Football

FIFA says Ibrahimovic was nominated for his long-range bicycle kick against England in a friendly last November.

Barcelona lost Lionel Messi to another leg injury but still had more than enough firepower to win 4-1 at struggling Real Betis.

Arsenal are five points clear of the English top flight table after 10 rounds and eight points ahead of Manchester United.

With the mouth-watering clash between United and Arsenal round the corner, we present five reasons how the Red Devils can beat the in-form Gunners.

The Spain international had already missed a month of this season with a thigh injury before returning in early October.

Sports Ministry on Thursday got the clearance from several ministries regarding the guarantees required to present the final bid documents to the FIFA.

Messi's season has been disrupted by a couple of minor injuries and the Argentine said on Chinese social networking site Weibo that he was still not fully fit.

Chelsea are second domestically - five points behind Arsenal - and Schalke are already 12 points adrift in Germany in sixth place.

With only one point separating the two in the top four (Bengaluru FC second with 14 pts, Pune FC fourth with 13 pts), the match for Pune FC means more.

Pellegrini has warned CSKA Moscow fans not to racially abuse any of his players when the teams meet in the return fixture of their Champions League campaign.

Bayern will be looking to notch their fourth straight win in the Champions League group stage and seal a spot in the final 16 when they face Plzen.

Roma moved three points above Juventus and Napoli, who play each other next week.

The 33-year-old has not played since September after rupturing his left adductor while training with Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro.

Real Madrid have asked FIFA to rectify comments from its president Sepp Blatter that appeared to mock their Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi, Ribery, Ronaldo, Bale and Neymar are among 23 candidates on the shortlist announced by FIFA.

Osasuna lost a player in the 34th minute at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium when defender Damia Abella got a direct red card.