Football

Blatter said that an October 3-4 meeting in Zurich should approve the change, and begin consultation on the best time for Qatar to host the tournament.

Barcelona coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino criticised Real Madrid for the money they are set to spend on signing Gareth Bale.

Lukas Podolski scored a brace and Olivier Giroud grabbed his third goal in as many games for Arsenal.

Barcelona says Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay will be sidelined for four months after undergoing surgery on his right leg.

Goalkeeper Julio Cesar was also named in coach Scolari's squad for the games against Australia and Portugal.

Mourinho feels that Paul Lambert needs 'maturity', claiming that the Villa boss complained too much during Villa's loss to Chelsea.

Real Sociedad scored two brilliant goals to win 2-0 against Olympique Lyonnais while AC Milan were held by PSV Eindhoven to a 1-1 draw.

Kazakhstan champion Shakhter Karagandy closed in on a spot in the Champions League group stage by beating Scottish club Celtic 2-0.

Casillas was benched by Barcelona coach Carlo Ancelotti in their La Liga opener on Sunday.

FIFA expects about 3.3 million tickets to be available for the month-long tournament in Brazil; IBNSports explains the scenario.

Tassotti has warned that his side need "to be very aggressive" against PSV in the Champions League football play-off slated for Tuesday.

Fulham have signed England forward Darren Bent on a season-long loan deal from Aston Villa.

Liverpool and Tottenham are already in the race to sign the Anzhi Makhachkala player but reports say that Manchester United could hijack those deals.

The closing weeks of last season were marred by Liverpool striker Luis Suarez biting an opponent and being handed a 10-match ban.

Bale will be sidelined until September with the foot injury that has kept the Real Madrid target out of the Premier League club's pre-season build-up.

Scolari said the 1-0 defeat in Basel on Wednesday should not be taken too seriously.