Portsmouth to sell Kaboul to pay wages

January 30, 2010

Portsmouth are waiting to sell Younes Kaboul to Tottenham in order to use the generated cash to pay the wages of the players and staff at Fratton Park. The two clubs are still in negotiation over the transfer of the French defender.

Pompey are hopeful that the deal can go through soon so that the players will be paid by midnight on January 31 at the latest.

Kaboul, rated at £10 million, was taken to Fratton Park by Spurs boss Harry Redknapp in August 2008 having joined Tottenham the previous summer. It is now clear Redknapp wants to re-sign Kaboul.

“We’re not trying to buy him on the cheap,” Redknapp said. “We’re paying whatever the going rate is for him. I would be keen to bring him back if the deal is right for everybody.”

Spurs are also reportedly in talks over goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has expressed his dismay that he and manager Avram Grant have not been informed of the negotiations.

Asked if he felt his role had become untenable, he said, “In very many ways it probably has.”

Storrie added, “It makes you wonder what one’s doing here at the moment. My love is for the football club and despite what some of the fans may think, it always has been.

“My interest is in what is best for the football club. I’ll always keep that in mind whatever decision we make.

“But one feels aggrieved that over the years some excellent deals have been done in terms of transfers, both in and out. I’d like to think I’m pretty good at getting the right transfer fees.

“If there is a need to sell a player and get a fee then I feel I am the best person for the situation.

“But I knew nothing about it (the Kaboul reports) until Friday morning. I took a call from Avram and was told there were meetings going on at Spurs.”

Tags: 10 million, asmir begovic, boss, chief executive, dismay, football club, Fratton Park, friday morning, Harry Redknapp, kaboul, love, negotiation, negotiations, Peter Storrie, pompey, Portsmouth, spurs, wages

Portsmouth FC taking legal steps over sanctions

January 17, 2010

Portsmouth have sent a legal letter to the English Premier League over their transfer embargo and withholding of television rights revenues, the beleaguered club’s chief executive Peter Storrie said.

Pompey’s seven million pound (11.4 million dollar, 7.9 million euro) share of the latest payment of television income is being diverted by the EPL to clubs they owe money to over unpaid transfer deals.

The division’s bottom team are unable to sign new players during the January transfer window because of an embargo placed upon them by the league.

The club are on the verge of trying to force the Premier League to relax the restrictions so they can bring in loan players to Fratton Park.

“I can confirm we have issued a legal letter to the Premier League to demand that the transfer embargo should be lifted,” Storrie was quoted as saying by the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

“We believe we’ve a very good case against them. They have absolutely no right to withhold television money in advance of future payments or payments to foreign clubs.”

The Premier League board held talks with cash-strapped Portsmouth, who on several occasions this season have failed to play their players on time.

And the 2008 FA Cup winners have been unable to convince the league they have the money to cover a reported 10 million pounds of debts to other clubs, hence the decision to divert their share of the television cash to other teams.

Portsmouth’s scheduled Premier League match with visitors Birmingham was postponed Saturday due to a waterlogged pitch.

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, Birmingham, chief executive, debts, embargo, English Premier League, fa cup winners, Fratton Park, loan players, london, occasions, Peter Storrie, pitch, pompey, Portsmouth, premier league, sanctions, sunday mirror, sunday mirror newspaper, television rights

Reports: Madrid offer €10m for Canales

January 15, 2010

According to Spanish sports daily Marca, Real Madrid are prepared to pay €10 million to Racing Santander for the services of young starlet Sergio Canales.

Canales, 18, has been a hot midfield target for many big clubs, not the least of which has been the Merengues, who are likely preparing for the exit of some of their older players over the summer.

According to reports, Madrid, who are currently negotiating with Racing, are set to sign the player but loan him back to the club for the remainder of the season. It is possible that Canales could even be kept at Racing next season.

Canales, who is jointly owned by Racing and Deportivo La Coruña, has also been linked with moves to the top sides in England, but Madrid are the most active for the 18-year-old, who has been featured by Spain at every youth level thus far.

If all indications are correct, Canales could be unveiled as a Madrid player later this week.

Tags: 10 million, 10m, Deportivo, deportivo la coruna, England, MADRID, marca, merengues, midfield, racing santander, Real, real madrid, remainder, santander, Sergio Canales, Spain, spanish sports, starlet, target

Arsenal may swap Fabregas for Higuain: report

January 7, 2010

Arsenal may be ready to sell Cesc Fabregas to Real Madrid — if they get Argentine star Gonzalo Higuain in return, a Spanish sports newspaper said Thursday.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger “is only willing to part with his captain if Real includes Gonzalo Higuain in the deal,” said Marca, which did not indicate its sources.

It said Real would prefer to offer Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart to the London club, and would only release Higuain for 35 million euros, 10 million less than they would pay the Gunners for Fabregas, Marca said.

But competition for the 22-year-old Spanish international from bitter rivals Barcelona may force their hand, it said.

In comments on the UEFA website, Higuain said he would like to end his career at Real Madrid, “the team and the city are my second home, and it would be fantastic.”

Fabregas, Arsenal’s top scorer with 12 goals, is under contract with the Gunners until 2014 but his future has been the subject of much speculation this season.

The player himself last month played down talk of a move back to his native Spain, saying that his future lies in the English Premier League.

Fabregas began his career with Barcelona but was signed by Arsenal in September 2003.

The following month he became Arsenal’s youngest ever player in any competition when he appeared in a League Cup tie against Rotherham aged just 16 years and 177 days.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, Argentine, Barcelona, bitter rivals, coach, cup tie, English Premier League, euros 10, fabregas arsenal, gunners, london, london club, MADRID, marca, midfielder, premier league, Rafael van der, real madrid, Spain, spanish sports, speculation, top scorer, uefa, Wenger

Blanc calls for new stadium for Bordeaux

December 21, 2009

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc on Monday called for a new stadium to be built for the French champions with a view to France hosting the 2016 European football championships.

“If we don’t take advantage of Bordeaux’s results over the past two and a half years by building a new stadium, new grounds, a new structure which will allow us to have new financial resources, it’s absurd,” said Blanc, a 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner.

Bordeaux will be one of 12 cities to feature in France’s bid to host Euro 2016, and have presented a project which would cost between 180 and 200 million euros.

Bordeaux football club whould finance half of the project, which their coach finds unreasonable.

“Do you know many clubs who invest this much in French projects?” said Blanc. “If it doesn’t happen I think personally we’ll have missed a phenomenal opportunity.

“When you don’t go forward in life and football you regress.

“I know that this won’t please many in this gloomy period when there are other priorities. I say that in my area, my sport, football, there are opportunities not to be missed.”

The new stadium would be financed up to the tune of 20 million euros by the state with the city of Bordeaux and the Bordeaux Urban Community (CUB) giving 15 million euros each.

Bordeaux major Alain Juppe has also suggested the possibility of the stadium being named after a sponsor who would pay up to 10 million euros.

The club currently play in the 34,694-seater Jacques-Chaban-Delmas stadium which was overhauled for the 1998 World Cup.

BORDEAUX, France (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, AFP, alain juppe, bordeaux football, bordeaux france, city of bordeaux, euro 2000, euro 2016, european football championships, financial resources, football club, jacques chaban delmas, laurent blanc, new grounds, phenomenal opportunity, two and a half years, urban community, whould, World Cup

German paper reveals match-fixing details

November 22, 2009

A German paper said Sunday it had obtained details of some of the 200 matches under investigation in the match-fixing scandal that has rocked European football.

According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung’s website, the matches involved were generally lower profile matches and the gambling crooks bribed players to lose by a certain amount.

The paper listed a sample of matches from Switzerland, Belgium, Croatia and Turkey.

For example, investigators are reportedly probing a match in the Swiss second division that took place between Yverdon Sport and FC Thun on April 26, 2009.

Players from the away team were reportedly bribed 15,000 euros (22,000 dollars) to make sure they lost by a four-goal margin. The match ended 5-1.

In another match in the Belgian second division, players from UR Namur allegedly received backhanders to lose by two goals. Namur duly lost 2-0.

The beautiful game is still reeling from the allegations on Thursday that a gang of around 200 people have been rigging games in Germany, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria and Switzerland.

“Without doubt this is the biggest scam there has ever been in European football,” UEFA’s match-fixing specialist Peter Limacher said at a news conference on Friday in Germany, where the probe was organised.

By bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to influence matches, the gang is thought to have earned as much as 10 million euros in huge bets with bookmakers in Europe and Asia, primarily in China.

Around 300 police carried out around 50 raids on Thursday in Germany, Britain, Switzerland and Austria, arresting 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland. More than a million euros in cash and property were seized.

BERLIN (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, allegations, beautiful game, bookmakers in europe, bosnia hercegovina, croatia, crooks, fc thun, football uefa, german paper, investigators, match fixing scandal, namur, news conference, referees, rigging, slovenia, sueddeutsche zeitung

DFB boss vows to punish betting fraudsters

November 21, 2009

Theo Zwanziger, president of the German Football Federation (DFB), on Saturday vowed to punish anyone in Germany involved with the betting scandal which has rocked European football.

European football is reeling after German prosecutors on Friday revealed 200 games are under suspicion of having been rigged in nine countries.

A 200-strong band operating across Europe is suspected of fixing matches in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria, prosecutors here revealed on Friday.

By bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to influence matches, the gang is thought to have earned as much as 10 million euros (15 million dollars) in huge bets with bookmakers in Europe and Asia, primarily in China.

German on-line magazine Der Spiegel claimed on Saturday a referee from one of the country’s southern regional leagues was bribed in a game here last May and Zwanziger says any DFB members involved will be heavily punished.

“We will punish these people – they do not belong amongst us,” Zwanziger said.

“Where there is money, there is also corruption.

“It is important to get the message across that it is not what has happened, but how we handle it now.”

Around 300 police carried out around 50 raids last Thursday in Germany, Britain, Switzerland and Austria, arresting 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland. More than a million euros in cash and property were seized.

Two of those arrested last Thursday included two Croatian brothers living in Berlin, Ante and Milan Sapina, who were at the centre of a match-fixing scandal that rocked Germany in 2004.

Investigators are also looking at 32 matches in Germany, including four in the second division, three in the third, 23 games in regional leagues and two under-19 clashes.

Elsewhere, 29 matches in Turkey from the first division downwards, 14 in Croatia’s first division, 13 in Hungary’s first division, eight in Bosnia-Hercegovina’s top flight and 11 in Austria’s first and second leagues.

In Slovenia, seven games in the first division have raised suspicions, as have 22 league games in the Swiss second division and six friendlies, plus 17 in Belgium’s second division, prosecutors said.

They warned that the list could get longer.

The German scandal saw referee Robert Hoyzer jailed in 2005 after admitting receiving almost 70,000 euros (104,000 dollars) and a plasma television from the Croatian brothers to throw games.

The worst European match-fixing scandal to date was the Calciopoli affair in 2006 involving five Serie A clubs, referees and high-ranked Italian football federation (FIGC) officials.

It resulted in heavy punishments for top-flight clubs including Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina, with Juventus stripped of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 league titles and were also demoted.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Europe stunned by football match-rigging bombshell

November 21, 2009

European football was reeling on Saturday from what one UEFA official called the continent’s worst ever match-fixing scandal, with 200 games under suspicion of having been rigged in nine countries.

A 200-strong band operating across Europe is suspected of swaying matches in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria, prosecutors in Germany said on Friday.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” investigating prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said.

“UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions … for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice,” UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

The games include three Champions League ties, 12 matches in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, one qualifying game for the under-21 European championship. All took place this season.

UEFA said it would give details of the matches at a later stage, but the 15 at European level involved early qualifying round games, while the rest were under the jurisdictions of national football associations.

It said that the list included 40 matches that UEFA had previously said were under suspicion.

“Without doubt this is the biggest scam there has ever been in European football,” UEFA’s match-fixing specialist Peter Limacher said in Germany, where the probe was organised.

“We are deeply shocked by the scale of match-fixing through international gangs. We now have to do everything possible to ensure that referees, players and officials implicated face justice,” Limacher told reporters.

Two of those arrested in Thursday included two Croatian brothers living in Berlin, Ante and Milan Sapina, who were at the centre of a match-fixing scandal that rocked Germany in 2004, newspapers said.

Investigators are also looking at 32 matches in Germany, including four in the second division, three in the third, 23 games in regional leagues and two under-19 clashes.

They warned that the list could get longer.

The German scandal saw referee Robert Hoyzer jailed in 2005 after admitting receiving almost 70,000 euros (104,000 dollars) and a plasma television from the Croatian brothers to throw games.

The worst European match-fixing scandal to date was the Calciopoli affair in 2006 involving five Serie A clubs, referees and high-ranked Italian football federation (FIGC) officials.

It resulted in heavy punishments for top-flight clubs including Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina, with Juventus stripped of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 league titles.

BERLIN (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, andreas bachmann, bookmakers in europe, bosnia hercegovina, champions league, face justice, football associations, football uefa, gangs, general secretary, gianni, infantino, jurisdictions, match fixing scandal, national football, prosecutors, referees, tip of the iceberg, UEFA Cup

Europe match-fixing probe targets 200 games

November 21, 2009

In what one UEFA official called European football’s worst ever match-fixing scandal, investigators said Friday criminals may have netted 10 million euros rigging 200 games in nine countries.

They include three Champions League ties, 12 matches in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, one qualifying game for the under-21 European championship and four from the German second division.

All the games took place this season.

UEFA said it would give details of the matches later, but the 15 at European level involved early qualifying round games, while the rest were under the jurisdictions of national football associations.

It said that the list included 40 matches that UEFA had previously said were under suspicion.

By bribing players, coaches, referees and officials to influence matches, the criminals are then believed to have earned millions by placing huge bets on the games with bookmakers in Europe and Asia, primarily in China.

“Without doubt this is the biggest scam there has ever been in European football,” UEFA’s match-fixing specialist Peter Limacher said in Germany, where the probe was organised.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” investigating prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said.

“UEFA will be demanding the harshest of sanctions before the competent courts for any individuals, clubs or officials who are implicated in this malpractice, be it under state or sports jurisdiction,” UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

Investigators are also looking at 32 matches in Germany, including two in the second division, three in the third, 23 games in regional leagues and two under-19 clashes.

They warned that the list could get longer.

The 2004 German scandal saw referee Robert Hoyzer sentenced to two years and five months behind bars after admitting receiving almost 70,000 euros (104,000 dollars) and a plasma television from a Croatian mafia ring to throw games.

One of the worst European match-fixing scandal to date was the Calciopoli affair in 2006 involving five Serie A clubs, referees and high-ranked Italian football federation (FIGC) officials.

It resulted in heavy punishments for top-flight clubs including Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina, with Juventus stripped of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 league titles.

In 2005, Brazilian referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho was banned for life after admitting match fixing. It culminated in the results of 11 league matches he had officiated being cancelled.

In 1999, four men were jailed for 12 years for plotting to sabotage an English Premiership match between Charlton and Liverpool in a multi-million pound Far Eastern betting scam by tampering with stadium floodlights.

BOCHUM, Germany (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, andreas bachmann, bookmakers in europe, bosnia hercegovina, champions league, face justice, football associations, football uefa, jurisdictions, living in berlin, national football, prosecutor, prosecutors, referees, tip of the iceberg, UEFA Cup

Redknapp vows to keep Pavlyuchenko at Tottenham

August 27, 2009

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp insists Roman Pavlyuchenko will not be heading home to Russia despite the 27-year-old striker being linked with a 10 million pound move to Spartak Moscow.

Redknapp admitted that the player, who scored in the 5-1 League Cup second win at Doncaster on Wednesday, is desperate to cement his place in Russia’s World Cup squad and needs to be playing regular first team football.

“His people came down the training ground, they wanted to have a meeting with me to talk about him,” Redknapp said. “He doesn’t want to go and they don’t want him to go. He’s very happy.

“His only concern was missing out on the World Cup as he needs to play for Russia but it wasn’t a case of him wanting to leave. He’s got no issues with the club, he’s very happy in London, happy at the club. I don’t think anything’s going to happen.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: 10 million, Doncaster, Harry Redknapp, heading home, london, Moscow, russia, spartak moscow, team football, world cup squad