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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has called on UEFA to take action after midfielder Glen Kamara complained of being racially abused by a Slavia Prague player in Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League defeat in Glasgow. Kamara was furious after Slavia centre back Ondrej Kudela leaned into his ear and said something while covering his mouth, sparking a melee in the final stages of their last-16 tie. The Scottish champions, who were reduced to nine men after Kemar Roofe and Leon Balogun were sent off, crashed

HE Sheikh Iman Bint Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al-Thani's OFF HE GOES (Casino Prince x Perfectly Stunning) entered the winner's circle for the third time in four races this season when the Julian Colin Smart trained gelding landed THE LATE YOUSEF AL ROMAIHI CUP (Far Bend) (Class 2 THOROUGHBREDS) in a thrilling finish at the Al Rayyan Park's turf track on Thursday. In the 3,200m battle, Tomas Lukasek and his partner Off He Goes, fourth in the event two years ago, were locked in

PARIS: Guinea coach Didier Six said he has "negotiated with Liverpool" and secured the release of Naby Keita for one of two upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers. With two rounds left in the qualifying pools, Guinea are second in Group A, two points behind Mali. They host the leaders in Mali in Conakry on Mar 24 and then go to Namibia, who have won one game, on Mar 28. Six, a former France international, told AFP on Wednesday that Liverpool had agreed

LONDON: Arsenal endured a nervous night as they lost 1-0 to Greek side Olympiakos on Thursday (Mar 18) but progressed into the Europa League quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate. After a 3-1 victory in Athens last week and reaching halftime unscathed in the return, Arsenal looked comfortable. But when Youssef El Arabi's deflected shot left Bernd Leno wrong-footed early in the second half it gave the visitors hope and increased the tension among the home ranks. Arsenal wasted several late chances to ease the

LONDON: Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone received their first England call-ups on Thursday (Mar 18) ahead of three World Cup qualifiers. England manager Gareth Southgate has named a 26-man squad for this month's triple-header against San Marino, Albania and Poland. Leeds striker Patrick Bamford had been widely tipped for a call-up but Southgate has turned to Watkins, who has impressed since joining Villa from Brentford last year. "Bamford was very close. There's a number of positions in

MILAN: Manchester United reached the Europa League quarter-finals after a brilliantly-taken Paul Pogba goal earned them a 1-0 win at AC Milan to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory in their last-16 tie on Thursday (Mar 18). Pogba came off the bench at halftime to make his first appearance for United since Feb 6, and the France midfielder made an immediate impact as he turned the tie in his side's favour three minutes after the break with a fine goal. Former United striker Zlatan

ZAGREB: Dinamo Zagreb pulled off the season's biggest shock in the Europa League after Mislav Orsic scored a sublime hat-trick to give the Croatian champions a 3-2 aggregate win over Tottenham Hotspur in their last-16 tie on Thursday. Dinamo won 3-0 on the night after extra time to reach the quarter-finals on coach Damir Krznar's debut after he took over on Monday from Zoran Mamic, who stepped down upon learning he faces a prison sentence for fraud. The defeat was a second bitter

TOKYO: Southampton's Takumi Minamino and eight other Europe-based players were on Thursday (Mar 18) named in Japan's squad for next week's friendly against South Korea in Yokohama. Minamino, who has scored two goals in six games since joining Southampton on loan from Liverpool in January, is part of a 23-man squad to take on the Koreans on Mar 25 in Japan's first home game since the coronavirus pandemic began. South Korea have named a full-strength squad that includes Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min.

BERLIN: Plans by European football's governing body UEFA to ensure fans can attend all fixtures at this year's delayed pan-continental Euros has sparked fury in Germany, where Munich will host matches. Held over from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European championships are due to be held in 12 different countries from Jun 11 to Jul 11, with London's Wembley hosting the semis and final. Yet UEFA has warned it could change the venues if a host city insists on holding a

BARCELONA: Barcelona chief Joan Laporta gave Lionel Messi a hug and then pledged to do everything in his power to convince the club's all-time top scorer to stay after being officially sworn in as the club's new president on Wednesday (Mar 17). Laporta's pitch to Messi came two days after the Argentine equalled Xavi Hernandez as the club's highest appearance maker on 767 games, marking the occasion by scoring twice in a 4-1 rout of Huesca. "I'll do everything I can to make

TOKYO: The creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics announced his resignation on Thursday (Mar 18) for proposing a plus-size female comedian appear as a pig. Hiroshi Sasaki resigned after a report on Wednesday revealed his suggestion about Naomi Watanabe, a hugely popular celebrity, for the opening ceremony. It is the latest headache for organisers of the Games, who are struggling to gain public support and were left reeling by former chief Yoshiri Mori's resignation after an uproar

KUALA LUMPUR: China's Jiangsu FC have withdrawn from the Asian Champions League following their financial collapse, officials said on Thursday (Mar 18), in another sign they are on the brink of being disbanded. Jiangsu won the Chinese Super League for the first time in November, but ceased operations last month after their struggling owners pulled the plug. The shock news provoked hand-wringing about the state of football in China, and prompted calls for a major rethink from top to bottom. Their Champions League

PARIS- Paris St Germain forwards Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe fired them to a 3-0 win over Lille on Wednesday to reach the French Cup quarter-finals. Argentine Icardi put the holders in front by bundling the ball into the net in the ninth minute and France striker Mbappe doubled their advantage from the penalty spot shortly before halftime. Lille, who lead PSG at the top of the Ligue 1 standings by three points, were awarded a penalty in the second half which would

MUNICH: Holders Bayern Munich cruised through to the Champions League quarter-finals for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons after beating Lazio 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday to secure a 6-2 aggregate victory. Leading 4-1 from the first leg in Rome, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Bayern from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, his 39th goal of the season in all competitions, to virtually end Lazio's hopes. The German champions took their foot off the gas before

LONDON: Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2014 as Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri were on target to give coach Thomas Tuchel's rejuvenated team a 3-0 aggregate win. Ziyech squeezed the ball under Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 34th minute of the last-16 second leg as he connected with a cross from Timo Werner who had raced down the left after being fed by fellow German Kai Havertz. The three

LONDON: Badminton world No 1 Kento Momota made a winning return to international action at the COVID-19-affected All England Open on Wednesday (Mar 17), while Indonesia's team were forced to withdraw after a passenger on their flight to Britain tested positive for the coronavirus. The 26-year-old from Japan defeated India's Kashyap Parupalli 21-13, 22-20 in a first-round match played without fans in Birmingham. Momota, who made a successful return to domestic Badminton by winning the All-Japan Championship in December, was playing his first

MUNICH, Germany: Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick said his Bundesliga leaders are determined to continue their good form when they host Lazio and will not take the Italians lightly in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 game on Wednesday. European champions Bayern moved towards the quarter-finals by thrashing Lazio 4-1 in the first leg in Rome last month. They are on a four-match winning run in all competitions and lead the German top-flight by four points after 25 games. "We've delivered

LONDON: Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel dismissed speculation that forward Timo Werner was unhappy at the club and seeking a return to Germany after failing to settle in English football, saying he had seen remarkable improvement since he took charge. Werner has scored only two goals in his last 26 appearances but Tuchel urged the German forward to trust the process as he was on the right track. "Timo has no reason now to be frustrated because he had an amazing match against Liverpool

LONDON: Rafa Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing, the Spaniard said on Tuesday. Nadal had not played since his quarter-final exit at the Australian Open last month and also skipped the ATP 500 event in Dubai. The 34-year-old has since dropped down one place in the rankings to third after Russian Daniil Medvedev leapfrogged him. "Sad to announce that I won't be

JOHANNESBURG: New Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe raised the bar Tuesday (Mar 16) for national teams in the continent by insisting one of them must win the World Cup soon. "An African team must win the World Cup in the near future," said the 59-year-old South African billionaire at a press conference in Johannesburg. Motsepe was elected unopposed last Friday to lead trouble-torn CAF after a two-year ban over "governance issues" prevented Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad seeking re-election for a second