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Former England captain John Terry rejects Spartak Moscow

London – Former Chelsea and England star John Terry has rejected the chance to make a shock move to Russian club Spartak Moscow.

Terry was reported to be on the verge of signing for Spartak after being flown by private jet to Rome on Friday for a medical.

The 37-year-old defender was believed to have been offered a wages in the region of £3 million ($3.9 million) for a one-year deal.

Spartak appeared confident of securing the high-profile signing, announcing on social media that they were preparing for “a very important guest”.

But after weighing up the move with his family, Terry, who has two children with his wife Toni, has opted against making the switch to Moscow.

“After considerable thought, I have decided to decline a contract offer from Spartak Moscow. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Spartak and wish them and their supporters well for the rest of the season,” Terry wrote on his official Instagram account.

“They are an ambitious club and I have been very impressed with their professionalism.

“But after assessing this move with my family, we’ve decided this is not the right move for ourselves at this time. Good luck Spartak.”

Terry spent last season with Championship side Aston Villa, but left after they failed to win promotion to the Premier League.

Following Villa’s play-off final loss to Fulham, Terry had considered retiring, but he told the Daily Mail on Saturday that he is keen to keep playing as long as possible.

Terry was one of Chelsea’s most decorated players, winning five Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, and the 2012 Champions League during his time at Stamford Bridge.

He also won 78 caps for England and captained his country on numerous occasions before being stripped of the armband after the Football Association ruled he had racially abused QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

NFL

Rams returner Cooper (ankle) 'out for some time'
9:51 PM ET

  • Lindsey ThiryESPN

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    • Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times
    • Previously covered the Falcons
    • Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams are searching for a punt and kick returner after Pharoh Cooper suffered an ankle injury against the Oakland Raiders.

“He’s going to be out for some time right now,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Tuesday. “So that’s a big loss for us.”

Cooper suffered the injury late in the third quarter during a punt return.

McVay said Cooper was undergoing further evaluation to determine if surgery would be necessary.

“He’s just got some loose fragments in there. It’s a pretty serious ankle sprain is probably the best way I can put it,” McVay said. “However you cut it, with just the type of player that he is and just the specific position that he plays, it’s going to limit him for at least a few weeks at a minimum.”

Further complicating the situation, backup Michael Thomas suffered a groin injury Monday playing on special teams. McVay said Thomas also would be sidelined for at least a few weeks.

Receiver Cooper Kupp handled returns after Cooper was sidelined and could fill the role going forward, but McVay said all options would be explored.

“Whether we handle that internally or we go outside of somebody else to figure that role out, those are things that we’ve kind of been discussing,” McVay said. “In terms of making that final decision that will probably be something that we’ll probably decide on in the next day or so.”

Cooper, a third-year pro, returned two punts for 12 yards and returned three kickoffs for 75 yards against the Raiders.

Last season Cooper was named to the Pro Bowl after averaging 12.5 yards per punt return and 27.4 yards per kickoff return.

The Rams play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at the Coliseum.

Soccer

'Green light' given for 3rd UEFA club competition

Split, Croatia – European Club Association (ECA) chairman Andrea Agnelli has confirmed that UEFA are clearing the way for the return of a third club competition, two decades after the disappearance of the Cup Winners’ Cup.

Agnelli, who is also on UEFA’s club competitions committee as well as being chairman of Juventus, said at the ECA’s General Assembly in Split, Croatia on Tuesday, that “the ‘green light’ has been given to introduce a third competition…as of the 2021-22 season”.

The move must now be validated at a future meeting of UEFA’s Executive Committee.

Agnelli said the move would mean a total of 96 teams being involved across the three competitions.

With 48 sides currently involved in the Europa League group stage, that would likely mean that competition being reduced to 32 teams, with the same number competing in the Champions League group stage and the new competition.

His comments come after UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin played down media reports on the subject when speaking to journalists in Monaco last month.

“They are just discussions, is it better to have 64 in the Europa League or 32 and 32? They are just discussions,” Ceferin said at the time.

The Cup Winners’ Cup ran for almost 40 years before being abandoned in 1999 at a time when the Champions League was being expanded.

NFL

NFL: Key flag in Steelers-Browns called in error

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett shouldn’t have been called for roughing the passer in the second quarter of the Browns’ 21-21 tie Sunday with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL’s senior vice president for officiating said Monday.

Garrett wrapped up Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a third-down incompletion and was called for a personal foul. On the next play, Steelers running back James Conner ran in for a touchdown and a 6-0 Steelers lead.

Al Riveron, the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating, told NFL.com that the official erred in calling the penalty on Garrett. The defensive end was flagged for a violation of the rule that prohibits a player from landing on the quarterback with most or all of his body weight.

“The rule specifically says ‘most, if not all, of your body weight,'” Riveron said Monday. “So we want that player to make an effort. And the last three or four weeks, we have pulled extensive video to show the clubs exactly what we’re talking about. … Because the question we get all the time is, ‘Well, what do you want our players to do?’

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“Well, they have to not put the weight on the quarterback. And this one yesterday showed, even though there is some body weight on Ben, this is not what we would consider contact that rises to the level of a foul.”

Riveron said that four other penalties for players landing on quarterbacks — on Atlanta’s Grady Jarrett, Cincinnati’s Carlos Dunlap, Minnesota’s Sheldon Richardson and New Orleans’ David Onyemata — were correct.

Jarrett fell on Eagles quarterback Nick Foles in the end zone after Foles released a pass in Thursday night’s opener. He didn’t agree with the call, he said Monday.

“I didn’t think it was a bad hit,” Jarrett said Monday. “I feel like I kept my weight off him pretty good intentionally, popped up fast. I wasn’t able to turn to the side.”

Jarrett said he and Falcons coach Dan Quinn had a conversation about the play.

“We just talked about trying to make adjustments,” Jarrett said. “You can’t do nothing about the rule.”

At the same time, Jarrett said it’s hard to alter his playing style.

“Without a doubt,” he said. “I feel like not power-driving him into the ground is fair. I feel like not intentionally hitting him in the head is fair.

“Form tackle. I don’t think that’s fair to call roughing. And we’ve seen that happen a lot. But what are you going to do, cry about the call? … If they want to do that, they might as well go to two-hand touch. When we touch a quarterback, just be a sack then. You know what I’m saying? So just be fair on both ends of it.”

Quinn acknowledged that those are plays the officials are now calling with a renewed emphasis on player safety.

“So the hit on the quarterback — and Grady and I just had that conversation — we’ve got to get a way so they can hit and then at the last second, if we can move,” Quinn said. “It’s going to be challenging when you’re going full speed one way and hitting — ‘How do I change and get off course?’

“By no means was he trying to dumb the quarterback on that play, what the rule is intended for. I get it. Pile-driving the guy down, that was certainly not the case or his intent on that play.”

ESPN’s Vaughn McClure contributed to this report.

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