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| 30 April 2003 G-14 Want Share of World Cup Profits The G-14 ((Ajax, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Inter, Juventus, Leverkusen, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester United, Marseille, Milan, PSG, Porto, PSV, Real Madrid and Valencia) clubs want 20% of the profits from the 2006 World Cup in exchange for dropping their opposition to the beleaguered World Club Championships and the Confederations Cup. Ajax's Michael Van Praag, one of the vice presidents of the G-14 group, said "At the moment the only ones who do not benefit from the huge revenues of the World Cup finals are the clubs who provide the players. We take all the risks because we get the players back tired, injured and lacking in motivation. The clubs also pay their salaries and insurance while they are away. We just want some compensation for that." 29 April 2003 Antic Signs New Barca Contract Radomir Antic has signed a one year contract with Barcelona having turned around the club's fortunes after succeeding Louis Van Gaal. Fulham Announce Record Losses Fulham have announced record losses of £33.6m for the 12 months up to 30 June 2002. Most of the losses were due to coach Jean Tigana's excessive spending, around £37.5m. UEFA Introduce Silver Goal The silver goal ruling will start with next months UEFA Cup finals and continue through all UEFA competitions including the 2004 European Championships. Under the ruling if a goal is scored in extra time the teams will play on until the end of the extra time period and the team that are leading are declared winners. If the match is still deadlocked the teams will play a penalty shootout. 25 April 2003 Champions League Pulls In Viewers The second legs of this season's Champions League quarter-finals have drew a combined audience of 62 million viewers in the six major markets (England, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Holland), the highest figures in three years. 24 April 2003 Goal Saved Ancelotti's Job Milan forward Jon Dahl Tomasson claims that his winning goals in Milan's epic 3-2 Champions League victory over Ajax saved his coach Ancelotti's job : "He would have been fired if we hadn't have gone through, so my goal saved him." Chievo's Luigi Del Neri was rumoured to replace Ancelotti as Milan coach next season following the teams disappointing league form. 23 April 2003 Machlas Arrested Ajax striker Nikos Machlas has been arrested in Spain for dangerous driving and resisting arrest. Machlas, on loan at Sevilla, was caught in a traffic jam and pulled out into a lane of oncoming traffic. According to a police statement he was insulting and injured police officers when stopped. 22 April 2003 Finardi Appointed New Atalanta Coach Atalanta's youth team coach Giancarlo Finardi has succeeded Giovanni Vavassori as coach. Vavassiru was sacked after last week's 1-0 loss at Perugia. Heart Scare For West Ham Coach West Ham coach Glenn Roeder was taken to hospital after complaining of chest pains following the club's home victory over Middlesbrough. Club spokesman Peter Stewart said : "Glenn suddenly collapsed after the game with chest pains. The doctor was in attendance and he was taken to hospital. He has been having scans and tests and he is in a stable condition and we are all awaiting the results." 17 April 2003 Stam Rejects Share Offer Lazio defender Jaap Stam has rejected the clubs offer of shares as part payment of unpaid wages and insists he will leave the club at the end of the season. In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf he said : "I went to the supermarket and asked if I could pay with stocks but I was told that they only accepted either cash or credit cards. This offer is unacceptable: I have a contract until 2005 but at this point I'm almost sure that I won't stay here. I think I'll play either in one of the three top Serie A clubs or in Holland." Ridsdale Cuts All Ties With Leeds Former Leeds Chairman Peter Ridsdale has resigned as a member of the club's plc and football club boards. Ridsdale quit last month following the sacking of Terry Venables and has been blamed by fans for the clubs financial problems. 16 April 2003 Enrique And Overmars In Training Ground Brawl Barcelona midfielder Luis Enrique lashed out at team-mate Marc Overmars following two hefty challenges from the Dutchman. The players were separated by Xavi and Juan Pablo Sorin. 15 April 2003 FIFA Suspend Azerbaijan FIFA have suspended Azerbaijan's football federation due to their continual interference in the domestic game. A FIFA statement read : "Having taken note of the latest developments in Azerbaijani football, most notably the severe and unacceptable levels of external pressure in recent times, the FIFA Emergency Committee has decided to suspend the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA). Having made numerous appeals to bring the situation in the country back to normal, world football's governing body had no other choice than to suspend the association. This suspension comes into force immediately and will be in place until further notice." The nations Euro 2004 qualifying results will be eradicated. 10 April 2003 FA Charged With Racism UEFA have charged the English FA over racist abuse by England fans during last week's EURO 2004 qualifier against Turkey in addition to charges over the pitch invasion at Sunderland's stadium of light. There was also trouble outside the ground between 'England fans' after the match. Hitzfeld Extend Bayern Contract Ottmar Hitzfeld has extended his contract with the club until June 2005. Hitzfeld won the European Cup with Bayern in 2000 having already helped Dortmund win the title in 1997. 4 April 2003 Sensi Mocks Inter For Signing Batistuta Roma's outspoken President Franco Sensi has mocked Inter ahead of their match against Roma by claiming he sold them a 'dummy' : "His sale was a canny move from Roma, we tried to sell Inter a dummy, as they say. We really paid a lot for him, he produced a good first season and helped us to win the title but the second and third seasons were a debacle. I shouldn't say it, because he is a professional player but I reckon he'll play another two months in Italy and then no-one will see him again." 3 April 2003 Effenberg Quits Wolfsburg Stefan Effenberg has quit Wolfsburg because of "irreconcilable differences" with the club's new coach, Juergen Roeber : "There were irreconcilable differences with trainer Roeber. I'm sorry for the team, the fans and especially for manager Peter Pander because there is a lot of potential in Wolfsburg but with Roeber it just wasn't going to work out. The final straw came 10 days ago when Roeber made me get on a scale and the result was 90 kilograms, that's the same weight I had when Bayern won the Champions League. I was told 'You have two weeks to lose two kilos'. I thought I was in the middle of a bad film. What's going on here. I'm 34 years old and know what I have to do to bring an optimal performance out of myself." 1 April 2003 Man United Profits Down Manchester United have announced profits of £20.3 million for the six months to the end of January 2003, a drop of 34% from the same period last year. Although turnover had increased by 13% to £92.6 million the loss in profits was blamed on the collapse of the transfer market. |