Today's other stories in brief
Bayern to appeal to CAS after Ribery ban upheld
BAYERN Munich will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after Uefa upheld a three-match ban that will keep Franck Ribery out of the Champions League final. Bayern described the ruling as harsh and said Ribery was sad and disappointed at the decision.
The French playmaker, who has already served one match of the ban, was dismissed before half-time in the first leg of the semi-final against Olympique Lyon for a studs-up challenge on Lisandro Lopez.
“We will keep on fighting,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told reporters. “We’re not happy with the decision here and we will take the decision to CAS in Lausanne.
“For him to miss the Champions League final for an offence of foul play is just too harsh,” he added.
“Foul play should be punished with a one-match ban, those are the Uefa statutes but they have not followed them,” added Rummenigge.
Cannavaro to quit Italian team
ITALY captain Fabio Cannavaro has announced he will retire from the national team after the World Cup.
The 36-year-old Cannavaro has been capped a record 132 times for Italy.
“They already say I’m too old, so I can only imagine what they would say in August,” said Cannavaro yesterday.
The Juventus veteran defender took over the captaincy after Paolo Maldini left the national team in 2002.
Chamakh can't wait to join Arsenal
MAROUANE Chamakh is “counting the days” until he finally becomes an Arsenal player – and intends to prove he was worth the wait. The Morocco international has been a long-term target for the Gunners, having almost moved to Emirates Stadium last summer.
However, Chamakh is now set to arrive on a free transfer, worth a reported £50,000 a week, once his contract with Bordeaux expires. The 26-year-old will give Arsene Wenger some much-needed back-up in attack, an area of the pitch which was stretched by Robin van Persie’s five-month injury absence this term.
“I count the days, 11 short days. I am delighted to join the English football atmosphere,” Chamakh told French newspaper L’Equipe.
Sol Campbell is ready to ignore more lucrative offers to sign a one-year contract at Arsenal, having convinced Arsene Wenger of his worth.
Last night's results
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – Fulham 0 Stoke 1; Manchester City 0 Tottenham 1.
SPANISH LA LIGA – Athletic Bilbao 1 Malaga 1; Atletico Madrid 3 Real Valladolid 1; Osasuna 3 Deportivo la Coruna 1; Racing Santander 1 Sevilla 5; Real Zaragoza 1 Espanyol 0.
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE – Aberdeen 1 Kilmarnock 2; Falkirk 0 St Johnstone 0; Hamilton 0 St Mirren 0; Hearts 0 Dundee Utd 0; Motherwell 6 Hibernian 6.
SCOTTISH LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS – First Division semi-final, first leg: Brechin 2 Airdrie Utd 1; Cowdenbeath 1 Alloa 1.
Second Division semi-final, first leg: Queens Park 0 Arbroath 4; East Stirling 0 Forfar 1.
IRISH LEAGUE – Division One: Banbridge Town 0 Loughgall 3.
Anelka to sign new two-year deal
NICOLAS Anelka is to sign a two-year contract extension with Chelsea that will tie him to the Premier League leaders until the summer of 2013. The deal is expected to be announced some time after Chelsea meet Portsmouth in the FA Cup final on May 15th.
Talks between Chelsea and the 31-year-old’s agent have been ongoing for some time, with Anelka’s current contract due to expire at Stamford Bridge at the end of next season. The club’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has long insisted that the France international is integral to his plans – “I want him to stay,” he said only last week – despite a patchy season in front of goal. Anelka will remain at the club on around €118,000 a week despite Chelsea’s intention to pursue a younger forward in the summer.
Anelka was the Premier League’s leading goalscorer last season but has become more of a provider than a finisher this season.
Cruel blow for Sunderland's Meyler
SUNDERLAND midfielder David Meyler will be out of action for up to a year and will miss out on the Republic of Ireland’s upcoming friendly games against Algeria and Paraguay after rupturing knee ligaments in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat by Manchester United.
The 20-year-old was stretchered off during the first half of the club’s final home game and manager Steve Bruce later said initial checks suggested he had suffered a cruciate ligament injury.
Scans have now confirmed a rupture and Meyler is to consult a specialist later this week to assess the extent of the injury and what treatment is required. Bruce told the club’s website: “An initial scan has confirmed our medical team’s first thoughts that David has ruptured ligaments in his right knee.
The former Cork City players misfortune struck just a week after he signed a new five-year contract.
It also came shortly after Giovanni Trapattoni called him up for a training camp later this month, when he was to get the chance to play his way into the squads for the games against Algeria and Paraguay at the RDS.
He now face months on the sidelines and seems certain to miss the start of the new season and the early stages of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
