Football Dispatch

Wednesday Football
by Jerrad Peters
04 June 2008

The Golden Whistle has called time on FC Porto’s participation in the Champions’ League. Citing a match-fixing and corruption scandal which caused the Portuguese giants to be deducted six points last season, UEFA has banned the club from partaking in the 2008-09 installment of Europe’s most prestigious competition.

At issue is a pair of matches which Porto are alleged to have fixed during the 2003-04 season. In both a 2-0 win over Estrela de Amadora and a 0-0 draw with Beira Mar, the club is believed to have bribed officials in order to attain a satisfactory result. Jose Mourinho, Porto’s manager at the time, is not suspected of wrongdoing; although club president Jorge Pinto de Costa is facing civil litigation over the matter.

Apito Dourado, or Golden Whistle, is moniker attached to the affair – one which saw Boavista relegated to the second division of Portuguese football on 09 May. The case against Pinto de Costa and Porto grew substantially after the 70-year-old’s former partner, Carolina Salgado, released an autobiography in which she levied serious accusations against the Porto president. Pinto de Costa faces a personal, two-year ban from football. That ruling, as well as the club’s exclusion from the Champions’ League, is expected to be appealed before the weekend.

Roman Abramovich continues to get the back of the hand of Europe’s brightest managers. Carlo Ancelotti was the latest coach to reject the Chelsea owner’s advances, this week. The current Milan boss was reported to have met with Blues officials at the George V Four Seasons in Paris, Monday, but categorically denied that any contact with Stamford Bridge had been made at any time.

“I will stay in AC Milan for sure and for many seasons to come,” he stated. “I have not spoken to anyone at Chelsea.”

His remarks came as an embarrassment to Abramovich and chief executive Peter Kenyon. The London club has been actively pursuing several, high-profile candidates; and Ancelotti’s firm rebuff came as a slap to the face.

“The club have not reached agreement with any individual to become manager,” read a club statement, this week. “Nor have we sought permission from any organization to talk to their manager.”

Ancelotti’s is just the latest in a string of disappointing rejections at Chelsea. The managerial position has already been turned down by Guus Hiddink and Mark Hughes. Frank Rijkaard remains in the mix; although his interest is thought to be luke-warm at best. Each of Luis Felipe Scolari, Michael Laudrupp, and Roberto Mancini has also been linked with the top job at Chelsea.

Mark Hughes, meanwhile, will be unveiled as the new manager of Manchester City as early as Thursday. The 44-year-old Welshman agreed terms on Monday – shortly after the dismissal of Sven-Goran Ericksson. He will be bringing his entire back-room staff with him from Blackburn Rovers to Eastlands.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark on board,” said City chief executive Garry Cook on the club’s website. “In our view he is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our number-one target for the manager’s job.”

City owner Thaksin Shinawatra echoed Cook’s remarks. “He’s an outstanding manager who has achieved many things with Blackburn,” read a statement from the former Thai prime minister.

Rafael Benitez has increased his offer for Gareth Barry. The Liverpool boss had initially proposed a player-plus-cash package worth approximately 10M-pounds for the Aston Villa Midfielder – an offer which Villa manager Martin O’Neill had categorically rejected.

Benitez’ latest attempt to sign the 27-year-old England international is worth approximately 15M-pounds and will, again, include both players and a cash payment. O’Neill is thought to fancy Peter Crouch and John Arne Riise and either could be part of the deal. Liverpool expect to complete the sale of Xabi Alonso to Juventus by the weekend and will use the proceeds of the transaction to fund the swoop for Barry.

LDU Quito will comprise one half of the Copa Libertadores final after holding visitors America to a 0-0 draw in the Ecuadorian capital, Tuesday. Quito, by virtue of an away-goal by Luis Bolanos in America’s Azteca Stadium, will face either Fluminense or Boca Juniors in a two-legged championship series to be played between 25 June and 02 July.

The Mexican giants were hampered by the sending-off of Carlos Sanches Romero in the 59th minute after receiving a second yellow-card. But all prospects of a match-winner dissipated completely when Alejandro Arguello was dismissed in second-half injury-time.

Fluminense will host Boca Juniors in the second-leg of their semifinal on Wednesday night in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian club holds the advantage after earning an impressive 2-2 draw with the cup holders in Buenos Aires on 28 May.


Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.