Mohammed Bin Hammam has retired from football, and has also been banned for life by FIFA, the governing body has confirmed.

The Qatari ran for the 2011 FIFA presidency, but was soon embroiled in a corruption scandal, and was given his first suspension by the organisation.

That was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but the governing body opened up a further investigation into his activities, and the 63-year-old has now chosen to end his career in the game.

Mr Bin Hammam, FIFA Executive Committee member and AFC president, has resigned from all his positions in football with immediate effect and will never be active in organised football again, a statement read.

This results from a resignation letter of Mr Bin Hammam addressed …

Mohamed Salah made more Premier League history as he scored and provided an assist in Liverpool s 4-2 win over Tottenham.

Salah, who had a public disagreement with outgoing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp during last week s 2-2 draw with West Ham, was back at his best as the Reds returned to winning ways on Sunday.

He opened the scoring in the 16th minute at Anfield, where Liverpool cruised into a 4-0 lead before Spurs fought back to make matters interesting late on.

Harvey Elliott curled in Liverpool s fourth goal, having received a pass from Salah, who in the process went into the Premier League s record books.

3 Mo Salah is the first player in Premier League history to score 10+ goals and provide 10+ assists in three consecutive seasons. He is also only th…

Valencia winger Sofiane Feghouli will be offered a new contract at Mestalla, .

The Algerian has long ago become an important footballer for los Che, and with his current deal expiring at the end of the season, the club officials are desperate to have his contract extended as soon as possible.

In spite of interest from top European clubs, Feghouli is reportedly happy to remain at Mestalla, but he wants a significant pay rise to reflect his new status at the club.

Valencia, on the other hand, are unable to match the player s demands at the moment, meaning the two parties are still far away from reaching an agreement.

Arriving at Valencia on a free transfer from Grenoble back in 2010, Feghouli needed a while to nail down a regular starting berth and promisi…

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani has revealed that negotiations with Real Madrid over the return of Kaka to San Siro are progressing well.

The 68-year-old said on Thursday that a transfer could prove to be very difficult, but the Milan director now seems slightly more optimistic about a deal for the Brazilian playmaker.

Negotiations are ongoing. Milan, Real Madrid and Kaka himself are all keen to finalise the deal, Galliani told reporters.

We will have to be creative to find a solution, though, as it is a complicated deal. All parties have a common objective, but we re talking about big figures. We will all have to make sacrifices.

The 30-year-old left Milan for Madrid in 2009 after a successful six-year spell at San Siro, but failed to live up to the hi…

Spanish newspapers have been predictably unsympathetic towards Barcelona after their Champions League elimination at the hands of Roma on Tuesday.

Barca took a commanding 4-1 lead into the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico, making Ernesto Valverde s men overwhelming favourites to reach the semi-finals.

However, Edin Dzeko gave Roma the lead after just six minutes, before a Daniele De Rossi penalty just before the hour mark left Barca in a precarious position.

And, with eight minutes to go, Kostas Manolas sent a glancing header into the far side of the net, wrapping up the 3-0 win that saw the Serie A side through on away goals.

Unsurprisingly, the Spanish press have not been kind to Barca in response to the shock elimination.

Failure w…

Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak said nobody knows what will happen in the future as the Slovenian star insisted he is only focused on ending the season with silverware.

Oblak has been linked with Premier League side Liverpool and Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain previously following his exploits for Atletico.

The 25-year-old – who moved to Madrid from Benfica in 2014 – has helped Atletico up to second in LaLiga, while the Spanish outfit are preparing for their Europa League semi-final showdown with Arsenal.

However, Oblak did little to allay doubts over his future after Sunday s goalless draw against Real Betis.

No news. I have the contract that I signed two years ago, Oblak told reporters.

What will happen well nobody knows, not e…

David Alaba is one of few footballers who can claim to have experienced consistent success against Barcelona in the 21st century and he once again proved a thorn in their side as El Clasico went in Real Madrid s favour at Camp Nou.

In three games against Barca for Bayern Munich, Alaba enjoyed a 100 per cent win record.

Bayern scored 15 goals and conceded just two across those matches, eight of those coming in Die Roten s incredible Champions League quarter-final win of 2020.

And the Austria international remains unbeaten versus the Blaugrana, his stunning left-foot finish helping settle a game in which Barca misfired in their first Clasico since Lionel Messi s departure and Madrid s brightest young talent rose to the occasion.

Alaba opens …

West Ham have exercised a purchase option on Said Benrahma early in order to free up space for the mooted loan signing of Jesse Lingard from Manchester United.

Reported issues with his medical in October led to Benrahma s initially agreed transfer being renegotiated to a season-long loan move that included an agreement to make the transfer permanent .

It is claimed West Ham paid an initial £4million to take him on loan from Championship side Brentford, with the permanent deal set to cost the Hammers £21m, plus £5m in variables.

West Ham are said to have triggered the purchase early to create space for Lingard, who is reportedly on the verge of completing a loan switch from United.

Premier League clubs are restricted to two domestic loan players in the…

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Chelsea and Liverpool are preparing to face each other at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, in a match that, if it goes ahead, is likely to play a big role in this season s title race in the Premier League.

Chelsea

Having strengthened their ranks significantly over the last two summers, not to mention winning the Champions League in between, Chelsea started 2021-22 in good form. There were moments when plenty of people considered them the most serious candidates to finish top at the end, given their formidable quality, squad depth and the knack possessed by Thomas Tuchel to set the team up in the right way.

However, things gradually took a turn for the worse, and the Blues are now in second place, whole eight points behind leaders Ma…

AS Roma head coach Jose Mourinho wants to sign Barcelona right-back Hector Bellerin in the summer of 2023, according to . The report in the Spanish news outlet has claimed that Bellerin is likely to leave Barcelona when his current contract at the La Liga club runs out at the end of the season, and former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Mourinho is keen to snap him up on a free transfer.

Bellerin joined Barcelona as a free agent in the summer of 2022 after his contract with Arsenal was mutually terminated. The 27-year-old Spanish right-back has made one start and two substitute appearances in La Liga and has played twice in the UEFA Champions League for Xavi’s side this season.

Barcelona are at the top of the La Liga table at the moment with 37 points from 14 match…