News - Archive

FIFA have extended match-fixing bans for 58 Chinese officials, the global governing for football said on Monday.

The Chinese Football Association took action last week, but the sanctions have now been applied worldwide.

The CFA banned 33 officials for life, with 25 more receiving five-year bans.

It follows a three-year push to clean up corruption, with some of the offences stretching back 20 years.

Two former football chiefs were jailed for taking bribes while World Cup referee Lu Jun was among the 33 banned for life.

Players have also been involved in recent investigations, with four former Chinese internationals were jailed for up to six years.

Borussia Dortmund's three Polish internationals will be in the squad when the holders visit Bayern Munich in the German Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski returned to training on Monday after a minor injury and fellow countryman Lukasz Piszczek will also make the trip to Munich after the defender had treatment on his hip problem, said coach Juergen Klopp.

"Kuba (Blaszczykowski) looked good today...and he will be at our disposal," Klopp told reporters.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, serving a three-game suspension in the Bundesliga after being sent off, is also eligible to play against Bayern amid widespread media speculation he could join the Bavarians at the end of the season.

Klopp's team are unbeaten in their last six games in all competitions against Bayern.

The Manchester United legend was described as ‘boring’.

Now Giggs has been called many things during his extraordinary top-flight career, most of them complimentary.

But never this.

Yet that was the word that came out of his team-mate Rafael’s mouth as he attempted to describe the 39-year-old Welshman’s wizardry.

Giggs put the cherry on another sensational showing by scoring the second goal that sealed United’s comfortable win.

DAVID MOYES reckons Marouane Fellaini needs more protection.

Burly, big-haired Belgian bully Fellaini often resembles the large kid who is allowed to play with the juniors.

But despite the midfield enforcer’s 6ft 4in frame, Everton boss Moyes thinks referees need to rethink how they treat him.

Fellaini, 25, was left with a bloodied knee at Carrow Road courtesy of Bradley Johnson’s studs — and no free-kick was given by ref Lee Mason.

Moyes said: "I don’t think that Fellaini ever gets the protection he deserves.

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas says he considers performance-measuring football statistics to be "useless" and prefers to rely on his own judgement.

Many coaches, such as Sam Allardyce of West Ham, who Spurs play on Monday night, value tools such as Prozone when analyzing a player's contributions.

But Villas-Boas claims that those systems do not always give players credit for tasks he asks them to carry out within the team unit.

"I don't use it because I don't believe [in it]," he told reporters. "Normally players are related to tasks and certain tasks might not achieve specific physical data that rewards premium efficiency in terms of a physical performance.

He continued to explain, "But if they do the tasks properly it's what you want as a football team. You always have to be very, very careful with statistics.

David Beckham reflected back on a "perfect day" after making his Paris St Germain debut in a 2-0 victory over their arch rivals Marseille.

 The former England captain, who joined PSG on a five-month deal last month, came off the bench in the 76th minute last night to become the 400th player to represent the club.

 PSG were leading 1-0 at the time thanks to Lucas Moura's deflected early opener at the Parc des Princes, and Beckham helped his new side seal victory with a second goal through Zlatan Ibrahimovic in injury-time

 Beckham chipped a pass into the left-hand channel of the area for Jeremy Menez, whose cross was tucked in by Ibrahimovic for his 22nd goal of the season.