Today's other stories in brief
Upsurge in World Cup tickets sales
THERE will not be any empty seats at this year's World Cup in South Africa after a recent surge in ticket sales helped sell out about 40 matches, Fifa said yesterday.
“There will not be any empty seats in the stadiums. That was a commitment we made from day one, said Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke.
“I am now much more optimistic than three weeks ago.”
World soccer’s ruling body has admitted its largely internet-based system of ticket sales for the tournament starting on June 11 may have proved less than efficient.
Over-the-counter sales in South Africa began some 10 days ago, igniting real World Cup fever in the country for the first time, and there was chaos as thousands of fans rushed to buy and the computer system crashed.
“People are waking up very late but we are very happy with the result and all of the people involved are very confident, Valcke said.
About 40 of the 64 matches were now sold out.
Birmingham seeking a fee for Hart
BIRMINGHAM City were last night playing hardball with Manchester City over the possible return of Joe Hart to Eastlands for the final three matches of the season as the Midlands club demanded compensation to protect themselves against the prospect of losing out on €1.85 million in Premier League prize money.
A final decision on Hart’s future is expected to be reached today, after Garry Cook, City’s chief executive, and Peter Pannu, Birmingham’s vice-chairman, spent much of yesterday locked in talks.
Pannu said he is sympathetic to City’s predicament – Shay Given dislocated his shoulder at Arsenal on Saturday and two of his understudies, Stuart Taylor and David Gonzalez, are injured – but he stressed the need to look after Birmingham’s financial interests.
Given is due to have a shoulder operation today.
Pannu has calculated that if Hart returned to City and Birmingham dropped from ninth to 11th as a consequence come the end of the season, their merit money would fall by €1.85 million.
Carr faces improper conduct charge
BIRMINGHAM have been charged with failure to ensure their players conduct themselves in an orderly fashion after the referee Martin Atkinson was surrounded following his decision to award a late penalty to Aston Villa in Sunday’s West Midlands derby.
Former Republic of Ireland international Stephen Carr has requested a personal hearing after accepting a charge of improper conduct for allegedly making an offensive gesture to Villa fans at the end of the match.
West Midlands police are investigating Carr’s behaviour after receiving a complaint.
Roger Johnson has been asked to explain the comments he made to the media after the Villa game when he branded Atkinson a “disgrace”.
Rangers facing court action
RANGERS are facing court action from British Revenue and Customs, it emerged yesterday.
It is believed the Glasgow club are being investigated over offshore payments made to players.
Rangers said they would defend themselves “robustly”. A club spokesman said: “There is an ongoing query raised by HMRC, which is part of a pending court case.
“On the basis of expert tax advice provided to Rangers, the club is robustly defending the matters raised. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
The cash-strapped Ibrox club, crowned champions on Sunday, are €39 million in debt and have been put up for sale. Reports suggested property developer Andrew Ellis is likely to launch a takeover.
An HMRC spokeswoman said: “HMRC cannot comment on the confidential tax affairs of individuals or businesses.”
Hutton's ban reduced to one game
SUNDERLAND defender Alan Hutton has won his appeal against the punishment he received for his sending-off at Hull on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Scotland international, who is on loan at the Stadium of Light from Tottenham, appealed against the three-match ban he was initially handed, which would have ended his season.
Hutton’s one-match ban means he will just miss Sunday’s game against Manchester United.
Beckham out until November
DAVID Beckham does not expect to return to competitive action until November.
If his estimate is correct, Beckham could miss the whole of the Major League Soccer season for Los Angeles Galaxy, with the American domestic campaign concluding on November 21st.
The 34-year-old suffered the injury playing for AC Milan in March and was almost immediately ruled out of England’s World Cup plans.
Agent denies Benitez has agreed deal with Juventus
RAFAEL Benitez’ agent has said reports the Liverpool manager has agreed a deal to take over Serie A giants Juventus are “absolutely false”.
According to reports in Italy, the Turin side are poised to secure the Spaniard on a four-year contract.
But Manuel Quillon Garcia denied that was the case, insisting: “There is no agreement with anyone.”
He also denied meeting Juve director Roberto Bettega in Monte Carlo this week to discuss Benitez’ future.
Benitez is one of several possible candidates Juventus want to succeed Alberto Zaccheroni at the Stadio Olimpico this summer.
However, Benitez’ pay demands, and the fact he would want to bring several of his backroom staff with him, could cause difficulties.
There has been no contact between Liverpool and Juventus, with Liverpool privately sceptical the Italian club could afford to buy the manager out of his lucrative contract, which still has four years to run.
