Football

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo will not be in their squad for Saturday's Premier League game at Chelsea, the club said in a statement on Thursday. Ronaldo, an unused substitute in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, walked down the tunnel with a few minutes of the match remaining after being left on the bench again by manager Erik ten Hag. "Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea," United said. "The

Lionel Messi is creating a holding company to invest in sports, media and technology globally. Based in San Francisco, Play Time Sports-Tech HoldCo LLC will be Messi’s main investment vehicle, according to a statement. The company will explore “stage agnostic” opportunities that could include, for example, helping startup founders build soccer-tech companies or investing in teams. Messi said in a statement, "I am excited to extend our roots into Silicon Valley, and I am thrilled that Play Time will collaborate with daring entrepreneurs

German coach Jurgen Klopp announced the absence of Portuguese striker Diogo Jota, one of the Reds' strikers, from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, scheduled for the period from November 20 to December 18, after he suffered a "serious" calf injury. In a press conference, Klopp said that it is not good news for Diogo as he will miss the World Cup, adding that it is a serious calf injury and this is bad news for the young man, Liverpool, and Portugal. Jota,

“Age is just a number,” says Karim Benzema after winning the Ballon d’or at 34. Benzema became the oldest winner since the first recipient in 1956, Stanley Matthews. “People play until their later years now and I still have this burning desire. It is this drive that has kept me going and never allowed me to let up,” said Benzema, who won the men’s Ballon d’Or for the first time. Benzema is the first French player to win the trophy since Zinedine Zidane

Championship side Rotherham United are to appoint Exeter City boss Matt Taylor as their new manager. Exeter City Supporters' Trust, which owns the club, said in a tweet that Taylor's tenure at St James Park is over. The tweet has since been deleted. Exeter will hold a press conference today at 16:00 BST to discuss the situation. "We can confirm manager Matt Taylor has left to join Rotherham United," the Trust's statement said. "We'd like to put on record our sincere thanks to

They may well have looked good for the first 50 minutes of the match, but ultimately Barcelona returned to Catalonia last night with another defeat from Bayern Munich questioning how things went wrong this time. There was optimism that Barcelona might be able to reverse the narrative on this occasion following their good form this season and in the first half they missed a number of clear openings to do so. The narrative coming out of Can Barca after the match was that

All English, Welsh and Northern Irish football and senior Scottish football was postponed over the weekend. As it stands, the midweek English Football League fixtures are also expected to go ahead. However, the EFL is yet to issue a statement about its fixtures on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Some matches could be affected by a lack of resources such as policing, but issues will be resolved on a game by game basis. In a statement, the National League - the fifth tier of

Graham Potter, 47, spoke to Chelsea owner Todd Boehly on Wednesday night after Thomas Tuchel was sacked and has reached a verbal agreement with the club. Potter was at Brighton's training ground on Thursday morning but did not lead the team's session. Chelsea hope to name a new manager before Saturday's game away to Fulham. The club, currently sixth in the Premier League, has also held talks with former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and Sporting Lisbon head coach Ruben Amorim about the vacant

Referees' body PGMOL has effectively accepted controversial VAR decisions made at Chelsea and Newcastle were wrong and will fully co-operate with a Premier League review of the incidents. The decisions denied Newcastle United and West Ham goals against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, respectively. Both teams thought they had scored, with the goals confirmed by the on-pitch referee. But in each instance the goals were disallowed after VAR reviews. The decisions have been heavily criticised, with many arguing that the role of VAR is

Thomas Tuchel's alterations in the second half on Saturday made a defining difference against West Ham United. Two of his five substitutes got on the scoresheet to complete a dramatic second-half comeback after falling behind to Antonio's opening goal. Ben Chilwell proved the defining influence, making a decisive run and finish to net the equaliser before setting up Kai Havertz winner in the 88th minute. Armando Broja also offered a different dimension that unsettled West Ham's defence, who endured a painless afternoon until

Raphinha scored his first Barcelona goal as the Catalans beat fellow LaLiga hotshots Sevilla 3-0 to move within two points of the top of the table. The former Leeds winger opened the scoring for Barcelona in the first half and Robert Lewandowski doubled the advantage before the break, with that goal being the Polish striker's fifth goal in four league games for his new club. Barcelona put the result beyond any reasonable doubt five minutes after half-time with former Manchester City defender Eric

An incredibly motivated group of over 16,000 volunteers, joined by thousands who followed online from around the world, gathered at the Lusail Stadium for the official orientation event a festive ceremony featuring football legends and FIFA World Cup 2022 top brass. The largest of the host venues for the upcoming FIFA World Cup served as a fitting backdrop for this important milestone gathering, which marked the first time that all selected volunteers were assembled together for the formal start of their training journey

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) hosted a special event for leaders of the Moroccan national team fans at Al Thumama Stadium, within the framework of Qatar Fan Leader Network, as part of the promotional programs for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 finals. The event aimed at introducing the fan leaders of the Moroccan team to one of the World Cup stadiums, as well as the organizational procedures for the stadium during the tournament which will held from Nov. 20

Manager Erik ten Hag's public stance has been that Ronaldo, 37, is not for sale and is part of his plans. However, senior figures have been alarmed at how quickly the overwhelmingly positive feelings around the camp generated during a successful pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia have disappeared. The Portuguese has a year left on the contract he signed when he returned to the club from Juventus less than 12 months ago, but wants United to let him leave this summer. While

The 37-year-old arrived at United's Carrington training ground with his agent Jorge Mendes on Tuesday morning ahead of talks over his future. Former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was also seen arriving but it is understood he is there for a regular board meeting with chief executive Richard Arnold. Ronaldo flew back to the UK on Monday after missing the club's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to family reasons, with the explanation accepted by the club. The club's stance regarding Ronaldo's

World governing body FIFA has told India's football association to complete changes to its constitution and elect new office bearers by Sept. 15 to avoid being banned, officials said. India's highest court disbanded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) executive committee last month after it failed to hold elections on time and amend its regulations in line with rules stipulated by the national sports code. The court then appointed a three-member committee to run the body, amend the AIFF's constitution and conduct elections

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be an exceptional edition, held on eight world class stadiums close to one another. He added that this feature could allow fans to watch two or three matches a day. He also said he expects 1.5-2 million fans to visit Qatar and five billion to watch the matches. Infantino was participating in a session called Countdown to the Greatest Show on Earth as part of Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by

Liverpool striker Sadio Mane to join Bayern Munich in deal worth up to £35m Liverpool have agreed a 41m euro (£35.1m) deal to sell Sadio Mane to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The Reds will get a fixed 32m euros (£27.4m) with an additional 6m euros based on appearances and 3m euros based on individual and team achievements. Liverpool turned down two bids from Bayern before the two clubs settled on a move for the 30-year-old, whose deal with the Reds ran until next

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC (Q22) – the operational arm of FIFA and the Host Country for the delivery of the tournament – has achieved ISO 20121 certification, the international standard that sets requirements for developing and implementing an effective management system to deliver a sustainable event. The certification was granted after an extensive audit process that was initiated during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021™ – which was held exactly a year before the first FIFA World Cup™ in the

Neymar's penalty 13 minutes from time earned Brazil a 1-0 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan at Tokyo's National Stadium on Monday as the Paris St Germain striker moved to within three goals of Pele's all-time national scoring record. The forward coolly slotted the ball past Shuichi Gonda to hit his 74th goal in 119 internationals after being frustrated on several occasions by the Japanese goalkeeper in front of a rain-soaked crowd of 63,638 fans. Brazil's win came off the back of