| IN OTHER NEWS Heading ban: England will be the first country in Europe to trial a ban on deliberate heading for children under 12. The USA already has such a rule. Should the trial be successful, the ban will come into effect from 2023-24. Judith Gates, who is the chair and co-founder of Head for Change, which focusses on brain damage in sport, called the decision “a constructive step towards making their footballing world safer”. Gates has been a diligent campaigner for highlighting brain damage through repeated heading. You can read her interactions with HT here and here Four interested: South Korea, Indonesia, Qatar and Australia are interested in hosting the 2023 Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said. These nations will have until the end of August to submit bid documents, with the AFC to announce a new host on October 17. China pulled out of hosting the event in 2023 due to concerns over Covid-19. Skocic back: Sacked today, reinstated tomorrow, well almost. Six days after the Iran federation terminated Dragan Skocic’s contract, the Croat was called back and told to lead the country to the World Cup, Iran’s sixth finals appearance. Apparently, the federation’s board of directors had a change of heart. Skocic won 15 of his last 18 games but the federation wanted to fire him following a friendly defeat to Algeria after reports that he had lost the change room.  Zinchenko is set to reunite with Mikel Arteta (Source: File Photo) Zinchenko Gunner: Oleksandr Zinchenko is set to join Arsenal, the move likely to fetch Manchester City almost $36 million. The Ukraine skipper was keen to work with Mikel Arteta who was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at City. Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella is said to be City’s target. Dybala at Roma: Having left Juventus after a tearful farewell, Paulo Dybala is joining Jose Mourinho in making Conference League champions Roma a force to reckon with. The Argentina international has joined on a three-year deal. Roma finished sixth in Serie A last season. De Ligt joins Bayern: Bayern Munich signed Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt on a five-year deal worth $82 million. “Matthijs de Ligt was a top target for us. With signings like this, the big aims that we have are achievable. The future face of our team is increasingly taking shape,” said Bayern president Herbert Heiner. Chennaiyin FC sign Duker: Chennaiyin FC signed German midfielder Julius Duker to complete their roster of imports for the 2022-23. The 26-year-old is Chennaiyin’s second foreign midfielder after Rafael Crivellaro, who has been part of the team since 2019. Vafa Hakhamaneshi, Fallou Diagne, Petar Sliskovic and Kwame Karikari are the other foreign signings. Diagne and Sliskovic too have played in Germany. Two-year deal for Sadaoui: FC Goa have signed winger and Morocco international Noah Sadaoui on a two-year deal. Sadaoui is the club's fourth foreign signing for the season, following Alvaro Vazquez, Fares Arnaout and Iker Guarrotxena. USA for Paris: Alex Morgan’s 78th minute penalty-kick helped USA beat Canada 1-0 in the final of the CONCACAF W Championship and qualify for the 2024 Olympics. This was Morgan’s 118th international goal in her 196th game. Donetsk demand: Shakhtar Donetsk are demanding €50 million damages ($50.97m) from Fifa claiming that is what they lost in possible transfer fees. This follows a Fifa ruling that said contracts could be suspended till June 2023 because of the war with Russia. The club has told CAS that this is what they have lost after the players left without the club getting any compensation.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Source: Instagram) New deal for Zlatan: He is 40 and just landed a new deal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has extended his contract with AC Milan till June 2023. This despite Ibrahimovic being likely to miss the rest of 2022 because he is recovering from injury. Bernardeschi for Toronto FC: Lorenzo Insigne is already there, now Italy teammate Federico Bernardeschi will join him at Toronto FC on a four-year deal. Both were part of the squad that won the Euros last year. Koulibaly at Chelsea: Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly, 31, left Napoli for Chelsea on a four-year deal. The reported fee was around $37.93 million. “Chelsea came first to get me in 2016 but we didn't make it. Now when they came to me I accepted it because they really wanted me to come to the Premier League to play for them.” Chelsea lost centre-backs Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen who left on free transfers last season. Mahrez stays: Riyad Mahrez signed a two-year contract extension with Premier League champions Manchester City. The Algeria winger joined City in 2018 from Leicestser and has made 189 appearances since, scoring 63 goals and providing 45 assists. The beautiful game: From Mizoram to Mexico, two videos that show why this is the beautiful game. | 
