Sevilla

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Sergio Rico has received medical clearance to return to football 11 months on from his life-threatening accident. The 30-year-old completed tests with PSG doctors on Saturday and has been declared ready to train and play competitively again. He is not expected to wear protective headgear upon his return to competitive action as doctors have not recommended so. Rico has undergone satisfactory tests in Seville, at the French Football Federation (FFF) and finally at PSG in which his cardiovascular system, his neurological capacity and his cervical vertebrae were...

Getafe’s stadium will be partially closed for three matches after Sevilla player Marcos Acuna was subjected to racist abuse during Saturday’s La Liga match between the two teams. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) competition committee has also handed Getafe a €27k fine following the incident. Saturday’s 1-0 win for Sevilla was stopped in the 68th minute and delayed for two and a half minutes after ‘monkey’ chants were directed towards Sevilla’s Acuna, 32. The offence contravenes the competition committee’s article 69.2.d in which “violent, racist,...

Sevilla have condemned the “racist and xenophobic abuse” suffered by their player Marcos Acuna and head coach Quique Sanchez Flores during their La Liga clash at Getafe. The game was stopped in the 68th minute and was delayed for two and a half minutes after ‘monkey’ chants were directed towards Acuna, 32. It was communicated to referee Iglesias Villanueva, via his assistant, that several racist remarks had been made towards Argentina international Acuna. That prompted Villanueva to initiate La Liga protocol to pause the match and for an announcement to be made over the...

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has opened an investigation into Real Madrid after a complaint by Sevilla over a video aired by the club’s television channel ahead of their La Liga match last month. Ahead of the February 25 fixture, Real Madrid TV broadcast a video which aimed criticism and alleged bias by two referees set to officiate the match at the Santiago Bernabeu. They pointed to what they claimed were anti-Madrid decisions in prior matches from Isidro Diaz de Mera (the match referee) and Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes (the video assistant referee) including what they alleged were...

Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes has been sentenced in his absence to six years in prison by a Dutch court for his involvement in smuggling 1,350kgs of cocaine. The 32-year-old was accused of being involved in the smuggling of two shipments of cocaine into the Belgian port of Antwerp via the Cap San Nicolas container vessel in January 2020. The first batch was hidden in sacks of salt and involved 650 blocks of cocaine. The second batch had a logo of a tiger stamped on it and weighed in at 712kgs after being intercepted by Belgian police. Prosecutors had initially sought a nine-year jail...

A supporter who poked Sevilla forward Lucas Ocampos on the backside during their La Liga match at Rayo Vallecano has been fined €6k and given a year-long stadium ban in Spain. The young fan was identified by national police and has been referred to the juvenile prosecutor’s office. The government’s anti-violence commission, who have the power to administer punishments, outlined how the fan had acted in a “joking and defiant manner” following the incident, which caused the match to be temporarily paused. During the 33rd minute of the match, which Sevilla won 2-1, Ocampos...

Ivan Rakitic has said goodbye to his Sevilla team-mates as he closes in on a transfer to Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab. Rakitic, 35, has been an ever-present for Sevilla since returning from Barcelona in 2020 for his second spell at the club and is currently the Spanish side’s vice-captain. Al Shabab are not one of the four Public Investment Fund (PIF) funded clubs in Saudi Arabia, but did sign Yannick Carrasco from Atletico Madrid last summer and previously signed Ever Banega from Sevilla in 2020. Rakitic is out of contract at Sevilla at the end of the current campaign and the club are...

Sevilla had just cause to cancel defender Joris Gnagnon’s contract for being ‘severely overweight’, a court has ruled. In September 2021, the Spanish club terminated Gnagnon’s deal after repeated concerns regarding the player’s professionalism and physical condition. Gnagnon, 27, signed a five-year contract with Sevilla in a €13.5million (now £11.6m, $14.7m) transfer from French side Rennes in the summer of 2018. After his contract was terminated in 2021, he asked world football’s governing body FIFA for compensation of more than €4.6m plus interest.

Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri has joined Sevilla on a loan deal for the remainder of the season. The Athletic reported on Sunday that a provisional agreement had been reached between the two clubs, with the Spanish club holding an option to make the move permanent in the summer for €20million including add-ons — and a fixed buy-back clause for United, who will also have a sell-on clause for the midfielder. Hannibal, 20, underwent his medical at Sevilla on Monday to formalise his move to the struggling La Liga side — who sit just one place and one point above the relegation...

Sevilla are advancing towards an agreement to sign Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri on loan for the remainder of this season. The La Liga side have faced competition for Hannibal from Everton, but as things stand, their proposal is considered the more favourable to United and the 20-year-old Tunisia international. It would include an option to buy in the summer which, if activated, would generate a sizeable return on a player whose contract ends in 2025. There is also an expectation of the potential permanent deal featuring a buy-back mechanism, ensuring that United retain an...

Sevilla are working on a deal to take Chelsea’s David Datro Fofana on loan for the rest of the season. Fofana, 21, is currently at Union Berlin after joining on a season-long loan from Chelsea in the summer but Sevilla are in talks to bring him to Spain. The Ivory Coast international, who was not selected for his nation’s squad for this month’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament, has made 12 appearances in all competitions for the German side. The striker last made an appearance for Union on December 20, coming off the bench to score during a 2-0 victory over Koln in Bundesliga.

Sevilla fans will be allowed into their final Champions League group stage game against Lens on Tuesday night after the Spanish club successfully appealed a ban from French authorities. An order from the Pas-de-Calais department on Monday said that “any person showing themselves to be a Sevilla supporter, or behaving as such” would be forbidden from entering Lens’ Bollaert-Delelis stadium or its surroundings from Tuesday-Wednesday as the presence of Sevilla fans “posed a serious risk to security”. But the decision was reversed on Tuesday afternoon after Sevilla disputed the order...

Barcelona and Real Madrid will travel to fourth-tier sides Barbastro and Arandina in the round of 32 in the Copa del Rey. Barbastro and Arandina are the final teams left in the competition from Segunda Federacion — the fourth step of Spanish football. They will face record holders Barcelona and reigning champions Real Madrid respectively for a place in the round of 16. Barbastro are based in the north-east of Spain and their stadium holds 5,000 fans. Arandina are from the north-western town of Aranda de Duero and their ground holds 6,000. “This is madness,” said Arandina captain Carlos...

Sevilla fans have been banned from travelling to Lens for their final Champions League group stage match against the French side on Tuesday night. The French interior minister Gerald Darmanin announced the measures in an interview on Sunday night and they have now been confirmed by a local government order. An order from the Pas-de-Calais department said that “any person showing themselves to be a Sevilla supporter, or behaving as such” would be forbidden from entering Lens’ Bollaert-Delelis stadium or its surroundings from 10am on Tuesday, December 12 to 3am on Wednesday, December 13.

Even by the standards of Spanish football, Tuesday's meeting was a dramatic moment