27 February 2007

Hiddink Guilty of Tax Fraud

Russia's national coach Guus Hiddink has been found guilty of tax fraud and been
given a six month suspended sentence and €45,000 fine. Hiddink was found guilty
of defrauding the tax authorities of €1.40 million in 2002 after returning from
coaching South Korea in the 2002 World Cup finals. Hiddink argued as he lived in
Belgium at the time he paid his tax there.


23 February 2007

Zidane and Ronaldo to Captain Teams At Charity Match

Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo will captain teams in the fourth Match Against
Poverty charity game which will be held in the Stade Velodrome on the 19th of
March. The players are both Goodwill Ambassadors for the UNDP (United Nations
Development Programme).
Zidane said :

"I have retired from professional football, but I am determined to continue
playing in my capacity as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for such a good cause, and to
contribute to this annual gathering with my friend Ronaldo."


21 February 2007

Flachi Tests Positive For Cocaine

CONI, the Italian Olympic Committee, have announced that Sampdoria captain
Francesco Flachi has tested positive for cocaine after his team's 2-0 away
defeat against Inter on the 28th of January 2007. Flachi has already served a
two month ban this season for his role in a betting scandal.


19 February 2007

Bellamy Takes Golf Club to Team-Mate

Serial delinquent and Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy launched an astonishing
attack on team-mate John Arne Riise during the clubs training camp in Portugal.
Riise refused to sign during a drunken karaoke competition between the players.
Bellamy attacked Riise in his bedroom with a golf club. Staff contacted
Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez and he separated the pair.

Bellamy has a history of trouble including receiving a caution for hitting a
woman in a nightclub, charged then acquitted of racially aggravated harassment
outside a nightclub, throwing a chair at John Carver, Newcastle's assistant manager, fined for calling his coach at the time, Graeme Souness, a liar and cleared of assaulting a teenage girl in a nightclub.


12 February 2007

Roma & Torino Fans Break Minutes Silence

Italy's sports minister, Giovanna Melandri, has vowed to ban the Roma and Torino
supporters who whistled during the minutes silence at this weekends Serie A
matches in memory of Filippo Raciti, the policeman killed during the Sicilian
derby riots earlier this month :

"Not all the imbeciles stayed at home. With these new regulations these people
will be punished and they will be banned from the stadium."

Euro 2008 Costs Hit €147 Million

Martin Kallen, head of the Euro 2008 organisers Euro SA said :

"We stand at 147 million euros at the moment. We will make €18.6 million
available to each of the eight host cities (Basel, Berne, Geneva, Zurich,
Innsbruck, Klangenfurt, Salzburg, Vienna). Each city will also receive €375,000
from UEFA for the cost of setting up fan zones."


11 February 2007

Allardyce Blasts Fat, Lazy Nation

Following England's insipid 1-0 mid-week defeat against Spain, Bolton coach Sam
Allardyce has called on the government to help develop talent :

"This is not a football problem, this is a country problem and a massive one. We
cannot get the curriculum right to develop young sportsmen and women, so we are
becoming a fat lazy nation. Our kids are the same, we don't grow top sportsmen
from a young age. Football cannot be expected to develop players from six years
old, as it is, without the government intervening to set up proper quality
identification programmes and ways of schooling young people of promise through
the early ages to develop their talent. Until we get those basics in place our
chances of breeding a World Cup-winning side are as remote as our chances of
breeding a Wimbledon champion."

Seven Serie A Stadiums Pass Safety Checks

Sampdoria's Luigi Ferraris stadium and Milan and Inter's San Siro have passed
security checks ahead of the resumption of Serie A this weekend after carrying
out improvements on their CCTV systems and turnstiles although the San Siro will
remain open at a reduced capacity until all work can be completed. The other
four stadium that met the Pisanu law standards set in 2005 are the Stadio
Olimpico (shared by Roma and Lazio), Rezno Barbera (Palermo), Stadio Olimpico
(Turin) and the Artemio Franchi (Siena).

Gerrard Predicts Bright Future Following Takeover

"After 15 minutes, we had been blown away by the plans they (new owner George
Gillett and Tom Hicks) have for the club. They said they are going to turn
Liverpool into the biggest club in the world. They spoke to us about the new
stadium and about some of their plans to invest in the team but what impressed
me most was the assurance that they have come to win things. I think people have
been a bit disrespectful to Liverpool over the last few years but I can tell you
that is going to change now that the takeover has been completed." - Steven
Gerrard


9 February 2007

Platini Against Playing Behind Closed Doors

"I obviously agree with the Italian Football Federation's decision to suspend
the championships after the death of a policeman. However, as to the closed
doors, I don't think it is fair to penalise the clubs. People cause this kind of
trouble and those supporters must be made responsible for their actions. Violent
fans must be punished and should be banned from stadiums. This must obviously be
done with the Government and the police, clubs alone cannot solve this kind of
problem. As to the serious issue of racism, I am ready to suspend matches, just
as in Holland some time ago. Again, to do this, we would need to work alongside
the police to guarantee the safe exit of all fans from venues." - Michel Platini

Olympiakos Given One Match Ban

Olympiakos has been given a one match ban following crowd trouble during their
Champions League tie against FC Shakhtar Donetsk on 5 December 2006.

UEFA Donate 81,000 Balls To CAF

UEFA have donated 81,000 footballs to the CAF (African Football Confederation).
Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Sudan will be
the first national associations to benefit receiving between 1,000 and 2,000
footballs. The footballs will be manufactured in Africa using local materials.


8 February 2007

Zidane To Play In Futsal Tournament

Zinedine Zidane will come out of retirement to play in a fustal tournament which
will be held in France on the 25th of March.


7 February 2007

Serie A To Resume On Saturday

Serie A and Serie B will resume this weekend but the majority of clubs face the
prospect of playing games without any supporters. Interior Minister Giuliano
Amato said :

"There is a very clear and definite order here. As of today, venues not up to
standard (of the Pisanu Law) will have to play behind closed doors."

Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani argued season ticket holders should be
allowed into stadiums until all reconstruction work has been carried out :

"When the turnstiles and security checks for numbered tickets are in place, the
stadiums can be opened up to only season ticket holders. Speaking to some clubs,
I have been told this work can be completed in around a month."

Only four stadiums in Serie A and three in Serie B meet the standards set by the
2005 Pisanu Law.


6 February 2007

American Businessmen Buy Liverpool

American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks have agreed to pay €265
million to takeover Liverpool football club. The total value of the deal
including the clubs debts was €333m. Hicks is the billionaire owner of the Texas
Rangers baseball team and the Dallas Stars ice hockey team. Gillett owns the
Montreal Canadians ice hockey team.


4 February 2007

Catania Fans Ambushed Police

"We've had three years of our hard work taken away. I wouldn't even say that
this was a moment of insanity because what happened looks to be a premeditated
attack. They staged an ambush on the police and Palermo fans. Something is
wrong, quite beyond this particular incident. There are areas of the stadium
that have become the Ultra territory, where rules no longer apply and you cannot
enter. The whole issue of 'responsibility' of the clubs is incorrect and we cannot carry on like this. When someone breaks the law he has to be locked behind bars and the key thrown away. I know full well that now we'll spent 10 days at round table committees, making programmes, symposiums and then we will forget all about Raciti. It'll start again, business as usual. I confirm what I said on Friday. I don't recognise myself in this sport but I repeat, that goes beyond what happened here. It's a world where there is a lot of talk, smoke and mirrors, but nothing ever gets done." - Catania director Pietro Lo Monaco

Matarrese Calls For Calm

Italian League president Antonio Matarrese has called against plans/proposals to
play all games behind closed doors or cancel the season in the wake of the
murder of policeman Filippo Raciti after Friday's Sicilian derby between Catania vs Palermo :

"This pause for thought has been very useful and I shared FIGC Commissioner Luca
Pancalli's important decision. I made the same choice in 1995 when Vincenzo
Spagnolo was killed before Genoa-Milan but we mustn't throw the baby out with
the bath water. I cannot imagine a country that bends down to accommodate
criminals. We can't show such weakness. I don't appreciate those who say this
season should end here or that we should play in empty stadiums. It would mean
destroying an immense and gratifying sport. Everyone should take the opportunity
to calm down and stop panicking."

Matarrese blamed a lack of funds for the failure to comply with 2005 Pisanu Law
which was passed in order to combat violence in and around stadiums.

"I agree that perhaps we didn't entirely respect the new laws due to a series of
issues, such as the lack of funds from the local councils. We realise that we
have to implement these rulings in full. At this point, though, we are starting
to understand that our financial resources are not enough to cover these costs."

To date only four stadiums in Serie A meet this criteria - the Stadio Olimpico
(shared by Roma and Lazio), Rezno Barbera (Palermo), Stadio Olimpico (Turin) and the Artemio Franchi (Siena).

Catania Magistrate Wants To Follow English Example

The magistrate of Catania, scene of the riots which resulted in the death of a
policeman on Friday, has blamed poor legislation for the inability to control
hooligans in Italy :

"The hooligans (in England) were defeated thanks to radical intervention, in
other words arrests that meant certain prison time and the confiscation of
passports. The Italian laws are inadequate when it comes to football-related
violence, because there is no deterrent. Overall 22 Catania fans have been arrested thanks to regulations allowing video and photographic evidence but the law says that if they have no previous convictions, they'll be released again immediately. Even if they do have a record, it'll still result in a suspended sentence."


3 February 2007

Platini Supports FIGC Action

UEFA President Michel Platini has commented on the aftermath of Friday's riots
after the Sicilian derby :

"First of all I make my personal condolences to the family of Chief Inspector
Filippo Raciti, who lost his life last night. Violence is totally unacceptable
and has no right to exist within the football world. We condemn it, will not
accept it and intend to tear it out of the sport. With this also in mind, we
offer our full support to the actions taken by FIGC Extraordinary Commissioner
Luca Pancalli, who suspended all the national championships and the
international games."

"The death of a Paris Saint-Germain fan, the riots caused by Feyenoord
supporters in Nancy, these all raise our concerns over the violence that is once
again insinuating itself in football. We must work together with the football
authorities and Italian Government to support this sport and find a solution to
this spiral of violence that is contaminating Europe."

Home Office Minister Blames Clubs For Violence

Italy's Home Office Minister Giuliano Amato has blamed clubs for not
implementing 2005's Pisanu Law's for the continuing violence at football games
in Italy :

"There has been too much of a laissez-faire attitude and an unacceptable
indulgence. My men are risking their lives here and in these conditions I won't
send them to games. This situation can be tracked back to an increased number of
'at risk' games, the persistent conflict between violent factions of some fanbases and the desperate need to complete restructuring work on some stadiums. In the case of the latter, police are called in to make up for those weaknesses."

The law called for CCTV, stewards, numbered and named security checks and
improved turnstiles at all stadia. To date only four stadiums in Serie A and
three in Serie B meet this criteria.

Claudio Giardullo, the secretary general of the Italian Police Union, admitted
the police under-estimated the extent of the violence in the Italian game :

"There was an under-estimation of how bad the situation was by accepting delays
in bringing the arenas up to code. Above all, there was an indulgence when it
came to the relationship between the clubs and their fans, a rapport that still
needs to be examined. At the end of it all we, as usual, end up paying the
price."


2 February 2007

Italian Football Suspended After Policeman Killed

Serie A, Serie B, Serie C and Italy's international matches at U21 and senior
level have been suspended following the murder of 38-year-old policeman Filippo
Raciti by Catania supporters after Friday's Sicilian derby with Palermo.

FIGC President Luca Pancalli said :

"We will immediately set up a permanent round table commission to discuss the
situation between sport and politics. It's not possible to carry on like this.
If this is football, then I'm stopping everything. Football in Italy must stop
and take stock. Enough is enough. I cannot find the words to describe a 38-year-
old man who lost his life in such a way. This is not sport. All the football
authorities I spoke to immediately agreed that we had to stop everything. Words
aren't enough any more. Right now I am astonished by what has happened and this
is completely unacceptable."

Italy's amateur league (Serie D) was suspended last week after the director
Sanmartinese, Ermanno Licursi, was killed in a post match fight between
Sanmartinese and Cancellese players.