Italy striker Mario Balotelli said he would "kill" anyone who threw a banana at him in the street during the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine next month.
Some Arsenal players appear to have lost faith in manager Arsene Wenger and are more concerned with their image, former midfielder Emmanuel Petit believes.
Argentina's Lionel Messi won the World Player of the Year for the second time in a row on Monday and Jose Mourinho walked off with the coach's award, leaving Spain's World Cup winners disappointed.
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was named French player of the year by France Football magazine on Tuesday.
The European Union on Sunday called for a minute's silence to be held on Monday for the victims of a series of attacks in Paris in which at least 129 people were killed.
'I'm very happy and I can say that 2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren't blind and watch the games.'
FIFA President Sepp Blatter warned the French government on Tuesday not to interfere in the affairs of its soccer association or the sport's governing body could suspend France's football federation.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon D'Or, following media reports that the forward has not been short-listed for the award's final three for the first time since 2010.
World Cup winners Spain have seven players featured in a 23-man shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or unveiled by soccer's governing body and France Football magazine on Tuesday.
Barcelona's Xavi, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta are on the shortlist for the first FIFA Ballon D'Or award for the best player in the world to be presented on Monday at a ceremony that gets bigger by the year.
The list of candidates to win the 2009 Ballon d'Or award was reduced to 10 men on Sunday, with Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi the overwhelming favourite.
Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi was awarded the 2009 Ballon D'Or, French magazine France Football said on its website on Tuesday. The 22-year-old became the first Ballon D'Or winner from Argentina, eclipsing runner-up and last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo by a record 240-point margin.
France defender William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after criticising his team mates, French media reported on Friday. France Football magazine's website (www.francefootball.fr) said Gallas had also been left out of the squad for Saturday's Premier League match at Manchester City. Arsenal declined to comment on whether Gallas had been removed as club captain.
European soccer's governing body UEFA and the continent's top clubs have no plans to create a "Super League" to replace the Champions League and UEFA Cup, officials said on Tuesday.
Former French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is glad he was sent-off for his head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final because he has not had to live with regret over escaping punishment.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale have been shortlisted for this year's coveted Ballon d'Or award.
Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo was poised to join Arsenal before Manchester United offered three times as much money, the Ballon d'Or winner said in an interview published Friday. 'I was within an inch of (joining Arsenal),' Ronaldo told France Football. 'I have a lot of respect for (manager Arsene) Wenger, he is a very clever man.'
Olympique Lyonnais and Norway forward Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural Ballon d'Or award for the best player in women's football on Monday but the moment was tarnished when DJ Martin Solveig asked her to 'twerk'
Under the new system, half the votes would belong to the players and coaches of the world's 211 national teams and half to the public, who will take part via an online ballot, and selected media representatives.
Chelsea's Didier Drogba said he lost his passion for football last summer after the death of his grandmother.
AC Milan and Brazil playmaker Kaka was awarded the 2007 Ballon d'Or on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo says he decided to quit Real Madrid this summer because the Spanish club's president, Florentino Perez, only ever saw him as a means of making money.
Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic French fans celebrated the return of their World Cup winning football team on Monday, jumping and chanting "We Are The Champions" as their bus paraded down the Champs Elysees before a special presidential reception.
"I want to leave Chelsea. Something is broken with the club," Didier Drogba told the France Football magazine.
Real Madrid will not seek to boost their squad ahead of their transfer ban, which starts at the end of the month, club president Florentino Perez said on Wednesday. Perez's leadership at Real has been synonymous with glamour signings but the club will be unable to register new players during the next two transfer windows for breaching FIFA rules on signing non-Spanish Under-18 players. "We will not sign players during the winter market but this has nothing to do with the punishment. It is because we have the best players and the best trainer," Perez told France Football.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he remains hopeful of keeping talismanic striker Thierry Henry at the London club next season.
Real Madrid's Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or on Monday, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's decade-long hold on the prestigious award.
'We would be stronger with him,' Ronaldinho said of the prospect of Thierry Henry joining him at Barcelona.
The England captain tops with earnings of $27 million in the 2003/04 season, while Ronaldo is second with 16.5 million.
Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved has been named European Footballer of the Year, France Football magazine confirmed on Monday.
Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko of AC Milan was named European Footballer of the Year on Monday.
Real Madrid's David Beckham is the best paid soccer player in the world, according to a survey published in France Football magazine.
Real Madrid and Inter Milan both have four in the top 20 of the world's best-paid players and Manchester United three.
Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or for world player of the year on Thursday for a joint-record fifth time, going level with eternal rival and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi as the player to have won the prize the most times.
But Scolari also paid homage to Ronaldo, who led the goals tally with eight to his name.
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