HORDES of fans mobbed football star Mario Balotelli yesterday as he jetted back to Britain ready to start the new season. Manchester City’s Italian striker hid behind a pillar and in a toilet to avoid people wanting photos with him. Mario, 21, had flown into Manchester from Milan when he was spotted waiting at the luggage carousel. Airport security whisked him through a staff exit to ...Full Story »

Rio Ferdinand will consult  lawyers before deciding whether he will contest  Monday's FA charge for his ‘choc ice’ tweet. The Manchester United defender has until 4pm on Thursday to respond after the FA charged him with making improper comments which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race. The initial ‘choc ice’ remark about Ashley C...Full Story »

LONDON (AP) -- Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was charged by the Football Association on Monday with improper conduct for comments about Chelsea rival Ashley Cole in a twist to the fallout from John Terry's racism trial. Terry was cleared in court of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother, Queens Park Rangers defender Anton, while playing for Chelsea in a Premier League match last Octob...Full Story »

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson hopes to see his side "get off to a flyer" when the Premier League resumes next month. The Old Trafford outfit began the last campaign with six wins from its first seven league fixtures, the best by a Manchester United team since the 1992-93 season. However, it was dramatically pipped to the title by rivals Manchester City on the final day, as Roberto M...Full Story »

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) -- After eight years of being the most popular player on Everton FC in the English Premier League, Tim Cahill figured it was time for a change. So Cahill, perhaps the best soccer player to ever come out of Australia, has decided to try MLS. And he'll do so with the New York Red Bulls. ''I knew in my heart that I could never play for another Premier club,'' Cahill said. ''I'...Full Story »

Zinedine Zidane will coach one of Real Madrid's cantera sides while he obtains his coaching qualifications, the Liga champions have announced. The 40-year-old, who retired from football in 2006, has made no secret of his desire to move into management, having enrolled for the same university course as former France coach Laurent Blanc last year. Since hanging up his boots, Zidane has worked as...Full Story »

BALTIMORE -- William Gallas is looking forward to matching up against Thierry Henry when Tottenham visits the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday night. The two men were teammates for eight years on the French national team and also shared a season at Arsenal during Henry's final year at the club in 2006. Both were on the 2003 France squad that won the Confederations Cup. "It will be nice to see [...Full Story »

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has been criticized by both Nurnberg director of football Martin Bader and Eintracht Frankfurt executive chairman Heribert Bruchhagen over his defense of jailed defender Breno. The Brazilian center back was last week sentenced to three years and nine months in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of arson. Hoeness was stunned by ...Full Story »

Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand has been charged by the Football Association in relation to comments made on Twitter in the wake of the recent John Terry racism trial. Following the trial, in which Chelsea and England defender Terry was acquitted of racially abusing Ferdinand's younger brother Anton, Rio responded to a Tweet that described Chelsea defender and defence witness Ashley Cole as a...Full Story »

FIFA has imposed a two-match ban on Colombia player Lady Andrade after U.S. forward Abby Wambach said she was "sucker-punched" by her opponent in an Olympic football match. FIFA says its disciplinary committee suspended Andrade for a group match against France on Tuesday, and for the quarterfinals if Colombia advances. Wambach said she was hit in the right eye by Andrade in the 39th minute of ...Full Story »