Off the Pitch

FIFA is against the International Football Association Board's proposal for so-called 'blue cards', President Gianni Infantino said, adding that he was unaware of the idea before it caught the public eye.

The proposal from football's rule making body to introduce 'blue cards', which gives referees the power to send players off for 10 minutes for dissent or committing cynical fouls, was discussed with FIFA at the IFAB's Annual General Meeting in Scotland.

Gianni Infantino blue cards

Christian Pulisic is now one of Lazio fans’ most hated players after he drew two red cards against the club on Friday during AC Milan's 1-0 victory. 

The incident that the Lazio faithful are the most upset about was Pulisic drawing a second yellow card on Luca Pellegrini who wanted play to stop for an injured player. There was no whistle so Pulisic kept playing.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba's career hung in the balance on Thursday after he was handed a four-year doping ban but the France international said he would try to clear his name by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The France international was provisionally suspended by a tribunal of Italy's national anti-doping organisation (NADO Italia) in September after testing positive for DHEA - a banned substance which naturally raises levels of testosterone.

MANCHESTER — Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag scolded Fulham on Thursday for a TikTok video that poked fun at his captain Bruno Fernandes, suggesting the midfielder feigned injury in their 2-1 loss to the London side at Old Trafford last weekend.

"It is not right," Ten Hag said in his press conference to preview Sunday's Manchester derby. "It is absolutely not right that a clip makes such statements. It is totally out of order and they were wrong so they should apologize for this."

Fulham TikTok about Bruno Fernandes

The Crew is iced out.

Columbus Crew players received championship rings to conmemorate their 2023 MLS Cup title before playing their season opener against Atlanta United this Saturday.

The ring, also given to coaching staff and club management, is 10-karat yellow gold and studded with approximately 250 diamonds. The conmemorative piece was revealed at the stadium in a ceremony held before the start of the match.

BARCELONA — Brazilian footballer Dani Alves was convicted of raping a woman in the restroom of a Barcelona nightclub in 2022 and sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison on Thursday, which he will appeal.

The top court in Spain's Catalonia region also ordered Alves, who has been jailed on remand for over a year and repeatedly changed his story, to pay $163,000 to the victim.