John Terry will remain Chelsea captain, new manager Antonio Conte has confirmed.
The 35-year-old defender, who captained the Blues to four Premier League titles in over 700 appearances, signed a one-year contract extension in May after it appeared that he was close to leaving Stamford Bridge.
Terry described the offer as a "different role" but Conte has assured the former England skipper of his stature at the club - that he is captain whether he plays or not.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted at the possibility of giving Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta a coaching role at the club.
Arteta is set to leave the Gunners at the end of the season, with his contract set to expire in June this year. And his imminent exit has led to suggestions Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola, who will take over Manchester City next term, is interested in taking the Spaniard to Eastlands to be part of his back-room coaching staff.
However, Pochettino has fuelled speculation that he could also be keen on Arteta's services, indicating that their time together at Paris Saint-Germain back during the 2001/2002 season could convince the 34-year-old to coach at White Hart Lane instead.
"I love him and he loves me. You know our history from Paris Saint-Germain, when he was 17 and I was the captain. We have a very good relationship. The thing is rumours and you know I never speak about rumours."
Harry Kane is baying for blood after watching Leicester drop points in the English Premier League title race.
The Tottenham striker would have been hoping that West Ham could put a dent in the Foxes' championship challenge when the sides met at the King Power Stadium this afternoon.
And that's exactly what they did as they held Leicester to a 2-2 draw and Jamie Vardy got sent off. It could have been even better for Spurs with the Hammers leading 2-1 going into the final minutes.
Leicester had taken the lead in the game through Jamie Vardy, but found themselves following his sending off and goals from Andy Carroll and Aaron Cresswell.
In control and with a man advantage, you would have expected West Ham to go on and get all three points, but Leicester hit back with a late Leonardo Ulloa penalty to steal a point.
But it's still not ideal for Claudio Ranieri's title-chasers, as their lead at the top went from seven to eight points - and gives Spurs the opportunity to cut it to five if they can beat Stoke tomorrow night.
Kane posted on Instagram shortly after the result - and got all cryptic as he shared a picture of a pack of lions waiting to pounce on their prey:
We're almost certain Kane's picture comes off the back of Leicester drawing and the motivation that gives Tottenham to cut the gap.
But, of course, he could just like lions, couldn't he?
An Australian Olympic gold medallist has found himself accused of "tweaking" a plane passenger's nipple during a row over a seat.
Grant Hackett, who won 1500m freestyle gold in 2000 and 2004, is alleged to have "forcefully" grabbed the man's nipple during a flight on Sunday.
The incident happened en-route from Adelaide to Melbourne after Mr Hackett, 35, allegedly became annoyed that the man's seat was too far reclined.
The complainant told Australia's The Daily Telegraph that Mr Hackett pushed the chair forward again after he tried reclining it.
“Then he put his hand through and groped my chest and tweaked my nipple quite forcefully,” the passenger said.
Mr Hackett allegedly stroked his arm and said “it’s OK, it’s all right” but the passenger said he felt unsafe and violated.
He denied the incident was "nasty" but said it troubled him enough to make him worry about flying again.
The Blues interim manager believes the upcoming tournament may already be taking up most of the players' attention, rather than the remaining Premier League games
Guus Hiddink admits some of his Chelsea stars have begun to take it easy as their attention turns to the upcoming European Championship.
Defending champions Chelsea suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats after slumping to a 3-0 home loss against Manchester City on Saturday.
It was their 16th reverse in all competitions during what has been an abysmal campaign, with Chelsea languishing in 10th and still six points shy of their worst Premier League points tally of 50.
Hiddink believes with the season coming to the end and no realistic target to aim for, some of the Chelsea players have begun preserving themselves for the Euros in France.
"Partly true, but I cannot blame the players for having a lack of attitude," the Dutchman said on the matter.
"Some players might think that, but I cannot look into their minds, in their brains. They might be thinking of the Euros.
"When there is nothing at stake then with some people there is a little bit of a lack of the ultimate work."
Despite being out of it Chelsea still have a big say in the title race for this season with home games against Tottenham and leaders Leicester City to come.
Kevin Friend has been replaced as the referee for Tottenham's Monday night football clash with Stoke because he's a Leicester fan. You might say he's no Friend of Spurs...
The official was originally earmarked to take charge of the game at Britannia Stadium this coming Monday.
But given the magnitude of the match, where a positive result could see Spurs reel in Leicester in the title race or a negative result could fire the Foxes closer to winning the league, he's now been swapped out for Neil Swarbrick.
Friend probably never thought he'd get into a situation where a game he was due to take charge of had so much at stake for the team he supports.
But Spurs fans noticed his allegiance and their reaction has now prompted the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd to make the move.
Referee chief Mike Riley said in a statement, via dailymail.co.uk: "Kevin Friend, initially selected for the game, is from Leicester and has attended matches at Leicester City in a personal capacity.
"Given the context of this match, it was felt unnecessary to add extra scrutiny on the refereeing appointment."
It is commons for referees to not take charge of games involving the team they support.
Now Spurs fans can be safe in the knowledge that there won't be any dodgy decisions come Monday night as they look to keep the pressure on Leicester going into the final games of the season.
Or at least that's what they'll hope for - we'll end up seeing Swarbrick give Stoke three penalties and send off four of Mauricio Pochettino's players in the game. So much for worrying about impartiality.
The Sergio Ramos to Manchester United transfer saga of last season pretty much summed up everything that is wrong with the club these days. They spent most of the summer trying to sign one defender and when they then missed out on him and others Louis van Gaal claimed he never wanted a centre back. Now someone else is after Ramos.
Ramos never really looked like he was going to move from the Bernabeu to Old Trafford and in the end maybe United got the better end of the deal when they got to keep David de Gea.
However this summer it's been reported that Chelsea will break the world record fee for a defender and British transfer record by signing Ramos for £63.5 million or at least they'll try. That's according to Spanish paper Don Balon.
The news could spell the end for John Terry's time at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea captain's contract runs out at the end of the season and whilst he publicly came out to say he'd be off at the end of the season it was thought there was a chance Antonio Conte could yet renew his deal.
However signing 30 year old Ramos would put the end to that speculation, especially with Gary Cahill having recently signed a four year extension.
It would be massive money for a defender, especially one with discipline issues, is Ramos worth the money?
Eden Hazard hasn't enjoyed the greatest of seasons as the likes of Kolo Toure and Gary Cahill scoring more goals than the Belgian, but a move to Real Madrid has been talked about for a long time now.
According to Spanish news outlet OK Diaro, Hzard has agreed to join Los Blancos for a reported 40 million euros (£31m), which in perspective isn't a great deal of money considering the current inflated state of transfers.
Yes, Hazard may have under performed this season but the 40 million euro price tag is surely a little low.
Hazard has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge for months now and it looks likely he will leave this summer.
OK Diario journalist Eduardo Inda confirmed the news:
"Eden Hazard is done. The amount has been agreed with the player and with Chelsea."
Should Chelsea sell Eden Hazard this summer?
Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick against Wolfsburg last night was the 37th of his Real Madrid career.
The Portuguese superstar was the main man for Zinedine Zidane's side as he scored all three goals to overturn the Germans' 2-0 first-leg advantage and send them into the Champions League semi-finals. It's a remarkable achievement - and one which came at the perfect time for Madrid as they feared for their European lives after the first game.
As for Madrid, they'll be able to watch the remaining two quarter-finals tomorrow night safe in the knowledge that they're already in the last four alongside Manchester City. But who does Cristiano Ronaldo want to face in the next round of the competition?
Following the victory over Wolfsburg, Ronaldo named the team he would like to face in the Champions League semi-final.
"I would prefer Benfica in Portugal."
Benfica face Bayern Munich tonight and will have to turn over a first leg 1-0 defeat to advance to the next stage.
Modern footballers are so mollycoddled by their clubs that the story surrounding Bayern Munich's semi-final with Benfica tonight is all the more puzzling as the Bavarians are a player short thanks to a forgotten passport
.
Bearing in mind that a footballer embarking on a Champions League away trip will have to pack almost next to nothing themselves apart from perhaps a hand luggage bag, it makes Mehdi Benatia forgetting his passport all the more remarkable.
The Moroccan centre half, a 26m euro arrival from Roma in 2014, arrived with his teammates to board a flight to Lisbon without his passport and was denied access to the German champions' flight, leaving the club with no option but to send him home and make do without him for tonight's Champions League quarter-final second leg with Benfica.
We can't imagine Pep Guardiola's too pleased about the situation, given how slender Bayern's 1-0 aggregate advantage is heading into the match.
The nominees for the PFA Player, Young Player and Women's Player and Young Player of the year were announced on the PFA's official twitter account this afternoon with Premier League top two Leicester and Spurs unsurprisingly dominating proceedings in the men's categories, while Manchester City boast three nominees across the two women's categories.
The former Sunderland winger and England international was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court after being found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl
Adam Johnson has lodged an appeal against his six-year prison sentence.
The former Sunderland and England winger was sentenced last month at Bradford Crown Court having been found guilty by a jury of one charge of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.
Johnson, who had already pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and one of grooming, has already begun an appeal against that conviction.
An official at Bradford Crown Court confirmed to Omnisport that the 28-year-old has now applied for a review of his six-year prison sentence.
On the Adam Johnson's Appeal Fight Facebook page, set up by his sister Faye, a post said: "Adam's appeal against his sentence has now been lodged! Thanks everyone for your support it means a lot!"
Johnson had his contract terminated by Sunderland after his guilty plea.
The Asian state has big plans for the game and has set short, medium and long-term goals to become a "superpower" by 2050
China has formalised its plan to be a "world football superpower" by 2050 following the unveiling of a detailed strategy to help boost the sport in the country.
President Xi Jingping is a football fan and has previously said he wants China to win the World Cup in the next 15 years.
The country has only every competed in one edition of the tournament, in 2002, but the Chinese Football Association (CFA) is planning to do a lot more than just qualify in the coming decades.
The CFA published their plan on Monday which sets short, medium and long-term goals for the country.
One objective is to have 50 million of China's 1.357 billion people playing football by 2020, with 20,000 football training centres and 70,000 pitches by the same deadline.
The plan sets the men's national team the target of being one of Asia's highest ranked teams by 2030, while the women's national team should also be considered world-class.
By 2050, the report says China should be rated as "a first-class football superpower" that "contributes to the international football world".
The report comes following a mammoth off-season in the Chinese Super League - the country's top professional tier - in which the transfer record was broken four times by clubs who signed the likes of Alex Teixeira, Ramires, Jackson Martinez and Ezequiel Lavezzi from Europe.
Despite that, there have been concerns for the sport at grassroots level.
Lawrie McKinna - a former coach in the CSL - told Omnisport in February that the game at a local level was not in a good state.
"I was over there a few months ago before Christmas and their grassroots football is a shambles," McKinna said.
"I had a meeting with Beijing football and they had 60 clubs registered. The population is 20 million, I think, and on the Central Coast [in Australia, population approx. 330,000] we have 23 [clubs] just here."
LAS VEGAS – If this was the finale of Manny Pacquiao's legendary career, he went out on top, if not in style.
The Filipino superstar has had better days in the ring during a career that saw him win world titles in eight weight classes and virtually guarantee himself a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
It's fair to say, though, that the action was lacking at many points during his fight with Tim Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden before 14,665 largely Pacquiao partisans.
Buoyed by two knockdowns in what could be his final fight, Pacquiao won a unanimous decision over Bradley in a fight that was dull for long stretches.
All three judges had it 116-110 for Pacquiao.
When it ended, Pacquiao said he would retire, though left the door open for a return.
"As of now, I am retired," Pacquiao said. "I'm going to go home and think about it. I want to be with my family. I want to serve the people."
Pacquiao dropped Bradley in the seventh and ninth rounds of a fight in which neither man was able to sustain much offense against each other. The knockdown in the seventh appeared to be more of a slip, though a punch did land. But in the middle of a flurry in the ninth, Pacquiao landed a blistering left that sent Bradley somersaulting backward toward the ropes.
"Manny's left trumps all," Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said.
The victory gave Pacquiao the rubber match of his series against Bradley, as he won the last two bouts after losing a hotly disputed decision in 2012.
Few other than the two judges who scored it for Bradley in 2012 thought he deserved the win. Most neutral observers felt Pacquiao won 16 to 18 of the first 24 rounds over the two fights.
Bradley hired Teddy Atlas last year to try to turn his career around after he had struggled in several fights, but it didn't seem to make a noticeable difference in this fight.
"I don't think the first knockdown was a real knockdown, but Pacquiao did a great job in there," Atlas said. "Give Pacquiao credit. I didn't do a good enough job for Bradley." The bout was familiar, much the same as the first two without any sustained flurries or clean punches landed.
Pacquiao landed 122 of 439 punches according to CompuBox, an average of just 10 punches a round. Bradley connected on 99 of 302, landing at a higher percentage but throwing and connecting on far fewer.
Pacquiao said his right shoulder, which he injured in the fourth round of his 2015 fight with Floyd Mayweather, didn't bother him.
But Pacquiao didn't look nearly the same fighter as he did in his prime. He had stretches where he was fast and powerful, but he didn't command the ring the way he normally did and was far more economical with his shots.
Bradley said Pacquiao's pop was significant, however.
"Manny was very strong in there," Bradley said. "He was strong the entire fight. He was always very patient. I wasn't professional enough to stay within myself and I walked into shots."
Pacquiao showed his trademark power in the ninth, and seemed to buzz Bradley a couple of other times.
But he became one of the world's most popular fighters but not only throwing and landing more punches, but by being a brutal finisher.
He looked like a good, though hardly great, 37-year-old fighter on Saturday. But he said his killer instinct was there.
"I was looking for a knockout in every round," Pacquiao said. "He's a very tough fighter and a very good counter puncher. Teddy Atlas made a difference because this was the best Timothy Bradley I faced in three fights."
Conte willing to sell Hazard for 80m
New Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is willing to authorise the sale of Eden Hazard
but both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are reluctant to pay the Blues' £80 million asking price.
Jan Kirchhoff believes Pep Guardiola will change the Premier League when he takes over Manchester City next season and will make them champions with ease.
The Bayern Munich coach is targeting the third Champions League title of his career this term as he prepares to bid farewell to the Bundesliga giants at the end of the campaign and take the helm at City.
And former Bayern player Kirchhoff, who joined Sunderland in January, is confident that Guardiola's arrival will see the English top flight as whole benefit, insisting the Spaniard will be a champion in no time.
"Pep Guardiola’s going to win this league and change this league like you’ve never seen before," Kirchhoff told The Guardian.
"I’m totally sure. He’s going to build one of the greatest teams at Manchester City and win the league without any trouble. You’re going to see a totally different way of playing. It’s one of the best situations English football’s going to have for a long, long time."
The 25-year-old, who spent three years at the Bavarian side, believes Guardiola's belief in youth and the way he improves his team will help boost English football significantly, insisting that the Spaniard had a key role in Germany's World Cup win in 2014.
"This is the same situation we had in Germany maybe five years ago," Kirchhoff added. "We had a lot of young, talented, homegrown players getting into our best teams – and these teams had really good coaches: Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund and Guardiola at Bayern. And the national team exploded.
"I don’t think we won the World Cup because of our unbelievable national head coach [Joachim Low]. I think we won it because of Guardiola and Klopp. It was because these talented players were taking all the football knowledge they’d learnt from their club coaches into the national team.
"It depends how many English players Guardiola has at City. But everyone who plays for him will tell you he makes you so much better. You understand this game in a totally different way.
“If Guardiola has a lot of English players they’ll improve and make the England team better. It’s the same with another coach I really like: Mauricio Pochettino. You can already see the influence of Pochettino’s Tottenham on England. All his players know what to do, have a good reading of the game and are so intelligent, technical, unbelievable.
"I think the whole league’s going to be better for Guardiola and Pochettino – and Klopp at Liverpool."
Nigeria dominated Senegal during Friday's Africa Women's Cup of Nations qualifier in Dakar but had to settle for a point after both sides played to a 1-1 draw.
Substitute Woju Chioma opened the scoring for the Super Falcons on the stroke of half time but the hosts equalised in the 52nd minute.
Nigeria started brightly and Desire Oparanozie benefited from a defensive error in the third minute, but instead of firing in he tried to square the ball and the chance was gone.
Barely two minutes later, former African Women Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala made a run down the right, but this time his cross was too strong.
The Falcons continued to dominate for long spells, but could not find the breakthrough as the hosts rarely threatened the reigning African queens.
Things got bad for Florence Omagbemi's side as Oparanozie was changed in the 30th minute owing to injury, though that seemed to be a blessing in disguise as substitute Woju broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time.
In the second half, Senegal grew in confidence and snatched the equaliser seven minutes after restart.
But the Falcons could not find a winner in the final minutes, and the spoils were shared, meaning that Nigeria hold a slim advantage ahead the return leg billed for Nigeria on Tuesday.
Winner on aggregate will qualify for the 2016 African Women Championship in Cameroon later this year.
Haydn Peacock, an Australian rugby league player in the French Federation of Rugby League Elite 1, almost had his penis ripped right off during a match.
The 23-year-old second-row forward required surgery and 11 stitches to repair the damage, after an opponent grabbed his penis to tackle him and pulled down with such force, it almost tore his dangler clean off.
Incredibly, the moment it happened was caught perfectly by a photographer pitch-side, and Peacock was able to post it on Instagram after being released from hospital.
Like a true masochist-LAD, Peacock carried on for AS Carcassonne until half-time, when he finally realised the extent of the damage.
"At half-time I was like, I've got to have a look, I checked on it and the skin was half ripped off and I was like, shit, where's the doctor? Where's the doctor?" he told freelance journalist Guy Williams.
"He (the opposition player) made a tackle by reaching out and grabbing my dick, he got a hold of my dick with one hand and pulled me down."
And this, kids, is why if you're a pussy (read: Smart guy) like me, you don't play rugby. I want each and every part of my body, especially my little guy, in tact.
Sporting retirements are always prone to ending early when a former star gets the itch to get back in the game and it would appear that Floyd Mayweather is no different, as the unbeaten world champion is making noises about a potential bout with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Like Mayweather, Golovkin is also unbeaten with the Kazakh fighter boasting an impressive 34-0 record, winning 31 of those fights by knockout, the highest knockout percentage in middleweight history (91.2%). And his trainer Abel Sanchez has been speaking to On The Ropes Boxing about a bout between his fighter and Mayweather, suggesting 'Money' isn't too far away from coming out of retirement to make it happen.
"He is saying things about a comeback, he just seems to be fixated on Golovkin.
"I've seen three or four pieces in the last couple of weeks where he's talking about beating Golovkin, it looks like he's laying the ground work for something, whether it's Golovkin or somebody else. Floyd's laying the ground works for a comeback."
"I think you lay the ground work, you say things to see how people react, you say things to see if it's something that the public wants and he's gauging that. We've always known that Floyd was a great businessman, so it's all part of a plan for him. There's nothing that he says or does that is not calculated."
The one problem that could potentially scupper a potential bout between the pair is the issue of weight, with Golovkin fighting at 159lbs while Mayweather is 11 pounds lighter at 148lbs, although Golovkin has stated that he would drop down to 154lbs to make the fight happen.
