FIFA President Sepp Blatter has called on Germany's World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer and his panel of soccer experts to try to come up with an alternative to penalty shootouts to settle drawn matches.
England look set to base their Euro 2012 strategy on defensive strength as they prepare to face Norway in what will be new manager Roy Hodgson's first game in charge since taking over from Fabio Capello.
Barcelona have the chance to end the Pep Guardiola era in precisely the same way it began, with a King's Cup final win over Athletic Bilbao on Friday.
How they stack up
Referees are routinely criticised for having poor eyesight, lacking fitness and getting decisions wrong but FIFA medical experts want whistlers tested for performance-enhancing drugs.
Brazilian left-back Fabio Alves Macedo has signed a two-year contract to play for Sydney FC in Australia's A-League, the club said today.
Mario Balotelli, the temperamental and mercurial Manchester City striker, will have an important role to play for Italy at this year's Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
QPR's volatile captain Joey Barton received a 12 match ban from the Football Association on Wednesday after being found guilty by an Independent Commission of two counts of violent conduct.
Blackburn's co-owner Venkatesh Rao said he is still in shock about their relegation from the English Premier League and that a decision on the future of under-fire manager Steve Kean would be made next month.
Shanghai Shenhua's talks with Didier Drogba are continuing "just as planned", a report said today, raising expectations the striker will move to China after announcing his departure from Chelsea.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba confirmed on Tuesday he will leave newly-crowned European champions Chelsea when his contract expires at the end of June.
‘Stallion’ factfile
Euro 2012 presents a great chance for Zenit St Petersburg's talented but temperamental defensive midfielder Igor Denisov to at last make his name at the highest level.
Napoli won their first major title since the Diego Maradona era, denied Serie A champions Juventus the double and handed their captain Alessandro Del Piero an unhappy end to 19 seasons at the club by beating the Turin side 2-0 in the Italian Cup final on Sunday.
Montpellier claimed the first French league title in their history after winning 2-1 at Auxerre on an extraordinary final day of the season on Sunday, after a game twice delayed due to protests by the home fans.
Ukraine's experienced midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has a lot of pressure on him but he makes light of it and is confident the adrenaline of co-hosting Euro 2012 will see them defy the sceptics and go the whole way.
Chelsea cleared the final hurdle in a season of never-ending challenges when they beat Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties in the German team's Allianz Arena stadium to be crowned European Champions for the first time on Saturday.
The shootout story