Football Briefs: WC in doubt for Oxlade-Chamberlain

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Liverpool and England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's hopes of heading to the World Cup are in doubt after he suffered a what appeared to be a serious injury in the 5-2 win over AS Roma in their Champions League semi-final, first leg on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old, who joined Liverpool from Arsenal in August, was carried off on a stretcher in the 18th minute after making a sliding tackle on Roma full-back Aleksandar Kolarov.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said the England international's season looked to be over.

"Yes, that is how it is, unfortunately. All the medical department is quite concerned even without a scan and the season is not that long anymore," he said.

"It’s probably a really bad injury. If we can say that already before the scan, that’s never good news so that means for us it’s a massive blow, of course," he said.

“We have still a few very important games to go and the squad doesn’t get bigger in the moment, so we obviously need to be creative in the next few games.”

England's opening World Cup game in Russia is on June 18.

Spurs' Son keen to play at Asian Games, says SKorea coach

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min is keen to play at the Asian Games later this year, South Korea's under-23 coach Kim Hak-bum has said, with a gold medal at the event bringing an exemption from almost two years of mandatory military service.

Son has been in terrific form for Spurs this season, scoring 18 goals in all competitions, but the 25-year-old could soon see his career interrupted.

All able-bodied South Korean males must serve 21 months in the military and Korean law states that the period of service must begin before the age of 27.

However, exemptions are awarded to athletes who win a gold medal at the Asian Games, or an Olympic medal of any colour, and South Korea will be one of the favourites for the football title at the Aug. 18-Sept. 2 Games in Indonesia.

"Son has a strong will to compete at the Asian Games," Yonhap news quoted Kim as saying on his return from Europe on Tuesday. "But first, there's the World Cup. I told Son to play well in Russia before we meet at the Asian Games."

Kim said he had met with Son in Britain as part of his trip to look at candidates for Asian Games selection.

Courtois launches legal action against former Belgium boss Wilmots

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and his father Thierry have initiated legal action against Marc Wilmots after the former Belgium manager accused them of leaking team selection information.

Wilmots had told beIN Sports in an interview that he was informed Thierry sold Belgium's team news to journalists during the 2016 European Championships.

The 49-year-old was sacked following his team's surprise defeat by Wales in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

"Wilmots - not for the first time - reiterates publicly and intentionally accusations against my honour and reputation as well as my father," Courtois said on social media.

"We decided together to file a complaint accompanied by criminal indemnification proceedings for libel and defamation."

Courtois and Wilmots also had a public falling out with the goalkeeper criticising Belgium's tactics during the Euro 2016.

Police arrest two on suspicion of attempted murder before Liverpool-Roma game

Merseyside Police have arrested two men from Rome on suspicion of attempted murder after a man was left with serious injuries following an incident ahead of Liverpool's Champions League semi-final against AS Roma at Anfield.

Police said in a statement that a 53-year-old man from Ireland had suffered a head injury and was in a critical condition in hospital.

"We believe the victim was in Liverpool with his brother for the Liverpool v Roma semi-final and was assaulted during an altercation between Roma and Liverpool fans near to the Albert pub at about 7.35pm," police said.

"Witnesses report that the victim was hit with a belt and then fell to the ground."

Police said the men, aged 25 and 26, had been taken in for questioning.

The BBC reported that a group of Roma supporters had attacked Liverpool fans using belts.

Postponed Turkish derby to be resumed without fans

Turkey's football federation has ruled the domestic cup semi-final second leg between Fenerbahce and Besiktas will continue in an empty stadium from the point when it was abandoned, after crowd trouble forced the game to be postponed last week.

The Turkish Cup semi-final between two of the country's biggest teams was abandoned on Thursday after Besiktas manager Senol Gunes was hit on the head by an object thrown by Fenerbahce fans.

The game, which was 0-0 before it was halted, will be resumed from 57th minute on Thursday, May 3.

More than 30 people were detained during the past week with alleged links to the incident.

The game between the long-time Istanbul rivals started in a tense atmosphere and Besiktas were reduced to 10 men after former Real Madrid defender Pepe was sent off for a reckless tackle.

Tensions increased when fans threw objects at a Besiktas player as a corner was taken. Besiktas players then left the pitch along with the officials and the game was later abandoned.

Russia to restrict propane, butane loadings during World Cup - document

Russia will suspend liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) loadings at railway stations in regions hosting the soccer World Cup for the duration of the tournament, according to an order from the rail regulator, seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

It said the suspension of loadings of LPG, such as propane and butane, will be enforced from May 25 until July 25.

Traders said the restrictions may hit the supplies of LPG to processing plants, including Nizhnekamskneftekhim <NKNC.MM>. It may also have a negative impact for seaborne exports and shipments to Poland from the Kaliningrad region.