NEWS: The potential Premiership title decider between Manchester United and Arsenal will go ahead on Wednesday, May 8th, the English Premier League confirmed yesterday.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had asked the Premier League to shift the showdown to the day before, allowing his side more time to prepare for a possible Champions League final. However Arsenal objected to the switch as it would have left them with just two days to recover from the FA Cup final against Chelsea before making the trip to Old Trafford.
The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 13th, but that date was axed when Arsenal secured their spot in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and when they qualified for the final, set for May 4th, the prospect of a match on May 5th had gone.
Jason McAteer underwent a scan on his groin injury yesterday as Sunderland manager Peter Reid battles against a fresh injury crisis. The 30-year-old is one of eight senior players struggling to be fit for Saturday's Premiership trip to West Ham after having to pull out of the Republic's friendly with the United States.
Sunderland's medical staff will decide whether or not McAteer, who picked up the problem while training with Mick McCarthy's squad, can figure at Upton Park at the end of a week during which the club's treatment room has been horrendously crowded.
Cameroon international Patrick Mboma is struggling with an ankle injury and Kevin Phillips (stomach muscle strain) and Niall Quinn (neck injury) are both receiving treatment.
FIFA secretary-general Michel Zen-Ruffinen yesterday lashed out at the running of world football's governing body under president Sepp Blatter, charging that internal financial procedures were broken.
In the latest salvo in the battle to run world football as Blatter prepares to face a challenge to his re-election from African football chief Issa Hayatou, Zen-Ruffinen told Swiss newspaper Le Temps that he had noticed several instances where standard financial checks by his office were bypassed, against internal rules. Zen-Ruffinen told the newspaper he had told Blatter and written to him several times about the problem, but had little response.
He also said he thought Blatter suspended a special internal inquiry into FIFA finances last week because he feared what Zen-Ruffinen might reveal. "I think these manoeuvres also aimed to stop me from being a witness, because I could reveal some sensitive items."
Hayatou will arrive in Miami today as part of his global tour to convince football administrators that he is the man to steady the FIFA ship. The Cameroonian will address the CONCACAF congress and present to members his election manifesto for the FIFA presidency. Underlining Hayatou's campaign is his pledge to introduce greater transparency in FIFA's finances.
Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor yesterday revealed the identities of two more end-of-season clear-out victims: Alan Wright and Steve Stone.
Taylor is keen to reduce the wage bill and average age of his squad. So Wright, 30, but with more than 200 games to his name since arriving from Blackburn in 1995, has been told he can go after failing to make the bench since the manager took over 10 games ago.
Stone, also 30, has made only 68 starts after his £5.5m move from Nottingham Forest in 1999. Taylor has already allowed Peter Schmeichel to join Manchester City and is prepared to offload Dion Dublin to Millwall, where he is on-loan, though Portsmouth are also keen on the 33-year-old striker.
The English Football League is confident it can recoup the £178.5 million owed by ITV Digital if the broadcaster's owners, Carlton and Granada, fail to respond to renewed calls for talks.
The 72 League chairmen yesterday put up a united front behind their chief executive David Burns as negotiations with ITV Digital's administrators remained deadlocked. If the broadcaster is closed down the League privately believes it would win a court battle against the pay-TV company's owners which could be resolved as early as July.
