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‘I didn’t meant to take a stance,’ says Spurs head coachFan groups had opposed De Zerbi’s appointmentThe new Tottenham head coach, Roberto De Zerbi, has apologised for his past comments on Marseille forward Mason Greenwood and insisted he would never intentionally downplay the issue of violence against women.Spurs turned to De Zerbi after interim head coach Igor Tudor was sacked on Sunday with the Premier League outfit in 17th position and only one point above the bottom three after a disastrous campaign. Continue reading...

Heavyweight fixture that featured icons such as Kevin Sinfield and Lesley Vainikolo returns after 12-year hiatus It will almost feel as if Super League has stepped back in time on Friday night as the rivalry that defined the competition’s early years returns after a 12-year hiatus, and it will not just be across West Yorkshire that eyes will be on Odsal Stadium for Bradford Bulls’ derby with Leeds Rhinos. In a small corner of New Zealand, Lesley Vainikolo will interrupt his Saturday morning to watch the return of the derby he starred in for Bradford during the early 2000s, and he will probably not be alone.Dubbed the Volcano thanks to his incredible try-scoring record, with 149 in 152 games for the Bulls, Vainikolo rarely gives interviews these days. But the lure of discussing one of Super League’s biggest fixtures returning was too much to resist. “There is no way I’d miss it,” says the 46-year-old, who is now director of rugby at Wesley College near Auckland, the school that forged the career of Jonah Lomu. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nick Ames and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan to preview the weekend’s action.Subscribe to The Guardian Football Weekly ► https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast?sub_confirmation=1Chapters:00:00 - Chapters00:56 - FA Cup quarter-final preview01:12 - Where do Slot’s priorities lie?05:16 - Have Manchester City had a good season?06:49 - Southampton v Arsenal10:35 - Would defeat rattle Arsenal?16:03 - Marc Cucurella comments 21:52 - West Ham v Leeds United25.43 - Ad break25:46 - EFL preview28:26 - Nigel Farage photoshoot at Portman Road36.49 - Ad break36:49 - WCL roundup40:15 - Nick Ames spends time in Kosovo 44:35 - Answering listener correspondenceSupport the Guardian ► https://support.theguardian.com/Guardian Football Weekly podcast:Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/football-weekly/id188674007Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/6w8qWe0kjgHEHSWDSDGoLW?si=231c666f7f5a4453 Follow Guardian Football Weekly: Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/guardian_footballweekly/ TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian_footballweekly Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!The Championship – a league so chaotic it makes a piano falling down some stairs resemble a Zen garden – resumes with an old-fashioned Easter weekend double header. Automatic promotion, playoff places and the drop into the abyss all remain up for grabs, with only beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation rubber-stamped as the contenders jockey for position on entering the home straight. Not a Stone Island jacket will go unworn as fans of all 24 clubs proudly get the badge in before heading off to support their teams over a hectic bank holiday schedule. At the top, Frank Lampard’s Coventry City are in the box seat for automatic promotion, with an 11-point cushion between them and Ipswich Town in third. They will fancy their chances of at least maintaining the gap in tomorrow night’s televised Geographically Quite Near Each Other But Not Really A Derby derby against, er, Derby County. With no Good Friday game due to Southampton’s weekend FA Cup appointment with Arsenal, Ipswich will have additional time to de-Farage Portman Road for Monday’s visit of Birmingham.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...

Exit could spell end of Gennaro Gattuso’s tenureCeferin: ‘Infrastructure is among the worst in Europe’The crisis engulfing Italian football has deepened with the country’s football federation president, Gabriele Gravina, resigning and the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, warning that it risks losing its co-hosting rights for Euro 2032.Gravina announced his resignation at an emergency meeting of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) general council two days after Italy failed to reach a World Cup finals for the third successive time, losing on penalties to the outsiders Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had come under heavy scrutiny since their exit in Zenica, the country’s minister for sport, Andrea Abodi, intensifying the pressure by calling for “a renewal of the FIGC leadership”. Continue reading...

England off-spinner spent the Ashes carrying drinks but is determined to win back place with help of Mickey ArthurA new season dawns and for Shoaib Bashir it represents a new beginning. Overlooked by England for the entire Ashes despite two years of investment, and having had a nomadic career up to this point, the former Surrey youth player has joined Derbyshire on a two-year deal in the hope of calling somewhere home.Not that the off-spinner’s goals have changed. In his first media appearance since that winter carrying drinks, the 22-year-old is determined to win back his Test spot. Swapping Somerset for Derbyshire is a case of looking for regular game time, plus the chance to work with a decorated head coach in Mickey Arthur. Continue reading...

Colapinto abused over Bearman’s crash in JapanEx-Alpine driver Ocon clashed with Colapinto in ChinaAlpine have condemned on Thursday online abuse of Franco Colapinto for an incident in the Japanese Grand Prix as well as death threats directed at the Formula One team’s former racer Esteban Ocon over prior events in China.They also dismissed suspicions from some fans of “sabotage” and claims their Argentinian driver was not being given the same quality equipment as his teammate Pierre Gasly. Continue reading...

Visiting teams have won two of 24 last-16 ties, so it is no surprise players needing post-Six Nations rest skip tripsThe odds on multiple away wins in this weekend’s Champions Cup last 16 are not terribly good. Since the single-leg concept was born three years ago there have been 24 matches, with the hosts losing only two. If that strike rate alters significantly this time it will certainly confound the bookmakers.Bordeaux Bègles, the defending champions, have even been quoted at 1-100 to beat Leicester on Sunday, a remarkable price for a two-horse race. It might be slightly different if the Tigers were at full strength but, as the bookies are keenly aware, that is very much not the case with, among others, Ollie Chessum, Joe Heyes and Nicky Smith all non-runners. Continue reading...

The Lions of Mesopotamia have waited 40 years to return to the World Cup and they have had to do it the hard wayIf anyone deserves the chance to celebrate Iraq’s return to the World Cup it is Aymen Hussein and not just because the striker scored the winning goal in the final intercontinental playoff against Bolivia on Tuesday.Born and raised in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a region affected first by war and then by Islamic State, Hussein lost his father in an al-Qaeda attack in 2008. Six years later his brother disappeared and the young footballer was then forced to flee with the remaining members of his family. Football provided Hussein with a way out and hope. Now he has given his country, one that is recovering from recent horrors but still susceptible to the general regional instability as current events show, one of the happiest moments in its recent history. Continue reading...

New tickets released for some group games and finalFans attempting to buy tickets encounter glitchesFifa has raised the top ticket price for this year’s World Cup final to $10,990 as it released a new batch of tickets for sale on Wednesday.The news, which came after the 48-team field for the World Cup was set, will do little to quell claims that Fifa is pricing fans out of the tournament. The most expensive ticket for the 2022 World Cup final was about $1,600. Continue reading...