A football fan has died from injuries sustained after he fell in a stairwell following the Euro 2016 qualifier between Scotland and Ireland at Celtic Park in Glasgow on Friday.
The 22-year-old man passed away at Glasgow Infirmary. Scottish joy over their gripping 1-0 Group D home victory over neighbours Ireland was tempered by the news of the fan’s death.
“One of our young fans died last night after falling through a stairwell coming out of Celtic Park. I’m so sorry for his family. Tragic news,” Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan said in a tweet.
Scotland are due to host England in a friendly on Tuesday.
Courtois wants to remain no.1
Thibaut Courtois has suggested he would be looking for a Chelsea exit if, like Petr Cech, he was second choice.
Last week, Cech said his future is entirely in the club’s hands after he was displaced as first-choice goalkeeper by Courtois following 10 years as the Blues no.1.
Belgium goalkeeper Courtois said: “As a goalkeeper you want to play. If I was in that situation and I didn’t play a lot, then I would leave too.
“I think Petr is still a goalkeeper with a lot of quality and one of the best there is.”
Cech has been linked with a number of the world’s leading clubs, including PSG and Real Madrid, but still has 18 months to run on his current four-year deal.
Mancini relishing Inter challenge
New Inter coach Roberto Mancini is relishing the chance to revive the club’s flagging fortunes.
The 49-year-old was presented as the replacement to the sacked Walter Mazzarri, with the Italian giants lying ninth in the Serie A.
“It’s up to us to find that spark again, bring the fans back to the stadium and return to winning ways,” he said.
“I’m really happy to be here. If I’ve come back it must mean that I’ve done something right elsewhere, that’s all that matters.
“I think we can write another success story. I believe in this club’s plans. We have to knuckle down because if we work hard we can achieve great things.”
Pele leaves hospital
Brazilian soccer legend Pele was discharged from a Sao Paulo hospital yesterday after doctors re-moved kidney stones that had been obstructing his urinary tract, the hospital said in a statement.
The 74-year-old was admitted to the Albert Einstein Hospital on Wednesday with abdominal pains that forced him to cancel a book signing event in Santos, where he lives.
Tests showed he was suffering from kidney and ureteral stones that were removed on Thursday morning.
Known as “the King of soccer” in Brazil, Pele is widely regarded as the finest player to grace the sport.
Ronaldo record
Cristiano Ronaldo scrambled a second-half goal to give Portugal an uninspiring 1-0 win over Armenia in their Euro 2016 qualifier in Faro late Friday.
The Portugal captain broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute when the ball rebounded to him two metres from goal after Roman Berezovski saved Ricardo Quaresma’s shot, although he still needed two attempts to put it in.
It was his 52nd goal in 117 appearances and made him the competition’s all-time top scorer in qualifying and finals combined, but it was the high point of an otherwise below-par performance which included firing three free-kicks straight into the defensive wall.
Portugal moved second in Group I with six points from three games while Armenia are on one point.
Wonga to remove logo from shirts
Controversial payday lender Wonga has agreed with Newcastle United to remove its logo from all children’s replica shirts and training wear from the 2016/17 season.
Wonga said it followed a re-view of its marketing launched by new chairman Andy Haste in July to ensure that none of it could inadvertently appeal to the very young or vulnerable.
It has already ended its puppet advertising campaign.
The company said the logo was being removed from children’s kits at the earliest possible opportunity, and that due to production schedules this would be from the start of the 2016/17 season – the last year of the current shirt sponsorship deal.
Greek football games stopped indefinitely
The Hellenic Football Federation has suspended all Greek professional leagues indefinitely.
In a statement, the federation said that reports of an off-the-field assault on one of its refereeing committee members, Christoforos Zografos, had led to the decision which takes effect from Monday.
The federation said Zografos had been admitted to hospital after an alleged assault and that it had decided not to appoint referees in order to “protect those involved”.
Zografos is the assistant director of the central refereeing committee.
PAOK currently top the Superleague which had been due to resume next weekend after the international break.