Ba works on new players

Fiji FA budget for U20 remains following Indonesia’s

The Fiji Football Association does not expect to increase its budget for the Digicel Junior Bula Boys following FIFA’s withdrawal of Indonesia as the venue for the Under-20 World Cup which starts in May. Following yesterday’s meeting between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Football Association of Indonesia president Erick Thohir, FIFA decided, because of the...

Indonesia stripped of U-20 World Cup hosting rights – FIFA

(Reuters) – FIFA on Wednesday stripped Indonesia of the right to stage this year’s Under-20 soccer World Cup, over what an Indonesian official said was a failure to honour its commitments to the tournament. The decision to stop Indonesia holding the May 20-June 11 event was taken after the country’s football federation (PSSI) said it...

Spurs director Paratici’s ban extended worldwide by FIFA

(Reuters) -FIFA have extended bans imposed on past and present Juventus officials to apply worldwide, the soccer governing body said on Wednesday, with Tottenham Hotspur’s current managing director of football Fabio Paratici among the individuals affected by the move. In January, Serie A’s Juventus were deducted 15 points for the season by an Italian soccer...

Canada face mission ‘impossible’ to replace injured Beckie – Priestman

(Reuters) – Canada coach Bev Priestman said injured forward Janine Beckie was “impossible to replace” as she named her 25-player squad on Wednesday for a training camp and friendly against France in the lead up to the Women’s World Cup. Olympic champions Canada have their work cut out with scarcely more than 100 days to...

Arsenal reach Women’s Champions League semis for first time since 2013

(Reuters) – Arsenal reached the Women’s Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 10 years after beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in their last-eight second leg on Wednesday to go through 2-1 on aggregate. Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius scored in the first half at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal overturned a 1-0 deficit against...

Blues duo ruled out

Digicel Fiji Premier League (DFPL) leader Lautoka will miss the services of two key players for their fifth round match against Tavua at Churchill Park this Sunday. Out of the team are star striker Saula Waqa and defender Ilimotama Jese. Waqa is ruled out of the squad after receiving two consecutive cautions in the competition...

Milestone Messi shines in Argentine goal fest

SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, Argentina (Reuters) -Lionel Messi surpassed the 100-goals mark for World Cup champions Argentina on Tuesday by scoring a hat-trick in their 7-0 friendly win over Curacao. Argentina’s leading scorer reached a century of international goals when he opened the scoring after 20 minutes, Giovani Lo Celso setting him up in the centre...

Australia coach sends youngsters back to the gym after Ecuador loss

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia coach Graham Arnold said his youthful team were taught a valuable lesson after being outmuscled by Ecuador in a 2-1 friendly loss in Melbourne. The Socceroos beat the South Americans 3-1 in the first match of the double-header in Sydney last week but two second-half goals from the visitors at Docklands...

McTominay double gives Scotland famous win over Spain

GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) -Scotland’s Scott McTominay grabbed another brace of goals as they stunned a much-changed Spain side to earn a deserved 2-0 victory in their Euro 2024 qualifier at Hampden Park on Tuesday and maintain their perfect start to the campaign. The win was a first for the Scots over their Iberian opponents since...

Belgium beat Germany 3-2 to pile pressure on Euro 2024 hosts

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) -Visitors Belgium battled to a 3-2 win over Germany in a friendly on Tuesday to make it two wins from two matches in the past four days while piling pressure on the embattled Euro 2024 hosts. With both teams eager to bounce back from their shock group stage World Cup exits in...

U20 coach dismissed

The Fiji Football Association has terminated the services of under-20 football coach Rodolfo Zapata following a review of the team’s losses during their tour to Indonesia last month. Argentinian Zapata was appointed to the position in January to help guide the Digicel Junior Bula Boys to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, also in Indonesia in...

FIFA to pay clubs $355 million for sending players to 2026 and 2030 World Cups

(Reuters) – FIFA’s compensation paid to clubs that release players for the men’s World Cup has been increased by nearly 70% to $355 million for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments, the global soccer governing body and the European Club Association (ECA) said on Monday. The Club Benefits Programme affords clubs a share of national team...

Messi statue to stand next to Maradona, Pele at CONMEBOL museum

(Reuters) – Lionel Messi stepped out of Diego Maradona’s shadow by leading Argentina to World Cup victory last year and a statue of the diminutive forward will stand alongside those of his predecessor and Brazil great Pele at the South American federation’s museum. Messi, holding a replica of the World Cup trophy, stood beside the...

Kane on target again as England ease past Ukraine

LONDON (Reuters) -Harry Kane underlined his status as England’s greatest international goalscorer and Bukayo Saka dazzled again in a comfortable 2-0 win over Ukraine to put Gareth Southgate’s team in control of Euro 2024 qualifying Group C on Sunday. Fresh from scoring his 54th goal in the 2-1 victory over Italy on Thursday, Kane made...

Tottenham end unhappy relationship with Conte

LONDON (Reuters) – Antonio Conte’s increasingly fractious relationship with Tottenham Hotspur came to an end with the Premier League club announcing they had parted ways with the Italian on Sunday. The writing had been on the wall since last weekend after Conte’s furious reaction to a 3-3 draw with Southampton in the Premier League —...

Italy back on track with 2-0 win over Malta

MALTA (Reuters) -Goals by forward Mateo Retegui and midfielder Matteo Pessina steered Italy to a 2-0 win over Malta in their Euro 2024 qualification Group C clash at Sunday. Defending champions Italy were looking to get back on track after starting the campaign with a 2-1 loss against England on Thursday. “These are games where...

Ronaldo leads the way as Portugal hit six of the best

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – 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, giving them a second win in four days. The 38-year-old grabbed a double against Liechtenstein on Thursday and scored twice more in Luxembourg to...

Rodu eyes consistency

Digicel Bula Boys interim coach Marika Rodu is looking for consistency as the team builds towards the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands at the end of the year. The side was participating in the Tri Nations FIFA International Friendlies at Churchill Park in Lautoka last week. This tournament is Rodu’s first coaching assignment for...

Glamour at sports awards

It was a night of glamour for sporting federations around the country that came together to award the best athletes in their respective grades. The 2022 FASANOC Fiji Sports Awards had a big turnout with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka as chief guest. The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) dominated the awards list taking out seven out...

Fiji U20 on World Cup track

The Ronil Lal-coached Digicel Junior Bula Boys side is on track in its preparation for the FIFA Under- 20 World Cup 2023 in Indonesia. This despite the side recording two losses and a draw in the Tri-Nations FIFA International Friendlies that ended at the Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday. The side went down 1-2 to...

Pitching in millions – Contracts contribute up to $60m in remittances

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says remittance inflows from Fiji’s sportsmen and women contracted abroad remain one of the country’s highest foreign exchange earners. Speaking at the 2020 Fiji Sports Awards on Saturday, Mr Rabuka said this amounted to remittances between $30 million and $60m annually. “And totally, our people abroad remit, in the last calendar...

Solomons lift tri-nations football series with win over Fiji

Solomon Islands won the Tri-nations International Friendly Series in Lautoka as they continued their unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory over the Fiji senior side on Sunday. It was the Solomons first win over Fiji in 12 years and also their first-ever away win against the Bula Boys. Striker Gagame Feni scored both goals for...

Boufal and Sabiri score to give Morocco 2-1 win over Brazil

By Fernando Kallas TANGIER, Morocco (Reuters) -Sofiane Boufal and Abdelhamid Sabiri scored to give Morocco a 2-1 victory in a friendly match against Brazil in Tangier on Saturday, earning their first victory ever against the five-time world champions. World Cup semi-finalists Morocco did not hold back and delivered a statement win against soccer powerhouse Brazil...

Wales snatch late goal to draw with Croatia

SPLIT (Reuters) – A last-gasp goal by debutant Nathan Broadhead earned Wales a 1-1 away draw with Croatia in the opening match of the their Euro 2024 Group D qualifying campaign on Saturday. Wales played their first match since their talisman Gareth Bale retired from the sport in January after making a record 111 appearances....

Germany kick off Euro 2024 mission with 2-0 friendly win over Peru

MAINZ, Germany (Reuters) – Germany forward Niclas Fuellkrug scored twice to secure a 2-0 victory over Peru in a friendly on Saturday as the hosts launched their mission to rebuild a competitive team for next year’s Euros on home soil. In their first match since crashing out of last year’s World Cup in the first...

Argentina FA training facility renamed after Messi

(Reuters) – The Argentina national team’s training facility has been renamed after talismanic captain Lionel Messi in recognition of his World Cup heroics and star-studded career, the country’s football association (AFA) said on Saturday. The Casa de Ezeiza in Buenos Aires, which houses the national team set-up, will now be known as Lionel Andres Messi...

Huge turn-out for U19 trials

About 100 under-19 women’s football players took part in the national trials around the three divisions in the country yesterday. About 30 players turned up in Suva, 40 in Labasa and 50 players turned up in Ba as Fiji FA looks to select the best players for this year’s OFC Under-19 Women’s Championship. The tournament...

South Sudan take spotlight in African Nations Cup qualifying

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Winning starts for former Premier League managers Avram Grant and Chris Hughton marked Thursday’s round of Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but it was upstarts South Sudan who stole the spotlight with a shock victory. Grant, who was Chelsea manager when they reached the 2008 Champions League final, saw his Zambia...

UEFA opens investigation into Barca payments to ex-refereeing official

BARCELONA (Reuters) – UEFA has opened a formal investigation into FC Barcelona for a potential violation of the European soccer governing body’s legal framework regarding payments made by the club to a company owned by a senior refereeing official, it said on Thursday. A Barcelona court agreed to take on the case last week after...

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