The search for the missing footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson has been called off after rescuers failed to find their plane. Cardiff City's Argentine striker and Ibbotson, from Crowle in Lincolnshire, were on the aircraft that disappeared from radar on Monday. After three days of scouring the English Channel, authorities have made the decision to abandon the search. Guernsey Police tweeted to say that rescuers were 'no longer actively searching' for the plane. Harbour master Captain David Barker said the chances of survival were 'extremely remote. We reviewed all the information available to us, as well as knowing what emergency equipment was on board and have taken the difficult decision to end the search,' he added. 'I understand Emiliano Sala's family are not content with the decision to stop the search and I fully understand that. I'm absolutely confident that we couldn't have done any more.' Responding to the news, Cardiff City's owner Vincent Tan said: 'We were looking forward to providing Emiliano with the next step in his life and career. Those who met Emiliano described a good-natured and humble young man who was eager to impress in the Premier League. The response from the football community has been truly touching and we place on record our sincere thanks to those who have sent messages of support. We also thank everyone involved with the search and rescue operation, and continue to pray for Emiliano, David Ibbotson and their families.' Captain Barker said that the depth of the sea where the plane had last contact was about one hundred metres and it would remain a missing persons case for the police. 'Despite best efforts of air and search assets from the Channel Islands, UK and France we have been unable to find any trace of the aircraft, the pilot or the passenger,' he added. Sala became Cardiff City's record signing on Saturday, joining from Ligue Un club Nantes for a fee of fifteen million knicker. He had returned to the French city to say farewell to his former teammates before taking the plane back to the Welsh capital. The single-engine plane carrying Sala and Ibbotson left Nantes at 7.15pm on Monday and had been flying at five thousand feet over the Channel Islands when it disappeared off radar near the Casquets lighthouse, close to Alderney. It lost contact while at two thousand three hundred and disappeared off radar near the lighthouse, infamous among mariners as the site of many shipwrecks. Sala reportedly sent a WhatsApp voice message before the flight. Sounding conversational and jokey, he said he was 'so scared' and: 'I'm on a plane that seems like it is breaking apart.' Rescue crews have searched about seventeen hundred square miles of land and sea in the Channel Islands in the past three days, covering Burhou, the Casquets, Alderney, the North coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula, the North coast of Jersey and Sark.
Meanwhile, it was subsequently reported that an investigation into the missing flight will 'look at all operational aspects' including licensing and flight plans. Ibbotson held a private pilot's licence and passed a medical exam as recently as November, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. The Civil Aviation Authority said that the aircraft was registered in the US and so fell under its regulations. American law states private pilots cannot make a profit by carrying passengers.
New data listing the highest revenue-generating football clubs in the world has placed this blogger's beloved (though, tragically, unsellable) Magpies back in the world's top twenty. In the latest Football Money League table from professional services giant Deloitte, Newcastle United ranked nineteenth with revenues of over one hundred and seventy eight million smackers in the 2017-18 season - a year which saw the world's top twenty clubs rake in a whopping seven-and-a-half billion quid collectively. The Scum placed higher than any other English club in third place overall with five hundred and ninety million notes, behind FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. A record six Premier League sides scored a place in the top ten; Shiekh Yer Man City were fifth, with five hundred and thirty million knicker, Liverpool Alabam Yee-Haws were seventh with four hundred and fifty five million smackers, Moscow Chelseki FC were eighth with four hundred and forty eight million wonga, The Arse were ninth with three hundred and eighty nine million quid and Stottingtot Hotshots were tenth with three hundred and seventy nine million knicker. Everton (one hundred and eight eight million) and West Hamsters United (one hundred and seventy five million) both joined The Magpies in top twenty, coming seventeenth and twentieth respectively. The Football Money League, now in its twenty second year, is published by Deloitte's Sports Business Group. Newcastle recorded an increase of ninety two million quid since the 2016-17 figures were published a year ago when their revenue of eighty six million notes saw them placed outside the top thirty (although, to be fair, they were in the The Championship that year). Their 2015-16 listing saw them twenty first with one hundred and sixty eight million.
League One's bottom club AFC Wimbledon shocked and stunned Premier League West Hamsters United to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, while Championship side Millwall grabbed a dramatic added-time winner to knock out Everton. Kwesi Appiah and a Scott Wagstaff double saw The Dons race into a three-nil lead before The Hamsters responded via Lucas Perez and Felipe Anderson. But nineteen-year-old Toby Sibbick's goal two minutes from time delivered a thrilling four-two win at Kingsmeadow. Hamsters' manager Manuel Pellegrini described his side's defeat as 'a disaster. Was I angry at half-time? Yes of course - I was ashamed of them,' said Pellegrini. 'It's very easy to explain what happened - it was one team who wanted to win and another team who played without any desire or any ambition to win or continue in this cup. Maybe we thought we were going to win because we are a Premier League team and they are in League One, but Wimbledon played with the desire to compete in this cup. In the first forty five minutes, we didn't fight.' Richarlison and Cenk Tosun twice put Everton ahead at The Den but Lee Gregory's header and a controversial equaliser from Jake Cooper - with the ball appearing to go in off his arm - levelled for Millwall and Murray Wallace's late goal won it The Lions. Much to the incandescent fury of Everton's manager Marco Silva who claimed that the Video Assistant Referee rules in the FA Cup 'do not make sense.' On a day filled with drama, Wallace was the fourth player to score after the ninety-minute mark, with Newport, Doncaster and Wolves all benefiting from late goals. Sheikh Yer Man City thrashed Premier League opponents Burnley to progress. The Premier League champions remain in contention for a clean sweep of four trophies as Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, a Kevin Long own goal and Sergio Aguero earned a thumping five-nil win over The Clarets. League One Shrewsbury were minutes from knocking out top-flight opponents Wolverhampton Wanderings, only for Matt Doherty to snatch a ninety third-minute equaliser for Nuno Espirito Santo's side in a two-two draw. Second-half strikes from Andre Gray and Isaac Success earned Watford a two-nil win at this blogger's beloved (though tragically unsellable) Newcastle, whose wait for a first major domestic trophy since 1955 continues. That was despite The Hornets making eleven changes from their last Premier League game. It was a thoroughly shameful, inept, cowardly performance by The Magpies reserves against Watford's reserves with at least half of the team appearing to lack a shred of commitment and, effectively, stuck two fingers up to the thirty four thousand punters who'd paid good money to watch what was, in short, an absolute fekking disgraceful shower. As the nufc.com website noted: 'The prospect of an unwanted extra trek to Watford certainly outweighed the novelty of seeing our name in the Fifth Round draw, but this was just a tedious, mind-numbingly awful excuse for a performance. A football team used to play here. Not any more.' Newport County shocked Premier League Leicester City in the Third Round and their cup run continued, but only just. Matt Dolan scored three minutes into injury time to earn a draw at Championship Middlesbrough. Portsmouth are enjoying a fine season - they are currently second in League One - and they are still in the competition after drawing with Queens Park Strangers. Lee Brown had put the 2008 winners in front but Nahki Wells earned the Championship team a replay. League One Gillingham knocked out one Welsh side, Cardiff City, in the Third Round, but their hopes of eliminating another ended at Swansea. Ollie McBurnie scored twice for the Championship club in a four-one win. Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman said he was left feeling 'physically sick' and was 'rapidly falling out of love with the game' after perceived refereeing mistakes by Jon Moss in his side's one-nil defeat at home to Derby County. Martyn Waghorn fired Derby into the Fifth Round against ten-man Stanley. In front of a club record over five thousand crowd at The Wham Stadium, midfielder Daniel Barlaser was sent off for two bookable offences. 'Each week you get stiffed by a decision,' claimed Coleman after the game setting himself up, beatifically, for an FA charge despite subsequently apologising. 'It's a tackle, it's not dangerous [for Barlaser's red card]. It happened two minutes before on our lad and the referee said it was a coming together. The best thing I can say is that you couldn't tell we were playing with ten men for the last twenty five minutes. Even the most ardent Derby fan would say they didn't deserve a win - a draw at best. I sometimes feel like packing in.' Oldham Not Very Athletic captain Peter Clarke endured a rip-roaring rollercoaster tie against Doncaster Rovers including a goal, a goal-line clearance, an own goal and then getting himself sent off. Doncaster eventually reached the Fifth Round for the first time in sixty three years thanks to Ben Whiteman's last minute penalty. In the battle of the Albinos, Brighton and West Bromwich shared a rather tedious goalless draw earning both of them a - thoroughly unwanted - replay. Bristol City came from behind to reach Fifth Round for the first time since 2001 with victory over Championship strugglers Notlob Wanderers. Niclas Eliasson decided the tie with a sublime individual goal, cutting in from the right before unleashing an effort into the top corner. In Friday night's big game, Alexis Sanchez made a goalscoring return to The Arse to set The Scum on their way to a three-one victory which makes it eight straight wins for interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Stottingtot Hotshots went out of their second knockout competition in four days after defeat by Crystal Palace on Sunday. Having lost a Carabao Cup semi-final to Moscow Chelski FC on penalties on Thursday, Spurs were two down inside thirty five minutes at Selhurst Park. Connor Wickham marked his first start since November 2016 with a goal before a penalty by ex-Spurs midfielder Andros Townsend doubled the lead. Spurs missed a penalty before half-time when Kieran Trippier blazed wide. And, in the weekend's final game, Moscow Chelski FC beat Sheffield Wednesday three-nil at Torpedo Stamford Bridge.
A man was reportedly slashed across the face 'during a mass brawl' before Millwall and Everton's FA Cup clash. The Metropolitan Police said that it believed the violence 'involved groups of rival fans.' No shit? Jeez, with police intelligence like that, it's a wonder all criminals aren't already banged up and doing considerable stir at Her Majesty's. The Met said that 'a large group of males' was fighting and that a man in his twenties suffered a slash wound to the face. He was taken to a South London hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening. Videos of the brawl have been watched more than a million times online with kids gettin' sparked an aal sorts. The FA said it was 'not investigating the violence' because it happened outside the football ground. However, it is investigating 'reports of a discriminatory song being sung by Millwall fans,' an FA spokeswoman told the BBC. 'We are aware of the video circulating online, which has quite rightly elicited shock and disgust.' The Met added that officers 'worked to separate the groups with support from the Mounted Branch and Dog Support Unit.'
Former Blunderland defender John O'Shea believes that 'ninety nine per cent' of the club's players did not want a film crew to cover their 2017-18 Championship relegation season. The documentary Sunderland 'Til I Die charted a dismal and calamitous campaign which saw The Mackem Filth relegated to League One. The series covers the sacking of manager Simon Grayson, the appointment of his replacement Chris Coleman (who, also, subsequently got the tin tack) and a second successive relegation. 'I have not watched all of it. I've lived through it so why would I need to watch it again?' said O'Shea. Comedy value? Just a suggestion. 'From my point of view and I'd say ninety nine per cent of the players, we didn't want it to happen,' O'Shea, who joined Reading in June, told BBC 5Live. 'It's one of those things. You go in in the morning, go in for a little bit of treatment and you realise there's little mini-cameras dotted around.' During the eight-part series, events including the frenetic nature of a transfer deadline day and the ongoing frustrations of fans are captured. Some supporters are visibly angered by midfielder Jack Rodwell's high wages at a time where spending on the team was minimal, while midfielder Darron Gibson's dismissal by the club after being charged with drink driving also formed part of an episode. Chief-executive Martin Bain was filmed fielding difficult questions from fans, while Coleman was seen clashing with a supporter outside The Stadium Of Plight when the club's relegation was confirmed. 'The few bits I've seen, I'm glad the people of the club in the canteen, the player liaison officer, the kit men, they are really good people and I'm glad they have come out of it looking well,' added O'Shea. Unlike the players who come over in the series as a bunch of mercenary waste-of-space cowards and the club's management who appear to be portrayed as incompetent clowns. 'The club itself is an amazing, amazing club and I loved every minute of it as it's a great place to play football. Yes, the fans are passionate and vociferous but who doesn't want that? I'm glad [the series] is getting good reviews. The people behind it were good people. You got to know the camera people but how things can be portrayed, with clever editing, for some of it I'd say it definitely came out unfair on some people. That's just how it was at the time as it was a negative story. It wasn't going to come out positive on everybody.' Blunderland finished extremely bottom of the Championship during the season and their takeover by a consortium led by Stewart Donald late in the campaign features in the Netflix documentary. The club are currently third in League One - three points off the automatic promotion places.
West Hamsters United have been fined one hundred grand by the Football Association for the pitch invasions which marred their defeat by Burnley at London Stadium last March. The Hamsters were charged after fans repeatedly ran on to the pitch, with one approaching captain Mark Noble. And, getting a good kicking for his trouble. The FA found that stewarding for the game, unknown to West Hamsters United, had been reduced. Also, a report by the head of security for LS185, the stadium operators, was 'updated' to 'remove negative comments' about the reduction of staff. The FA rejected LS185's head of security Dave Sadler's claim that 'only the relevant parts' in the report were retained. During the game, a fan ran on to the pitch with a corner flag, while supporters also threw coins and objects as they protested in front of the directors' box. Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold were forced to leave the directors' box for their own safety, with Sullivan being struck on the head by a coin. West Hamsters United gave several fans lifetime bans following the bother. Burnley players were praised after they sheltered a group of young fans in their dug-out during the crowd trouble. Following the game, Noble admitted that the atmosphere at London Stadium was 'horrible,' while West Hamsters United vice-chairman Karren Brady called it 'one of the most painful days' in the club's history. 'Following the conclusion of the FA inquiry, we would like to reaffirm our sincere apologies for the scenes witnessed at our home game against Burnley almost a year ago,' West Hamsters United said in a statement. 'The club has done everything within its power to address the issues that occurred that day, despite having no control over match-day security operations - a point which is accepted and reflected in the FA's findings. In line with our zero-tolerance approach, immediate action was taken against the perpetrators, resulting in 23 banning orders being issued. There is no place for behaviour like that at our club.' On Tuesday London Stadium owners E20 announced that LS185 has been brought in-house. The agreement will help get the stadium 'on a firm financial footing,' the company said. The stewarding aspect of the report is particularly interesting as West Hamsters United, as tenants at the London Stadium, did not know about the reduction in the number of stewards, as the FA report points out and, once they found out, were 'very uneasy' about it. In the immediate aftermath of the Burnley game, Brady wrote to the London Assembly to highlight the problem. Yet, in response, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that 'based upon reports from senior officials, there has been no requirement to reduce stewarding and security.' Evidently, the FA do not view this version of events as being entirely accurate. Given the report also concluded that there were 'unacceptable deficiencies' in the quality and training of stewards, the potential for problems, given the match was played against a backdrop of enormous supporter discontent against the West Hamsters United board, the potential for trouble was clear. West Hamsters United have rebuilt relations with LS185 over the past nine months, with Brady and E20 chief executive Lyn Garner finding 'greater common ground' than ever before, evidenced by the agreement over an increase in capacity at the London Stadium to sixty thousand. However, the Hamsters' difficulties in playing in a stadium where they, largely, have no control over the security is underlined by the FA noting that the club has spent around three hundred grand on legal fees on this case, even though they had nothing to do with the security lapses that led to the problems.
Paris St-Germain forward Neymar was reportedly told 'don't go blubbering' after he left the pitch in tears having suffered a fractured metatarsal. Neymar was fouled three times in a few seconds by Moataz Zemzemi during PSG's two-nil French Cup win over Strasbourg. The twenty six-year-old responded by 'doing a rainbow flick' over the head of Zemzemi but had to come off injured. 'It's Neymar's style, but don't come and complain when you get kicked,' said Strasbourg's Anthony Goncalves. 'He is a great player, I respect him. He can enjoy himself but don't come blubbering afterwards.' However, PSG manager Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with the comments by some of the Strasbourg players and coach suggesting Neymar's behaviour provoked his opponents to cause the injury. 'It was a situation where he was fouled three times, one after the other. The referee didn't give anything. He twisted his foot,' said Tuchel. PSG said that Neymar had suffered a 'reactivation of the lesion of the fifth right metatarsal,' adding that treatment would depend on how the injury heals in the next few days. The former Barcelona forward, who has scored twenty goals in all competitions so far this season for the Ligue Un leaders, injured the same ankle last February and missed the rest of the season, only returning to fitness in time to play for Brazil at the World Cup. And, fall over a lot. 'Ney is worried, because it is the same foot, the same place,' added Tuchel. Strasbourg manager Thierry Laurey described Neymar as a 'phenomenon' in his post-match comments, but also claimed there was 'nothing malicious' in his players' actions. One or two people even believed him. 'There are moments when you have to play tough, it's as simple as that,' Laurey suggested. 'There are moments when, if you go over the limit a little bit, you have to expect that you are going to get a kick or two. I didn't ask my players to go and kick Neymar, but I understand why the players had had enough of someone who was looking to tease and taunt them a bit.' Laurey conceded that players like Neymar 'need protection' but that his players 'grafted for ninety minutes' to 'try and stop' him. 'When you protect players who respect others, there's no problem,' Laurey added 'For example, when you do a pass with your back [referring to Neymar in a match against Guingamp], when there's no reason for it, then that's mocking. I've seen plenty of PSG players other than Neymar who are very good at five-nil up, but when it's nil-nil they don't show off like that. If Neymar plays in the same way against Manchester United he'll get the same reaction. Don't be surprised.' Goals from Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria sealed the victory over Strasbourg. Meanwhile, PSG midfielder Marco Verratti is already doubtful for the first leg of their last-sixteen Champions League tie at The Scum on 12 February after suffering an ankle injury during the nine-nil win over Guingamp on Saturday.
Monaco have extremely sacked their manager, Thierry Henry, after a mere twenty games in charge. Because, he didn't have enough 'va-va-voom,' it would seem. The Ligue Un strugglers announced on Thursday Henry had been suspended, but BBC Sport reported that was 'merely procedural' and that the France World Cup winner had already left the club. There had been speculation that Monaco were set to replace Henry with his predecessor in the role Leonardo Jardim. The 2017 French champions are currently in the relegation zone after just five wins in the twenty games under Henry, hired in October. Franck Passi, appointed as Henry's assistant on 20 December, will take training on Friday, the club said. Passi has previously had spells as caretaker manager of Marseille and Lille. Henry - a great player in his day, let it be noted, albeit someone whom this blogger has never particularly warmed to as much as he probably should have, mainly because Henry spent much of his career resembling someone who went through life with a look on his face liked he'd just smelled shit nearby - had grovellingly apologised for 'using foul language' to insult Strasbourg defender Kenny Lala during his side's five-one defeat on Saturday. The Arse's all-time leading scorer is in his first managerial role, having previously been Belgium assistant boss. He had been on the shortlist for the Aston Villains' manager's job in October before taking the job at the club where he started his playing career.
The man extremely arrested at Fulham's training ground on Monday on suspicion of actual bodily harm and criminal damage was the club's French striker Aboubakar Kamara according to reports. Neither the club nor the police have confirmed his identity, but Fulham said that the person arrested was now 'banned indefinitely from all club activities.' Kamara joined from Amiens in 2017. A Fulham statement added: 'The club is grateful for the swift attention and action by the Metropolitan Police.' It continued: 'We will refrain from further comment but stress that we will fully cooperate with any new or continuing investigation or legal proceeding in the name of providing everyone a secure and safe working environment.' Metropolitan Police said that a man in his twenties was arrested at the training ground in New Malden on Monday and taken into custody in a South London police station. Kamara, who reportedly 'had a falling out' with teammate Aleksandar Mitrovic 'during a squad yoga session,' was said to be at the club training ground 'looking to resolve his future.' Earlier this season, Fulham's new manager Claudio Ranieri said that he 'wanted to kill' the forward after Kamara missed a penalty against Huddersfield Town having earlier refused to give the ball to designated penalty-taker, Mitrovic. Kamara has made fifteen appearances in all competitions this season for Fulham, who are currently second from bottom in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey has been very charged with a breach of FA rules for making an alleged Nazi salute in a photo posted on Instagram. The Wales international was pictured with his right arm in the air in a photo posted by Palace midfielder Max Meyer, who is German. The incident took place during a meal with his team-mates. Hennessey claimed that 'any resemblance' to the gesture was 'absolutely coincidental.' Which, if you look up 'unlikely excuses' on Google, you'll find that one pretty close to the top of the list. The goalkeeper claimed that he 'waved and shouted at the person taking the picture to get on with it' and 'put my hand over my mouth to make the sound carry.' The Football Association - who do not appear to be buying Hennessey's denials in the slightest - alleges that the action breaches its rules relating to abusive, insulting or improper conduct and brings the game into disrepute. It is alleged that Hennessey's is also an 'aggravated breach' because it included reference to ethnic origin, race, religion or belief. Meyer posted the picture on his Instagram page following the FA Cup third-round win over Grimsby. In a post on Twitter, Hennessey added: 'It's been brought to my attention that frozen in a moment by the camera this looks like I am making a completely inappropriate type of salute.' He has until 31 January to respond to the charge.
New Heart of Midlothian striker David Vanecek was 'rubbish' in his side's two-one Scottish Premiership defeat by Dundee, according to manager Craig Levein. The Czech forward arrived in Scotland at the start of January, having initially agreed to sign for Hearts last July. He made his debut in Sunday's Scottish Cup win over Livingston, but was taken off after thirty four minutes against Dundee. 'I might be a little bit annoyed that he didn't turn up in better shape,' Levein said of the striker. 'I thought he was rubbish and felt he just looked as if he wasn't at the races. He wasn't playing well. He'll need to do a Hell of a lot of work to get himself to the fitness levels he needs.' Levein said Vanecek did not hold the ball up well enough and explained that he has not played since the Czech season shut down in November. Vanecek scored seven goals in sixteen games for FK Teplice in the first part of the campaign. 'He's had a break and he's joined us at our training camp looking like he's had a break,' Levein said. 'Now I know where he is and I can only find out by playing him in matches. We can set about trying to get him fitter and hopefully it won't take him too long. I was hoping that he would have had more energy than he had but obviously he's not so we need to do some work on his fitness.'
FIFA has contacted the Thailand government over the case of Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi. The twenty five-year-old, who holds refugee status in Australia, is currently being held in a Bangkok prison on an Interpol warrant issued by Bahrain. He was sentenced in Bahrain for vandalism although he denies the charges. In a letter to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, FIFA says the former Bahrain player is 'at serious risk of mistreatment in his home country.' The footballer fled to Australia in 2014. He was granted political asylum in 2017 and plays for Melbourne football club Pascoe Vale. In 2014, he was sentenced in absentia in Bahrain to ten years in The Slammer for allegedly vandalising a police station. He was on a holiday in Thailand when authorities detained him at a Bangkok airport on 27 November. He fears he will be tortured - and possibly killed - if he is extradited back to his home country and in an interview with the Gruniad Morning Star, said the ongoing case had left him 'terrified' and 'losing hope.' FIFA general secretary, Fatma Samoura, has contacted the Thai prime minister seeking 'a speedy resolution' to the case. 'This situation should not have arisen, in particular, since Mister Al-Araibi now lives, works and plays as a professional footballer in Australia, where he has been accorded refugee status,' she said in the letter. 'As stated publicly on several occasions, FIFA is respectfully urging the authorities of the Kingdom of Thailand to take the necessary steps to ensure that Mister Al-Araibi is allowed to return safely to Australia at the earliest possible moment, in accordance with the relevant international standards. We would like to kindly ask for a meeting with a high-level representative of your government at the earliest possible convenience. The objective of the meeting would be to discuss the situation of Mr Al-Araibi and receive first-hand information on the status of the proceedings. The meeting would be joined by representatives from FIFA and FlFPro, the global union of professional football players.' Al-Araibi has been a vocal critic of Bahraini authorities and Human Rights Watch suggests that he is also being 'targeted' because of his brother's political activism. Last year, he told HRW that he had already been tortured in Bahrain following Arab Spring protests in 2012.
Cristiano Ronaldo has cut a deal with a court in Madrid over tax evasion charges, accepting a near nineteen million Euros fine. A huge media presence met the player outside the court, after a judge refused his request to appear by video or to enter the building by car to avoid the spotlight. The deal, agreed in advance, includes a twenty three-month jail sentence. But in Spain, convicts do not usually do time for sentences under two years. The non-violent nature of Ronaldo's offence means he is reported to be 'unlikely' to spend any time at all in The Slammer, serving it on probation instead. The court appearance lasted mere minutes as Ronaldo accepted the deal offered by prosecutors. The current Juventus player, who played for the club in Italy the night before his court appearance, arrived at the provincial court with his fiancee Georgina Rodriguez. Smiling and giving a thumbs-up, he was apparently unfazed by the media presence and his forthcoming guilty plea. His lawyers had argued that, given his fame, avoiding the main entrance was needed for the player's security. Ronaldo, five-time winner of Europe's Ballon d'Or was accused of avoiding paying tax in Spain between 2010 and 2014, when he was playing for Real Madrid. Forbes lists the thirty three-year-old as the third-wealthiest athlete in the world, with estimated earnings of nearly one hundred million knicker per year. The case centres around lucrative image rights deals. Prosecutors say that the proceeds were funnelled through low-tax companies in foreign nations to avoid paying the required tax. In court, as part of his deal, Ronaldo acknowledged four incidents amounting to €5.7 million owed, according to Spanish-language news agency EFE. In 2017, when the allegations first emerged, prosecutors said that it was 'a voluntary and conscious breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain.' But Ronaldo's lawyers said it was 'all down to a misunderstanding' over 'what was and was not required under Spanish law' and denied any deliberate attempt to evade tax. The deal, struck in June last year, had to be agreed with Spain's tax authorities. Ronaldo is not the only high-profile player to face the wrath of Spain's tax system. His former Real Madrid team-mate Xabi Alonso also appeared in court on Tuesday in connection with similar offences amounting to about two million Euros. Alonso was appearing before the court for the first time, facing a potential sentence of up to five years in The Pokey. Unlike Ronaldo, he has not yet struck any deal with authorities and has maintained his innocence. Mid you, so did Ronaldo and look what happened there. Shortly after Alonso's trial began, the court suspended proceedings to consider whether it was 'competent' to hear the case, or if it should be referred to another criminal court, EFE reports. The longer sentence prosecutors are seeking means that Alonso could, unlike Ronaldo, face actual jail time. There are several other examples of footballers facing Spain's courts in recent years. Barcelona star Lionel Messi avoided a jail sentence for a similar scheme involving image rights, paying several million in 'a corrective payment' in back taxes and fines; Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was at the centre of a row when Barcelona was fined millions after being charged with tax fraud over Neymar's signing - but avoided admitting the offence and Real Madrid's Marcelo Vieira admitted to tax fraud and accepted a four-month suspended jail sentence over his use of foreign firms to handle almost half-a-million Euros in earnings. The recent crackdown on high-profile footballers follows the removal of a tax exemption in 2010. Known as 'The Beckham Law,' it had allowed footballers to curb their taxes. Ronaldo also faces another ongoing legal battle: the football superstar is accused of rape in Las Vegas in 2009, a charge which he denies.
Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt has declared his 'sports life over,' frustrated in his bid to begin a post-athletics career in football. The Jamaican spent two months training with Australian side Central Coast Mariners, but left in November after the club failed to find financial backing for a professional deal. 'It was fun while it lasted,' he said. 'I don't want to say it wasn't dealt with properly, but I think we went about it not the way we should.' But he added: 'You live and you learn. It was a good experience - I really enjoyed just being in a team.' In October 2018, Bolt scored two goals on his first start for the Mariners in a friendly against Macarthur South West, celebrating with his trademark lightning bolt pose. The A-League side were not the only team interested in signing Bolt - he turned down an offer from Maltese club Valletta, reportedly because the club could not meet his wage demands. He had also spent time training with Norwegian team Stromsgodset and German giants Borussia Dortmund. Bolt, who retired from athletics in 2017, has said his focus now lies with his various commercial endeavours. 'I'm now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I'm just dabbling in everything and trying to be a business man now.'
Hugh McIlvanney, whose prose and insight lit up the Observer's sports pages for three decades and brought him a string of journalism awards, has been hailed as 'a giant of journalism' after his death at the age of eighty four. McIlvanney, who also worked for the Sunday Times for twenty three years before retiring in 2016, had a ringside seat for many of the greatest sporting events of the Twentieth Century including The Rumble in the Jungle in 1974, The Trilla in Manilla a year later and England's World Cup triumph at Wembley in 1966. But being there was one thing; continually captivating his readers quite another. Few writers could match the Scot's way with words, his eye for detail, or his contacts book. McIlvanney was close with some of the most well-known figures in sport, such as Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein. He also had the nous to visit Muhammad Ali's villa just hours after he had beaten George Foreman in Zaire and was rewarded when Ali gave him the lowdown on how he had beaten the fearsome champion by lying on the ropes and letting Foreman punch himself out. 'Truth is, I could have killed myself dancin' against him,' Ali admitted, while eating two steaks, eight scrambled eggs and drinking pints of orange juice. Paul Webster, editor of the Observer, echoed the sentiments of many, calling McIlvanney 'a giant among journalists, a powerful and beautiful writer whose coverage of some of the great sporting events of his era is still talked about today.' McIlvanney, who also wrote a number of books on football, boxing and horse racing, was awarded an OBE in 1996 and named the Sports Journalists' Association's writer of the year a record six times. The former Scum Mail on Sunday chief sportswriter Patrick Collins, who is the president of the Sports Journalists Association, said: 'When his countless admirers speak of Hugh's writing, they recall the rolling phrases, the astute insights, the dramatic sense of occasion. But those who worked with him - and especially the heroic subs who placed paragraph marks on his copy - will tell of the tireless perfectionist, the man whose Sunday would be spoiled by a misplaced comma or a wayward colon.' McIlvanney was arguably never more moving than when writing about the Welsh boxer Johnny Owen slipping into a coma from which he would never recover after a world title fight against Lupe Pintor in 1980. 'Our reactions are bound to be complicated by the knowledge that it was boxing that gave Johnny Owen his one positive means of self-expression,' he wrote. 'Outside the ring, he was an inaudible and almost invisible personality. Inside, he became astonishingly positive and self-assured. He seemed to be more at home there than anywhere else. It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language.' Some of the writer's most memorable pieces for the Observer covered Ali's boxing career. The former heavyweight boxing champion paid tribute to McIlvanney in 2016, saying: 'His words were a window to the lives, the courage, the struggles and the triumphs of the great champions of his time. He has contributed richly to the fabric of our sport.' Hugh was born in the Ayrshire town of Kilmarnock to William, a miner and his wife, Helen, parents who gave him and his three brothers - one of whom was the future crime writer William McIlvanney - a priceless grounding in the arts of expression. Hugh began on his hometown paper, the Kilmarnock Standard, after impressing during a debate at his school, the Kilmarnock Academy and moved briefly to the Scottish office of the Daily Express before joining the Scotsman. That newspaper's legendary editor, Alastair Dunnett, introduced him to the collected essays of AJ Liebling, perhaps the pivotal intervention in his long career. McIlvanney had not even considered becoming a sportswriter but, that moment fixed the path of his calling. To his surprise McIlvanney loved Liebling's defining book on boxing, The Sweet Science. Like the New Yorker with the Sorbonne education, he was originally an accidental tourist in the under-lit suburb of sport. 'I was a bit reluctant at the start,' he admitted. He was petrified of ending up 'a fitba writer' obsessing about Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers. Self-doubt did not often haunt him thereafter. His life and his way of writing about football, he said, was changed by one night - 18 May 1960 - when he was amongst the one hundred and twenty seven thousand crowd at Hampden Park watching the European Cup Final between Real Madrid and Eintract Frankfurt. He recalled being one of the many thousands who stayed on for an hour after the game had ended, stunned by the attacking display that the great Madrid side had just given in their seven-three victory. While his heart never truly left Scotland, the core of McIlvanney's working life was played out on the pages of the Observer, where he began work in 1962 as deputy sports editor. In surroundings that were unremittingly Dickensian, peopled by literary mavericks to whom he would quickly cleave, McIlvanney impressed. But he knew that his editing and sub-editing work was no more than an entree to a more fulfilling line as a writer. His style, he accepted, had an undeniable Scottish flavour to it. 'I think it can be said without pomposity,' he wrote, while straying in that very direction, 'that I have a recognisable voice in my writing. I would be surprised if there wasn't some Scottishness there and certainly an attitude to language. The feeling that you could be quite strongly expressive and still very accurate relates in a way to how I was brought up, listening to a lot of people who were very eloquent - although they might not have been very well educated, but who had a great respect for language, especially in the West of Scotland.' Allied to his great style was McIlvanney's huge admiration for the characters of sport and he never lost faith in his heroes, however flawed. Nobody gave George Best more rope - he narrated the 1970 BBC documentary The World Of Georgie Best and counted the maverick Irishman among his closest friends. And, Ali stood tallest for him, even when palsied after a boxing career that lingered too long. There was no doubt in McIlvanney's mind that Muhammad (as he insisted on calling him) was The Greatest, as a human being as well as an athlete. 'His boxing was totally idiosyncratic,' he said. 'And, technically, at a level much lower than that of Sugar Ray Robinson. Muhammad was in a sense the eternal amateur, but he was God's amateur, because the will was so magical, the imagination so magical, that he found a way to beat people.' It was the perfect metaphor for McIlvanney's career: the raw yet refined genius from the North who invariably finished in front, sometimes despite himself. His writing - his reporting, as he would have it - was a triumph of the imagination. Of all the footballers he watched, he rated four above all others - Pele, Maradona, Di Stefano and Messi - although he admitted there were strong cases also for Best and for Johan Cruyff. He believed Graeme Souness to be the best Scottish midfielder he had seen, although he placed Jim Baxter, Billy Bremner, Dave Mackay and Bobby Murdoch not far behind. He had no truck with those who claimed that you needed to have played the game to truly understand it - once infamously telling Sir Alf Ramsey who had suggested this: 'You can take a turnip around the world but that doesn't make it an expert on geography!' He also had to write about tragic events, including the death of his friend Jock Stein, after the World Cup qualifying game in Cardiff in 1985. He was in Munich in 1972 to report on the Olympic Games when eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by Black September. Often described as Britain's greatest-ever sports writer, he was inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame among his long list of awards and honours. He is survived by his third wife, Caroline, whom he married in 2014 and by two children, Conn and Elizabeth, from his first marriage, to Sarah. It ended in divorce, as did a second marriage, to Sophie.
