A doctor accused of being part of a major athletics doping scandal has flatly denied a report that he implicated Spain s world champion football squad.
Eufemiano Fuentes, a medical doctor, was one of six people charged December 12 with trafficking offences in an athletics doping network after a police investigation known as Operation Galgo, or greyhound.
Leading sports daily La Marca ran a report Monday quoting a young man who claimed he had briefly shared a cell with Fuentes while he awaited questioning in the affair.
According to the paper, the man identified only as David told reporters of Fuentes: He told us that if he spoke we would not have the European Championships or the World Cup.
On Friday, sports daily Marca published a letter from Fuentes to…
Thomas Tuchel is drawing inspiration from Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber as Borussia Dortmund attempt to haul in Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga.
Dortmund were thrashed 5-1 by Pep Guardiola s side in October, but have since enjoyed superb form in the top flight to keep within eight points of the reigning champions at the summit.
Bayern travel to Signal Iduna Park early next month, but Dortmund must rely on favours from others if they are to stand a chance of winning their first league title since 2012.
Tuchel, however, says they cannot be distracted by Bayern s results and highlighted Kerber s shock victory over world number one Serena Williams in Melbourne as proof of the benefit of adopting the correct mindset.
Angelique Kerber c…
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone expressed his pride in guiding the La Liga champions to Supercopa de Espana glory on Friday.
Mario Mandzukic s 81st-second strike inspired Atletico to a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of their Supercopa tie at the Vicente Calderon.
The result Atletico s first win at home to city rivals Real in 15 years gave the Spanish champions a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
Speaking post-game, Simeone said lifting the Supercopa trophy for the first time since 1985 was the confidence boost his team needed ahead of the club s La Liga title defence.
Atletico kick-off their league campaign at Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
The Super Cup is a title that many of us in the club didn t have and it makes us very happy, said the Argentin…
Chelsea are interested in Sevilla s Pablo Sarabia, according to Sevilla-based outlet Estadio Deportivo.
The midfielder was apparently a subject of a bid of just under €40 million from Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang in January, but Sevilla were not ready to part ways with him halfway through the season under any conditions. Paris Saint-Germain were also credited with interest in his services as they look to add quality to their middle section, with Adrien Rabiot practically certain to leave Parc des Princes.
The 26-year-old started his career with Real Madrid, but he only made one appearance for their first team before moving on to Getafe where he spent five years and scored 15 goals in 145. He has surpassed that figure this season alone with 17 strikes in 35 …
Lassana Diarra must pay a €10million fine to former club Lokomotiv Moscow after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled he had breached his contract.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid star joined Lokomotiv from Anzhi Makhachkala during the 2013-14 season, but refused to turn up for training following a salary cut and a fallout with head coach Leonid Kuchuk – who was sacked in August 2014 – and went on to quit the club.
Lokomotiv took the case to FIFA and the midfielder then spent 15 months out of football without pay prior to joining Marseille last July as he was initially unable to join another team after his exit because of the contract dispute.
CAS has now ruled Diarra must pay €10m to the Russian Premier League club as well as €110,000 i…
Patrick Vieira insists there was never any chance of him replacing Unai Emery at Arsenal as he and Nice are 100 per cent committed to one another.
Former Arsenal captain Vieira has been linked with the Gunners job since Arsene Wenger s departure in 2018, but Mikel Arteta instead took over after Emery was sacked in November.
The Frenchman says there were no talks with Arsenal on this occasion, although the Nice coach is adamant he would have turned down any offer regardless.
No, but there is no place in my mind to have those kind of conversations, Vieira told the Daily Mail. My focus is here [at Nice]. This project suits who I am and what I want to achieve.
This rumour about the Arsenal job is not something that bothered me. I don t know what the future …
According to Sky Sports sources, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the possibility of signing Hoffenheim midfielder Florian Grillitsch. The 23 year old has been with Hoffenheim since back in 2017 when he signed from Werder Bremen, with the report suggesting that Spurs have kept an eye on him throughout the course of the campaign thus far.
Grillitsch has a release clause in his contract which actually still has two and a half years left to run, with the clause believed to be around £18 million.
Spurs are currently looking for successors for Mousa Dembele, who is on the verge of leaving the club after six years of service.
It’s no secret that many Spurs fans are desperate to see their club make some serious moves in the January transfer window after an except…
Manuel Neuer and Lucas Hernandez were back in Bayern Munich training on Monday, with their respective hopes of being fit for the World Cup seemingly receiving a boost.
Bayern captain Neuer had been struggling with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss six games, but he returned to goalkeeper training ahead of Tuesday s Champions League clash with Inter.
As recently as last week Nagelsmann did not want to commit to Neuer being ready to feature for Germany at the World Cup, saying he is not a mystic .
But he appears hopeful of being able to call upon the 36-year-old away to Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
We hope he ll be available again for the weekend. He came through training well and didn t show any reaction. But we ll have to wait and see, Nagelsmann t…
Didier Deschamps has frequently faced accusations that he makes his world champions France unpalatably dull considering the enviable attacking talent at his disposal.
Maybe boredom trumps humiliation.
You could call sending his players out to take on Switzerland in an unfamiliar 3-4-3 formation plenty of things, given very few of them appeared to have the foggiest idea what they were supposed to be doing. But it certainly wasn t dull.
By half-time in a Euro 2020 last-16 tie that looked a formality on paper, France were 1-0 down and had not managed a shot on target.
Even allowing for the disorganisation, uncertainty and flailing team-mates playing out of position behind them, this spoke poorly of the dream Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann…
Striker Dario Cvitanich said Boca Juniors will not celebrate the Apertura title until it is mathematically certain.
Sunday s victory over Godoy Cruz left Boca just one point away from confirming their first championship triumph since 2008.
The 27-year-old scored Boca s first goal and later earned a penalty which was converted by Rolando Schiavi to propel his side to a 2-1 win.
Boca are now nine points clear of closest rivals Tigre, and need just one point from their last three games to win the title.
Cvitanich, however, affirmed that he would be taking nothing for granted, and was already thinking about the club s next game.
After Banfield we will see what happens, Cvitanich said.
We still need one point to say (we are champions). A g…