Unbelievable: no action over Balotelli tackle
MANCHESTER, England ● Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli will not face disciplinary action over a studs-up challenge on Arsenal’s Alex Song, the Football Association have confirmed. The governing body say they cannot take retrospective action because the incident was seen by at least one of the four match officials in City’s 1-0 Barclays Premier League [...]
Pardew: Ben Arfa has magic in his feet
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew says Hatem Ben Arfa has “magic in his feet” and should be part of the France squad for this summer’s European Championship. Ben Arfa scored a glorious solo goal in the 2-0 win over Bolton, finishing coolly after running from his own half. Pardew said: “Sometimes you need that one player [...]
Ottawa team caught in tornado
An Ottawa soccer team was forced to find emergency shelter after being caught in a string of tornadoes that ravaged the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas Tuesday. “It was all very surreal,” said player Dylan Lawrence. “We didn’t understand what was going on.” The members of the Ottawa South United soccer league were in Texas [...]
Judge suspends Van Gaal’s Ajax appointment
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – A Dutch judge temporarily suspended the appointment of Louis van Gaal as Ajax CEO Monday to give shareholders at the four-time European champion a chance to vote on the move. Club legend Johan Cruyff called the decision “a victory for footballers.” Four members of Ajax’s five-strong supervisory board appointed Van Gaal and [...]
All eyes on Kiev for EURO 2012 draw
KIEV, Ukraine – Europe’s top football nations gather in Kiev on Friday to discover their fate when the draw takes place for UEFA EURO 2012 with all eyes looking out for the cliched ‘Group of Death’. The draw takes place at the National Palace of Arts in the Ukrainian capital with a host of previous [...]
Inter ensure top spot after draw with Trabzonspor
TRABZON, Turkey — Inter Milan guaranteed they will finish top of Group B after drawing 1-1 with Turkish side Trabzonspor in their Champions League match here on Tuesday. The 2010 champions had already qualified for the knockout stages prior to kick-off after Lille beat CSKA Moscow 2-0 in Moscow but the draw means they cannot [...]
Blatter leaves Bin Hammam behind as US visa is denied to FIFA rival
LONDON/ASUNCION – Nicolas Leoz was re-elected, unopposed, at the annual congress of CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, but comparatively few people noticed. All attention, instead, was fixed on visiting FIFA presidential contenders Sepp Blatter and Mohamed Bin Hammam. Both men attended a South American-style barbecue at the ranch of 82-year-old Leoz after CONMEBOL’s 10 votes [...]
