Italy veteran Andrea Pirlo is among the absentees as coach Antonio Conte names a provisional 28-man squad on Monday for a pre-Euro 2016 training camp with several stars absent with Cup finals to play.

Uncapped midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Julian Brandt are included in Germany's provisional 27-man squad for next month's European championships in France.

France coach Didier Deschamps names his 23-man squad for Euro 2016 on Thursday, with both Mathieu Valbuena and Hatem Ben Arfa missing the cut.

With less than a month until Euro 2016 gets underway in France, fans of defending champions Spain still do not know if they will be able to watch the finals on TV, as no media outlet in Spain has bought the rights to the tournament.

Four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi has warned Barcelona's rivals that the European champions are determined to match their five-trophy haul from 2015 in the coming year.

Sepp Blatter has claimed there was a deal to give Russia the 2018 World Cup before voting took place, and blamed England and the US for the corruption scandal engulfing Fifa.

Michel Platini, president of European football body UEFA and suspended amid a huge corruption scandal rocking the game, admits there is no written contract for remuneration he received from world body FIFA.

Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has labelled Barcelona star Lionel Messi the opponent he has had the most difficulty facing.

Fifa is discussing delaying the election for its next president, two sources told Reuters, a move that could give Michel Platini more time to appeal against his ban.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter will not resign despite major sponsors Coca-Cola, Visa, Budweiser and McDonald's calling for him to go immediately.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique launched a staunch defence of his players after they came from behind without the injured Lionel Messi to beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 on Tuesday.

Having helped the Blaugrana to four titles, the Argentine attacker is already the finest footballer to play Champions League.

Fifa will investigate the alleged distribution of a dossier highly critical of Uefa president Michel Platini.

Sepp Blatter was "shocked" at the way the US judiciary has targeted football's world body and slammed what he called a "hate" campaign by Europe's football leaders.

UEFA president Michel Platini has thrown his weight behind Jordan's Prince Ali bin al Hussein in his bid to unseat Sepp Blatter as the head of football's world governing body FIFA.

Europe's World Cup qualifying process is being based on 13 available places for the 2018 tournament, even though UEFA thinks it deserves a 14th

Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke says no compensation will be paid to clubs and leagues unhappy about plans to play the 2022 Qatar World Cup in November and December.