Football news

Ukraine and Dnipro-1 midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalonok is likely to leave his current club in the summer, reportsUF.

According to the source, ambitious Polissia are very interested in signing the Dnipro player. The president of Zhytomyr, Gennadiy Butkevych, does not hide his admiration for the Shakhtar player. Moreover, the Zhytomyr club has already made the 27-year-old an offer.

As previously reported, Oleksandr's clause is six million euros. His contract with Dnipro-1 runs until 30 June 2025.

Barcelona coach Javi Hernandez has congratulated Real Madrid on winning the La Liga title.

"Congratulations to Real Madrid, they had an outstanding league season. We could not impose a fight on them. Second place is a minimum task. We will play in the Super Cup. I am happy," Marca quoted Xavi as saying.

We would like to add that there is only one round left in La Liga, but Real Madrid became the champion ahead of schedule, Catalan Barcelona took second place, and Girona closed the top three.

Obolon Kyiv defender Vladyslav Pryimak told how to play against Polissia forward Oleksandr Usyk.

- Well, of course, this experience will be interesting, because it will be something new and unusual. I will perceive him as my opponent, who needs to be taken out of the game, but not by the methods he uses in boxing," said Pryimak.

The UEFA Executive Committee will hold its next meeting in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on Wednesday 22 May from 09:00 to 13:00 local time, ahead of the Europa League final between Atalanta Bergamo and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Dublin Arena on the same evening.

The main items on the agenda of the Executive Committee meeting are:

• UEFA club competitions finals 2026 and 2027 - appointment of hosts
• Euro 2025 Women's Final - draw procedure
• Regulations of the UEFA Men's Under-17 and Under-19 Competitions 2024/2025
• Regulations of the UEFA Women's Under-17 and Under-19 Competitions 2024/2025
• Regulations of the UEFA European Under-19 Futsal Championship 2024/2025
• UEFA Super Cup Regulations 2024/2025
• Permanent Facility Monitoring Programme - update
• Reports of UEFA committees

No press conference is planned after the UEFA Executive Committee meeting. The decisions of the meeting will be announced in a press release.

Rukh midfielder Talles Brenner hopes for the support of the fans ahead of the matchday 30 against Dynamo Kyiv.

- The support of the fans is very important for us. We hear the spectators shouting and supporting Rukh and every player in our team. It motivates us and we want to please people with our game. It's also nice to celebrate goals and victories with the fans, as well as to talk to them after the match - it adds to the positive emotions," said Brener.

As it turned out, it is not Artur Avahimyan who is moving from Chornomorets Odesa to Lviv's Karpaty, as journalist Maksym Gilenko previously reported on UPL TV, but another midfielder, Orest Kuzyk.

"During theSunday broadcast on UPL TV, I made a terrible mistake. Instead of Orest Kuzyk, I sent Artur Avagimyan to Karpaty. I just had one name in mind, but sent a completely different one.I apologise toall parties involved!" Gilenko tweeted yesterday.

The UAF has issued an official statement regarding the scandalous 2024 FIFA World Cup poster featuring a Russian player.

"UAF's position on the image on the official FIFA website.

Yesterday, the official FIFA website published a photo depicting a player from a terrorist country. This caused an outright shock and genuine surprise of the entire Ukrainian, European and global football community.

Moreover, the national team of the terrorist country was disqualified from the FIFA World Cup. Accordingly, the UAF leadership immediately sent an official letter of protest to FIFA.

P.S. As of now, the image has been removed from the official FIFA resources. We hope that such ridiculous mistakes will not be repeated in the future," the UAF official telegram channel said in a statement.

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank is now one of the main contenders for the post of the new Bayern coach. This is reported by German journalist Christian Falk on his Twitter page.

It is reported that the leadership of "Bayern" has already entered into negotiations with Frank regarding possible cooperation.

Previously, the Munich grandee failed to agree with several specialists, among them: Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Dzerby and Ralph Rangnick.

Recall, Frank's current agreement with "Bretford" is valid until the end of the season 2026/2027.

UAF Secretary General Ihor Hryshchenko said that the Minaya stadium may not be certified for the next UPL season due to the lack of lighting.

"As far as I remember, an exception was made for the Minaya stadium, and this led to a negative story. When our team came to management, we had to resolve this story. It was not an easy decision to finish the championship in the format in which we started. Therefore, we allowed the use of this stadium until the end of the season. But for the next season, there are general rules for certification. I assume that this stadium will not be able to get the right to host UPL matches, given the lack of lighting. Either they will put it in order," Hryshchenko said.

Shakhtar Donetsk is interested in the transfer of two Dnipro-1 players - Valentyn Rubchynskyi and Eduard Sarapiy. This was reported by commentator Ihor Tsyhanik.

"Rubchynskyi is on the radar of Shakhtar's selectors. They are also interested in Dnipro-1 centre-back Sarapiy. They are looking at these two players," Tsyganik said on the Tsyganik Live programme.

A new poster for the 2024 FIFA World Cup, which is due to take place in Uzbekistan from 14 October to 6 October, has been posted on the official FIFA website.

Following the scandal involving the image of Russian futsal player Sergei Abramov on the poster for the World Cup, the FIFA press service has modified the image by removing the player.

As a reminder, Russian futsal clubs and national teams have been suspended from international competitions since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The Russians are also banned from the upcoming tournament.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois commented on his return to the field at the end of this season after two serious injuries.

"You need to be positive. In August, I cried because the worst thing that can happen to you in football is crosses. But then I said I would work hard and come back only stronger. That was my goal from the beginning - to fight and never give up. Many people thought that this season was over for me, but I knew it wasn't. You have to have confidence and faith in yourself to overcome difficulties. It's important to be a professional," Courtois said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo.