Pope Benedict said Iraq's celebration of its Asian Cup soccer victory was a sign of a people yearning for peace.
'I really enjoyed boxing - I still do. This is a sport that really puts you through a lot of hard training, and you can always reap the benefits of that, even as a footballer.'
The 51-year-old, who was part of Croatia's 1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring, and developing football and players back home, and internationally.
Minerva Punjab did not turn up for the first match of the qualification round, prompting the national federation to describe it as a 'crazy' and 'unacceptable' move.
The semi-official news agency Tasnim said an unspecified number of women had entered the Azadi (Freedom) Stadium to watch Persepolis seek to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Japan's Kashima Antlers and claim their first continental crown.
This will be the first time since the 1994 Hiroshima edition that an Indian team will not take part in the football competition of the Asian Games.
The Indian football team achieved its best-ever FIFA ranking in over two decades as it jumped to 101 in the latest list released on Thursday.
Sepp Blatter could still perform a U-turn on his promise to stand down as FIFA president, a former adviser said on Monday, while FIFA did not directly deny the possibility.
The Premier League game between Manchester United and Bournemouth on Sunday was abandoned after two stands at Old Trafford were evacuated before kickoff.
The Indian Super League will be expanded to 10 teams this season with the organisers on Monday announcing two more franchises after a bidding process, with Bengaluru FC set to ply in the three-year-old ISL by leaving I-League.
The group stage Asian Cup exit turning out to be one bitter pill that he found too hard to swallow.
For India to grow substantially in football, it needs a larger pool of skilled coaches and coach educators, says Jeremy Weeks, head coach of Premier Skills, an initiative of English Premier League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Turambekar's story is inspiring, to say the least. Read on as she recounts her remarkable journey in conversation with Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter is disappointed the global soccer body's appeal committee upheld his ban from the sport, he told a Swiss newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
Visits by major English and European clubs to Asia are helping to boost the game in the region.
The Champions League Group F match between Barcelona and Ajax was a cracker of a contest.
All the results from the I-League and ISL matches played on Friday
A definitive guide to the movers and shakers who sit at the helm of the Asian sports boom.
The All India Football Federation is considering 'legal action' against organisers of Premier Futsal League, headed by legendary Portuguese playmaker Luis Figo.
In a statement, Zurich-based FIFA said the candidates proposed are: Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Hassan Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.
- 'FIFA should have a leader with a lot of experience' -'Prince Ali is a good man, I work with him, I was a main supporter in the past, he is like my brother. He has a good future but I think he was in a little bit of a hurry. I think he needed to take the trust of Asia first before he earned the trust of the international community'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has protested to football's world governing body about the number of observers allowed into the hall for Friday's election, saying he believed they were working for his rivals.
Football fans in Goa are shaking off their sussegado and becoming an animated, raucous, even belligerent lot.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The race to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of Fifa is picking up steam and there is a scramble for nominations.
Asked about the popularity of the Indian Super League, and whether FIFA will recognize it, secretary-general Jerome Valcke was quick to point out that for the world body there is only one league and that's the I-League. Manu Shankar reports
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne said that as head of soccer's governing body he would seek to move the 2022 Qatar World Cup from November-December to late European spring - a step that would please European associations by averting disruption of their season.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was sent off for the second time in a month on Sunday as the controversial coach watched his side draw 1-1 at home to West Ham United and lose more ground in the English Premier League title race.
A narrow 1-0 win was not enough for a desperate Mumbai City FC who were knocked out by FC Goa 5-2 on aggregate in the Hero Indian Super League semi-final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Margao, on Tuesday.
India will host the FIFA Under-17 World Cup football in 2017 with the world governing body awarding the right to host the prestigious tournament to the country in its executive committee meeting in Salvador da Bahia in Brazil.
Crisis-hit world football governing body FIFA faces one of the most important days in its 112-year history when it elects a new leader on Friday hoping to usher in a fresh era after decades of tawdry controversy.
Blatter quits FIFA; under investigation by US prosecutors, FBI.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
