Flamini heads for Milan exit

The Olympic Council of Asia on Monday angrily denied baseless accusations that it was involved in vote-buying to influence the outcome of elections for a FIFA executive committee seat.

The Council, headed by Kuwait s Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah, has been asked by FIFA s ethics committee to clarify the claims surrounding an increasingly ugly battle for power within the Asian Football Confederation.

At stake is an Asian seat on the powerful FIFA executive committee, currently held by AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam.

His term ends on May 8 and Bahraini Crown Prince, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, is challenging him.

In an interview with Australia s SBS television on March 30, Bin Hammam claimed that the OCA, via its national Olympic committees, was offeri…

Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has demanded his side play to their best in their final Premier League fixture against Southampton on Sunday.

Tony Pulis side will play for in the Premier League for a sixth straight season next year, but with the league so tight they could finish anywhere between 10th and 17th, with a higher league finish resulting in a prize money difference of potentially five million pounds.

And Coates can draw on past experiences of final day swings, two years ago Stoke lost to Wigan in the final game of the 2010-11 season to finish 13th when they could have finished ninth, and last season a home draw to Bolton saw them finish 14th instead of a possible 10th.
The money available nowadays is enormous and that makes this such an important game for the f…

Real Madrid have agreed a deal to sign Real Sociedad full-back Alvaro Odriozola on a six-year contract for a reported fee of €40million, pending a medical.

Having made his senior debut in January 2017, Odriozola has gone on to become a first-team regular for Sociedad, starting 32 LaLiga matches last season.

The 22-year-old also earned a first call-up to the senior Spain squad last year and won four caps, before securing a place in Julen Lopetegui s squad for the World Cup in Russia.

Lopetegui was sacked by Spain on the eve of the tournament after being confirmed as Zinedine Zidane s successor at the Santiago Bernabeu but will now be reunited with one of the country s bright young prospects.

The pending signing comes with Madrid said to be considering a …

United States businessman Stan Kroenke moved closer towards the threshold that would oblige him to launch a takeover bid for Arsenal after purchasing 10 more shares in the English Premier League club.

It was announced on Tuesday that the Denver-based Kroenke, already Arsenal s largest individual shareholder, had increased his stake to 28.9 percent after buying 10 additional shares at a cost of some 85,000 pounds (138,712 dollars).

That followed his 765,000 pounds (1.249 million dollars) share purchase earlier this month and left Kroenke one percent short of the 29.9 percent mark which, under British company rules, would require him to launch a takeover of Arsenal.

At the London club s Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week, Kroenke remained silent when asked abo…

Saido Berahino has apologised to West Brom fans for his behaviour at the club but the Stoke City newcomer claims he was in a situation I don t think most footballers will ever be in at the Hawthorns.

The former England Under-21 forward moved to the bet365 Stadium last week in a deal that could reportedly rise to be worth £15million.

It completed an exit from West Brom that initially appeared to be on the cards in August 2015, from which point his fledgling career with his boyhood club turned sour.

Berahino threatened to refuse to play for Albion after a proposed switch to Totttenham was blocked and, although the 23-year-old backtracked, his stock barely recovered under boss Tony Pulis.

Ex-Stoke manager Pulis believes Berahino can be a success for his fo…

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With all eyes once again falling on the San Siro in midweek, Inter Milan will look to finish off the job when they meet AC for their Champions League semi-final second-leg on Tuesday night.

Inter Milan

Starting with Inter, although the Nerazzurri might have shown some extended issues on either side of March’s international break, Simone Inzaghi’s side have come roaring back in some style. Enjoying a famous night at the San Siro last week as they claimed a deserved 2-0 first-leg victory, the ex-Lazio boss will simply be calling on his high-flying squad to finish off the job here. Picking up some perfect momentum over the weekend as they secured an action-packed 4-2 victory against Sassuolo, Inter have now won each of their last se…

that Christian Benteke is set to be offered a new contract by Aston Villa.

The Belgium international’s form towards the end of the 2014/15 campaign has seen him linked with a move to a number of clubs though Villa are unsurprisingly keen to secure his services.

There is a £32.5m release clause in the striker’s current contract meaning that should an offer of that magnitude come in, the Midlands club could be powerless to prevent him leaving.

Since arriving in England in the summer of 2012, the 24 year old has racked up ninety-nine appearances in all competitions, scoring forty-nine goals, with his last outing coming in last month’s FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.

The former Genk and Standard Liege man has also scored seven goals in twenty-one…

Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured Achilles in training on Monday.

Scans confirmed the severity of the injury and the Chile international will fly to Barcelona on Thursday to undergo further tests.

City revealed the news after Bravo had earlier tweeted: No matter what happens or how it looks today, life goes on, and tomorrow will certainly be better.

Bravo s unavailability leaves City without an experienced back-up to first-choice goalkeeper Ederson, with Joe Hart sold to Burnley before the transfer window closed.

. has today sustained an achilles tendon injury in training.

He underwent scans this afternoon which have confirmed a rupture in the tendon of his left foot and w…

A superb individual goal from new Barcelona signing David Villa saw Spain lead Honduras 1-0 at half-time in their World Cup Group H clash at Ellis Park on Monday.

After Spain lost their opening game 1-0 to Switerzerland, this was an improved performance from the Euro 2008 winners with Villa a constant threat while Honduras rarely threatened.

The 28-year-old rattled the crossbar on seven minutes from 30 metres out then Barcelona s Sergio Ramos went close with a header on 11 minutes.

Honduras midfielder Danilo Turcios earned the first yellow card on eight minutes for trying to interfere with a quickly taken free-kick.

Villa opened the scoring on 17 minutes when he cut in from the left wing, beat the defence and then squeezed his shot past two defenders and…

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola is insistent that Manchester United have the quality to upset his side at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Holders Bayern are firm favourites for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final, despite it being played in Manchester.

The Bavarian giants have swept aside all before them this term, with the Bundesliga title already sealed in record time.

They have lost just once in 41 outings this term and face a United side who languish seventh in the Premier League and have lost seven home games in all competitions this season.

Guardiola is wary of David Moyes side though, and says the firepower at his counterpart s disposal such as Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata could result in a surprise.

He said: Manchester United are one …