THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014 S P ORTS English Premier League explores global expansion LONDON: English clubs’ interest in playing matches abroad has prompted the Premier League to explore the possibilities of expansion overseas. The league was forced to scrap plans six years ago to add an extra 39th round of matches at venues across the world amid opposition domestically and from FIFA. But league chief executive Richard Scudamore recently acknowledged that clubs still back the idea. People with knowledge of the situation have told The Associated Press that clubs have now asked the league to conduct a feasibility study into global expansion options. They spoke on con- dition of anonymity because the discussions have been in private. Although playing a regular season game abroad would appear unlikely in the immediate future, the league is looking into organizing lucrative pre-season friendlies and expanding the existing Premier League Asia trophy tournament to other continents. The international interest in preseason games was highlighted by Manchester United’s friendly against Real Madrid in Michigan in August. Organized by a third party company, it attracted a crowd of more than 109,000. When asked about Premier League pre-season or even regular season games abroad, United managing director Richard Arnold told the AP: “That’s still an area that’s under some development. You’ve seen on the tour the engagement we get abroad.” Premier League games are broadcast into 650 million homes in 175 countries, according to league statistics. The league has been wary about reviving plans to take a game abroad after the initial discussion in 2008 angered both domestic fans and FIFA, with questions also about upsetting the balance of the division by inserting an extra fixture. “The clubs wanted it (the regular season game abroad in 2008) and they all would still probably want it now,” Scudamore told the BBC in August. “It will happen at some point. Whether it is on my watch, who knows?” Pointing to the crowds at some pre-season friendlies in the United States, Scudamore said: “You wouldn’t get more even if there was three points, six points, or even nine points riding on that particular game.” While clubs like United and Liverpool can secure lucrative deals for pre-season games, it would be clubs with smaller global fan bases that could benefit from the Premier League helping to organize fixtures. The Spanish league organized its second “World Challenge” tour ahead of this season, for Almeria, Atletico Madrid, Deportivo La Coruna, Malaga and Valencia as Barcelona and Real Madrid cut its own deals.— AP Arsenal star Ozil out for 12 weeks BERLIN: Mesut Ozil will miss Germany’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland on Saturday and faces up to 12 weeks out with a knee injury, the German Football Association (DFB) confirmed yesterday. The 25-year-old Arsenal star complained of pain in his left knee and was flown to Munich on Wednesday morning to be treated by the DFB’s doctor, who diagnosed a partial tear of the left cruciate knee ligament. Ozil will miss the Group D qualifiers in Warsaw and against the Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen next Tuesday. He also misses a qualifier against minnows Gibraltar in Nuremberg on November 14, plus a friendly against European champions Spain on November 18. Ozil is also added to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s mounting injury list and will miss the rest of the Gunners’ Champions League group stage matches, including the key Group D showdown at home to Borussia Dortmund on November 26. Germany coach Joachim Loew is already missing several stars for the trip to Warsaw with captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Benedikt Hoewedes, Marco Reus and Mario Gomez all injured while midfielder Julian Draxler has the flu. Chelsea forward Andre Schuerrle also missed training on Wednesday with a muscular problem, but is expected to be fit. “Things look good for Andre, he received some treatment on Tuesday, so it’s normal that he sat out training the day after,” said team manager Oliver Bierhoff. Draxler, of Schalke, is expected to join the squad once he recovers from illness. Even without Ozil, Loew has targeted six points from their games against Poland and Ireland to give the Germans control of Group D after they beat Scotland 2-1 in their opening match. Bierhoff said Germany are rebuilding after established stars Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose all retired in the wake of their World Cup triumph in Brazil in July. “We want to win both games and give ourselves a bit of a cushion in the qualifiers,” added Bierhoff. “It’s going to be a tough October with two difficult games. “We have to introduce several new players into the squad because of injuries and a few retirements. “The team will have a different look to how it was two months ago.” With Schweinsteiger injured, Germany will be captained by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for the next two games. “These are key games for us, it is important to keep playing well after the win over Scotland,” said Neuer, of Bayern Munich. Loew is set to hand a first cap to Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Karim Bellarabi, who has opted to play for Germany over Morocco, where his mother was born, on the back of several impressive displays in the Bundesliga.— AFP Mesut Ozil controls the ball in this file photo. England serious against San Marino LONDON: Having launched their 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign with an impressive win in Switzerland, England face a thankless task today when perennial whipping boys San Marino visit Wembley Stadium. With San Marino currently 208th and last in the FIFA world ranking, having scored only one goal in their last 29 competitive fixtures, even a handsome victory will not earn Roy Hodgson’s side any credit. England won 5-0 and 8-0 when they met San Marino in qualifying for this year’s World Cup, after which the microstate in Italy finished with a goal difference of -53 for the second qualifying tournament in succession. England now have control of Group E after winning 2-0 in Basel last month, but midfielder James Milner believes it would be dangerous to slacken off in today’s game. “We can’t let our standards drop,” the inform Manchester City man told a press conference at England’s St George’s Park training base. “Everyone knows this is a game we should win and that’s not being disrespectful. But when teams come and sit, it’s not easy to break them down. “The biggest thing is not letting standards drop, even against lesser opposition. We want to keep improving.” One man itching to get onto the pitch against San Marino will be England captain Wayne Rooney, who is currently serving a three-match suspension with Manchester United. With 41 international goals, the 28-yearold needs four more to overtake Jimmy Greaves as England’s third-highest goal-scorer and he should have plenty of opportunities to add to his tally against San Marino. ‘FILL THEIR BOOTS’ The game also represents a useful opportu- nity for England to hone their tactics against defensive teams. Hodgson’s side visit Estonia on Sunday and will also come up against Lithuania and Slovenia in Group E-none of whom will be expected to come out and attack them. “We’ve been working on how we want to play in training, preparing for the game exactly as normal and allowing ourselves to be professional and put in a good performance and get the three points,” said midfielder Adam Lallana. “I’m sure players will want to fill their boots and get goals. That’s the same in any game. If you’re a striker you want to get on the scoresheet and the same for midfielders, (who) will be looking for assists as well.” With Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker and John Stones all unavailable due to injur y, Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne will hope to win his first cap at right-back. Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph missed training on Tuesday due to a knock, but he is expected to be fit to play. San Marino created a sensation against England in 1993 when they scored after just eight seconds of a World Cup qualifying match, only to go on to lose 7-1. Davide Gualteri’s strike is the only goal they have scored in four meetings with England, who have found the net 26 times against them at an average of 6.5 goals per game. But San Marino only lost 2-0 to Lithuania in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier, and captain Andy Selva has urged his team-mates to build on the improvements they showed in the second half of that game. “We were braver and tried to press them high up the pitch, so we saw a completely different game,” said the 38year-old forward. “We have to play as we did in the second half in the future.” — AFP WARSAW: German players run during a training session of Germany’s national soccer team in Frankfurt. Germany will play against Poland in Group D qualifying match for the Euro 2016 in Warsaw next Saturday. — AP Nations play catch-up in race for Euro 2016 PARIS: The campaign to qualify for Euro 2016 intensifies with two rounds of matches played back-to-back over six days, starting from today, offering the chance for those countries who started badly last month to play catch-up. That is the case for Guus Hiddink ’s Netherlands, who entertain Kazakhstan and then go to Iceland looking to bounce back from a defeat in the Czech Republic, and for Group A rivals Turkey, who were beaten in Iceland last time out and now host the Czechs before an awkward trip to Latvia. Meanwhile, Portugal will play their first match under new coach Fernando Santos when they go to France for a friendly on Saturday before taking on Denmark away next Tuesday. Santos has replaced Paulo Bento, who departed following the shock 1-0 home defeat to Albania in September, and has resorted to recalling experienced faces in 33-year-old Tiago Mendes, Danny, 31, and Monaco defender Ricardo Carvalho, 36. Former Greece coach Santos, who is serving a touchline ban, said of Carvalho: “He was punished for a year for his attitude. I know what I want and which players can serve me best. Perhaps other players will emerge in the next month, but we are thinking about the present.” Carvalho added: “As we lost our first match, this has become more important for us. We need to stick together and adapt to one another as quickly as possible so we come into the Denmark game at as high a level as possible.” Elsewhere, England entertain the whipping boys of world football, San Marino, at Wembley on Thursday before a trip to Tallinn to face Estonia in a Group E double -header that should provide few problems to Roy Hodgson’s side. Indeed, for England, after winning 2-0 in Switzerland in their opening qualifier last month, failure to beat San Marino, who have lost their last 59 matches, is unthinkable. “You can’t let your standards drop. Everyone knows it is a game we should win and we want to keep improving and play better if we can. You can only beat what is in front of you,” said midfielder James Milner, who could see Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne make his international debut at right-back. BORISOV: Players of Ukraine’s national soccer team practice during an official training session in Minsk, Belarus. Ukraine will play against Belarus in Group C qualifying match for the Euro 2016 in the town of Borisov today. — AP matches that I have played I have not had a genBANANA SKIN Reigning European champions Spain are on uine chance anyway. I need to keep working and the road for two Group C fixtures against be ready to take the chance when it comes,” said Slovakia and Luxembourg, with the first game in the Brazilian-born Chelsea star. Italy coach Zilina a potential banana skin for Vicente del Antonio Conte has recalled Andrea Pirlo, 35, for Bosque’s men. “There’s going to be Spanish fever the Azzurri’s Group H matches against because everyone wants to see a game involv- Azerbaijan in Palermo on Friday and Malta away ing one of the top teams in the world,” said on Monday. Germany, winners against Scotland Robert Mak of Slovakia, whose team will rely on in September, go to Poland in Group D before Napoli star Marek Hamsik to trouble the visitors hosting the Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen, as they look to build on a 1-0 win in Ukraine last and will do so without Schalke’s Julian Draxler, month. Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos will who has joined the likes of Bastian miss the trip east with a calf injury, but Gerard Schweinsteiger and Marco Reus on the sidelines. The World Cup winners’ superb record in Pique of Barcelona is back in the squad. Valencia strike duo Rodrigo and Paco Alcacer, qualifiers could come under threat from a who scored in the opening 5-1 win over Robert Lewandowski-inspired Poland, who need Macedonia, also feature, while Diego Costa is results in a tough section in which Scotland will host Georgia and Ireland take on Gibraltar this eager to get his first international goal. “I have still not scored here, but if you see the weekend. — AFP Leiwekes take a stand against Europe’s US soccer plans LONDON: Brothers Tod and Tim Leiweke, two of the most powerful sports entrepreneurs in the United States, have questioned the value of European soccer clubs staging matches in the US and Canada. The brothers, who have been involved in American sports clubs across different codes, were reacting on Wednesday to a story in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper which suggested UEFA was considering staging mini-tournaments outside Europe. Meanwhile, other media reports said English Premier League clubs have again discussed playing regular season games abroad. The brothers said they welcomed the debate on the issue but told the Leaders in Sport Summit at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium they were against UEFA’s plans and the recent trend of European clubs playing pre-season friendlies in North America. Tod, now the president of Tampa Bay Sports, said: “One of the challenges I’ve always thrown out there to the powers that be in football is ‘Will you be a pirate or will you be a pioneer?’ “Are you going to use North America just as an opportunity to make some additional dollars or are you going to commit to taking the sport to the next level and help to grow Major League Soccer?” “In the case of Manchester City, they are doing a phenomenal job in New York. They begin playing next year. They’ve signed David Villa and Frank Lampard. “At the same time, you look at the news about UEFA thinking about moving a meaningful series of games over to North America. Is that good or bad for Major League Soccer? “Is that a pioneer vision or is that a pirate move? Therein lies the debate.” He said the MLS had progressed over the last decade with US fans understanding the game better and being more discerning about what they watch. “This past summer the biggest draw in Seattle was not Tottenham playing Sounders it was Sounders playing Portland in front of 66,000 people.” LUCRATIVE GAMES Tim, who was president and chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, the owner of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy and who brought David Beckham to the U.S., is now president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. He questioned whether Premier League matches played outside Britain were good or bad for the MLS. “Are those competitors our partners or do they see that North American landscape and want to take money out of that landscape? Therein lies the challenge for Major League Soccer.” He added: “For many years clubs came to America, and were little more than pirates, they played a nice game and filled their bags with cash and flew out. “Fans might have seen the stars play, might not have seen the stars play, but all that’s changed.” “The MLS has improved a lot in the last 10 years.” Jeffrey Webb, president of the CONCACAF region which covers North America, Central America and the Caribbean, disagreed with the Leiwekes and told delegates in another seminar he was in favor of a Premier League game being staged in North America. “I think it will bode well for the future-the game will grow. The U.S market is a great market, not only for the English Premier League but other leagues as well. I believe this is going to be a great promotion for the game. It’s a win-win situation.” Games in the United States and Asia have proved particularly popular and lucrative especially over the last few years for European clubs with almost 110,000 fans watching Manchester United play Real Madrid in Michigan this year. The Premier League’s chief executive Richard Scudamore was widely criticised six years ago for a plan to introduce an extra match for each club-the so-called “39th game”-at venues in Asia, the United States, Australia and elsewhere. However, at the start of this season, he claimed clubs still supported the idea. The new plan, it was reported yesterday, would be for one of the existing 38 rounds of 10 fixtures to be played at various venues around the world. — Reuters
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