Uefa to decide Palace's Europa League fate on Friday
Uefa executives will meet on Friday to decide whether Crystal Palace will be allowed to play in next season's Europa League.The Eagles won the FA Cup to qualify for Europe for the first time in their history but Uefa must decide if they have breached its multi-club ownership rules.The expectation is that the outcome of the hearing will be announced by Friday evening.On Monday it was announced New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has signed a "legally binding contract" to buy John Textor's 43% stake in Crystal Palace in a deal believed to be worth close to £190m.Palace are under threat of losing their spot in Europe on the basis of Textor's involvement at the club.Uefa has been considering whether Palace breached its multi-club ownership rules which bars linked clubs from competing in the same European competition.Textor has a stake in French club Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League.Palace insisted Textor has no significant control at Palace despite his shareholding at the club.There was a further twist this week when Lyon suffered relegation into Ligue 2 because of their poor financial state, which could prevent the French side from playing in Europe altogether.
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Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
Following NATO summit, Trump and Europe still at odds over Putin's ambitions
THE HAGUE, June 26 (Reuters) - For U.S. President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin is a man looking for an off-ramp to his bloody three-year assault on Ukraine. But according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the Russian leader may be just getting started. If the alliance does not invest in its defense capabilities, Rutte warned the annual NATO summit on Tuesday, Russia could attack an alliance country within three years. By most measures, this year's NATO summit in The Hague was a success. Member states largely agreed to a U.S. demand to boost defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product. Trump, who once derided the alliance as a "rip-off," said his view had changed, while a budding bromance blossomed between him and Rutte, who compared the U.S. president to a stern "daddy" managing his geopolitical underlings. But the summit, which ended on Wednesday, also highlighted the widening gap between how the U.S. and Europe see the military ambitions of Russia, the bloc's main foil. That is despite some lawmakers in Trump's own Republican Party hardening their rhetoric in recent weeks, arguing that while the president's ambition to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine is laudable, it is now clear that Putin is not serious about coming to the table. In a Wednesday press conference, Trump conceded that it was "possible" Putin had territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine. But he insisted that the Russian leader - buffeted by manpower and materiel losses - wanted the war to end quickly. "I know one thing: He'd like to settle," Trump said. "He'd like to get out of this thing. It's a mess for him." Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump's view in a sideline interview with Politico, saying the U.S. was holding off on expanding its sanctions against Moscow, in part to keep talks going. "If we did what everybody here wants us to do - and that is come in and crush them with more sanctions - we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire," he said. The message from others at the summit was starkly different. A senior NATO official told reporters in a Tuesday briefing that Putin was not in fact interested in a ceasefire - or in engaging in good-faith talks at all. "Regardless of battlefield dynamics, we continue to doubt that Russia has any interest in meaningful negotiations," the official said. Russia's ambitions, the senior official said, go beyond control of "certain territories at their administrative lines," as Rubio put it. Putin is instead bent on imposing his "political will" on neighboring states. Rutte put the Russian threat in existential terms. "If we do not invest now," he said on Tuesday, "we are really at risk that the Russians might try something against NATO territory in three, five or seven years." The U.S. is not the only NATO member with a more optimistic view of Russia. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime Trump ally and critic of European institutions, said Russia was "not strong enough to represent a real threat to NATO." Still, as the alliance's largest contributor and most powerful member, Washington's position is a central preoccupation in most NATO capitals. The White House, asked for comment, referred to Trump's comments at the Wednesday press conference. In response to a request for comment, a separate NATO official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed that there were differing assessments within the alliance, pointing to a NATO declaration on Wednesday which referenced the "long-term threat posed by Russia." The Russian embassy in Washington referred to Thursday comments by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who criticized NATO for wasting money on defense. "It seems that only by invoking the fabricated 'Russian threat' will it be possible to explain to ordinary people why their pockets are being emptied once again," she said. The U.S. State Department and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. The lack of a common understanding about Putin's goals will complicate future diplomatic plans to wind down the war, said Philippe Dickinson, the deputy director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a former British diplomat. "To reach a peace agreement, it's not just something that Trump and Putin can agree themselves," Dickinson said. "There does need to be European involvement. That needs to mean that there is some sort of sharing of views among allies on what Putin is trying to achieve." European leaders likely have not given up on trying to change Trump's views on Russia, Dickinson said. But they were always unlikely bring up thorny conversations at the NATO summit. The alliance's main goal was to simply get through it without major blowups, he said, an aim that was accomplished. Still, peace came at a cost - the lack of substantive discussion around Ukraine and Russia, he argued, was conspicuous. "The lack of a Russia strategy is a real glaring omission from what the summit could have produced," Dickinson said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Russell suggests Mercedes are still after Verstappen
SPIELBERG, Austria, June 26 (Reuters) - George Russell has suggested his contract renewal talks with Mercedes are being held up because the team are still keen to sign Formula One champion Max Verstappen. The 27-year-old Briton, winner in Canada two weeks ago, is out of contract at the end of the season while four-times champion Verstappen has a deal with Red Bull until 2028, subject to get-out clauses. Russell told Sky Sports television at the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes, constructors' champions eight years in a row from 2014-2021 and currently second to McLaren, wanted to return to the top. "If you're going to be back on top you need to make sure you've got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that's what Mercedes are chasing," he said. "So, it's only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula One team." Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made his interest in Verstappen clear last year as he sought a replacement for seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton. In the end 18-year-old Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was handed the opportunity and has been setting a string of age records, drawing strong support from fans. Verstappen and Russell have had a series of headline clashes on and off the track over the past 12 months, with Mercedes likely to have concerns about pairing them together should the opportunity arise. Russell told reporters separately that team boss Toto Wolff has assured him he was performing as well as anybody on the starting grid. "I think there's only one driver that you can debate in terms of performance -- these are his words, these are not my words -- so that's why I have no concern about the future," he said. "But there's two seats at every team and I guess he needs to think, who are those two drivers going to be for those two seats, and I guess that's what the delay is." Verstappen, appearing in the main FIA press conference, was reluctant to talk about his future when asked if he would be driving for Red Bull next year. "Do you want me to repeat what I said last year?... it's not really on my mind. Just driving well, trying to push the performance, and then we focus on next year."
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Andre Onana impresses as striker with childhood friends in Cameroon as Man Utd fans call for him to replace Hojlund
Onana is determined to stay at Man Utd this summer despite receiving interest from elsewhere UP FOR KEEPS UP FOR KEEPS Andre Onana impresses as striker with childhood friends in Cameroon as Man Utd fans call for him to replace Hojlund MANCHESTER UNITED goalkeeper Andre Onana shocked locals when he rocked up for a kickabout with childhood friends in his home country. But instead of guarding the net, the flamboyant keeper played out on pitch. 3 Andre Onana showed of his outfield skills while playing football with friends Credit: TIKTOK @PEPE_DOLLARS10_OFFICEL 3 The goalkeeper enjoyed playing as a striker during the match Credit: TIKTOK @PEPE_DOLLARS10_OFFICEL 3 Onana is expected to stay at Man Utd this summer Credit: Alamy Onana, wearing a black vest and shorts, looked nothing like a struggling goalkeeper as he danced across the pitch with boots coated in red dust but a wide smile as ever. He is currently back in Cameroon for a break after a rollercoaster season where he was heavily criticised for his countless errors, including in last month's Europa League final defeat to Tottenham. There has been interest from AS Monaco, but Onana has turned down all offers and has no intention of leaving Ruben Amorim's side. His future is still up in the air but SunSport understands the former Inter Milan man is determined to succeed at the club. United are set to make changes in the goalkeeping department and Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez wants to join the Old Trafford Club. But the current plan is to keep faith in Onana and bring in someone who can put serious pressure on the 29-year-old. Red Devils boss Amorim is expected to spend his available budget on other areas, notably in reshaping the forward line. United declined to comment when asked about the video of Onana in Cameroon. Join SUN CLUB for the Man Utd Files every Thursday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from Old Trafford The clip of the goalkeeper was shared on social media this week, with one person joking that he was "better than Rasmus Hojlund." While another quipped: "Even they don't want him in goal!"
