Football news

Greek minister Pavlos Geroulanos said that the government will do whatever is necessary for the country’s professional football “to get out of the gutter which it is currently in”.

Geroulanos said he has advised the Greek football federation to take every measure necessary to rid the sport of hooliganism which is blighting the game regularly.

“The government will give its full support in this direction,” Gerou-lanos said.

“Greek football has dug its own grave with the violence. Our job is not to place the gravestone, but to help it recuperate.”

Geroulanos was speaking as a prosecutor began looking into accusations of match-fixing and violence on the pitches.

Ronaldo set to play against Lyon

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho expects fellow Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo to play against Lyon in the crucial Champions League last-16 match on Wednesday despite recently suffering a thigh injury.

“I am pretty sure he will play, but I don’t like it when players are not 100 per cent fit. If Cristiano had to play this weekend he wouldn’t because he is not fully fit, but I am sure he will play next Wednesday,” Mourinho said.

Ronaldo, 26, left the field in the 76th minute of Real’s league encounter with Malaga on March 3 after suffering a muscular injury.

Middlesbrough look to slash wage bill

Tony Mowbray faces the task of having to more than halve Mid-dlesbrough’s wage bill this summer as a result of the club’s failure to regain its Premier League status.

It is understood players’ salaries currently account for around £20m a year, and that Boro are aiming to slash that to closer to £6m.

The dramatic reduction is needed because the Teessiders based their financial model on winning a return to the top flight and the riches it brings within two years, and with parachute payments due to be drastically reduced, their turnover will decrease significantly.

Boro head into the final 10 games of the season still fighting for their Championship lives.

Hill-Wood tells Wenger to cool it

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has told manager Arsene Wenger to end his row with UEFA following the controversial Champions League exit to Barcelona.

Wenger and Samir Nasri have both been charged by UEFA following their protests to referee Massimo Busacca after he sent off Robin van Persie in the match, and Wenger continued the spat when he branded Europe’s governing body “arrogant dictators”.

But Hill-Wood now wants the matter ended.

“Emotions were running very high,” he said.

“It is understandable, but I don’t think you achieve a great deal this way, rather than in a more private way. They (UEFA) are difficult people to deal with.”

Adebayor keen to extend Real stay

Real Madrid’s on-loan Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has no intention of returning to his parent club in summer.

Adebayor joined Jose Mourinho’s men in January having fallen down the pecking order at Eastlands, and has scored some vital goals in Madrid’s bid to peg back leaders Barcelona.

And the former Togo striker has enjoyed his time in the Spanish capital so much he is reluctant to return to Manchester.

“I was born happy. No one can be as happy as I am now. Playing here is a dream come true and I now feel useful again,” he said.

“I will do everything I can to stay here. All I want to do is win titles.”

Luis Fabiano returns to brazil

Brazil striker Luis Fabiano has rejoined former club Sao Paulo from Sevilla.

Luis Fabiano, who is currently sidelined for around six weeks with a knee injury suffered in last weekend’s defeat to Athletic Bilbao, has agreed a four-year deal and will cost the Brazilian club €7.6m.

The 30-year-old Luis Fabiano enjoyed a hugely successful three-year spell at Sao Paulo earlier in his career, scoring 118 goals in 160 games before moving to Porto in 2004.

Luis Fabiano, who made financial sacrifices to help push through the move, said: “Money is not everything in life. Nothing could pay for how happy I am to once again be able to wear the shirt of the team closest to my heart.”

Germany pencil Dutch date

Germany have booked a provisional date to play Holland in a friendly in November.

The match will go ahead as long as both teams qualify directly for the Euro tournament, to be held in the Ukraine and Poland in June 2012, and avoid the play-offs which will also take place this November.

With both teams top of their respective qualifying groups with four wins from four games, Germany look set to face the Dutch in Hamburg on November 15.

The German Football Federation (DFB) have also announced they will host France in a friendly on February 29, 2012, with a return match on March 5, 2014 in France.

The venues for both games have yet to be confirmed.