Category Archives: Football

Roman Abramovich confirms Chelsea are for sale and writes off £1.5bn loans

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  • Billionaires Wyss and Boehly part of interested consortium
  • Abramovich says net proceeds will go to Ukraine war victims

Roman Abramovich has confirmed he has put Chelsea up for sale and has written off the £1.5bn of loans he has made to the club. The billionaires Hansjörg Wyss and Todd Boehly are part of a consortium trying to buy the Premier League team.

Sources have said at least one other group is preparing to make an offer this week. There is a sense that a bidding war would help Abramovich maintain some form of leverage and the first move came when Wyss, a Swiss businessman, revealed that he had been invited to join a consortium aiming to own Chelsea.

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Russia suspended from all Fifa and Uefa competitions until further notice

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  • Russia had been due to face Poland in World Cup play-off
  • Women’s side set to miss out on place at Euro 2022

Fifa and Uefa have acted in unison to suspend Russian teams from international football competition.

The most powerful bodies in football acted after days of growing protest. Russia has now been removed from qualification for this winter’s World Cup, and its remaining club side will no longer compete in the Europa League.

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Chelsea’s Abramovich ‘trying to help’ in Ukraine-Russia conflict

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Spokesperson for billionaire says Russian owner of football club was contacted by Ukrainian side

The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, is reportedly mediating over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although his spokesperson has acknowledged he would have “limited” influence.

The move comes amid pressure from campaigners and MPs for Abramovich to be targeted by western sanctions. He made his first public comment since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, via his Chelsea spokesperson, to claim his help had been requested.

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Abramovich hands ‘stewardship and care of Chelsea’ to charitable foundation

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  • Russian bought Premier League club in 2003
  • Abramovich remains owner but relinquishes running of club

Roman Abramovich has passed the stewardship of Chelsea to the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation. The Russian, who bought the club in 2003, remains the owner but has relinquished the running of Chelsea after a call in parliament for him to be sanctioned amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich, provided he is not sanctioned, can continue to fund the club but the focus on him has provoked this move on the eve of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool. Abramovich has vehemently disputed reports suggesting his alleged closeness to Vladimir Putin and Russia or that he has done anything to merit sanctions being imposed against him.

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Revealed: how bookies clamp down on successful gamblers and exploit the rest

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Stake factoring is a way of grading customers according to their success and is widespread in the betting industry

On any given Saturday, Rory would spend several hours glued to a screen flickering with hundreds of football and horse racing bets placed by customers of the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power.

One of multiple insiders from firms including Paddy Power Betfair, Ladbrokes and William Hill who spoke on condition of anonymity, Rory was part of an obscure corner of the gambling industry that exists to maximise profits by clamping down on successful punters.

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Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid: Champions League last 16 – live!

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3 min: Real pass it around the back awhile. It’s a period of sterile possession that encourages plenty of pantomime whistling from the home crowd.

1 min: The first roar of the evening as Mbappe turns gracefully into space and immediately sprays a pass wide right to Di Maria. The move fizzles out but what an early statement of intent by Mbappe.

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Rebekah Vardy said she would ‘love’ to leak stories about Coleen Rooney to media

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Vardy is suing Rooney for libel over allegation that Vardy leaked stories from Rooney’s private Instagram account

Rebekah Vardy said she would “love” to leak stories about Coleen Rooney to the media, according to messages disclosed at the high court.

The court filings suggest Vardy and her former agent Caroline Watt had an ongoing relationship with reporters at the Sun newspaper and discussed at length how to leak stories to the tabloid.

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Fifa president: more World Cups could save African migrants from death in the sea

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  • Gianni Infantino makes remarks to Council of Europe assembly
  • Outrage at comments related to biennial World Cup plan

The president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, has said his plans for a World Cup every two years could stop African migrants from finding “death in the sea”, in an extraordinary address to European politicians.

Speaking at a session of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, a trans-national body dedicated to the support of human rights, Infantino said that countries outside Europe needed greater access to national football competitions to prevent drastic consequences.

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Deadly crush reported outside Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon

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  • At least six fans dead, 40 injured after crush at Olembe Stadium
  • Incident took place at hosts’ game with Comoros in Yaoundé

Dozens of fans have been injured and at least six are reported to be dead after a crush occurred outside Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, at the host nation’s Africa Cup of Nations match against Comoros.

Victims are understood to have been admitted to the city’s Messassi hospital after the incident, which occurred as supporters attempted to gain access to the ground’s south entrance for the round-of-16 match. The circumstances, including whether the injuries occurred before kick-off or during the game, are unclear but a local official has said the crush had tragic consequences.

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Former Qatar 2022 employee facing fresh legal action over loan payments

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  • Abdullah Ibhais cannot pay loan because of withheld money
  • Ibhais did not go along with official line over workers’ strike

A former employee of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee, jailed on contested corruption charges, faces fresh legal action after his former bosses withheld his severance pay meaning he will default on a loan, his family say.

Abdullah Ibhais, a former media manager, was last year given a three-year sentence for misappropriating state funds – a charge that he insists was concocted as punishment for him criticising the handling of a migrant workers’ strike.

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Cameroonian senator and soldier killed in lawless anglophone region

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Opposition figure shot and a soldier killed with an explosive device in a separate attacks in the region

A prominent opposition figure and a soldier have been killed in separate attacks in Cameroon’s restive anglophone regions, intensifying security concerns as the country hosts the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament.

Henry Kemende, a senator for the Social Democratic Front party, was shot dead in Bamenda city in the north-west region. His party, who blamed separatist fighters for the attack, said gunmen forced him from his car and shot him in the chest.

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Protests over Cristiano Ronaldo statue in former Portuguese colony of Goa

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Local politician says statue is meant to inspire young people, but critics say it is inappropriate

He is idolised as one of the greatest footballers on earth, with his number seven shirt treasured by millions of youngsters dreaming of superstardom. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s astonishing success has not been matched by those seeking to immortalise his image.

A statue of Ronaldo in action unveiled this week in Goa has triggered protests by some locals who say Indian players should be honoured ahead of one from the country that was Goa’s colonial ruler until 60 years ago.

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China bans footballers in national teams from getting tattoos

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Authorities also tell inked players to remove or cover up their designs to set ‘a good example for society’

Chinese authorities have banned footballers from getting tattoos and instructed national team players who have been inked to remove them or cover them up to set a “good example for society”.

A growing number of high-profile Chinese players have tattoos, including the international defender Zhang Linpeng, who has previously been told to cover up while appearing for the national team and his club Guangzhou FC.

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Guardian readers nominate their person of the year

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From the frontline of Covid to inspirational sports personalities, our worldwide audience name their choices

Guardian readers were asked to offer suggestions of who they would choose as their person of the year. Dozens of names were put forward – from scientists to sports personalities, from healthcare workers to climate activists.

And in a sign of the ongoing debate overgender issues, many readers also nominated the author JK Rowling, and online content creator Ranboo.

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The best of the long read in 2021

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Our 20 favourite pieces of the year

After growing up in a Zimbabwe convulsed by the legacy of colonialism, when I got to Oxford I realised how many British people still failed to see how empire had shaped lives like mine – as well as their own

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How the Guardian ranked the 100 best male footballers in the world 2021

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Thomas Hitzlsperger, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Roque Júnior are three of the 219 judges on the panel for our 10th list

It is that time of the year again when we prepare to present our list of the 100 best male footballers in the world. This will be our 10th list and notable football figures such as Luiz Felipe Scolari, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Roque Júnior joined the judges’ panel for the anniversary.

Former players such as Javier Zanetti, Franky Vercauteren and Emre Belozoglu also join a selection of coaches, broadcasters, reporters, correspondents and editors from around the world to form a knowledgable and truly global jury.

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Patrick Assoumou Eyi, leading football coach in Gabon, accused of raping boys

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  • Claims made against former coach of under-17 national team
  • Allegations submitted to Fifa by the players union Fifpro

A long-serving coach in Gabon is facing claims he raped, groomed and exploited young players, the Guardian can reveal.

Alleged victims claim that Patrick Assoumou Eyi – known as “Capello” – abused boys in his previous role as head coach of Gabon’s under-17 team and in his current role as technical director for La Ligue de l’Estuaire, the country’s highest league. One former player who was coached by Eyi said that the coach would lure alleged victims to his home, which he called the “Garden of Eden”.

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Premier League announces record 42 positive Covid cases in week’s testing

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  • Manchester United waiting for ruling on game at Brentford
  • Covid pass to be mandatory but not every fan will be checked

A carefully crafted sense of stability around English football began to crumble on Monday night as record positive tests and the possibility of more postponements confirmed the return of Covid‑19 as a threat to the game.

Forty-two Premier League players and officials tested positive for the virus in the seven days that ended on Sunday, a record since testing began and more than three times the 12 of the previous week. Manchester United are among the teams hit, with the club on Monday closing the first‑team area their training centre for 24 hours and delaying travel to London as they waited for a decision from the league on whether their match against Brentford on Tuesday can go ahead.

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How Maradona inspired Paolo Sorrentino’s film about Naples, Hand of God – and inadvertently saved his life

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The Italian director’s new, semi-autobiographical film reveals a charming and rarely seen side of his home city

‘This, for me, is the most beautiful place on Earth,” Paolo Sorrentino told Filippo Scotti, the actor playing the director’s younger self in his latest film, as their 1980s Riva speedboat chopped the waves of the Bay of Naples. Their view stretched from the precipitous peninsula of Sorrento all the way west towards Posillipo. The two promontories flank the sprawling port city, offering a warm embrace to all those who disembark there. Sorrentino’s new film, the Hand of God, opens with that same view: the sun-mottled bay, whose peace is disturbed by the sound of four Rivas as they speed towards the shore. The film is both a love letter to, and a portal into, Paolo Sorrentino’s Naples.

In cinemas now and on Netflix this week, The Hand of God sees the Academy award-winning director return to his home city for the first time since One Man Up, his 2001 debut. Sorrentino tells the story of his own coming of age, up to the moment when his life is shattered by the death of his parents in a tragic accident. Sorrentino’s story is a tale of great grief, loss and perseverance, set in a middle-class part of Naples, a far cry from the impoverished neighbourhoods shown in the city’s other recent portraits: Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend or the mafia-focused Gomorrah series.

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Former head of Barcelona’s youth system accused of sexual abuse of children

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  • Albert Benaiges was coach at Barça academy from 1992 to 2012
  • Benaiges denies accusations of more than 60 witnesses

Albert Benaiges, the former head of FC Barcelona’s youth system and the man who was credited with having discovered Andrés Iniesta, has been accused of sexual abuse of children in his charge over 20 years, accusations the 71-year-old strongly denies.

According to an investigation carried out by the Catalan newspaper Ara, more than 60 witnesses have come forward to detail his actions when he was a PE teacher at a school in the Les Corts neighbourhood of Barcelona during the 1980s and 1990s. One former student has made a formal statement to the police and others are expected to follow.

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