The Asian Football Confederation gave itself a proud pat on the back yesterday after declaring that January’s Asian Cup in Australia was free of match-fixing.
“It is extremely encouraging to see that the detailed integrity planning and collaboration for our premier tournament, the AFC Asian Cup, was a success,” AFC general-secretary Alex Soosay said.
“This would not have been possible without the support and focused efforts of each stakeholder and in particular Australian law enforcement and Sportradar, who worked hand-in-hand with AFC’s Integrity Unit throughout the tournament.”
S. Korean head to stand for FIFA Exco
The president of the South Korean FA, Chung Mong-gyu, will stand for a seat on FIFA’s all-powerful executive committee.
The 53-year-old chairman and chief executive of Hyundai Development Co. submitted his candidacy with the Asian Football Confederation yesterday.
The AFC have three seats on FIFA’s executive committee and one vice-presidency position with all four up for election at a vote in Bahrain on April 30.
AFC president Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain is standing for re-election and if he is voted in again will also assume the FIFA vice-presidency position currently held by Prince Ali.
Mainz 05 sack coach Hjulmand
Struggling Mainz 05 parted ways with coach Kasper Hjulmand yesterday after the Dane managed just four wins in 21 league games this season, the club said.
One point above the relegation spot, Mainz, in 14th place on 22 after losing 4-2 to Borussia Dortmund on Friday, appointed youth coach Martin Schmidt as his successor.
“This relegation struggle now changes the criteria which have led to a change in coach,” Mainz manager Christian Heidel said.
Swiss Schmidt had steered their youth team to promotion into the third division last season.
Hammers close in on striker Nene
Former Paris St Germain forward Nene is undergoing a medical ahead of a potential move to West Ham.
The 33-year-old Brazilian is available on a free transfer after leaving Qatar outfit Al-Gharafa in January and would be a welcome addition to Sam Allardyce’s squad following a knee injury to club-record signing Andy Carroll.
Allardyce has Carlton Cole and summer signings Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho as his options in attack but co-chairman David Sullivan confirmed that West Ham were scouring the globe in search of free agents who they could sign.
Nene fits that bill and would bring a proven track record of scoring goals, both in Spain and France.
Mancini making his mark says Zanetti
Javier Zanetti believes Roberto Mancini is starting to make his mark at Inter after watching the underachieving club return to the top half of the Serie A table.
The Nerazzurri have spent most of the current campaign struggling in mid-table and, having disposed with Walter Mazzarri in November, they restored Mancini to the job he held between 2004 and 2008.
Results were slow to improve but Sunday’s convincing 4-1 win over Atalanta followed victory over Palermo and boosted Inter into 10th place.
“We’re starting to see Mancini’s footprint again, thanks to the work that he demands from his players,” Zanetti said.
“I hope we can still achieve the objectives we had targeted at the start of the season.”
Markovic hit with four-match ban
Liverpool’s Lazar Markovic has been suspended by UEFA for the next four European matches after being sent off in the Champions League group stage match against Basel in December.
He will miss both legs of the Europa League last-32 tie against Besiktas and both Round of 16 matches if Liverpool advance.
The 20-year-old Serbian midfielder was handed an extra match ban because he was sent off playing for Benfica against Juventus in last season’s Europa League semi-final when he was red-carded after rowing with the referee following his late substitution.
Blanc criticises Ibra goal celebration
Paris SG coach Laurent Blanc has told Zlatan Ibrahimovic to keep his tattoos to himself.
The Paris SG striker peeled off his shirt after scoring against Caen on Saturday in an effort to draw attention to world famine.
Working with the United Nations’ World Food Programme , Ibrahimovic had temporary tattoos with the names of 15 people suffering from hunger.
But his exploits, unknown to PSG coach Laurent Blanc at the time, also earned him a yellow card.
“I was aware of his commitment to the foundation, but personally I didn’t know that he’d had several names tattooed on him,” he said.
“If it was to show his tattoos then it worked because it made the front page of every website in the world, so in that sense it was very successful for him and for the foundation. But it cost us a yellow card.”