Former Manchester United winger and Wales manager Ryan Giggs’ retrial later this month on domestic violence charges has been abandoned after lawyers withdrew the prosecution.

Giggs, 49, was due to go on trial for a second time on July 31, accused of controlling or coercive behaviour towards his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville, 39, between August 2017 and November 2020.

Giggs was also accused of assault by “losing control” and headbutting her and the common assault of Greville’s sister Emma by elbowing her in the jaw, during a row at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on November 1 2020.

He denied the offences and underwent a month-long trial, ending last August when the jury failed to reach any verdicts.

Prosecutors then sought and were granted …

After suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to Japan on matchday one, Germany could ideally do with a swift and straightforward response.

Unfortunately for them, awaiting Die Nationalelf at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday will be a Spain side that remarkably won 7-0 against Costa Rica last time out.

Germany know defeat could doom them to a second successive group-stage elimination at the World Cup, an astonishing turn of events given that before 2018 they had not failed to get past the tournament s first round since 1938.

Another loss would consign Germany to three consecutive World Cup defeats for the first time ever – they have also never been beaten twice in the group stage of a single edition before.

The pressure is already on head coach Hansi Flick, who suggested…

Graham Potter accepts he is always 90 minutes away from a crisis as Chelsea s head coach, but is shutting out the noise following Saturday s 4-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Having gone unbeaten through his first nine games since swapping Brighton for Stamford Bridge in September, Potter suffered his first defeat as Blues boss against his old club.

Chelsea conceded twice as many goals in Saturday s resounding loss (four) as they did in their first five Premier League games under Potter (two), leaving the team open to heavy criticism.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Champions League fixture against Dinamo Zagreb, however, Potter said he is unaffected by external opinions.

In my job, or where I m sat, you ve got to be careful what you list…

Paul Pogba heads up France s 23-man squad for Euro 2016, with Nice star Hatem Ben Arfa and Manchester United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin the most notable absentees in Didier Deschamps selection.

The France boss has opted to give Leicester City s N Golo Kante the nod instead, while West Ham ace Dimitri Payet is also included.

Deschamps has also decided to leave out Sevilla striker Kevin Gameiro and Lyon forward A
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lexandre Lacazette, with Tigres UANL s Andre-Pierre Gignac receiving an invitation instead.

Eliaquim Mangala and Jeremy Mathieu have made the cut in defence, while promising youngsters Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial have both been included, too, following their fine performances for Bayern Munich and Manchester United, respectivel…

Tottenham officially parted company with head coach Antonio Conte on Sunday after 16 months in charge.

Conte guided Spurs to a top-four finish in the Premier League upon taking over last season, but a 2022-23 campaign that promised plenty has proved incredibly underwhelming.

Spurs may again occupy fourth place, though some patchy form – particularly on their travels – has allowed Newcastle United to move to within two points with two games in hand.

After exiting the FA Cup and Champions League in quick succession, Conte s position was called into question amid suggestions he was seeking a way out of the club.

And after letting a two-goal lead slip in a 3-3 draw with bottom side Southampton in what turned out to be his final game in charge, the Italian…

Luciano Spalletti wants his Napoli side to become folklore by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

Following a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg in Germany, the runaway Serie A leaders are on the verge of a place in the last eight of Europe s premier club competition.

Sitting a huge 18 points clear at the Serie A summit and unbeaten in their last 11 home Champions League matches, the Partenopei will certainly fancy their chances of finishing the job at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Although, they ended up being eliminated on the only previous occasion they won a knockout match in the competition, surrendering a 3-1 lead before eventually going down 5-4 on aggregate at this stage against Chelsea in…

European football s governing body UEFA expressed their concern Wednesday at the shortage of hotel rooms in four Ukrainian cities due to host Euro 2012 matches.

UEFA delegation chief Martin Kallen said they were otherwise satisfied with progress being made by Ukraine in their preparations for the tournament they will co-host with Poland.

At present we re happy with the progress made, Kallen said.

But he added: Each town still has a lot of work to do. In each town we don t have enough hotel rooms.

The championship will be hosted in Kiev, Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv.

As well as the lack of hotels, Kallen said that the capital Kiev had to resolve problems of transport links between the airport and the city centre.

The delay in the constructi…

AS Roma are in talks with Leonardo Bonucci over a proposed January transfer, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, with Union Berlin apparently prepared to let the veteran defender leave for free six months before his contract expires.

The Giallorossi are facing a heavy injury crisis in their defensive ranks. Marash Kumbulla (ACL) and Chris Smalling (Tendonitis) haven t played in months, and with Evan Ndicka set to go off to represent the Ivory Coast at the upcoming African Cup of Nations, head coach Jose Mourinho will only have Gianluca Mancini and Diego Llorente available from the current centre-back crop in the coming period. An injury to either of them would obviously spell disaster, unless a new player arrives to ease the concern.

That s why Mourinho is very keen to f…

The Women’s World Cup gets under way next Thursday in Australia and New Zealand.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to the tournament in numbers.

4 – the United States hold the record for Women’s World Cup titles, winning four of the eight previous tournaments including the last two back-to-back. Four is also the number of different nations to have been crowned champions, with Germany winning twice and Norway and Japan once each.

17 – Brazil’s Marta will go into her sixth World Cup as the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 17 goals.

10 – the record goal tally in a single edition, by American Michelle Akers in the inaugural 1991 competition. That included five in a match, against Chinese Taipei, a record matched by compatriot Alex M…

Liverpool are interested in signing Joshua Kimmich from Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that talks between Kimmich and Bayern are not going well, and that former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool are keen on bringing him to Anfield.

Kimmich is one of the best players in the world. The 29-year-old Germany international can operate as a midfielder or as a right-back. He has been on the books of Bayern since 2015 when he joined from RB Leipzig. During his time at the Allianz Arena so far, Kimmich has won the Bundesliga title eight times and the UEFA Champions League once.

Liverpool, though, are not the only club who are keen on Kimmich. La Liga club Barcelona and Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain …