Football

Italy forward Stephen El Shaarawy scored one goal and set up another as Roma enjoyed their seventh successive league win. It was El Shaarawy's fifth goal in six matches for Roma.

Barcelona enter the final stages of the Spanish league with a comfortable eight-point lead and Lionel Messi in ebullient form. The five-time world player of the year is the top-scorer in the last 10 games for his team.

The champions currently lead the league with 61 points after 27 matches, three clear of second-placed Napoli. Roma and Fiorentina, in third and fourth respectively, are eight points behind Juve.

The 64-year-old served half of his three-and-a-half year sentence after being convicted in March 2014 of having evaded paying at least 28.5 million euros ($31.5 million) in taxes.

Alvaro Morata added a penalty in the final minutes to help Juventus beat Inter Milan 2-0 in the Serie A Cup match on Sunday.

In a moment that drew laughter around the iconic stadium, Van Gaal fell to the ground on purpose while remonstrating with fourth official Mike Dean in the technical area during the second half of United's 3-2 win over Arsenal.

West Ham's chances of hosting European football next season at the Olympic Stadium received a boost on Saturday, after they beat relegation-threatened Sunderland 1-0 at Upton Park to climb to provisional fifth place in the Premier League.

Juventus goalkeeper Buffon hasn't t conceded a goal in the league in 745 minutes. The record is held by Sebastiano Rossi, who kept a clean sheet for 929 consecutive minutes for AC Milan from December 12 1993 to February 27 1994.

Suketu Patel, who sits on the independent audit and compliance committee which reviews FIFA finances, is the first FIFA official to publicly disclose an exact figure. He said for the first time in 20-odd years FIFA is going through such a huge financial c...

"Today he (Kane) wasn't (training) because he was sent to see the specialist about his nose, but we hope he'll be fit for next Sunday," Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

In almost 120 years of Victorian Football League (VFL)/AFL history, a woman has never officiated at the elite level of Australian rules football.

Swiss publisher Werd & Weber says on its website that "Sepp Blatter: Mission Football" will cost 49 Swiss francs (US$49) and will be available in February.

The 20 Premier League teams will share most of the 5.1 billion pounds ($7.21 billion) for live domestic TV coverage in a three-year deal starting next term and Bartomeu said they were Barca's main rivals in the battle for players.

Berlusconi was discussing his wish for an all-Italian Milan team. He joked that Italy forward Balotelli, who is black, "is also Italian even if he has taken too much sun."

The draw means Napoli, who were displaced as leaders by Juve last Saturday, will return to the top if they beat AC Milan on Monday.

The spotlight at next week's FIFA Congress will fall on the presidential election - but the real key to the future of soccer's beleaguered governing body is embedded in a document with the unglamorous title "Draft statutes - Congress 2016".