International Roundup

Celtic's Petrov may miss Bulgaria friendly for birth

SOFIA (Reuters) -- Celtic's midfielder Stilian Petrov might skip Bulgaria's international friendly against Hungary in Cyprus on February 12 if the game coincides with the birth of his first child, Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov said on Tuesday.

"I will allow Stilian Petrov to miss the friendly and be present at the birth of his child if the event overlaps our stay in Cyprus," Markov told Reuters.

He said Dinamo Kiev's defender Georgi Peev would play if he recovers from an appendicitis operation. The same applies to injured Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen.

Striker Georgi Ivanov from France's Stade Rennes was again not among the 14 foreign-based players Markov has selected for the game. Ivanov was not called up for the away friendly against Spain last November which Bulgaria lost 1-0 in Granada.

The rest of the squad will come from local clubs and be announced next week.

The game is part of the preparations for Bulgaria's Euro 2004 qualifier in Estonia on April 2.

Bulgaria have a 100 percent record in their qualifying matches with wins against Belgium, Croatia and Andorra sending them top of group eight.

Foreign-based players in Bulgaria's squad are as follows:

Goalkeeper: Zdravko Zdravkov (Istanbulspor)

Defenders: Radostin Kishishev (Charlton Athletic), Predrag Pazhin (Shakhtar Donetsk), Ivailo Petkov (Istanbulspor)

Midfielders: Stilian Petrov (Celtic), Georgi Peev (Dynamo Kiev), Milen Petkov (AEK Athens), Krassimir Balakov (Stuttgart), Daniel Borimirov (1860 Munich)

Strikers: Martin Petrov (Wolfsburg), Zoran Jankovic (Dalian Shide, China), Dimitar Berbatov (Bayer Leverkusen), Vladimir Manchev (Lille), Svetoslav Todorov (Portsmouth).

Machlas moves to Sevilla from Ajax on loan

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -- Greek international striker Nikos Machlas has joined Sevilla on loan from Ajax Amsterdam, Ajax said in a statement on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old has played few games for the champions since the arrival of coach Ronald Koeman in December 2001. Koeman prefers the combination of Mido and Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.

In four seasons at Ajax, Machlas scored 38 goals in 74 appearances. Sevilla, 14th in the Spanish first division, will be the fourth team in his career after OFI Crete, Vitesse Arnhem and Ajax.

In his second year at Arnhem, Machlas was Dutch top scorer with 34 goals.

Denmark's Bogelund to miss Egypt friendly

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -- PSV Eindhoven defender Kasper Bogelund injured his calf muscle in a warm-up game for his Dutch club and will miss Denmarks friendly international against Egypt next month, the daily Ekstra-Bladet said on Tuesday.

Danish coach Morten Olsen has yet to announce his squad for the friendly in Cairo on February 12.

Bogelund, 22, has been capped six times since his national team debut against Saudi Arabia in February last year.

Iceland's Helgason signs with Landskrona

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Iceland defender Audun Helgason has signed with Swedish first division team Landskrona, the Swedish daily Aftonbladet's website reported on Monday.

Helgason, 28, who has been capped 27 times, signed a two-year deal and moves to Landskrona as a free agent.

He has previously played with Norwegian first division team Viking Stavanger and most recently with Belgian first division club Sporting Lokeren.

Romanian league cancels ban on union leader

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- The Romanian Soccer League lifted goalkeeper Florin Prunea's six-month suspension Monday, two weeks after trying to punish him for organizing a rally demanding that salaries be paid to players on time.

The league initially suspended Prunea for nine months for making statements deemed to slander league president Dumitru Dragomir. The punishment was later reduced to six months.

Prunea, 34, a vice president of the players' union, accused Dragomir of being the "grave digger" of Romanian soccer and has called for his resignation.

The veteran goalkeeper has argued that he should not be suspended for actions he took off the field when serving as a leader of the players' union.

In recent days, the league has been under pressure from players, politicians and national unions to cancel Prunea's ban.

In scrapping the suspension, the league replaced it with a US$5,000 fine, the largest ever given in Romanian soccer. Prunea said he would appeal.

Players not paid on time in Romania can become free agents, meaning they can sign with another club without a transfer fee. Clubs could also lose points and risk relegation if they don't pay players' wages on time.

But the rules have been suspended by soccer officials until February to give clubs facing financial problems more time to raise money. Dragomir said only two of 16 clubs would remain in the top division if financial rules were enforced.

Dragomir has also infuriated players by telling media they don't deserve their salaries, and that "rich people" -- meaning the players -- should not be marching for money.

Romanian Petre moves to Ajax on loan

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -- Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam have agreed a loan deal with National Bucharest for Romanian midfielder Ovidiu Petre, the player's agent said on Monday.

"Ajax agreed with a proposal made by National Bucharest to take Petre on loan for $200,000 until next June," Victor Becali told Reuters.

Becali also said the deal could be made permanent with the 20-year-old signing a four-year contract if both sides agreed at the end of the loan deal.

Petre, who made his senior international debut last year, will join Romanian defender Cristian Chivu and goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont at the Dutch club.

Panathinaikos staff faces trial over ref assault

ATHENS (Reuters) -- The coach and president of Greek league leaders Panathinaikos are to face trial in connection with the assault of a referee last year, court officials said on Monday.

The Athens court of misdemeanour will try club president Angelos Phillipides, coach Sergio Markarian and two other staff members for assault and slander. No trial date has been set.

One club supporter also faces a charge of grievous bodily harm, while two others are accused of assault and slander.

The charges relate to incidents that followed the end of a March 2002 match between Panathinaikos and local-rivals Olympiakos that left referee Ioakeim Efthymiadis in hospital.

The game ended 1-1 after Efthymiadis awarded a 93rd-minute penalty to Olympiakos and he was badly hurt in a melee that followed when supporters invaded the pitch.

Phillipides was later suspended from his role as club president for one year while Markarian was given a two-month touchline ban.

The Uruguayan coach quit Panathinaikos last May but returned in October after a poor start under Portuguese replacement Fernando Santos.

The Athens club currently top the Greek first division with a two-point lead over rivals Olympiakos.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.