Football

LONDON - The Premier League plans to welcome up to 10,000 fans in stadiums for the final two rounds of matches this season, chief executive Richard Masters said on Friday. The British government last month set out a four-stage easing of England’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Under the third stage of the “roadmap”, very large outdoor stadiums will - if all conditions are met - from May 17 be able to have up to 10,000 people or 25% capacity, whichever is lower. “Hopefully the

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today confirmed the centralized venues for the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 matches scheduled to take place from 31 May to June 15, 2021. FIFA World Cup 2022 host Qatar, will welcome Group E opponents Oman, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh with Japan set to provide the stage for the matches in Group F comprising Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia, the AFC said in a statement on its

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has responded to the club's links with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi, who is fast approaching the final few months of his current contract at Barcelona, has been tipped to call time on his illustrious 16-year career at Camp Nou this summer and make his way to PSG. Rumours that the Argentine's long-time rival Ronaldo could join him at Parc des Princes have surfaced this week, with Leonardo speaking out on the ongoing speculation during an interview with RMC

Al Sadd, the recently crowned QNB Stars League (QSL) champions, were taken to a 1-1 draw at home by Al Wakrah yesterday, while Al Duhail beat Al Sailiya 2-0 in their respective Round 19 matches. Rodrigo Tabata gave Al Sadd the lead in the 25th minute, but Khalid Muneer equalized in the 83rd minute, resulting in Al Sadd's third draw of the season. As Al Duhail avenged their 1-2 defeat to Al Sailiya in the first leg, Michael Olunga converted a penalty (20)

Tottenham took one step closer to the Europa League quarter-finals as Harry Kane's double secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night. Kane's predatory finish put the hosts in front (25) before the striker pounced on a slack clearance from Kevin Theophile-Catherine to double his tally for the evening (70). There would be no second European hat-trick of the season for the England captain, who was replaced late on as a precautionary measure following a challenge from Arijan Ademi. The

Diallo, the 18-year-old signed from Atalanta for £37m, scored his first goal for Man Utd with his first shot on goal for the club; Simon Kjaer grabbed late equaliser with a header to take vital away goal back to Milan for second leg on March 18 Simon Kjaer's last-gasp header grabbed a draw for AC Milan and a vital away goal in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the Europa League last 16 first leg. Milan dominated the first half as Franck

Manchester City returned to winning ways in style with a thumping win over Southampton that moves them 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Riyad Mahrez and Kevin de Bruyne both scored twice as City delivered an emphatic and instant response to their defeat in Sunday's Manchester derby, which had ended a 21-game winning run. This was not the disciplined display typical of many of City's victories this season but their incisive attacking, aided by some helter-skelter Saints defending,

Fabinho is "one of the best in the world at number six", Jurgen Klopp said after the Brazilian helped Liverpool beat RB Leipzig to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. The 27-year-old midfielder has had to fill in at centre-back for large parts of this season because of injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, while also suffering from a number of fitness problems of his own. But restored to his preferred position in the centre of the Reds midfield, he excelled in

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman says Lionel Messi can have no doubts over the "great future" the club has after they bowed out of the Champions League with a spirited performance at Paris St-Germain. Messi, 33, who has won the competition with Barcelona on four occasions, outlined his frustrations at the Nou Camp last summer and was heavily linked with a move to PSG prior to this last-16 tie. However, while the result saw Barca fail to reach the last eight of the competition

Cristiano Ronaldo's "unforgivable error" in extra-time against 10-man Porto in the Champions League proved decisive as Juventus was dumped out by the Portuguese side. With the sides all-square in the 115th minute and with penalties just minutes away, Porto was awarded a free-kick 35 yards away from the Juve goal. In a last-ditch attempt to send the Portuguese side through, Sergio Oliveira hit a speculative low shot which traveled through the legs of Ronaldo -- who had turned his back on the ball

Chelsea strengthened their hold on fourth place in the Premier League as Kai Havertz inspired a vital 2-0 win over Everton, while West Ham boosted their surprise top-four challenge with a 2-0 victory against Leeds on Monday. Havertz has endured a disappointing first season following his £70 million ($96 million) move from Bayer Leverkusen last year. But Germany forward was given a rare start by Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel and he responded by playing the key role in both goals at Stamford Bridge. Havertz's shot was

Paris St Germain forward Neymar has been ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Barcelona, the French side said. A PSG statement on Tuesday said the Brazilian, who left Barcelona for the Ligue 1 side for a world record fee of 222 million euros ($264.11 million) in 2017, was continuing an individual recovery programme from a thigh injury sustained last month. Neymar missed the first leg of the tie at the Camp Nou but his absence barely affected his side,

Joachim Low will step down from his role as Germany manager after this summer's European Championships. The 61-year-old has been in charge of his country's national team since replacing Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006. He had a contract until the 2022 World Cup but approached the German Football Association (DFB) to end it early. "I take this step very consciously, full of pride and enormous gratitude," said Low, who led his country to victory at the 2014 World Cup. He added that "at the

When Paris St-Germain thrashed Barcelona 4-1 at the Nou Camp last month, one fan threw his fists in the air after each of their goals. Hervin Ongenda, the first prodigy of PSG's era of Qatari ownership, had just put his little girl to bed before watching the big game. Now 25 and playing in the Romanian top flight for FC Botosani, Ongenda was once described by French paper Le Parisien as the top talent in a generation of French players featuring Kingsley Coman,

According to a panel of experts in a webinar, Qatar's sports market provides tremendous prospects not only because of the impending FIFA World Cup 2022 but also because of many other big sporting activities scheduled after the football world cup. The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) hosted a webinar on 'Emerging Opportunities in Sports: Qatar & Russia' and 'How to Compete in the Qatari Sports Industry' in partnership with the Qatari-Russian Center for Cooperation (QRCC). The event shed light on Qatar's sports market and

Liverpool were beaten 1-0 by Fulham on Sunday, registering their sixth successive defeat at Anfield in the Premier League; Liverpool have slipped to eighth in the table with Gary Neville describing their recent drop off in form as "bizarre" So why has it gone so terribly wrong? Liverpool are now smashing records for the wrong reasons. Having steamrolled to glory last season, the Reds have now lost six home games on the bounce. Jurgen Klopp's side were beaten 1-0 by Fulham at Anfield on Sunday

The Qatar Football Association has selected Nagyerdei Stadion in the Hungarian city of Debrecen as alternative to Generali Arena Stadium to be the venue for the first three matches involving Qatar this month in the European Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup which will be held this month. The change came due to the strict procedures for movement between European countries because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated the national team to make changes to the venues after an agreement with UEFA

Simeone and Zidane have previously locked horns in the Madrid derby on 13 occasions, 12 times as managers of their respective sides, and once as players. Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone and his Real Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane will once again lock horns in a LaLiga contest at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in what will be the 14th Madrid derby between the duo. Simeone and Zidane have previously locked horns in the Madrid derby on 13 occasions, 12 times as managers of their respective

Sky Sports News reporters James Cooper and Ben Ransom dive into the key talking points ahead of the 185th Manchester derby on the Pitch to Post Preview podcast; watch Man City vs Man Utd live on Super Sunday from 4pm on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off at 4.30pm Manchester City are hurtling towards the title after an incredible 21-game winning streak, but with the Premier League's in-form away side Manchester United heading to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, can the leaders prevail on

Neville: "We've seen a transition to almost a new team. The players are hungry, the football is really good. Guardiola is building what would be a second wave of a team in some ways"; watch Man City vs Man Utd live on Super Sunday from 4pm; kick-off at 4.30pm Manchester City's assault on the Premier League title marks the dawn of a second coming of Pep Guardiola's reign at the club, says Gary Neville. Guardiola guided City to two Premier League titles in