Soccer The Foot-Ball

'The clubs cannot leave' - Real Madrid president insists Super League will return

"I don't need to explain what a binding contract is but effectively, the clubs cannot leave," Perez told Spanish newspaper AS on Saturday.



"Some of them, due to pressure, have said they're leaving. But this project, or one very similar, will move forward and I hope very soon."



The Super League was dealt another blow on Friday when JPMorgan, who had provided a 3.5 billion euro ($4.2 billion) grant to the founding clubs, said it had "misjudged how the deal would be viewed".



Perez, however, said the bank was still on board.



"It's not true they've withdrawn. They have taken some time for reflection, just like the 12 clubs. If we need to make changes we will but the Super League is the best project we've thought of," he added.



"The partnership still exists as do the members who comprise the Super League. What we have done is taken a few weeks to reflect in light of the fury of certain people who don't want to lose their privileges and have manipulated the project."



Devised in secret among club bosses and financiers, the project has effectively imploded, however, after a ferocious backlash from fans, pundits and politicians.



Perez reiterated the need for the new competition to boost clubs struggling to cope with losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the 12 Super League clubs had lost a combined 650 million euros last year and stood to lose up to 2.5 billion euros this year.

us.yahoo.com/sports/clubs-cannot-leave-real-madrid-111538303.html

Farmers and football: the Vietnamese women scoring big on the field

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Trying to catch a pass from her teammate, striker May Thi Kim bumps against her competition as she aims for the goal on the community's gravel hilltop stadium overlooking the paddy and bamboo-covered valley.



Her team from Mo Tuc village is facing off against friends from neighbouring Luc Ngu in a sports event that is part of the traditional Soong Co festival on Saturday.



As the team dribbles the ball closer to the goalposts, spectators -- many of whom are their husbands, children and tourists -- cheer the women on.



"I used to watch football on TV," Kim, 29, told AFP, recalling the beginnings of the team five years ago. "I told the youth union they must let us women play."


sports.yahoo.com/farmers-football-vietnamese-women-scoring-095441495.html

Giggs was appointed as a player-coach at Manchester United on 4 July 2013,[98] as part of the coaching staff under new manager David Moyes. When Moyes was sacked on 22 April 2014, after less than 10 months in the job, Giggs took over as the club's interim player-manager,[100] compiling a record of two wins, a draw and a defeat in the final four games of the 2013–14 season.[139] After his final match in charge, a 1–1 draw with Southampton, Giggs admitted to breaking down in tears, in part due to the pressure of managing United, and also said he had struggled to sleep during the period.[140][141] When Louis van Gaal was announced as Moyes' permanent replacement on 19 May 2014, Giggs was also appointed as Van Gaal's assistant manager.[142]



Giggs was praised for giving debuts to youngsters James Wilson and Tom Lawrence in a 3–1 victory over Hull City, a game in which he brought himself on as a substitute for Lawrence.[143][144][145][146]



Giggs was suggested by many – including Louis van Gaal – as the Dutchman's potential successor at Manchester United.[147][148] However, following the appointment of Portuguese coach José Mourinho, Giggs announced his departure from the club on 2 July 2016

Manchester United v Liverpool postponed after fans invade Old Trafford in protest 

Some inside the stadium gathered by a platform of Sky Sports, the host broadcaster, and at one point Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, the former defenders for United and Liverpool who are now pundits, spoke with a group of those who had broken in.



Some of the invaders also got into the players’ tunnel, which meant a deep clean would have been required due to Covid regulations for the match to go ahead. Neville and the former club captain Roy Keane, who was also on Sky panel, said their shared the anger and frustrations of the fans with the Glazers’ ownership of the club.

At 3pm the stadium went into lockdown: members of the media were held outside and a sweep of the stadium was required. Neither team had left their hotel yet, with Liverpool also staying in Manchester, but an hour before the scheduled 4.30pm kick-off the lineups were issued, despite uncertainty regarding whether the game could start then or even be staged at all on Sunday.



Yet while another group again breached the stadium and a further lockdown had to be enforced, some became “violent and antagonistic” in the Munich Tunnel, according to Greater Manchester police, who said officers from neighbouring forces had to be drafted in to try to gain control.



At 5.40pm the game was called off for the day, the first Premier League match postponed because of fan behaviour. The league and Football Association are expected to investigate.