A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Cole likely to escape prosecution
CHELSEA FULL back Ashley Cole will escape prosecution for shooting a work placement student with an air gun at the club's training ground.
Police sources said officers were “highly unlikely” to pursue investigations any further after contacting the Premier League club.
Tom Cowan, 21, was accidentally hit by a pellet from a .22 air gun brought into the training ground by Cole on February 20th.
But the sports science student has no plans to press charges against Cole.
EVERTON HAVE confirmed that midfielder Mikel Arteta sustained a grade two tear to his hamstring in Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham.
Arteta had to be substituted within the first 10 minutes of the Premier League match at Goodison Park having pulled up with the injury while in a chase with Sebastian Larsson.
The club are not yet able to give any further details about how long the Spanish playmaker might be out of action for.
Path cleared for Hammam to oppose Blatter re-election
MOHAMED BIN Hammam’s path to challenging Sepp Blatter in Fifa’s forthcoming presidential election looks clear after Michel Platini confirmed he would not run for the post, reports Matt Scott.
Bin Hammam, the Asian Football Confederation president, would have moved aside to allow Platini to stand against Blatter but sources at Uefa say the Frenchman is committed to another term with European football’s governing body.
That opens the way for Bin Hammam to try to end Blatter’s 13-year reign over world football.
“People have to try change,” the Qatari said. “Change is good. Within 10 days I will formally declare whether I will stand or not.”
The vote for the presidency takes place at the Fifa congress, which will be held in Zurich on may 31st and June 1st. Bin Hammam already enjoys an elevated status within Fifa, having served as a member of its 24-man executive committee for the past 15 years. His presidency of one of the six Fifa confederations accompanies his position as the chairman of the Fifa Goal Bureau, whose grants provide financial support for member associations across the world. He was also influential in bringing the 2022 World Cup to his native Qatar.
At 61, Bin Hammam has relative youth on his side compared with Blatter, who turned 75 yesterday.
Fifa charge six over match-fixing
FIFA HAVE brought charges against six match officials involved in alleged match-fixing at an international friendly exhibition tournament.
Four national teams – Latvia, Bolivia, Estonia and Bulgaria – were invited to Antalya in Turkey on February 9th for a double header and the two games produced seven goals, all scored from penalties.
One of the spot-kicks was even re-taken after the first kick was missed, while only 100 spectators turned up to watch the matches.
Officials from the four countries involved afterwards raised questions about the game with Fifa and Uefa, and queried the identities of the match officials involved. Unusual betting patterns on the matches also alerted investigators.
The world governing body said in a statement: “Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against six match officials in relation to the international A friendly matches Bolivia-Latvia and Estonia-Bulgaria played in Antalya (Turkey).”
The identities of the officials charged have not been released but the Hungarian FA last month suspended referee Kolos Lengyel and two officials following the matches in Turkey.
Sideline bans for Lennon, McCoist
CELTIC MANAGER Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist were yesterday charged with misconduct by the Scottish Football Association as the fallout of last week’s volatile Scottish Cup fifth-round reply at Parkhead continued.
Lennon and McCoist have incurred four and two-match touchline bans respectively for their altercation at the final whistle of last Wednesday’s match, which Celtic won 1-0.
El-Hadji Diouf, who was red-carded after the final whistle, and his Rangers team-mate Madjid Bougherra, sent off during the game, have also been reported to the SFA’s disciplinary committee for “misconduct of a significantly serious nature”.
Three Rangers players – Steven Whittaker was the other – were dismissed by referee Calum Murray.
Lennon, meanwhile, has said he will not walk away from Celtic despite threats made against him, according to his agent Martin Reilly.
“He was a winner as a player and he’s a winner as a manager,” Reilly said.
“As far as quitting as a manager goes, it’s not in his nature.”
