United News of Bangladesh

An Espanyol fan accused of racially abusing Athletic Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams during a 2020 La Liga match has accepted a plea deal to avoid prison, a Barcelona court said Wednesday. The unnamed supporter admitted guilt, receiving a one-year suspended prison sentence, a three-year ban from stadiums, and a fine of over €1,000. Prosecutors had sought two years in jail. Williams, who is Black, was subjected to monkey chants after being substituted in a 1-1 draw at Espanyol. Though several fans were involved, only one was fully identified and brought to trial. The ruling follows recent convictions of fans for racist insults against Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior, marking a growing crackdown on racism in Spanish football.

Ilkay Gundogan has completed a move from Manchester City to Turkish champions Galatasaray, signing a two-year contract. The 34-year-old is Galatasaray’s latest high-profile signing this transfer window, following Victor Osimhen and Leroy Sane. Gundogan enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at City, winning five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, and the Champions League. He captained the team to a treble in 2023 and played a key role in securing the 2022-23 Premier League title with two decisive goals on the final day. City director of football Hugo Viana praised Gundogan’s contributions, saying his legacy at the club will never be forgotten. Gundogan, of Turkish descent, said lifting the Champions League trophy in Istanbul is a memory he will cherish forever and expressed his excitement to continue his career in Turkey. Gundogan, who first joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2016, leaves on a free transfer as Pep Guardiola reshapes his squad. He had not featured in any of City’s Premier League games this season and was pushed down the pecking order with the arrival of new midfielders.

American midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi has joined Parma on loan from Inter Miami, giving the 20-year-old an opportunity to showcase his talent in Serie A ahead of the upcoming home World Cup. The Italian club confirmed the deal includes an option to make the move permanent. Inter Miami described Cremaschi as the club’s “highest-profile academy product” when announcing the transfer on Tuesday. The midfielder, who captains the U.S. under-20 team, has already earned three senior national team caps and played at the Paris Olympics last year. Born in the United States to Argentine parents, Cremaschi made 107 appearances for Inter Miami, scoring eight goals and providing nine assists. He was also part of the squad that competed in the recent Club World Cup.

England coach Thomas Tuchel has added Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jarell Quansah to the squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia. Loftus-Cheek of AC Milan and Quansah of Bayer Leverkusen were called up after Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton withdrew due to injury. Midfielder Loftus-Cheek has not represented England since November 2018 and has 10 international caps. Defender Quansah has yet to make his senior debut despite being named in previous national squads. England will host Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday and then travel to Belgrade to face Serbia next Tuesday.

English striker Jamie Vardy has completed a move to Italy after 13 seasons with Leicester City, highlighted by the club’s historic Premier League title in 2016. The 38-year-old signed with newly promoted Serie A side Cremonese on Tuesday. The club confirmed Vardy’s deal runs until the end of June next year, with an option for renewal. Vardy’s departure from Leicester was announced in April, and he capped his 500th and final appearance for the club with a farewell goal — his 200th — a month later. He famously scored in 11 consecutive matches during Leicester’s fairytale title-winning campaign, a season remembered as one of football’s greatest underdog stories after starting with 5,000-1 odds. Cremonese, returning to the top flight after two years by winning the Serie B playoffs, shocked AC Milan in its league opener and maintained its perfect start with a dramatic late win over Sassuolo on Friday.

Inter Milan has signed Swiss defender Manuel Akanji on loan from Manchester City as the Serie A club looks to strengthen its defense following a 2-1 loss to Udinese over the weekend. The move comes after Inter’s defensive struggles were highlighted in last season’s 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final. Inter announced the signing on Tuesday, stating that the loan deal includes an option to make the transfer permanent, which could become mandatory if certain conditions are fulfilled. Akanji, 30, was a regular under Pep Guardiola when Manchester City won the treble in 2023. However, he was recently moved on as City brought in younger players. Primarily a center back, Akanji can also play as a fullback on either side. During three years at City, Akanji made 136 appearances, scored five goals, and helped the club win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, a Community Shield, a Champions League, a UEFA Super Cup, and a Club World Cup. He has also played 71 times for Switzerland and was included in the team of the tournament when the national team reached the quarterfinals of Euro 2024. Akanji is, however, remembered for missing the decisive penalty in Switzerland’s shootout defeat to England at the tournament. Inter’s veteran center back Francesco Acerbi, 37, struggled in Sunday’s loss to Udinese and faced controversy after rejecting a call-up to Italy’s squad in May.

European soccer now focuses on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with recent champions France, Germany and Spain among the nations starting a six-game, 11-week sprint to advance to the tournament being played across North America. The European qualifying program returns Thursday with six days of games involving 54 teams — 24 of them kicking a first ball on their intended road to play on soccer’s biggest stage in the United States, Canada and Mexico starting June 11. Italy began its campaign — shakily — in June and resumes its quest to avoid a third straight failure to qualify already trailing nine points behind group leader Norway. England opened in March and looks to add to three straight wins with no goals conceded for coach Thomas Tuchel. Among those starting their qualifying program are top-tier teams who played a thrilling set of Nations League games in March and June. Spain, the 2010 World Cup winner, begins at Bulgaria on Thursday when 2014 champion Germany starts at Slovakia. France, the 2018 title winner, starts Friday away against Ukraine in Les Bleus’ first game in the competition since losing an epic final against Argentina in December 2022. Ukraine will host that game in Wroclaw in neutral Poland because of security concerns at home during the Russian military invasion. Russia’s teams were banned by UEFA and FIFA from all international competitions in February 2022 when the war began. How to qualify Europe has 16 entries in the first 48-team men’s World Cup, three more than in the 32-team format played in 2022. The 12 first-place teams when qualifying groups end in November advance direct to the tournament. The 12 runners-up go to the playoffs scheduled in March, joined by four winners of Nations League groups played last year. Those extra teams could include, remarkably, San Marino, 210th and last of the men’s national teams ranked by FIFA. The 16 European playoffs teams will be seeded into four knockout brackets of four teams each. They play single-game semifinals and finals on March 26 and 31, to decide the four remaining World Cup slots. Smallest groups since 1989 The extra World Cup entries given by FIFA, and Nations League knockout stage expanded by UEFA, have changed the qualifying formula. Europe now has its first World Cup qualifying groups of just four teams since those that finished in November 1989, just days after the Berlin Wall fell and reshaped the continent. High-ranking nations that once had to play in groups of five or six teams across 15 months now have a condensed program playing two games in each of three straight months. An injury could remove a key player for the entire qualifying program. Germany will not have Jamal Musiala, who sustained a serious leg injury playing for Bayern Munich at the Club World Cup in July. The format changes again next year. After the 2026 World Cup, the FIFA schedule for men’s national-team games will combine the separate September and October breaks into a four-game block over back-to-back weekends. Toughest groups European champion Spain's reward for beating the Netherlands in a Nations League quarterfinal in March was to land in a four-team group with Turkey and Georgia, two breakout successes at Euro 2024. Georgia, with star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, was the most dangerous team among third-seeded options in the draw last December. Georgia hosts Turkey on Thursday and plays at Spain on Oct. 11. Maybe the hardest to predict is the four-team group of Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia and Kosovo. Switzerland was an impressive quarterfinalist at Euro 2024 yet must face some of Europe's most expensive forwards — Slovenia's Benjamin Šeško, now at Arsenal, and a Sweden attacking line of Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres and Anthony Elanga who were collectively signed for more than $300 million this season by, respectively, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle. A talented Kosovo squad that actively recruits from its migrant population in Switzerland comes to Basel on Friday with the Swiss team captained by its all-time great Granit Xhaka, who has family ties to Kosovo. Norway leads Italy and Israel One group sure to make news is currently led by Norway ahead of Israel and Italy. Norway has not qualified for a men’s World Cup since before 25-year-old Erling Haaland was born. The team is on track after the star forward scored in each of four straight wins since starting in March. Norway has no fixture Friday in the five-team group and hosts last-place Moldova next Tuesday. Italy, infamously, has not played a World Cup tournament game since June 2014. Then, Giorgio Chiellini was bitten by Uruguay’s Luis Suárez in a 1-0 loss that sent the four-time champion home from the group stage in Brazil. Italy hosts Estonia on Friday, three days before going to face Israel in neutral Hungary, at Debrecen. Israeli teams have not been allowed to host home games in international competitions for security reasons since the October 2023 attack by Hamas. Norway hosts Israel on Oct. 11 in Oslo and pledged last month to donate its profits from ticket sales at that game to humanitarian aid work in Gaza.

The European soccer transfer window was set to close on Monday with much of the spotlight on the Premier League, where Alexander Isak and Gianluigi Donnarumma were linked with high-profile deadline-day moves. England’s top-flight clubs have already spent a record £2.7 billion ($3.65 billion) this summer, and the figure could rise if Liverpool finalizes its reported £125 million ($170 million) deal for Newcastle striker Isak, which would set a new British transfer record. Media said Isak was due for a medical, though neither club has confirmed. Liverpool has already invested nearly £300 million ($400 million) to overhaul its squad, bringing in Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez, among others. Meanwhile, reports suggested PSG goalkeeper Donnarumma could join Manchester City as a possible successor to Ederson, while Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez was also linked with an exit after missing the weekend squad. Villa signed defender Victor Lindelof earlier in the window. Newcastle, preparing for Isak’s potential departure, signed Germany striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart for a club-record £69 million ($93 million) and may also move for Brentford forward Yoane Wissa.

Bayer Leverkusen fired Dutch coach Erik ten Hag on Monday after just three games, citing doubts over his ability to manage the club’s post-summer overhaul following the departure of key players. Leverkusen, Bundesliga champions in 2024, stumbled under Ten Hag with a 2-1 home loss to Hoffenheim and a 3-3 draw at home against 10-man Werder Bremen after squandering a two-goal lead. Sports director Simon Rolfes said the decision was “painful” but necessary to ensure the team’s development. Ten Hag, 55, who replaced Xabi Alonso in May, had warned earlier that rebuilding the squad wouldn’t be instant, famously quipping he was “no Harry Potter” when facing squad challenges—a line he previously used while managing Manchester United after criticizing reliance on underused players. Leverkusen gave no indication of a successor ahead of their next Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sept. 12.

Bayern Munich were still chasing a backup striker for Harry Kane on Monday, with loan talks for Chelsea’s Nicholas Jackson complicated by teammate Liam Delap’s injury. Chelsea were pushing for a permanent deal, while Bayern, after signing Luis Díaz, insisted only on loans. Reports linked Bayern instead with Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman or Leipzig’s Loïs Openda. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen endured upheaval as coach Erik ten Hag was fired after three games, following Xabi Alonso’s return to Real Madrid. Star players including Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli departed, prompting a rebuild under sporting director Simon Rolfes. Stuttgart, hit by key losses and injuries, were eyeing Genk’s Oh Hyeon-gyu and Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss.