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Messi to buy second Spanish lower league club
Barcelona: Argentina icon Lionel Messi has agreed to take over Spanish club Eldense, the second division side confirmed on Thursday.
Eldense, based just in-land from Alicante, will become the former Barcelona attacker's second venture into Spanish football ownership having bought fourth-tier Cornella in April. liveiplscore.homes
The 39-year-old plays for Inter Miami and retired from international duty after Argentina's loss to Spain in the World Cup final this summer.
"CD Eldense can confirm that Lionel Messi has reached an agreement in principle with the club's current owners to acquire the shares currently held by Grupo TH Soluciones, which would make him the majority shareholder of CD Eldense," they told AFP.
"At this time, the transaction is pending completion of the final legal and contractual procedures, including the due diligence process, as well as the required authorisation from the Spanish Sports Council (CSD).
"For now, the club is unable to provide details on the financial terms of the transaction or set a definitive date for its completion, as the process has not yet been finalised.
"Once the relevant procedures have been completed and the necessary authorizations obtained, CD Eldense will officially report any developments in this regard," the club founded in 1921 added.
France will not support Infantino in FIFA election: federation chief
Paris, France: France will not support the candidacy of Gianni Infantino, who is running for a new term as FIFA president in March 2027, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced on Thursday.
The FFF is aligning itself with the position of other European federations such as Belgium, Italy, Scotland, Sweden and Wales, who have also publicly withdrawn support for Infantino.
FIFA confirmed last weekend that Infantino will stand in the FIFA presidential election next March, despite the backlash over his now-abandoned plan to bring private investment into the men's and women's World Cups.
At this stage, the 56-year-old Swiss is the only candidate.
"We believe that the trust placed in the FIFA president has been betrayed, and that the way in which the governance of world football is envisaged no longer reflects us," FFF president Philippe Diallo said in a statement.
"That is why, by a unanimous decision of its members, the French Football Federation has decided to withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino's candidacy for the FIFA presidency."
Ferran Torres hits hat-trick as PSG wallop Slovan in Champions League
Paris, France: Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick and Ousmane Dembele also starred as Paris Saint-Germain began their quest to win a third consecutive Champions League title by thrashing Slovan Bratislava 6-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Last year's Ballon d'Or winner Dembele had bagged a brace by the midway point in the first half in the French capital, and then set up Spain's World Cup final hero Torres to make it 3-0 by the interval.
Torres, a close-season signing from Barcelona, added two more just after the restart to complete his hat-trick, with Suleiman Camara pulling one back for the Slovakian champions and Fabian Ruiz sealing PSG's win.
"It is impossible, you cannot expect to score a hat-trick," Torres told broadcaster Canal Plus when asked if he imagined such an outcome.
"The only thing that we knew before the game was that we had to play with the right intensity, press when we lost the ball, and we did that really well. We did a really good game."
The French club are bidding to follow in the footsteps of the Real Madrid side of 2016 to 2018 and become just the second team in the history of the modern Champions League to win the trophy three years running.
Real, Ajax and Bayern Munich were the only teams to achieve that feat in the days of the old European Cup.
PSG's next games will be against teams hoping to end their reign, with a trip to Manchester City and a home clash with Barcelona coming in October -- Torres is a former player of both clubs.
"It is the Champions League, we always play against tough teams, but we have to be focused first in Ligue 1 because we didn't start in the right way," he added, with PSG yet to win a domestic game this season.