International Football
FROM FOES TO FRIENDS; SUAREZ CALLS JUVE CAPTAIN HE BIT AT BRAZIL 2014
It’s been six years since the infamous biting of Italian player, Giorgio Chiellini by Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez. Now the duo will be teammates at Juventus where Chiellini is the captain.
According to Daily Mail in UK, Suarez phoned Chiellini to clear the air as the outcast Barcelona striker inches nearer to joining Juventus.
It will be recalled that in the Uruguay’s 0-1 loss to Italy at the Brazil 2014 World Cup, Suarez infamously bit the shoulder of Chiellini. Even though Suarez escaped the red card as the referee did not see the incident that was captured on camera, he was later banned for four months for the savage attack.
Now, according to Italian publication, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Suarez has spoken to Chiellini, who is Juve’s captain, as he aims to put the incident behind them and move on as potential team-mates.
Suarez is set to sign a contract worth £9m per year after tax – the same wage he earns at Barcelona. Despite the disgraceful nature of Suarez’s bite, Chiellini has since shrugged off the incident.
He said: ‘Suddenly I noticed he had bit my shoulder.
‘It just happened, but this is his contact strategy in hand-to-hand combat and, if I may say so, it is mine too.
‘He and I are similar.’
Despite laughably trying to claim that Chiellini had injured his teeth with his shoulder Suarez later took responsibility for his actions.
Suarez said: ‘I admit I was wrong, but I am a human being.
‘Each player has his own style of play, his own character and this got me where I am now.’
Juventus are set to land Suarez in a deal worth just £4.4million as Barcelona continue their summer clearout under new boss Ronald Koeman.
At 33 years old, Barca are keen to move on the striker in a bid to ease their wage bill and Juventus are hopeful a cut-price deal for the former Liverpool hitman can be done within the next three weeks, in time for the start of the new Serie A campaign.
According to Sky Sports Italia, Juventus are hoping that with Suarez in their team alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala they could field one of the best front threes in Europe.
Juventus have excellent relations with Barcelona and are confident an agreement for Suarez’s move to the Allianz Stadium can be arranged swiftly.
Suarez has already agreed a three-year-deal with Juve worth around £9million per year with bonus clauses to be added.
However, the deal could be held up by Suarez’s financial demands from the Nou Camp outfit.
It is understood the Uruguay hitman is demanding £22m in severance pay and is not willing to negotiate lowering his request.
Suarez’s contract at the Nou Camp expires next summer having joined them six years ago from Liverpool.
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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