London, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned his players that “personal agendas” will not be tolerated as he seeks a change of culture at Old Trafford. Solskjaer has overseen a huge turnover in his squad since taking charge in 2018. Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez were high-profile departures …
Read More »Kante stays away from Chelsea training over virus fears
London, United Kingdom | AFP | N’Golo Kante has been allowed to stay away from Chelsea’s return to training due to his coronavirus fears. The French World Cup winner joined up with Frank Lampard’s squad on Tuesday as Chelsea resumed training following the Premier League’s decision to allow socially distanced sessions. But the 29-year-old missed …
Read More »Vipers declared Uganda champions
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Soccer governing body FUFA has declared Vipers the 2019/2020 champions, applying a rule that enables a season to conclude if it cannot continue after 75% of the league has been played. The Star Times Uganda Premier League clubs had played over 80% of the …
Read More »‘Inhumane’ – FIFPro chief warns against punishing players who refuse to train over virus fears
Paris, France | AFP | The head of global players’ union FIFPro has given his backing to footballers who do no want to return to training because of coronavirus fears and cautioned that it would be “inhumane and unacceptable” if they were to be punished for taking such a stance. Jonas …
Read More »‘Football is closer to coming back’, says Klopp as Liverpool return to work
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is optimistic about the chances of completing the Premier League season as the champions-elect returned to training in small groups on Wednesday. Klopp’s side were just two wins away from ending a 30-year wait to win the title when the …
Read More »UEFA chief hopes Champions League will finish by ‘end of August’
Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is aiming to finish this year’s Champions League by the end of August as football in Europe slowly starts to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. “Our plan is to finish it between now and the end of August,” Ceferin said in an interview with Portuguese …
Read More »The night Real Madrid and European football struck gold
Paris, France | AFP | Exactly 60 years ago, in an era when going to a big football match meant cramming together with no thought to social distancing, 127,000 people crowded into Hampden Park in Glasgow to see the European Cup final and were rewarded with “a fantasy staged in heaven”. …
Read More »Lancashire offer to stage Test cricket during crisis as they post strong earnings
London, United Kingdom | AFP | The coronavirus has left the English cricket season in limbo but Lancashire were dealt a devastating personal blow when they lost their chairman, David Hodgkiss. Just weeks later the Manchester-based county have returned record financial results — a fitting legacy for Hodgkiss, who died in …
Read More »Premier League clubs agree group training return from Tuesday
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Premier League clubs will return to training in small groups from Tuesday after the latest stage of “Project Restart” was approved on Monday. Clubs unanimously voted to allow players to start socially distanced training in a bid to meet the Premier League’s mid-June date to …
Read More »Celtic declared champions as Scottish season is ended
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Celtic were crowned champions for a record-equalling ninth consecutive season as the Scottish Premiership campaign was declared over on Monday. Neil Lennon’s men were 13 points clear at the top of the table when the season was stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic in …
Read More »