Author: moshood

Four people have been arrested in Spain under suspicion of hanging an effigy of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior off a bridge in January.

An inflatable doll dressed in a Vinicius shirt was hung from the railings with a banner that read “Madrid hates Real Madrid” ahead of Real’s Copa Del Rey game with city rivals Atletico at the start of the year.

And Spanish police confirmed on Tuesday that four suspects had been apprehended.

They tweeted: “Arrested in #Madrid 4 people who allegedly hung a mannequin with the #Vinicius shirt on a bridge near the Ciudad Deportiva del @realmadrid.”

The arrests follow the latest racism scandal that has engulfed Spanish football, with Vinicius targeted by racist chants during Sunday’s LaLiga game with Valencia.

The Brazil international threatened to leave the pitch in the second half after being subjected to alleged monkey chants at the Mestalla.

His club Real Madrid said the abuse constitutes a “hate crime” and filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office and Vinicius himself has highlighted what he describes as “continuous episodes spread across several cities in Spain”.

Valencia confirmed police had identified a fan who made racist gestures at Vinicius and that individual faces a lifetime stadium ban from the Mestalla.

Vinicius tweeted on Monday night: “Every round away from home is an unpleasant surprise. And there were many this season. Death wishes, hanged doll, many criminal screams… All registered.

“But the speech always falls on ‘isolated cases’, ‘a fan’. No, these are not isolated cases. They are continuous episodes spread across several cities in Spain (and even in a television programme).

“The evidence is there in the video. Now I ask: how many of these racists had names and photos exposed on websites? I answer to make it easier: zero. None to tell a sad story or make those fake public apologies.

“What is missing to criminalise these people? And punish clubs sportingly? Why don’t sponsors charge La Liga? Don’t televisions bother to broadcast this barbarity every weekend?

“The problem is very serious and communications no longer work. Not blaming me to justify criminal acts either. You are not football, you are inhuman.”

LaLiga president Javier Tebas responded to an earlier Vinicius post, in which the Brazil international said racism was “normal”, by accusing the forward of “criticising and insulting” the league.

In another tweet on Monday, Tebas said: “Neither Spain nor @LaLiga are racist. It is very unfair to say this.

“How @LaLiga we denounce and fight racism with all rigidity within our competences. This season there were 9 cases of racist insults (8 of them for insults against @vinijr)

“We always identify the violators and take the complaint to the legislating bodies. It doesn’t matter that they are few, they are relentless.

“We cannot allow the image of a competition that is about the symbol of peoples union to be tarnished, where more than 200 players are of black origin in 42 clubs that receive in each round the respect and affection of the fans, being the racism an extremely specific case (9 complaints) that we are going to eliminate.”

Juventus have been docked 10 points by the Italian football federation for irregularities in the club’s accounting.

The Serie A side were initially hit with a 15-point sanction in January, but the penalty was rescinded after an appeal.

The federation has now moved to issue a new punishment after the federal court of appeal intervened, meaning the club could miss out on European football next season.

The sanctions relate to the club having artificially inflated the value of players in their accounts using capital gains.

The appeal court, whilst upholding the charges against the club, acquitted officials Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti, Assia Grazioli Venier, Caitlin Mary Hughes, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio and Enrico Vellano of wrongdoing.

Former Tottenham sporting director Fabio Paratici, who performed the same role at Juventus from 2018-21, received a two-year global ban from football from FIFA in April over his part in the matter, forcing him to resign from his position at Spurs.

The club said in a statement that they had taken note of the ruling and reserved “the right to read the reasons to evaluate a possible appeal”.

They added that the decision “arouses great bitterness in the club and in its millions of supporters” who have found themselves “penalised by the application of sanctions that do not seem to take into account the principle of proportionality”.

The points deduction sees the club drop to seventh in the Serie A table, a point outside the European qualification places.

Nick Pope ensured Newcastle booked their Champions League place with a game to spare as he denied Leicester a priceless victory in their bid for Premier League survival.

The Magpies’ summer signing kept out Timothy Castagne’s volley in the second minute of stoppage time with his first save of the game to secure a 0-0 draw on a night when the home side battered at the door but were unable to find a way through.

Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron were both denied by the woodwork, but a point was all their team needed to ensure their place among the continent’s big boys for the first time in 20 years.

By contrast, Leicester, who are still two points adrift of safety, will head into their final-day clash with West Ham knowing their fate is not in their own hands.

Eddie Howe’s men were lauded by a crowd of 52,152 on the final whistle, having secured Champions League football for just the third time in the club’s history and way ahead of the schedule drawn up by the club’s Saudi-backed owners when they took control in October 2021.

In some senses it proved to be a frustrating 90 minutes – it might have been more so had key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes seen red rather than yellow for a poor early challenge of Boubakary Soumare – but it was ultimately the bigger picture which mattered.

Howe was forced to make a last-minute change when, after he had taken part in the warm-up, midfielder Joelinton was unable to start and was replaced by Elliot Anderson.

Any fears the reshuffle might unsettle his team proved unfounded as they took the game by the scruff of the neck amid a party atmosphere at St James’ Park, although Guimaraes was perhaps fortunate to escape with only a booking for his studs-up ninth-minute clash with Soumare.

The Magpies dominated possession but in the early stages were unable to find a telling final ball.

Almiron, who had made another high-octane start, fired over after cutting inside from the right and Anderson tested goalkeeper Daniel Iversen for the first time with a curling attempt.

Alexander Isak was seeing plenty of the ball down the left but sliced a long-range effort well wide as the Magpies piled forward repeatedly without ever really being able to summon up the required precision to make the pressure tell.

For their part, City attempted to hit Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho long and early and, although they achieved a measure of success, they met with stubborn resistance from Fabian Schar and Sven Botman.

Wilson twice went close to his 19th goal of the season four minutes before the break when he stabbed a shot against a post and then saw Wilfred Ndidi clear his follow-up header off the line, while Almiron was similarly denied by the woodwork before Isak steered the rebound wide seconds later.

Wilson headed over from a Kieran Trippier corner in stoppage time after Iversen had misjudged the flight and the half ended goalless.

James Maddison entered the fray at the break as a replacement for Iheanacho, but the traffic continued to head very much in the direction of his team’s goal, with Isak and Almiron menacing out wide, although the massed ranks of blue held impressively firm.

Iversen had to turn a 59th-minute Isak snapshot over his crossbar and block Sean Longstaff’s 76th-minute drive with a foot, but it was the Foxes who almost snatched victory at the death when Pope was forced into his first save of the game to keep out Castagne’s stoppage-time volley.

Marcelo Bielsa has been appointed as Uruguay head coach.

The 67-year-old had been out of football management since leaving Leeds almost 15 months ago.

The Uruguayan Football Association confirmed Bielsa’s appointment on a deal running until the 2026 World Cup.

He succeeds Diego Alonso as national team boss.

Alonso’s contract expired after the World Cup in Qatar earlier this season, where Uruguay suffered a shock group-stage exit.

Bielsa served as manager of Argentina from 1998 to 2004 and he also had a four-year stint in charge of Chile.

Bielsa guided Leeds back to the Premier League from the Championship in 2020 and was one of the most popular managers in the club’s history.

But he left in February last year following a run of four successive league defeats.

His lengthy managerial career has also included spells with Athletic Bilbao, Marseille and Lille.

Uruguay are currently 16th in FIFA’s world rankings, with Bielsa’s first major campaign at the helm set to be next year’s Copa America in the United States.

Bernardo Silva struck twice in the first half as Manchester City produced a sensational performance to dethrone holders Real Madrid and reach the Champions League final.

Eder Militao also turned into his own net and Julian Alvarez added another late on as City claimed a comprehensive 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium to power into next month’s Istanbul showpiece 5-1 on aggregate.

City’s victory was every bit as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests with the 14-time European champions struggling to live with the pace and movement of Pep Guardiola’s mesmeric side.

Toni Kroos did hit the woodwork at 1-0 but it was a rare bright moment from a Real team that was simply overwhelmed.

It was sweet revenge for City after defeat at the same stage last season and the upcoming final against Inter Milan could now be the crowning glory of a magnificent treble.

James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita will all leave Liverpool when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

Milner and Firmino joined the Reds in June 2015 and both played in the 2019 Champions League final victory over Tottenham.

Oxlade-Chamberlain arrived in June 2017 and Keita the following summer, with the quartet all playing their part in the Reds’ Premier League title win in the 2019-2020 campaign.

A Liverpool statement said: “We can confirm Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will leave the club upon the expiry of their contracts this summer.

“Special acknowledgements will be paid to the quartet at Anfield, with further tributes to follow at the end of the season.”

Milner (37) has been linked with moves to Brighton and hometown club Leeds after spending eight years at Anfield.

He made his Premier League debut for Leeds aged 16 in 2002 and also had spells at Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City before joining Liverpool in 2015.

He has made 617 Premier League appearances in total, behind only Gareth Barry (652) and Ryan Giggs (632) on the all-time list.

The midfielder overtook Frank Lampard when making his 610th top-flight appearance early last month in a 0-0 draw at Chelsea.

Liverpool signed Milner on a free transfer from City, with whom he won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the League Cup during his five years at the Etihad Stadium.

In his eight seasons with Liverpool, he won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup and made the last of his 61 appearances for England in 2016.

Firmino has scored 109 goals in all competitions for the Reds since joining from Hoffenheim, including 11 in 33 games this season.

West Ham are one game from ending their 43-year trophy drought after they kept their heads to sink AZ Alkmaar 1-0 and reach the final of the Europa Conference League.

Substitute Pablo Fornals scored a stoppage-time winner to prompt ugly scenes at the final whistle, with West Ham players and coaching staff trying to stop AZ ultras from attacking away fans behind the dug-out.

It was a shameful end to a battling performance from the Hammers as they secured a 3-1 victory on aggregate.

A year earlier West Ham had lost the plot at the same stage of the Europa League, crashing out at Eintracht Frankfurt after Aaron Cresswell was sent off and David Moyes booted a ball at a ball boy.

But this time West Ham held on to their composure, and no ball kids were harmed, as they booked a first European final in 47 years, and the chance of some first silverware since the 1980 FA Cup, in Prague on June 7.

It was no mean feat despite the less-than illustrious opposition. AZ have a phenomenal home record in Europe, unbeaten in their previous 25 matches, and had only lost here once to an English team – Moyes’ Everton in 2007 which ended a run of 32 games without defeat.

Since then Manchester United, Arsenal, Valencia and Lazio have all tried, and failed, to win at the AFAS stadium, a ground that is such a fortress it even has a moat surrounding it.

So West Ham’s 2-1 lead from the first leg always looked slim, and none more so than when AZ dangerman Jesper Karlsson had a shot deflected over with only one minute on the clock.

But West Ham, cheered on in the away end by former striker Andy Carroll held their nerve and allowed AZ to keep possession and play in front of them, while looking to pounce on the break.

Thilo Kehrer began to get some joy down the right and when his cross was headed away from Michail Antonio it fell to Jarrod Bowen, who lashed his shot wide.

Lucas Paqueta twice tried to send Antonio through on goal, the first after a 40-yard run up the pitch, but twice the pass was too long.

Yet the Brazilian was slowly exerting his influence on the match and when he collected the ball from Antonio, he cut inside on his left foot and his curling shot from the edge of the box just clipped the far post.

West Ham hearts were in mouths before the interval, however, when a low cross from Milos Kerkez rolled menacingly across the six-yard box before it was half-cleared and the follow-up from Vangelis Pavlidis was deflected wide.

Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola had little to do in the first half, but he was tested early in the second and held a drive from Sven Mijnans before tipping a Pavlidis shot over the top and saving from Pantelis Hatzidiakos.

Likewise home keeper Mathew Ryan, who then had to paw away a 20-yard effort from Declan Rice.

West Ham had fallen foul of some of Europe’s dark arts last season, but here they were holding their own; Tomas Soucek and Kehrer were both booked for timewasting at throw-ins.

Nayef Aguerd sliced a chance to put the tie to bed wide as the clock ticked down, but in stoppage time Fornals raced clear of a tiring AZ defence and slotted the ball past Ryan in front of the delirious 900-odd travelling supporters.

Moyes, Rice and others then had to leap over advertising hoardings and try to prevent the hooligans from attacking the West Ham friends and family area behind the dug-out.

It was not a nice ending, but when the dust settles Rice, destined to leave West Ham this summer, will know he now has the chance to join Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds as the only captains to lift a major trophy for the club, and what a parting gift that would be.

Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been hit with an eight-month ban after admitting breaches of betting rules.

Toney was charged by the Football Association last November for 262 alleged breaches over a four-year period.

The 27-year-old – who made his long-awaited England debut in March – admitted to 232 of the counts, with 30 having been subsequently withdrawn.

Following a personal hearing an independent regulatory commission imposed Toney’s sanctions, which included a £50,000 fine.

He will not be able to play until January 17th, 2024, but can train with Brentford from September 17th.

Toney issued a statement expressing his disappointment at the outcome.

“Today I have received notification of my eight-month ban from football following a hearing before an FA regulatory commission that took place yesterday,” the Brentford striker wrote on Twitter.

“I am naturally disappointed that I will be unable to play for the next eight months.

“The written reasons for the commission’s decision have not yet been published, so I make no further comment at this point other than to thank my family and friends, Brentford FC and our fans for their continued support, through what has been a very difficult time.

“I now focus on returning to play the game I love next season.”

The written reasons behind the decision of the independent regulatory commission are to be published “in due course” and will be reviewed by both the FA and Brentford.

“Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football-related activity with immediate effect for eight months, which runs up to and including 16 January 2024, fined £50,000 and warned as to his future conduct for breaches of the FA’s betting rules,” an FA statement read.

“The Brentford FC forward was charged with 262 breaches of FA Rule E8 in total between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021. The FA subsequently withdrew 30 of these breaches and he admitted to the remaining 232.
“His sanctions were subsequently imposed by an independent regulatory commission following a personal hearing. He is permitted to return to training only with his club for the final four months of his suspension starting from 17 September 2023.”

The written reasons behind the decision of the independent regulatory commission are to be published “in due course” and will be reviewed by both the FA and Brentford.

The Bees chose to make no further comment and will be “considering our next steps”, which could include an appeal against the suspension.

Toney scored 20 Premier League goals for the Bees this season, but will now sit out the remaining two matches – at Tottenham and then home to leaders Manchester City – as Thomas Frank’s side look to consolidate a top-10 finish.
The loss of Toney, though, is likely to be more keenly felt at the start of the next campaign.

Speaking last December following the announcement of the FA’s charges, Frank had been questioned on what the club might do should Toney end up facing a lengthy suspension.

“We don’t have anything specific lined up if something should happen,” Frank said.

“We are always in the market, we always try to improve the squad so, of course, we are aware of players out there and we have a plan we are following, but no specific one for potentially replacing Ivan.”

Rafael Nadal will address reports he is set to pull out of the French Open at a press conference on Thursday.

Nadal pulled out of the Italian Open in Rome as he continues to manage the hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open.

The Spaniard had hoped to be fit by the start of the clay-court season, but last month revealed the treatment he had been having had not worked.

Nadal has never gone into the French Open, which he has won 14 times, without at least one warm-up event on clay.

There will be a press conference at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Mallorca at 1500BST on Thursday, where an announcement is expected on the 36-year-old’s plans for Roland Garros.

“If he plays [the French Open] or not and the reasons either way will only be communicated tomorrow,” a statement from the player’s representatives read.

Speaking on Twitter about his decision to pull out of the Rome Open, Nadal said: “Despite having noticed an improvement in recent days, there have been many months without having been able to train at a high level and the re-adaptation process has its time, and I have no choice but to accept it and continue working.”

Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes served up a grandstand finish to take Newcastle to the brink of Champions League football with a resounding victory over Brighton.

Having seen Deniz Undav drag the Seagulls back into the game after his own goal and Dan Burn’s towering header had given the Magpies a 2-0 half-time lead, Wilson scored his 18th of the season and then set up Guimaraes to wrap up a 4-1 win at the death in front of a delirious crowd of 52,122 at St James’ Park.

Eddie Howe’s men will be assured of a top-four finish if Liverpool lose to Aston Villa on Saturday – even a draw might ultimately prove enough as a result of their superior goal difference – but can complete the job themselves in any case if they beat struggling Leicester on Tyneside on Monday evening.

For much of the game, this was not the Brighton which effectively ended Arsenal’s title challenge on Sunday, partly because of the absence of Levi Colwill, Alexis Mac Allister, Julio Enciso and Evan Ferguson from the starting line-up, but largely as a result of the relentless pressure exerted by their opponents.

Joe Willock saw an early cross hacked away to Miguel Almiron, whose shot was blocked at source as the Magpies found their rhythm, and Fabian Schar drilled a ninth-minute free-kick straight at the grateful Jason Steele.

Willock fired just wide from Almiron’s pull-back seconds later, and the Paraguay international cleared the target by some distance from a tight angle after the former Arsenal midfielder had returned the favour.

Such was the Magpies’ early intensity that the Seagulls were struggling to play their way out of their own half, much to manager Roberto De Zerbi’s agitation, although keeper Nick Pope was tested for the first time by Danny Welbeck’s 16th-minute attempt after Kaoru Mitoma had picked him out.

But the pressure finally told with 23 minutes gone when Trippier drilled the latest of a series of corners to the near post and in his attempt to clear it, Undav could only glance the ball into his own net.

Burn saw a sharply-executed 34th-minute shot on the turn deflected wide after the visitors failed to deal with another Trippier corner and although Mitoma chanced his arm with an ambitious 37th-minute strike which failed to engage Pope, Newcastle extended their lead deep into added time.

With Joelinton still seething at a Moises Caicedo challenge which went unpunished by referee Robert Jones, Tripper took full advantage of a decision which did go his side’s way seconds later, curling a free-kick on to the head of Burn, who powered it past the helpless Steele.

Almiron passed up a chance to put the game beyond the visitors within five minutes of the restart when he shot straight at Steele from Willock’s knock-down, and the miss proved costly within seconds when Undav ran on to Billy Gilmour’s through-ball and beat Pope to make amends for his earlier contribution.

Mac Allister, Enciso and Ferguson were swiftly thrown into the mix and just as quickly, Willock departed clutching his hamstring and Elliot Anderson joined the fray.

But there was no let-up as the home side saw penalty appeals waved away after Burn appeared to have his shirt tugged and Steele made a superb save to keep out Alexander Isak’s header.

Enciso glanced Caicedo’s cross wide of Pope’s far post as the game became increasingly open, but the Magpies launched a devastating late assault to wrap up the win.

Wilson added a third when he rounded off an 89th-minute counter-attack sparked by Almiron before setting up Guimaraes to make it 4-1 in injury-time.