Agence France-Presse and other top news agencies have said they will not cover cricket’s inaugural Indian Premier League, which started on Friday, due to curbs on the distribution of photographs.
   IPL officials have prohibited news agencies from supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites for the eight-team Twenty20 tournament.
   The London-based News Media Coalition, which defends media rights for global news and photograph agencies such as AFP, Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters, called the restrictions ‘discriminatory.’
   ‘It is discriminatory for the accreditation terms to prohibit international news agencies from being able to serve a specific group of users, such as cricket websites,’ the NMC said in a statement.
   ‘The interests of the Indian Premier League are protected by the fact that its accreditation terms limit news content generated by the news agencies to be used for editorial purposes only.
   ‘The News Media Coalition calls upon the Indian Premier League to remove remaining obstacles in the way of full editorial coverage of the tournament,’ the release said.
   The Editors Guild of India also called for the ‘unacceptable conditions’ to be withdrawn.
   In an advisory note to clients, AFP said it ‘will not, until further notice, offer any text, photo or graphics coverage of the inaugural Indian Premier League cricket, beginning Friday, due to restrictions imposed on international news agencies on the distribution of photographs.’
   The Press Trust of India decided to cover the event ‘under protest’ after the IPL lifted a host of stringent conditions for accreditation but refused to lift the ban on cricket websites.
   The tournament marks the first time that international cricketers will put aside national allegiances to play for privately-owned and city-based teams, who selected their players via a multi-million-dollar auction last month.
   International cricketers have been offered huge pay packets to take part in the 44-day, 59-match extravaganza across cricket-mad India.
   Moves by sports organisers to curb media rights have largely failed in the past.
   FIFA tried imposing similar restrictions on photo coverage of the 2006 World Cup but backed down under a threat of a worldwide boycott.
   In September last year, organisers of the Rugby World Cup settled at the last minute after a long dispute over media rights.
   Two months later, global news agencies boycotted coverage of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Brisbane, after Cricket Australia imposed similar restrictions.
   A compromise was reached after the match to allow the agencies to cover the second Test in Hobart.

Lashing out at the Pakistan Cricket Board, former captain Javed Miandad on Friday said it would have been better to play Australia in their own backyard than hosting minnows Bangladesh at home for a needless series.
   He said if Cricket Australia had offered to host Pakistan, the PCB should have accepted the invitation.
   Miandad, one of the greats of Pakistan cricket and a former coach, believes the national team has gained nothing from playing the five-match home series against Bangladesh and it will be the visitors who will benefit from the experience.
   ‘Whether we win four-nil or five-nil, there is no importance of this series. Neither is it going to be beneficial for our cricket. If anything, the series will only benefit the Bangladeshi side,’ he said.
   Pakistan invited Bangladesh for five one-dayers and a Twenty20 game after the Australians refused to tour in March for a full Test tour because of security concerns.
   ‘Playing against Bangladesh gives us no idea of where our cricket stands. Individual performances also lose their gloss,’ Miandad said.
   The former captain added that playing against Bangladesh would not allow Pakistan to know about its weaknesses and strengths.
   ‘The problem of bowling no balls and wides still persists and I don’t see what we will achieve by again sending in Kamran Akmal as an opener. Against top opposition, he has failed in the past. Now even if he scores, it tells us nothing,’ Miandad said.
   ‘Even if we win 5-0 (against Bangladesh), so what? People don’t want to come to watch one-sided matches and that is what this series is. There was no need to organise it.’ Pakistan had invited India and Sri Lanka to play a one-day series after Australia refused to tour.
   But while India declined citing pressing international commitments, Sri Lanka said they could not tour because their players were already committed to play in the Indian Premier League.
   Miandad pointed out that India had become an improved side simply by playing against top teams like Australia and South Africa. Pakistan, under Shoaib Malik, is looking to set a record for the longest winning streak of 11 matches against Bangladesh in the final one-dayer today.
   Pakistan’s longest winning streak thus far had come in 1989 in the Australasia Cup and then in home series against West Indies and New Zealand under Imran Khan.

The Indian Premier League is a novel concept for cricket fans used to nation v nation contests for it throws up all sorts of possibilities including watching Sachin Tendulakr take on Anil Kumble and Glenn McGrath bowling to Ricky Ponting. Here are a few pointers that captains, coaches and fans may want to keep in mind before the start of the tournament.
   Individual match-ups: Cricket fans spend hours and hours discussing how Viv Richards would have coped against the West Indian pace attack of the ‘70s or how Shane Warne would have fared against the might of the modern Australian batting line-up. The IPL will offer a glimpse of these mini-battles with Glenn McGrath bowling to Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar facing up to Anil Kumble. The Twenty20 format may not provide a lengthy battle but it will offer a tiny window into strategies, intensity and banter.
   ‘There is no friendship on the field. ‘[Mahendra Singh] Dhoni is a comrade in the dressing room, but when our teams play each other, we will be rivals playing for pride and triumph. We can joke outside the field but when we are on the field, we will be competitors. Yes, the spectators can expect a Yuvraj versus Dhoni challenge.’,’ said Yuvraj Singh when asked about his possible face-off with Dhoni in the opening game. Muttiah Muralitharan has echoed similar sentiments: ‘I will be bowling at Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara. They all know me well, particularly Kumar, still it will be a challenge to bowl at them.’
   Apart from opponents, there is also a chance to see how great players will perform alongside each other - Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya could walk out to open the batting and Dhoni could keep to Murali. It offers the fans a chance to see great players performing in tandem.
   Utilising foreign players
   With each team being allowed only four overseas players per game, it will be interesting to see how the franchises utilise them. Some players will leave mid-way while others will join in but the biggest challenge may relate to benching the big stars - some of whom would not be too used to the axe in their international careers.
   ‘We’re going to be upfront and transparent,’ said Martin Crowe, the chief cricket officer of the Bangalore side. ‘It’s a marathon 44-day tournament so the opportunity will come to all players. It’s just a matter of being patient and growing as a unit.’
   No player, though, likes to be told he’s benched, irrespective of the amount of money he’s getting. ‘It’s tough to break the bad news,’ said Crowe, ‘but they’re also professional enough to understand that it’s in the best interests of the team.’
   Captains’ strategies
   Crowe has compared the league to a marathon and not a sprint - 14 games for each team before the play-offs. It would require some shrewd captains to navigate through seven home games and seven more away. Ground sizes will obviously be a big factor - sending big hitters early may be more feasible in Mohali than Eden Gardens, as will dewy outfields and humidity levels.
   Pitch conditions may stay the same but captains from the eight franchises would have plenty on their plate. Will Sourav Ganguly lead with the same brashness that he led India? Will Yuvraj turn into a surprise package? Will Warne show what Australia missed? It’s a fascinating sub-plot that may provide several twists and turns during the course of the tournament.
   On-field intensity
   Will the familiar complaint regarding international stars not pushing themselves when they play in domestic competitions resurface? Given the salaries they’re being paid one would expect them to give it their all but how fiercely will Matthew Hayden go after Warne or how intent will Herschelle Gibbs be to brutalise Shaun Pollock. Will Chaminda Vaas bowl the final over with the same passion with which he does for Sri Lanka? Can the cricketers replicate the eagerness with which they approach a World Cup? Also, with some international series coming up, how eager will the players be to avoid injuries?
   The reverse scenario is a bigger possibility: players pushing themselves harder for their franchises than their countries. New Zealand, Australia and West Indies are set to be involved in international series soon after and it would be tough on all the sides if big players are injured at the IPL. In the long-term, such a situation provides a recipe for disaster - one which could see Test and ODI cricket being devalued in comparison to the IPL.

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, fears for the future of international cricket if administrators don’t carve out a six-week window for the Indian Premier League. The tournament opens in Bangalore on Friday and while the cricket world is waiting to see how big it will be, Ponting is concerned about how it could influence players.
   ‘If they don’t [have an international window], I fear for the long-term impact that it will have on the game,’ Ponting wrote in the Australian. ‘Much has been said about the veterans coming to the end of their careers, but what about those players just starting out?
   ‘I think it’s vital that we have a six-week period carved out of every international team’s program because the money being thrown around becomes very appealing to young kids coming into the game.’
   Ponting expressed concern that players might choose the lucrative Twenty20 league over national duties. ‘Seeing the big dollars there and having the chance to take that and turn your back on international cricket is the biggest danger that will be posed out of this event,’ Ponting said. ‘For those young guys starting out who haven’t had a taste of international cricket, they might not want to put themselves through the rigours of travelling the world for the next 15 years.
   ‘And the guys at the end of their careers have family at home and it’s getting harder and harder for them to go away on tours every year. For them, they could make the equivalent amount of money in only seven weeks.’
   Ponting highlighted the exodus faced by countries such as New Zealand, with key players like Shane Bond having joined the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. ‘I know it has lost a couple of its bigger and better players because of the difference in pay playing for New Zealand,’ Ponting said. ‘The Kiwis’ IPL contracts are probably four times the value of their international contract.
   ‘That’s where the dangers are. You would hate to see a situation where New Zealand is no longer playing international cricket because it has no players.’
   John Buchanan, the former Australia coach who is with the Kolkata Knight Riders, expressed similar concerns in the Sydney Morning Herald. He said cricket needed to sort out its finances and the likes of Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire hoping to revive West Indies cricket, should be welcomed.
   ‘With the exception of Australia, England and India, every country in world cricket is struggling to pay their players sufficiently,’ he said. ‘For example, we have Brendon McCullum with us, and there’s no way New Zealand Cricket could be paying him in a day what the IPL is.
   ‘But there shouldn’t be any debate in terms of him playing for his country. That is of utmost importance. But administrators should allow the IPL to subsidise his income with New Zealand Cricket.’

Kevin Pietersen has insisted England players’ interest in appearing in the Indian Premier League is not a sign of disloyalty but something ‘anyone in their right mind’ would consider seriously.
   It has been reported that Pietersen, the most gifted batsman currently in the England side, was offered a seven-figure sum to take part in the inaugural IPL, a domestic Twenty20 tournament in India, which starts on Friday.
   But all centrally-contracted England players have been barred from this year’s edition because the IPL clashes with both the start of the English domestic and home international seasons.
   England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke has also expressed reservations about centrally-contracted players featuring in next year’s IPL and running the risk of injury ahead of the 2009 Ashes.
   Pietersen, who has previously labelled talk of a ban on the involvement of England players in the IPL as ‘ridiculous’, said Thursday: ‘I don’t see anything wrong with saying we want to go and play and earn that kind of money.
   ‘People who nail us for it are not going to pay for my child’s school fees in 15 years’ time.
   ‘You have to look after yourself because you are not going to be playing cricket when you are 50 or 60.
   ‘To be offered the kind of money I have been offered, it is ridiculous for someone to abuse you about it. It is like winning the lottery and anybody in their right mind would go for it,’ added Pietersen.
   South Africa-born Pietersen, 27, who averages nearly 50 in his 36 Tests, made it clear he had no intention of sacrificing his England career for the lure of the Rajasthan Royals or the Kolkata Knight Riders.
   But he said there were sound cricketing reasons for England players, whose commercial worth has been established by their performances in international cricket, to participate in the IPL.
   ‘The best players in the world will be honing their skills for the next six weeks,’ Pietersen added.
   ‘It will increase the scores in one-dayers and it will make players make a few more shots in Test too.’
   English officials have responded to players’ IPL concerns by talking to Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, the man behind the West Indies’ domestic Twenty20 competition which has proved popular in the Caribbean.
   England tour the West Indies next year and there is a possibility of a 10 million pounds (20 million dollars) winner-takes-all Twenty20 match against a local All-Stars side.
   ‘I hope I get selected,’ Pietersen said. ‘It is very exciting because money like that hasn’t been talked about in cricket before.
   ‘For a one-off fixture, to know you could come home with the best part of a million in your pocket, it’s amazing.’
   An increasingly congested international programme means fewer and fewer top-class overseas players are now able to spend a full season with an English county as was the widespread case in the 1970s and 1980s.
   Pietersen said the IPL would make county cricket even less attractive for cricket’s top stars.
   ‘The guys are going to get so much money from the IPL,’ he said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s effort to host a home series received another jolt with the West Indies turning down an invitation to play a one-day series later in the year.
   After being rejected by Australia, India and Sri Lanka for security reasons and scheduling problems, the PCB has now been told by the West Indies Cricket Board that they can’t undertake a tour in August due to prior engagements.
   The PCB had invited West Indies and New Zealand to play a three-match ODI series in August to give its team some practice before the ICC Champions Trophy in September. This would have also helped the PCB recover from the financial setback suffered due to the postponement of Australia’s tour in March. Bangladesh are currently in the country for a five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 international to cover for Australia’s pull-out.
   ‘Yes, the West Indies board has informed us that since they are already committed to play some games in Canada in August, they can’t accept our invitation,’ Shafqat Nagmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, said. ‘We have sent a fresh invitation to New Zealand asking them to come and play a full five-match one-day series instead of three ODIs. We are awaiting a reply from them.’

The Chennai Super Kings team celebrated Muttiah Muralitharan’s 36th birthday on Friday. The world’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket cut two cakes that were named ‘Off-Break’ and ‘Doosra’ in admiration of his craft.
   ‘We had lots of fun asking Murali to sing the birthday song in Sinhalese. Of course, he didn’t, but the occasion helped to bond the players,’ said VB Chandrasekar, the team’s director of cricketing operations.
   The party that was attended by the entire team with the exception of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was in Bangalore attending the inauguration of the Indian Premier League.

Bangladesh face Holland in one of the opening day’s matches of the CLICO International U/15 Challenge Competition in Barbados today. In another match, hosts West Indies meet Zimbabwe.
   The eight-team tournament from April 19-May 4, organised by All Sports Promotions, will see West Indies, Pakistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Holland, Bangladesh and the International Cricket Council Americas team made up of players from Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas in action.
   The matches will be played in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Guyana, Barbados, and St Kitts.
   The championship has been split into two phases – knockout and league – the first phase from April 19-24 and the league from April 26-May 4.
   Squad: Iktedar Nazeef Ahmed (captain), Litton Kumer Das (vice-captain), Mohammad Anisur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Anik, SM Ahamedul Kabir (Rudro), Khaja Khairuddin (Jesan), Rakin Ahmed, Ratnak Saha, Shihab Uddin Ahmed Arpon, Shahariar Islam (Sumon), Mohammad Didar Hossain (Imran), Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Jashim Uddin and Mohammad Asif Hasan (Mitul).

Bangladesh’s misery at slumping to their fourth defeat in four one-dayers against Pakistan was compounded on Thursday when they were fined for a slow over-rate and then saw opener Shahriar Nafees reprimanded for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct.
   Both incidents arose from the third game of the five-match series played in Lahore on April 13.
   Match referee Mike Procter imposed the fine after Mohammad Ashraful’s side was ruled to be one over short of its target.
   Ashraful was fined 10 per cent of his match fee while each of his players received five per cent fines. In a separate incident, Shahriar was found to have breached clause 1.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings.’
   The incident took place in the 21st over of Pakistan’s innings when, after misfielding, Shahriar kicked and damaged an advertising hoarding.
   The opener, who got a duck in Bangladesh’s 23-run defeat, pleaded guilty at the hearing.
   ‘It was Shahriar’s third misfield in the innings and he was obviously frustrated as it was a crucial game because Bangladesh was playing to stay alive in the series,’ said Procter.
   ‘But it is not the sort of example that players should be setting at any time. Shahriar pleased guilty, apologized for the incident and promised not to repeat it again.’

The GP-BCB Academy team face South Africa in a return league one-day match of the Grameenphone Academy Cup at the Chittagong Stadium today.
   On Sunday the South Africa Academy team will meet Pakistan while the hosts will play Pakistan in the last return league match the following day.
   Earlier, the hosts GP-BCB Academy made a good start with a 75-run victory over the Proteas on April 15. But the GP-BCB Academy team suffered a huge 9-wicket defeat against Pakistan Academy team a day later.
   The Pakistan Academy almost assured their final berth outplaying South Africa Academy team by 85 runs on Thursday.
   After the league matches the two top teams will meet in the final on April 23 at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Mohammedan Sporting Club registered their first win in the Brac Bank Club Cup Hockey Tournament when they defeated Sonali Bank 2-0 in a keenly-contested match at the Maulana Bhasani National Stadium on Friday.
   The Black and White outfit have secured four points while the bankers remained on three, both playing two matches.
   Syed Al Masum and Zahid bin Talib scored one goal each for Mohammedan in the second half after the first half ended goalless.
   Masum scored a field goal in the 39th minute and Talib added another field goal just one minute before the long whistle.
   In another match, Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club split points with Sadharan Bima in a goalless draw.

Plans for a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the British city of Leicester have got the backing of local football hero Gary Lineker – whom many wanted on the plinth instead.
   Keith Vaz, the member of parliament for Leicester East, said Friday he had written to Lineker backing plans to commemorate India’s freedom icon, and the former England striker replied saying he supported the idea.
   Leicester is the city in Britain with the highest proportion of residents of Indian origin, with 25.7 per cent of the population (72,000 people) defining themselves thus in the 2001 census.
   Vaz, himself of Indian descent, wrote, ‘I feel his (Gandhi’s) philosophy of brotherhood amongst those of different religions and ethnicity should be honoured and celebrated in the diverse community of Leicester.’
   ‘A statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be an excellent symbol of his and Leicester’s commitment to diversity.’
   Lineker, now BBC television’s main football presenter, wrote back, ‘I agree with you, especially given the ethnic diversities in Leicester.’
   Asked by Vaz what he thought of having his own statue in Leicester, Lineker replied, ‘Frankly, I think that is best left to other people to decide.’
   Petitions on prime minister Gordon Brown’s website for and against the plans to commemorate Gandhi in the East Midlands city each attracted more than 1,000 signatures.
   Some of those against a Gandhi statue claimed there were people from Leicester who were more deserving of a monument, such as Lineker.
   The 47-year-old is England’s second greatest goal-scorer, his tally of 48 leaving him one goal behind Bobby Charlton.
   Lineker played for Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham and Japan’s Nagoya Grampus Eight.
   The Gandhi statue will be a 2.13-metre (seven-foot) bronze figure on a 1.52-metre (five-foot) granite plinth.
   The 20,000-pound (25,000 euro, 40,000 dollar) statue is to be located off Leicester’s Belgrave Road, dubbed the Golden Mile for its South Asian jewellery shops and Diwali festive lights.
   Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – called Mahatma or ‘Great Soul’ – spearheaded a non-violent campaign against the British Raj which led to India gaining independence in 1947. He was assassinated the following year.
   A statue of him already stands in London’s Tavistock Square.

Chelsea are facing a midfield crisis ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Liverpool next week.
   Manager Avram Grant could be without Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard for the first leg at Anfield on Tuesday.
   Ballack suffered a hamstring injury in training on Wednesday which caused him to sit out the 1-0 victory at Everton Thursday night, while Essien is suspended and Lampard is by his sick mother’s bedside.
   The trio are all considered first choices by Grant, although Essien would have probably played at right-back if he had not shown dissent and picked up his second booking of the knockout stages against Fenerbahce.
   Striker Didier Drogba is also battling to be fit for the Liverpool tie after missing Chelsea’s last two matches with a knee injury.
   Defender Ricardo Carvalho admitted Essien will be a big miss at Anfield, but is still hopeful Ballack will recover in time.
   He said: ‘Michael is very important for us and we will miss him.
   ‘He is strong, likes to get forward and always likes to help his team.
   ‘He never gives up and is important for us, but he is suspended so someone else will have to play in his position.
   ‘We hope Ballack can be fit for the game. I saw him running already.’
   Grant has been very sympathetic to Lampard’s personal situation and it is not known when the England midfielder will be available again.
   But Carvalho believes his team have already proven their ability to cope, having shown strength of character to get back in the title race.
   Chelsea are now only two points behind leaders Manchester United who they meet at Stamford Bridge in eight days time.
   Carvalho said: ‘It was a very important win, we were five points behind Manchester United and knew we had to do our job.
   ‘Now we have to wait to see what they do. We knew we couldn’t make a mistake against Everton and had to win, we have done that and now the gap is only two points.
   ‘The pressure is back on them. We will have to beat them as well, but we will have to see first how they get on against Blackburn today. Blackburn away is always difficult.
   ‘We showed a lot of character and showed how strong we are after drawing against Wigan. This was a crucial game for us.
   ‘We knew we couldn’t draw or lose again. We have to win very game.
   ‘It will be difficult for us to win the league but it is still possible.
   ‘But we will never give up and it is important we beat Manchester United, even though that will be hard.’
   The Portuguese international defender is now fully focussed on beating Liverpool in the semi-final of the Champion League.
   He has played in both of Chelsea’s defeats to Rafael Benitez’s men at the same stage twice in the last three years.
   He said: ‘The Champions League is very important for us and has been since I joined the club.
   ‘The first leg at Anfield will be crucial and I hope the luck is on our side this time.’

Rio Ferdinand hopes his new contract with Manchester United will not be his last as he looks to end his career at Old Trafford.
   Ferdinand is on the verge of signing a new five-year deal with United and the defender has admitted he is keen to see out his playing days with the Premier League leaders.
   The 29-year-old joined United in 2002 in a £30million move from Leeds and the defender - who has at times captained Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in the absence of injured skipper Gary Neville - is hopeful he will remain at Old Trafford beyond 2013, when his new deal is due to expire.
   ‘I get chills and tingles down my spine just thinking about being at United for 11 years,’ Ferdinand said in the Manchester Evening News.
   ‘If you’d said at the start of my career that I could one day be a United player for 11 years I would have bitten your hand off. The thought of that is great.
   ‘I hope this new one is not my last contract. I would like to sign more because that would mean more years here and more time at the club I love and enjoy playing for.’
   And Ferdinand, who also captained England in their last friendly against France, is happy to silence the critics who suggested he would not remain at United for the long-term.
   ‘People assumed I was a fly by night,’ Ferdinand added. ‘They thought I would be in the door and then out of the door in a few years.
   ‘But those who thought that didn’t know me. My drive is to be a successful footballer. I don’t want to sit down at the end of my career and for people to say he is counting his money.
   ‘That is the last thing I want to do. I want to be counting trophies and medals and to be able to walk around and be proud of what I have achieved. I want my family to be proud of what I have done and for United fans to be proud.
   ‘Those who said I’d be off quickly had read me wrong. I have been terribly envious of the lads who’ve played a long time for this club such as Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
   ‘If I wasn’t envious of people like that and what they have done then I shouldn’t be playing football. If you don’t envy them and want to be like them and achieve what they have in the game then you are playing for fun only.
   ‘I do play to enjoy it but I am also serious about it and I want to be around for a long time like they have been.’

A mob fixer who intervened to stop another gangster harassing star England footballer Steven Gerrard was sentenced Thursday to more than 14 years in prison for his role in a robbery.
   John Kinsella, 43, went on the run earlier this week, however, and was not at Lincoln Crown Court in east central England for his sentencing.
   He was convicted of stealing 41,000 pounds (82,000 dollars, 51,000 euros) worth of Easter eggs, crisps and detergent after tying up a security guard.
   Kinsella was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for the March 2006 theft, a further year for dangerous driving leaving the scene of the crime, and three months for breaking his bail conditions.
   During the trial, the jury heard from Paul Gerrard, the Liverpool captain’s father.
   In a letter to the court, he said that Kinsella had stopped George Bromley Junior, a gangster known as ‘The Psycho’, from terrorising his son, and that he had ‘total respect’ for the defendant.
   He wrote that his son’s car had been smashed up, and that the midfielder had been chased home after training.
   ‘We were introduced by a family member to John Kinsella. I told him about the ongoing threats and violence. John then reassured myself and my family he would resolve this nightmare and not to worry,’ the letter read.
   ‘From that day until this day forward we have never had any more threats from the Liverpool underworld. Steven and I have total respect for John for what he did for us.’

Shoaib Akhtar has been allowed to file a fresh appeal by the appellate tribunal conducting his hearing against the five-year ban imposed on him after his lawyer said he hadn’t received some documents from the Pakistan Cricket Board.
   ‘We have now allowed Shoaib’s lawyer Abid Hasan Minto to file a fresh and revised appeal by April 21 after reviewing the additional documents,’ the Dawn newspaper quoted Farrukh as saying.
   The hearings will now resume on April 26 but Farukkh didn’t mention any date for the providing a verdict. ‘I can’t give a date on when we can reach a judgment.’

The Indian Premier League has launched its website iplt20.com, developed by Live Current Media, a Canadian company which bought the portal rights for the next ten years.
   Earlier known as Communicate.com, LCM used to be a domain name company - it owns 110 domain names including cricket.com - but now uses domains as commercial sites. The IPL website will be LCM’s first foray in to cricket-related content distribution. The ten-year deal includes creating and operating websites for the IPL and the Indian board. Cricket.com, which will be filled with content following this deal, had interested buyers but LCM declined to sell the portal.
   It is also being reported that LCM has bought a fantasy cricket Facebook application for US$ 25,000. Recently LCM bought online auction manager Auctomatic for $5 million.
   ‘Our team extends North America, the UK and India and is set on creating the most interactive environment for cricket fans worldwide to engage in the world of Indian cricket from wherever they live,’ said Geoffrey Hampson, the LCM chairman.

Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini has refused to allow a bitter war of words with Italian league title rivals AS Roma overshadow his team’s push towards another Scudetto.
   Inter, the defending champions, have a four-point lead over Roma with five games left but the build-up to this weekend’s trip to Torino has been shunted down page following Mancini’s outburst over Roma talisman Francesco Totti.
   Mancini claimed that officials are ‘scared’ to red card the striker, a belief sparked by seeing Totti only booked for allegedly swearing at the referee in last week’s 3-1 win over Udinese.
   The Inter coach insisted that Totti should have walked but on Thursday he was trying to defuse the row.
   ‘I was asked a question and I responded politely without wanting to offend anyone or cause a problem,’ said the Inter boss.
   Inter go to Turin still without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic whose knee injury has kept him out since March 29 while his team was seeing its once seemingly impregnable 11-point lead being whittled away.
   The 15-goal striker is set to miss the visit of Cagliari on April 27 while the 26-year-old could also be a doubt for the Milan derby on May 4.
   Inter saw off Champions League hopefuls Fiorentina last week with Esteban Cambiasso and Mario Balotelli on target in a 2-0 win while French skipper Patrick Vieira dominated midfield.
   The Cambiasso-Vieira partnership is crucial to Inter – of the 18 games they have started together, Inter have won 15 times. However, Vieira misses Sunday’s game through suspension.
   Torino will have a new coach for Sunday’s match after Walter Novellino was sacked to be replaced with Gianni De Biasi who arrives from Spain’s Levante.
   Torino have only managed six wins this season in Serie A and are perched just four points above the drop zone following a run of five defeats in six games.
   De Biasi has already coached Torino twice. In 2006, he took the club to promotion only to be sacked on the eve of the following season.
   He returned in February last year and kept the side afloat but then had to move aside, this time for Novellino.
   Roma will be able to cut the gap to one point, for 24 hours at least, when they welcome rock-bottom Livorno to the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
   Coach Luciano Spalletti has placed the pressure back on Inter by insisting the title is the champions’ to lose.
   ‘The championship is still open with regards to what Inter manage to do,’ said Spalletti.
   Roma beat Catania 1-0 in midweek in the Italian Cup semi-final, first leg where several first-choice players were rested with Saturday’s game in mind.
   Alberto Aquilani and Matteo Ferrari are still sidelined, but Totti, who scored in the cup tie, is back to full fitness after his performance against Udinese ended a three-week stint on the sidelines.
   Third-placed Juventus kept up their push for a Champions League place with a 3-0 win over Parma in midweek and they go to Atalanta protected by an eight-point gap on fourth-placed Fiorentina.
   AC Milan are fifth, four points behind Fiorentina, and are home to Reggina.
   

   Fixtures
   Saturday
   Fiorentina v Palermo
   AS Roma v Livorno
   Sunday
   AC Milan v Reggina
   Atalanta v Juventus
   Cagliari v Empoli
   Catania v Lazio
   Parma v Napoli
   Sampdoria v Udinese
   Siena v Genoa
   Torino v Inter Milan

Sir Alex Ferguson has received a triple boost as Manchester United’s title assault reaches a critical stage after Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wes Brown all pledged their long-term futures with the club.
   The United boss confirmed that all three had agreed contracts ahead of United’s game at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday where victory will send Ferguson’s side five points clear at the Premier League summit with three games remaining.
   ‘I’m not sure the length of the contracts, but David Gill (United’s chief executive) phoned me this morning to tell me that they have agreed the contracts,’ said Ferguson. ‘It’s obviously very good news for the club.’
   Michael Essien’s second goal in as many games in Thursday’s 1-0 win at Everton saw Avram Grant’s side move to within two points of leaders United with three games to play.
   But United will be in a ‘marvellous’ position to wrap up the title if they respond by winning their game in hand at Blackburn Rovers today, according to Ferguson.
   The United manager described Wigan’s last-gasp draw at Chelsea on Monday as an ‘unexpected bonus’ as he eyes a 10th Premier League title.
   ‘If we win tomorrow it will definitely put us in a marvellous position,’ said Ferguson.
   ‘We got a bonus on Monday. I can’t ask for any more than that.
   ‘It’s in our hands because we’re two points ahead of our nearest rivals with a game in hand.
   ‘Hopefully we can make that count for ourselves tomorrow. We’re taking a fantastic support to Blackburn, it’ll be a great atmosphere and it’s sold out.’
   Grant’s bizarre post-match press conference at Everton left those who witnessed it to wonder whether the Chelsea manager was cracking under the pressure.
   The Israeli gave a string of one word answers to questions before telling journalists to ‘write what you like’.
   Ferguson, however, refused to get embroiled in the matter.
   ‘I’m not discussing that, you discuss that,’ was his stern response when quizzed on Grant’s behaviour.
   Although his side are in the driving seat for the title, Ferguson has his own problems with news that French striker Louis Saha has suffered yet another injury which could rule him out of the remainder of United’s season.
   Saha is nursing a hamstring problem which has made him unavailable for Saturday.
   ‘He suffered it in training. It’s very disappointing,’ said Ferguson, who is delighted to have tied up Ferdinand, Carrick and Brown on long-term deals.
   ‘I’m not sure the length of the contracts, but David (Gill) phoned me this morning to tell me that they have agreed the contracts.’

George Gillett on Thursday called on his Liverpool co-owner to stop causing turmoil at the club and insisted he will never sell his shares to his fellow American.
   Gillett and Hicks, who each own 50 per cent of Liverpool, have fallen out completely with neither prepared to let the other take over the club. Hicks has also branded Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry’s reign ‘disastrous’ and in a TV interview Thursday reiterated his demand that he resign.
   But Gillett has thrown his weight squarely behind Parry.
   ‘I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom Hicks,’ Gillett said in a statement released to PA SportsTicker. ‘If Tom wanted a serious discussion on the issues to help the club move forward, he should bring his views to the board and not to Sky Sports.
   ‘Here we are, a few days away from a vital Champions League semi-final match and Tom has once again created turmoil with his public comments. Tom should stop. He knows that Rick Parry has my support and that airing his comments in this way will not change my position.’
   Hicks also claimed that it was Gillett and Parry who were the forces driving November’s negotiations with Jurgen Klinsmann, something that Gillett disputes.
   ‘I was also taken aback by his version of the events as reported,’ Gillett said. ‘Tom needs to understand that I will not sell my shares to him and that we need to find a way forward that is properly funded and truly in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club.
   ‘The real business of winning matches and running and developing the club is what we should all be focused on at this moment.’
   Hicks has admitted his relationship with Gillett is now ‘unworkable’.
   ‘We started this as friends but 50-50 is a difficult business proposition because you cannot do anything without your partner’s approval,’ Hicks said. ‘If George doesn’t sell – because I am not going to sell – I guess we stay in this position that we are in.
   ‘I am planning to make him a very attractive offer. If I had a majority on it (ownership of Liverpool) I could put more capital in. My goal is to take all the debt off the club except the working capital needed and get the permanent financing totally in place for the stadium.’
   Hicks also said that Dubai International Capital – who have been trying to buy out both Americans – ‘do not have a seat at the table’.
   However, a DIC source reiterated its desire to buy the team.
   ‘DIC will not rest until they own Liverpool Football Club. However long it takes.’
   Parry also insisted he had no intention of resigning.
   ‘It’s for the board to ask me to resign – and they haven’t,’ he said. ‘There’s a Liverpool way which I will stick to and clearly there’s a different way.
   ‘I think I have a responsibility, indeed a duty, at the moment to try to keep things on an even keel when there’s a degree of turmoil off the pitch. I just want to do my best for the club. The club will survive, we’ve got a Champions League semi-final coming up and a lot of important things to be done at the club.’

Dirk Kuyt has no doubt that fellow Liverpool striker Fernando Torres will break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 23 goals in a first Premier League season.
   While off-field problems continue to dominate at Anfield, the partnership of Torres and Steven Gerrard is diverting some attention away from the boardroom power struggle at the club.
   Ex-Manchester United striker Van Nistelrooy managed 23 goals in his first campaign in England in 2001/02.
   But Torres, who has scored 12 goals in his last 12 matches, heads into today’s trip away to struggling Fulham just one short of that feat with four league games of this season remaining.
   Kuyt feels that the fact that Torres is closing on that tally is a measure of the impact he has made since moving to Anfield from Atletico Madrid before the start of the season. ‘I think he deserves that. He has scored many goals already and is playing really well for us,’ Kuyt said.
   ‘We still have a few games to go and with Fernando on fire as he has been I see no reason why he won’t reach that target and beat the record.
   ‘We will have to wait and see but he definitely has the quality to score more than 23 league goals this season. Like I say, it seems like he can score in every game.’
   ‘To take the record from someone like Van Nistelrooy would be a great achievement,’ Kuyt, who has a high regard for his fellow Dutchman, added.
   ‘He was absolutely fabulous for Manchester United in that first season and most of the years to follow. Van Nistelrooy is a great striker but Fernando is only going to get better and better. I can only see him scoring more goals.’
   Gerrard and Torres have managed 51 goals between this season, with plenty of assists for each other. But Kuyt maintains the contribution of Liverpool’s two star players is only possible due to the rest of Rafael Benitez’s squad.
   ‘The rest of the team has to work really hard to enable their ability to score goals and do all the things they do,’ the Dutchman explained.
   ‘In that sense, every member of the team is important to allow Stevie and Fernando to keep producing the levels they do.
   ‘If we keep working hard as a team we know we can still win games even if we don’t play our best football. And with players like Stevie and Fernando in your team, they can always decide a game for us.’

A top Czech football association official said on Thursday that he believed national manager Karel Bruckner had begun talks to bring back Juventus midfield star Pavel Nedved into the national squad for the Euro 2008 championships.
   ‘I believe that some communication is going on there...But the situation is not so advanced that I could say that Nedved is returning to the national squad,’ first deputy president of the Czech and Moravian Football Federation Vlastimil Kostal said in an interview with radio station Frekvence 1.
   The Juventus midfielder, with 18 goals from 91 caps to his name, called time on his international career after the 2006 World Cup.
   But pressure has mounted for the 2003 European Footballer of the Year to return to the national fold especially in the light of doubts whether Arsenal midfield star Tomas Rosicky will recover in time for the championships from a long-term injury.
   ‘Of course there is a chance that both of them could play in the European Championships,’ Kostal added. Chelsea keeper Petr Cech added to growing calls for Nedved’s return on Thursday. He told the Dnes newspaper, ‘Pavel is part of the team, he’s always made an important contribution to it. We’re in real need of a player with such experience and blessed with such skills.
   ‘His presence at the Euro would naturally be welcome, that’s obvious,’ noted Nuremberg’s Czech striker Jan Koller.
   The Czech Republic start their Group A campaign against co-hosts Switzerland on June 7, with Portugal on June 11 and Turkey four days later.
   Separately, Kostal said that four people were currently in the frame to replace Czech manager Brucker, who has announced he will quit following the European Championships.
   They are former Sparta Prague, Racing Strasbourg and St Etienne manager Ivan Hasek, current manager of the under-21 team Vitezslav Lavicka, FK Teplice manager Petr Rada and Slavia Prague manager Karel Jarolim.
   An announcement will be made during the championship or soon after Czech interest ends, he said.

Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez has stunned team-mates – by drinking tea in nightclubs. The Argentina striker even dunks digestive biscuits in his cuppa. And he prefers a traditional brew from a china mug – earning him the nickname Tea-vez.
   Tevez, 24, came to British football in 2006 with a bad-boy reputation. An Old Trafford source told The Sun, ‘Carlos likes to hit nightspots with the team, but while others knock back alcoholic drinks, he often has tea. His mates find it hilarious.’ Tevez was brought up in the tough Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Fuerte Apache, and is scarred after an accident with boiling water as a kid. He also lost a close pal in a drive-by shooting.
   But the source added, ‘Carlos has embraced British life – and that includes our love of tea.’

Bayern Munich captain Oliver Kahn has hailed Luca Toni as one of the best strikers to play for the club ahead of the DFB-Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund today.
   With a seemingly unassailable lead in the Bundesliga and a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, it promises to be a glorious end to the campaign for the Bavarian giants.
   Toni, a summer signing from Fiorentina, has been a key factor in Bayern’s success, having scored 33 goals in 40 competitive games so far this season.
   And Kahn, 38, believes the Italian has done enough in his nine months at the Allianz Arena to prove he will go down as a club legend. He said: ‘He is one of the best I have ever seen playing here at FC Bayern for his qualities as a striker.
   ‘He is a poacher, of which there are only very few around.
   ‘His home is in the penalty area and he always stands in the right place and needs only very few chances (to score). As a goalscorer, his qualities are excellent.’
   Saturday’s match will be Kahn’s last appearance in a domestic final before he retires at the end of the season.
   The veteran custodian is going after the 17th trophy of a glittering career - he has win the DFB-Pokal five times - and Toni hopes to give him a winning send-off. He said: ‘Kahn’s career speaks for itself. He has won an extraordinary amount, but you can see that he still wants to reach the top and we will all help him on Saturday to win something important.’
   The Italian hitman has fond memories of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, having won the first piece of silverware of his career there - the 2006 World Cup.
   ‘I am sure Willy Sagnol and Franck Ribery (members of the France side Italy beat in the World Cup final) will have different memories of that day,’ he said.
   ‘But Berlin has been good to me and when you go into the stadium and see the cup there on view, you do think to yourself ‘my god, maybe I can have that in my hands at the end of this game’.
   ‘I hope we are fortunate and are able celebrate at the end of the match.’

Michael Essien kept Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes alive as Avram Grant’s side all but ended Everton’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park here on Thursday.
   Essien’s second goal in as many games saw the London club move two points behind leaders Manchester United with three games to play.
   Reigning champions United will re-establish a five point lead at the summit if they win at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and this was a crucial win for Chelsea, who face the leaders at Stamford Bridge on April 26.
   Essien struck four minutes before half-time as he capped off a fine move involving Shaun Wright-Phillips.
   Chelsea just about did enough to deserve all three points on an evening when they suffered much frustration at the hands of an Everton side which started with hopes of securing a top four finish.
   Yet David Moyes’s side can forget about Champions League football for another season with neighbours Liverpool now clear favourites to secure the fourth and final qualifying spot on offer to England’s leading quartet.
   Having surprisingly been held to a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Wigan on Monday, the pressure was well and truly on Grant and his side.
   Yet they responded with a performance which keeps the title race bubbling for another week at least.
   Chelsea did not have it all their own way.
   Indeed it required a fine save by Petr Cech to deny Portugal’s Manuel Fernandes, on loan from Valencia, from giving the hosts an early lead after Nicolas Anelka had conceded a free-kick on the edge of his own area after fouling Everton captain Phil Neville.
   For long periods the visitors looked as though they were still suffering a hangover from Wigan, a game which badly damaged their title hopes after Chelsea conceded a stoppage-time equaliser.
   One of their best chances on Thursday fell to Wright-Phillips, but the England international dithered long enough for Phil Jagielka to make a goal-saving challenge after Salomon Kalu’s defence-splitting pass.
   Then came the goal which breathed new life into Chelsea’s season.
   Essien started the move deep and after a neat one-two with the industrious Wright-Phillips, the Ghana star buried the ball beyond Everton’s United States keeper Tim Howard.
   The goal revitalised Chelsea, Jon Mikel Obi going close to doubling the lead a minute with a stinging long-range effort which brought an excellent finger-tip save from Howard.
   Everton have enjoyed an exceptional season by their standards, pushing neighbours Liverpool all the way in the race to finish fourth.
   Yet one win in their previous five outings suggests they have finally run out of steam.
   They were toothless for much of the game with Nigerian striker Aiyebeni Yakubu, who has been a revelation since his 11.25 million pounds (22.50 million dollars) move from Middlesbrough earlier in the season, particularly ineffective.
   Instead it was Fernandes who proved to be the home side’s most threatening player, Everton’s No 23 going close to equalising from a 67th minute free-kick.
   It was the nearest Everton came to levelling the match yet the way Chelsea’s players celebrated at the final whistle proved how relieved they were to emerge with three points.

Newspapers took the unusual step on Friday of publishing a verbatim transcript of Avram Grant’s baffling post-match press conference following Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Everton on Thursday.
   ‘Is this the most bizarre football interview ever’ asked the London Evening Standard, while The Guardian printed the press conference transcript under the headline: ‘Grant bites his tongue and plays strange yes/no game.’
   The Sun pointedly asked: ‘Av you gone mad?’, saying Avram Grant had turned into Avram Grunt by the way he handled his media conference.
   Grant gave a series of curt answers to the media after his team’s win, saying he didn’t know whether Chelsea were still in the title race or not even though their win brought them to within two points of Manchester United with three matches to play. United have four matches left and visit Chelsea on April 26.
   However at a strange post-match press conference, Grant gave terse answers to reporters’ questions.
   Asked if Chelsea are still in the title race he replied, ‘I don’t know.’
   Asked if the win meant Chelsea were back in the title race, he replied, ‘I don’t know.’ Asked if it was a relief to get a win he replied, ‘Yes’.
   Asked what pleased him about the performance he replied, after a long pause, ‘I don’t know.’
   Asked if he would like to gain some positive publicity for the result ‘rather than this bizarre silence’, he replied, ‘I’m sorry. You can write whatever you want and I can answer what I want.’
   Later, Grant told radio journalists.. ‘I’m still alive. You cannot kill me.’
   Chelsea were upset the match was re-scheduled for a Thursday night because Sky Sports, who hold the Premier League rights, wanted to screen the match live as part of the title race.
   Asked if he was upset Sky TV moved the game to the Thursday he replied. ‘Maybe it’s because of you. I don’t know. I am OK. Sky is Ok. I enjoy watching them.’
   Grant came under intense pressure from the media after Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge by Wigan Athletic on Monday night, a result that dented their title hopes.
   Asked if his attitude in the press conference was a protest against the newspapers he replied, ‘No, why?’
   Why else are you refusing to answer our questions he was asked. ‘I answer every question,’ he replied.
   When asked whether he had ever played the yes/no game, Chelsea’s press officer Simon Taylor said, ‘I don’t think this is really going anywhere’, and Grant left the room.
   Earlier he had told BBC Radio 5 Live that his side had controlled the game against Everton and the performance was better than Monday’s against Wigan.
   ‘We controlled the game. We had chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0 but our last pass was a bit sloppy. We scored a fantastic goal though. Tonight we wanted to score again to wrap it up, but in the last few minutes it is important to make sure you win the points.’
   He added, ‘I’ve been in life for many years now and pressure is part of it.
   ‘Journalists who say we are having a bad season are trying to do their job, but maybe sometimes not in the right way.’

Liverpool must repay £31.5 million to banking institutions in little more than a year or risk having to sell Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel.
   The London Times has learnt that Liverpool borrowed the money to sign Torres, the Spain forward who has scored 30 goals this season and has already become a firm favourite on the Kop, from Atletico Madrid last summer. The club then refinanced that debt on January 25, at the same time as they secured a £350 million refinancing package.
   Liverpool entered into an 18-month loan agreement with interest of 9 per cent – £2.8 million a year – with a letter of credit to pay back the £31.5 million at the end of the period.
   Should Liverpool be unable to pay back or refinance the loan, banks could force the sale of Torres and Babel, who was also included in the smaller refinancing package.
   It is unusual for Barclays Premier League clubs to buy players in this way. Deals are normally funded using television income. Liverpool have to pay £30 million a year in interest payments on the £350 million loan, the terms of which end in July 2009.
   There was no official comment from the club on Thursday.
   The revelations came on a day when the turmoil at Anfield reached a nadir after Tom Hicks attempted to strengthen his grip on the club during an interview in which he demonised his enemies inside and outside Anfield. However, the Liverpool co-owner has only six weeks to raise the funds he needs if he is to achieve his goal of buying the club outright.
   Having continued his assault on Rick Parry by calling his tenure as chief executive ‘a disaster’, Hicks admitted that his joint-ownership venture with George Gillett Jr had proved unworkable, but he is looking for the funds that would help him to buy Gillett’s 50 per cent stake and to ‘fix the entire financial structure of the club’ while overseeing the construction of a new 70,000-capacity stadium in Stanley Park.

Manchester United will take a giant stride towards retaining their Premier League title if they beat Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park today.
   United’s lead at the top was cut to two points by Chelsea after the Blues won 1-0 away to Everton on Thursday.
   But an away win against a Rovers side managed by Mark Hughes, the former United striker, would see Sir Alex Ferguson’s Champions League semi-finalists go five points clear with three games left in the season.
   If the contest for the title is now a two-horse race, the battle to avoid the drop is less clear-cut.
   Basement club Derby have long been doomed but there are several other sides which could yet the fill the two remaining relegation places.
   And second-bottom Fulham will hope history repeats itself when they face Champions League semi-finalists Liverpool, who continue to have to cope with the ongoing row between co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
   Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat at Fulham this time last season angered then-Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock, whose side went on to be relegated on the last day of the season.
   Rafael Benitez used the fixture to give regulars a rest ahead of more important Champions League games and Bolton manager Gary Megson has already voiced fears the Spaniard will do the same at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
   Fulham bolstered their survival hopes with a 2-0 win over Reading, themselves now just three points above the drop zone.
   Reading manager Steve Coppell did his best not to be distracted by Benitez’s possible team selections ahead of the Royals’ game against Arsenal.
   ‘There is nothing I can do about it so why should I be concerned? You trust in the integrity of the league and I see no reason to doubt that.’
   Fulham defender Aaron Hughes said, ‘Last season Liverpool was the game that kept Fulham up. We know it’s going to be very tough because Liverpool are a very good side.
   ‘But the win at the weekend gives us good confidence and we will see where we can go tomorrow (Saturday).’
   Wigan took a giant step towards top-flight survival after Emile Heskey’s injury-time goal secured a 1-1 draw away to Chelsea on Monday.
   But they are not yet absolutely safe ahead of today’s game against Derby and manager Steve Bruce hopes fans, who haven’t exactly been flocking to the JJB this season will be enticed back for Saturday’s game at home to Tottenham.
   ‘It’s up to me to try and produce a team that the people of Wigan will come out and support in force.’
   Birmingham are two points above the bottom three heading into Sunday’s second city derby against Aston Villa.
   The match sees Birmingham boss Alex McLeish, once manager of Rangers, again facing Villa manager Martin O’Neill, previously in charge of Celtic, in a derby match.
   ‘It is a tough game for us but I also say it is the occasion where people can become heroes overnight,’ said McLeish.
   Newcastle and Sunderland head into Sunday’s north-east derby with both sides looking increasingly likely to stay up.
   Kevin Keegan had to wait nine matches before overseeing a victory in his second spell as Newcastle manager but wins over Fulham, Tottenham and Reading, as well as away draws at Birmingham and Portsmouth, have seen the Magpies climb up the table.
   ‘The confidence was low, but the confidence now is where you would like it to be,’ said Keegan of a match which sees Sunderland striker Michael Chopra up against his hometown club.
   Sven-Goran Eriksson, like Keegan a former England manager, insisted Thursday he was not about to be sacked by frustrated owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
   A win for the Swede at home to high-flying FA Cup finalists Portsmouth on Sunday would not do Eriksson’s cause any harm.
   

   Fixtures
   (1400GMT unless stated)
   Saturday
   Arsenal v Reading (1145GMT), Blackburn v Manchester United (1615GMT), Fulham v Liverpool, Middlesbrough v Bolton, West Ham v Derby, Wigan v Tottenham
   Sunday
   Aston Villa v Birmingham (1100GMT), Manchester City v Portsmouth (1500GMT), Newcastle v Sunderland (1230GMT)

La Liga leaders Real Madrid could move one step closer to winning a record 31st Spanish title if they can win at Racing Santander on Sunday.
   The failure of their bitter rivals Barcelona to take advantage when they’ve dropped points has meant Real have established a nine-point lead at the top of La Liga with just six games remaining.
   ‘I think we can wrap up the league title when we play Barcelona (on May 7) with three games to go. I’d love to win the league by beating Barca,’ said Real’s rejuvenated Dutch winger Wesley Sneijder on Thursday.
   After struggling with niggling injuries since the start of the year, Sneijder has returned to his best form in recent games.
   His superb strike to give ten-man Real a 1-0 win over Murcia last Sunday could, in retrospect, be viewed as a pivotal point in the season when Madrid mentally clinched the league in their own minds and the heads of their rivals.
   However, despite Sneijder’s bubbling optimism at the prospect of Real soon being crowned champions, club captain Raul Gonzalez erred on the side of caution.
   ‘Each day we are getting closer (to the title) but we still have to take each game as it comes.
   ‘We’ve got a big lead but the run-in is also complicated and Racing will be out to win,’ commented Raul on Thursday.
   One issue that should calm any chance of Real getting carried away as they travel to the north of Spain is that coach Bernd Schuster has a number of suspension and injury problems to deal with.
   Real will be without the services of defender Miguel Torres and influential playmaker Jose Maria ‘Guti’ Gutierrez who are both suspended.
   Training sessions on Thursday suggested Schuster is about to spring a surprise and ask Raul to drop back into Guti’s role and, in the absence of the still-injured Ruud van Nistelrooy, start with the unsettled Javier Saviola.
   The Argentine international has only started three previous league games for Real this season.
   In addition, Schuster may be unable to call on the services of Saviola’s compatriot Fernando Gago due to a left-knee knock picked up against Murcia.
   If Gago is unfit, Malian international Mahamadou Diarra is expected to reclaim his place in the midfield after having been relegated to the bench. in recent weeks.
   Racing have ambitions of their own and will be determined not to let Real run riot.
   They currently lie in fifth place and want to ensure that they capture a place in European competition for the first time in their 95-year history.
   Second-placed Barcelona entertain Espanyol in a local derby today, a match described by Spanish sports daily AS on Thursday as, ‘a depression derby.’
   Both sides have struggled over the second half of the season to match the expectations engendered in the first.
   ‘We are playing for our dignity. For us the derby is perfect. We’ve got nothing to lose,’ said Espanyol coach Ernesto Valverde on Thursday.
   Espanyol have slipped from being in Champions League contention to eighth place, with UEFA Cup qualification also now probably being beyond their reach.
   The club’s fans left the players in no doubt what they thought of their team’s decline over recent months when they unfurled a huge banner at training on Wednesday.
   ‘Pride, honour, courage, fighting spirit...what don’t you understand,’ questioned the banner.
   One factor in Espanyol’s favour is that Barca coach Frank Rijkaard may well have his mind on Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester United and rest several players.
   At the other end of the table, bottom club Levante could be relegated on Sunday if they lose at home to Getafe and Recreativo Huelva have managed to get a point at Real Zaragoza 24 hours earlier.
   

   Fixtures
   Saturday
   (Kick-off times in GMT)
   Atletico Madrid v Real Betis (1800)
   Barcelona v Espanyol (1800)
   Real Zaragoza v Recreativo Huelva (1800)
   Sevilla v Almeria (2000)
   Sunday
   Levante v Getafe (1500)
   Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao (1500)
   Villarreal v Valladolid (1500)
   Murcia v Real Mallorca (1500)
   Racing Santander v Real Madrid (1700)
   Athletic Bilbao v Valencia (1900)

Veteran Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez said on Thursday he was waiting for a Euro 2008 call-up for Spain despite not featuring for his country for two years.
   ‘I am up for it. I am ready for inclusion. The coach has not closed the door on me and I am working towards being in the squad,’ Raul said. I think my form has been good this season and I want to be in the Euros as I think playing for Spain is a privilege and it would be great to be in the squad,’ added the three-time European Cup winner whose form in recent seasons has been patchy.
   ‘The coach will decide and we all have to back the team and his decision. I still want to be in there though I know it’s complicated,’ said Raul, whose 16 goals this season have made him Real’s second highest goal-scorer ever behind Carlos Santillana. Despite 44 goals in the national shirt he last played for his country in September 2006 in a qualifying defeat by Northern Ireland in Belfast.
   Coach Luis Aragones said last week, ‘I will select those who are on their best form’.
   He also recognised that Raul ‘has been one of the most important players in the squad (in the past) and very possibly will continue to be so’.
   But he added he had to decide how to go about injecting new blood into the squad ahead of the finals.
   Raul’s recent lean streak has coincided with the rise to prominence of the likes of Liverpool starlet Fernando Torres and Valencia’s David Villa.

Lionel Messi is hoping Barcelona team-mate Ronaldinho will stay at Camp Nou next season.
   Ronaldinho has been strongly linked with a summer move away from Barca with a number of clubs reported to be chasing his signature.
   Milan are thought to be leading the race to sign Ronaldinho with the Italians claiming a deal is close to being agreed.
   Argentine ace Messi is keen to see Ronaldinho stay at the Spanish titans saying he has learned a lot from the Brazilian.
   ‘At Barca, we want everyone to remain at the club. If he goes, I will be sad,’ said Messi.
   ‘He has helped me a lot to integrate into the team. Any team would like to have him. I still hope that he will stay.’
   Meanwhile, Milan president Silvio Berlusconi remains confident of luring Ronaldinho to the San Siro and says the Samba star will not be the only high-profile arrival this summer.
   Berlusconi claims a top striker will also make the switch to Milan for next season with Chelsea’s Didier Drogba being mentioned as the possible mystery target.
   ‘Ronaldinho wants to come to Milan, that is clear,’ Berlusconi told Sky Italia.
   ‘First of all because this club is the world champion, secondly as there are so many Brazilians and third everyone knows how well we treat our athletes.
   ‘Perhaps we pay a little less than other sides, but we give them a lot more glory.’
   ‘Another very important player is on the way. He is a powerful centre-forward whom I shall not name.
   ‘We are ready to sign two world class players for next season and there will be world class players in defence, too.’

Recently-retired Brazil legend Romario has been recognised by El Mundo Deportivo as the scorer of Barcelona’s best-ever goal.
   After a few false dawns, the 42-year-old officially announced, earlier this week, his retirement from professional football.
   Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo carried out a poll to try and find the greatest-ever Barcelona goal.
   Romario won 19 per cent of the votes to come first, with the goal he scored in the famous 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid in 1993/94.
   The striker received the ball on the edge of the area, delightfully scooped the ball past a dazed Rafael Alkorta, before firing past the goalkeeper.
   In second place was the great Diego Maradona for his goal against Real Madrid in 1982/83. In third place came Lionel Messi for his dazzling goal against Getafe in the Coppa del Rey.
   Last year Romario reportedly became only the second player ever to score 1000 goals in professional football.
   During his career he was a star of the Brazil national team, and is most remembered for his efforts at USA ’94 when he largely carried an ordinary team all the way to the final, where they defeated Italy on penalties.