Sports
FULL LIST: Lookman, Saka nominated for 2024 Ballon d’Or
Nigeria and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman has been nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award.
The organisers of the most prestigious individual award in football announced the nominees on Wednesday.
Lookman earned the nomination after scoring a stunning hat-trick for Atalanta as the Italian club ended Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run and won the Europa League final 3-0 in May 2024.
Arsenal and England forward Bukayo Saka, Manchester City’s Norwegian star Erling Haaland, and England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane are on the list as well, but there is no place for eight-time winner Lionel Messi and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi, aged 37, and 39-year-old Ronaldo are out of the Ballon d’Or nominees for the first time since 2003.
Messi, who claimed the eighth Ballon d’Or of his glittering career last year, is not among the 30 contenders this time despite winning another title with Argentina at the Copa America in July.
The former Barcelona superstar, now playing club football in MLS for Inter Miami, was also missing from the nominees in 2022 when Karim Benzema took the honours.
However, he returned to win last year after leading Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar.
Brazil forward Vinicius Junior is among the favourites and is one of six members of the Madrid team that won La Liga and the Champions League last season to be nominated.
Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Antonio Ruediger, and Fede Valverde are the others, while Kylian Mbappe – who left Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for Real Madrid over the close season – features too.
Carvajal is among the contenders from the victorious Spain team alongside Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri, Nico Williams, and Lamine Yamal.
Xabi Alonso, who won the Bundesliga in an unbeaten season with Bayer Leverkusen, is among the favourites for best coach.
His rivals include Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti and Spain’s Luis de la Fuente.
Meanwhile, Aitana Bonmati of Barcelona and Spain will hope to retain the women’s Ballon d’Or.
Former winners Ada Hegerberg and Alexia Putellas are also nominated, along with five members of the United States’ Olympic gold medal-winning team in Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman, Lindsey Horanm and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
The Ballon d’Or is voted for by a jury of journalists from each of the top 100 countries in FIFA’s world ranking.
The Ballon d’Or ceremony is due to take place in Paris on October 28.
Below is the full list of the nominees:
Ballon d’Or shortlist
Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid
Phil Foden – Man City
Ruben Dias – Man City
Federico Valverde – Real Madrid
Emiliano Martinez – Aston Villa
Erling Haaland – Man City
Nicolas Williams – Athletic Bilbao
Granit Xhaka – Bayer Leverkusen
Artem Dovbik – Roma
Toni Kroos – Real Madrid
Vinicius Jr – Real Madrid
Dani Olmo – RB Leipzig/Barcelona
Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen
Martin Odegaard – Arsenal
Matts Hummels – Borussia Dortmund
Rodri – Man City
Harry Kane – Bayern Munich
Declan Rice – Arsenal
Vitinha – PSG
Cole Palmer – Chelsea
Dani Carvajal – Real Madrid
Lamine Yamal – Barcelona
Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
Hakan Calhanoglu – Inter Milan
William Saliba – Arsenal
Kylian Mbappe – PSG/Real Madrid
Lautaro Martinez – Inter Milan
Ademola Lookman – Atalanta
Antonio Rudiger – Real Madrid
Alejandro Grimaldo – Bayer Leverkusen
Lookman
Kopa Trophy shortlist
Pau Cubarsi – Barcelona
Alejandro Garnacho – Manchester United
Arda Guler – Real Madrid
Karim Konate – RB Salzburg
Kobbie Mainoo – Manchester United
Joao Neves – Benfica/PSG
Savinho – Girona/Man City
Mathys Tel – Bayern Munich
Lamine Yamal – Barcelona
Warren Zaire-Emery – PSG
Men’s Coach of the Year shortlist
Xabi Alonso – Bayer Leverkusen
Carlo Ancelotti – Real Madrid
Luis De La Fuente – Spain
Gian Piero Gasperini – Atalanta
Pep Guardiola – Man City
Lionel Scaloni – Argentina
Team of the Year shortlist
Borussia Dortmund
Girona
Bayer Leverkusen
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Sports
Premier League official Coote suspended
Premier League official David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect by PGMOL
A video, which remains unverified, appearing to show Coote making derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp was widely circulated on social media on Monday.
• David Coote first refereed a game in the Premier League in April 2018
• Coote was born in Nottinghamshire and previously officiated in the Football League.
• Coote is registered as a Notts County fan with PGMOL
• He refereed the Carabao Cup final between Manchester United and Newcastle in 2023
A PGMOL statement read: “David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation.
“PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete.”
Coote was the referee for Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday night.
According to Sky Sports, Liverpool have declined to comment.
Head of referees Howard Webb will be appearing on Match Officials: Mic’d Up on Tuesday night on Sky Sportskeeda
A video being shared appears to refer to the Premier League match between Liverpool – who were already crowned champions – and Burnley, which Coote refereed, in July 2020.
The game finished 1-1 after Jay Rodriguez’s strike cancelled out Andy Robertson’s opener, ending Liverpool’s 24-match winning run at Anfield.
At full-time, Klopp appeared to argue with Coote and his officials on the pitch, and after the match, the former Reds boss said the referee failed to give fouls for challenges made on Liverpool’s players.
“David Coote appears to be speaking directly to a camera phone and appears to go on to make a number of derogatory comments about Liverpool Football Club and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.
“We don’t know if this video is genuine or not at this stage, and neither do PGMOL.
“We need to point out that there is no indication at all as to how old this video is, but it is clearly not recent. In the video, Coote talks about lockdown and being socially distant. He shows the guy interviewing him a picture on his phone where he is wearing a mask. He talks about Klopp and James Milner, who hasn’t played for Liverpool for more than 18 months.
“Coote is an elite Premier League referee. He is part of the elite group of match officials, where he has been since 2018. He had eight years as an EFL referee before that. He is one of the most experienced and highly-thought-of referees in this country, and with that position comes an awful lot of responsibility, in terms of impartiality in particular.
“So any suggestion that Coote or any other elite match official might have bias against a particular Premier League club, or bad feeling towards them or their manager, is a very serious allegation.
“But while I think we need to stress there is history between Klopp and Coote, the latter hasn’t had the chance to explain himself, either to us or indeed the PGMOL, who are his employers.
“This has moved very quickly. It’s a huge story and potentially one that is very damaging, not just for Coote but the PGMOL as well.”
Sports
Man Utd confirms Van Nistelrooy’s exit as Amorim arrives in UK
Manchester United have confirmed the departure of club legend, Ruud van Nistelrooy as assistant manager at the club.
Van Nistelrooy was appointed on an interim basis as head coach after Erik ten Hag was sacked by the Premier League club last month but Rubem Amorim signed as the new head coach from Sporting Lisbon will be coming with his own assistants hence no need of Van Nistelrooy who led the team to 3 wins and one draw as interim manager..
Van Nistelrooy oversaw four games as interim boss, in which United went unbeaten. He took charge of wins over Leicester in the Carabao Cup and Premier League as well as a UEFA Europa League victory against PAOK and a league draw with Chelsea.
Coaches Rene Hake, Jelle ten Rouwelaar and Pieter Morel have also left United.
The Red Devils released a statement on Monday, November 11 following the arrival of Ruben Amorim in the UK on Monday.
It read: “Manchester United can confirm that Ruud van Nistelrooy has left the club. Ruud rejoined in the summer and has taken charge of the team for the past four matches as interim head coach.
“Ruud is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend,” a club statement read. “We are grateful for his contribution and the way in which he has approached his role throughout his time with the club. He will always be very welcome at Old Trafford.
“Rene Hake, Jelle ten Rouwelaar and Pieter Morel have also departed and we wish them all well for the future.
“We will confirm the full men’s first team coaching composition in due course.”
Sports
Premier League referee suspended over video rant
Premier League referee David Coote was Monday suspended after a video was posted on social media appearing to show him making derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
It is unclear when the video was made or how it came into circulation but, according to the clip, Coote said Klopp was “arrogant” and used offensive language.
Coote, 42, refereed Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said in a statement: “David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation. PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete.”
AFP
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