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World Football: Hegerberg's hiatus, double El Clasico and the fall of Chelsea's Roman Empire?

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Hegerberg's hiatus, double El Clasico and chaos at Chelsea

01/03/2019 GMT

Hegerberg's hiatus, double El Clasico and the fall of Chelsea's Roman Empire?

BBC World Service - World Football, Hegerberg's hiatus, double El Clasico and the fall of Chelsea's Roman Empire?

Why the world's best player, Ada Hegerberg, won't be playing at this year's World Cup?

She's the best player in the world, the winner of the Ballon d'Or and she has won the Champions League three times. 

But Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg won't be playing at this year's World Cup in France, apparently in protest at what she describes as a lack of respect for female players in Norway. 

We discuss why Hegerberg has made this decision and we hear from former Colombia midfielder Melissa Ortiz, who also quit her national team - citing inferior treatment of women's football by the Colombian Football Federation. Melissa reveals how the players' daily allowance was taken away by the federation and that players like her who lived in the United States had to pay for their own travel.

What's better than El Clasico? Two El Clasicos, of course! After Barcelona beat Real Madrid to reach the Copa del Rey Final on Wednesday, the two teams meet again in La Liga on Saturday. But has El Clasico lost some of its magic? We'll discuss whether this match is still as exciting without the thrilling battles between Ronaldo and Messi - plus the  recent comments by Madrid's Marcelo that teammate Gareth Bale hasn't learned any Spanish since moving to the capital.

And is the Roman Empire falling? Roman Abramovich's empire that is... 

Chelsea ended a terrible February with victory over Tottenham in the Premier League, but what now for the Chelsea manager and Kepa? The goalkeeper was dropped after refusing to be substituted in their League Cup Final defeat at Wembley - behaviour that seemed to seriously undermine Sarri's authority. We'll also discuss whether Abramovich has fallen out of love with the club. 

Photo: Ada Hegerberg (Getty Images)

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