Football news

West Ham United have been chosen as the leading bidders to move into the Olympic Stadium and can now try to finalise commercial terms, London mayor Boris Johnson said.

However, an agreement with West Ham remains conditional on a number of issues including sharing of costs for converting the stadium for football use and ensuring that taxpayers benefit from any knock-on increase in the value of the club.

The Olympic Stadium, centrepiece of the London Games this year, was built at a cost of about £430 million, funded by public money.

West Ham have played at Upton Park, in east London, since 1904.

Ex-World Cup ref released from jail

Former World Cup referee Byron Moreno, jailed for two years in the US for smuggling heroin, has been repatriated to his native Ecuador after purging his sentence.

Moreno was arrested in Sep-tember 2010 at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after arriving from Ecuador with six kilos of heroin attached to his body.

Moreno gained notoriety after officiating a 2002 World Cup match between Italy and hosts South Korea.

The Azzurri were eliminated in extra-time, and several contro-versial calls by Moreno angered Italy, including a debatable penalty to South Korea and the sending-off of Francesco Totti with a second yellow card for diving.

Hulk threatens to quit Zenit SP

Zenit SP’s record signing Hulk has threatened to quit the Russian club following a heated exchange with coach Luciano Spalletti during Tuesday’s Champions League win at Milan.

The Brazil striker reacted angrily after the coach substituted him late in the game at the San Siro, which Zenit won 1-0.

“If the situation with the coach does not resolve itself I may leave the club in the January transfer window,” Hulk, 26, told reporters yesterday.

Spalletti, however, has played down the incident.

“All big players don’t react well when they’re substituted,” the Italian told the club’s website.

Miccoli keen to stay with Palermo

Palermo striker Fabrizio Miccoli is ready to consider signing a contract extension with the Sicilian club.

The 33-year-old had previously expressed his desire to wait until June, when his current deal expires, before making a decision on his future.

Miccoli told La Repubblica: “I’ve never talked figures with the club, nor about the length of the contract. The plan is to extend my deal, or so I’ve been told.

“Of course, I want to talk and I’d really like to end my career here. I’m optimistic about what’s going to happen.”

Kaka unsure over Real future

Real Madrid forward Kaka is unsure if he will still be at the Bernabeu past January after struggling to force his way into the first team.

On Tuesday, the 30-year-old made a rare start and scored the third goal in Real’s 4-1 win over Ajax. Kaka admits he could soon leave Real as rumours of his next destinations start to emerge.

“No, I have heard nothing from LA Galaxy,” he told AS.

“I keep doing my job to stay at Real Madrid. Then, to see what happens and what the club wants.

“It’s not a comfortable situation for either the club or me.

“I do not know what will happen, really. I have a contract until 2015.”

No Christmas party for QPR players

QPR have cancelled their Christ-mas party due to their lowly position in the English Premier League table.

Rangers are seven points adrift of safety after 15 matches and are still searching for their first win of the campaign, despite spending heavily during the summer.

The decision to shelve plans for the traditional end-of-year party was made by the players, reports in the UK media said.

New manager Harry Redknapp, who replaced the sacked Mark Hughes last month, oversees his third match in charge at Wigan on Saturday.

HMRC to appeal Rangers tax ruling

Conflict surrounds Rangers after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs announced it will appeal the outcome of ‘the big tax case’ and the Glasgow club announced they would not ac-cept their ticket allocation for February’s Scottish Cup clash at Dundee United.

HMRC is contesting the out-come of a tribunal which saw oldco Rangers win an appeal in principle against a bill over the use of Employment Benefit Trusts from 2001 to 2010.

Rangers argued that the pay-ments, thought to be close to £49 million, were loans rather than wages and not subject to tax.

Rangers were on Monday drawn to play at Dundee United, with fan groups immediately calling for a stay-away protest for the first match at SPL opposition since they were relaunched as a new company and denied entry to the top flight.