The German national football team's decision to drop Adidas as its kit supplier sparked dismay in Berlin on Friday, with the economy minister blasting the switch to US sportswear giant Nike for its lack of "patriotism".

Italy asked that Robinho be made to serve his sentence in his home country instead.

Rafael Leao, Matheus Nunes and Bruno Fernandes all struck for the rampant hosts in the first half.

Bangladesh put up a better show than their tie against Lebanon but yet suffered a 5-0 defeat to a spirited Palestine in their World Cup Qualifying match at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City, Kuwait on Thursday.

Wednesday's surprise decision by the court caught prosecutors off guard as the footballer had routinely been refused bail since his arrest in January 2023 on grounds he was a high flight risk.

With the season reaching its climax, the average goals per game currently stands at 3.24 compared to 2.85 last season, an increase of 13.7%. It is the biggest jump since 1925-26 when the offside rule was tweaked to favour attacking players.

Bangladesh will have their work cut out as they face Palestine, a team currently 86 places higher in FIFA rankings, in a World Cup Qualifiers Group I fixture at Jaber Al-Ahmad Stadium in Kuwait tonight. The match will kick off at 12:30am (Bangladesh Standard time).

Thierry Henry's France side are firm favourites to progress following a kind group draw for men's football at the 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday, as the hosts wait to see if Kylian Mbappe will be made available.

A Milan court in 2017 found Robinho and five other Brazilians guilty of gang raping a woman in 2013.

FIFA has taken action against member nations over the actions of their governments before.

The 26-year-old, who is set to earn his 50th cap for Brazil in friendly matches against England and Spain, opened up about how therapy helped him find his rhythm again.

Former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves is to be released from jail pending an appeal against his rape conviction in exchange for posting bail of one million euros ($1.08 million), a Barcelona court said Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to miss Portugal's friendly clash against Sweden as Roberto Martinez made changes to his squad. Martinez had included the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in his preliminary 32-man squad but has now left him out of his team's next game against Sweden.

Israel's footballers are aiming to make history by reaching the European Championship for the first time amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with the final three places at Euro 2024 up for grabs over the next week.

Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (STJ) will examine the Italian request to approve the prison sentence that was imposed in 2017 and ratified in 2022.

The Tokyo foreign ministry "strongly requests the general public to refrain" from attending the match on March 26, the first for the two sides in North Korea since 2011.

Before going for a two-week training camp in Saudi Arabia ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers against Palestine, Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera had repeatedly said that his team needed to put in more than they did against Lebanon in a 1-1 draw in November last year.

City, third in the league standings and aiming to repeat the treble, will kick off their preparation for the new campaign against Scottish Premiership side Celtic on July 23 before playing Serie A's Milan at the Yankee Stadium four days later.

A sell-out crowd paid from 880 Hong Kong dollars ($110) to see the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner in action on February 4 in an Inter Miami tour match against a Hong Kong select XI.

Having trained in Saudi Arabia for more than two weeks, the men in red and green reached Kuwait and had their first training session on Monday in the country ahead of the Palestine tie.