Football Extras: Chelsea legend Drogba to visit India to meet fans

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

Chelsea football legend Didier Drogba will be visiting India on November 23 as part of a fan event for Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama.

Yokohama is the official partner of five-time Premier League champions and current FA Cup holders Chelsea FC.

Chelsea fans can meet the Ivorian legend, as part of a fan event at the Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, besides getting an opportunity to participate in Yokohama tyre football challenge.

Having won 12 major club trophies during his two spells at the club (2004-2012 and 2014-15), Drogba is a global superstar and an inspiration to millions around the world.

The main feature of the event will see fans having the opportunity to experience a special Q&A with Drogba.

Fans will also be able to take part in a Yokohama tyre-challenge, testing their football accuracy skills. Fans will also be treated to a football freestyler show, performed by Nikk Freestyler.

Drogba, who scored more than 100 Premier League goals for Chelsea, won the Premier League title four times as a Blue, as well as the Champions League in 2012.

The former star from Ivory Coast said, "I am very excited to visit Delhi with Chelsea and their partners, Yokohama. I'm really looking forward to seeing as many of the Chelsea fans in Delhi as possible."

Emirates to end sponsorship of Paris St Germain: report

Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain are set to lose long-term sponsors Emirates after the Dubai based airline said that the company would not renew its contract which expires next year, a media report has said.

Emirates has been a shirt sponsor of PSG since 2006, five years before the club was bought by Qatar Sports Investments, a state-backed body founded by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

PSG, one of the richest soccer teams in the world, are seeking a more lucrative sponsorship deal, a club spokesperson told Bloomberg. The current deal with Emirates is reported to be worth around 30 million euros ($34 million) a season.

Emirates and PSG did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The French club may be seeking more income to offset the record 222 million-euro transfer of Brazilian forward Neymar from Barcelona last year, which was followed by a deal for French teenager Kylian Mbappe worth a reported 180 million euros.

PSG were this week named in the 'Football Leaks' documents which showed they had inflated sponsorship revenues to meet the requirements of European soccer body UEFA's rules on financial fair play (FFP).

The documents were obtained by the German publication Der Spiegel and reviewed by Reuters in partnership with European Investigative Collaborations, a consortium of international media.

UEFA's Club Financial Control Body announced in September it had reopened an investigation into whether PSG had flouted FFP regulations.

The United Arab Emirates was part of a quartet of Arab countries to place a trade and travel embargo on Qatar last year.

Emirates is also partnered with European champions Real Madrid, Premier League side Arsenal and AC Milan in Serie A.

($1 = 0.8814 euros)

Boateng dropped, Reus recalled for Germany's matches

Central defender Jerome Boateng was surprisingly left out of Germany coach Joachim Loew's squad for this month's international matches against Russia and Netherlands but winger Marco Reus was included on Friday.

Germany face Russia in a friendly on November 15 before taking on Netherlands four days later as they battle to avoid relegation in the new Nations League competition.

"I talked with Jerome. I am convinced he will benefit from a break," Loew said on the German football association (DFB) website.

"I told him that we have a lot of alternatives for his position, especially with young players. Obviously they still need to prove they can reach Jerome's level."

Boateng's surprise exclusion raised eyebrows at his club Bayern Munich, with coach Niko Kovac calling it a "novelty".

"That's a novelty," he said.

"But that does not mean that he will not be there again in the future. I do not see it as the end of Jerome's national team career."

The 30-year-old Boateng has played almost a decade for Germany, earning 76 caps and winning the 2014 World Cup.

Injury-plagued Reus, the Borussia Dortmund captain, missed the October internationals through injury but his current form with the Bundesliga leaders has earned him a recall.

"Obviously I am delighted with Marco and that he has a strong phase with Dortmund," Loew said. "He can really help us in this kind of form and that is what I hope for."

Germany, who suffered a shock early exit at this year's World Cup, are bottom of their League A Group 1 with one point from three games. France are top on with seven from three games and the Dutch in second with three points from two matches.

Swiss suspend white-collar crime fighter amid FIFA probe

Swiss federal prosecutors have suspended the head of their white-collar crime unit while they check allegations about his conduct of investigations into suspected corruption at world soccer body FIFA.

The suspension of Olivier Thormann and the naming of a special prosecutor to look into the matter comes amid other high-profile investigations by the economic crime division, including into scandals surrounding Malaysian state fund 1MDB and Brazilian energy group Petrobras.

Federal Prosector Michael Lauber received information in late September including allegations against Thormann, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said in a statement on Friday, confirming a report by the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.

"The information on which this decision is based is related to the OAG's criminal proceedings in the field of soccer and its governing body FIFA," it said.

"At the end of September 2018, Federal Prosecutor Michael Lauber received information with allegations against the head of the economic crime division of the Federal Prosecutor's Office," it added.

It said the information "may be of criminal relevance", without elaborating.

It said it took the precautionary steps as standard measures to preserve the integrity of the OAG and its investigations and that Thormann, who left by mutual agreement, enjoyed the presumption of innocence.

Thormann could not be reached via the OAG for comment. His private telephone number is not listed.

The OAG has filed no charges in its investigations into FIFA to date.

The OAG said the allegations about Thormann had nothing to do with two meetings between leaders of the OAG and FIFA that became public following publication of the so-called "Football Leaks" this month.

German magazine Der Spiegel and European Investigative Collaborations, a network of international media, reported that FIFA chief Gianni Infantino had broken FIFA rules by interfering in the rewriting of its ethics code.

A 2015 FBI raid in Zurich saw seven officials arrested on corruption charges. More than 40 entities and individuals have been charged by U.S. prosecutors in connection with the FIFA investigation.