Chelsea defender John Terry has been stripped of his England captaincy by the Football’s Association chairman, David Bernstein. Bernstein delivered the news to the player in a phone call on Friday morning.

This is the second time that Terry has been stripped of his title as captain for off-pitch reasons. In this case Terry faces charges for his alleged racist remarks against Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand, the trial for which has now been scheduled for the 9th July so as not to interfere with this summer’s European Championships.

Because the Euro 2012 takes place a week before the trial date it is possible that Terry could captain the national side during the championship. However, Anti-racist campaigners have displayed disapproval of allowing a man accused of racism to lead his country a sporting event. Piara Power, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe said that ”The seriousness of the allegations mean that he can’t lead the nation. The FA must do the right thing.”

England manager, Fabio Capello, who is currently out of the country and will be returning to watch a Premier League game tomorrow, had selected Terry for the matches against Spain and Sweden last November despite the allegations.

Since the criminal charge was announced in December 2011, Terry has consistently denied that he ever racially abused the QPR defender saying that “I will fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence. I have campaigned against racism and believe there is no place for it in society.”

Terry was first stripped of his England captaincy by Capello when it was revealed that the defender was having an affair with his team mate and friend Wayne Bridges’s wife. Capello felt it was best for the squad that he not lead them as captain.

Source: The Guardian

19-year-old German midfielder, Thomas Eisfeld, was in London recently with his agent Reza Fazeli negotiating a switch to Arsenal FC. The premier league team are closing in on signing the Borussia Dortmund player for around  £400, 000.

Eisfeld, who is a product of Dortmund’s academy and has found his path to the first team blocked by the likes of German sensation Mario Gotze, is set to to complete a move to Arsenal in the next 24 hours if he passes what is expected to be a stringent medical examination. The young player’s development has been held back by a knee injury when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 2009. It’s is no surprise then that Eisfield will have to prove his fitness at the club’s London Colney training ground.

Arsenal, who are likely to have to pay a compensation fee of around £400,000 to Dortmund for developing Eisfeld , have taken advantage of the young player’s availability as he will be out of a contract in summer.

Had he chosen to remain in Germany, Eisfeld would have faced strong competition for a place, with the Bundesliga champions having signed midfielders Moritz Leitner, Leonardo Bittencourt and Mustafa Amini over the course of the last 12 months.

Source: Goal.com

Queens Park Rangers Football Club has sacked its manager Neil Warnock on Sunday after the team has been left without a victory in their last eight Premier League matches and on the very edge of the relegation zone.

Warnock, who was appointed in March 2010 and won 33 of his 84 matches while in charge, has guided the West London club back to the Premier League for the first time in 15 years last season.

QPR owner, Malaysian Tony Fernandes commented in a club statement that the board felt it was the right time to make a serious change as recent poor form has seen the team slip down the table. Fernandes continued to say that “Neil Warnock has acted with honesty, professionalism and integrity throughout his time at the club and I would personally like to thank him for his significant contribution to Queens Park Rangers over the last 22 months.”

Philip Beard, Chief executive, told Sky Sports television that staying in the Premier League was key to the club’s ambitions and that they would move as quickly as possible to appoint a new manager.

In total, QPR have only won four of their 20 League matches with only one victory at Loftus Road, when they beat Chelsea 1-0 in October.

QPR said assistant manager Mick Jones and first team coach Keith Curle had left with Warnock.

Source: Supersport

Manchester United Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has denied that now is the time for him to panic after the Premier League champions were defeated by Newcastle United 3-0. Ferguson insists that his team have the ability to bounce back after two consecutive losses.

Manchester United fell behind after a Demba Ba volley and a free-kick from Yohan Cabaye brought them 2-0 down after which Phil Jones netted an own goal.

United’s first away defeat of the campaign has left them three points behind league leaders Manchester City. Tottenham also have the chance to level the points with Man-U if they win their upcoming  game against Everton.

Despite a promising start, which saw Dimitar Berbatov head against the post, Ba’s opener gave the hosts confidence to pin United back in their own half and Sir Alex conceded his side were wastful on the ball.

Sir Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports: “This is not a time to be panicking. We’ve got the personal experience to cope with that. Losing the game at this time of the year – you don’t want it, it sometimes can happen, you’ve seen some of the results recently. But obviously we need to get the show on the road in terms of the run-in, particularly in March and April.”

Source: Goal.com

Manager of Manchester City Roberto Mancini, has admitted that the future of striker Carlos Tevez could be decided in the next ten days if AC Milan are willing to buy the player rather than simply take him on loan.

The football club are hoping to get rid of Tevez as their star striker and captain in time for the January transfer window since he refused to play as a substitute during Man City’s match against Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium this season.

Tevez’s disruption on the squad has seen Sergio Aguero step-up as striker with Tevez all but forgotten by the league challengers and Man City fans.

Mancini recently told Sky Sports that ” We hope AC Milan will take him but they cannot take him on loan.”

AC Milan are keen to sign the Argentine and there has been dialogue between the two clubs about his future, but so far they have been trying to pursue different deals.

Source: Sky Sports

Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez has been banned by the Football Association (FA) and fined £20 000 for a gesture he made during a match against Fulham, directed at the opposition’s fans at Craven Cottage earlier this month.

This ruling, announced on Wednesday, comes just over a week after the Uruguayan was handed an eight-game suspension, that is currently on hold,  for racially abusing Manchester United player Patrice Evra in October. Suarez denied the racism rant and was supported by Liverpool who were angered by the suspension and made an official statement.

Suarez has already admitted to the latest charge of improper conduct during the match and Liverpool FC have also been fined £20 000 for failing to control their players in the same match with a charge related to the dismissal of midfielder Jay Spearing. The latest ban means that Suarez will be missing the upcoming Premier League match against Newcastle United on Friday. Liverpool made no comment on either Suarez’s punishment or the fine imposed on the club.

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John Terry is about to face the soccer public for the first time since being charged with alleged racism comments when he captains Chelsea against Tottenham Hotspur in the upcoming Premier League match on Thursday.

The 31-year-old England captain was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence by the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday during an incident with Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match back in October. Terry will appear at the magistrates court in West London on the 1st February where he is expected to plead not guilty to the alleged racism comments which he vehemently denies. He is sure to a receive a hostile reception at White Hart Lane, where he has been sent off for Chelsea twice in the last five seasons.

Terry’s case made the front and back pages of most of Thursday’s papers, with some supporters’ groups calling for him to be stripped of the England captaincy. However, Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas believes that Terry can cope with the stress of the case in addition to having to come out victorious against Tottenham. ”John has told me he is in the right frame of mind to play and has shown fantastic commitment to the team,” said Villas-Boas.

Tottenham have warned fans that stewards will adopt a “zero tolerance” policy towards any abuse against Terry and will be wearing headcams to record and monitor the crowds.

source: Supersport