Football news

Chelsea defender John Terry hopes to be playing again within a month after undergoing successful knee surgery.

The 31-year-old was initially ruled out for up to eight weeks after a knee problem picked up in January failed to heal properly.

However, Terry said that an operation had gone well and he was confident of returning to anchor Chelsea’s faltering Premier League campaign.

“The operation went well and I’m feeling really good,” he said.

“We’re all confident the operation has solved the problem. The medical staff say four to six weeks before I can play again. But, hopefully, it might be sooner.”

Magazine fined for ‘orgies’ claim

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas succeeded in a court case against a magazine that had accused the Ligue 1 club of hiring escort girls for their players.

The magazine, Mag2Lyon, and sociologist Patrick Vassort were each ordered to pay a €3,000 fine after claiming that the practice was rife at Lyon in an article published in 2010.

“In professional football, it’s very common for orgies to be organised in hotels and for escort girls and other sexual favours to be offered,” Vassort wrote in an article entitled ‘They play with girls like a football’.

Ex-France captain Penverne dies

Former France skipper Armand Penverne has died aged 85.

Penverne captained France in seven of the 39 internationals he played between 1952-59 including most famously the 6-3 whipping they doled out to the Germans in the 1958 World Cup third place match.

Penverne, a midfielder, won the French league title four times and the French Cup twice with the great team of that epoch, Reims.

He was also part of the Reims side that reached the European Cup final twice where they lost on both occasions to Real Madrid, 4-3 (1956) and 2-0 (1959).

Milan’s Gattuso back to training

Milan midfielder Gennaro Gat-tuso resumed training yesterday as he continues his recovery from a potentially career-threatening eye injury.

The 34-year-old has not played since being substituted during his side’s Serie A opener against Lazio on September 9.

Gattuso collided with team-mate Alessandro Nesta and was later diagnosed with sixth nerve palsy, a disorder associated with the dysfunction of the cranial nerve that controls eye move-ment.

Fellow midfielder Mathieu Flamini, who has not played since suffering knee ligament damage in pre-season, also trained with the group again and could be in contention for this weekend’s game at Palermo.

Scifo appointed Mons coach

Belgian football great Enzo Scifo was named coach of Belgian First Division side Mons this week.

The 46-year-old – scorer of 18 goals in 84 international appearances – replaces Dutchman Dennis Van Wijk, who was sacked on Monday.

The first task for Scifo, who played for Anderlecht and Inter among other clubs, will be to end Mons’s winless streak this year. They are, however, assured of their place among the elite next season as they are in 11th spot on 29 points.

Gold Coast kicked out of A-League

Football Federation Australia yesterday kicked Gold Coast United out of the domestic league as a divisive battle bet-ween two of the country’s richest tycoons appeared headed for the courts.

The decision, which will take effect from the end of the season, followed a recent outburst by the club’s owner, billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer, who labelled the A-League “a joke” last week.

Tensions had been building for weeks and fellow billionaire and Australian soccer chief Frank Lowy responded by attacking Palmer for his “illogical and damaging” comments.

Lowy said he had no alternative but to terminate Gold Coast’s licence.

Players under threat says Papac

Rangers defender Sasa Papac feels all the players are under threat of losing their jobs as administrators look to cut costs.

Papac admits his time at Ibrox is nearing an end even if he survives after an anticipated decision on staffing levels this week.

The 32-year-old Papac is out of contract at the end of the season.

“We have to see what will be done by the administrators. They are the ones who have all the power and we must wait to see what happens,” he said.

“Their job is to clear Rangers’ financial debts, which means we could lose a lot of players.

“Any one of the players at Ran-gers could go now and I have no chance of getting another con-tract, at least not one at my existing level.”