Paris: The trial of French football stars Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema over claims they paid for sex with an underage call girl was adjourned for procedural reasons on Tuesday until 2014.
Benzema, a Real Madrid striker, and Ribery, a Bayern Munich winger, are to be tried on charges of paying Zahia Dehar, a prostitute-turned-fashion muse, for sex in 2008 and 2009, when she was only 16, then 17 years old. Neither footballer showed up in court on Tuesday.
The pair, both players in France's national squad, have been under investigation since 2010 over the affair. They risk up to three years in jail and fines of 45,000 euros if found guilty of soliciting the services of an underage prostitute.
At Tuesday's hearing, Ribery's lawyer asked the Paris court to seize the Constitutional Council to interpret a clause in the penal code that forbids soliciting underage prostitutes. He argued that it was too vague to be used against his client....
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11:19 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke wants Sepp Blatter to reverse a previous pledge and stand again for the presidency of world football's governing body. The 77-year-old Blatter, who has been in office since 1998, was handed a fourth, four-year term in 2011 after saying he would stand aside in 2015. But Blatter has been dropping hints that he wants to remain in the job, and his closest...
09:06 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Paris: French footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema go on trial in Paris on Tuesday accused of paying for sex with a teenage call girl. Bayern Munich winger Ribery and Real Madrid striker Benzema have been under investigation in their home country for more than two years on allegations of paying Zahia Dehar, then a minor, for sex in 2008 and 2009. None of them are expected to appear at...
05:02 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Revife: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque refused to be drawn on why he chose goalkeeper Iker Casillas in his starting line-up over Victor Valdez against Uruguay in their Confederations Cup opener. Casillas had not played a competitive match since January and many predicted Valdez would be first-choice in goal for La Roja's opening Confederations Cup Group B match, reports Xinhua. "I have seen it fit (to play Casillas)," Del Bosque...
01:11 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Defender Giorgio Chiellini has denied claims that Italy has been afflicted by arrogance as they prepare for their Confederations Cup debut against Mexico on Sunday. Veteran Azzurri goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had accused his teammates of having an "ounce of superficiality and arrogance" during the match against Caribbean minnows Haiti, reports Xinhua. Buffon made the suggestion following Italy's shock 2-2 friendly draw with Haiti in Rio de Janeiro...
01:01 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Basel: FIFA has suspended Ivory Coast and Basel midfielder Geoffroy Serey Die for four months over a five-year-old contract dispute, the Swiss champions said Thursday. Basel said that Serey Die, who joined the club only in January, is banned from the start of next season - a sanction that covers the club's involvement in Champions League preliminary rounds starting in July. Serey Die can remain with the Ivory Coast team...
11:00 PM, Jun 06, 2013
Bologna: Using mostly reserves, Italy comfortably beat tiny San Marino 4-0 in a friendly on Friday. Midfielder Andrea Poli put the Azzurri ahead in the 28th minute at the Dall'Ara stadium, Alberto Gilardino doubled the lead in the 33rd, Andrea Pirlo made it 3-0 with one of his expert free kicks in the 50th and Alberto Aquilani added another in the 79th. Among usual Italy starters, only goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon...
09:49 AM, Jun 01, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: A Brazilian judge has lifted an injunction that threatened to block Sunday's Brazil v England soccer friendly in the newly-revamped Maracana stadium over public safety concerns. The Rio de Janeiro state government said on Thursday night that the judge lifted the suspension order she had signed earlier in the day after missing paperwork was provided and the game will go ahead as planned. "The game between Brazil...
10:42 AM, May 31, 2013
Paris: Monaco's spending spree looks set to continue with the club's sporting director confident he can sign Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao, one of the hottest properties in world football. "Things are progressing well, but it's not finalized yet, there are still some details to sort out. We really want to complete the transfer of this great player," Vadim Vasilyev said Thursday on French radio station RMC. "He is among...
09:48 AM, May 31, 2013
Warsaw: Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski is likely to join German rivals and newly-crowned Champions League winners Bayern Munich, the Pole's agent said on Monday. However, Cezary Kucharski told Polish local news channel TVN24 that Bayern had yet to agree terms for Dortmund's top-scorer. "For us it is clear, but we have not signed anything," Kucharski said. "The clubs need to reach an agreement." Kucharski gave no further details, but...
03:27 PM, May 27, 2013
London: David Beckham would not rank among the top 1,000 players of the last 40 years, former England winger Chris Waddle said on Friday in comments at odds with glowing tributes to the retiring midfielder. Beckham, 38, announced on Thursday that he was retiring at the end of the season after winning trophies and titles in four countries and earning 115 caps for England - a record for an outfield...
11:50 PM, May 17, 2013
Reaction to David Beckham's decision to retire from football at the end of the season, which he announced Thursday: "He is a fantastic footballer and a fantastic person. All over the world you say 'David Beckham' and people know who that is." - Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. "I wish him well in the future whatever he chooses to do and I personally hope that will be in football." -...
10:16 PM, May 16, 2013
London: David Beckham is retiring from soccer after the season, ending a career in which he become a global superstar since starting his career at Manchester United. The 38-year-old Englishman recently won a league title in a fourth country with Paris Saint-Germain. He said in a statement Friday he is "thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish...
08:02 PM, May 16, 2013
Utah: A 46-year-old soccer referee who was punched by a teenage player during a game and later slipped into a coma has died, police said. Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following the assault last weekend, Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal said Saturday night. Police have accused a 17-year-old player in a recreational soccer league of punching Portillo after the...
04:07 PM, May 05, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Midfielder Deco has tested positive for a banned diuretic in Brazil and says he will appeal the result, saying it likely stemmed from contaminated vitamins. Football officials in Rio de Janeiro say the former Chelsea and Portugal playmaker tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic which can help hide performance enhancing substances. The test came after Fluminense's 2-0 win over Boavista on March 30. The player's lawyers told...
04:51 PM, May 01, 2013
Geneva: Despite recent skepticism from his own anti-corruption advisers, Sepp Blatter said FIFA can be a model of good sports leadership. On Monday, FIFA published the business agenda for next month's congress, where the football body hopes to finalise modernising changes promised by Blatter two years ago following damaging allegations of bribery and vote-buying. "I look forward to further important decisions being passed at the Congress in 2013 to complete...
11:10 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Rio de Janeiro: Two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho has been named in Brazil's squad for next week's friendly against Chile. His inclusion comes after an impressive display in Brazil's 4-0 win over Bolivia earlier this month, a match that marked the 33-year-old's return to the team after being dropped for friendlies against Italy and Russia, reports Xinhua. The April 24 fixture at Belo Horizonte's Mineirao World Cup...
09:57 AM, Apr 17, 2013
Manchester: European soccer governing body UEFA are planning to introduce tough new sanctions to combat racism with players found guilty of racist offences banned for a minimum of 10 matches, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday. Infantino also said there would be partial closure of stadiums for a first incident of racist abuse by fans and a full closure for a second offence plus far tougher financial penalties....
04:12 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Zurich: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed misgivings about the idea of relegation and points deductions as punishments for racism, suggesting it could encourage fans to deliberately try and get matches stopped. In January, the 77-year-old Swiss proposed the possible introduction of such sanctions for teams whose fans were guilty of racism but appeared to back away from that stance during a speech at an event in Zurich on Friday....
07:20 PM, Apr 05, 2013
FIFA has approved the appointment of GoalControl GmbH as the official provider of goal-line technology for the Confederations Cup in Brazil. ...
09:47 PM, Apr 02, 2013
