Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is head strong but it appears as though he may be fighting a losing battle with the four times World Player of the Year.

'When Hindus converted through inducements there was no hue and cry, but when reconversions took place, everyone cried foul. If re-conversions are bad, so are conversions.' 'Our government is not getting involved either in conversions or re-conversions. The BJP has nothing to do with it.' Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu in a candid interview.

Rediff.com brings you the second instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez can show Liverpool why he would have made the perfect replacement for Luis Suarez when the Chilean travels to Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.

UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are "a contradiction" and only serve to protect big clubs with a long history of success, according to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

Cesc Fabregas was "pissed off" with Spain teammate Sergio Ramos for raising doubts about his commitment to the national team but said the pair had buried the hatchet.

Anyone who has watched the Argentine in recent years knows he can do things with a football that seem to defy the laws of physics and he does not fit into the mould of a traditional striker.

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric is set to miss the rest of the year with a thigh injury, the La Liga leaders said in a statement on Monday.

Here is a recap of all the big events that shaped the world last week.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has criticised what he called FIFA's political decision not to include former team mate Luis Suarez on their shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or award as the world's best footballer.

Neymar will be selected as one of Brazil's three over-age players for the 2016 Olympics, the team's manager Alexandre Gallo said on Thursday.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has dismissed allegations of gender discrimination over the decision to play the women's World Cup on artificial turf, saying the surface could also be used for the men's tournament in the future.

Carlos Tevez has been included in the squad for the first time in three years for next month's friendlies in England against Croatia and Portugal.

Croatian wunderkind Borna Coric offered emphatic proof of his potential when he crushed Rafael Nadal in the Swiss Indoor tournament on Friday before local hero Roger Federer cruised into the last four.

After watching his first football match at an Indian stadium, Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor said the atmosphere during the lung opener of the ISL in Kolkata matched any top international games.

Portugal's football team captain Cristiano Ronaldo's agent has revealed that the forward would play out the rest of his career at Real Madrid, shunning reports of a return to Manchester United.

Rafael Nadal is recovering satisfactorily from appendicitis and will continue a course of antibiotics in a bid to be fit for the remainder of the 2014 season, the World No 2's spokesman said on Thursday.

Barcelona would not be allowed to play in La Liga if Catalonia broke away from Spain, the country's football league chief Javier Tebas said as tensions mounted in the region over the possibility of an independence referendum next month.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is racing to be fit for Sweden's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Russia and Liechtenstein in Stockholm, but won't risk playing with pain-killing injections.

Dani Alves has blamed the media for Brazil's unsuccessful World Cup campaign but conceded that the team did not prepare properly ahead of the humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi-final.

Soccer's governing body FIFA has agreed to ban the third-party ownership (TPO) of players, its president Sepp Blatter said on Friday, seven years after first promising to outlaw the practice.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has given his backing to Xavi and says the veteran midfielder remains a valuable member of the squad despite having played just 45 minutes in the opening five La Liga games.

Current forms of economic growth are widening disparities, leaving hundreds of millions of people to live in poverty, says Rajni Bakshi.

Real Madrid's early-season woes deepened when they lost 2-1 at home to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, while substitute Neymar struck twice in Barcelona's 2-0 win against visiting Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Barcelona striker Munir El Haddadi continued his dramatic rise in the game as part of a new-look Spain that have set their sights on Euro 2016 following a surprise early exit at this year's World Cup.

For Manchester United, the answer to a slump in form or a crisis of confidence comes in 50 pound notes. Millions of them.

The outcome of Uruguay forward Luis Suarez's appeal against his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini will be announced on Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Wednesday.

Oscar Pistorius' "primal instincts" kicked in when he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp because he was in a vulnerable and fearful state, his defence lawyer said at the athlete's murder trial on Friday.

Stephanie Rice, Australia's triple Olympic champion who called time on her illustrious swimming career in April at the age of 25, has joined hands with sports management firm Rhiti Sports to improve the standard of the sport in India.

Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Portugal's World Cup campaign after being named in their provisional 30-man squad for the finals on Tuesday, despite currently being out with a hamstring injury.

Barcelona forward Neymar has almost recovered from a foot injury and hopes to play in Saturday's Spanish league decider against Atletico Madrid, the Brazilian said in an internet chat with fans on Monday.

Real Madrid took to the streets as they celebrated their King's Cup, or what is Spanish is called the Copa Del Ray, victory over Barcelona on Wednesday.

'I get little chance to go on holidays. Last year, I went to Barcelona for a week. I loved that place.' Sonakshi Sinha talks about her busy work schedule.

Manchester United, comprehensively outplayed by local rivals Liverpool and Manchester City at Old Trafford recently, face an even tougher challenge when holders Bayern Munich come calling in the Champions League on Tuesday.

A selection of Spanish words and phrases which help explain the intense rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona played out in the El Clasico.

I am not a quitter. I was with the United Nations for 29 years. I don't know whether I will have 29 years in politics, but I don't intend to end with just 5 years, Dr Shashi Tharoor tells rediff.com's Shobha Warrier

Eight telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, the biggest three in the country, bid a combined Rs 61,162 crore (Rs 611.62 billion) in the spectrum auction held earlier this month.

UEFA president Michel Platini has repeated his call for the "triple punishment" of red card, penalty and suspension to be dropped following two controversial dismissals in the Champions League this week.

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has reiterated the club's innocence of tax fraud in the signing of Neymar and insisted the operation to bring the Brazil forward to the Catalan capital was "completely legal".

Barcelona and Brazil striker Neymar has launched an attack on his former club Santos and spoken out in support of his father, insisting he had the right to make millions from the player's transfer last year.