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Thanksgiving Ticker: FIFA rejects Drogba move, Clattenberg cleared, Adriano apologizes, and more

 

Didier Drogba was hoping to make a return to Stamford Bridge to play for Chelsea on an emergency loan ahead of the African Cup of Nations, but FIFA decided it would not bend its player movement rules to accommodate the star forward.

FIFA rejected Drogba’s request to make a loan move to Chelsea outside the regular transfer window, meaning he can’t play for the Blues until January 1st. Drogba was hoping to join Chelsea early and get games ahead of his participation in the African Cup of Nations.

Drogba’s season with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua has come to an end, and the Ivorian star has traveled to London to train with Chelsea, but his hopes of seeing some playing time before the mid-June African Cup of Nations Tournament were squashed by FIFA.

Here are some other stories to get you through Thanksgiving Day:

FA clears Clattenburg in racism case

English referee Mark Clattenburg has been cleared of all charges after claims were made against him that accused him of making improper comments at Chelsea players during Chelsea’s loss to Manchester United last month.

Clattenburg has not officiated a match in a month while the English FA investigated the claims brought on by Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel and Ramires.

Mikel has been charged with improper conduct for his behavior during and after Chelsea’s loss to Manchester United, and could face a three-match suspension for his actions.

Luiz Adriano apologizes for unsporting goal vs. Nordsjaelland

After scoring one of the more infamous goals in recent memory, Brazilian forward Luiz Adriano is showing remorse for what he calls an honest mistake.

In a statement released on Shakhtar Donetsk’s team website, Adriano tried clearing the air about exactly what happened.

Here is his statement:

I haven’t seen the beginning of the episode, because I was standing with my back to the ball and my face towards the opposition goal, I was in the attacking area and did not notice what had happened on our half. I was very focused on the game and, when the ball dropped near me and the defenders did not show any initiative, I picked up the ball, beat the goalkeeper and scored

I am a forward, in fact. Later, after analyzing the replay of that episode and after talking to my teammates, I realized what had happened, I completely changed my view on the episode. I’m very sorry about what happened, I apologize to all the fans and UEFA. Nothing like this ever happened to me before, I always respected, do and will respect the Fair Play rules. Once again, I apologize and I promise that this will never happen again.

Benitez determined to win Chelsea fans over

Newly-appointed Chelsea manager had plenty to answer for in his first press conference as Blues boss, including comments he made about Chelsea during his time as Liverpool manager.

Benitez defended himself vigorously and insisted that he would be able to win Chelsea fans over, even as some protest his appointment.

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Aston Villa blocks Given loan to Hull, but could revisit it in January. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these developments? Disappointed that FIFA didn’t budge for Drogba, or were they right to avoid opening up a can of worms by bending their rules? Think Chelsea should face punishment for falsely accusing Clattenburg?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Benitez is absolute garbage. AVB was given no time and not even a chance to bring in his own players. DiMatteo just won you the Champions League, so after a few bad games (after leading the league mind you) what does Roman do? What else. Abromovich is such a loser. I wish he was out of the game. Any coach who works from him is crazy. I’d rather be unemployed than work for that psycho. And I am. I turned him down last week

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