A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Uefa stand by ticket pricing
UEFA yesterday ruled out any change to the ticket prices for the Champions League final at Wembley in May despite Michel Platini admitting they were too expensive.
The cheapest ticket on public sale for the final on May 28th will be €172 plus a €29 booking fee and Uefa president Platini has said family tickets should be half the price they are on sale for.
But Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino said in Paris yesterday: “The ticket prices for Wembley will not change – the ticket sales have already started and the president expressed his opinion about that.”
The final will be the second time it has been played on a Saturday – a move Platini championed to enable more families to attend.
Platini said in French sports daily L’Equipe: “It’s good that we have been alerted about it and we are going to look at it again in the future.”
He added that the pricing “isn’t brilliant”.
Houllier under pressure
GERARD HOULLIER has again been assured about his future as Aston Villa manager despite fans repeating their calls for him to be sacked. Houllier came under fire from Villa supporters after the 1-0 home league reversal against Wolves.
When asked if Houllier will stay to the end of the season and beyond, a senior Villa source said: “Of course. I haven’t seen anything in Gerard’s body language that suggests he is losing faith.”
Uefa guarded on seeding system
EUROPE’S World Cup qualifying competition for the 2014 World Cup will keep its nine-group format but Uefa could not say whether the same controversial seeding system would be used in the play-offs.
Europe will have 13 places in Brazil and Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino said the continents 53 teams would be divided into eight groups of six and one of five.
The nine group winners will qualify automatically for Brazil and the eight best runners-up will take part in two-leg play-off ties to decide the remaining four.
The play-offs caused controversy in the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup when Fifa made a late decision to seed four of the teams based on the world rankings.
As a result, Portugal, France, Greece and Russia were seeded and kept apart. Bosnia, Ireland, Slovenia and Ukraine were the unseeded teams. The format, approved by Uefa’s executive committee yesterday, will be sent to governing body Fifa for ratification and the draw will be made in Brazil in July.
Comment opens Donkeygate
A LABOUR politician was urged to resign yesterday after branding his own constituents “Donkey botherers” on Facebook during a Premier League match.
Councillor Simon Blackburn made the remark while watching Premier League rivals Blackpool and Blackburn battle out a keenly-contested 2-2 draw in their Lancashire derby on Saturday.
The 37-year-old leader of the Labour group on Blackpool Council, is a life-long fan of rivals and near-neighbours Rovers. The councillor made the remark via his phone and posted it on his Facebook page, as his side went 2-0 down.
The comment read: “Oh my actual God . . . the donkey-botherers are 2-0 up thanks to two of the worst refereeing decisions ever!”
He is understood to have believed it would only be seen by friends. But in fact his privacy settings meant it could be seen by anyone.
Blatter facing a challenge from old ally Bin Hammam
FIFA PRESIDENTIAL challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam has claimed the development of football has come to virtual standstill and that it is time for Sepp Blatter to stand down after 13 years as football’s most powerful man.
The 61-year-old Qatari, once Blatter’s most loyal ally, will run against the 75-year-old in the election on June 1st.
Bin Hammam has promised more transparency in Fifa, open voting for World Cup bidding, and to limit the presidency to eight years. Blatter owes much to the Asian confederation chairman for his backing during the bitter 1998 and 2002 presidential election campaigns, but now his old supporter is gunning for him.
Bin Hammam said: “I was a supporter of Blatter and I have never regretted anything about that – he has contributed a lot for the development of the game. But he has been there a long time in that position. There must be the question: Mr president – when is it enough?”
United step up hunt for goalkeeper
MANCHESTER UNITED’S hunt for Edwin van der Sar’s replacement took another step forward yesterday when goalkeeping coach Eric Steele went on a scouting mission to Germany.
Steele was present to watch Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga clash with Schalke yesterday to witness two potential candidates for a summer move to Old Trafford. Schalke’s Manuel Neuer has long been touted as a prospective United goalkeeper.
Twenty-four-year-old Neuer caught the eye during last summer’s World Cup. The 21-year-old is known to be unhappy with life at Schalke, who have slumped into mid-table this season. Holland number one Maarten Stekelenburg is also attracting some interest.
