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Former Barcelona and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has denied he has retired from the sport, refuting comments from his agent Dimitri Seluk.
Per Get French Football News, the Ivorian told Sky Sports he will announce his retirement himself when the time comes:
Earlier this week, Seluk told Sport24 (h/t Goal's Chris Burton) the 35-year-old had retired and wanted to try his hand at coaching or management:
"Of course, every football player wants to play for as long as possible. In terms of his physical condition, Yaya could do this at a sufficiently high level for another five years. But we came to the conclusion that he, the football player who played for Barcelona and Manchester City, could not lower the bar.
"We see many players who continue their careers at a mature age, and this is commendable. But Yaya and I chose a different path—to leave as a champion and start a new stage in life with a career as a coach."
Sportswriter Kristan Heneage provided some context to Toure's comments:
Toure's appearance on Sky Sports created quite the stir:
The all-round midfielder hasn't played in an official match since December 2018 with Olympiacos, and he last played for City in May of the same year, in a 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
He won the Premier League three times with the Sky Blues and added two La Liga titles and a UEFA Champions League to his impressive resume with Barcelona.
Controversy often accompanied Toure during his time at the Etihad Stadium. In 2014, he threatened to leave the club after City didn't wish him a happy birthday, per the Sun (h/t Daily Mail's David Kent).
He also accused manager Pep Guardiola of having issues with African players, prompting Seluk to call on "African shamans" to place a curse on him, per Sport24 (h/t Football365).
PAOK President Ivan Savvidis appeared to have a gun attached to his belt when he stormed the pitch to complain with match official Georgios Kominis after his side had a late winner ruled out in their match against AEK Athens on Sunday.
According to Marca, the match was suspended after numerous fans invaded the playing area, which also included Savvidis going on the pitch and reportedly threatening the officials.
Per Marca, AEK manager Manolo Jimenez told Spanish radio that Savvidis showed his gun to the referee during the confrontation at the Stadio Toumbas and said: "Your career as a referee has ended."
AEK are currently sitting top of the Greek Super League, while Thessaloniki outfit PAOK are third.
Olympiakos striker Alan Pulido was rescued on Sunday after being kidnapped in Mexico, according to ESPN FC's Tom Marshall.
"[Tamaulipas Gov. Egidio Torre Cantu] did not give more information on the details of Pulido's kidnapping, but a statement from the state government said the former Tigres player had been rescued shortly before midnight local time on Sunday in a joint operation carried out by state and federal forces."
"'I'm very well, thanks to God,' Pulido said in front of the assembled media, wearing a bandage around his right arm and looking visibly shaken," per Marshall.
Mirror's Tyrone Marshall reported on Monday that "Pulido fought with one of his kidnappers and then stole his phone to call cops" and he "cut a wrist trying to escape his abductors before he was rescued but was otherwise unhurt." Marshall also noted that one man was arrested.
The 25-year-old's brother, Armando, revealed the news of Pulido's kidnapping in an interview with Medio Tiempo (h/t the Sun's Tom Sheen) on Sunday: “Yes, it is true. He disappeared from the morning and we [are trying to] support the governor. We are waiting to see what happens.”
According to the official report, Pulido went missing in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, early Sunday morning. He left a party at 11:30 p.m. local time, at which point trucks cornered his car and six masked men "took him away by force," per Sheen.
He attended the party with his girlfriend, who was reportedly released unharmed.
Pulido joined Olympiakos in July 2015 but couldn't make his debut for the Greek club until January. Per WhoScored.com, he scored five goals in eight Super League appearances, including two in the final three matches of the 2015-16 campaign.
The forward wasn't selected for El Tri's Copa America squad but returned to Mexico for a vacation.
When the referee blew his whistle for the start of the Greek second division match between AE Larissa and Acharnaikos, everything seemed quite normal.
However, immediately after the kick-off, every player on the pitch sat down for two minutes in protest at the treatment of refugees by the European Union.
According to ABC.net, an announcement in the stadium was made explaining the players' actions:
The administration of AEL, the coaches and the players will observe two minutes of silence just after the start of the match in memory of the hundreds of children who continue to lose their lives every day in the Aegean due to the brutal indifference of the EU and Turkey.
The players of AEL will protest by sitting down for two minutes in an effort to drive the authorities to mobilise all those who seem to have been desensitised to the heinous crimes that are being perpetrated in the Aegean.
Fans appeared to agree with the statement the players were trying to make, applauding throughout before everyone stood up and got on with the game 120 seconds later.
For the record, AE Larissa claimed a 2-0 win.
[h/t: Talking Baws; SBNation]
A Greek Super League fixture between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos was postponed on Saturday evening after riots erupted as the home fans clashed with police prior to kick-off.
Demetris Nellas of the Associated Press (h/t Greek outlet the Olympian) reported that violence between the authorities and police caused the game to be suspended after referee Andreas Pappas "decided the conditions were unsafe." A statement from Panathinaikos chairman Yiannis Alafouzos read: "I intend to submit my resignation. I will propose to the board to consider whether Panathinaikos should continue to participate in the league."
The Athens derby is regarded as one of the biggest fixtures in Greek football, but tempers soared after Olympiakos striker Alfred Finnbogason was hit by a flare on the pitch in the build-up to the game.
BBC Sport reported as many as 50 people were arrested as a result of the disturbance, which included the tearing up of advertisement hoardings and throwing missiles on the pitch. Bleacher Report's Andy Brassell commented on the "chaos":
According to the Associated Press, a statement from Panathinaikos lambasted Pappas' decision to postpone the game, claiming it was in part responsible for the violence.
Olympiakos headed into Saturday's fixture with an eight-point lead at the summit of the Greek Super League, although Nellas noted no away fans were in attendance.
When the actual football was played on Sunday between Greece's two fiercest rivals, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, Panathinaikos emerged victorious 2-1 on their home ground.
But the football was hardly the story, as it occasionally gets shifted into the background in the Derby of the Eternal Enemies.
Wild, wild scenes came out of the match, prompting Olympiacos president Evangelos Marinakis to brand the match (per the Mirror) "an atrocity for Greek football."
Olympiacos manager Vitor Pereira did his typical pre-match routine of touching each net for luck, but the home support became enraged and charged the pitch. A chair can be seen being thrown at the Olympiacos boss.
Similarly, when the visitors took the pitch at the Stadio Apostolos Nikolaidis, flares and other debris were thrown at the players who had to retreat back into the tunnel, delaying kick-off for 15 minutes.
Incredible photo from this weekend's Greek derby between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos: pic.twitter.com/UultxVZoJp
— Natter Football (@NATTERFOOTBALL) February 23, 2015
Y ayer se termino el carnaval(Foto del Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos 22/02/2015) #NoPyroNoParty pic.twitter.com/ca12MQQwjf
— Fran Central Element (@FranRMCFLad) February 23, 2015
Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 22.02.2015. pic.twitter.com/s3NCqqrEGG
— It's an ultra life (@itsultralife01) February 23, 2015
Marinakis went on to describe the scene, per the same Mirror report.
What we saw out there I don't think I could have ever imagined.
Our players cannot play well in these conditions and are heroes. It is an unprecedented situation.
I saw the players. Some are beaten, others are upset, others are shocked.
We did not come for war, we came to play football.
[Mirror]
So much of Eric Abidal's playing career has been remarkable—the stuff of myth. But on Friday, at the age of 35, the defender announced his retirement.
His final match was on Wednesday, in which he played the full 90 minutes of Olympiakos' 2-0 win over Panionios.
Eric Abidal has retired from football. He will become a coach at Barcelona's academy. pic.twitter.com/RsqliYguYy
— All Football News (@AllFootballLive) December 18, 2014
Abidal joined Olympiakos on a two-year contract during the summer, but on Thursday manager Michel told Nova TV that the Frenchman had already made his decision to retire back in October, according to ESPN FC.
"I am proud to have been his coach this season," Michel added. "Personal decisions take precedent over those on the pitch."
It's expected Abidal will take on a coaching role with Barcelona's academy. It was during his time at Camp Nou, after all, that he experienced both the highs of on-field success and the lows of a health crisis.
In March 2011 the then-31-year-old was found to have a tumour in his liver. After undergoing surgery, he was rallied around by the entire football world, and even Real Madrid—Barcelona's eternal rival—posted a message of support on its stadium scoreboard.
Two months later, Abidal was starting the Champions League final against Manchester United, and following Barcelona's 3-1 victory, captain Carles Puyol gave him the armband so he could be the first of his teammates to lift the trophy.
It was the France international's second European Cup, and by then he had also won three La Liga titles, a trio of Ligue 1 championships with previous club Lyon and a pair of Copas del Rey.
But a year on from his initial liver procedure he required a transplant, after which he spent two months in hospital. This time a comeback to football was rather less certain, and it wasn't until the following October that he was able to resume training.
Nevertheless, Abidal persevered, and in April 2013 he returned to first-team action with Barcelona.
The following season he signed with Monaco, where he had first played professionally. He made 26 Ligue 1 appearances as the principality outfit finished runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain and qualified for the Champions League.
In July he made the move to Greece, but despite agreeing to a two-year pact he quickly resolved to retire before 2015.
Whether his body—challenged with so much in recent years—simply couldn't hold up to the rigours of day-to-day football any longer, or if he was merely eager to get into coaching at La Masia, will be revealed in due course.
On Friday, Abidal would only acknowledge that he knew the time had come—that his mind and body were no longer in it.
"The reasons are personal," he said (per Yahoo). "Every top-level player understands that there comes a time and my time has come."
On his future, he added: "Now what I want to do is rest and enjoy spending time with my family and then I will take some decisions as far as my future is concerned."
Whatever the case, he will leave the game with a legacy of someone who loved football so much that he overcame the odds to come back to it not once, but twice, and at the very highest level.
There has rarely been a better year to be a group winner in the Champions League. Even before Monday’s draw the gulf between the winners and runners-up was evident—and that sense was perhaps even greater for Manchester United and Chelsea, knowing they could not draw Manchester City or Arsenal.
So having come through a potentially tricky pool containing Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad, many United fans are rubbing their hands at the prospect of a double-header against perennial Greek champions Olympiacos, especially as the Old Trafford club have played four, won four against them.
Yet that would be to underestimate Olympiacos’ considerable spirit and pedigree. At the time of writing, the men from Piraeus are again clear at the top of the Greek Super League, winning 13 and drawing one of their opening 14 matches.
They have scored 43 and conceded just four in a competition conditioned by the financial struggles of Panathinaikos and the ruin of AEK Athens. It may be hard to judge the true value of their domestic dominance in this context, but Michel’s men have already shown their quality in the Champions League.
After enduring a biblical flood in Lisbon that briefly threatened to wash away their hopes, Olympiacos will charge United with being near their best to beat them to a place in the quarter-finals.
Famed across the continent for the atmospheric Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, they have flourished away from home in this season’s Champions League, winning handsomely at Anderlecht and drawing at Benfica and narrowly losing at Paris Saint-Germain.
They are also much more than simply Kostas Mitroglou plus ten, though the importance of the Greece international must be underlined. He is powerful and prolific, having scored 17 goals in 14 club games this season, as well as a crucial brace in the World Cup play-off against Romania.
Yet there is more to the 25-year-old than that. Thought of as tactically naïve and ineffective outside the penalty area by his coaches on his arrival in Greece from German reserve football, he has grown enormously.
That he should hold up the ball effectively is no shock, but he has a surprisingly light touch, as he showed in his role creating Chori Dominguez’s fine goal that gave Olympiacos the lead at Benfica.
Those games against Benfica were a tipping point for Michel’s side. At the Estadio da Luz, they passed the Europa League finalists off the park until the deluge halted their rhythm, with Mitroglou missing one chance to hit a clinching goal as the ball stuck in the water at point-blank range and he ran straight past it.
They are technically adroit and durable. Dominguez, Javier Saviola and David Fuster provide experience and quality, while Sambou Yatabare and Delvin N’Dinga bring strength in midfield. Captain Giannis Maniatis marshals the team at the back.
Olympiacos’ grit was clear in the return, as they weathered a different kind of storm, with the Portuguese giants reacting strongly.
On that occasion, goalkeeper Roberto stepped up, making a string of extraordinary saves. His time at Benfica had been blighted by high-profile errors, but he has recovered his confidence.
There are a clutch among the second-placed pack who would have suited United better. Zenit always appear jittery and nervous in pressure situations, despite their considerable outlay on players in the last 18 months.
Schalke are perpetually leaky from set-pieces and incredibly vulnerable on the counter-attack. Milan, meanwhile, are lucky to even be in the last 16 after the battering they took from Ajax in the final group match at the San Siro—fortunately for them, without reparation.
David Moyes’ side are undisputed favourites—especially given their Champions League results to date—and Olympiacos are simply happy to have such a plum tie, as Michel made clear after the draw (report on the club's website - here). Yet the soul of this team, forged under an atmosphere of immense expectation, is considerable. United must tread carefully.
The Superleague Greece is now the latest European league to be implicated in the Drug Doping allegations that have swept through Europe. The news comes after AEK Athens right back Christous Arkoudas failed a routine drug test conducted by Greece's anti-doping control.
According to Reuters (via Eurosport), the 22-year-old defender tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine. Under the Hellenic Football Federation's disciplinary code, he could face a ban of up to two years. Arkoudas will face a second drug test prior to the investigation proceeding further.
Whilst the youngster was unavailable for a comment, it is expected he will exercise his right to appeal the decision.
The positive result comes in a week which has seen the world of football rocked by both doping and match-fixing allegations at the code's highest level. Pertaining to doping. Spanish side Real Sociedad have been put under pressure to come clean after it was revealed by a former club president that doctors illegally distributed performance-enhancing drugs to players (via Reuters).
Although penalties for drug taking in football exist, I am of the belief that the two years that Arkoudas could face are not nearly strong enough to send a message to the world that FIFA is serious about stamping illegal drug use out of football.
Talk of pressure and threats to take performance enhancers can no longer be used as scapegoats to escape punishment. Why? Because of the reality of it; the longer football submits to such excuses, the further its reputation will suffer and so to its ability to bring the world together.
Considering this particular case came to surface just days after the Sociedad allegations, the question that is begging to be answered is "what is to come?"
