Bayern Munich’s Lena Oberdorf will miss the 2024 Paris Olympics after sustaining a severe knee injury.

The 22-year-old suffered a cruciate and medial collateral ligament issue in her right knee during Germany’s European Championship 2025 qualifier against Austria on Tuesday evening , which ended in a 4-0 victory.

As a result, Oberdorf will miss the Games with the German national team and a significant portion of the upcoming season for Bayern.

“This is a severe blow and we all feel for Lena. We’ll support her on her way back and be there for her in every respect. Lena is a fighter and there’s a lot to come from her,” said Bianca Rech, director of Bayern Women.

GO DEEPER

Germany reach 2024 Paris Olympics with Nations League victory over Netherlands

The injury is a major setback for both Oberdorf and her new club. The defensive midfielder was expected to be a key player for Bayern following her move from VfL Wolfsburg  ahead of the 2024-25 season.

It was confirmed earlier in February that Bayern had agreed a deal to sign Oberdorf. She has signed a deal with the Frauen-Bundesliga side until 2028, but will now face a rehabilitation period before she can make her debut.

Oberdorf had been a standout player for Wolfsburg, making 71 league appearances and scoring 17 goals. Her…

Over the course of his 17 years as the most powerful figure in world football, Sepp Blatter was memorably characterised by the venerable British sportswriter Brian Glanville as someone who had 50 new ideas every day, “51 of them bad”.

There was the one where the then FIFA president said the key to attracting more interest in women’s football was for the players to wear “tighter shorts” to “create a more female aesthetic”; the one where he proposed games be split into four quarters; the one where he suggested the goal be made 50cm (19in) wider and 25cm taller; the one where he urged any player racially abused on the pitch to settle the matter by shaking hands with his abuser at the final whistle; the one where, with his regime finally crumbling in 2015, he declared he was the man to “clean up” FIFA.

But Blatter had his moments. He was highly influential in the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992. He led FIFA’s clampdown on both time-wasting and the dreaded “tackle” from behind. Before he became an eccentric power-crazed FIFA president, he was a skilled administrator with a fervent passion for trying to modernise and improve the game.

One Blatter idea that fell by the wayside was something called “6+5”.

It was as controversial as it was intriguing….

Several stark indicators reflect how the mood at Tottenham Hotspur has been transformed in recent months — delirious fans, great football, people smiling, et cetera.

Daniel Levy being applauded, and in some cases cheered, onstage at a fans’ forum is the strangest one yet.

The man castigated, pilloried and booed by Spurs fans just a short time ago received a warm ovation as he joined men’s team head coach Ange Postecoglou and captain Son Heung-min and their women’s team counterparts Robert Vilahamn and Beth England last night for a Q&A at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, hosted by BBC broadcaster and Tottenham fan Nihal Arthanayake.

Yes, people still sing the odd anti-Levy song in the stands, but his reception at the Q&A reflected what a seemingly excellent managerial appointment and a few early-season wins will do.

Levy was speaking at this kind of event for the first time in six years and, while it is much easier to show candour and contrition when times are good, this was a crowd-pleasing appearance on the whole, with concessions, the admittance of mistakes, and even jokes.

So what are the key takeaways from what he said?

Watch our Fan Forum in full, as Son Heung-Min, Ange Postecoglou, Daniel Levy, Robert Vilahamn and Beth England answered supporters’ questions…

The morning after the night before, Harry Kane met the German media.

Bayern Munich ordinarily hold their press conferences at Sabener Strasse, but interest in Kane’s transfer meant a switch of venue, to the Allianz Arena and its gleaming auditorium.

Watched by his brother Charlie and his parents, Pat and Kim, Kane eased into life as the most expensive player in the history of both his new club and German football. The last few days has been a blur.

“A lot has been going on”, he said, “a lot of new faces and new surroundings.”

Thomas Muller has already offered him a round of golf, he said, and despite the disappointing end to his first day, with the 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup, Kane, his wife Kate, and their young children have been made to feel very welcome.

“The reception me and my family have got since getting here, and at the game last night, have been magical”, he said.

Support has come from elsewhere, too. England head coach Gareth Southgate sent a congratulatory text over the weekend and the two plan to talk at length next week, once the dust has settled from one of the most protracted transfer sagas of the summer.

It has been a “rollercoaster”, Kane conceded, and the last 48 hours of the deal had their “ups and downs”. Kane is happy…

Arsenal Women head coach Jonas Eidevall believes the decision for Bayern Munich not to use goal-line technology (GLT) in their Champions League quarter-final first leg was “very weird”.

During Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat, Sweden forward Stina Blackstenius and captain Leah Williamson had efforts cleared off the line by Bayern’s team to prevent the north London side from scoring.

Current UEFA guidelines state that the use of GLT isn’t compulsory in women’s Champions League matches and Eidevall questioned after the game why it wasn’t being used at the current stage of the competition.

He said: “Today goal-line technology was not in use because Bayern Munich chose not to pay for it. When we go to the Emirates next week, Arsenal choose to pay for goal-line technology because we think that’s the right thing to do to ensure a fair competition.

“I think it’s a problem for the competition that not every game has the same level of technology in helping the officials take the right decisions.