Premier League Interest - Zlatan

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says Premier League clubs are interested in signing him from French champions Paris St-Germain.

The 34-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, has been linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

"There has been interest and we will see where it leads," he said. "But it would have to be like a marriage, both sides have to want it as much."

Ibrahimovic has won league titles in four European countries.

After helping Ajax win two Dutch titles at the start of the century, he won two Serie A championships with Juventus - both later revoked because of the Calciopoli scandal - and three more with Inter Milan.

He then moved to Spain and claimed the La Liga title with Barcelona before returning to Italy to win the 2010-11 Serie A with AC Milan - his eighth successive league title.

After a season without silverware at Milan in 2011-12, Ibrahimovic moved to PSG, and the French side have won the past four Ligue 1 titles.

After scoring four goals in a 9-0 thrashing of Troyes earlier this month to seal this year's title, Ibrahimovic said: "For the moment, I will not be at PSG next season. I still have a month and a half left here.

"If they replace the Eiffel Tower with a statue of me, then I will stay."

Ibrahimovic has scored 62 international goals in 111 appearances, including a sensational 30-yard overhead bicycle kick in a 4-2 friendly win over England in 2012.

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Antoine Demoitie 1990 - 2016

Belgian cyclist Antoine Demoitié has died in hospital after being hit by a motorbike after a fall during the Gent-Wevelgem cycling classic on Sunday. Several riders had fallen in the crash as the race moved through Sainte-Marie-Cappel in northern France.

“The rider died. An inquiry is under way to determine the circumstances,” Frederic Evrard, spokesman for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional gendarmerie in France, told Agence France Presse.

The 25-year-old Wanty-Gobert rider was taken to the University Hospital of Lille after the accident during a section of the race in Northern France but died some time later.

Team Wanty-Gobert had said on Twitter late on Sunday that their rider was in a very serious condition and that his wife and family were at his side, but had no further updates.

The 243-kilometre event was won by the world champion Peter Sagan, the Tinkoff rider beating his breakaway companions after taking the wheel of the Russian Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, who launched the final sprint but finished third.

Lotto Soudal rider Jens Debusschere was also taken to hospital after crashing during the notoriously gruelling race, with his team confirming he suffered a “bruised muscle, a bruised junction between collar bone and shoulder blade, a concussion and abrasions”.

#RIP 

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Whistleblower Gives FIFA More Evidence

Swiss prosecutors say they have been given important evidence by a whistleblower in their investigation into Fifa and its suspended president, Sepp Blatter.

The Swiss attorney general’s spokesman, André Marty, said the case was making progress and formal charges could be brought by the end of the year.

Marty told the German broadcaster ARD: “A witness, a so-called whistleblower, gave us interesting information relevant to the case which brought us markedly forward in the criminal investigation.”

The Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber, opened criminal proceedings against Blatter in September over suspected criminal mismanagement and misuse of Fifa money in two cases: a £1.3m payment made to the Uefa president, Michel Platini, in 2011, and selling undervalued World Cup TV rights to the disgraced former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner.

Blatter and Platini were banned for eight years last month by Fifa’s ethics committee over the payment.

The election contest to find Blatter’s successor is hotting up with a series of nominations being announced for Gianni Infantino, the Uefa general secretary, who is one of five candidates on 26 February.

Conmebol, the confederation which represents the 10 South American countries, has formally announced its support for Infantino, a Swiss-Italian lawyer.

The Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which represents seven small central American countries, has also announced its support for Infantino as have several Caribbean countries.

One of the outsiders for the role, South African politician and businessman Tokyo Sexwale, told Reuters that “the time for alliances is coming”. Sexwale, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the favourite, and Infantino are all attending the final of the Asian Football Championship between South Korea and Japan in Doha on Saturday, and Sexwale said the trio would discuss their options, with the South African likely to withdraw from the race.

That support should see Infantino could make a determined push against the favourite, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the president of Asian football who also has strong backing in Africa.

The other three candidates are Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, the former French diplomat Jérôme Champagne and Tokyo Sexwale, a politician and businessman from South Africa.

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Justin Gatlin Still Believes

Justin Gatlin believes he can still beat sprint rival Usain Bolt, despite two defeats by the Jamaican at the recent World Championships in Beijing.

The American, 33, has run personal bests for the 100m and 200m this season - and says he can still go faster.

"Each year in the last three years I just focus on being a better athlete and trying to improve and that has shown in my performances," he said.

Gatlin returns to action in Friday's Diamond League meeting in Brussels.

He will be crowned overall 100m champion if he finishes in the top three in Brussels, with 29-year-old Bolt - who was out of contention for the Diamond League crown - not competing. Gatlin also runs over 200m in Belgium.

Gatlin, who has twice served doping suspensions, finished behind the 11-time world and six-time Olympic champion in both sprint finals in Beijing last month.

But he added: "The margin between us is getting smaller and smaller.

"In 2014 I was in consistent 9.8 shape and this year I've been pretty much consistently in 9.7 shape. Next season I hope to do even better. It's just about growth and being there on the day to perform.

"It's not for me to say what you can and can't do at a particular age. I don't think I'm going to hit a limit like 'Uh! I'm 34 I can't learn anything anymore - I can't focus on being a better athlete'.

"I think a lot of athletes once they get into their mid-thirties they focus more on life and on having kids and a family - kind of more exiting out the game."

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