Pope Francis welcomed the victorious Bayern Munich team to the Vatican after their 7-1 Champions League rout of Roma, telling them they "played a wonderful game" and receiving a signed jersey and ball in return.

England’s football chiefs rounded on FIFA president Sepp Blatter yesterday telling him he must stand down next year and that his claim racism was behind World Cup corruption allegations was "offensive and totally unacceptable".

Patrick Kluivert today revealed he is waiting for offers from the Premiership after expressing his disappointment at being released by Barcelona.