, played everywhere.

‘But now we needed the natural football playing ability of Caoimhin Kelleher.

‘He is a great shot-stopper as well. We made that decision but never know how they are going to cope. I am really happy with how calm he was and how good he was.

‘In the end, it is about keeping the ball out of the net and he did that twice and he did that in an exceptional manner. He will either sleep really well tonight or not at all.’

Liverpool host Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday evening and then conclude their Champions League group campaign with a trip to Denmark to play Midtjylland next Wednesday.

They then face three league matches in quick succession against Fulham, Tottenham and Crystal Palace and Klopp may have to choose between Adrian and Kelleher if Alisson doesn’t recover in time.

Alisson is just the latest injury concern for Liverpool, who currently have Trent Alexander-Arnold, Naby Keita, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Xherdan Shaqiri, James Milner, Thiago Alcantara and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sidelined.

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VILLA-NEWCASTLE PREMIER LEAGUE TIE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK.

Newcastle United’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Friday has become the first English top-flight game to be postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak after a “significant increase” in COVID-19 cases at the club.

Newcastle’s Darsley Park training ground has been closed since Monday as a response to several players and staff members being forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19.

With manager Steve Bruce’s playing squad severely impacted by the outbreak, Newcastle informed the Premier League of their difficulties in honouring their commitment to play Friday’s game at Villa Park and the league has confirmed that they have now granted their request to postpone the game.

“Following a Premier League Board meeting today, Newcastle United’s fixture at Aston Villa, due to be played at 8 p.m. Friday 4 December, has been postponed,” a Premier League statement said.

“Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to rearrange the game following a significant increase in COVID-19 cases at the club which resulted in Public Health England North East (PHE) advising that their training facilities remain closed.

“The Premier League Board agreed, as a consequence, that the club are unable to train and adequately and safely prepare for their match on Friday.

“The decision has been taken in consultation with Newcastle United and Aston Villa, and following extensive consultation with PHE and Premier League medical advisors, with the health of players and staff the priority.

“Newcastle correctly notified PHE regarding a number of positive COVID-19 test results, which is standard practice under Government and Premier League guidelines.

“PHE convened a meeting with Newcastle and the Premier League yesterday to assess the situation and advised the club’s training ground should remain closed and no group training would be permitted between players until Friday at the earliest.

“All players and training ground staff will be re-tested this week and another meeting between the club, PHE and the Premier League will take place to assess the test results.

“The Premier League wishes those with COVID-19 a safe and speedy recovery and will rearrange the postponed fixture against Aston Villa in due course.”

Premier League clubs test players and coaching staff at least twice a week in order to comply with COVID-19 protocols.

On Monday, the league confirmed that 10 positive results had been recorded from 1,381 players and staff in the most recent round of testing.

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PLAYERS MUST CONTINUE TO BEND THE KNEE IN SUPPORT OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT -KANE.

Tottenham and England captain Harry Kane has said players should continue to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee before matches.

The gesture of solidarity has taken place before every Premier League fixture since English football’s restart in June, a month after unarmed Black man George Floyd died in police custody in Minnesota after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.

Matches all around the world including UEFA Nations League internationals, the Champions League and the Europa League have featured players taking the knee for nine seconds before kick-off but some figures within the game have questioned whether it should stop.

QPR director of football Les Ferdinand said the anti-racism message had been “diluted” through excessive use.

“I hear people ask if we should still be doing it and we should. What people don’t realise is sometimes we are watched by millions of people round the world. Of course, for the person who watches the Premier League every week, they see the same thing every week,” Kane told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“But I think if you look around the world you see children watching the game for the first time, seeing us all take a knee and asking their parents and asking why we take the knee.

“It’s a great chance for people to explain why and get their point across. Education is the biggest thing we can do. Adults can teach generations what it means, and what it means to be together and help each other no matter what your race.”

Kane also sought to highlight the work done by fellow England teammates Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling in campaigning for change while acknowledging white players must do more to help stamp out racist abuse.

“What Marcus and Raheem have done has been incredible and you see a lot of the work players do for communities and charities, I know first-hand that players are doing an awful lot,” he added.