Category: Football

CHELSEA: Todd Boehly was Wednesday named as Chelsea’s new chairman to replace Bruce Buck and will act as interim sporting director after the club confirmed the departure of Marina Granovskaia.

Granovskaia is stepping down from her role as director as part of a shake-up at Stamford Bridge, leaving co-controlling owner Boehly to spearhead Chelsea’s negotiations in the transfer window.

All the top Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium figureheads have been added to Chelsea’s new board following the purchase of the club from Roman Abramovich.

“As custodians of Chelsea FC, we now begin executing our long-term vision and plan for the club, creating an outstanding experience for its passionate, loyal fans, and continuing to challenge for top honours in line with Chelsea FC’s dedicated history,” said Boehly.

“Working together, side by side, we are firmly committed to winning, both on and off the pitch. For us, that effort has begun.”

Clearlake chiefs and Chelsea co-controlling owners Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano have also been added to the Blues’ new board.

Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter, Swiss magnate Hansjoerg Wyss and British tycoon Jonathan Goldstein have all been officially named on the Chelsea board.

Chelsea will now start the search for a permanent sporting director, with Granovskaia leaving the club after almost 20 years at Stamford Bridge.

Granovskaia rose to prominence as one of the toughest negotiators in football in Abramovich’s Chelsea reign.

“Boehly will operate as interim sporting director until the club names a full-time replacement, continuing the club’s work towards its targets during the current transfer window,” said Chelsea’s statement.

Granovskaia will remain available during the current transfer window to help the club’s transition.

Chelsea face a hectic summer transfer market of transfer dealings.

Romelu Lukaku is reportedly set to rejoin Inter Milan on loan after a disappointing spell at Stamford Bridge.

The club, who finished third in the Premier League last season, have been linked with Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele.

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NYON: European Football Association (UEFA) has announced a friendly competition named “Euro Unity Cup” featuring eight teams across Europe comprised of mixed Refugees.

UEFA announced on its official Twitter account that the association and UN Refugee Agency had launched a new friendly competition that would take place next place, as part of its Refugee support program.

🤝 ICYMI: UEFA and @Refugees have launched a new friendly competition – the EURO UNITY Cup – with eight mixed teams to play next week.

❤️ That's because we believe football is for everyone, and can play a vital role in building a brighter future.#WithRefugees #WorldRefugeeDay

— UEFA (@UEFA) June 21, 2022

Eight mixed refugee teams of Europe will take part in the action along with ambassadors of the footballing world at Colovray Stadium in Nyon, scheduled on June 29.

Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Malta, the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland will participate in the competition comprising 70 percent refugee and 30 percent non-refugee players, announced UEFA on its website.

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CHELSEA: Bruce Buck is stepping down as chairman of Chelsea after almost 20 years in the role, the Premier League club announced on Monday.

The American, who will leave his post at the end of June, will continue to be involved in the club as a senior advisor.

It follows the completion of the Todd Boehly-led consortium’s takeover of Chelsea at the end of May.

“I am proud to have helped Chelsea realise great success on the pitch and make a positive impact in the community,” said Buck. “Now is the right time to step down and let new ownership build on the strong foundations we have in place.”

Buck has been chairman since 2003 after playing a key role in previous owner Roman Abramovich’s acquisition of the club and has overseen huge success on the pitch for both the men’s and women’s teams and major development off it.

Boehly said: “Bruce has led Chelsea Football Club to the highest levels of international and domestic football, while also developing one of the most active social responsibility projects in sport. We thank Bruce for his service and his commitment to the club.”

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KARACHI: The upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022, scheduled to be held in Qatar later this year will feature Pakistan-made environmental-friendly footballs, Senior Vice President Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), Sheikh Zohaib Rafique Sethi announced.

The Sialkot-based leading export firm has produced bio-based recycling material footballs that will be used in the upcoming mega event of football.

Talking to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Sethi said that ‘Forward Sports’ had produced ‘Al Rihla’ football for Adidas which would be played officially in FIFA football World Cup-2022 as it was a great honour and pride for Sialkot and even for Pakistan.

He further claimed that it was the third time that the Sialkot-made footballs would be used in the FIFA World Cup.

Talking about the design and the composition of the footballs, Sethi stated that the design would be as per the culture of Qatar and the material used was sustainable and environment-friendly.

“The world is currently moving towards sustainability and the material used in its manufacturing is a bio-based recycling material. No solvent chemicals are used in football making but water-based chemicals are used which do not pollute the environment,” he added.

“The ball consists of 20 panels and has been declared one of the best footballs in the world” he concluded.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022, which will be the first-ever Football World Cup to be held in the Arab world.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan is not a participant in FIFA World Cup as the country is currently facing suspension from international football.

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ZURICH: FIFA President Gianni Infantino warned Canada, Mexico and the United States to prepare for a football “invasion” on Thursday as the host cities for the 2026 World Cup were revealed.

The first-ever World Cup co-hosted by three different countries will also see a record number of teams taking part, increasing by 16 from 32 to 48 as the tournament returns to North America for the first time since the 1994 finals.

The 16 venues named on Thursday include 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada.

All of the US games will be held in venues that are home to NFL teams, with the likes of the $5 billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and the New York Giants’ 82,000-seater MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford tipped to host the final.

A total of 60 of the 80 games in the tournament — including all knockout games from the quarter-finals onwards — will take place at US venues.

Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium — host of the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals — was included among three Mexican venues along with the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara.

Vancouver and Toronto will stage the Canadian games in the tournament.

Infantino meanwhile said 2026 would eclipse the 1994 finals in the United States — which holds the record for the highest total attendance — in every respect.

“2026 will be much, much bigger,” Infantino said. “I think this part of the world doesn’t realise what will happen in 2026.

“These three countries will be turned upside down and then flipped again. The world will be invading Canada, Mexico and the United States.

“They will be invaded by a big wave of joy and happiness.”

Infantino said he hoped the World Cup would spur the development of football in the region further.

“In this part of the world, you are leading the world in many areas. But in the number one sport in the world, soccer or football, you are not, yet,” he said. “The objective must be that you are leading the world in the world’s number one sport.”

A decision on which venues would host marquee matches such as the World Cup final and the opening game had not yet been taken.

“We still have to discuss that, we still have to analyse that,” Infantino said. “We will make a decision in due course.”

However, Infantino revealed that given the vast geographical spread of staging the tournament across North America, FIFA was looking at basing teams in regional “clusters” to minimise travel.

“When you’re dealing with such a large region as North America we need to care about the fans and make sure that teams are playing in clusters, that fans and teams don’t have to travel crazy distances,” Infantino said.

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MADRID: Dani Alves announced on Wednesday that he is leaving Barcelona for a second time after returning to the club last year.

The 39-year-old, who rejoined Barca last November on a short-term deal until the end of the season, confirmed he would not be extending his contract.

“I would like to thank all the staff for the opportunity they gave me to return to this club and to be able to wear that wonderful shirt again, you don’t know how happy I am,” the Brazilian international said in an Instagram post.

Alves made 408 appearances in total for Barcelona, with 391 of those coming in his first spell from 2008-2016.

During that initial stint, he won six La Liga titles, three Champions League crowns and four Copa del Rey trophies.

Alves is still in line to be named in Brazil’s squad for the Qatar World Cup later this year and started both of their friendly wins over Japan and South Korea earlier this month.

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MADRID: The Spanish League LaLiga has filed a complaint to UEFA against Paris Saint-Germain for the breach of financial fair play rules adding to a similar complaint it had filed earlier against Manchester City, it announced on Wednesday.

LaLiga believed that the French Club have broken the financial fair play regulations when it offered a new multi-million pounds contract to its striker Kylian Mbappe, which convinced him to decline the offer of the Spanish club Real Madrid.

The Spanish League has already filed a similar complaint against Manchester City in April, objecting that club has continuously failed to comply with the rules.

Since then, the Premier League club has also confirmed the signing of Erling Haaland for £51.2m from the German club Borussia Dortmund. Real Madrid was also interested in signing Haaland.

“LaLiga considers that these practices alter the ecosystem and the sustainability of football, harm all European clubs and leagues, and only serve to artificially inflate the market with money not generated in soccer itself,” the Spanish league said in a statement.

LaLiga further alleged that the irregular financing of both the clubs was carried out either through direct money injection or through sponsorship or other contracts that did not correspond to market conditions or made economic sense.

The Spanish league had already tried to sanction PSG and Man City by UEFA in the past. In 2017 and 2018, it also filed charges against them for violating financial fair play guidelines.

UEFA sanctioned Man City a two-year ban from the Champions League in 2020 for “serious breaches” of FFP rules following an investigation. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban.

Meanwhile, UEFA closed another financial fair play investigation against PSG in 2018 without imposing any sanctions. In 2014, both Man City and PSG were fined 20 million euros by the football’s governing body following the FFP breaches.

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WOLVERHAMPTON: England suffered their worst home defeat since 1928 with a 4-0 loss to Hungary in a Group A3 encounter of the UEFA Nations League, here at Molineux Stadium on Tuesday.

The defeat put England at risk of being relegated to the second tier from League A of the Nations League.

Hungary stunned the home side with Rolland Sallai scoring twice to thump England with a humiliating four-goal defeat – the worst since 1928 when England lost 5-1 against Scotland at Wembley

The 25-year-old midfielder Sallai opened the scoring for Hungary inside the first 20 minutes.

England crumbled in the second half as Sallai added a second goal before Zsolt Nagy netted the third in the 80th minute. Daniel Gazdag scored a minute before the final time to widen the margin of lead for his side.

With two points from four games and no victory, England sits at the bottom of group three of League A of Nations League. This includes a 1-0 loss to Hungary in the earlier encounter this month.

Meanwhile, Hungary with seven points, Hungary leads the group, followed by Germany and Italy.

The group winners go to the Nations League finals next June while the bottom team will be relegated to the less glamorous League B.

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WARSAW: Michy Batshuayi’s first-half goal propelled Belgium to a 1-0 victory over Poland, keeping his team in contention to advance to the Nations League Finals.

Belgium, despite without several star names including Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku sealed a comprehensive victory over the home side Poland as Batshuayi stole the show with his early strike.

The forward gave his side an early 1-0 lead after netting the ball just 16 minutes later the commencement of the match.

The two sides then displayed a competitive battle but the scores remained the same till the end as Belgium moved three points within the Netherlands with two group-stage matches remaining.

Although Belgium dominated the majority of the first half, Zalewski came agonisingly close to drawing the score just before the break when he nearly missed with a volley of Robert Lewandowski’s right-wing cross.

Roberto Martínez’s side may come face to face with the Netherlands in the second leg of the league, scheduled in September and may head into a straight shoot-out for qualification.

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MONCHENGLADBACH: Germany thrashed Italy 5-2 in a home game to secure their first win in the UEFA Nations League after four winless games, here on Tuesday.

Germany showcased a phenomenal display of attack as Timo Werner struck twice after Joshua Kimmich, Ilkay Gundogan and Thomas Muller put their side in the driving seat.

Germany surpassed Italy for the second position in the Group A3 standings. Germany after three earlier draws and a win yesterday secured six points – one point behind Hungary.

Germany scored the opening goal of the game in the 10th minute when Kimmich charged into the box and tapped in a David Raum cutback.

The hosts dominated the opponent with an array of passing moves throughout the game.

Gudogan doubled the lead for the home side with a penalty goal on the stroke of halftime after Bastoni brought down Hoffman inside the area and the referee awarded a penalty.

Muller netted the ball again four minutes into the second half to tighten the grip of his side on the game.

Germany continued with their attack as Werner struck two back-to-back goals to seal the game for his side.

Italy finally retaliated in the 78th minute as Wilfried Gnonto hit the box to become the youngest scorer for Italy.

Alessandro Baston scored another goal in the stoppage time to close the gap for his side, who now slipped to the third spot of Group A3 standings

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