Sevilla re-sign Barcelona’s Rakitic

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona said on Tuesday they had agreed to sell Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic back to Sevilla.

Under the deal the southern side will pay the Catalan outfit 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million) plus nine million euros in variables for the 32-year-old, Barca said in a statement.

“FC Barcelona publicly express their gratitude to Rakitic for his commitment and dedication and wish him good luck and success in the future,” the statement added.

Rakitic, who had a year left on his contract at the Camp Nou, spent three seasons with Sevilla and won the Europa League in the 2013/14 season right before he made his big switch in 2014.

He was one of several Barcelona players who were reportedly told they were not part of new manager Ronald Koeman’s plans.

On Monday, Lionel Messi boycotted Barca’s first pre-season training session as the striker upped the stakes in his battle to leave this summer. 

After skipping coronavirus tests on Sunday, Messi missed Koeman’s first session in charge since being appointed last month.

It appears increasingly likely Messi will try to force a transfer by refusing to play in La Liga next season, which begins on September 12.

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On-loan Mkhitaryan leaves Arsenal for Roma on permanent deal

Rome (AFP) – Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who spent last season on loan at AS Roma, is to stay with the Italian capital after both clubs agreed a permanent move, he announced on social media.

Arsenal, on its site, said Monday evening it had agreed to terminate Mkhitaryan’s contract by “mutual consent to allow him to join Roma as part of a final transfer”.

The duration of his contract with Roma has not been specified and no fee has been disclosed. 

The 31-year-old Armenian, who scored nine goals and made six assists in his first season in Italy, said he was “delighted” with the move.

“I love the city of #Roma, I love this club and I count the fans in my heart. I will give all of my effort in helping us achieve our goals!” he tweeted. 

Mkhitaryan joined the Gunners from Manchester United in January 2018, scoring nine goals and helping them to the 2019 Europa League final.

He has also played for Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund.

AS Roma, fifth last season, will play in the Europa League this season. 

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Celtic to go to Latvia or San Marino in Europa League

Paris (AFP) – Celtic were handed a trip to face either Riga FC of Latvia or Tre Fiori of San Marino in the draw for the third qualifying round of the Europa League made on Tuesday.

The Scottish champions dropped into the Europa League after being dumped out of the Champions League by Hungarian side Ferencvaros in the second qualifying round last week.

Neil Lennon’s side will be fully expected to advance to the play-off round against Riga or Tre Fiori, two sides who had themselves already dropped out of the Champions League qualifiers.

The tie will be played on September 24, with all qualifiers currently being staged behind closed doors and as single-leg ties, rather than on a home and away basis, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Celtic reached the last 32 of last season’s Europa League, while their Glasgow rivals Rangers made the last 16.

Steven Gerrard’s side will go to Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in the second qualifying round, and on Tuesday discovered they will face another trip, to either Willem II of the Netherlands or Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg, should they reach the next round.

Willem II, who sat fifth when the last Dutch season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak, would represent the tougher test, but Rangers were famously humiliated by Progres Nierderkorn in the Europa League qualifiers in 2017 before beating them last year.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur will go back to the Balkans if they get the better of Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the second qualifying round.

Their potential opponents in the following round are either Botosani of Romania or KF Shkendija of North Macedonia, meaning another awkward away trip in the early weeks of the new Premier League season.

Among the other British representatives, Aberdeen were given a potential plum tie away to Portuguese giants Sporting in Lisbon in the third qualifying round, although they must first hop across the North Sea to go to Norwegian Cup winners Viking Stavanger.

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Totti hopes to rejoin Roma ‘sooner or later’

Rome (AFP) – Roma legend Francesco Totti believes that “sooner or later” he will reconnect with the club which has just changed owners, he told Italian daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Tuesday. 

Totti, 43, spent 24 years at the club as a player before moving upstairs to the boardroom. 

He resigned as a director in June 2019, however, after falling out with US owner James Pallotta and with management, who he criticised for keeping him out of decisions. 

But the sale this summer of the club to another American businessman, Dan Friedkin, could lay the foundations for a reconciliation between the ex-captain, who has since become a players’ agent, and his long-standing club. 

“It is natural to think that sooner or later Roma and I will meet again,” he told La Reppublica. 

“But I am not fixing the moment, and above all I am not waiting for it to happen by sitting idly at home.”

Totti said Friedkin had understood quickly the essentials of running a club.

“In Rome, the owner must be physically present,” he said. 

“The announcement that his son Ryan will come to live here is a move in the right direction. 

“Pallotta made mistakes because he made decisions on reported information.” 

Totti said he had not been in contact with the new bosses but said he was ready to “have a coffee” with them. 

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Blatter’s turn to face Swiss prosecutor over Platini payment

Bern (Switzerland) (AFP) – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was facing questioning Tuesday by a Swiss prosecutor over a payment of two million Swiss francs ($2.2 million) made to former UEFA boss Michel Platini in 2011. 

The 84-year-old arrived around at 09:00 am at the headquarters of the Public Ministry of the Confederation (MPC) in Bern, where Platini, the former head of European football, had been questioned the day before by prosecutor Thomas Hildbrand. 

“This is the moment when we start to talk about this dossier which has lasted for five years, and about which I have never been asked questions, so I am happy to be able to give information on it,” said Blatter as he arrived.

The investigation, which was set up in 2015, is looking into the payment Platini received from FIFA in 2011 for an advisory job completed in 2002, on suspicion of “complicity in unfair management, embezzlement and forgery”.

Platini said in June when he was added by Hildebrand to the investigation that the Swiss Attorney General’s office had “confirmed in writing in May 2018” that his case was closed.

The 65-year-old former French football great now has the status of “accused” alongside Blatter.

Blatter, who led the global football body from 1998 to 2015, told AFP the payment was above board.

“It was back pay for work done by Michel Platini. The sum was validated by the finance commission. It cannot be a criminal offence,” said Blatter.

FIFA deemed the sum a “disloyal payment” and suspended Blatter and Platini from all football-related activities, which prevented the former UEFA chief from running for another term as president in 2016.

Two other former FIFA executives, Frenchman Jerome Valcke, the former secretary-general, and German Markus Kattner, the former financial director, are being investigated on “suspicion of unfair management”, the OAG has said.

Kattner will be questioned on September 4.

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Footballer fined for kissing ball in Ecuador, breaking virus rules

Quito (AFP) – A football player in Ecuador was fined $1,200 Monday for kissing the ball in breach of hygiene rules brought in to combat the coronavirus.

Argentine midfielder Sergio Lopez, who plays for Quito-based Aucas in the country’s top-tier Liga Pro, became the first player to face sanction under the new rules, after making the offending gesture following his side’s 1-0 win over Macara on Friday.

The league’s disciplinary committee said Lopez was sanctioned for kissing the ball.

A raft of new rules have been introduced for league games, which returned in August after a five-month stoppage because of the pandemic.

Five other players were fined $1,200 for swapping shirts, which is also banned, in a match on August 16.

And two teams were fined for not falling in line with new rules: Liga de Portoviejo for not providing a first aid kit; and Barcelona SC for not providing sanitizing gel or alcohol.

Ecuador has recorded 114,000 infections and nearly 6,600 deaths due to the coronavirus. Authorities have also reported about 3,700 additional deaths likely due to the virus.

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Rashford joins forces with supermarkets to fight child poverty

London (AFP) – Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has joined forces with major supermarkets and food providers in Britain to form a taskforce to help fight child food poverty.

The England striker’s campaign pressured the UK government into a U-turn in June to provide free school meal vouchers to pupils over the summer holidays.

As schools across England return this week, the 22-year-old said his initial campaign was a short-term fix and that the “Child Food Poverty Task Force” will promote longer-term solutions.

Retailers and food manufacturers including Aldi, Lidl, Kellogg’s and Tesco will offer their expertise and reach by dedicating their platforms over the next six weeks to sharing stories of those most affected by child food insecurity in the UK.

Rashford has spoken about his own experience of using food vouchers growing up in a low-income household and wants to help remove the stigma of asking for help.

“I feel like at times people think they are being looked down on if they ask for help,” he told the BBC.

“You should feel free if you want to ask for help for anything. Hold your head up high and if you need help go and get help.”

Rashford said the task force is endorsing three national food strategy policy recommendations.

These would increase the number of children entitled to free school meals by 1.5 million, provide support during school holidays to an extra 1.1 million and increase the value of food vouchers by just over £1 a week to help an additional 290,000 children under the age of four.

“It’s easy to see that if we don’t take action quickly, the issue of child food poverty will have devastating effects on the stability of our country,” Rashford said in a letter to members of the British parliament.

“I spoke to a mother recently who, along with her two young sons, is currently living off three slices of bread a day – soaking them in hot water and adding sugar, hoping that the porridge consistency might better sustain the hunger of her one-year-old child.

“I spoke to a family who were sleeping on one mattress on the floor – the reason being, just like any good parent would, they had had no choice but to sell every valuable they owned to put food on the table for their children.

“All of this, a result of unforeseen circumstances that are entirely out of their control, such as redundancy and illness.

“This is the true reality of England in 2020.”

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