logo
Soccer-Leicester appoint Cifuentes as manager

Soccer-Leicester appoint Cifuentes as manager

The Star15-07-2025
Soccer Football - Championship - Leeds United v Queens Park Rangers - Elland Road, Leeds, Britain - November 9, 2024 Queens Park Rangers manager Marti Cifuentes arrives before the match Action Images/Craig Brough/File Photo
(Reuters) -Leicester City have appointed former Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes as their manager on a three-year contract, the Championship side said on Tuesday.
Leicester parted ways with former manager Ruud van Nistelrooy last month following the club's relegation to the English second tier after finishing 18th in the Premier League.
"This is a fantastic club with a proud history and it's a privilege to me to be asked to help write the next chapter," Cifuentes said in a statement shared by Leicester.
The Spaniard, 43, previously coached Hammarby, whom he led to a Swedish Cup final and UEFA Conference League qualification. He took over at QPR in October 2023.
QPR put Cifuentes on gardening leave in April, ahead of their final game of the Championship season, as they finished 15th, seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Leicester begin their 2025-26 Championship campaign at home against Sheffield Wednesday on August 10.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Soccer-Arsenal sign defender Mosquera from Valencia
Soccer-Arsenal sign defender Mosquera from Valencia

The Star

time31 minutes ago

  • The Star

Soccer-Arsenal sign defender Mosquera from Valencia

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Betis - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - November 23, 2024 Real Betis' Vitor Roque in action with Valencia's Cristhian Mosquera REUTERS/Pablo Morano/File Photo (Reuters) -Arsenal have signed central defender Cristhian Mosquera from LaLiga side Valencia on a long-term deal, the Premier League club said on Thursday. Details of the transfer were not disclosed but British media reported the 21-year-old Spaniard has signed a five-year contract for an initial fee of around 15 million euros ($17.7 million), plus add-ons. Mosquera featured in 90 matches for Valencia across all competitions and played 37 of their 38 LaLiga games last season to help them finish 12th. He joins Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard and Noni Madueke among Arsenal's close-season signings. Striker Viktor Gyokeres is also reported to be on the brink of joining the London club as manager Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen his squad after finishing runners-up in the last three Premier League seasons. "We're delighted to welcome Cristhian to Arsenal. As a 21-year-old defender, Cristhian has already performed consistently well with significant experience in LaLiga," Arteta said in a statement. "He is an intelligent player with good pace, who can play centrally and on both sides." ($1 = 0.8497 euros) (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

Elite slackliners to vie in high-altitude challenge in central China
Elite slackliners to vie in high-altitude challenge in central China

The Star

time31 minutes ago

  • The Star

Elite slackliners to vie in high-altitude challenge in central China

CHANGSHA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The renowned Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in central China, one of the prototypes for the scene in the movie Avatar, will host the 2025 "Slackline King" Championship from August 18 to 20. Over 20 elite slackline athletes from China, France, Brazil, Argentina, and other countries and regions will compete in the event. Set against the breathtaking Huangshizhai scenic spot, the largest natural viewing deck of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, competitors will walk a 1,000-meter slackline suspended at an altitude of 1,092 meters, with a limited number of falls allowed. The athlete who completes the course in the shortest time will win the gold medal. The gold medalist will receive a cash prize of 100,000 yuan (about 13,972 U.S. dollars). In addition to the main competition, the event will feature a high-altitude challenge for the public and a low-altitude balance experience to engage spectators. Since its inception in 2018, the Zhangjiajie high-altitude slackline competition has become an annual activity, drawing slackline enthusiasts from around the world to test their skills at dizzying heights.

Indian football 'hurt, scared' as domestic game hits fresh low
Indian football 'hurt, scared' as domestic game hits fresh low

New Straits Times

time5 hours ago

  • New Straits Times

Indian football 'hurt, scared' as domestic game hits fresh low

NEW DELHI: Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter once called India a "sleeping giant" of football, but the sport is mired in fresh crisis in the country and faces problems from the top down to grassroots. The men's national team are without a coach and the Indian Super League (ISL) – India's top competition – is in danger of collapsing over a dispute between the federation and its commercial partner. "Everybody in the Indian football ecosystem is worried, hurt, scared about the uncertainty we are faced with," Sunil Chhetri, the celebrated veteran striker, wrote on X about the fate of the ISL. The former national skipper unwittingly summed up one of the issues facing Indian football when he came out of international retirement in March aged 40. The striker has 95 goals for his country and is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (138), Lionel Messi (112) and Ali Daei (108) in the all-time international scoring charts. His best days are well behind him, but with no younger replacements coming through he returned to the national side. India's men are 133rd in the Fifa rankings – their lowest placing in nearly a decade – and have won just one of their last 16 matches. They have never reached the World Cup and Spaniard Manolo Marquez stepped down this month as head coach after just one year and one win in eight games. His last act was to oversee a 1-0 defeat in Asian Cup qualifying to Hong Kong, population 7.5 million to India's 1.4 billion. The ISL is usually played between September and April. But a rights agreement between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the company which runs the ISL, ends on Dec 8 and is yet to be renewed. The league is now paralysed ahead of the new campaign and the uncertainty has affected over 5,000 players, coaches, staff and others. National football team director and former captain Subrata Paul is confident the sport in India – a country obsessed with cricket – will come out stronger. "Indian football, like any growing ecosystem, will face its share of challenges and transitions," Paul, regarded as one of India's best-ever goalkeepers, told AFP. "I see this as a time to pause, reflect and refocus. Yes, the recent results and the uncertainty around the ISL are difficult for all of us who love the game, but I see a silver lining as well. "It's an opportunity to strengthen our foundation by investing in youth development, infrastructure and quality coaching." The franchise-based ISL started in 2014 as a league that brought global stars including Italy's Alessandro Del Piero to India, and aimed to promote the game in a new avatar. Bur rather than boom, the ISL has seen dwindling TV ratings and falling sponsor interest. Football's global bosses have long been keen to tap the potential that India has as the world's most populous country. Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager and now Fifa's chief of global football development, visited in 2023 to inaugurate an academy. AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey – who is also a politician with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party – last month met Wenger, who has backed India's football development, particularly at grassroots level. Chaubey said Wenger believes starting football at 13 years of age, as is the norm in India, is too late. Players should start by eight, he said. While India have never reached the World Cup and again will be absent in North America next year, there has been modest success in the distant past. India qualified for the Olympics four times between 1948 and 1960. At the 1956 Melbourne Games India came fourth after losing the bronze-medal match to Bulgaria. Blatter in 2007 called India a "sleeping giant" – but it remains in a deep slumber. Football is a distant third in popularity in India after cricket and hockey, with the eastern city of Kolkata and the southern state of Kerala hotspots for the sport. Compounding that, there has long been mismanagement by Indian football chiefs, said veteran sports journalist Jaydeep Basu. "The fact that the team which was ranked 99 in September 2023 has come down to 133 basically shows poor management," Basu told AFP. "There is a caucus working in the AIFF of two or three people who are running the show for their own benefit," added Basu, who recently authored a book, "Who stole my football?"

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store