International Roundup

Real Madrid to face Olimpia in Toyota Cup

TOKYO (AP) -- Spanish side Real Madrid will face Paraguay's Olimpia in this year's Toyota Cup, organizers announced Wednesday.

"This is a very exciting matchup," said Takeo Hirata, general secretary of the Japan Football Association. "We're very happy to have these two teams coming to Tokyo."

Real, which won the Toyota Cup in 1998, qualified by defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the final of the UEFA Champions League. Olimpia defeated Brazil's Sao Caetano in the Toyota Libertadores Cup to qualify.

With stars Zinedine Zidane of France and Luis Figo of Portugal, Real is considered the World's top team. Olimpia features striker Richart Martin Baez and midfielder Miguel Angel Benitez.

The 2002 Toyota Cup will be played on Dec. 3 at International Stadium Yokohama, the site of this year's World Cup final between Brazil and Germany.

Aigner hints at revamp of UEFA Cup timetable

BERLIN (Reuters) -- UEFA is considering a change in dates for UEFA Cup matches while retaining the competition's knockout format, chief executive Gerhard Aigner said on Wednesday.

Aigner said UEFA Cup games, played on Thursdays while Champions League matches take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, could be staged on Wednesdays following the shortening of the Champions League programme.

"The trend is towards less football on television," Aigner told German sports news agency SID.

"We are considering keeping the knock-out system (for the UEFA Cup) but having games played on the Wednesdays without Champions League.

"We have just reformed the Champions League to make it shorter and that frees four Wednesdays (for the UEFA Cup matches)," he added.

Clubs have been pressing for a group phase to be introduced in the competition so that they can plan television coverage in advance.

The UEFA Cup has lost much of its appeal since most of the top European clubs are now playing in the Champions League.

Sponsors end deal with Israeli club over rioting fans

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- The sponsors of Israeli premier league club Bnei Yehuda pulled the plug on their deal on Wednesday, saying the violent behaviour of fans at the weekend had brought shame to their association.

The loss of the one-season 280,000 shekel ($58,713) deal with Lighting Warehouse came a few hours before the small Tel Aviv outfit were due to appear before the Israel Football Association's (IFA) disciplinary committee.

Bnei Yehuda, who hail from Tel Aviv's poor Hatikva Quarter neighbourhood, face the possibility of a severe punishment from the country's football authorities.

On Sunday, IFA chairman Gavri Levi called for the club's ground to be closed down for the entire season and repeated the call during an Israeli parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

A report on the Hebrew language sports website ONE on Wednesday said that Lighting Warehouse general manager, Itzik Haimov, had written to the club's chairman Roni Shatan.

"We are still stunned by the events of the match against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Saturday and it seems that any explanation would be futile," Haimov was quoted as saying.

"The unsporting nature of the events have cast shame on the parties to the agreement."

Irate customers

Haimov said that his company had received many phone calls from irate customers of the chain of light-fitting shops.

"In the days since the incident many customers and business people have contacted us to express their shock at the link between us and the soccer club. This is unacceptable from our company's viewpoint," the letter continued.

The incident in question came towards the end of Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv.

As the Bnei Yehuda supporters left the ground, rocks were hurled into the Hapoel fans' grandstand inside the 8,000-seat stadium.

When the match ended, the Hapoel supporters were allowed on to the pitch to get out of range of the flying missiles.

Five Hapoel supporters and a policeman were slightly injured, according to an ambulance service officials.

Immediately after the incident, Bnei Yehuda chairman Shatan said he would ban all home supporters from the club's next home match.

"There can be no forgiveness for the action of the barbaric fans who threw rocks, this was supposed to be a footballing celebration," he added.

Coach Markov: Injured Hristov set for February return

SOFIA (Reuters) -- Kaiserslautern midfielder Marian Hristov is expected to be sidelined for up to four months as he recovers from knee surgery, Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov said on Wednesday.

"Marian told me that he started training without a ball several days ago," Markov was quoted as saying in local daily 24 Hours.

"Hristov will be ready to play in February. I rely on him very much as he is an important player for us," Markov said.

The influential midfielder first underwent surgery in the United States late last year after tearing a knee ligament during a Bundesliga match.

Hristov was back in action in April but was forced to have another operation last month in Germany when it became clear the knee was not fully healed.

Markov said he needed a replacement for veteran captain and playmaker Krassimir Balakov, who is shortly expected to announce his retirement from the national team.

"Only Krassi [Balakov] knows how long he would play in the national team but we should be ready with his replacement," Markov said.

The Bulgaria coach will fly to England next week to watch matches featuring key Bulgarian players, including Celtic midfielder Stilian Petrov, Charlton Athletic defender Radostin Kishishev and Portsmouth striker Svetoslav Todorov.

Bulgaria lead Group Eight in the Euro 2004 qualifiers on nine points after winning their first three matches.

Their next qualifier is against Estonia in April.

Lommel parts company with coach Van Veldhoven

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- Belgian club Lommel has parted company with its coach Harm Van Veldhoven, a spokeswoman for the struggling first division side said Wednesday.

"It happened yesterday evening," she told Reuters declining to comment on whether Van Veldhoven was sacked and who would replace him.

Lommel was thrashed 5-1 by fellow struggler Mechelen on Saturday, a result that left them languishing in 13th place in the 18-team first division with eight points.

Van Veldhoven is the second first division coach to leave his post this season after former Belgium coach Robert Waseige was sacked by Standard Liege on September 16.

Argentina's Marioni banned in Spanish passport probe

MADRID (Reuters) -- Tenerife's Argentine forward Bruno Marioni has been handed a 12-month ban for using an irregular Italian passport, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Wednesday.

Marioni used the passport during his time at Villarreal in the 2000-01 season.

Since moving to Tenerife, who were relegated from the Spanish first division last season, the striker has been registered as a non-European Union player.

Last year, Tenerife had Brazilian forward Barata banned for a year after the RFEF ruled that his Italian passport was false.

Palestinian national team hunt Latin players

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -- Far from the violence and tension in the Middle East, the fledgling Palestinian national soccer team are hunting for recruits in Latin America to boost their chances of qualifying for international competitions.

The team's coach Nicola Hadway, a Chilean with Palestinian parents, is scouring Latin American league sides for players of Palestinian descent who would be eligible to play for the national side.

"We want to raise the level of competitiveness in Palestine and we are convinced we will find the necessary players in Latin America to strengthen the team," Hadway told Reuters.

Many Latin American countries have communities of Palestinian and other Arab descent. Some 300,000 people in Chile alone claim Palestinian ancestry and many maintain links with Palestinian relations, whom they trace to the area around the town of Bethlehem.

However, few Palestinians in Chile speak Arabic or have visited the Middle East.

The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis has hindered the development of Palestinian professional football. The Palestinians had been using stadiums in Syria, Jordan and Egypt for matches for security reasons, Hadway said.

Fresh blook

Although there is no Palestinian state, FIFA recognised the Palestinian team in 1998.

The team are badly in need of fresh blood. They are languishing in 151st place out of 203 countries in FIFA's world rankings.

The Palestinian team failed to get past the first qualifying round of the Asian zone for this year's World Cup in Japan and South Korea, earning only seven points from six games.

FIFA has agreed that Palestinian soccer players could be sought overseas, given the political and social turmoil at home.

"Palestine's domestic situation has limited the country's football potential. This initiative is positive...but the players, once chosen, would not be able to represent other nations in official tournaments," said FIFA's representative in Chile, Alfredo Asfura.

FIFA stipulates that once players of dual nationality have represented one country at international level, they cannot then play for another.

The Palestinian soccer federation contacted Hadway four years ago, when he was coach of a second division Chilean club, asking him to scout out possible players who would be eligible and willing to play for Palestine.

Pressing challenge

A list of candidates has already been drawn up, according to Hadway. They include brothers Roberto and Fabian Bishara and Roberto Kettlun, who all play for Chilean first division club Palestino, which was established in 1920 by Chileans of Palestinian background.

Other names include Pablo Abdala, an Argentine who plays for club Cobreloa, the leaders of the Chilean first division, and Luis Musrri of Chile's second most popular club Universidad de Chile.

"Sure I'm interested in the idea. It is an international side and it would be a nice idea to participate in it. We know that Palestinians live in a flashpoint area and need our help. It is a door that has opened," said midfielder Abdala.

But the search is not limited to Chile and Hadway has already identified players in Peru, Honduras and Mexico.

Although the most pressing challenge is to compete in an international competition between African and Arab nations in Kuwait in December, the medium-term objective is to qualify for the World Cup in Germany in 2006, says Hadway.

Only half-joking, he said the team had very high ambitions.

"Our main goal is to reach the finals in Germany and become the world champions. There wouldn't be much point taking up this gauntlet without having ambitious objectives. Players from Latin America can help us, there's no doubt about that."

 

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