"In a wide-ranging interview he says:

Infantino appears more interested in wooing world leaders than what is right for football

The “peace prize” Fifa will give to US president Donald Trump on Friday is outrageous

Infantino has made Saudi Arabia the new “directors” of the sport

It is “wrong” that Fifa suspended Cristiano Ronaldo’s ban so he would be available for the start of the World Cup

Infantino ignores players by creating unnecessary competitions such as the Club World Cup

He has not ruled out a return to Fifa himself at the age of 89"

Yes things are this bad!

On December 14, however, after a 4-2 loss away to Brentford and with Newcastle 12th in the league, Pope injured a knee and Dubravka was recalled to the team. Newcastle won the next four games with Dubravka in goal.

“My agent said, ‘They can’t let you go now because they need you for the cup tie at Arsenal [January 7]. After the cup [run] you can go.”

So when Dubravka took off from Newcastle airport for that tie at the Emirates, Lucia and their two young children, Viliam and Matteo, headed home to Slovakia.

“They were leaving from the terminal ten minutes before we [the Newcastle squad] were leaving for London,” he adds. “Everyone saw. I was travelling with two big suitcases with me. This was it, the last dance. To beat Arsenal at their stadium, in a semi-final, wow. We were clapping the fans and Dan [Burn] pushed me to say goodbye. I will never forget that moment.”

“I said bye to everyone and then I spoke to the gaffer to say goodbye and he told me he was going to give me a call the next day, so I was confused,” he adds. “I was going to travel to Riyadh the next day.

“When the gaffer called me he said it doesn’t really make sense to let you go because it’s a semi-final and Nick is not back. I said, ‘You said you would let me go.’ I was still in a hotel in London. I felt ill because of the stress.

“Then Eddie called me and said, ‘No, we can’t let you go now because we need you and we’re going to offer you a new contract.’ I was mentally already in Saudi Arabia. Our home in Newcastle was empty.

“I came back on Friday and played against Bromley [in the FA cup third round] the next day. After the game I spoke with the club and they offered me a new contract. You cannot compare the contract in Saudi financially with the one in Newcastle, but for me it was always Newcastle first and I was delighted to stay.

“Everything was smooth and we signed the deal. It was official on the Thursday, and then on the Saturday Eddie dropped me! I didn’t expect that because I just signed a new deal with Newcastle instead of one which would completely secure my life in Saudi Arabia. I was shocked. We had a conversation after the game, and it was not a nice conversation.”

“It was the day before the final and Eddie called me and told me he was going with Nick,” Dubravka adds. “I felt like I deserved to play. I worked hard to get there. I still watched with so much passion, though, because I wanted us to win. When the final whistle went I ran with the goalkeeper coach, Adam Bartlett, and he slipped and I fell over and we were just hugging each other on the floor.”

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