World soccer body hit with $76m claim by Frenchman Lassana Diarra in decade-long transfer rules case
Soccer's player transfer system will be in the spotlight and could even be on the brink of collapse on Friday when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announces its ruling on former France player Lassana Diarra's case against FIFA.
'All professional players have been affected by these illegal rules (in force since 2001!) and can therefore now seek compensation for their losses.'
Defending champions Bayern Munich must face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid after they were drawn together in Champions League Group A alongside Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow.
With the club's players quarantined during the coronavirus pandemic, Lokomotiv Moscow's Innokenty Samokhvalov was training on his own. He was playing for Lokomotiv's reserve team Kazanka in Russia's third tier.
Four players tested positive for coronavirus in the latest batch of tests conducted by the English Premier League and announced on Wednesday. Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow said on Thursday that four of its players had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Liverpool received a relatively kind draw for the group stage of this year's Champions League
'Yes I feel betrayed, and I felt some people don't want me here, not just this year, but last year too.'
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Schalke 04, Lokomotiv Moscow and Stoke City sealed places in the last 32 of the Europa League but a 2-0 defeat at Salzburg left Paris St Germain coach Antoine Kombouare looking over his shoulder on Thursday.
Manchester United have named German Ralf Rangnick as interim manager until the end of the season, the Premier League club announced on Monday, eight days after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Liverpool diced with elimination before scoring two late goals to win 2-1 at Trabzonspor and squeeze into the Europa League on Thursday while Swiss second division side Lausanne came through with a shock win over Lokomotiv Moscow.
Images from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Inter Milan face Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven in Group B which features three former European champions.
Real Madrid came from two goals down to score five in the second half and trounce Lokomotiv Moscow 5-2 in a spectacular Russian Railways Cup semi-final on Friday.
The two clubs will meet for the fourth time in five seasons in the first knockout phase of the Champions League
Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitri Tarasov insists he acted alone when he wore a T-shirt praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaving the player and team facing an anxious wait over possible sanctions for Tuesday's incident in Turkey.
Inter Milan defender Fabio Cannavaro has warned Champions League opponents Dynamo Kiev to banish thoughts of a classic Italian counter-attacking game.
They lost to Georgia in an important Euro 2004 football qualifier.
The Bayern Munich goalkeeper allowed a long-range free-kick by Real's Roberto Carlos to slip under his body in the Champions League first knockout phase match.
The striker created the goals that secured Arsenal's place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
In other Champions League matches, Manchester United beat Scottish champions Rangers while Chelsea impressed while beating Lazio.
Inter Milan travel to Lokomotiv Moscow seeking to preserve their 100 per cent record in the Champions League this week.
Arsene Wenger praised his Arsenal players for the 'resilient and disciplined' way in which they qualified for the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over AC Milan on Thursday.
Defending champions Real Madrid, though, left it late to avoid a defeat at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his record-breaking form for Portugal as he grabbed two more goals in his country's 6-0 thrashing of Luxembourg in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Sunday.
Rediff.com brings you some of the highlights from the sporting events held last week...
A French court jailed three Russian football supporters for up to two years for their role in violence before the England-Russia Euro 2016 match in Marseille. Alexei Yerunov, Nikolai Morozov and Sergei Gorbachev were among 43 Russian supporters detained by French police in southern France on Tuesday after the pitched battles which left more than 30 people injured. Yerunov, 29, who is supporters' liaison officer at Lokomotiv Moscow according to the club's website, received the longest prison sentence of 24 months.
World Cup hosts Russia have been fuelled by the criticism they received before the tournament, midfielder Anton Miranchuk said on Sunday as the team prepared for their second group match against Egypt.
Arsenal led a list of nine clubs who grabbed a second win in as many games in the Europa League group phase as France striker Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4-2 win at BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan will face Arsenal in the standout last-16 tie in the Europa League after the draw was made in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Dortmund now have 14 points, one ahead of champions Bayern Munich, who suffered their first defeat of the season on Friday with a 2-0 loss at Hertha Berlin.
A summary of Thursday's matches in the Europa League.
Images from action in the Europa League matches on Thursday.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
The Premier League, which has been on hold since March 13, remains suspended until at least April 30 while lockdown measures are in place in the United Kingdom until May 7, when the government is set to review the current restrictions in place. The U.K government's cabinet minister responsible for sport said he has been in talks with the Premier League with the aim of getting football back on the field as quickly as possible.
Russia introduced a raft of punitive economic measures and sports sanctions on Saturday after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane earlier in the week
Cristiano Ronaldo shows no signs of flagging as he approaches his mid-30s but there are plenty of other worries for a team with an ageing central defence and a number of players struggling for form.
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