Football news live: Premier League updates plus the latest on Roman Abramovich’s efforts to sell Chelsea

Oleksandr Zinchenko has said he would be in Ukraine if it were not for his family.

The Manchester City full-back is one of the more prominent Ukraine internationals in the Premier League and captained his club in the FA Cup win over Peterborough in mid-week. Zinchenko also carried out his country’s flag ahead of that game.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to an outpouring of support across football, and there will be a further round of tributes paid ahead of this weekend’s games in the Premier League.

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The academic who has helped to shape concussion protocols in football, rugby union, NFL and many other contact sports has offered his resignation over allegations of plagiarism.

Dr Paul McCrory was chair of the Concussion in Sport Group (CISG), which is funded by governing bodies including the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and World Rugby.

Its findings are reported every four years in the Consensus Statement on Concussion In Sport, of which McCrory was the lead author. This document underpins the concussion guidelines and assessment protocols implemented by, among others, the Football Association and NFL.

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Statistically speaking, just about every penalty you’ve ever seen was a miscarriage of justice.

A corner kick has about a two per cent chance of leading to a goal. A penalty kick? 78 per cent. You don’t need a PhD in statistics to spot the problem here.

There’s a fairer, way more exciting way to do penalties than spot kicks from 12 yards out: the running 35-yard shootout.

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has backed his club’s decision to face rivals Celtic in Australia during the November international break.

It was announced on Wednesday that Rangers and Celtic will meet in the Sydney Super Cup with the duo captialising on the mid-season break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Sections of Rangers’ support have criticised the club by claiming they have “alienated a significant portion of the supporter base” by competing in the first Old Firm derby played outside Scotland.

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Initially, sanctions would not mean the confiscation of any assets. The intention instead would be to prevent a designated individual from transacting in any way, ensuring they cannot make or receive payments. They would be barred access to his or her accounts in a similar way to when someone forgets their PIN number, or enters the code erroneously a number of times. Any subsequent attempt to access the account prompts a “Please speak to your branch” message. This is essentially the same, just on a grander scale. All transactions would be blocked and frozen.

There are a few exceptions made, for things like the designated individual’s general living costs and legal fees. But, for the club, there would be potentially crippling knock-on effects. One expert in this field say the sanctions “hit the main target, but they cause a lot of collateral damage, however smart policy makers say they are”.

More below.

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The Athletic’s Watford correspondent Adam Leventhal hinted at the move earlier this week.

Antonio Conte has said that it is “impossible” for any manager in the world to lead Tottenham Hotspur to immediate success, insisting that the north London club have been stuck in a rut for “the last 20 years”.

Tottenham last won a trophy in 2008, defeating Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final thanks to goals by Dimitar Berbatov and Jonathan Woodgate.

Since then the club have lost three successive finals — including the 2018-19 Champions League final to Liverpool — and finished second in the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino.

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Norwich City development goalkeeper Jon McCracken has signed a contract extension with the Premier League club.

The 21-year-old Scot was set to be out of contract in July but has now signed a two-year extension, taking his stay to the summer of 2024.

McCracken first signed scholarship terms with Norwich in 2016 and has travelled with first-team goalkeepers Tim Krul, Angus Gunn and Michael McGovern this season.

He has featured on the substitutes’ bench this season but is yet to make a senior appearance.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola expects defender Ruben Dias to miss “four to six weeks” with a hamstring injury.

The injury will force the Portugal international out of City’s next match against Manchester United on Sunday, while Nathan Ake will also miss out.

Full story here.

Asked about the Premier League’s gesture of solidarity for Ukraine, the Manchester City boss said: “It’s important but at the end it is just a gesture. All around the world personally and collective do something.

“Politicians can avoid these things. It happens because they are complete failures. It happens because they are not able to do it. It happens where innocent people are suffering. NATO and European nations are failures.”

Elaborating on Zinchenko, he added: “It’s concerning, as long as the war continues it gets worse and worse. He’s involved incredibly in his country doing projects. He knows better than anyone else, he has family there. It’s getting worse, this situation is 8, 9 days. Unfortunately it will be longer.”

China will pull their coverage of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures over the competition’s show of support for Ukraine.

The Premier League had announced that the upcoming games will include a pre-match moment of reflection, captains wearing special armbands, LED boards at pitch-side showing messages of support and television and social media branding in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

The Athletic understands that the Premier League has been told by its Chinese rights holders that it will not broadcast any games between March 5-7.

Full story here.

(Photo: Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

The Polish FA have asked FIFA to reopen the transfer window for players in the Ukrainian Premier League, as well as foreign players in Russia, The Athletic understands.

The Ukrainian Premier League was suspended on February 24, the day Russia launched their invasion.

It is intended that players would leave the league on loan for as long as the competition is suspended, and that their contracts would not be terminated.

Initial loans could be made until the end of the season, with the future of the affected players to be reassessed in the summer.

The Athletic understands that FIFA is holding a meeting with the European Club Association (ECA) today, where the topic will be discussed.

Full story here.

(Photo: Pavel Pavlov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Clyde have announced they are in the process of terminating the loan agreement for David Goodwillie.

A club statement on Thursday night read: “The club are tonight in the process of terminating the loan agreement with Raith Rovers for David Goodwillie.”

The news comes after Clyde Ladies players quit the club en-masse after rapist Goodwillie rejoined the men’s team this week.

His initial transfer from Clyde to Raith Rovers in January prompted widespread condemnation.

The 32-year-old former Scotland international was ruled to be a rapist and ordered to pay damages in a civil case in 2017.

It was the first civil rape case of its kind in Scotland.

Full story here.

Thomas Tuchel has admitted there is “uncertainty” at Chelsea following Roman Abramovich’s announcement he plans to sell the Premier League club, but has said he wants to remain at Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich said in a statement on Wednesday that he had made the “incredibly difficult decision” to sell the Premier League club.

He had previously given “stewardship and care” of Chelsea to its foundation trustees following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tuchel said on Friday that the uncertainty over Chelsea’s ownership had led to a range of reactions at the club — with some feeling “scared, some excited and some sad” — but made clear his intention to remain as head coach.

Full story here.

(Photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Everton overcame Boreham Wood last night, in the battle of my local club versus the club I support.

But just before the match, the quarter-final draw was finalised (though it will always be known as the sixth round to me).

The ties are:

Crystal Palace vs Everton

Nottingham Forest or Huddersfield vs Liverpool

Middlesbrough vs Chelsea

Southampton vs Manchester City

More here.

(Photo: Emma Simpson/Everton FC via Getty Images)