Off the Pitch

The status of the Champions League final on May 29 between Manchester City and Chelsea in Istanbul was thrown into doubt on Friday after the UK government placed Turkey on the red list for travel.

British transport minister Grant Shapps said that travel to red list countries was not allowed except for in "the most extreme circumstances" and anyone returning from a red list country has to enter and pay for compulsory hotel quarantine.

"It does mean that fans should not travel to Turkey," said Shapps, who raised the possibility of the match being moved to England.

Lionel Messi’s Instagram account recently reached 200 million followers. The account mostly just tweets out ads for the biggest brands in the world, such as adidas, Pepsi, Gatorade and SpaceScooter.

England's football authorities have joined forces to announce a social media boycott next weekend in response to continued online racist abuse of players.

The boycott will take place across a full fixture programme in the men's and women's professional game from 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Friday to 11.59 p.m. on Monday May 3.

Foreign owners have never been more despised in England, and not even pulling out of the Super League could prevent Manchester United fans from burning an American flag in protest on Saturday.

LONDON — Former Manchester United soccer star Ryan Giggs has been charged with assault against two women, police and prosecutors said in statements on Friday.

Giggs, 47, has been charged with causing actual bodily harm to a woman in her 30s and common assault of a woman in her 20s, as well as one count of coercive and controlling behaviour between 2017 and 2020.