International Football
REVEALED! WAYNE ROONEY CAUSED RONALDO TO LEAVE MANCHESTER UNITED
The altercation that Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal had with Wayne Rooney of England in a clash of both countries at the 2006 World Cup ultimately led to Ronaldo leaving Manchester United.
The fallout of both players on the field made Ronaldo a ‘public enemy number one’ among Manchester United followers.
It all happened as Ronaldo was caught on camera winking to the Portugal bench after he pleaded with the referee to send Rooney off.
Ronaldo, however, saw nothing wrong with his actions and felt he was unfairly treated when he arrived back at Old Trafford.
He said in July 2006: ‘I think I should get out of Manchester.
‘The circumstances are not right to keep playing in Manchester. In two or three days, I will decide where to go.
‘I always said I wanted to play in Spain. Nobody stood up for me at Manchester, although I did not do anybody any harm.’
Daily Mail quoted La Liga’s former sporting director Valencia, Amedeo Carboni. As saying that
Valencia were hoping to take advantage of the situation surrounding the Manchester United star following an altercation with his club team-mate Wayne Rooney at the World Cup.
Speaking of the role he played in planning a potential swoop for the superstar, Carboni told Il Posticipo: ‘I arrived at the right time, Valencia was the city that benefited most from this economic, social and sporting “boom.”
‘We had found the financial resources to get him; we had made arrangements with Nike and Coca Cola – the player’s sponsors.
‘Ronaldo at that time was already earning 10 million net a year, a lot for a club like Valencia.
‘Then we reached the stage where Cristiano had argued with Manchester United. In 2006-07 Valencia was experiencing a “boom”, and I had his “yes’ to sign him”.’
Valencia, who finished that season in third place, had hoped Ronaldo would leave the Premier League to represent them in Spain.
However, the former United man wanted to play alongside the likes of David Villa, Raul Albiol, Pablo Aimar and Hugo Viana instead.
Carboni said that he had ‘the contracts signed by [Jorge] Mendes, nothing was missing between Ronaldo, his agent and myself. The deal, however, did not materialise.’
At the time, Ronaldo had only won an FA Cup and League Cup during his three seasons in Manchester.
Though he did go on to reach new heights and claim one of his five Ballon d’Or crowns while at the club.
He later moved to Spain in 2009, but for Valencia’s rivals Real Madrid instead.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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