Off the Pitch

Bologna Coach Throws His Kids Under Bus After Testing Positive For Covid-19

MILAN — Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic believes his children might have infected him with COVID-19, he said on Saturday after being forced to miss his team's pre-season training camp for the second year running.

Mihajlovic, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in July last year, said he remained asymptomatic and denied that he had done anything that could have put himself at risk.

Alleged Football Leaks Mastermind Says He’s Proud Of His Whistleblowing

LISBON — The Portuguese man behind the Football Leaks website said at the start of his trial on Friday that he was proud to be a whistleblower on European soccer clubs' big-money dealings.

Rui Pinto, a 31-year-old former history student and self-taught computer mastermind, faces 90 charges — from unauthorised access to data and violation of correspondence to attempted extortion — in the case at Lisbon's Central Criminal Court.

Even Without Fans Much Of The Season, Racist Abuse Saw Startling Increase In English Football

There’s a common trope in science fiction where aliens come to Earth and the world comes together to stop the invading menace. As we’ve seen over the last eight months, if an alien force came to our planet today, humanity would be as divisive, vitriolic and hate filled as ever, turning on each other in an instant just to save themselves.

At least, that’s the impression I get after seeing hate-related incidents rose a startling 42 percent during the 2019-20 season, even with fans unable to attend matches for the last third of the campaign because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

St. Pauli Signing Serenades Teammates With Beautiful Version Of 'Stand By Me'

Hamburg-based St. Pauli's new signing Kofi Kyereh became one of the latest players to undergo the traditional initiation ritual of serenading his new teammates on Saturday. 

Kyereh, signed from Wiesbaden on a free transfer, treated the club to a rendition of the classic song "Stand by Me" as St. Pauli prepares for the new season with a training camp in Herzlake. 

MLS To Return After League Owners Agree To Meet With Black Players For Change

Major League Soccer will resume play later on Friday after postponing matches for two days in solidarity with other North American sports leagues that halted play this week to protest against racial injustice.

Bayer Leverkusen Star Forced Into Quarantine After Partying With Usain Bolt

Hopefully, the party was worth it. Knowing what it was celebrating, it probably was.

Leon Bailey will miss part of Bayer Leverkusen’s preseason after Jamaican authorities forced him into a 14-day quarantine. The reason? He was at the birthday party of Usain Bolt, who last week became one of the most high-profile athletes to test positive for Covid-19.

Man Utd’s Maguire Says He’s The Victim, Not The Cops He’s Accused Of Assaulting

LONDON — Manchester United captain Harry Maguire told the BBC on Thursday that he feared for his life and thought he was being kidnapped as he was arrested by plainclothes police officers following a fracas on the Greek island of Mykonos.

England defender Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insulting behaviour after his arrest in a brawl during which two police officers were assaulted.

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