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The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Thursday said it will stand by the under-fire selectors until the allegations against them for running some commission business involving the national players, were proven by the investigation.
   ‘We believe the selectors have done their job sincerely and are not involved with any undue business. We have full confidence on them,’ said BCB chief executive officer Mahmudur Rahman at a press conference.
   Rahman, however, promised that they will investigate the accusation thoroughly and will take action if anyone is found guilty.
   ‘Of course, we will investigate the accusations and will take action if it is found to be truth. But until then we will stand by the selectors,’ said Rahman.
   Chief selector Farque Ahmed, Athar Ali Khan and Golam Nowsher were also present.
   The BCB had earlier stated that they will wait for the return of general secretary Mahbubul Anam, who is in charge of the cricket operations committee, before launching a full-scale investigation especially against Athar Ali.
   It was alleged that Athar took a certain percentage of commission from Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar and star batsman Mohammad Ashraful for brokering a lucrative sponsorship deal with UK-based sports firm Reebok.
   In line with the allegation, the name of chief selector Faruque Ahmed also came into the spotlight after some newspapers accused him of taking money from cricketers by arranging overseas club cricket for them.
   Both Athar and Farque vehemently refuted the charges brought against them, although in an unconvincing manner. ‘It’s a baseless allegation as we are not involved with any commission business,’ claimed Faruque.
   Athar, whose company Trendsetter Limited is the sole distributor of Reebok shoes and sportswear in Bangladesh, repeated his pleas of innocence.
   ‘I didn’t know anything about the deal. Reebok International or Reebok India, from where my company brought goods, didn’t consult me about the endorsement deal,’ said former national opener turned TV commentator.
   It was in fact the same song Athar had been singing since the allegations surfaced last Saturday, though nobody was convinced.
   If Reebok had struck any endorsement deal in Bangladesh, the first beneficiary should be Athar’s Trendsetter. Hence, Athar playing innocent was beyond belief.
   Though Athar claimed he knew nothing, the CEO of the BCB informed that Bashar had showed the Board the draft copy of the deal on June.
   Asked whether they would contact Reebok to get a clearer picture and more importantly who negotiated it, Rahman said if necessary they would contact the firm.
   Before doing so, they would like to quiz Bashar and Ashraful, once they returned from Zimbabwe, added Rahman.

The Bangladesh Football Federation categorically stated that they are the supreme body and are empowered to overrule any recommendation of the National Team Management Committee (NTMC).
   President of the BFF, SA Sultan, said this while talking with the press about the ongoing debate regarding the decision of the NTMC to appoint Abu Noman Nannu as the manager of the SA Games-bound national U-23 team. The BFF overruled the NTMC’s decision and appointed Amirul Islam Babu as the manager of the team.
   The BFF president took a tough stance on the matter and admitted that the federation had acceded to the NTMC’s demands on an earlier occasion but this time he hopes that the NTMC would respect the ruling of its parent body. It may be mentioned that the BFF was forced to withdraw its nomination of national team manager for the SAFF Championship and accept the NTMC nomination after Qazi Salahuddin, the chairman of the NTMC, tendered his resignation in protest against the BFF’s interference in their affairs. Later he withdrew his resignation as the BFF agreed to respect the recommendations of the NTMC in future.
   ‘That was a different situation and we bowed for the greater interest of football although many of the executive committee members were opposed to it. Now we have unanimously selected Abdur Rahim as the team leader and Amirul Islam Babu as the manager of the U-23 team,’ said Sultan.
   ‘The decision of the executive committee is final and I hope the NTMC will accept it. I don’t expect similar scenario that occurred in the past and request the NTMC members to keep the bondage of the football family intact,’ said the BFF president.
   Replying to a query that the NTMC pays the salary and other the expenses of the Argentine coach Diego Andres Cruciani, Sultan said it is a bit humiliating for the BFF. However, he disclosed that the NTMC was expected to find out sponsors to defray the expenses of Cruciani and the BFF would help them in this regard.
   Asked about the commitment he and the BFF made to the NTMC in the earlier incident, Sultan said nothing is unchangeable. ‘Time decides the necessity and we thought that it would be better to pick Babu as the manager. It was an unanimous decision. The BFF has the right to alter, add or overrule any decisions of its sub-committee,’ said the BFF chief.
   ‘I don’t know what calibre of player Nannu was, it would have been more acceptable if the NTMC proposed some familiar and popular name and it was not a hard task’
   Sultan said the BFF has the authority to dissolve the NTMC. However, he hoped for a congenial atmosphere in the football arena.

Pakistan (119) lead England (49/1) by 70 runs at tea, day 1
   Steve Harmison took six for 19 from 13 overs on Thursday to help England rout Pakistan for 119 on the first day of the second Test on Thursday.
   The home side, in reply, reached 49 for one by tea, Marcus Trescothick caught behind for five off Mohammad Sami. Andrew Strauss was 29 not with Alastair Cook on five at the other end.
   Pakistan’s total was the second lowest first-innings total in a Test at Old Trafford since the very first game at the ground in 1884, when England made 95 against Australia.
   Relishing a fast, rock-hard surface and pitching the ball up, Harmison removed both openers with just nine runs on the board to start the rot.
   But the touring side, who had tried to prepare for Harmison by using a slab of marble in the nets to try and replicate his bounce, played almost as big a role in their own demise, continuing to go for extravagant shots on a pitch offering some sideways movement.
   The last eight wickets fell in 14 overs, and for 29 runs, in a performance that bore no resemblance to Pakistan’s defiant batting in the drawn first Test at Lord`s. They capitulated in 38.4 overs, allowing England to begin their reply midway through the afternoon session.
   The key phase of play came in four overs either side of lunch, during which four wickets — including those of vice-captain Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq — fell for three runs.
   One minute it was 90 for two and suddenly it was 93 for six.
   Yousuf’s dismissal, for a silky 38, sparked the collapse after he and Younis had put on 81 for the third wicket.
   Yousuf, who made a double century of the highest quality in the opening Test, had hit six fours when he looked to glide left-arm spinner Monty Panesar’s fourth ball towards third man, instead feathering a catch behind to Geraint Jones.
   Three balls later, and in the final over of the session, Younis slashed wildly and inexplicably at a short ball from Harmison and was caught in the gully by Paul Collingwood after making 44.
   That made it 93 for four at lunch and Panesar struck again five balls after lunch when Faisal Iqbal (3) was caught behind, rashly attempting to cut off a ball which bounced. Panesar finished with three for 21.
   Pakistan’s fate was sealed when Inzamam fended a vicious Harrison lifter to gully without scoring. His departure ended his extraordinary record against England. He had passed 50 in each of his previous nine Test innings against them, a run which also included three centuries.
   The worst shot of the innings came from Shahid Afridi, a man apparently incapable of reining in his natural attacking instincts.
   He survived a top-edged sweep off Panesar which flew over the wicketkeeper’s head for four, then drove the spinner for six before edging a wild slog straight up in the air and into Kevin Pietersen’s hands at point.
   If Pakistan were bemused, so was Matthew Hoggard. He bowled beautifully, beating the bat regularly without taking a wicket. Harmison’s best Test figures, seven for 12, came against West Indies in Jamaica in March, 2004.

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone, the US rider’s Phonak team said on Thursday.
   ‘The Phonak Cycling Team was notified yesterday by (world cycling body) the UCI of an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone ratio in the test made on Floyd Landis after stage 17 of the Tour de France,’ Phonak said in a team statement.
   Landis produced a remarkable effort a week ago to win the 17th stage of cycling’s showpiece event following a disastrous 16th stage in which he dropped from first to 11th place.
   Phonak said Landis would not ride until the matter had been clarified and said that if the B sample analysis confirmed the result of the A sample, the rider would be dismissed.
   Phonak added: ‘The team management and the rider were both totally surprised by this physiological result.
   ‘The rider will ask in the upcoming days for the counter analysis to prove either that this result has come from a natural process or that this is the result of a mistake.’
   Landis had earlier pulled out of a race in Denmark on Thursday. He also did not ride in a scheduled race in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The Dhaka University sealed a final round berth as expected in the Jubok Phone National Football Championship thrashing Jahan-irnagar University 5-1 at the Army Stadium on Thursday. Ace striker Moni slammed a hat-trick.
   Moni scored on the 3rd, 10th and 70th minute while Kafi and Parvez netted the other two goals in the 46th and 73rd minute respectively.
   In the other match of the day, at the same venue Islamic University and BKSP played out a goalless draw.
   In the two zonal semi-finals at Magura and Habiganj, Chuadanga and Comilla defeated Kushtia and Habiganj respectively.
   Chuadanga drew with Kushtia 1-1 in scheduled time. Monsur of Chuadanga and Akram of Kushtia netted for their teams.
   Later Chuadanga won the shootout 5-4. Humayun of Comilla and Rasel of Habiganj scored to make the match 1-1 tie and Comilla won the shootout 4-2.
   At Tangail, Mymensingh ousted Sherpur 2-0 with Mosharraf and Sohel finding the net.
   At Joypurhat, Natore beat Sirajganj 3-2 with Arif Hossain slamming a hat-trick. His goals coming in the 13th, 83rd and 90th minute. Anwar of Sirajganj struck twice on the 14th and 61st minute but could not save his team from defeat.
   At Gaibandha, Rubel and Parve scored on the 39th and 86th minute against Lalmonirhat to seal a 2-1 victory. Titu reduced the margin for the losers.

The Bangladesh Olympic Association finalised a 214-member contingent for the Colombo SA Games on Thursday.
   The contingent includes 135 male athletes, 38 female athletes, 21 coaches and instructors and 14 managers as well as chef de mission, two doctors, a contingent manager and a representative of the sports ministry. Bangladesh will leave for Colombo in nine batches
   with the football team flying out first.
   The football competition will start on August 14 while the Games will be officially inaugurated four days later on August 18. Bangladesh play Nepal on the opening day of the football competition.
   BOA president and chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Moeen U Ahmed scrutinised all the timings and scores of all the athletes during the training and then gave his approval.
   BOA has prepared a budget of Tk 3.5 crore to cover all the expenses including travelling costs.

Reigning champions Usha KC and runners-up Abahani completed their players recruiting formalities on the first day of the hockey players’ transfers on Thursday.
   Abahani kept their forward Rasel Mahmood Jimmy, Mahbub Ehsan Rana, Musa Miah Hedayetul Islam Rajiv and signed Asif -e-Noor and Issa Miah from Mariners to complete their pool quota.
   Usha have confirmed Tuhin, Dinar, Rajon from Mohammedans and Shahidulah Titu from Abahani.

Bangladesh’s first-choice wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud joined practice for the first time on the Zimbabwe tour on Thursday after recovering from a minor chest infection, said the official website of Bangladesh Cricket Board.
   Bangladesh went through a full session in the morning at the Harare Sports Club, with a bit of knowledge about the conditions courtesy of the practice match, which they won by five wickets against the Zimbabwe Board XI a day earlier.
   The players were divided into two groups, namely batsmen versus bowlers, had two stumps at two ends to aim at in the manner of playing handball with a rocket-shaped inflated dart.
   This was the main part of the warm-up and the batsmen had the last laugh thanks to Mohammad Ashraful bull’s-eye. Then it was time for the nets and fielding, according to tigercricket.com.
   Pace ace Mashrafee bin Mortuza, who claimed five wickets in the practice game, was rested while his partner Shahadat had a short spell in the nets.
   Bangladesh are likely to name their squad for Saturday’s first ODI today.

The chairman of the National Team Management Committee and vice-president of the Bangladesh Football Federation, Kazi Salahuddin, on Thursday condemned the BFF’s overruling of the recommendation of the NTMC saying that the federation cannot do it.
   Salahuddin, one of the greatest footballers the country has ever produced, was shocked at the incident. He returned to Dhaka from abroad in the afternoon and came to the federation later in the evening. He said he will disclose his decisions at a press briefing today.
   NTMC proposed the name of Abu Noman Nannu, a former player of Brothers Union, as the manager of the U-23 football team for the SA Games but the BFF rejected the proposal and named Amirul Islam Babu as the manager.
   Reacting to the incident Salahuddin said the BFF has no right to alter the decisions of the NTMC. ‘They have given us an assurance that our recommendations would be honoured, so we took the decision for the greater interest of the team and our aim is also to groom future football officials … we don’t accept the federation’s overruling,’ said the former star.
   ‘If they wanted to do that they could have dissolved the NTMC first and then made their decision,’ said Salahuddin.
   Salahuddin said he had every intention to inspire the team in Sri Lanka and was prepared to fly to Colombo at his own expense. ‘I thought if a player gains the experience of managing a team at the international level it would be more useful,’ he said.

UEFA on Thursday said it would decide by August 2 whether to allow scandal-hit AC Milan to take part in European competitions for the 2005/06 season.
   The six-time European champions had finished second in Serie A behind Juventus, but both clubs were sanctioned by the Italian football federation along with two others for their part in a match-fixing scandal.
   The league title was awarded to third-placed Inter Milan on Thursday. However, after a successful appeal earlier this week, an Italian sports tribunal allowed AC Milan to take its slot in the third and final qualifying round of the Champions League, provoking an angry reaction from rival Serie A clubs.

Ace shooters Asif Hossain Khan and Sharmin Akhter will fly to China in January 2007 to get higher training for the 2008 Bejing Olympics.
   Under the IOC Solidarity Fund, the shooters won the Beijing scholarship and the training will be of three months’ duration.
   Athlete Fauzia Huda Jui will also go under extensive training in Kuala Lumpur in September.

South Africa (169) lead Sri Lanka (128/2) by 41 runs at stumps, day 1
   Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando combined to bowl out South Africa for 169, their lowest total against Sri Lanka, on the opening day of the first cricket Test here on Thursday.
   The pace-spin duo claimed four wickets each as the depleted South Africans were shot out at the stroke of tea on an even-paced wicket at the Sinhalese sports club.
   Sri Lanka replied strongly with 128-2 when bad light ended play early, with Kumar Sangakkara unbeaten on 59 and skipper Mahela Jayawardena on 55.
   The pair put on 114 for the unbroken third wicket after seamer Dale Steyn had removed openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga in his first two overs to make Sri Lanka 14-2.
   The Proteas, who went to lunch at 78-2, lost their last eight wickets for 91 runs in a dramatic afternoon session to be all out in just 50.2 overs.
   Wily off-spinner Muralitharan finished with 4-41 to take his career tally to 639 wickets, second only to Australian record-holder Shane Warne’s 685.
   Fernando claimed 4-48 and Farveez Maharoof took 2-32 as the South Africans lost the advantage of winning the toss and batting first on an overcast day.
   It was South Africa’s lowest-ever total against Sri Lanka, falling below the 179 and 189 they managed in two innings of the second Test at the same venue on their previous visit in 2004.
   A.B. De Villiers was the only batsman who took on the Sri Lankan bowlers, smashing 65 off 72 balls with the help of eight boundaries.
   De Villiers, who was on 47 when last man Makhaya Ntini walked out to bat, scored the remaining 18 runs for his team before holing out in the deep off Muralitharan.
   The tourists missed three top players. Captain Graeme Smith and all-rounder Jacques Kallis stayed home because of injuries, while veteran Shaun Pollock opted out due to the birth of his second child.
   Pollock was expected to arrive later on Thursday and will be available for the second Test of the two-match series starting at the Sara stadium here on August 4.
   Fernando rattled South Africa at the start by clean bowling openers Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Hall in a hostile first spell to make it 45-2.
   Maharoof struck with the second delivery after lunch when he forced Jacques Rudolph to edge a catch to wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardena.
   Left-handed Rudolph, a late replacement for Smith, had made a fluent 29 before the break with five boundaries.
   Ashwell Prince lasted just 15 deliveries in his first stint at the crease as South African captain, scoring one run when he poked at a Maharoof outswinger and gave the wicket-keeper another easy catch.
   Muralitharan, who was proving unplayable even in easy batting conditions, drew Hashim Amla out of his crease and had him stumped for 19 to make South Africa 112-5.
   It soon became 128-6 as Mark Boucher top-edged a sweep off Muralitharan and the ball ballooned to Jayasuriya at backward short-leg.
   Muralitharan trapped Nicky Boje leg-before for five before Fernando removed Andre Nel and Steyn off successive balls.

Top seed Andy Roddick launched his Los Angeles ATP campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Rik De Voest here Wednesday, to the approval of his new coach Jimmy Connors.
   ‘That’s a good start to the week,’ Connors said after watching Roddick dispose of the South African in 67 minutes from a baseline box at the hot and steamy UCLA Tennis Center.
   Roddick made use of a solid serve and formidable forehand, but De Voest wasn’t easy to put away.
   Roddick claimed the only service break in the seventh game to claim the opening set.
   He broke early in the second, but up 5-4 he needed to save five break points in the final game before a rare forehand volley closed out the match.
   ‘It’s a nice feeling, that I haven’t had for a while, to say I won the match four and four,’ Roddick said.
   Roddick had been without a coach since firing Dean Goldfine in February, and was bounced in the first round of the French Open in May. He failed to make the Wimbledon final for the first time in three years, losing to Scot Andy Murray in the third round.
   Following the disappointment at the All England Club, Roddick worked out for a four-day stretch with Connors, who won eight Grand Slam titles.
   The move paid early dividends as Roddick reached his first final of the year at Indianapolis on Sunday, losing to James Blake in a third-set tiebreaker.
   ‘I was eager to get out there to work on stuff,’ Roddick said of his revitalized attitude. ‘It’s exciting, I’m eager.
   ‘I’m hitting the ball better, my intensity and my focus is on the court,’ he added. ‘I think there’s a long way to go. But just the fact that I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing with a sense of purpose feels good.’
   While Connors contented himself with his coach’s role, another eight-time Grand Slam champion, Andre Agassi, booked a quarter-final berth with a 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Switzerland’s George Bastl.
   The 36-year-old has said he will retire after the US Open. In the meantime he is seeking to add to the four titles he has won here, including a triumph last year.
   ‘I’m reacting good, moving well,’ he said. ‘It’s a lot of relief to play at that level. I haven’t played at that level since last year.’
   He next faces third-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin of Russia.
   Sixth-seeded Germany Tommy Haas, who won the title here in 2004, fired 13 aces in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Chile’s Paul Capdeville.
   Unheralded American Paul Goldstein, who stunned second-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the first round, advanced to a meeting with Haas with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian Igor Kunitsyn.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar on Wednesday said India should have their squad settled by January for the World Cup in the West Indies next year.
   He also said all teams would have to name their squads by the end of January according to the ICC guidelines.
   On the sidelines of a Duestche Bank press conference here on Wednesday, Gavaskar said it would be a big plus for India having toured West Indies just nine months before the World Cup, as they would have a better understanding of the wickets there.
   Gavaskar, however, said he would not be able to comment on the conditions in West Indies, though he has performed exceptionally well there.
   ‘As the conditions do not depend only the pitch but also depend on other factors like the wind speed, direction and also whether the stadia there are open or enclosed would also have a bearing. Not having been to the West Indies recently, I also do not know what to expect,’ he said.
   He, however, added that with the experience of the just completed series in the Caribbean and if plans to hold a tri-series there before the World Cup featuring India, West Indies and Sri Lanka bear fruit then India would be the definite gainer in the build up to the World Cup.
   Gavaskar was also satisfied with the number of one-day matches scheduled for this season prior to the World Cup and these matches would be able to give us the proper idea of which are the shortcomings and work to rectify them before the World Cup begins.
   India’s greatest opening batsman also agreed with the new methods of training that the squad for the Sri Lanka would be put through.
   ‘These training methods are something new for someone like me, but if it helps cricketers perform better on the field I am all for it.
   ‘We have to evolve and accept modern techniques which during our time would have been unheard of,’ he added.
   India trainer Gregory King would be putting the boys through the paces which includes yoga, swimming and a new form of training with ‘teki’, which is all about balance and focus.
   On the tri-series in Sri Lanka in August, Gavaskar said India would have a great chance to create history by winning in
   Sri Lanka, where the last time the side won was way back in 1997.
   ‘Like we did in West Indies, this team now has another chance of writing their names in gold by winning in Lanka after a gap of nine years,’ he added.

Michael Clarke expects a fight to hold his Test place in the middle order after failing to seal a spot during his recall for the Bangladesh series in April.
   Clarke enjoyed a month off after the tour and a ‘road trip’ with Andrew Symonds, who is a candidate for his mate’s position during the Ashes, but he has been back in solid training for eight weeks to prepare for the Champions Trophy and beyond.
   ‘There’s going to be a few tough selection decisions coming up, so hopefully I can score some runs and get a chance [for the Ashes],’ Clarke said at Allan Border Field, where he was Glenn McGrath’s practice partner.
   The form of Phil Jaques - he has already posted double-centuries for Worcestershire and Australia A during the off-season - is also putting pressure on Australia’s batting ranks, which include the re-born Damien Martyn, who picked up a match-turning century in the final Test in South Africa.
   Clarke said positions in the middle order would be closely fought and he hoped to make a mark during October’s Champions Trophy, a prize Australia have never won. ‘Everyone is fighting to play for their country,’ he said.
   ‘At the moment the batting is pretty strong but runs on the board will help.’
   After being dropped during the West Indies series last summer, Clarke returned to Test action in Bangladesh but was unable to create a lasting impression with scores of 19, 9 and 23 not out. However, he has been a fine performer in the one-day team and the extra limited-overs duties restricted his first-class action in 2005-06.
   ‘In reality I didn’t get to play too much four-day or Test cricket. I played two four-day games all year [making 201 not out against Queensland and 178 against South Australia] and then two Tests in Bangladesh. I need to continue to make the most of my opportunity in one-day cricket.’

Fans traveling from England to watch the Ashes have been warned by Cricket Australia that they could be turned away from grounds if they buy tickets from touts.
   The Australian board, whose handling of ticket sales was roundly condemned, have hired a team of private investigators to sniff out touts and cancel tickets where they find they are on sale at inflated prices.
   All tickets have bar codes and these will be read at the turnstiles, enabling the authorities to cancel any which are deemed suspect.
   CA claims it has already done this to around 1300 tickets which were being sold on internet auction sites.
   The opening four days of the Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney Tests are all sold out, as are the first three days of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.
   Despite CA’s continuing moves to get tough on touts, tickets were still being openly sold on the internet yesterday at vastly inflated prices.
   The board has been pressing eBay, the largest online auction site, to withdraw the relevant auctions but it has so far refused to do so.
   The company points out that while such sales might irk the board, they are not illegal. While CA is getting tough now, many argue that it created the problem by its poor handling of the initial sales, with many genuine Australian fans left without tickets because of a failure of the board’s systems to cope with demand.
   It is also likely that thousands of supporters from the UK will have genuine tickets as they got friends and family living in Australia to bypass the procedures by applying on their behalf.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters rallied for a three-set victory over Jelena Jankovic Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of this 600,000-dollar WTA Tour hardcourt tournament.
   The top-seeded Belgian, seeking her fourth Stanford title in six years, got off to a rocky start but steadied to post a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over the unseeded Serbian.
   Clijsters, one of four players with a first-round bye, will next face the winner of Thursday’s second-round clash between Russian Vera Zvonareva and France’s Nathalie Dechy.
   In other second-round action Wednesday, France’s Tatiana Golovin upset sixth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2, 6-3. Australian Samantha Stosur also posted an upset, ousting seventh-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel 7-5, 6-3.
   American Jill Craybas advanced to the quarters, beating her US Fed Cup teammate Shenay Perry 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2).
   There also were three first-round matches played Wednesday.
   Zvonareva, who claimed her second title since June at Cincinnati on Sunday, knocked off eighth-seeded Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik - the same woman she beat in the Cincinnati final - 6-4, 6-3. She next will face Dechy, who beat Italian Maria Elena Camerin 0-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.
   Japan’s Akiko Morigami booked a second-round match against second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Gisela Dulko of Argentina.

Shoaib Akhtar will take on a team of ‘butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers’ in a third division Birmingham League match for Berkswell next week ahead of his much-awaited international comeback in the fourth Test against England.
   The Pakistani pacer will be testing himself against a team called St George in the third division match, which
   might prove his fitness for the last game of the four-match series.
   ‘I expect a few of them will be running for cover because Shoaib will be roaring in,’ Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying.
   St George captain Matthew Tilt, though surprised and a bit shaken by the news, said his team would love to take on the tearaway pacer and hoped that it would be a good experience for his side.
   ‘It is a bit of an unexpected development. But we are looking forward to facing Shoaib.
   ‘Most of our team are local boys and playing against him will be one of the highlights of our career.
   ‘I usually bat at four or five, but I might drop myself down the order a bit for this one,’ Tilt said.
   Berkswell, meanwhile, cannot hide their excitement in having the mercurial speedster as their teammate. Captain Dominic Ostler jokingly said he might consider not charging Shoaib for his tea while playing for the team.
   ‘It’s a huge thing for what is basically a village club and I’m sure we will get a big crowd. We are not paying Shoaib to play for us, and there is certainly no sponsored car. But we might be prepared to waive the 7.

Brian McBride, the only US footballer to score in more than one World Cup, Wednesday announced his retirement from international football.
   McBride’s decision brought an end to a 13-year international career that included appearances in the World Cup in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
   He produced 30 goals in 95 matches for the United States to become the second-leading scorer in team’s history.
   ‘This is a special day in that I have the opportunity to thank US Soccer for all it has done for me and my family,’ McBride said. ‘I will truly miss being part of the team.’
   McBride scored the USA’s only goal of the 1998 World Cup in France, and netted the game winners against Portugal and Mexico in 2002.
   ‘It was an honour to have a player like Brian McBride at the core of the national team during my tenure,’ said former US manager Bruce Arena.
   ‘With his goal scoring, ability in the air and intelligence on both sides of the ball, he is truly a player with qualities unlike any other player to wear the national team uniform.’
   McBride has spent the last three seasons at English Premiership club Fulham. Before heading to England, he was a five-time Major League Soccer All-Star and left the Columbus Crew as their all-time leading scorer.

Marseille boss Pape Diouf vowed Wednesday to hold clear-the-air talks with unsettled star Franck Ribery in order to secure the French international’s future at the club.
   Ribery has been the subject of intense transfer speculation since sparkling for France during their run to the World Cup final earlier this month, with Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Lyon all chasing his signature.
   The transfer talk has angered Marseille president Diouf, who has vowed to hang on to Ribery for at least one more season.
   The talented 23-year-old is currently contracted to Marseille until 2010 after signing a contract extension in March but was quoted as saying in June that he favoured a move to Lyon.
   Diouf wants to clear up the situation before the start of the new French season next month, and plans to meet Ribery on Saturday for talks.
   ‘Because of certain events that have happened in the close season, I will meet with him to clear up the misunderstandings, if indeed there are any misunderstandings,’ Diouf said.
   Diouf, meanwhile, revealed Marseille were interested in signing former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell, who parted company with the Gunners at the end of last season. ‘He is someone we are interested in,’ said Diouf.
   ‘But at this stage it is far too early to talk about him being a Marseille player next season.’

Inter Milan have been awarded last season’s Serie A title despite finishing third behind Juventus and AC
   Milan, the Italian football federation (FIGC) announced Wednesday.
   The move comes after both Juve and Milan were sanctioned by the federation for their part in a match-fixing scandal.
   The FIGC submitted a statement explaining their decision.
   ‘In the case of sanctions that establish a change in the standings, such as penalty points or the retrograding to last place ... there are provisions to automatically attribute the Italian title to the team that becomes top of the standings,’ said the statement.
   Juventus topped the original table ahead of Milan but with Juve relegated, and docked 17 points from the coming season, over their part in the scandal and Milan docked 30 points from last season and eight for the forthcoming campaign, that left Inter top of the tree.
   Several people had called for the 2006 title to be unattributed, as is the case with the 2005 title of which Juventus were also stripped.
   But Inter owner Massimo Moratti demanded that his side be awarded last season’s title, thus ending their long, painful, 17-year wait for the scudetto, claiming they deserved it as they had not cheated.
   Inter have thus been awarded their 14th title, although quite what that means to the players who finished 15 points behind their Juve counterparts last season, remains to be seen.
   On Tuesday night the FIGC’s disciplinary tribunal reduced the sentences meted out to the four guilty clubs, with Fiorentina and Lazio reinstated in Serie A, although with greater points deductions than they would have faced in Serie B; Juve had their points deduction in Serie B cut from 30 to 17 points and Milan saw their Serie A deficit cut from 15 to eight points.
   All that leaves Inter and Roma with direct qualification to the Champions League this coming season with Chievo and, for the moment, Milan playing in the qualifying rounds.
   Palermo, Livorno and Parma are in the UEFA Cup, although UEFA are expected to make a decision on Milan’s Champions League participation on Thursday, with Palermo poised for promotion to Europe’s premier competition and Empoli hoping for a UEFA Cup ticket if Milan get banned.

Juventus coach Didier Deschamps has said that no more of his players will be leaving the club despite Tuesday’s confirmation that they will be playing in Serie B next season.
   ‘No-one is going anywhere. The club’s directors have decided that those under contract will stay at Juve, even in Serie B,’ Deschamps was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday.
   ‘In a year’s time we will be back and competing for a major title. It’s better to hold on to our players now rather than trying to buy them back a year from now.’
   Juventus will start next season in Serie B on minus 17 points after Tuesday’s ruling by the appeals court upholding the decision of a sports tribunal earlier this month that the club was guilty of conspiring with referees and linesmen to rig games during the 2004/05 season.
   Deschamps’s view, however, was not shared by Juventus’s chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, who seemed prepared to let players go - provided the price was right.
   ‘If there are some departures there will also be some arrivals and whoever leaves will certainly not be sold cheaply,’ he said.
   The 27-time Italian champions have already lost several of their best players in the fallout from Italy’s worst footballing scandal for more than 20 years.
   The departures to Spain of Italy’s World Cup captain Fabio Cannavaro, Brazilian midfielder Emerson, and defenders Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram have weakened the side and raised fears that it could struggle to win immediate promotion back into Serie A.
   Of the club’s remaining players, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is the object of the greatest speculation. Buffon’s agent, Silvano Martina, said earlier this month that his client had decided to stay at Juventus but seemed less certain following the appeals court ruling with rumours of a move the AC Milan still running.
   Other players rumoured to be considering leaving include midfielder Mauro Camoranesi and strikers David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

AC Milan’s place in the Champions League preliminary rounds is not yet confirmed, despite their inclusion in the list of Italian clubs participating in UEFA competitions this coming season.
   One of four clubs found guilty of match-fixing in the 2004/05 Serie A season, Milan were originally excluded from European tournaments because of their involvement in the scandal.
   But after a successful appeal at a sports tribunal here on Tuesday, the six-time European champions were allowed into the competition’s third and final qualifying round, provoking an angry reaction from rival Serie A clubs.
   The list of Italian clubs taking part in European competitions for the forthcoming season was sent by the Italian football federation (FIGC) to European football’s governing body on Wednesday, the deadline day for entries.
   The leniency shown towards Milan has caused uproar in Italy, but UEFA will have the final say on the matter and they must decide whether a club found guilty of sporting fraud should be allowed to take part in their top-tier event.
   A UEFA spokesperson told AFP that an emergency panel meeting would take place on Thursday.
   The spokesperson refused to say whether the subject was on the agenda, but it’s hard to imagine the matter will not be discussed. UEFA president Lennart Johansson will be present at the meeting, which will be done by conference call.
   The draw for the Champions League third qualifying round will take place on Friday.
   Should Milan, owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, play in the third qualifying round and win the two-legged tie, they will clinch a place in the highly lucrative group stages.
   The team will also fancy their chances of going a long way in the competition given the strength of their squad and their past success.
   Last season they were beaten by eventual winners Barcelona in the semi-finals, while the previous season they lost the final to Liverpool on penalties.
   Milan’s reprieve in the appeal court denied Palermo from taking up a place in the Champions League preliminary rounds, and the Sicilian side’s president Maurizio Zamparini was livid.
   ‘Their sentence was ridiculous. I don’t really see where the punishment is. Milan are either guilty or not guilty. If they are guilty, they should pay,’ he said.
   Milan were deducted 30 points from last season’s points total, leaving them with a third place finish, and eight points for the start of the new season.
   Milan were dragged into the scandal after former director Leonardo Meani was found guilty of making a request to the Italian referees association for a specific linesman for a match against Chievo in April 2005.
   The club have distanced themselves from Meani, saying he acted alone without informing other board members.

Ruud Nistelrooy’s expected transfer from Manchester United has taken a new twist with reports about how the negotiations are going contradicting each other.
   According to AS newspaper in Spain, Real are about to seal the transfer of the Dutch striker for 15 million euros, whereas Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson told MUTV that they would not budge from the 15 million-pound (21.9m-euro) asking price.
   AS newspaper wrote, ‘Real Madrid have sealed the purchase of Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The club will pay 15 million euros for the player who will be presented tomorrow (Friday) at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.’
   Real Madrid made an improved offer of 10.3m pounds on Wednesday and Bayern Munich are also in the running.
   However Ferguson told MUTV, ‘We know our value. If we are going to sell Ruud we should get the proper value. He is one of the best strikers in the country, one of the best strikers in Europe, so when you think about Andriy Shevchenko going for 35 million – he is a similar age group.
   ‘We know the value of the player so at the moment he is a Manchester United player.’
   Real’s new offer is believed to be a straight cash deal and Ferguson added, ‘I read it on teletext and I spoke to chief executive David Gill and nothing has really materially changed.
   ‘They have slightly increased it but it is nothing really.
   ‘An increase of about two bob or something. We know the value of the player so at the moment he is a Manchester United player.’
   Meanwhile, England’s Sun newspaper claimed Tottenham manager Martin Jol wants to do a swap deal with van Nistelrooy coming to White Hart Lane and Michael Carrick going to United.

Barcelona’s board of directors resigned Wednesday following a judicial ruling that paves the way for new elections at the Catalan giants later this year, the club announced.
   The resignation had been expected after a Spanish judge last week ordered the European champions to hold fresh polls for the board after club members complained regulations had been broken.
   The ruling came after three members took legal action, complaining that the current directors should only have been in place until June 30 this year, while the board itself claimed it could continue until 2007.
   ‘The FC Barcelona board of directors together with president Joan Laporta resigned this lunchtime, leaving the club in the hands of a caretaker board ahead of the upcoming elections,’ the club said in a statement.
   Laporta, who has delivered two Primera Liga titles and a Champions League crown during his reign, is expected to be returned to the presidency unopposed.
   The caretaker board later set a date of September 3 for the presidential elections with candidates given a window from August 12 to 21 to present their cases. The list of runners will be announced between August 22 and 24.
   A Catalan tribunal in Barcelona on Tuesday rejected demands for Laporta to be declared ineligible to take part in the election.

European champions Barcelona will join this year’s World Club Cup at the semi-final stage, Japanese organisers confirmed on Thursday.
   The Catalan club will receive a first-round bye in FIFA’s six-team tournament in December, along with the eventual winners of South America’s Libertadores Cup.
   Barcelona, who beat Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League final in May, will play their opening match on Dec. 14 in Yokohama. The tournament takes place from Dec. 10 to 17. The preliminary draw will be held in September.
   Last year Sao Paulo won the first version of the revamped Club World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool, their third world title.
   The tournament involves the six continental champions but host country Japan will again be without representation as none of its J-League teams are left in the Asian Champions League.
   Mexico’s Club America and Oceania champions Auckland City have already qualified. The representatives of Asia and Africa, along with South America, will be decided later this year.
   Barcelona were beaten 2-1 by Sao Paulo in 1993 in the Intercontinental Cup, the former annual one-off match between the champions of Europe and South America.
   FIFA staged a multi-team club world championship six years ago in Brazil but were forced to pull the plug on the competition in 2001 after the collapse of marketing partner ISMM/ISL.
   The Japan Football Association (JFA) are hoping, meanwhile, to persuade FIFA to allow them to keep the Club World Cup in the country beyond this year.
   ‘No one other than (FIFA) president Sepp Blatter can make that decision,’ JFA chief Saburo Kawabuchi told reporters.

‘The game against West Ham [in April] at home was the one that makes me say, ‘It’s over, no chance’. Losing 1-0, playing with 10 men, change the result, win 4-1, play fantastic, and after that go to Bolton, very difficult place to win, win 2-0. So you need a draw to be champions, you beat Man United 3-0: you are champions at home. This last period was brilliant.’
   At the start of the campaign, mindful of the potential for distraction of Germany 2006, Mourinho had privately warned his players they risked being dropped if they talked about the World Cup. He knew the demands sponsors, managers and the media might make on his squad of internationals.
   ‘It’s very difficult,’ he admitted. ‘It mainly depends on national coaches and depends on players as individuals. National coaches act differently. One, he say to the players, ‘It doesn’t matter what you do in your club, you are my choice, you will be in the World Cup,’ and it leaves the player with a lot of freedom. Another one can say exactly the opposite, ‘If you don’t play, I don’t select you. You have to think about the move. In December if you are not playing, you have to move, you have to go on loan, you have to change your club; if not, you are not coming.’
   Mourinho had feared complacency all season. ‘That, I think, was not just about the World Cup. I think it was also about, for example, because we didn’t progress in Champions League. You can be comfortable and have no motivation in the Premiership - because you won it already - but if you are involved in Champions League, you keep the standard high, you keep training at the high level, high intensity.’
   In the second half of the season, along with the traumatic defeat to Barcelona in March, Chelsea surprisingly dropped points to Charlton, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Fulham. On the day of the Charlton match at home - the only points dropped at Stamford Bridge all season - on January 22, Chelsea had been 16 points ahead of United. As usual, though, it was the reaction, not the event itself that the manager was examining.
   ‘My players are the players of the first period and the players of the last period,’ he said. ‘That’s what I want to believe. And that’s what I do believe, because if they are not that kind of player and not that kind of man they cannot react the way they did. So for me that was not a surprise. For me the surprise was during the season, during that couple of months, February, March, up and down, not so committed, not the same level of motivation and I’m in that group. I’m not saying I was the perfect professional and they were not good. I’m in the same group. We all felt it’s over, but it was not over.
   ‘When you are out of the Champions League and at the same time you feel like champions of England you have nothing else behind your brain to push you for high standards, so you let the season fly, you let the season go, because you know in one more week, two more weeks, three more weeks, you are champions. And you know it’s incorrect but it’s very difficult to fight the situation, so only when we felt they are seven - not 20 any more - they are only seven points behind you, it’s then that you feel you wake up to the reality. And if you are good you react the way the team did and you win it. If you are not good, you can collapse. You can collapse under that pressure, but the answer was magnificent.’
   As Chelsea’s sureness lessened, the media resurrected the image of the United thoroughbred, whipped along by Ferguson - the same wily old jockey who had chased and overtaken Kevin Keegan’s runaway Newcastle a decade earlier - catching the Blues. It was instructive to the Portuguese about the psyche of his host country. He produced a story from his homeland in response, in which two men are in a boat a mile out to sea. They jump into the water and race to the beach, but one is a better swimmer and gets ahead.
   The one chasing struggles with all his might to catch up, and while the first one arrives on the beach in comfort, the second collapses from a heart attack. ‘We call it ‘Dying on the Beach’,’ Mourinho told reporters, smiling. ‘He shouldn’t chase me! He should say, ‘Please take my boat a bit closer first!’ He’s so enthusiastic chasing me, but he has a heart attack.’
   ‘The English have Devon Loch,’ mused Mourinho months later. ‘And we have Dying on the Beach. It is the exact opposite. It is better being in the Devon Loch position. How many times does Devon Loch collapse? Once. Normally the guy in front has more chances to win and that’s what the Portuguese metaphor I try to bring to football is about. If you are in front, people used to say, ‘Ah! You are under pressure, under pressure’. Under pressure is the one in second position, because the second one is behind me - even if he’s one point behind.
   ‘In England, people go a lot for the history and they remember Newcastle when Man United did it, and they remember Man United when they are second in December, they finish first. But history is to be changed. Because of the second title, we are not a Blackburn that was champion once, isolated, and after that is miles and miles away from it. Chelsea is not any more an isolated situation. It’s back-to-back. And if, in the next five years, we can be three or four times champion, definitely that’s an era where Chelsea has become very powerful.’
   ... to be continued

Argentina legend Diego Maradona was admitted to a private hospital for several hours on Wednesday for a ‘complete examination’, his personal doctor has said.
   ‘Maradona was hospitalised during the night to avoid a media circus,’ said Alfredo Cahe.
   It is not the first time the infamous owner of the ‘hand of God’ has had a health scare. In April, the 1986 World Cup winning captain underwent a medical exam for gastric pains. He also flirted with death in 2004 after a cardiovascular crisis and in March 2005 he went under the knife to reduce his ballooning stomach, an operation that saw him lose 50 kilos.

Brazil midfielder Emerson was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player on Wednesday.
   Just a day after his former Juventus team-mate Fabio Cannavaro finalised his move to the Spanish giants, Emerson signed a three-year deal.
   ‘I am very happy to be here,’ said Emerson. ‘It is something I had been thinking about for several years and now it has happened.
   ‘Now I am playing for a team as important as Real Madrid and I hope to achieve great things, as happened at my previous clubs.’
   The 30-year-old, who spent two seasons at Juventus following spells at Roma and Bayer Leverkusen, was greeted by around a thousand cheering fans as he pulled on the famous white shirt for the first time. Emerson not only joins up with Cannavaro but also former Juve boss Fabio Capello who also left the Turin giants in the wake of the Italian match-fixing scandal that saw Juventus relegated to the second division.

Ronaldo could find himself playing in London next season — but not for any of the capital’s big guns.
   Fans at Leyton Orient are on a mission to persuade the Brazilian striker to trade Real Madrid for the bright lights of League One football.
   And they are dipping into their own pockets in the hope that Ronaldo can fire the club all the way to the Premiership.
   Considering the tubby ace cost Real £20million in August 2002, the supporters have designed the Ron-Ometer to keep track as donations flood in.
   A campaign spokesman said: ‘In the unlikely event that we fail to raise enough cash, or that Ronaldo doesn’t want to relocate to E10, all money raised will go to the club.
   ‘We will consult with the club and have a vote on how best to spend the money, whether it be a minibus for the youth team or a pie warmer for matchdays.’

Celtic fans were left fuming after watching Gordon Strachan’s side get torn apart 3-0 by an inexperienced Manchester United line-up in a pre-season friendly here on Wednesday. One fan’s fury got the better of him in the final moments when he raced on to the pitch at Parkhead to register his disgust shortly after Paul Scholes had bagged his second of the night on 84 minutes.
   The result will alarm Celtic boss Strachan as his side prepare to begin the defence of their Scottish Premier League title against Kilmarnock at the weekend.

Former World Cup winner Mario Zagallo has left his role as Brazil’s technical director as part of a restructuring of the national set-up.
   Zagallo, 74, had been part of Brazil manager Carlos Alberto Parreira’s coaching staff at this summer’s World Cup.
   Parreira quit last week in the aftermath of Brazil’s disappointing quarter-final defeat against France and has since been replaced by former Brazil captain Dunga, who will name his coaching staff next Tuesday.
   Zagallo has won four World Cups; as a player in 1958 and 1962, as manager in 1970 and assistant manager to Parreira in 1994.
   Brazilian football federation president Ricardo Teixeira revealed there could be another role for Zagallo in the future if Brazil wins the right to host the 2014 World Cup.
   He paid tribute to Zagallo and said, ‘It is impossible to think of the Brazilian team without thinking of Zagallo.’

While France defender Liliam Thuram is overjoyed with his move from Juventus to Barcelona, it is his children who are most pleased, the 34-year-old said Wednesday.
   That is because they will now get to watch their heroes Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o at first hand week in, week out.
   ‘They are happy I am playing for Barcelona because they will be able to watch Ronaldinho and Eto’o,’ Thuram told the Barcelona website. It will not be the first time the children have seen the stars, having attended last season’s Champions League final which Barcelona won 2-1 against Arsenal.
   ‘I went to see the Champions League final with my children and I really enjoyed watching Barca play – they are a great team,’ added Thuram.
   Thuram has signed a two-year deal with the Spanish and European champions having left Juve in the wake of the Italian giants’ relegation over a match-fixing scandal.
   ‘I am very happy to join Barcelona because for a footballer, there is no-one better than Barca, they are one of the best teams in the world.
   ‘I was a kid. I was 20 or 21 years old. The Barca coach was (Johan) Cruyff and I had to mark (Brazilian legend) Romario,’ said the Guadeloupe-born centre-back.
   ‘I also remember (Michael) Laudrup, (Pep) Guardiola and (Ronald) Koeman, and at the end of the match I said to myself that we were not playing the same game. They were playing football and me, I was playing another sport.’

Czech international Pavel Nedved has pledged his future to scandal-plagued Italian giants Juventus, vowing to stay with the club next season despite their relegation to Serie B.
   The 34-year-old midfield star has decided against following Juve team-mates Emerson, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta out of the Stadio delle Alpi and is preparing for life in the second division.
   ‘Pavel will be a Juventus player next season,’ Nedved’s agent David Nehoda was quoted as saying by the Czech news agency CTK.
   Several top European clubs had expressed an interest in signing Nedved, the 2003 European Footballer of the Year and recognised as one of the most skilful midfielders in the world.
   Among those believed to be chasing Nedved were French side Lyon and English Premiership outfit Tottenham.