We’re hearing a bit more from our Dutch bureau about the antics of Marc Overmars, who quit his job with Ajax after female employees complained about the 50-year-old sending them unwanted filthy messages.
You’d probably already priced this in, but we can confirm the messages included a series of unsolicited dick pics.
Apparently the former Arsenal midfielder was known at the club as “Dirty Uncle Marc” and “geilneef”, which means “horny cousin“.
By contrast, former club CEO Edwin van der Sar, was considered a “friendly father” figure.
But the former Man United keeper hasn’t come out of this squeaky clean either – apparently he knew about Dirty Uncle Marc’s behaviour for weeks and only acted against his old friend when the women involved threatened to go to the press.
It’s been a slow start to the African Cup of Nations, with almost every game finishing 1-0 so far.
But fortunately there’s been plenty of other entertainment in the stifling Cameroonian heat.
The tournament kicked off with a spicy start, as Burkina Faso’s Steeve Yago flew in with the horror challenge above after just 38 seconds, earning himself a punch in the back.
Meanwhile, in Tunisia v Mali, controversy struck. Zambian Referee Janny Sikazwe gave two questionable penalties and a harsh red card.
Following a second half that included several lengthy stoppages, he blew the full time whistle after just 85 minutes.
When the livid Tunisians – who trailed 1-0 – demanded he reverse the decision, he agreed to restart.
But four minutes later, with the clock still only showing 89 minutes, Janny blew for full-time again, leading to angry protests from the Tunisians.
With the post-match press conferences underway, tournament officials intervened and announced the game would be restarted again so injury time could be played.
Mali reappeared but despite their fury, Tunisia never returned. They’d already jumped on the team bus and left the stadium.
As for the ref, he was escorted off the field by security, who formed a protective ring around him. Officials later said he was suffering from heat stroke.
Phil Bardsley finally returned to the Burnley starting XI on the weekend, which seems like a nice, flimsy excuse to dig out this old snap of him lying on a casino floor covered in £50 notes.
This was during the 2012/13 Premier League campaign, a golden era for stars flashing their cash for the cameras.
In that same season, three other players appeared in similar pics.
In December, West Brom’s Liam Ridgewell was snapped wiping his arse with £20 notes. He later explained it was a gag to “wind up a friend who lost a bet”.
One month later, then-Newcastle striker Nile Ranger spelled out his name in 20 bob notes and posted a photo on Instagram. He was arrested on another matter later that day.
And finally, here’s former Aston Villa keeper Matthew Ghent, who stuck this up on Facebook in early 2013.
Ukranian side FC Chernomorets Odessa announced new signing Douglas Bergvist by drawing their kit on an old picture of him in Microsoft Paint and chucking it on Instagram.
They accompanied the image with this caption:
Swede Douglas Bergqvist was discovered in Turkish team. Four consonants in a row – this is the way to success for every football commentator. Douglas moved to Chornomorets from Kalmar FF (squid in ukrainian). Game is on! Red – stop Green – also stop ⚫️🔵Black and blue – move on!
Yeah!!!
Beautiful piece of fan fiction from Cants on Twitter, who shared this photo of Alan Shearer and asked: “What if Shearer turned up one week with a full head of hair and refused to admit he used to be bald. Is there a plan in place for that?”
It’s the Clásico tonight, as Real Madrid face Barcelona in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup, which is being held in Saudi Arabia for slightly depressing money reasons.
It’ll be a far cry from the usual febrile atmosphere, which reached its apex following Luis Figo‘s infamous defection from Barca to Madrid in 2000.
On his first return, Figo was greeted at the airport and hotel by fans throwing missiles, burning effigies and holding banners reading “scum” and “Judas”.
He avoided taking corners for fear of attacks, but he was still mercilessly abused and pelted with oranges, bottles and mobile phones. The decibel level reached 112, equivalent to a plane taking off.
Two years later, he felt emboldened enough to take the set pieces, which turned out to be a mistake. Missiles rained down as he approached the corner. Among the debris: coins, knives, glass bottles, and a pig’s head. Wouldn’t try that in Riyadh…
