Croatian midfielder Luka Modric tied his long-term future to Real Madrid by extending his contract with the European champions to 2020 yesterday. “Real Madrid CF and Luka Modric have reached an agreement to extend the player’s contract with the club until 30 June 2020,” Madrid said in a statement.
Modric will be sidelined for the rest of the month after undergoing knee surgery three weeks ago.
However, after a difficult spell in his first season in the Spanish capital following his move from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, Modric has become one of Real’s most influential players. The 31-year-old has won seven trophies over the past four years, including the Champions League in 2014 and 2016.
Modric’s renewal follows midfield partner Toni Kroos’s contract extension to 2022 last week. Madrid are also expected to announce bumper contract renewals for superstar duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in the coming weeks.

Neymar to sign new five-year Barcelona deal up to 2021
Neymar will this week sign a five-year contract with Barcelona that will keep the Brazil forward at the Camp Nou until 2021. Barcelona have announced that the 24-year-old will sign his new deal on Friday.
Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013 and has scored 90 goals in 149 appearances for the Spanish club. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano has signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him at the Camp Nou until June 2019.

FIFA opens disciplinary case against Kosovo, Croatia
FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Kosovo and Croatia for anti-Serbia chants by fans during a World Cup qualifying match, a spokesman for football’s world governing body said.
Fans from both sides were heard chanting extremist slogans in the match played in Shkoder, Albania on October 6 which Croatia won 6-0. It was Kosovo’s first competitive official home game since being accepted a FIFA member in May.

Three Polish fans arrested ahead of Madrid clash
Three Polish football fans were arrested yesterday hours before Legia Warsaw’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid, classed as a high-risk fixture by the Spanish authorities.
The three detainees, aged 31, 33 and 34, attacked waitresses in a bar in the La Latina district of Madrid, stealing the mobile phone of one woman and attempting to rob cash from the till, a police spokesperson confirmed to AFP.
When police arrived at the scene, they were also confronted by the three fans. The return match between the sides in two weeks’ time will be played behind closed doors after Legia were sanctioned by UEFA for racist behaviour and fighting among the home fans in Legia’s 6-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund last month.
Legia were also fined 80,000 euros ($90,000) for the incidents.
Spanish authorities expect around 3,500 Legia fans to make the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu with 2,000 security personnel employed to police them.

FIFA ethics watchdog bans former Thai FA head for 5 years
Global body FIFA’s ethics watchdog yesterday imposed a five-year ban against the former head of Thailand’s Football Association (FAT), Worawi Makudi, on charges of forgery and falsification.
“Due to the fact that Mr Makudi made alterations to the FAT Statutes without the approval of the FAT Congress, the adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee found Mr Makudi guilty of forgery and falsification,” the arm of FIFA’s ethics committee said in a statement.
FIFA’s ethics committee opened an investigation into Worawi in July 2015 following information he had been convicted of forgery by the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court. Effective immediately, Worawi was banned from all national and international football-related activities and fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,094).
The 64-year-old, who was on the FIFA executive committee that voted to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, had been an Asian Football Confederation representative on the committee for 18 years until he was voted off last year.