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JANUARY 2001 Don't Have A Cow Man Ajax fans let loose two cow's on their pitch in protest over the standard of the state of the pitch. Let's hope Serie A supports don't follow suit otherwise they will run out of cows. Aimar Joins Valenica The biggest news of the past week was Valencia's signing of Pablo Aimar from River Plate. Aimar is expected to make his debut before Valencia's Champions League match against Man United. Inter have completed the signing of midfielder Stephan Dalmat from PSG. Vampeta joins PSG as part of the deal. Marko Rehmer will hold talks with Arsenal over the next few days. The defender is rated at £5 million and was being chased by Milan, Juventus and Fiorentina. Bradford striker Stan Collymore is in Spain holding talks with Real Oviedo. Frank Lebouef has yet to complete a move to Monaco. 25 JANUARY 2001 Kaladze Finally Joins Milan, Riquelme Next? As we reported several months ago, Dynamo Kyiv defender Kakha Kaladze has now officially signed for Milan. Kaladze should not have problems getting into the first team given the awful defence. According to an Argentinean newspaper Juan Roman Riquelme will join the club by the end of the month. In other Serie A transfer news Lazio have signed Lucas Castroman from Velez Sarsfield for £4 million and Inter hope to complete the signing of the phenomenally talented Stephan Dalmat with Vampeta going to PSG in return. Zidane Pledges Future To Juve Zidane has tried to quash rumours about a move to Real Madrid by plediging his future to Juve - "I want to stay here for five years and if all goes smoothly I'll finish my days here.". Nilis Announces Retirement Luc Nilis has confirmed his retirement from football following a horrific broken leg suffered when he collided with Ipswich goalkeeper Richard Wright in September - "I loved my short time at Villa but having taken medical advice I know I'm unable to continue.". Karembeu - Vertical Direction (And he's not talking about his wife!:) The game in England is physical and played up in the air and I find that there is a lack of preparation. There is clearly movement in English football but it is only in a vertical direction. Movement is not just about attacking." Christian Karembeu France Round-up by Paul Bailey LNF v. UNAF Thursday saw the LNF come to a decision concerning the Round 22 match between Strasbourg and Metz that was stopped in the 68th minute after Nelly Viennot was injured from a firework exploding in her face. The match is scheduled to be replayed at the Stade Meinau - Strasbourg's home pitch - behind closed doors and under camera surveillance. Metz were hoping to receive a 0-3 default victory, while Strasbourg president Patrick Proisy is still adamant that his side should not be held responsible for the incident. However, matters became much more interesting when the 20 D1 referees of France's National Referee's Union (UNAF) refused to officiate the match, citing the "unhealthy climate" that currently reigns in the professional game to explain their position. How the LNF will choose to respond to this turn of events is still unknown. Platini Wins New Office Michel Platini was elected vice-president of the FFF friday morning, where he will assist current president Claude Simonet in his duties. Platini's appointment means that the FFF now has five vice-presidents, as the former French international joins Gérard Bourgoin, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, Jean Verbeke and Carlo Molinari. Lille - Bastia Result Round 22 also saw SC Bastia president François Nicolaï require hospitalization, as he was attacked while his side tried to gain access to the field in their match away to Lille. The LNF's verdict against Lille was a fine of 500,000 francs (£50,000) as well as requiring the Nordistes to play their next home fixture at a neutral venue. More For Bastia Bastia were involved in another LNF discussion on thursday, playing the role of defendent in the second case. The Round 23 match against Strasbourg saw Bastia coach Frédéric Antonetti yelling at the fourth official, resulting in his expulsion from the match. Because of the "extreme gravity" of the case, the LNF has decided to organize a confrontation involving the two parties at its next meeting on 25 January. Another possible matter to be brought up next week concerns RC Lens coach Rolland Courbis' accusation that Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas tried pressuring the referee before the Lens-Lyon match into giving his side a favorable result in the encounter. Paul 22 JANUARY 2001 Sao Paulo State Championship Preview by Tomaz R. Alves RULES The rules of this year's São Paulo state championship are simpler than usual: the 16 teams play each other once; the four best go to the semi-finals. But there's a twist in the points system: as usual, a win is worth 3 points and a loss, 0 points. But in the event of a tie, the match goes to the penalty shootout. If the match ended goalless, the winner of the penalties earns 1 point, and the loser, 0. If the draw wasn't goalless (1x1, 2x2, etc), the winner of the penalties gets 2 points, and the loser, 1. In the semis, the first-placed team plays the 4th and the 2nd plays the 3rd, in a home and away basis. If the aggregate scores are level, the team with the best record on the first stage qualifies. The same rules apply to the final. FAVOURITES This year's competition is more balanced than usual. The usual favourites are all in bad shape : Corinthians hasn't recovered from last year's crisis, Santos sold most of their stars and is stuck in debts, São Paulo FC and Palmeiras have bad squads. On the other hand, there is three smaller clubs that come from decent campaigns in the João Havelange Cup: São Caetano, Guarani and Ponte Preta. They are not favourites, but they can dream with the title. My picks? Palmeiras x São Paulo FC in the final, but it will be a close contest to get there. RIO DE JANEIRO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - PREVIEW RULES In the preliminary stage, six teams played each other, and two of them qualified to the first stage, where they were joined by 10 other clubs. At the first stage - nicknamed Guanabara Cup - the teams are divided in two groups. The top two of each group go to the semi-finals, which are played in one match, as well as the final. In the second stage - nicknamed Rio Cup -, the rules are simple: all teams play each other once, and the one with most point is the champion. Then, the champion of the Guanabara Cup faces the champion of the Rio Cup in the big final. If the same team wins both cups, then it's automatically declared Rio de Janeiro State champions. FAVOURITES Only two teams have real chances to win the title : Vasco and Flamengo. Fluminense and Botafogo still dream, but their squads are simply too weak. Vasco has the better squad, but they will be more concerned with the Libertadores Cup. So I think the champion will be Flamengo - again. NOTE This year, I will focus mostly in the Libertadores Cup (which begins in mid February) and in the Brazilian Cup (no schedule yet). So I will only post reports of the most important matches of the state championships. But every week I'll send the results and tables of the Rio de Janeiro and the São Paulo State championships. There are many other state championships : Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, etc (there are 23 in total). But they are too insignificant, so I'll simply ignore them. When they end. I'll tell you who was the champion. Tomaz Alves 20 JANUARY 2001 Totti Wants More Protection "Against Bari (last Sunday) I stayed calm for the whole match. After fifty fouls I told the referee to put an end to it. Fascetti (Bari's coach) put three men to mark me and they followed me everywhere, even when I went across to the bench to talk with my coach," said Totti. "It is not possible to play football in this manner. it is absurd. I go on the field to entertain the crowd and to contribute to a spectacle but I am unable to tolerate certain acts. The referees have to protect playmakers. Some people react to it all but I am not one of them. "I think certain players need greater protection from referees. It is not easy to play with the ball when there are forty fouls on you in a match. The marking against me on Sunday was a disgrace.". Roma captain Francesco Totti Bosnich Booted Out Manchester United have released Mark Bosnich from his contract. United have been trying to get rid of Bosnich since the arrival of Fabian Barthez from Monaco in the summer but the Australian goalkeeper had refused to leave. Bosnich has joined Chelsea. Mancini Joins Leicester Roberto Mancini has joined Leicester City until the end of the season. The 36 year old playmaker retired last season. 18 JANUARY 2001 In case any of you are wondering why there have been a lack of updates this week it's because I have been going through the mid-season transfers and once again updating the Serie A and Premiership squad lists. The updated Serie A and Premiership squads and transfers will be on-line by the weekend with transfers from the other leagues to follow shortly thereafter. France Round-up by Paul Bailey Saint-Etienne Receives Verdict 17 January saw the LNF come to a decision involving the fradulant passports of Saint-Etienne players Alex and Levytsky. Both players will be suspended for four months each - until the end of the season - with an additional two months suspension on deferral. This result effectively cancels Levytsky's transfer to Spartak Moscow for the moment. However, despite receiving their "sentance" from the LNF, both Alex and Levytsky may also be brought up on civil charges in a French court of law, should such a course of action be decided upon. In addition, club management received a blow as the LNF asked the league's ethics committee to examine the role played by Saint-Etienne president Alain Bompard in the passport fraud. Les Verts' general manager Gérard Soler has been banned from any official role in the club's affairs for a full year, as the evidence presented by Alex appears to have implicated Soler as one of the main culprits behind the player's false papers. And as if that wasn't enough, Saint-Etienne have also been deducted seven points from their league total, which drops them from 11th to 15th place, tied with Metz on points (23) as they now occupy the last "safe" spot in the table above the relegation zone. Who's Next? FC Metz's Farid Mondragon has been called to court in Paris on 14 March. The reason behind his summoning is that the Colombian goalkeeper has been charged with using a fake Greek passport. The odd part about the Mondragon case is that Metz don't need to worry about fielding more than 3 non-EU players in a match, so Mondragon can legally play as a "Colombian" player. His Greek passport is dated February 1999 - more than a year before he is supposed to have entered into talks with the French club - and the LNF is bringing the player to court to question him about the circumstances surrounding his passport. If found guilty, Mondragon may receive sporting and/or penal sanctions for his actions. It's Not All Passports Gervais Martel, club president of RC Lens, had his stay in Lillois police custody extended until Monday at 4:30 AM, and may soon find himself before a Lille Correctional Court on charges of insult and rebellion against the police force. There appear to be several witnesses willing to testify against Martel, and the lesson in all of this is : choosing to get drunk and block traffic is bad enough, but to do so in your biggest rival's home town is ... well, not the greatest of ideas. Under Investigation The LNF has begun their examination of what they believe may be questionable passports. Those being looked at include : Patrick Muller (Lyon), Pablo Ignacio Calandria (Marseille), Farid Mondragon and Patricio D'Amico (Metz), Pablo Contreras, Diego Quintero and Florin Raducioiu (Monaco), Christian and Augustine Jay-Jay Okocha (PSG). Already examined and considered valid were those belonging to : Nestor Fabbri (Nantes), Cesar and Mario-Hector Turdo (Rennes), Alfredo Cascinim and Sebastien Romero (Toulouse), Luciano Zavagno and Fabio Celestini (Troyes). So Much Hot Air Paraguayan flop Chilavert refused to sit on the bench for the Bastia-Strasbourg match on Saturday. His agent, Omar Da Fonseca, claimed. "He refuses to have any photos taken of him on the bench to be sent to South America, where he's a star ... Chilavert replaced in the last-placed club of the French Championship, you can imagine the impact on his image over there." As it was, Nicolas Bonis came up from the amateur side so that the highly-paid international could keep his precious reputation intact. Drunk Driving Fiasco RC Lens have avoided the passport scandal sweeping through France, but still managed to make it into the press as club president Gervais Martel was taken into police custody sunday. Martel was found intoxicated and blocking the main roadway between Lille and Roubaix, and apparently he put up quite a resistence against both the police and Transpole workers (Transpole operates the subway and rail lines around Lille). Police have stated that he's only been brought to their Lille station to sober up and is not currently in police custody. And Finally Monaco's defender Pablo Contreras has left Europe to return to his home in Chile, possibly in an attempt to escape punishment for playing with a fradulent Italian passport. Strasbourg have stated that Diego Garay - the man responsible for the start of the passport investigations - is willing to return from Argentina, where he's currently on loan, in order to plead his innocence on charges of having played with fake Italian papers. Paul 17 JANUARY 2001 Ronaldinho Joins PSG PSG just announced on their website that the young Brazilian player Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho Gaucho from Gremio Porto Alegre, has signed a five year contract with Paris Saint-Germain football club, starting at the outset of the 2001-2002 season. Tarek Hamdi |