Author: moshood

Manchester City could be docked points or even expelled from the Premier League if more than 100 alleged rule breaches announced on Monday are found proven.

The Premier League issued a statement on its website announcing the club – who have won the competition six times since 2011 – had been referred to an independent commission in respect of a series of alleged breaches of rules related to club finances.

The alleged breaches concerned the reporting of accurate financial information, the submission of details of manager and player pay information within the relevant contracts, a club’s responsibility as a Premier League member to adhere to UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations and to the league’s own profitability and sustainability regulations.

The club are also alleged to have breached rules requiring them to co-operate and assist with the Premier League’s investigation into those breaches, which the league says began in December 2018.

Manchester City issued a statement expressing surprise at the announcement of the alleged rule breaches, which referred to “extensive engagement” with the Premier League on the matter. The club also said they held “irrefutable evidence” in support of their position.

Premier League rule W.51 covers the sanctioning powers available to commissions should alleged breaches of league rules be found proven.

These range from a reprimand, through the deduction of points up to a recommendation to the league to expel a club from the competition.

The commission has the power to make such sanctions conditional on defined actions being taken within a fixed time period, and respondents have a right of appeal.

City’s statement said: “Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.

“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.

“As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

The club’s chief executive Ferran Soriano is understood to have only been notified by his Premier League counterpart Richard Masters of the referral over alleged breaches as the statement was going live on the league’s website.

The club are also mindful of the timing of the Premier League flexing its regulatory muscle on financial matters, when a Government White Paper – set to include plans for an independent regulator – is close to being published.

City have previously vigorously fought and denied charges relating to alleged breaches of UEFA FFP rules. They were found guilty by UEFA’s club financial control body’s adjudicatory chamber of “serious breaches” of FFP rules in February 2020 and handed a two-year UEFA competition ban, but this sanction was overturned on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July of the same year.

The chair of the independent Premier League judicial panel is Murray Rosen KC, who was appointed in 2020.

The chair will select individuals to sit alongside him on a commission to consider the alleged rule breaches in this case. The panel also has access to consult other independent financial and legal experts.

The alleged breaches span a period from the 2009-10 season to the 2017-18 campaign.

The club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision “in utmost good faith” of “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”.

The league says the accurate financial information required relates to “revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs”.

The second set of breaches listed refers to alleged breaking of rules “requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager” related to seasons 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive.

The club’s manager between December 2009 and May 2013 was current Italy boss Roberto Mancini.

The second set of alleged breaches also refers to requirements for a club to include full details of player remuneration within the relevant contracts, for the seasons 2010-11 to 2015-16 inclusive.

The third section deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

The fourth set of alleged breaches relates to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules in seasons 2015-16 to 2017-18 inclusive.

Finally, the club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring member clubs to co-operate with and assist the Premier League with its investigations, from December 2018 to date.

The Premier League statement concluded: “The proceedings before the Commission will, in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82, be confidential and heard in private. Under Premier League Rule W.82.2, the Commission’s final award will be published on the Premier League’s website.

“This confirmation is made in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1. The Premier League will be making no further comment in respect of this matter until further notice.”

Anthony Joshua will begin his comeback trail with a fight against Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena in London on April 1st.

The former world heavyweight champion suffered a second consecutive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last August in Saudi Arabia.

Tyson Fury instigated talks over an all-British bout weeks after that split decision loss in Jeddah but no world title fight was forthcoming, and now Joshua will return to action against Franklin.

He confirmed the contest in a tweet which contained a poster for the fight and read: “A new dawn.”

Joshua was ringside in November when Franklin lost to Dillian Whyte at Wembley Arena, the first defeat of the American’s 22-fight career.

There had been speculation prior to Joshua being beaten by Usyk for a second time that the former Olympic champion may walk away from the sport.

It was immediately put to bed following the third loss of his career when he showed his willingness to take on Fury during September talks.

While those plans fell through and conjecture over a rematch with Whyte never took off, he will begin his latest quest on the path to another world title shot at the O2 Arena.

Joshua last fought at the Greenwich venue in the summer of 2016 when he beat Dominic Breazeale.

It was his seventh contest at the O2 Arena and maintained his 100 per cent record there with the Watford-born fighter hoping the stadium continues to be a happy hunting ground for him in two months’ time.

Meanwhile, Joe Cordina’s rearranged world title fight with Shavkat Rakhimov has been confirmed for April 22nd at Cardiff International Arena. The original date of November 5th had to be cancelled due to a hand injury for Cordina.

Wales midfielder Joe Allen has announced his retirement from international football.

Allen, one of Wales’ greatest-ever midfielders, said “time and injuries” had taken their toll as he called time on his 74-cap career.

“Playing for Wales has been a great passion and love in my life, I have been extremely fortunate,” the 32-year-old said in a statement released by the Football Association of Wales.

“I have shared this journey with incredible people…my family, team-mates, staff and fans have made it special and I’m hugely grateful to you all.

“Our nation’s support is inspiring, and it has given me immense pride to wear the shirt…so many unforgettable experiences.

“Unfortunately, time and injuries take their toll and so it’s time for me to make way for our next generation.

“The future of Welsh football is bright. All the best, Joe.”

Swansea product Allen made his Wales debut in 2009 and was part of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’, which included Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, that took the nation to a first major tournament for 58 years at Euro 2016.

Allen was named in the official team of that tournament as Wales reached the semi-finals in France.

He also helped Wales qualify for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the latter the nation’s first appearance on the global stage since 1958.

Allen, who played for Liverpool and Stoke before returning to Swansea last summer, made his final Wales appearance in the World Cup defeat to England in November.

The player’s departure from the international scene is another blow to Wales boss Robert Page, who saw his captain and the country’s talisman Bale retire from football last month.

Wales start their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with games against Croatia and Latvia next month.

Tottenham have signed forward Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal until the end of the season.

The Netherlands international had been expected to join Premier League rivals Everton before Spurs hijacked the move.

His arrival in north London boosts Antonio Conte’s attacking options, with Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Lucas Moura each having experienced injury issues this term.

Danjuma, who will turn 26 next week, spent two years playing in England with Bournemouth between 2019 and 2021.

While he starred for the Cherries in the Sky Bet Championship, he struggled in the top flight and failed to score in 14 appearances.

A switch to LaLiga in 2021 proved successful as Danjuma played a key role in Villarreal’s run to the Champions League semi-finals last term, scoring 16 goals in all competitions.

Opportunities have been more limited for the versatile Nigeria-born player this season after a muscle problem disrupted the early part of his campaign.

Moldovan teenager Vladislav Gradinari went from a country with just “three or four” snooker tables to becoming the youngest player to win a televised match.

The 14-year-old beat three-time women’s world champion Ng On-yee in the first round of the one-frame BetVictor Snooker Shootout in Leicester.

The momentous victory sees Gradinari, who lives in Leeds, advance into the next round at the Morningside Arena as he explained snooker is not the most accessible sport in his homeland.

“It is not really popular, we have three or four tables in the whole country,” the reigning England under-14 champion told World Snooker Tour.

“It (the win) feels amazing. I played my best game, at the table I felt calm. At the age of seven I started playing snooker and we moved here two years ago.”

World number seven Mark Williams, beaten finalist in the Shootout last year, also made it through to round two by racking up 98 points in victory over Craig Steadman.

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei beat Williams last year but will not retain his title after losing to former world champion Shaun Murphy.

Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal fired 10-man Tottenham to a 1-0 win over Manchester City to further dent the champions’ titles hopes.

Kane slotted home after quarter of an hour to break the deadlock and move past Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’ all-time leading marksman, having gone level with the late forward against Fulham two weeks ago.

It proved enough to keep up Tottenham’s excellent record against City, who could have gone within two points of leaders Arsenal following their defeat at Everton on Saturday.

Fifth-placed Spurs instead claimed a third victory from their last four matches against Pep Guardiola’s side despite Cristian Romero’s late red card to aid the recovery of absent manager Antonio Conte, who is still in Italy after having his gallbladder removed on Wednesday.

Despite Conte recovering from surgery, he was involved in team selection and deadline-day signing Pedro Porro was only on the bench for Spurs with City surprisingly naming Kevin De Bruyne amongst the substitutes too.

The visitors had seen title rivals Arsenal drop points 24 hours earlier and signalled their intentions with Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez having shots blocked in the opening exchanges.

City were dominating possession but they soon felt the familiar feeling of trailing to Tottenham and it proved a record-breaking goal.

Eric Dier urged his team-mates to press higher and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stole in ahead of Rico Lewis outside the away penalty area before he passed into the path of Kane, who scuffed an effort beyond Ederson and into the corner.

It moved Kane past Greaves as the club’s all-time leading scorer with 267 goals for Spurs and saw jubilant celebrations both on and off the pitch with the screens inside the stadium acknowledging his achievement before the forward waved to his family in the West Stand.

Bookings followed with Rodrigo Bentancur and Romero cautioned in quick succession, the latter for clattering into peripheral figure Erling Haaland.

Tottenham assistant Cristian Stellini was attempting to match the animated presence of the absence Conte on the touchline but saw his side enjoy a slice of luck before the break.

After Rodri and Jack Grealish had failed to find the net with curled efforts late in the half, Mahrez sent a stinging half-volley crashing against the crossbar from 12 yards that bounced away to safety to ensure Spurs were ahead at the break for the first time at home since October 12.

Ben Davies headed wide for the hosts at the start of the second period before Guardiola turned to De Bruyne with 57 minutes played.

De Bruyne’s first real involvement saw his short free-kick find Alvarez, who saw a low shot diverted over by Dier’s thigh.

It sparked a frantic spell with Romero blocking Manuel Akanji’s shot and seconds later Ivan Perisic’s cross agonisingly evaded the Argentina defender and Kane at the back post.

Kane was in the thick of the action minutes later, sending one effort wide before Ederson denied him after Tottenham’s record scorer had bulldozed his way past Kyle Walker and Akanji.

More drama was to follow with referee Andrew Madley showing Romero a second yellow card for a foul on Grealish before five minutes of stoppage time was added on.

Despite plenty of City possession, it was Tottenham who held firm to move within a point of the top four and do rivals Arsenal a favour in the title race.

Conor McGregor is set to make his long-awaited return to UFC action later this year, it has been announced.

The Dublin-born former two-weight world champion, who has not fought since suffering a serious leg injury in July 2021, is set to take on American Michael Chandler.

The details are yet to be finalised but it will come after the pair first try to outwit each other as team coaches in Ultimate Fighter.

UFC president Dana White said in a video posted on his Twitter account: “Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler will go head to head as the coaches of the Ultimate Fighter – Team McGregor versus Team Chandler.

“This season premieres Tuesday, May 30 and runs through Tuesday, August 15.

“Then, at the end of the season, McGregor and Chandler will fight. I do not have a date or a location for that, but we will announce it soon.”

Lucas Paqueta dented Newcastle’s Premier League charge as West Ham came from behind to draw at St James’ Park.

The 25-year-old Brazilian, a summer target for the Magpies, clinched a 1-1 draw with a 32nd-minute equaliser after Callum Wilson had ended his 10-game drought with an early strike.

A point was no more than the Hammers deserved after recovering from a dreadful start in front of a crowd of 52,256 to deny Eddie Howe victory in his 600th game as a manager.

The Carabao Cup finalists badly missed the suspended Bruno Guimaraes, and even the introduction of £45million January signing Anthony Gordon for his debut could not get them over the line.

If Howe had feared any hangover from Tuesday night’s semi-final success, he need not have worried – at least early on – as his side raced out of the blocks.

Joe Willock had already seen a first-minute strike ruled out by VAR after the ball had run out of play during the build-up when Wilson latched on to Sean Longstaff’s defence-splitting pass to fire confidently past Lukasz Fabianski, his first goal in 11 appearances in all competitions.

The shell-shocked visitors found themselves pinned back deep inside their own territory as Longstaff, Kieran Trippier and Willock worked to feed Miguel Almiron and the returning Allan Saint-Maximin at regular intervals.

However, as they grew into the game, the Hammers started to threaten on the break and Sven Botman had to make an important block after Michail Antonio had worked his way into a promising position on the edge of the box.

To their credit the visitors, who had been made to pay for their catastrophic defending, looked far more compact as the half wore on and while Newcastle still enjoyed plenty of possession, they lacked any real penetration.

West Ham might have been level with 28 minutes gone had Said Benrahma not spooned his shot high over Nick Pope’s crossbar after the Magpies had surrendered possession inside their own half, and Paqueta went close twice within seconds, seeing his first attempt blocked and his second deflected wide, with the home side guilty of sloppiness.

The South American was not to be denied, however, and stabbed home at the far post after the Newcastle defence had failed to deal with the excellent Declan Rice’s corner.

Benrahma dragged an effort wide after cutting inside Fabian Schar with David Moyes’ men gaining the upper hand, prompting a concerted response from the hosts with Joelinton and Longstaff making their presence felt in an increasingly physical midfield battle.

The Hammers picked up largely where they had left off after the restart, defender Nayef Aguerd flicking a 50th-minute header high and wide from Benrahma’s cross after a sustained spell of pressure.

Vladimir Coufal made an important block from Saint-Maximin’s volley four minutes later as Newcastle hit back, but for all the effort they expended, genuine chances proved elusive, prompting Howe to throw on Gordon with 21 minutes remaining.

Wilson might have doubled his tally twice as time ran down, Aguerd’s superbly-timed challenge and Fabianski’s safe hands denying him in quick succession, and his side ultimately had to settle for a point.

Kaoru Mitoma headed home an 87th-minute winner to earn Brighton a 1-0 victory over struggling Bournemouth at the Amex Stadium.

The Japan international, whose goal in stoppage time helped the Seagulls knock holders Liverpool out of the FA Cup last week, nodded past goalkeeper Neto to send his side into sixth place.

Both sides threatened throughout a pacey first half, the Cherries somehow surviving an onslaught that saw Deniz Undav denied three times within a matter of seconds.

Bournemouth put pressure on the hosts after the restart but failed to find the finishing touch as Brighton looked close to a breakthrough.

That finally came when substitute Jeremy Sarmiento sent a cross to Mitoma, who sealed all three points with his third goal in as many games.

Brighton had picked up 10 points from their previous five Premier League contests while the Cherries were looking for their first win in six matches.

The hosts had a chance inside the first two minutes when Danny Welbeck rose to meet Tariq Lamptey’s cross inside the six-yard box but the Cherries avoided conceding an early opener when referee Michael Oliver ruled the Seagulls forward had fouled Neto.

Hamed Traore, one of six January signings for Gary O’Neil and making his Cherries debut, sent an inswinging corner from the left which Chris Mepham could only tap into the side-netting with the outside of his foot.

Undav then saw his initial effort blocked by Mepham before Neto parried the rebound only for the Brighton striker to ping his third attempt off the left post.

Jefferson Lerma skied an effort at the other end before Pervis Estupinan brought down Dango Ouattara but a VAR check determined there was no penalty.

Bournemouth were initially able to fend off a Pascal Gross corner but Neto had to punch away a second set-piece before picking Estupinan’s attempt from the left out of the air.

Philip Billing put his body on the line to clear another threatening Albion attack before Welbeck tried to nod Solly March’s cross past Neto but instead directed it straight at the keeper.

Jordan Zemura and Billing were denied and the visitors survived an added-time onslaught as Undav sent a cross in the direction of the six-yard box but Welbeck could not connect.

Ouattara headed Zemura’s cross wide after the break for Bournemouth and Mitoma had a shot stopped by a diving Neto, who then tipped Welbeck’s attempt over the bar before Billy Gilmour shook the side-netting from close range.

Sarmiento tried to make an instant impact for the hosts as he came on for Welbeck and called Neto back into action with a decent effort.

Bournemouth debutant Antoine Semenyo was next to try to break the deadlock but his run down the centre of the pitch was halted by Estupinan’s perfectly-timed sliding tackle.

Ouattara tested Robert Sanchez with a soft effort to the bottom corner but neither side was able to break the deadlock as the clock ticked past the 80-minute mark.

The hosts, who had threatened all afternoon, finally scored when Sarmiento whipped a cross into the area from the left and Mitoma nodded into the upper-left corner.

A leaping Neto got a hand on the ball but was unable to keep it out.

Keylor Navas immediately showed his class on his Nottingham Forest debut as he helped his new club to a 1-0 win over Leeds in a crunch clash at the bottom of the Premier League.

The three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid was part of Forest’s recruitment drive in January, making a loan switch from Paris St Germain, and he produced a string of saves in the first half to keep Leeds at bay.

He had already saved from Luis Sinisterra by the time Brennan Johnson’s 14th-minute goal put Forest ahead and then he kept out Luke Ayling and Willy Gnonto to ensure the three points.

The win is massive for Forest in their bid to move clear of the bottom three and they are now six points above 18th-placed Everton and may now begin to look up rather than down after strengthening their squad last month.

Leeds are definitely looking over their shoulders as after a seventh game without a win they are out of the bottom three on goal difference alone, with two games against Manchester United coming up in the next seven days.

They will live to regret coming up against Navas in this form as they squandered good chances in the first half, but could not find that cutting edge in the second half.

Forest enjoyed a busy end to the transfer window as they added three signings on deadline day and brought in Andre Ayew as a free agent two days later.

Highly decorated goalkeeper Navas was the only starter of those and immediately proved his calibre as he was forced into an early save.

Sinisterra darted into the penalty and flicked an effort towards goal but the former Real Madrid man got down well to keep it out.

Forest took a while to get going but once they did they soon went ahead.

Morgan Gibbs-White sent in a free-kick from the right which went all the way through to Johnson at the far post and the Wales international lashed in a low drive from the edge of the area.

Despite having the advantage, Forest could not take control of the game and Leeds pushed for an equaliser.

They created two big chances within the space of five minutes but could not convert either.

First Sinisterra blazed over Gnonto’s ball back across goal from just six yards out and then Navas came to Forest’s rescue again with another good stop.

Gnonto got in down the left again and squared a ball to Patrick Bamford, who completely missed his kick, but it fell invitingly to Ayling at the far post. However Navas was equal to the shot and palmed it away.

The 36-year-old was being worked hard and he made another save on the stroke of half-time to deny Gnonto’s fierce shot.

Italy forward Gnonto was again causing trouble for Forest early in the second half, but it was the hosts who had a great chance to double their lead.

Gibbs-White sent Neco Williams through on goal but, after lacking the legs to race clear, he cut back on to his left foot and sent his effort clear of the crossbar.

For all of Leeds’ possession they were not creating much and instead it was Forest who were enjoying the better moments in front of goal.

A good chance to seal the win fell to substitute Sam Surridge with 12 minutes remaining, but he curled over from a good position inside the area after being fed by Gibbs-White.