Sport

President Donald Trump’s threat to nations against a U.S. bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup has prompted FIFA, soccer’s governing body to refer to guidelines that warn against political influence overbids.

Morocco is the only rival to a joint bid to stage the event from the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the FIFA Congress due to choosing the hosts in Moscow on June 13.

“The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump tweeted.

“It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don’t support us (including at the United Nations)?”

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson was proud of the efforts of his players as they hammered Leicester City 5-0 to boost their Premier League survival bid.

Palace had looked like a team destined for relegation after losing their opening seven Premier League fixtures without scoring a goal but they've now climbed to 11th and six points clear of the bottom three, where only Southampton are capable of catching them.

The in-form Wilfried Zaha again excelled and scored their opening goal, after which further finishes from James McArthur, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Patrick van Aanholt, and Christian Benteke's penalty, secured the three points which has seen them take a giant step towards safety.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted he regrets his war of words with Arsene Wenger as his side prepare to host Arsenal in Sunday’s English Premier League game at Old Trafford.

Mourinho had called Wenger “a specialist in failure” and a “voyeur”, in the past while the Frenchman also insulted him.

“We had big matches, big fights, so thank you so much for that. Regret? Little negative episodes, yes I do and probably he also does,” Mourinho said during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

The Supreme Court has set aside the 2016 judgment of the Appeal Court on the leadership tussle of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

Chris Giwa and his board had dragged the FIFA-recognised Amaju Pinnick-led board to the Supreme Court, to set aside the verdict of the Appeal Court which set aside the ruling of a Federal High Court in Jos that ordered the continuation of the case.

They had claimed in the originating suit that the mandate given to them by the congress of the NFF in August 2013 was sacrosanct and that the election in Warri that brought in the Pinnick group was held in defiance of a High Court order.

 Paris Saint-Germain coach, Unai Emery, has formally announced his exit from the club at the end of the current season, after two years in charge of the Parc des Princes club. His tenure has been under threat even since the French side were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Andres Iniesta has confirmed he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season after 22 years associated with the club. He has made 669 appearances in 16 seasons, winning 31 trophies with the team and three majopr tournaments for Spain. In a press conference attended by members of the first team and the club’s board on Friday, Iniesta said he wanted to finish at Barca “feeling useful, feeling important and still winning titles”.