Spain

The referees for this summer’s European Championship in Germany have been confirmed. They include English quartet Anthony Taylor (pictured), Michael Oliver, Stuart Attwell and David Coote, the latter two having been selected as a video assistant referee for the tournament. UEFA referee’s committee has named 19 referees, plus their referee assistant teams and video match officials for the 51 matches this summer. The appointment of Attwell 41, and Taylor, 45, comes two days after the two officials were criticised by Nottingham Forest for their failure to award three penalties during...

Our writers pick the one former player they would most like to see return to the game

Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati says the Women’s Super League is an “attractive” competition for Spanish players after criticising the lack of legacy in the domestic game following Spain’s Women’s World Cup. The 26-year-old Barcelona midfielder highlighted how the WSL empowers its players and singled out Arsenal and Manchester City’s style of play as desirable factors to Spain internationals. A number of Spanish players have moved to the WSL in recent seasons, with Laia Aleixandri and Leila Ouahabi joining Manchester City, Lucia Garcia and Irene...

Barcelona are in talks over a contract extension for their exciting young centre-back Pau Cubarsi. The 17-year-old’s current deal expires in the summer of 2026, but Barca plan to improve it and grant him first-team status as soon as possible. The defender is still on an academy contract that includes a €10million release clause (£8.5m; $10.6m at current rates) — a standard figure among La Masia talents. Barcelona plan to raise this to €1billion — as they also did with 16-year-old forward Lamine Yamal’s new three-year contract in October. Cubarsi’s desire is to stay at the club...

The case examining allegations of corruption during Luis Rubiales’ time as Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president took a further twist on Friday as the man who replaced him was also put under investigation. Pedro Rocha, who took over after Rubiales decided to resign in September, having already been suspended by FIFA over his behaviour at the Women’s World Cup final the month before, had been called as a witness in the case. But after his appearance at a Madrid court on Friday he, like Rubiales, has now been placed under investigation. On March 20, Spanish police carried out a series...

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Sergio Rico has received medical clearance to return to football 11 months on from his life-threatening accident. The 30-year-old completed tests with PSG doctors on Saturday and has been declared ready to train and play competitively again. He is not expected to wear protective headgear upon his return to competitive action as doctors have not recommended so. Rico has undergone satisfactory tests in Seville, at the French Football Federation (FFF) and finally at PSG in which his cardiovascular system, his neurological capacity and his cervical vertebrae were...

When 33-year-old Sergio Canales lines up for Monterrey against Inter Miami’s quartet of ex-Barcelona icons on Wednesday, he will do so as the most expensive signing in Mexican football history. There were several junctures when imagining glamour at this stage of his career seemed fanciful, if not impossible. None more so than on Dec. 30, 2015, when he was stretchered off the Bernabeu pitch — the place his career had been predicted to ignite as a teenager but where he only lasted a single season playing for Real Madrid. Then with Real Sociedad, he had just suffered the third ACL injury...

After a 40-year wait for a Copa del Rey victory, the Williams brothers (and all of Bilbao) can finally celebrate after beating Mallorca

The ex-Spanish Football Federation president flew back to Madrid from the Caribbean on Wednesday, amid a deepening crisis

A goalkeeper who went into the stands to confront a fan who allegedly racially abused him at a Spanish third-tier game has been given a two-match ban. In the 87th minute of Saturday’s match between Sestao River Club and Rayo Majadahonda, Senegalese goalkeeper Cheikh Sarr was shown a red card after jumping into the crowd behind the goal following the reported abuse. After the 23-year-old had been sent off and informed his Rayo Majadahonda team-mates of what had happened, they walked off the pitch with the match subsequently abandoned. As well as the ban for Sarr, the Spanish Football...

Former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales was detained and questioned immediately after landing in Madrid on Wednesday morning, as part of an anti-corruption investigation. Rubiales, who resigned as RFEF president in September, having been suspended by FIFA over his kiss on Spain forward Jenni Hermoso after the Women’s World Cup final in August, was travelling back from the Dominican Republic. That is where he was on March 20, when RFEF headquarters in Madrid and Rubiales’ home in Granada were searched as part of an investigation into alleged corruption during his...

A Spanish third-division game was abandoned after a team walked off the pitch in protest at their goalkeeper being racially abused. The goalkeeper — Cheikh Kane Sarr — went into the crowd behind his goal to confront the fan who was allegedly racially abusing him. His Rayo Majadahonda team-mates walked off the pitch to force the abandonment of their Spanish third division match against Sestao River. In the 87th minute of the match, Senegalese goalkeeper Sarr, 23, was shown a red card after jumping into the crowd behind the goal following the alleged abuse, to confront the fan. Once the...

The acting head of the Spanish football federation, Pedro Rocha, will travel to FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, next week to reassure the world governing body of changes his organisation is making after a number of recent scandals. Rocha and FIFA president Gianni Infantino already met recently in London to speak about the federation’s situation, but more discussions are set to be held. According to federation (RFEF) sources — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to comment — Rocha’s managing committee...

The Manchester City player's stock has never been higher in world football - and rightly so

The Barcelona teenager brought the Santiago Bernabeu crowd to its feet, but Spain still contrived to draw a game they should have won