Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has been appointed as the new manager of Bayern Leverkusen following the dismissal of Gerardo Seoane on Wednesday.

“ #Bayer04 and Gerardo #Seoane go their separate ways. World and European Champion @XabiAlonso becomes new head coach of the #Werkself,” the club announced on Twitter.

It will be the former Bayern Munich player’s first job in charge of a first team head coach since he started football management.

Alonso shared his excitement about joining the German club while praising the players and quality of the squad.

“I know Leverkusen as an excellent club from my time in Germany. #Bayer04 has always had great players, I also see a lot of quality in the current squad. This task excites me a lot.”

The 2010 World Cup winner began his managerial career with the Real Madrid Under 14 team in 2018 before joining Real Sociedad B in 2019 until he left this year.

During his career as a footballer, he played for top teams in Europe including Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Alonso, now 40, won multiple Bundesliga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League titles and the FA Cup, La Liga, UEFA European Championship amongst many other titles.

His first match in charge as the club’s new  manager will be Leverkusen’s Bundesliga home game against Schalke 04 on Saturday October 8.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) on Wednesday said it would allow Russian and Belarusian boxers to compete at the organisation’s events with immediate effect.

The IBA board of directors voted in favour of cancelling its previous decision, which suspended athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing at international events due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The IBA strongly believes that politics shouldn’t have any influence on sports. Hence, all athletes should be given equal conditions,” the association said in a statement.

IBA added that both Russian and Belarus teams would be able to perform under their flags, and the national anthems will be played in case they win a gold medal.

The association’s president Uma Kremlev, who is Russian, had recently called for the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus to all international competitions.

The IBA was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over wide-ranging problems, from judging scandals to governance and finances.

The boxing competition at the Tokyo Olympics last year was run by the IOC, and boxing has not been included in the provisional programme for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Now, this latest decision has the potential to cause further division between the IBA and the IOC.

IOC still calls for Russian athletes to be excluded from international sports outrightly due to Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

(dpa/NAN)

Ukraine will join Spain and Portugal in a joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, the Spanish and Portuguese federations said on Wednesday.

Both associations communicated their plans to European ruling body UEFA, which “immediately expressed its total support,” a statement said.

The joint bid aims to use football as a way to contribute to Ukraine’s reconstruction, the statement said.

But it did not mention Russia’s war in the country directly.

The 2030 World Cup Commission will now include officials from Ukraine and will fulfil all deadlines to present the proposal to football governing body FIFA, the statement added.

(dpa/NAN)