Gianni Infantino hinted FIFA is prepared to dial back on plans for a biennial World Cup and says hosting its premier international tournament in a single nation is a thing of the past .
FIFA, led by chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, had been promoting the idea to change the World Cup format and proposed the tournament takes place every two years.
Wenger s proposal would see a major tournament held every year, however, UEFA and CONMEBOL quickly retaliated, vocally opposing the plans and expressing scheduling concerns.
Speaking after a FIFA council meeting, president Infantino announced he would convene with football s governing bodies on December 20 to debate any potential football calendar reforms once again.
However, Infantino refused t…
Hungary and Portugal opened their respective Euro campaigns against each other on Tuesday at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest, in a game which saw the Portuguese secure three absolutely vital points in Group F, widely considered the group of death . All three goals came at the very end; a deflected shot from Raphael Guerreiro found its way past Peter Gulacsi in the 84th minute, a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty committed by Willi Orban on Rafa Silva two minutes later, and a wonderful stoppage-time combination which saw Rafa Silva set Ronaldo up and the Juventus superstar go around Gulacsi to slot home.
In the other game of the day in the group, France beat Germany by 1-0 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, courtesy of an own goal from Mats Hummels.
Hungary give good ac…
La Liga strugglers Hercules have appointed former Serbia coach Miroslav Djukic as manager.
He replaces Esteban Vigo, who was sacked on Sunday after a 4-0 home defeat by Osasuna left them bottom of La Liga. Djukic, 45, who failed to win a match in eight months as national coach in 2008, has signed until the end of the season, the Alicante-based club said on their website. He is best remembered in Spain for missing a late penalty for Deportivo Coruna on the final day of the 1993-94 season when a goal would have given the club their first league title. Djukic, 45, is a former Yugoslavia international defender and played for Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna and Tenerife in Spain. Djukic s last managerial role was with Belgian premier league side Excelsior Moeskroen until December 2009…
Kalidou Koulibaly has left Chelsea after only one season to join Saudi Professional League side Al-Hilal.
Senegal captain Koulibaly moved to England last summer from Napoli on a four-year deal in a transfer reported to be worth £34million.
The centre-back went on to make 32 appearances for Chelsea during a difficult season, but has now departed Stamford Bridge
Kalidou Koulibaly has completed a move to .
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
A club statement read: “We would like to thank Kalidou for his contributions on and off the pitch during his time at Stamford Bridge and wish him well for the next stage of his career.”
Koulibaly is not the first Chelsea player to make the move to Saudi Arabia. N’Golo Kante agreed to join Al-Ittihad on a…
Andre Villas-Boas is to become the new manager of Chelsea, according to reports in Portugal.
Reports on Monday claim that the English Premier League club have matched the 33-year-old s release clause at Porto, who Villas-Boas led to a cup, league and Europa League treble in his debut season at the club.
Chelsea have been looking for a new manager since sacking Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the 2009/10 campaign.
They were linked with a move for Turkey manager Guus Hiddink, who had a caretaker spell in charge of the club in 2009.
But it now appears Villas-Boas is destined for Stamford Bridge after just one season at Porto, with Chelsea said to have met the 15 million-euro release clause in his contract.
It would mean a return to the club where he s…
Bolton s Lee Chung-Yong will miss the new season after breaking his leg in Saturday s friendly against Newport County.
The 23-year-old midfielder underwent an operation on Saturday night after he sustained a double fracture of his right lower leg just a fortnight before the new English Premier League season kicks off.
The South Korea international was treated by paramedics and required oxygen following a challenge in the 25th minute from Newport midfielder Tom Miller, who was substituted immediately after the incident.
The midfielder has been an influential figure for Owen Coyle s side since his move from FC Seoul in 2009 and made 31 league appearances for Bolton last term, scoring three goals and providing six assists.
Lee also won Bolton s Player of th…
UEFA s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are damaging the Bundesliga by making it difficult for Wolfsburg to challenge Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, as well as European powerhouses like Real Madrid, says sporting director Klaus Allofs.
Wolfsburg are solely owned by car manufacturers Volkswagen and have previously been under investigation from UEFA as part of the FFP regulations.
Allofs believes the subsequent monetary constraints placed on the club due to their ownership structure have damaged the domestic league and make it tough for them to match the continent s biggest sides, who can draw revenue from multiple sponsorship deals.
We have to explain to UEFA that our money comes from a special situation where Volkswagen own 100 per cent. In principle, we cannot…
Hans-Joachim Eckert is surprised by Michael Garcia s criticism of FIFA s report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA s independent Ethics Committee, published the findings of the investigation into the next two competitions on Thursday.
The 42-page document cleared Russia and Qatar, hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively, of corruption claims.
However, both England and Australia came in for criticism for their respective 2018 and 2022 bids, particularly for their supposed attempts to woo the vote of former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who resigned from his position in 2011 amid allegations of bribery.
After the report was made public former United States attorney Ga…
Manchester City has made a €20 million bid for Espanyol left back , according to Sport.
According to the report, City has offered the deal for the 20-year-old and are currently negotiating with the Blanquiazules.
Martín started off his career with the youth club in 2015 and, since then, has impressed manager Quique Sánchez Flores enough to promote him to the senior club.
The young defender has performed so well in his time with the Catalan club, he was even offered a renewal on his contract until 2020.
In his debut year with Espanyol, Martín appeared in 31 games total and was a strong presence for his club on the left back position.
His performance has not gone unnoticed as full-back was once rumoured to make a move to Real Madrid, but the …
Sporting CP have reached an agreement with Leicester City for the transfer of Adrien Silva, with the Portugal midfielder s move to the Premier League now awaiting FIFA and Football Association approval.
Leicester requested a two-hour extension to Thursday s 2300BST deadline to get a reported £22million deal for the 28-year-old over the line.
Danny Drinkwater s late outgoing to Chelsea was confirmed shortly afterwards but there remained no word on Silva, who was photographed at Leicester s training ground.
Leicester are understood to be confident their paperwork is in order with the FA, while Sporting released a statement on Friday confirming the deal, providing FIFA give the green light.
The statement read: Sporting Club de Portugal informs the market th…