Juventus and Lazio were both hit with fines yesterday following racist chanting by their fans at the weekend.
Juve were penalised €25,000 for their fans’ abuse of two Inter players as well as for a section of their fans failing to respect the one minute silence ahead of their 2-0 win.
It was the fourth time this season Juve have been fined for racist chanting by their fans and they have also been issued a warning, meaning their next offence could carry a more serious penalty.
Lazio were fined €20,000, also with a warning, for the abuse directed at a Cagliari player.
Pizarro pursuit
Bayern Munich’s honorary president Franz Beckenbauer has backed his club to sign Claudio Pizarro from Werder Bremen amid rumours the striker is set to return to Bavaria.
Pizarro has a year left to run on his contract but he is stalling on accepting a new deal and has hinted several times that he may leave in the summer.
“I have read about Pizarro and he is still one of the best, even at the age of 33,” Becken-bauer said.
“The goals he scores... there is no sign of age there. It would make sense to sign Claudio.”
Pizarro scored 71 goals in 174 appearances for Bayern bet-ween 2001 and 2007.
Blues keen on moving semi-final
Chelsea are considering lobby-ing the Football Association to bring their FA Cup semi-final forward by 48 hours should they reach the Champions League semi-finals.
The Blues want more time to prepare for what could be the first leg of a tie against Barcelona or Milan if they beat Benfica in the last eight. Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final will take place on April 15, just three days before a potential Champions League clash.
Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo said: “I feel we should get more help from the FA over fixtures. We need it because it doesn’t help English teams in the Champions League.”
Buffon to sign new Juve contract
Gianluigi Buffon is set to end his career with Juventus after reports emerged that the Italy goalkeeper will pen a new deal at the end of the season.
Buffon is currently tied with the Bianconeri until June 2013 but the club’s hierarchy is deter-mined to keep the 34-year-old beyond this deal.
According to Tuttosport, talks are imminent and a deal should be signed and sealed within the next few weeks. Buffon will probably put pen to paper on a three-year agreement.
At present, Buffon earns €6m a season after tax.
Lennon handed misconduct charge
Celtic manager Neil Lennon will be facing disciplinary action by the Scottish Football Association after being sent off at half-time in his team’s Scottish Premier League defeat by Rangers on Sunday.
Celtic, in a match where they could have wrapped up the title, lost 3-2 in a fiery Glasgow derby clash at the Ibrox Stadium, home of arch-rivals Rangers.
After complaining to referee Calum Murray about his performance in the tunnel, Lennon was ordered to the stands.
Lennon has until next Tuesday to respond to the SFA’s “notice of complaint”.
Student jailed for Muamba tweets
A university student was jailed for 56 days for inciting racial hatred, after posting offensive comments on Twitter about the collapse of Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba.
Magistrates in Swansea sent 21-year-old biology undergraduate Liam Stacey to prison after he admitted the charge at a previous hearing last week.
He broke down in tears as he was taken away in handcuffs.
Sentencing the student, district judge John Charles said there was “no alternative” to an immediate prison sentence, as when Muamba collapsed “it was not the football world that was praying for him... everybody was praying for his life”.
Criticism affects Ribery’s form
Franck Ribery claims media criticism has affected his recent performances for France and insists he is a completely different player when he lines up for Bayern Munich.
The 28-year-old scored 11 league goals this season as Bayern attempt to wrest the title from Borussia Dortmund, but admits he is less happy when he plays for Les Bleus and has not scored for the national team for almost three years.
He said: “There is not a problem directly with the public in France... it is with the people in the middle. They keep cri-ticising me. I do not know if it is in the mind that this is happen-ing, but it is. I do not want to explain to those who are always there to criticise.
“Really, I prefer to forget about them.”