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Football News: Review Of The Day 20th April 2018

Review Of The Day 20th April 2018
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Review of the Day

 

Deal Or No Deal

Hearts have announced a deal to sign Uche Ikpeazu from Cambridge United at the end of the season. The 23 year old centre forward has signed a pre-contract ahead of a Bosman summer transfer, similar to the arrangement Hearts have also made with St Johnstone forward Steven MacLean. Ikpeazu told Hearts TV: "When I came to the stadium and I saw it for myself, it was crazy. They get loads of fans... 18,000 every game. That's some big attendances and I'm looking forward to playing in front of them. That's what attracted me, and having a manager in Craig [Levein] who really wanted to work with me, I feel that's the most important thing to feel wanted, and that's the way I felt. He really wants to work with me, he feels that he can get the best out of me and help me to develop."

There was no deal for Michiel Kramer and the Dutch forward will be on the hunt for a new club after being released by Sparta Rotterdam.

Slavia Sofia have sacked their Kenyan international defender Aboud Omar. Omar was the first Kenyan to play in the Bulgarian league, but has been accused of insulting team-mates, coaches and the country using Bulgarian phrases he had learnt while there. "I decided to remove Aboud Omar from the team and his contractual relations with the club will be suspended under the existing legal order," Slavia president Ventseslav Stefanov said in a statement. "For no apparent reason, the player became cruel and arrogant. He learned the most vulgar phrases in Bulgarian and began to address them to his team mates without exception. The impudent Kenyan began to curse everything, related to life in our country and did not try to conceal his dislike for the Bulgarian state at all..."

 

Premier League Clubs Record Record Revenues

The collective accounts for 2016-17 show a total revenue for the 20 Premier League clubs of £4.5bn and a collective pre-tax profit of £500m. Both figures are record for the league. The profit is in spite of a 9% rise in wages to £2.5bn. All 20 clubs made an operating profit over the course of the season.

 

FIFA Dismiss England's Racial Abuse Claims

FIFA have said that a "lack of sufficient evidence" has lead to them to dismiss a claim by England that Wolverhampton Wanderers youngster Morgan Gibbs-White was racially abused during the Under-17 World Cup final win over Spain. The chair of anti-racism charity Kick It Out, Lord Herman Ouseley, has criticised the decision saying it "only gives encouragement" to those who want "to racially abuse and act in discriminatory ways". He also said: "It leaves questions unanswered, such as how much more evidence is required than two people separately hearing and corroborating the alleged abuse, in order to be acceptable as sufficient? Are they not believed as honest because of who they are? Who are the investigators and who makes such ridiculous decisions? Are any of these people from BAME backgrounds? Are any of these people competent with the personal experience of having suffered from racial abuse and discrimination?"

 

Defender Found Guilty Of Match-Fixing Offences

Former Lincoln City defender Bradley Wood has been banned from football for 6 years after intentionally getting booked twice during Lincoln's FA Cup run last season. The 26 year old had told friends who would try to get booked in games against Ipswich and Burnley, so that they could bet on it happening. Seven people bet on him to be booked none of whom had previously bet on booking. Wood denied those charges but admitted guilt in a further 23 charges regarding betting on the outcome of matches and passing on information. Wood was also fined £3,725 and ordered to pay costs. His suspension will run until 8 March 2024.

 

FIFA Confirm Big Screen VAR Replays

FIFA have confirmed that replays of incidents under review by video assistant referees during the 2018 World Cup will be shown on the big screens inside the stadiums as they look to cut down on the confusion caused by the usage of VAR.

 

Turkish Cup Semi-Final Abandoned

An Istanbul derby semi-final between Fenerbahce and Besiktas had to be abandoned after Besiktas head coach Senol Gunes was hit on the head by an object thrown from the crowd in the 58th minute of the game. Gunes was taken off to hospital and the game was ended by the referee Mete Kalkavan, with the score at 0-0 in this second leg, following a 2-2 draw in the first leg. The game had suffered a 5 minute delay in the first half after objects were thrown at Besiktas players. In the second half a row between Fenerbahce fans and Besiktas players on the bench escalated until TV pictures showed the 65 year old Gunes falling to the ground and holding his head after being hit by something thrown in his direction from the Fenerbahce fans.

 

Palace To Continue Ground Redevelopment

Croydon Council have granted permission to Crystal Palace to carry on with their redevelopment of Selhurst Park. The planning committee of the council voted unanimously in favour of proposals to increase capacity from 26,000 to 34,000 and for a new five-storey stand replacing the current main stand. The £100m plan will now be referred to the Mayor of London before planning permission can be issued.

 

Liverpool Get Lovren Boost

Liverpool have been boosted ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg match with AS Roma on Tuesday by news that their Croatian international centre-back Dejan Lovren is back in training. The defender was taken off during Saturday's win over Bournemouth with an injury and there were fears that he would be joining fellow centre back Joel Matip in being ruled out for the rest of the season. Joe Gomez has also returned to training as the Reds injury problems subside.

 

Rangers Director Alastair Johnston Claims They Are Ahead Of The Curve

Despite the second biggest budget in Scottish football for Scotland's most successful club, Rangers fans have been told that they should be delighted if the club finishes in the top 3 of the SPFL table. The 54 times champions only returned to the top flight in 2016, after being dropped to the fourth tier over financial irregularities. Rangers director Alastair Johnston said: "We are probably doing a little better than we would have imagined back in the dark days of running out at Brechin in the fourth tier. So you have to look back. The fans have been terrific, as I would have expected them to be, to hang in there and hopefully they will be rewarded. In terms of looking forward from where we were four or five years ago at the bottom, the progress that has been gradually made, we are probably ahead of the curve in reality if we finish second or third. We are making progress. Hopefully the curve will be fast but it is still going to be gradual, it is not going to happen overnight."

 

Ben Arfa Goes To French League In Attempt To Recover Docked Wages

The lawyer for Hatem Ben Arfa has confirmed that his client has appealed to the French League's legal commission over a financial punishment he suffered in December after PSG fined him for missing a mid-season training camp in Doha, Qatar. Jean-Jacques Bertrand has told RMC Sport that Ben Arfa was fined over 100,000 euros after being forced to miss the trip by gastroenteritis as Paris Saint-Germain try to force him out of the club. "Hatem had provided evidence for his absence, with supporting documents to justify himself, but the club refused," Bertrand said. "There, he suffered a second penalty - the two days of salary and an unfulfilled ethics bonus, which is fairly substantial. It was 10 days before the winter transfer window opened and we were doing everything to get Hatem out of there. However, for these reasons, he decided to not quit the club."

 

Henrique Given One Year Ban

Former Palermo midfielder, who has returned to Brazil with Palmeiras, has been banned for a year due to a fake passport, as he attempted to get an Italian passport. The ban is expected to apply to all FIFA competitions, including the Brazilian league.

 

Arsenal To Subsidise Away Tickets

The team with the most expensive home tickets in European football have announced that they will subsidise supporters tickets for their away leg in Madrid. After it was revealed Arsenal fans would be charged £79 for the Europa League semi-final second leg, while Atletico fans would only be charged £36.50, the Gunners have confirmed that they will subsidise the tickets for their fans to make the price the exact same as that paid by Atletico fans.

Written by Tris Burke April 20 2018 06:51:29