Lisbon Lion legend McBride dies

Former Celtic, Motherwell and Hibernian striker Joe McBride has died, aged 74.

McBride, who played for the Hoops between June 1965 and November 1968, passed away at Glasgow Royal Infirmary on Wednesday night having suffered a suspected stroke at the weekend, Celtic confirmed on Thursday morning.

He suffered a mid-season injury which ruled him out of Celtic's 1967 European Cup triumph over Inter Milan in Lisbon, having already scored 35 goals in 26 games during the campaign.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell paid tribute to McBride, who had also worked as an ambassador for the club.

"The passing of Joe McBride is tragic news," he told celticfc.net. "Joe was a very fine man, an absolute gentleman and someone who gave tremendous service to the club over a number of years.

"It was a privilege to know Joe and it was fantastic that someone who gave so much to Celtic was still involved with the club in a number of ways - he will truly be sadly missed by everyone at Celtic. The thoughts of everyone at the club are very much with Joe's family at this very difficult time."

The Scotland international had a formidable strike rate during his career, especially whilst at Celtic, where his goalscoring exploits rank amongst the best in the club's illustrious history. McBride started his career with Kilmarnock before an unsuccessful time in England led to him moving to Partick and Motherwell and then on to Celtic.

Great success followed as he won two league championships and a couple of League Cups with the Hoops, scoring 86 goals in 94 games for the club. Former team-mate Tommy Gemmell also paid his respects to the prolific frontman.

"This has come as a terrible shock," he told The Sun. "Joe was a great lad and we had some wonderful moments together. It was easy to see why the Celtic supporters took to him. He was one of their own and a real man's man in the dressing room and out on the pitch.

Current Celtic boss Neil Lennon also offered the sympathies of everyone at the club. He said: "The loss of Joe is terrible news. It was a pleasure to be in Joe's company and on a personal level, Joe was someone who was always very supportive to myself."

Maradona invited to Al Wasl "farewell ceremony"

Diego Maradona has been invited to a 'farewell ceremony' by United Arab Emirates club Al Wasl after they sacked him as coach, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The club added that the ceremony would “reflect the unique and strong relationship" between them and the mercurial Argentine.

The 51 year-old World Cup winner's two-year contract, signed in May 2011, was terminated on Tuesday by the club's board after a trophy-less season that saw Al Wasl finish eighth in the 12-team UAE Pro League.

"We have not decided on a timeframe (for the ceremony) and it depends on Maradona's response," club vice-chairman Mohammed bin Dokhan told reporters through an interpreter.

He said Maradona, who was sacked with all his support staff, had not yet replied.

Some hours later, however, Maradona published a statement on his personal website (www.diegomaradona.com) thanking Al Wasl for the chance they had given him to be their coach and suggesting they could still reach an agreement about signings to strengthen the team.

"It was always my wish to stay in that wonderful land that so welcomed me and I am totally grateful to the sheikh, especially for having received me and given me the opportunity to coach a team from the Emirates," he said.

"Unfortunately, the club made a statement that I don't agree with, because my wish was and is to carry on coaching Al Wasl and if it is impossible for the club to buy players, due to a lack of budget, there will also be the possibility to discuss that together with the board and seek solutions," he added.

"I hope to have a meeting soon with the board...(and) I am quite sure they will be well disposed to do so and we will come to a good agreement."

Bin Dokhan said four or five names were on the table to replace Maradona and an announcement was likely within a week.

One of them was Bruno Metsu, who coached the UAE to victory in the 2007 Gulf Cup and won the AFC Champions League with Al Ain in 2003. Metsu also coached Senegal to a notable win over France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup.

'RIGHT TIME'

Defending the decision to terminate Maradona's contract, bin Dokhan said the time had been right.

"We cannot deny Diego Maradona is the best technical footballer all over the world and he is a qualified coach but we are looking for someone to win a championship for Al Wasl in the next stage," he added.

"We are not happy to terminate the contract but we should always keep away emotion and work for the sake of Al Wasl. The Board acts for the sake of Al Wasl and in the interests of Al Wasl to put Al Wasl back on the right track."

The closest Al Wasl, which last won the domestic league title in 2007, came to success last season was in reaching the final of the Gulf Champions League.

However, having won the first match against Bahrain side Al Muharraq 3-1, Maradona's side capitulated in the second leg in Dubai, having two players sent off en route to a 3-1 loss before defeat on penalties.

"Maybe it was a reason to terminate, the result of that match," said bin Dokhan.

Maradona's sacking came a month after he received a vote of confidence from the chairman of a newly constituted board, appointed after the mass resignation of the previous one following the lack of on-field success.

Bin Dokhan denied that Tuesday's announcement was a U-turn.

Maradona's sacking continues his modest record as coach, one that is in complete contrast to his time as a player.

In addition to his World Cup-winner's medal, Maradona enjoyed league title successes in Argentina, Italy and Spain but as a coach he has yet to achieve any such highs.

He had brief spells with Mandiyu and Racing Club in his home country in 1994 and 1995 respectively but neither proved successful. Although he led Argentina to the World Cup finals in 2010, his side lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-finals.

Lyon: No offers for Lloris

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has denied receiving any formal offers for reported Tottenham target Hugo Lloris.

The France captain has been made available for transfer if a club can make an acceptable offer before July 15, giving potential suitors a slim window of opportunity.

Though Arsenal were initially linked with Lloris when news of his availability first broke, in recent days Tottenham, and new manager Andre Villas-Boas, have emerged as his likeliest suitors.

It is reported that Spurs have been holding talks with Lyon in an effort to sign the goalkeeper, though president Aulas claims a firm offer is yet to be received.

"There is no official offer for Hugo Lloris," Aulas told L'Equipe.

Aulas added that if Spurs do not firm up their interest prior to Lyon's July 15 deadline then, "he will stay and everyone will be happy."

The Lyon president also stated that he has held "serious discussions" with Premier League clubs regarding the possible transfer of left-back Aly Cissokho.

The 24-year-old has been linked with Liverpool recently.

British Olympian Freeland heads to NBA

Joel Freeland will miss Great Britain's Olympic tune-up against Portugal this weekend as he puts pen to paper on a dream move to the USA.

Freeland has signed a three-year deal with NBA side Portland Trail Blazers, who he first spent time training with six years ago.

And the 25-year-old's representatives are currently negotiating a 1.5 million euro release clause in his contract with Spanish ACB side Unicaja Malaga.

Once finalised he will be the second NBA player in the British team, alongside Chicago Bulls All-Star Luol Deng. In addition both Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Rob Archibald have experience in the world's top league.

"This is fantastic news for Joel and in our view is richly deserved," said British Basketball performance director Chris Spice.

"Joel is a great player who continues to make an outstanding contribution to the GB programme. We wish him well in this new challenge."

Freeland made his debut for Chris Finch's Great Britain side in 2006 and was outstanding at last year's EuroBasket.

He is expected to miss a few days training but will be back for next week's match against the USA in Manchester.

Great Britain will start their first Olympic basketball campaign since 1948 with a group game against Russia on July 29.

FIFA 'knew of bribes' claims court report

FIFA chiefs had knowledge that senior officials including former president Joao Havelange had been paid bribes by the organisation's former marketing company ISL, a court document published on Wednesday has revealed.

The world governing body also agreed to pay 2.5million Swiss francs (£1.64m) in compensation - but only on the condition that criminal proceedings against Havelange and executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira were dropped.

The publication of the report by the prosecutor's office of the Swiss canton of Zug suggests that current FIFA president Sepp Blatter would have been aware of at least one bribe paid to Havelange.

FIFA have published the report on their website, but it leaves big question marks about why no action was ever taken against Havelange or Teixeira, and why the organisation went to such lengths to protect the two senior figures.

The report states: "The finding that FIFA had knowledge of the bribery payments to persons within its organs is not questioned.

"This is firstly because various members of the executive committee had received money, and furthermore, among other things, it was confirmed by the former chief financial officer of FIFA as a witness that a certain payment made to Joao Havelange... amounting to CHF1m was mistakenly directly transferred to a FIFA account; not only the CFO had knowledge of this, but also, among others, P1 would also have known about it."

The person referred to in the report as P1 is not identified, but it also states that P1 and Havelange had signed the marketing agreement with ISL on behalf of FIFA in 1997. It is known that the agreement was signed by Havelange, who was president, and Blatter who was then general secretary.

The documents state Havelange was paid at least CHF1.5m (£1m), Teixeira at least CHF12.74m (£8.37m) and the pair may have received as much as CHF21.9m (£14.4m).

The two men have dominated Brazilian football between them for the last 50 years. Teixeira at one time was Havelange's son-in-law and only stepped down earlier this year from FIFA's executive committee and as head of Brazil's 2014 World Cup organising committee after it became apparent the report would be published.

Teixeira and Havelange also tried to block the publication by going to the Swiss federal court but failed to do so.

FIFA to probe spot-fixing claims

FIFA will investigate claims from former Southampton star Claus Lundekvam that he was involved in systematic spot-fixing during his time in England and that the practice was widespread in the Premier League.

Lundekvam joined Southampton in a £400,000 transfer from Brann in September 1996 and eventually left the club when retiring from football in May 2008.

During his long career with the Saints, the Norwegian defender claims he and unnamed team-mates made substantial sums of money by betting on events in games they participated in - a practice which is illegal.

"It is not something I'm proud of," Lundekvam is quoted as saying in The Sun. “For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money.

"We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty. Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over.

“The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing.”

The former Southampton defender alleged that attempts to spot fix were widespread during his time in English football.

“I know it happened at other clubs as well," Lundekvam said.

“We footballers live in a bubble. It was part of the lifestyle and the excitement. Whatever we could bet on, we bet on.”

FIFA has now said it will investigate the claims made by Lundekvam.

A statement said: "FIFA is monitoring this issue and involved its chief investigator in England. Once all information is known it will be decided who is leading the investigations."

Former Southampton forward Matt Le Tissier

claimed in his autobiography that he attempted to exploit the growth of spread betting by trying to kick the ball straight out of play during a game against Wimbledon in 1995. However, the attempt failed.

Cole defends Terry in racism trial

England footballer John Terry should not have been taken to court over racism claims, team-mate Ashley Cole has said.

Chelsea defender Terry, 31, is accused of calling QPR player Anton Ferdinand a "f****** black c***" during a Premier League game on October 23 last year.

He denies a racially aggravated public order offence, saying that he was sarcastically repeating the slur that Ferdinand mistakenly thought he had used.

Cole, also 31, told Westminster Magistrates Court: "I think we shouldn't be sitting here."

He said that while racism should never be tolerated, repeating what you thought someone said was 'completely different'.

Cole said: "If I repeated something that I thought you said, that's totally different than if someone just says something."

Cole described Terry as "a close friend", with whom he had played at Chelsea and for England for six or seven years. But he said there was a "conflict" because he is also friends with Ferdinand and his brother Rio.

He was asked by George Carter-Stephenson QC, for Terry: "Did you want to get involved in the situation?" "No."

The barrister asked about a statement Cole made after the match. Mr Carter-Stephenson said: "When you made the statement what was in your mind?" Cole replied: "The FA summoned me to do it."

Mr Carter-Stephenson continued: "Did you feel there was any conflict?" Cole said: "Yeah. JT is my team-mate and friend; Anton and Rio and his family, I've known for a long time."

Terry had said that he had been "keen" to speak to police about alleged racist abuse because "I knew there was nothing out there that would show that I had done anything wrong.

"I was keen to go forward with my police statement, my FA statement. If I had anything to hide I wouldn't have done that."

He said he made a statement before seeing any film footage of the incident.

"If there was ever any doubt in my mind, I could have held back, soaked it up and thought 'Let's wait until tomorrow, let's see what kind of footage is out there."

Earlier, prosecutor Duncan Penny put it to Terry that he had made a remark about having sex with Ferdinand's girlfriend, in response to taunts about his alleged affair with a team-mate's ex-partner.

Terry denied this.

Report: Milan accept PSG bids for pair

AC Milan have accepted a bid from Paris St-Germain for both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva according to a report in Italy. 

On Wednesday morning, French daily L'Equipe said that PSG were planning to bid for the pair. Then later on Wednesday evening, Italian sports channel Sky Sport 24 reported that the bid – believed to €65 million (£51.3m) - had been accepted.

Ibrahimovic's agent Mino Raiola, is thought to have had a four hour meeting with Milan vice president Adriano Galliani about the potential transfer.

Raiola is now said to have flown to Sweden to talk over the deal with Ibrahimovic.

Swedish international Ibrahimovic, now 30, has a contract with AC Milan until the summer of 2015, while 27-year-old Brazil international defender Thiago Silva only extended his contract until 2017 this summer.

Milan are undergoing a rebuilding project this summer, having finished second to Juventus in Serie A.

They have already signed Riccardo Montolivo from Fiorentina and Bakaye Traore from Nice, with veterans Alessandro Nesta, Mark van Bommel, Gianluca Zambrotta, Filippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf and Gennaro Gattuso all exiting the San Siro.

PSG, were bought by ambitious Qatari investors last May and have already shelled out tens of millions of euros on new signings.

This summer they have already announced the signing of Napoli forward Ezequiel Lavezzi for a reported 30 million euros.

AVB: Spurs may sell Modric

Andre Villas-Boas has suggested that Luka Modric will be allowed to leave Tottenham Hotspur if a suitable offer arrives for the midfielder.

Villas-Boas held his first press conference as Tottenham manager on Tuesday and was questioned about the future of a player who is reportedly keen to leave for a bigger club this summer.

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester United are all believed to be keen on the Croatia international and though Tottenham have previously been stubborn in their refusal to sell Modric, Villas-Boas says the player could leave before the close of the transfer window.

"The interest that we have from various different clubs shows the importance of the player and what he's done for Tottenham," said Villas-Boas.

"Ongoing discussions will continue with these clubs until we reach an agreement which is acceptable for each party."

Portugal international Joao Moutinho has been mentioned as a likely replacement for Modric and the Spurs boss said he is interested in the midfielder, who helped Porto secure the treble in 2010-11 under Villas-Boas.

"He was one of the most important players at Euro 2012, he had a fantastic tournament, and also he's an important player for Porto," he said. "Counting on players of this quality will always be interesting for us.

"It doesn't mean that it's the only target, but if something happened of course he's a player we look on with some interest."

While Villas-Boas did rule out a possible move for Andy Carroll - saying "no, no, no" when asked if he would like to bring the Liverpool striker to Spurs - he did admit the club are hoping to sign Emmanuel Adebayor, who is reported to be available for as little as £5 million after impressing on loan last season.

"Adebayor is another player who was important last season and it will be a lie if I say we are not looking for a striker and Ade is part of that list."

Villas-Boas insists his motivation in taking the Tottenham job is to fight for silverware, and not to improve his own reputation having been sacked by Chelsea in March.

"It is not a mission of restoring reputation," Villas-Boas told reporters, "it is a mission to get Tottenham back on track with titles.

"We have to continue with the quality work Harry left us. We’ll have to try to build from that and put Tottenham on road for titles."

Villas-Boas arrived at Chelsea with an impressive reputation and Roman Abramovich was forced to pay £13 million to free him from his contract in Portugal.

Though his brief spell in charge of Chelsea was chastening - with the players resistant to his methods and the team struggling for form - Villas-Boas says it helped his development as a manager.

"For me after the Chelsea step it was important to choose somewhere I was surrounded by the right people and the right commitment," he said.

"You always learn from experience and for me the Chelsea experience was maybe not so gratifying in terms of success but it was very gratifying professionally."