UEFA criticises FIFA for lack of consultation on ´radical´ World Cup proposals

UEFA has demanded further consultation with FIFA over their plans for a biennial World Cup.

FIFA, led by chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, has been promoting the idea for the World Cup to shift format and take place every two years.

Wenger s proposal would see a major final held every year, the former Arsenal manager previously suggesting players would be playing in another tournament if it was not the World Cup either way.

However, UEFA and CONMEBOL both argued against the suggestions due to scheduling concerns. Earlier this week, FIFA invited the member associations to a summit to discuss the proposals.

On Wednesday, however, UEFA released a statement criticising FIFA s lack of consultation on a potential radical move .

In May…

Melo commited to Juventus

(GSM) Juventus midfielder Felipe Melo is determined to stay at the club despite a disappointing first season in Turin.

Juventus’s €25m rated player was widely criticised for his poor campaign at the club besides, he was voted as the 2009 Worst Soccer player by the readers of Il Fatto Quotidiano.

“I want to win with the black and white shirt. I still have four years left on my contract. I ll see them out. I m not someone who runs away in difficult moments,” Melo said.

“And, on the whole, I don t believe that I had a disastrous season.

“In the future I would like to close my career in Brazil, hopefully at Flamengo. But that s in the future,” the 26-year-old Brazil international revealed.

Laudrup returns to coaching at Mallorca

(GSM) Mallorca is set to appoint Michael Laudrup as their new manager.

Mallorca has confirmed they are in talks with the Laudrup and Danish TV2 have already reported the island club has reached an agreement with the former Getafe coach. The former Barcelona and Real Madrid player should be presented today.

Laudrup joined Spartak Moscow after a succesful spell at Getafe but he endured a disappointing stint at the Russian club. He was without a club since April 2009.

UK Anti-Doping chief seeks Wenger meeting

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) chief executive Nicole Sapstead would welcome a meeting with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to hear his thoughts on doping in football.

Wenger has long been an advocate for a deeper look into the scale of drugs in football.

In 2013, Wenger called for blood testing arguing they would provide greater transparency while claiming that sports was full of legends who are in fact cheats .

The subject has come up more recently, when Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Arijan Ademi tested positive after his side s Champions League win over Arsenal.

Ademi was banned from football for four years as a result, leading the Arsenal manager to reiterate his desire to see blood tests used to detect drug cheats.

Now Sapstead is seeking a meeting with W…

Process to pick Moyes ´perfect´ – Ferguson

Former manager Alex Ferguson maintains Manchester United s process to replace him with David Moyes was perfect .

Ferguson ended his 26-year tenure with United at the end of the 2012-13 Premier League season, with then-Everton manager Moyes revealed as his successor a day later.

While Moyes would not last a season in charge of United, Ferguson remains convinced his fellow Scot was the right choice.

Once I d conveyed it [his decision to retire] to the Glazers, then the process started of looking for successors, Ferguson said at his book launch on Monday, according to the Daily Mail.

We chose David Moyes. He had been consistent in his job at Everton, had a good spell there 11 years and showed appetite. No one knew apart from the Glazers, David Gill and mys…

Atletico Madrid mulling move for Nikola Milenkovic

La Liga hotshots Atletico Madrid are said to be keeping a close eye on the Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic.

The Serbian talent moved to Italy in 2017 from Partizan and wasted no time in announcing himself at the brightest stage.

The towering centre-back made 23 Serie A appearances in his maiden season in Italy whereas he also played in all league matches this campaign. Having already established himself as an important member of the Viola side, Milenkovic is gaining interest from all over Europe.

Diario AS claims that Atletico Madrid have identified the Serbia international as their top priority for the winter transfer market.

Milenkovic is said to be attracting plenty of interest from English and German clubs and Atletico Madrid want to lay founda…

Chiellini: Higuain among best three strikers in world

Juventus star Gonzalo Higuain is among the best three strikers in the world, according to defender Giorgio Chiellini.

The Argentinian has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season, including a brace in the first leg of his side s Champions League semi-final against Monaco.

Chiellini, whose team lead the tie 2-0 ahead of Tuesday s second leg in Turin, said Higuain deserved to be recognised among the world s best.

He is a very complete player, he told a news conference.

He stands amongst the best three number nines in the world.

No need to say where exactly but he can easily be on the podium.

Higuain is in his first season at Juve after three prolific campaigns with Napoli, and he still has time to better his 38-goal haul of 2015-1…

NBA 2K Series Adds Another Co-Developer With HookBang Acquisition

Take-Two and 2K Sports announced on Tuesday that they have acquired the Austin, Texas-based studio HookBang, which will be folded into NBA 2K developer Visual Concepts.

The new studio will be called Visual Concepts Austin, and it aims to employ “hundreds” of people to support the NBA 2K series Come from Sports betting site VPbet . This office will also do publishing work.

UEFA probe alleged ´discriminatory incidents´ in Sparta v Rangers clash after Kamara boos

UEFA has launched an investigation into alleged discriminatory incidents in Sparta Prague s Europa League clash with Rangers.

The fixture, which the Scottish Premiership champions won 1-0, was originally due to be played behind closed doors following the racist abuse of Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni in August but around 10,000 school children and accompanying adults were allowed to attend.

The match last Thursday was marred by the booing of Rangers black players, with Glen Kamara seemingly subjected to particularly vocal taunts.

Last March, UEFA ruled Kamara had been the victim of a racist slur from Ondrej Kudela in Rangers fixture against Sparta s Czech rivals Slavia Prague.

European football s governing body said in a statement on Tuesday: In ac…

Fulham owner’s son denies Pique bid

Major changes are expected to happen at Barcelona this summer, following their humiliating exit from the 2019/20 Champions League in the quarterfinals at the hands of Bayer Munich. A number of players are believed to be for sale, and some reports have claimed that Fulham, who recently secured Premier League return for 2020/21, had put in a bid for Gerard Pique.

As relayed by , a newspaper called Libero have claimed that the London club had made an offer of a two-year-contract to the 33-year-old, worth €5.5 million per season, and that Pique had requested some time to respond.

The experienced defender has been an important part of Barcelona teams that won everything there is to win at club level in Spain and Europe multiple times, and with all due respect to Fulham, it…