Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

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‘It’s not fair’: Crystal Palace fans march in protest at demotion from Europa League

  • ‘We earned the right to be there and will show support’

  • Palace in Conference League after ownership breach

Furious Crystal Palace supporters have demanded that Uefa reverse its decision to demote the FA Cup winners from the Europa League to the Conference League next season as they staged a protest march outside Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening.

It was confirmed last week that Uefa’s club financial control body had concluded Palace breached its multi-club ownership criteria, with the south London club expected to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) against a decision that their chair, Steve Parish, described as “probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football”.

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Leicester appoint former QPR manager Martí Cifuentes on three-year contract

  • Spaniard left QPR last month by mutual consent

  • Foxes had also spoken to Gary O’Neil and Chris Wilder

Leicester have confirmed the appointment of Martí Cifuentes to fill the vacancy left by Ruud van Nistelrooy after relegation from the Premier League last season.

The Spaniard left QPR last month having been placed on gardening leave in April at the tail end of a Championship campaign that resulted in a 15th-placed finish in the 24-club division. Rangers finished seven points above the relegation places and the 43-year-old Cifuentes left by mutual consent last month.

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Premier League fans in Asia want to feel valued – and not just as a source of revenue

Pre-season trips to Asia may not be new for English clubs, but they remain a huge global engagement opportunity

Fifty years ago, Arsenal lost 2-0 to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, with jet-lagged players struggling to deal with frogs bouncing around the Merdeka Stadium pitch as well as the legendary local striker Mokhtar Dahari.

Since then, however, many aspects of Asian tours by English clubs have changed. They have become, mostly, slick affairs. This summer, Arsenal will visit neighbouring Singapore for games against Newcastle and Milan. Then to Hong Kong for an unusual north London derby against a Tottenham team that will also travel to South Korea to face Newcastle. Liverpool visit Japan and Hong Kong just weeks after Manchester United were in action there on a post-season tour, which they finished in Malaysia.

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Luka Modric’s Milan move proves that a slower Serie A still has plenty of cachet | Jonathan Wilson

Ballon d’Or winner becomes the latest veteran, after Kevin De Bruyne, to be pulled in by Italian game’s leisurely pace of life

Luka Modric will turn 40 in September. He has played 930 games over the course of a career and has won seven league titles and six Champions Leagues. He even broke the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly to claim the Ballon d’Or after inspiring Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018.

He rarely lasts a full 90 minutes these days, didn’t start a game during the Club World Cup and was spared the indignity of coming on for his Madrid farewell with the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain long since lost. He could have retired five years ago and still been one of the most respected players in the history of the game but, his eyes on next summer’s World Cup, when his contract at Real Madrid expired Modric chose to join Milan.

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Parish plots Crystal Palace response after demotion with Uefa braced for fight

FA Cup winners feel hard done by after being banned from Europa League due to a breach of multi-club ownership rules

As an emotional Steve Parish said, it felt like “winning the lottery and going to the counter and you don’t get the prize”. Confirmation from Uefa on Friday of Crystal Palace’s demotion from the Europa League to Conference League had been expected since European football’s governing body delayed its decision to await the outcome of Lyon’s appeal against being relegated to Ligue 2.

That did not make it any easier for Parish, who has proudly overseen Palace’s rise from the brink of extinction in 2010 to a first major trophy. When the final whistle blew at Wembley to seal Palace’s FA Cup final victory against Manchester City eight weeks ago, Parish was greeted by a massive bear hug from John Textor, who at that stage was Palace’s largest shareholder, but had spectacularly fallen out with the chair over not being allowed more of an influence.

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Morgan Gibbs-White move to Spurs on hold as Nottingham Forest consider legal action

  • Forest also preparing complaint to Premier League

  • Spurs alleged to have made illegal approach for player

Morgan Gibbs-White’s expected £60m move to Tottenham is on hold because Nottingham Forest are considering legal action over an alleged illegal approach for the player.

Forest are also preparing a complaint to the Premier League, arguing that Spurs’ conduct surrounding the proposed transfer has been inappropriate. It had been expected that Gibbs-White would undergo a medical on Friday before completing the move.

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Tottenham set to sign Morgan Gibbs-White after triggering £60m release clause

  • England midfielder to undergo medical on Friday

  • Gibbs-White scored seven and had eight assists last term

Tottenham are poised to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest after triggering a £60m release clause. The England midfielder is expected to undergo a medical on Friday and could complete the move in the next 24 hours.

Gibbs-White has also attracted interest from Manchester City since excelling at Forest, whom he joined from boyhood club Wolves in 2022 for an initial £25m in a deal that was worth up to £42.5m.

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Brad Friedel breaks down USMNT striker & goalkeeper dilemma! + Saudi League is now ahead of MLS?

Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros bring on legendary USMNT Goalkeeper Brad Friedel to chat all things USMNT including their current roster questions at striker and goalkeeper. Brad Friedel explains why patience is necessary as Pochettino change the culture with the USMNT. Christian and Alexis then break down the most recent results in the Club World Cup, including PSG’s annihilation of Real Madrid! Later, Christian and Alexis break down all the newest updates behind Thomas Partey’s recent arrest and why it took so long for a 4 year investigation to reach this conclusion.

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Milan’s Serie A home fixture against Como could be played in Perth, Australia

  • Italian FA gives approval for February fixture to be moved

  • Game would be first in major European league held abroad

Milan’s home game against Como in the 2025-26 Serie A campaign could become the first major European domestic league fixture played outside its home country, as plans to move the fixture to Australia took a step forward.

Italy’s football federation (FIGC) has given the green light for the match to be played in Perth – some 8,500 miles away from Milan – next February. The proposal moves European football into uncharted territory after previous requests to stage domestic league matches abroad were knocked back by authorities.

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Sunderland on verge of signing Simon Adingra from Brighton in £21m deal

  • Forward will be Regis Le Bris’s fourth summer addition

  • Sunderland linked with move for Jordan Henderson

Sunderland are to confirm the signing of Simon Adingra from Brighton for an initial £21m plus bonuses as they continue their preparations for life in the Premier League.

It is understood that the Ivory Coast forward, who has made 73 appearances for Brighton since signing from Danish side FC Nordsjælland in 2022, is on Wearside to complete his move after having his medical on Wednesday. Sunderland have a longstanding interest in Adingra and he was part of negotiations in January in which their playoff final hero Tommy Watson moved to the south coast for £10m, before returning on loan, although a potential swap deal failed to materialise.

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Textor insists Palace influence ‘not decisive’ as club fear Europa League ban

  • Club face threat of demotion to Conference League

  • Textor also has majority stake in Ligue 1 side Lyon

John Textor has insisted that he didn’t have a decisive influence at Crystal Palace as the FA Cup winners await Uefa’s decision on whether they can compete in next season’s Europa League.

Palace are facing the threat of being demoted to the Conference League by European football’s governing body because the American businessman also owns a majority stake in Ligue 1 side Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League. The French club have successfully appealed against relegation to Ligue 2, with Uefa having delayed its ruling on Palace last week pending the outcome of Lyon’s appeal.

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