The budget for the new all-comprising headquarters of the German football federation (DFB) in Frankfurt has risen by €20 million to €109 million following the inclusion of an indoor football pitch.
The DFB paved the way for the construction of its new headquarters and performance academy after its board approved architectural contracts and the budget in a meeting yesterday.
The initial cost for the new DFB academy in Frankfurt was set at €89 million.
Januzaj could make Dortmund debut
Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Marco Reus is set to miss the Bundesliga leaders’ game at Hanover today after failing to recover from a fractured toe, coach Thomas Tuchel said.
Reus dropped out of the Germany squad last week ahead of two Euro 2016 qualifiers.
“It looks that Marco will not make it for Hanover,” Tuchel, whose team have won all three league matches to lead Bayern Munich on goal difference, said.
Injury problems could speed up the Bundesliga debut of new signing Adnan Januzaj who has joined on loan from Manchester United for a season.
“Adnan could be an option already for Hanover, I would not rule it out,” Tuchel said.
Andy Carroll set for West Ham return
Andy Carroll is in contention to make his return to the West Ham side in time to face boyhood club Newcastle on Monday night.
The 26-year-old has been sidelined since February when he required surgery on a serious knee issue. But now he is fit and has been training with the first team for a fortnight, manager Slaven Bilic is ready to unleash him against his former side.
Bilic said: “A few times before, straight after the injury he trained for a few days with the team and then played straight away.
“Then, because of his stature, size and everything, another injury would come.
“This time we’ve made six weeks of pre-season and he looks very good in training.”
Israeli bank assisting in probe
Israel’s Bank Hapoalim said it is cooperating with a probe by US authorities into alleged corruption involving officials from FIFA.
A US investigation has indicted at least 14 people, including former FIFA officials, on charges of money laundering and Hapo-alim said the probe was looking into accounts held by some of the suspects with the bank.
“Within the framework of cooperation by the bank with the investigation in this matter, it has come to the bank’s attention that the US authorities are investigating the involvement of various banks, among them, the Bank Hapoalim Group,” it said.
Pellegrini, Ayew win monthly awards
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini and Swansea City summer recruit Andre Ayew have bagged the Premier League manager and player of the month awards res-pectively for August.
Pellegrini’s side have won all their four games, including an impressive 3-0 win over champions Chelsea, and have also scored 10 goals, more than any club in the league.
Ayew, who arrived on a free transfer, has made a fantastic start to life in England, scoring three goals and provided an assist in four games.
Grabban apology
Norwich forward Lewis Grabban has issued an apology after failing to show up for the club’s League Cup victory at Rotherham last month while trying to force a move to Bournemouth during the transfer window.
Grabban was not at the New York Stadium for the 2-1 second-round win and although manager Alex Neil refused to say if the player had been given permission to skip the game, he confirmed that Norwich had turned down a third bid for Grabban.
“I’ve apologised to the manager, the staff and my fellow professionals for the situation that arose two weeks ago,” the 27-year-old Englishman said.
“I’d like to apologise to the club and most importantly the Norwich fans for my actions.”
Copa centenary
South America’s football confederation CONMEBOL are determined to go ahead with next year’s planned centenary Copa America despite the corruption scandal which has embroiled the tournament.
CONMEBOL is jointly organising it with CONCACAF, its counterpart for North, Central America and the Caribbean, and said that the two confederations would meet next Thursday in Mexico City to discuss their plans for the tournament.
“Both organisations are maintaining their firm intention to go ahead with the tournament to celebrate 100 years of our confederation,” said CONMEBOL in a statement.
The original plan was for the tournament to be played in the US. However, the plans were thrown into disarray following the scandal that erupted at the end of May.