Mumbai City FC rope in Petr Kratky as new head coach
Mumbai, Dec 9: Mumbai City on Saturday named Czech Republic’s Petr Kratky as the new head coach of the club ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Super League. Kratky continues his journey within the City Football Group as he arrives from sister club Melbourne City. The 42-year-old joins Mumbai City in his new role until the end of the 2024-25 season. Kratky enjoyed a 15-year playing career as a right back and represented some of the biggest Czech clubs, including Mlada Boleslav and Slovan Liberec before finishing his career with Heidelberg United in Australia. He then joined A-League side Melbourne City as an academy coach, taking charge of the club’s developmental squad in the NPL2, before coaching them in the NPL Seniors. Following Des Buckingham’s move from Melbourne to Mumbai in October 2021, Kratky was promoted to the role of assistant coach of Melbourne City’s first team. As assistant, during his seven-year stint at Melbourne City, Kratky coached and nurtured several young players from his developmental squad, creating a pathway for them into senior football. As an assistant coach, Kratky was instrumental in guiding Melbourne City to consecutive A-League Men’s Premiers titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Kratky will take charge in his first game for the Islanders against FC Goa in the ISL on December 12. (PTI)
Bengaluru FC part ways with head coach Grayson amid poor season
Bengaluru, Dec 9: Amid a modest ISL 2023-24 season, Bengaluru FC on Saturday decided to part ways with head coach Simon Grayson and assistant coach Neil McDonald. Former India player Renedy Singh will be in-charge of the team till the appointment of a new head coach. The club and the coaching staff decided to go apart after a heavy 0-4 home defeat against Mumbai FC in their last match on Friday. Under Grayson, who took charge ahead of the 2022-2023 season, BFC had finished runners-up in last season’s ISL and the Super Cup, besides winning the Durand Cup. However, BFC are currently placed in ninth slot in the ISL table with a solitary win, four loses and as many draws from nine matches. (PTI)
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez wins golden ball in Brazil
Rio De Janeiro, Dec 9: Gremio striker Luis Suarez was presented with the golden ball for the best player of the 2023 Brazilian Serie A. After a slow start to the season, the Uruguayan went on a prolific scoring run to finish the campaign with 17 goals and 11 assists from 33 games, reports Xinhua. Across all competitions, he netted 26 times and provided 17 assists for the Porto Alegre club, whom he joined from Uruguay’s Nacional in January. Suarez initially signed a two-year deal with Gremio but is free to leave this month after renegotiating his contract in July. In recent weeks, Gremio fans have bombarded his social media pages with messages imploring him to stay. (IANS)
USA, Mexico submit joint bid to host 2027 Women’s World Cup
Chicago, Dec 9: The US Soccer Federation and Mexico Football Federation submitted a joint bid Friday to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup projecting $3 billion in revenue, competing against a proposal from Brazil and a joint Germany-Netherlands-Belgium plan. The anticipated revenue in North America would be a huge increase from this year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand, which FIFA said totalled more than $570 million. The US-Mexico bid projects attendance at 4.5 million, Brazil’s bid estimated competition revenue at $99 million, a figure that did not include broadcast money. The European bid said it had “a target revenue well above what the FIFA Women’s World Cup has reached before.” The US-Mexico bid book proposed US sites from among the same 11 to be used in the 2026 men’s World Cup, according to the document released by FIFA: Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts; Houston; Inglewood, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami Gardens, Florida; Philadelphia; Santa Clara, California; and Seattle. The bid said other cities could be considered. Mexico listed Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey – its three sites for the men’s World Cup – and in addition for 2027 listed as possibilities Leon and Querétaro. (AP)