Page 25 - Football

Star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo says he wants to leave Juventus

Manchester City is considering an option to buy the Portugal forward.

Cristiano Ronaldo included in Portugal squad for World Cup qualifiers

Portugal will play its upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Cristiano Ronaldo, who will have another chance to break the all-time men's international scoring record

Harry Kane accepts he will be staying at Tottenham for now

Harry Kane publicly accepted on Wednesday that he won't be leaving Tottenham in the summer transfer window. The striker had been hoping to secure a transfer away from the London club in the search of a first career trophy but a move to Premier League champion Manchester City was unable to be clinched. The power was with the Tottenham leadership as the England captain remains under contract until 2024 and a valuation of more than $200 million for him had been reported. "I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success," Kane posted on Twitter on Wednesday. The need to reiterate he is staying for now at least reinforced how he sought a move which was first floated in an interview with former England player Gary Neville in May. Kane, who was the top scorer in the Premier League last season as Tottenham finished seventh, made his first appearance of this campaign as a substitute on Sunday in the 1-0 win over Wolverhampton. "It

Odisha FC signs Malaysian international Liridon Krasniqi on loan

Indian Super League club Odisha FC on Monday announced that it has reached an agreement with Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta'zim FC over a loan deal of midfielder Liridon Krasniqi. Krasniqi will represent the Bhubaneswar-based side in the upcoming eighth edition of the ISL. The 29-year-old attacking midfielder started his career in Europe and made his senior professional debut for FK Mlad Boleslav in Czech Republic in 2011 before signing for Turkish club Ankaraspor. He was loaned out to another club in Turkey - Fethiyespor. Krasniqi moved to Malaysia in 2015 and played for Kedah Darul Aman Football Club. He also won the 2016 Malaysia Cup and 2017 Malaysia FA Cup titles for Kedah before signing for Melaka United in 2019. In the previous season, Krasniqi was roped in by current Malaysia Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim and then represented Australian side Newcastle Jets in the A-League on loan in early 2021. Krasniqi has a unique achievement of representing three national tea

Martin Odegaard re-joins Arsenal from Real Madrid on permanent transfer

Martin Odegaard has joined Arsenal FC in a permanent transfer from Real Madrid CF, the Premier League club confirmed on Friday.

Viacom18 gets digital, TV rights of Italian Serie A for Indian subcontinent

Entertainment-focused broadcaster Viacom18 has bagged TV and digital rights of Italian Professional Football League for the Indian sub-continent region for the next three seasons. The latest edition of Italian Serie A, which will kick off on August 21, will be available live across Voot, Viacom18's TV channels and Jio, a statement said. Italian Professional Football League, known as Lega Serie A, is the top football league in Italy and one of the most famous football leagues in the world. Italian Serie A has been voted as the World's Best Nation League in 2020 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, the statement said. "Sport is whitespace that we have been consciously experimenting with for some time now. The response to our initiatives, thus far, has been very encouraging. Italian Serie A is one of the most exciting & competitive leagues in Europe and we are excited to bring it to our viewers across digital and broadcast platforms, Viacom18 Digital ...

Heat is on in every sense of the word as new La Liga season kicks off

Fans will be back in the stands after over a year of empty grounds when the new La Liga season kicks off this weekend in Spain

Bundesliga contenders: A look at Bayern Munich, Leipzig, Dortmund

The new Bundesliga season begins with Bayern Munich the favorite to win yet another title

Asia's oldest football tourney Durand Cup to return after a year

Durand Cup, the world's third oldest and Asia's oldest football tournament, is poised to make a comeback after a year's hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Lionel Messi to join Paris Saint-Germain for $41 million a year

The 34-year-old Argentina star has agreed a two-year deal with the option for a further season, according to reports

La Liga without Messi: A look at top contenders for Spanish league title

The Spanish league starts on Friday. Here is a look at the top contenders expected to fight for the title and top positions in the table. ATLTICO MADRID Atltico Madrid defends the title it won last season with the goals of Luis Surez and the tireless preparation of coach Diego Simeone. Its position as champion has been strengthened by the exit of top players from both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Atltico has kept all its talent and added Argentine midfielder Rodrigo de Paul. Simeone, who signed a contract extension in July through 2024, will have Surez back to lead his attack. The Uruguay striker was crucial to Atltico's title march, leading the team with 21 league goals. Can he, though, at the age of 34, maintain the same production? Expectations are big for Joo Flix to become a leader with his playmaking in an otherwise workmanlike squad. But Simeone has shown that with a strong defense anchored by goalkeeper Jan Oblak his side can grind out wins without many frills. REAL MADRID

Emotional Lionel Messi says he wasn't prepared to leave Barcelona

Messi says club's salary caps scuttled a deal; hinting at Paris Saint-Germain as 'a possibility' for next season

We can't mortgage future to keep Messi: Barcelona president Laporta

Barca shocked the football world on Thursday with the announcement that Messi would leave the club

Messi's departure from Barca is a mess everyone could see coming

To come so close to losing Messi once might be regarded as unfortunate. To do so twice looks an awful lot like carelessness

Real Madrid, Barcelona oppose Spanish league's $3 bn funding plan

Real Madrid and Barcelona expressed their opposition to the Spanish league's deal with an investment fund that secured $3.2 billion in funding to help its clubs.

Tokyo 2020 reschedules women's soccer final after concerns voiced over heat

Tokyo 2020 organising committee spokesperson Masa Takaya defended the committee's decision to schedule the women's soccer finals near midday even amid Japan's sweltering midsummer heat. "We believe we made the best judgment at that point in time when we were deciding the Games schedules" said Tokyo 2020 spokesperson Masa Takaya, citing sports and athlete visibility in the Games as factors in making that decision at the time. Concerns from the Canadian and Swedish soccer teams about Tokyo's intense morning heat have resulted in the rescheduling and relocation of the women's Olympic final. Rather than kicking off at 11 a.m. in the Olympic Stadium on Friday, the gold-medal match will start 10 hours later at 9 p.m. in Yokohama. To avoid a clash with the women's final, the men's bronze-medal match between host Japan and Mexico was brought forward two hours to kick off at 6 p.m. in Saitama. The weather has been hot and humid, with the temperature forecast to hit 38 degrees Celsius (100

FIFA bans its former stand-in president Issa Hayatou for 1 year

FIFA banned its former interim president Issa Hayatou on Tuesday for alleged wrongdoing in a commercial deal for African soccer.

Chiellini signs new Juventus contract, to stay with club until 2023

Euro 2020-winning Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini has signed a two-year contract extension at Juventus.As a result, the centre-back will stay with the club until 2023, the club confirmed on Monday evening.Chiellini had become a free agent this summer when his contract expired, but now he has decided to renew it to stay with Juventus for two more years."In the end, the signing was a formality, because as soon as I knew that my body would allow me to continue playing, there was always the will of both parties to continue together," Chiellini told the club's media channel."It was just the timing of various situations that delayed this signing. The very close relationship between myself and Juventus goes beyond everything else. I had absolutely no doubts that I would remain here," he added.The centre-back has made 535 appearances for the club, winning nine Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia five times.Chiellini played a limited role last season as injuries saw him play just 17 Serie A ...

Spain coach confident of improvement ahead of Olympic football semifinals

Hosts Japan will face Spain in the semifinals of the Olympic men's football competition on Tuesday, as both sides look to earn the chance to play for a gold medal.

Olympics football: Spain have injury issues ahead of key encounter

There was mixed news for the Spanish football team at the Tokyo Olympics as they prepared for Thursday's decisive group match against Argentina.