Sports news feed: Flick, Klopp, Neuer and Ter Stegen on FIFA 'Best' shortlist

German coaches and goalkeepers dominate the nominations for the annual FIFA Best awards, with Flick, Klopp, Neuer and Ter Stegen all included. Elsewhere, Germany coach Joachim Löw's future will be decided on December 4.

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Tokyo Olympics confident of fan attendance

German coaches and goalkeepers dominate FIFA nominations

Löw future to be decided on December 4

November 27 Tests in Tokyo with fan decision to come

Days after IOC chief Thomas Bach said he was "very confident" the postponed Tokyo Olympics will go ahead with fans, deputy executive director of the Games Operations Bureau, Yasuo Mori, echoed the sentiment.

"We are... thinking about what kind of Tokyo 2020 Games we are going to have in terms of spectators," Mori told reporters, adding that government policy on the matter "will probably be decided in the spring."

Mori was speaking as the 18 remaining test events, which serve as dress rehearsals for each sport, began. Fans and foreign athletes will be allowed at some of the test events, which will also be used to assess anti-coronavirus measures and contingency plans.

November 25 German coaches and goalkeepers dominate FIFA nomi

nations

Hansi Flick and Jürgen Klopp have been nominated in the Best Coach category for the FIFA Best Awards, while Manuel Neuer and Marc-andre ter Stegen are among the five nominees for best goalkeeper.

While no German player is nominated for the top award of FIFA's Best Player, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is among the favorites to scoop that prize, along with former Bayern midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who was another key figure in Bayern's Champions League triumph in August. There is a German player nominated for the top women's prize, however, with Dzsenifer Marozsan on the 11-player shortlist.

The winners will be announced on December 17.

November 24 Joachim Löw future to be decided on December 4Joachim Löw's position as Germany coach is under scrutiny

The DFB will meet on December 4 to decide the future of Germany coach Joachim Löw, who is under pressure following a dismal 6-0 Nations League defeat by Spain last week.

Löw, who is currently on a retreat in Freiburg at the advice of the DFB, will be given the chance to make a defense of his position to the executive committee, which includes director of national teams Oliver Bierhoff. The committee will hear from Bierhoff before deciding on Löw's future.

November 23 Premier League clubs condemn online abuse

Premier League clubs Arsenal and Leeds have strongly condemned the online abuse directed at Nicolas Pepe and Ezgjan Alioski following Sunday's encounter. Both players were subjected to abusive messages on social media after a secondhalf altercation at Elland Road saw Arsenal forward Pepe sent off for violent conduct.

The Gunners and Leeds have now both released official statements addressing the "vile abuse” and vowing to work with the authorities to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly identified and punished.

Jean- Bart abuse investigation to be reopened

The prosecutor responsible for the criminal investigation into the former president of the

Haitian football federation, Yves "Dadou" Jean-Bart, has said the case against him is set to be reopened, just days after it was dropped by a judge because of a "lack of evidence."

Edler Guillaume said the judge who was overseeing the case had "botched" the original investigation. "We reviewed the dismissal order issued by the investigating judge and I think he rushed his work," Guillaume told the journalist Pierre Richard Midy. "I don't think the job was well done. I am not satisfied with the results. Therefore, I've appealed for the investigation to be entrusted to a different judge."

Last Friday, world football's governing body, FIFA, banned Jean-Bart from football for life after its ethics committee found him guilty of sexually abusing young female players, including minors. In a rare move following FIFA's decision, the US embassy in Haiti criticized the outcome of the criminal case, expressing "regret" that the investigation had failed to bring any charges.

Read more on this story here.

CAF president handed fiveyear ban by FIFA

The head of African football, Ahmad Ahmad, has been handed a five-year ban from football by FIFA following an ethics investigation by world football's governing body.

For more on the story click here.

F1 champion Hamilton to receive knighthood

Fresh from cementing his status as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, reports suggest that Lewis Hamilton is set

to receive a knighthood in the Queen’s New Years’ Honors list.

Hamilton has been honored in the past, receiving an MBE in 2008 after winning his first title, but would become the fourth F1 driver to be knighted after Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and Jackie Stewart if reports are true.

Talking to The Guardian, former F1 champion Damon Hill said the knighthood would “be seen as recognition of not just his driving but also as a black driver that has bust another door open for anyone who is not white. He has destroyed the preconception that it can’t be done, that there is an area where you cannot achieve something because of the colour of your skin. He has totally destroyed that notion.”

Leeds announce strategic partnership with Roc Nation

Leeds United have marked their return to the Premier League by signing a partnership with Roc Nation, the entertainment agency founded by rapper Jay-Z.

The leading music and sports agency, who represent superstars such as Rihanna, Jerome Boateng and Kevin de Bruyne, aims to to "support the growth of the Leeds United brand in key markets of the USA and Asia."

Joachim Löw's position as Germany coach is under scrutiny