News of football

Brazilian football

Brazil's Serie A already in doubt after infected first round

Today 12:18 Nine football players in Brazil have tested positive for Covid-19, casting doubt on the decision to resume the championship originally scheduled to start in May.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

First tentative steps toward ‘normality’ for the national game

08-08-2020 10:07 Argentine football's stars are finally preparing to shed the paunch and unwelcome kilos as they head back to training.

by Dan Edwards

RIVER REDEVELOPMENT

River to play away from Monumetal, stadium to be redeveloped

06-08-2020 15:20 River Plate have announced they will redevelop of their emblematic Monumental stadium and its pitch, raising questions over where it will play its upcoming Copa Libertadores matches.

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

Football clubs granted permission to restart training by government

06-08-2020 14:50 Health Ministry confirms safety protocols for returning of football training, with clubs due to play in Copa Libertadores set to restart first.

GRONDONA’S LEGACY

Don Julio’s shadow still looms large over Argentine football

01-08-2020 10:01 Six years on from his death, Julio Grondona continues to live long in the public’s memory. That is a measure of his towering presence – but also the inability of his successors to clean up the mess he left behind.

by Dan Edwards

SPANISH FOOTBALL

Bartomeu has 'no doubt' Messi will stay at Barcelona

27-07-2020 15:54 "Messi has said many times that he wants to retire here and I have no doubt that he will re-sign," says club president.

Bloomberg

Investing legend uses distressed debt to hunt for next Messi

24-07-2020 15:26 Martin Schubert, the pioneer of emerging-market debt swaps, is searching for the next Lionel Messi though an out-of-the-box trade combining distressed notes and sports.

FOOTBALL & THE PANDEMIC

CONMEBOL forces Argentina to step up plans for return of football

18-07-2020 10:12 While many South American leagues have already retaken the field or are preparing to restart leagues, in Argentina even the return to training remains pending. That, however, hasn’t stopped CONMEBOL.

by Dan Edwards

ARGENTINE COACH

'Marcelo Bielsa Way': Leeds shopping centre to honour coach by renaming street

18-07-2020 09:00 Leeds United coach Marcelo Bielsa is to be honoured with his own street in the English city after guiding the Whites back to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.

ENGLISH FOOTBALL

'We're back!': Bielsa hailed as Leeds win promotion to Premier League

17-07-2020 18:02 Fans gathered outside Elland Road in England, despite the coronavirus pandemic, to celebrate the promotion of Leeds United to the Premier League after a 16-year exile. And many were particularly thankful to one man: Marcelo Bielsa.

SPANISH FOOTBALL

Messi blasts 'weak' team after Barcelona loses league title

17-07-2020 02:08 Messi blasted his team for being “weak” after Real Madrid wrested the league title away from Barcelona for the first time in three years on Thursday.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

70 years on from the 'Maracanazo,' Brazil and Uruguay cannot forget

15-07-2020 23:21 July 16, 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the "Maracanazo," when hosts Brazil was beaten 2-1 by Uruguay in the final of the 1950 World Cup in front of a crowd of almost 200,000 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The defeat inflicted crushing disappointment across Brazil and still reverberates to this day.

FOOTBALL TRANSFERS

Talks with Inter over Lautaro Martínez have 'stopped,' says Barça exec

13-07-2020 12:01 22-year-old ex-Racing forward, who has scored 17 goals in all competitions for Inter this season, has been heavily linked with a move to the Camp Nou. But Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu says talks over a potential move had been halted.

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

Metegol humano: How to play football during the pandemic

02-07-2020 23:12 Football-starved locals have found a way to play while social distancing – dubbed 'metegol humano,' the system designed for the coronavirus pandemic involves dividing the field with white chalk into 12 rectangles and restricting each player to a defined space.

SPANISH FOOTBALL

Messi scores 700th career goal against Atlético Madrid

01-07-2020 08:31 Messi scores a penalty in the “Panenka” style, chipping it softly past goalie Jan Oblak. The goal was Messi’s 630th club goal to go with 70 for his Argentina. It was also his league-leading 22nd goal of the season.

ENGLISH FOOTBALL

Jubilation as Liverpool win Premier League to end 30-year drought

26-06-2020 03:07 Reds end 30-year wait for the English title as they were crowned Premier League champions on Thursday, triggering jubilant scenes as fans ignored social-distancing to celebrate.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Tevez likely to re-sign with Boca – will Centurión be joining him?

25-06-2020 23:29 There may be no date yet for a resumption of top-flight football in Argentina, but that's not stopping Boca Juniors from making moves in the transfer market.

by Dan Edwards

SPANISH FOOTBALL

15-year-old Argentine becomes youngest ever La Liga player

24-06-2020 22:41 Real Mallorca's Luka Romero, a 15-year-old Argentine born in Mexico, becomes youngest player to ever play in Spanish top-tier.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Pandemic puts dreams of poor young footballers on hold

20-06-2020 11:43 Football has now been cancelled for more than 80 days now with no restart in sight, cutting off thousands of young players in Argentina’s poorest barrios from what many felt was their only shot at a better life.

SPANISH FOOTBALL

Messi caps Barcelona win over Mallorca on La Liga return

14-06-2020 09:57 Not even a streaker could ruin Lionel Messi's return to action with Barcelona, as La Liga kicked off again behind closed doors this weekend.

FOOTBALL UNDER LOCKDOWN

Deportivo Riestra in hot water after lockdown training breach

06-06-2020 10:28 Villa Soldati side gain the dubious honour of becoming Argentina’s first club to break coronavirus lockdown rules.

by Dan Edwards

'El Presidente'

FIFA 'mafia' depicted in new Amazon Prime satire from Argentine creator

04-06-2020 01:44 New series "El Presidente," brought to life by Argentine writer Armando Bo, is a witheringly satirical take on the 2015 "Fifagate" corruption scandal. Oh, and it's 'narrated' by Julio Grondona, from beyond the grave...

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Maradona extends contract with Gimnasia y Esgrima

03-06-2020 17:45 Maradona's previous contract was due to run out in August but news of the new deal came on the day the club, one of the oldest in Argentina, celebrated its 133rd birthday.

HOOLIGAN VIOLENCE

Barra violence continues in Argentina – with or without football

30-05-2020 08:58 Failed assasination attempt on Boca hooligan Marcelo ‘El Manco’ Aravena shows that not even a global pandemic and the cancellation of matches can stop barra violence.

by Dan Edwards

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

Messi looking forward eagerly to 'weird' La Liga restart

27-05-2020 16:37 Messi, who after a few weeks confined like the rest of Spain by the coronavirus pandemic, is training with Barca again ahead of a planned resumption of La Liga behind closed doors on the weekend on June 12.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Claudio Tapia re-elected as AFA president for another term

21-05-2020 23:33 Media mogul Marcelo Tinelli, who also serves as president of San Lorenzo, elected director of the new Liga de Fútbol Profesional, which will replace the Superliga.

FOOTBALL IN ARGENTINA

Old habits hard to shake as AFA regains control of top-flight football

21-05-2020 23:08 AFA President Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia awarded fresh four-year term, as football governing body regains control of top-flight football, bringing in new Liga de Fútbol Profesional to replace Superliga.

by Dan Edwards

Coronavirus pandemic

Lammens suggests moving football to province without coronavirus

18-05-2020 08:34 It "would not be crazy" to move games to a province with little to no circulation of the virus, should football restart, says Tourism and Sports minister.

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

Officials in Argentina studying protocols for return of football training

14-05-2020 11:46 Government begins studying health protocols for potential return of professional football training, with May 25 the earliest possible date; AFA don't expect games to restart until summer, in December or January.

FOOTBALLER SLAIN

Fans mourn ex-footballer 'Trinche' Carlovich, revered by Maradona as 'world best'

09-05-2020 23:34 Hundreds of supporters paid their respects on Saturday to former Central Córdoba star Tomás 'Trinche' Carlovich, a player Diego Maradona called the best in the world, at an open-air wake at a stadium in Rosario.

DIEGO DONATES

Maradona autographs shirt to help poor during pandemic

09-05-2020 09:07 Maradona's signed jersey, which reads – “With all my heart and we are all going to get over this” – will be raffled among those who donate food for people at a working class neighbourhood called René Favaloro in José C. Paz.

WORLD FOOTBALL

Brazil takes tentative steps toward restarting football, unlike Argentina

09-05-2020 09:02 For once, officials in Argentina are adopting a sensible approach to a high-profile issue – unlike the country’s giant neighbour to the north.

by Dan Edwards

Argentine forward cleared

'I'm healed': Dybala gets all-clear after coronavirus

06-05-2020 15:02 Juventus star Paulo Dybala posts message declaring: "I can finally confirm that I am healed."

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

AFA’s attempt to be decisive only ends up being divisive

02-05-2020 09:00 If any observers were hoping that questions about the future of Argentine football would be answered this week they were to be sorely disappointed, if not entirely surprised.

by Dan Edwards

Football scandal

Boca star Villa accused of 'physical and psychological violence'

29-04-2020 23:19 23-year-old denies accusations of gender violence after girlfriend posts images online showing alleged injuries; football club says it will "dig deeper into the episode" and take appropriate measures if necessary against Colombian midfielder.

by Jennifer Heiman

Coronavirus pandemic

Football season in Argentina is over due to virus crisis, says AFA chief

27-04-2020 21:48 AFA chief Claudio Tapia says 2019-2020 football season, interrupted since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, is officially over, cancelling Copa Superliga.

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Transgender players kick down doors in local football

26-04-2020 14:09 Mara Gómez and Marcos Rojo are blazing a trail for transgender players in Argentine football.

FUTURE OF LOCAL FOOTBALL

Football officials toy with removing relegation amid virus shutdown

25-04-2020 09:59 Argentine football has now been paralysed for more than a month, causing immense damage to the budgets and bank balance of almost every team in the country.

by Dan Edwards

Fight against virus

Barcelona to sell Camp Nou naming rights to raise money to fight virus

21-04-2020 14:23 Barcelona will sell the naming rights to its Camp Nou, Europe’s biggest stadium – which has never had a sponsor since it opened in 1957 – for one year in an effort to raise money for the fight against the coronavirus.

FOOTBALL & CORONAVIRUS

Desperate fans await football's return, though some are still going

19-04-2020 08:04 Just four leagues in the world continue to hold professional football matches, with Nicaragua the sole American nation that has not shut down the activity.

by Dan Edwards

False passport drama

Ronaldinho enjoys 'golden cell' in locked-down Paraguay capital

16-04-2020 19:36 With Paraguay's capital under lockdown, former Brazil star Ronaldinho is spending his second week under house arrest at an exclusive hotel in Asunción, as he awaits trial for entering the country under a false passport.

Stranded fans

Colombian fans trapped in Argentina struggle to return amid pandemic

15-04-2020 11:45 15 football-crazy Independiente de Medellín fans are trapped in a hotel in Buenos Aires, unable to return to their homes in Colombia.

FIXTURE PILE-UP

World Cup qualifiers for Qatar 2022 'must restart by September'

10-04-2020 00:39 National teams in South America will have to restart their qualifying campaigns by September, otherwise they won't be able to have every game finished in time for Qatar 2022 World Cup.

by Anthony Harwood

ARGENTINE FOOTBALL

Footballers are easy targets for virus-tinged anger at high earners

04-04-2020 08:26 There’s a lot of talk about the cutting of salaries amid the coronavirus pandemic, but there’s no reason footballers should be singled out above other societal high-earners.

by Dan Edwards

Coronavirus pandemic

Hugo Gatti: Being infected with Covid-19 has made me ‘learn more about life’

03-04-2020 14:32 Ex-Albiceleste, Boca and River goalkeeper, 'El Loco' Gatti, who is hospitalised in Madrid after being tested positive for coronavirus, opens up on his health and explains how his predicament has made him “learn more about life.”

Football in chaos

South American footballers seek full pay amid coronavirus

02-04-2020 18:03 As players around Europe accept pay cuts amid the coronavirus pandemic, some of their less-well-compensated South American counterparts are fighting for every penny.

Sport chaos

Isolated abroad, footballers learn to deal without the game

29-03-2020 20:33 The riches, glamour and glory of playing football in front of packed stadiums attracts the world's top players across borders but with the European game in lockdown, many have been left isolated from their families.

Sport chaos

Uruguayan football federation lays off 400, including coach Tabárez

29-03-2020 18:44 All employees of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), including coach Tabarez, will receive unemployment insurance benefits since activities were suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus pandemic

'I struggled to breathe:' Dybala reveals coronavirus nightmare

27-03-2020 19:25 Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed Friday how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

FOOTBALL

Dybala, Maldini test positive for coronavirus

21-03-2020 18:16 Argentina striker Paulo Dybala said Saturday that he has become the third Juventus player to test positive for coronavirus.