Neymar tells Barca teammates 'he is leaving'

Brazilian strike Neymar confirmed his departure from Barcelona FC. (AFP)
Brazilian strike Neymar confirmed his departure from Barcelona FC. (AFP)
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Neymar tells Barca teammates 'he is leaving'

Brazilian strike Neymar confirmed his departure from Barcelona FC. (AFP)
Brazilian strike Neymar confirmed his departure from Barcelona FC. (AFP)

Neymar informed his teammates he is leaving Barcelona, a club spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday, as his potential world record move to Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer.

"The player came to train as scheduled and announced to his teammates that he is leaving," said the source.

"The coach has given him permission to not train and to manage resolving his future."

Speculation over the 25-year-old's future has dominated the first few weeks of new Barca boss Ernesto Valverde's reign with PSG reportedly willing to pay Neymar's 222 million euro ($260 million) buyout clause.

Such a fee would smash the current record £89.3 million ($111 million, 105.2 million euros) Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba last year.

Neymar arrived back in Barcelona on Tuesday from a fleeting promotional tour to China.

He turned up for training at 9am local time (0700GMT) on Wednesday, but left less than an hour later.

Presuming both clubs don't come to a late agreement, the buyout clause would have to be paid to Barcelona via Spain's La Liga to free the player from the contract he signed last year and runs until 2021.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG's money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side's part to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules (FFP).

Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period.

"We will not accept this money from a club like PSG," Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS on Wednesday.

"Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws."

Barcelona have also threatened to report PSG to UEFA over any potential breach of FFP.

PSG have already been fined and saw their Champions League squad limited by UEFA for breaches of FFP in 2014.



Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
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Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)

Oscar Piastri is on a similar career trajectory to Formula One world champion teammate Lando Norris and should have a shot at the title this season, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Monday as they prepared to test in Bahrain.

The American told reporters on a video call that his drivers were raring to get going.

"He (Piastri) is now going into his fourth year. Lando has a lot more grands prix than he does so if you look at the development of Lando over that time, Oscar's on a similar trajectory," Brown said.

"So he's in a good place, physically very fit, excited, ready to ‌go."

LAST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION ‌WAS IN 1980

Piastri, who debuted with McLaren in Bahrain ‌in ⁠2023, can become ‌Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

While Piastri took his first win in his second season, Norris had to wait until his sixth. Both won seven times last year.

Brown said he had spoken a lot with the Australian over the European winter break and expected the 24-year-old, championship leader for much of 2025, to pick up where he left off.

He said the discussion had been all about creating the best environment for him and what ⁠McLaren needed to do to support him.

Brown said Piastri had spent time in the simulator and, in response to ‌a question about lingering sentiment in Australia that McLaren ‍favored Norris, "he knows he's getting a ‍fair shake at it".

"You win some, you lose some. Things fall your way, things ‍don't fall your way," added the chief executive.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE

Brown said Norris' confidence level was also very high.

"He's highly motivated and it's our job to give him and Oscar the equipment again to be able to let them fight it out for the championship," he said.

"If we can do that, I think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shot."

Mercedes' George Russell is the current pre-season favorite after an initial shakedown ⁠test in Barcelona last month.

Norris can become only the second Briton to take back-to-back titles after seven times champion Lewis Hamilton, who won four titles in a row with Mercedes from 2017-20 as well as two together in 2014 and 2015.

The only other multiple British world champions are Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1962, 1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973).

"I think there are some drivers that say 'I've done it. Now I'm done'," said Brown. "And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go 'I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three or four times'."

He reiterated that both remained free to race and said decisions would be taken strategically as and ‌when they arose.

"We feel like we'll be competitive. The top four teams all seem very competitive. Very early days but indications that we will be strong," he added.


‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
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‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)

Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.

Olympic organizers are investigating with "maximum attention" after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.

"Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken."

TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.

His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.

US figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.

"My medal don’t need the ribbon," Liu wrote early Monday.

Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.

"We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said Monday.

"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."

It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.

Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.


African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
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African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)

Burkina Faso striker Dango Ouattara was the Brentford match-winner for the second straight weekend when they triumphed 3-2 at Newcastle United.

The 23-year-old struck in the 85th minute of a seesaw Premier League struggle in northeast England. The Bees trailed and led before securing three points to go seventh in the table.

Last weekend, Ouattara dented the title hopes of third-placed Aston Villa by scoring the only goal at Villa Park.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

DANGO OUATTARA (Brentford)

With the match at Newcastle locked at 2-2, the Burkinabe sealed victory for the visitors at St James' Park by driving a left-footed shot past Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope to give the Bees a first win on Tyneside since 1934. Ouattara also provided the cross that led to Vitaly Janelt's headed equalizer after Brentford had fallen 1-0 behind.

BRYAN MBEUMO (Manchester Utd)

The Cameroon forward helped the Red Devils extend their perfect record under caretaker manager Michael Carrick to four games by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Tottenham after Spurs had been reduced to 10 men by captain Cristian Romero's red card.

ISMAILA SARR (Crystal Palace)

The Eagles ended their 12-match winless run with a 1-0 victory at bitter rivals Brighton thanks to Senegal international Sarr's 61st-minute goal when played in by substitute Evann Guessand, the Ivory Coast forward making an immediate impact on his Palace debut after joining on loan from Aston Villa during the January transfer window.

ITALY

LAMECK BANDA (Lecce)

Banda scored direct from a 90th-minute free-kick outside the area to give lowly Leece a precious 2-1 Serie A victory at home against mid-table Udinese. It was the third league goal this season for the 25-year-old Zambia winger. Leece lie 17th, one place and three points above the relegation zone.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy produced a moment of quality just when Dortmund needed it against Wolfsburg. Felix Nmecha's silky exchange with Fabio Silva allowed the Guinean to sweep in an 87th-minute winner for his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season. The 29-year-old has scored or assisted in four of his last five games.

RANSFORD KOENIGSDOERFFER (Hamburg)

A first-half thunderbolt from Ghana striker Koenigsdoerffer put Hamburg on track for a 2-0 victory at Heidenheim. It was their first away win of the season. Nigerian winger Philip Otele, making his Hamburg debut, split the defense with a clever pass to Koenigsdoerffer, who hit a shot low and hard to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

FRANCE

ISSA SOUMARE (Le Havre)

An opportunist goal by Soumare on 54 minutes gave Le Havre a 2-1 home win over Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The Senegalese received the ball just inside the area and stroked it into the far corner of the net as he fell.