Category: Sports

Manchester City midfielder Rodri does not believe being a former Atletico Madrid player rules him out of joining Real Madrid and has said “you can’t turn down the best clubs in the world”.

The 29-year-old Spain midfielder, who has made 293 appearances for City since joining from La Liga club Atletico in 2019, will be out of contract next summer.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner says he “needs to sit down and talk” with City but added he would one day “like to come back” to Spain.

Despite making 47 appearances for Atletico, Rodri said he would consider joining city rivals Real.

“There have been many players who’ve gone down that path,” Rodri told Spanish media.

“Not immediately, but over time. For me, you can’t turn down the best clubs in the world.”

Players who have featured for both Real and Atletico include Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Spain forward Alvaro Morata – both of whom played for Chelsea between their spells at the Madrid clubs.

Rodri has won 12 major trophies with Pep Guardiola’s side, including four Premier League titles and one Champions League.

He has featured in 18 Premier League games this season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in 2024.

When asked what he thought of Real president Florentino Perez’s reported admiration for him as a footballer, Rodri replied: “I don’t know – they don’t talk to me directly. They’d talk to my agent.”

Rodri has been named in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad for upcoming friendlies against Serbia and Egypt as he targets a spot for this summer’s World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.

Rodri has made 59 appearances for his country and won the European Championships in 2024 and the Nations League the year before.

Following the controversial final in Rabat – in which Morocco and Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz missed a Panenka penalty to win the match in the 114th minute – the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) immediately lodged a complaint with Caf and Fifa, claiming that Senegal leaving the field of play “greatly affected the normal course of the match and the players’ morale”.

Caf’s disciplinary committee initially rejected that appeal, instead issuing sanctions against both sides, including a five-match ban for Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw, on 29 January.

The FRMF said those original penalties did not “reflect the seriousness of the incidents”, and Caf’s appeal board agreed, releasing a statement on 17 March which said Senegal had contravened articles 82 and 84 of competition regulations.

Article 82 states that if a team “leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee”, they are eliminated.

Senegal’s government responded by calling for an investigation into “suspected corruption” at Caf, a claim rebuffed by the governing body’s president, Patrice Motsepe, who has been at pains to point out the appeal board’s independence.

“It is important that the decisions of our Caf disciplinary board and the Caf appeals board are viewed with respect and integrity,” he said.

The final decision on who claims the 2025 Afcon title now rests with Cas, sport’s highest judicial authority.

“To wage this moral and legal crusade, we have appointed a team of seasoned professionals with undeniable expertise,” Fall announced in Paris, flanked by members of the FSF legal team.

One of them, lawyer Seydou Diagne, called the decision to strip Senegal of their title “so blatant, so absurd, so irrational”.

“The decision of the appeals jury cannot even be considered a true decision of sporting justice,” he added.

“It is an unacceptable and intolerable attack on the fundamental rights of our national Football Federation.”

Fellow lawyer Juan Perez said: “A match that was over, whose result had been decided by the referee, now being re-refereed, administratively – that’s unprecedented. You haven’t seen anything like it. It could change the world of football.”

Caf recently updated the Afcon 2025 review on its website to list Morocco as winners, although that page now appears to have been taken down.

With Senegal refusing to relinquish the trophy, and with Saturday’s planned parade a sign of their contempt, the battle to be crowned African champions is far from over.

Motherwell midfielder Callum Slattery has been handed a retrospective four-game ban for simulation that resulted in a red card for St Mirren defender Richard King.

King was dismissed when Slattery fell to the ground in the second half of Motherwell’s 5-0 win in Paisley last month.

Referee Calum Scott was told about the incident by one of his assistants and when the red card was issued for violent conduct, VAR did not intervene to overturn the decision despite an apparent lack of contact.

King’s red card was later rescinded on appeal, and Motherwell have hit out at a four-game ban for Slattery, two of which are suspended, after he was cited by the Scottish FA’s compliance officer.

The club say “a third layer of refereeing has now been implemented” and insist “poor quality” cameras mean there is not conclusive evidence King’s arm did not touch Slattery’s face.

“This is the first incident in Scottish football where a player has received a match suspension via retrospective action for inappropriate behaviour,” Motherwell claimed in a statement.

“And we question why this incident meets the criteria, yet countless others don’t.

“All clubs have witnessed similar incidents in games, which haven’t resulted in retrospective bans; therefore, we will watch and expect consistency going forward so that Callum isn’t treated differently to others.”

Ali McCann has been ruled out of Northern Ireland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Italy in Bergamo.

Manager Michael O’Neill was hopeful that the Preston midfielder would be fit to face the Italians, but he has not recovered from the knock he picked up against Coventry City a fortnight ago.

McCann was forced off in the first half of the Championship game with his club boss Paul Heckingbottom saying it was “not good” at the time.

“He had two horrendous tackles on him,” Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire. “It’s looking like it’s contact that’s injured him at this moment.”

It is another setback for Northern Ireland after Daniel Ballard was also ruled out because of a hamstring injury and are already missing Conor Bradley.

O’Neill has whittled down his squad for Thursday’s game with the experienced Dion Charles joining McCann on the sidelines along alongside Liverpool starlet Kieran Morrison, Jamie McDonnell and Josh Clarke.

Blackburn Rovers defender Tom Atcheson though retains his place in the 23-man panel.

After finishing mid-table in their first season in the EFL in 2024-25, this campaign was widely expected to be another one of consolidation but the Ravens have confounded pre-season predictions.

They have not been beaten in almost four months since a 3-1 defeat at then-leaders Walsall on 29 November, winning 14 and drawing seven of their 21 games since.

“It’s a great place to be in,” Woodman added. “It’s fantastic for us. I mean we shouldn’t really be anywhere near it on paper so really, in that respect, there’s no pressure on us, only the pressure we’ve got on ourselves.

“And we have put pressure on ourselves because we know we’re close and it will be quite an achievement for Bromley Football Club to be in League One for sure.”

Woodman, meanwhile, rejected criticism of Bromley’s direct style, pointing to the fact that only three clubs have scored more goals in League Two this season.

“We’ve got the smallest budget in the league, or one of the smallest budgets, so we can only attract a certain sort of player,” he added.

“And the player we attract, I want to take all the complications away from them – ‘you’ve got to play out from the back, get it off the keeper’ etc, etc.

“We play a certain way. It’s not quite as direct as everyone thinks, but it’s effective. We make sure we put crosses in the box – every opportunity the ball goes in the box – and it’s effective.”

The 1958 World Cup in Sweden was the last and in fact only time all home nations have played at the same World Cup.

Qualifying was a much more simple process back then, with nine automatic qualification spots up for grabs for the 27 European nations competing.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and England all topped their groups, but Wales qualified in unusual fashion after finishing second in qualifying but then being selected at random to compete in a play-off against Israel.

Wales advanced with a 4-0 aggregate victory over two legs to book their place at their first World Cup.

The tournament did not go to plan for England and Scotland though.

England, who were in a group with the Soviet Union, Austria and eventual winners Brazil, failed to make it to the knockout stage, while Scotland fared little better.

The Tartan Army were also eliminated at the first hurdle following defeats to France and Paraguay, and a draw against Yugoslavia.

However, Wales and Northern Ireland performed comparatively better. Both made it to the quarter-finals, with Northern Ireland eventually knocked out by France and Wales eliminated by a Brazil squad that included 17-year-old Pele.

Brazil beat hosts Sweden 5-2 in the final, with Pele scoring a brace to mark his emergence on the world stage.

France’s Just Fontaine scored 13 goals across the competition – a record that still stands today.

Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales have never all appeared in the same Women’s World Cup tournament.

Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga.

Sweden are not short of talent, yet they face the prospect of not reaching the World Cup.

They finished bottom of their qualifying group but reached the play-offs by finishing first in their Nations League pool.

Graham Potter’s side will travel to Valencia to face Ukraine at a neutral ground because of the war in Ukraine.

After a tumultuous time managing Chelsea and West Ham, Potter has returned to the country where he first found success.

Potter managed Swedish side Ostersunds FK between 2011 and 2018, leading them to their first Swedish Cup win in 2017.

Sweden have not won since Potter took charge, losing 4-1 to Switzerland and drawing 1-1 with Slovenia.

Potter is without Isak as he recovers from a broken leg, but Liverpool manager Arne Slot said the striker could return in late March or early April.