Bahrain international Sayed Baqer has been banned for 10 matches for a racist gesture during a World Cup qualifier.

Champions League holders Liverpool overcame Monterrey 2-1 on December 18 thanks to Roberto Firmino's injury-time winner, before they went on to beat Flamengo in the final.

EXCLUSIVE BY SAMI MOKBEL: Andrew Massey, the Reds' current head of medical services, is set to leave Anfield to take up a similar role at world football's governing body FIFA.

Liverpool are appointing Arsenal's lead doctor Gary O'Driscoll as their new head of medical services. He has been the leading candidate to replace Andrew Massey at the club.

Buried within all of Jurgen Klopp's rant about the Africa Cup of Nations moving back to a January slot was one very simple but important modern truth: Money comes first, everything else follows.

EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID COVERDALE: The government are 'committed' to backing a British and Irish bid for the 2030 World Cup - even if they have to go up against China.

EXCLUSIVE BY CRAIG HOPE: Sportsmail can reveal the pair attended a training camp in Majorca recently but did not meet the physical standard required to proceed.

Following requests from a number of Serie A clubs, the country's governing body released a statement in which it said it was open to trialling a system whereby teams could request an on-field review.

A new goalkeeper, winger and left back are thought to be high on Frank Lampard's wish list now he's made his first buy. So, if he gets what he wants, how Chelsea will line up at the start of next season?

International Football Association Board's Lukas Brud has revealed that Wenger's proposed major overhaul of the law is not an option and the offside rule will remain the same.

UEFA have been left in a potentially embarrassing position after executive committee member and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was charged in connection with a bribery investigation

IAN LADYMAN: Lamenting this week of the passing of Harry Gregg, I found myself thinking about Sir Bobby Charlton and, in turn, the 1966 World Cup final.

Premier League referees David Coote and Andy Madley have passed a fitness test at the second attempt to become members of the FIFA International List.

FIFA announced that its football stakeholders committee had endorsed new regulations which would place limits on the number of international loans permitted of players aged 22 and over.

Frank Lampard is planning to make drastic changes to his squad this summer and reports sugggest he is plotting a summer move for highly-regarded Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar.

It's the acrobatic volley that has left awe-struck football fans picking up their jaws from the floor. Jordan Flores' sublime strike for Dundalk has been given the nod for a FIFA Puskas award.

Another spell on the sidelines beckons for Daniel Sturridge but this time, he cannot be left cursing his luck. His gambling ban means that Sturridge only has himself to blame.

With the suspension of the Premier League and EFL, Orient have taken it upon themselves to start a 128-team FIFA 20 tournament, with clubs including Man City, Brentford and Derby set to take part.

With the season possibly extending into July, Sportsmail revealed on Saturday how out-of-contract players are on a collision course with their clubs due to the fact their deals expire on June 30.

Q&A: Amid all of the uncertainty provided by the suspension of football is the situation concerning players whose contracts are set to expire on June 30. Sportsmail answers the key questions.

EXCLUSIVE BY ANDREW WARSHAW: World football's top medical expert slammed Europe's major leagues for targeting a mid-May resumption of fixtures.

The club were reluctant to let Son leave for the tournament after he signed a new long-term contract and had already missed some of the season through injury.

West Ham forward Michail Antonio committed the ultimate Hammers sin by wearing a Tottenham Hotspur shirt after losing to defender Ryan Sessegnon on FIFA 20 last week. 

Antonio is primed to face one of the club's young fans as a game against the winger is the prize in their newly-launched Young Hammers at Home initiative to help those at home due to COVID-19.

The fund needs to be signed off but should it be ratified as expected, it would help a series of authorities across the planet who are already struggling thanks to a lack of revenue and cashflow.

Alex, 30, is expecting a daughter with her husband Servando Carrasco, 31, in April.She is scared by reports that partners are being banned from delivery rooms during the pandemic.

PSG defender Thomas Meunier joked that he'd offer value to top clubs 'even if he has to cut off a leg', but rubbished links to Tottenham. 

The governing body of world football is also set to change the dates of this summer's transfer window and will also allow players whose contracts run out on June 30 to extend their deals.

The two-time World Player of the Year was released from jail yesterday and placed under house arrest after reportedly paying a £1.3million bond but could be removed from the latest edition of FIFA.

Arteta is likely to want to overhaul this squad at the end of the season, and the future of captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will also need addressing.

Despite most domestic leagues having been indefinitely suspended due to the escalating pandemic, discussions over re-introducing football around the world are ongoing.

Sepp Blatter was being investigated into matters over selling World Cup TV rights too cheaply. Prosecutors are set to drop the case, but are still probing an alleged £1.8m payment to Michel Platini.

A whistleblower who lost her job in football for speaking up against corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process, has called on FIFA to apologise for their wrong-doing.

For almost a decade many of us have suspected, or known, that the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar were awarded after a corrupt process - and bribery.

SPECIAL REPORT - JAMES SHARPE: Ronaldinho's trademark grin had vanished. His long, curly hair tucked up under a black hat as police ed him through the mass of flashing bulbs.

Brazil's Ronaldo won FIFA's World Player of the Year three times before the age of 21 but was eventually surpassed by his Portuguese namesake.

The Liverpool full back was defeated by tournament favourite Diogo Jota, with the Wolves ace securing victory in the online showpiece after yet another golden goal strike.

Sergio Aguero has been making sure he's getting in plenty of time on the pitch during lockdown, albeit the virtual one in the video game FIFA 20. He also has a somewhat unusual gaming setup.

Germany's Bundesliga has plans in place, subject to approval from the federal government and state health authorities, to get going again on May 9 while other leagues are keen to follow suit.

FIFA is refusing to give up on resolving a corruption case relating to Germany's successful 2006 World Cup bid, despite a trial in Switzerland ending due to a statute of limitations.

It is a story that has passed into footballing folklore and now Graeme Souness and Matt Le Tissier have revealed the truth about one of the Premier League's most bizarre signings - Ali Dia.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: For Rex Hunt, Thursday, April 1, 1982 began like any other day. It was a lovely, bright morning, but in his sprawling Victorian house in the little town of Stanley, Falkland Islands.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: A few years earlier, many professions had been virtually all-male. In the City, women were not allowed on the floor of the Stock Exchange until March 1973.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: We are only a few days into the election campaign and the conspiracy theories have already begun.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: The real threat to free speech comes not from a totalitarian government. It comes from UK university campuses that are supposed to be hotbeds of debate and disagreement.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: In my lifetime, Labour have published more than a dozen manifestos, some saner than others.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: To future generations, the names of toppled Labour strongholds will tell the story of Boris Johnson's tidal wave.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: The 2010s has been a decade of increasingly strident and intolerant political correctness, with institutions such as the Church of England taking more extreme positions.

DOMINIC SANDBROOKE: This week, as Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan launches a 'consultation' to discuss the licence fee, the BBC's future genuinely seems more uncertain than ever before.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: The new slimmed down Royal Family is a good thing, though I don't for a moment underestimate the strain it has placed upon our 93-year-old Queen.