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News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Premier League champions Manchester City will travel to Championship (second-tier) side Swansea City in the FA Cup quarter-finals next month, while rivals Manchester United visit Wolverhampton Wanderers.
United beat holders Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge earlier on Monday to book their spot in the last eight.
Crystal Palace were drawn away to Watford in another all-top-flight clash while second-tier Millwall host Brighton & Hove Albion in the other quarter-final.
Draw
Swansea City v Manchester City
Watford v Crystal Palace
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United
Millwall v Brighton & Hove Albion
Ties to be played March 15-18.
Dortmund slip up again with draw at bottom club Nuremberg
Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund managed only a 0-0 draw at bottom club Nuremberg on Monday to see their gap at the top cut to three points after their third straight draw in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund are in the midst of a form crisis, having failed to win any of their last five games in all competitions and having been eliminated from the German Cup while also losing 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League round of 16 first leg last week.
As expected the Ruhr valley club had the upper hand throughout but could not score, with Nuremberg keeper Christian Mathenia in fine form and repeatedly denying Mario Goetze as the visitors had 18 shots on goal.
The keeper also tipped a Paco Alcacer's low shot wide in the 86th and the Dortmund forward was ruled off side a little later after putting the ball in the net.
Dortmund are on 51 points. Champions Bayern Munich are in second place on 48 after their 3-2 comeback win at Augsburg on Friday. Borussia Moenchengladbach are in third a further five points behind.
The hosts, who replaced coach Michael Koellner last week after seven defeats in their previous eight games replacing him with interim coach Boris Schommers, earned a point to move within two points of the relegation playoff spot.
Olsen's heroics help Roma to 2-1 win over Bologna
AS Roma had goalkeeper Robin Olsen to thank for a 2-1 win over lowly Bologna on Monday which kept them hot on the heels of AC Milan in the race for the Champions League next season.
Aleksandar Kolarov, with a penalty, and Federico Fazio scored for Roma in the second half, before a late Bologna consolation, but it was the Swedish keeper who was the real hero.
Olsen did well to tip over Roberto Soriano's long-range drive in the eighth minute and blocked another effort from the same player with his feet in the 36th minute as Sinisa Mihajlovic's Bologna side took control.
The Swede then blocked Simone Edera's effort form close range before Soriano blasted against the crossbar seconds before halftime.
Roma went ahead against the run of play in the 55th minute, Kolarov firing home the penalty after a foul on substitute Stephan El Shaarawy, and Fazio volleyed the second with 17 minutes left following a corner.
Nicola Sansone pulled one back with an individual effort but Roma held out and moved up to fifth with 41 points, one behind AC Milan who are in the fourth and last Champions League qualification slot.
Bologna, 18th in the 20-team table, stayed in the relegation zone with 18 points, three adrift of Empoli.
Portugal international Nani joins Orlando City
Sporting's Portugal forward Nani has joined Major League Soccer team Orlando City SC on a three-year deal, the MLS club announced on Monday.
The 32-year-old Nani, who won four Premier League titles with Manchester United, has joined on a free transfer after his contract with Sporting was terminated by mutual agreement.
"This is an exciting day for our organization,” Luiz Muzzi, Orlando City's executive vice-president of Soccer Operations, said in a statement on the club website.
"Nani brings tremendous experience to our roster. He’s a dynamic winger with quality abilities to move and cross the ball, impact games and lead the offensive play.”
Nani made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Wayne Rooney on Aug. 12, 2007 and remained with United until 2014, making 230 appearances in all competitions, scoring 41 goals.
In 2014, Nani returned to Sporting on loan and has since played for Fenerbahce, Valencia and Lazio before returning to the Portuguese club in July last year, playing 28 games and scoring eight times.
"Sporting Clube de Portugal... appreciates the services provided and wishes Luis 'Nani' the greatest personal and professional success," Sporting said on their website.
Nani helped Portugal win the 2016 European Championship and was a member of their 2014 World Cup squad. He has been capped 112 times, scoring 24 goals for his country.
Italy's Serie C kicks out club that lost 20-0 with seven-man team
An Italian third division club which cobbled together a seven-man team and lost 20-0 on Sunday has been thrown out of the league.
Pro Piacenza's first team squad and coaching staff refused to travel for the game at Cuneo due to unpaid wages, leaving the financially troubled team to start with six teenagers and a 39-year-old physiotherapist -- the only players they could find.
After ruling on Monday that some the players were not registered for the match, Lega Serie C's disciplinary committee disqualified the team from the competition and handed Cuneo a walkover 3-0 win.
The Italian football federation (FIGC) later said the club had been disaffiliated due to "the serious regulatory violations which occurred at the Cuneo-Pro Piacenza match added to the other numerous documented irregularities."
Pro Piacenza were bottom of the North and Central West group of Serie C, which is split into three 20-team regional groups.
Leeds fined and reprimanded by EFL over 'spygate' affair
Championship club Leeds United have been fined 200,000 pounds ($258,480.00) and reprimanded over a 'spying' controversy earlier this month, the English Football League (EFL) said on Monday.
Leeds’ Argentine manager Marcelo Bielsa admitted last month that his staff had watched all the club's opponents in training this season after a spy was removed from DerbyCounty's training ground the day before their second-tier clash.
Following Derby's 2-0 defeat at Elland Road, the EFL launched a formal investigation into the incident which Derby coach Frank Lampard described as 'unethical'.
"The club has been fined 200,000 pounds (inclusive of a contribution to costs) and received a formal reprimand and warning to the effect that the Club’s conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected by the EFL and must not be repeated," the EFL said in a statement.
"In addition, Leeds United has agreed to support a new EFL Regulation that make it clear that Clubs will be expressly prohibited from viewing opposition training in the 72 hours immediately prior to a fixture, unless invited to do so."
Leeds, who in their heyday were three-time champions of the English top flight as well as winners of the FA Cup and League Cup, have since apologised to Derby and reminded Bielsa of the Yorkshire club's principles of "integrity and honesty".
"We accept that whilst we have not broken any specific rule, we have fallen short of the standard expected by the EFL with regards to regulation 3.4.," the club said in Monday's EFL statement.
"We apologise for acting in a way that has been judged culturally unacceptable in the English game."
European football leaders say FIFA competition plans 'unacceptable'
European soccer clubs, leagues and governing body UEFA have reiterated their opposition to FIFA's plans for two new competitions, labelling them "unacceptable" in their current form.
Following a meeting of UEFA's Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC), they said the were "adamant" that new competitions must be discussed only as part of talks on the international match calendar from 2024 onwards.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proposed the creation of a new 24-team Club World Cup, held every four years, and a global version of UEFA’s Nations League. He wants the tournaments to start in 2021.
The FIFA President said his plans, first put forward at a FIFA Council meeting in Bogota last March, were backed by an investment consortium willing to put in $25 billion over a 12-year cycle in return for 49 percent ownership of the competitions.
UEFA has said throughout that it needs more information, particularly on the identity of the investors.
"UEFA, ECA (the European Club Association) and European Leagues were adamant that the current proposals are unacceptable as they stand," they said following a meeting of the PFSC on Monday at UEFA's lakeside headquarters.
"They were of the unequivocal view that any decision on potential new competitions can only be made as part of an agreed framework for the international match calendar post-2024."
Referring to the investors, they added that "all related sporting and commercial matters must be fully disclosed and discussed amongst professional football stakeholders beforehand."
FIFA could not immediately be reached for comment.
The PFSC includes elected representatives from UEFA, the ECA, which represents 232 European clubs, the European Leagues organisation and the world players'union FIFPro.
The international match calendar, which is drawn up by world governing body FIFA, co-ordinates fixtures around the globe, allocating dates for international matches and tournaments to avoid clashes with domestic competitions.
FIFA's plans would need changes to the current calendar which runs until 2024 and allows for eight to 10 internationals per year in addition to major tournaments such as the World Cup, European Championship and Copa America.
The current version of the Club World Cup is held every December but features only seven clubs, with the European and South American representatives entering at the semi-final stage.
