Maradona Visits with Venezuela President Chavez

Caracas - Diego Maradona was mobbed by dozens of enthusiastic fans when he arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to visit President Hugo Chavez and attend a series of events aimed at promoting sporting activities.

Maradona told state media he was eager to meet with Chavez — a friend who shares his love for sports and leftist political ideals — as fans waved Venezuelan and Argentine flags at Simon Bolivar International Airport — named after Venezuela’s 19th-century independence hero.

“I’m in the land of Simon Bolivar to meet with President Hugo Chavez,” said Maradona, according to a government statement. “Together, we will participate in various activities to promote Venezuelan sports.”

He did not elaborate, but Venezuela’s Sports Ministry announced the Argentine football coach would travel with Chavez to the central state of Cojedes on Thursday to attend a graduation ceremony for university athletes. He will also meet with local sports trainers to share ideas, it said.

Maradona has espoused leftist views in the past and boasted of his friendships with Chavez and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

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Family loyalty denies Indonesians Forlan appearance

Montevideo (ANTARA News/Reuters) - Uruguay striker Diego Forlan has refused to play in a friendly against Indonesia because the Uruguayan FA (AUF) turned down his brother`s proposal to organize the match, his father Pablo said on Wednesday.

"(Diego`s brother Pablo) had the chance to set up the match and it ended up being arranged by someone else," former Uruguay international Pablo Forlan said on radio 1410amlibre.

"How would one brother react if the other went to the match that he was (originally) going to fix?.

"Diego is not going for that reason," added the 1966 and 1974 World Cup defender.
A spokesman for the AUF said he could not comment on the issue but stated Forlan, the 2010 World Cup`s best player, was travelling direct to China for Uruguay`s match in Wuhan on Oct. 12.

Uruguay, semi-finalists at the World Cup in South Africa in July, meet Indonesia in Jakarta on Friday. (*)

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W Sumatra woman wins FIFA license as football referee

Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Herlin (25), an Indonesian woman from Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, has officially become a football referee after passing a test conducted by the International Football Association (FIFA) in Jakarta.

"Herlin passed the test and now holds a FIFA license to act as a football referee," Sudirman, general secretary of the West Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), said here Tuesday.

She was the only woman among many men who took the referee test, Sudirman said.
The test was conducted to select Indonesians qualified to hold a FIFA license to referee football matches, he said, adding that the test comprised general knowledge of football rules, a physical and medical test.

The test was participated in by seven people who came from Aceh, North Sumatra, West Java, East Java, and West Sumatra, he said.

Herlin was scheduled to attend another advanced concentration training of referees endorsed by FIFA in Hong Kong.

The concentration training would also be participated in by referees from European and American countries who were being prepared to referee international football matches, he said.

Sudirman appreciated Herlin`s achievement that brought Indonesia and especially West Sumatra in the international football world.

Herlin`s achievement in holding the FIFA referee license had also contributed to forming a positive image of Indonesia in the football world, he said.

Sudirman hoped there would be more women referees in the future, especially from West Sumatra.

"It is very rare for a woman to participate in the football world. This will be a good step to boost Indonesia`s reputation in the world of football referees," Sudirman said.(*)

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Italy, Serbia blame each other after match violence

Rome (ANTARA News/AFP) - Italy and Serbia blamed each other on Wednesday for intelligence failures after clashes between Serbian fans and Italian police that forced the cancellation of a Euro 2012 qualifying match.

"We have found flaws in the information system, the results of which are clear to everyone," Roberto Massucci, an interior ministry spokesman for efforts to combat football hooliganism, said at a press conference.

"Had we had specific information we would have put better security measures in place... but the information didn`t detail any risky profiles," he said.

"Our best weapon is intelligence, but there just wasn`t any," he added.

Massucci praised the Italian police for their "professionalism" when dealing with the riot and for preventing the situation from spiralling out of control.

But he said that Italy had received no warning of the seriousness of the threat, and that measures should have been taken by Serbian officials.

"The violent fans could have been prevented from leaving their country," Massucci said.
Italian security officials had received an Interpol document listing the Serbian fans who were travelling to the match but it was incomplete, Antonello Valentini, director general of the Italian Football Federation, said.

"Interpol said around 1,300 Serbian fans were arriving, but the number was much higher, there were 1,800 of them, around 180 of which came in on buses and minibuses that were not reported at all" he said.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the preparations for the match had not been adequate and his Italian counterparts had not asked for any information on the arriving fans.

"They didn`t get in touch with us at all. We sent them a list of the Serbian supporters and the route they would take on our own initiative," he said.

"The intervention by Italian police could have been better," he added.

Police made 17 arrests and 16 people were hospitalised after the clashes in Genoa, in Northern Italy. The injured included two policemen. (Uu.A008/P003)

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Japanese, Korean clubs remain on course for glory

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese clubs remain on course to continue their AFC Champions League success after two J-League clubs booked quarter-final berths despite defeat for defending champions Gamba Osaka.

Osaka crashed out of the competition 3-2 to fellow J-League outfit Kawasaki Frontale Wednesday while Nagoya Grampus beat South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2-1 to book their place in September’s quarter-finals.

South Korea’s K-League also has two teams through to the last eight with victories for FC Seoul and Pohang Steelers.

The Japanese and Korean sides will battle it out against west zone teams Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, Umm Salal of Qatar, and Pakhtakor and Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan.

Kawasaki Frontale coach Takashi Sekizuka was delighted with his team’s result.

“Winning such an important game today will bring us good confidence, and we?d like to move on and keep fighting hard as a representative of the J-League clubs and Japan,” Sekizuka said.

Dejected Osaka coach Akira Nishino said: “Key players came back from injuries and we played better than I had expected. But we lost goals when my players slowed down in the second half.”

“But it was our best eleven. I was really disappointed, because we cannot play in the Champions League any more while we are regaining our best form,” he added.

Following his side’s clash against Suwon Bluewings, Nagoya’s Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic said his side had come through a hard battle.

“It was really a tough game but we ended with a win. It gives us a lot of confidence to reach the last eight in Asia.”

Seoul’s Turkish coach Senol Gunes, who oversaw a 5-4 win for his side on penalties after a 2-2 draw against Kashima Antlers, predicted that the winner of the game would go on to lift the trophy.

“It was an exciting game between the top teams from the K-League and the J-League,” said Gunes. “I said before that the winners of this game will reach the final. I still think so.”

“We are going to take game by game to challenge further. It will be good for the team to have a dream (to win the Champions League),” he said.

“In this Champions League, I think Kashima Antlers and FC Seoul are the two strongest teams, so I don’t expect us to have a tougher game than today’s game,” he added.

South Korean side Pohang Steelers thumped Australia’s Newcastle Jets 6-0, with a hat-trick for midfielder Choi Hyo-Jin.

Pohang boss Sergio Farias was full of praise for his midfielder.

“We prepared well and I am happy to see a lot of goals tonight. Our aim was to proceed to the next round and that mission has been accomplished,” he told the AFC Champions League website.

Gamba Osaka won the 2008 Champions League after victory for fellow J-League side Urawa Red Diamonds in 2007.

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Arsenal must end trophy drought: Adebayor

LONDON (AFP) – Emmanuel Adebayor insists Arsenal must end their four-year trophy drought if they are to reclaim their place among European football’s elite.

Arsene Wenger’s side will attempt to ease their way past Villarreal in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg, the first leg ended 1-1, before facing Chelsea in the weekend FA Cup semi-final.

After a troubled campaign, the Gunners have rescued their season on the back of a 17-game unbeaten run.

And Adebayor – who is adamant he is settled at the Emirates Stadium after being strongly linked with a move AC Milan last summer – believes Wenger’s young squad is now ready to step up to the next level and restore the club as a trophy-winning force.

“If you want to be a big club, of course you have to win things, which is normal,” the striker said.

“If most of the people say Manchester United are a big club in Europe, it is because they won the Premier League and the Champions League.

“They are the reasons they are big. We are ready for that. We were unlucky to go out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Liverpool last season. This season we have the chance to do it and just have to take our chances.

“I’ve been here three years and saying we have to win things and achieve things and now I think it is a real chance to win something because we are in the semi-final of the FA Cup and quarter-final of the Champions League. We just have to stand up and go for it.”

The prospect of Arsenal lifting silverware looked remote after the loss of key players Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini last summer and the reports of a dressing room split that followed William Gallas’s demotion as skipper.

Gallas was critical of the efforts of some of his younger colleagues but Adebayor has no doubt that the squad is now fully united – and that he is ready to shoulder the responsibility for scoring the goals that could make the difference of success and failure this year.

He added: “The pressure is there: all the fans, the newspapers, journalists. That is normal. I can understand that.

“For me as a footballer the most important thing is how I am going to help my team to win. We know Villarreal will be one of the toughest games I will have in my life and we will have to give 100 percent. After that we will talk about other things.

“It’s been difficult with all the problems, Hleb going to Barcelona, Matthieu Flamini going to Milan and everything was struggling a little bit, are we going to buy or not, all these thing, myself going or staying.

“I know we’ve had a difficult season in the Premier League, but we’re still in the Champions League, still in the FA Cup and that’s fantastic.

“For me we are now playing quite well and we enjoy playing together as a team, we are as a team and we are back in business, that is the most important thing.”

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Adebayor to miss Roma clash

LONDON (AFP) – Arsene Wenger has admitted Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor will miss Arsenal’s Champions League tie with Roma on Wednesday but the Gunners manager hopes Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure will be fit.

Adebayor has been sidelined for a month after suffering a hamstring injury in the goalless Premier League draw with Tottenham and will not travel to Italy for the last 16 second leg clash as Arsenal try to hold onto their one-goal lead.

Although Toure missed Sunday’s FA Cup victory over Burnley with a minor injury, Wenger believes he has a good chance of recovering in time.

"Adebayor definitely won’t be able to play, but I will wait to see what the report is on Kolo before I decide what my starting XI will be," Wenger said.

Despite Adebayor’s absence, Wenger will have more attacking options after Eduardo and Theo Walcott played against Burnley.

Eduardo marked his return from a hamstring injury with a superb goal, while England winger Walcott played the last 20 minutes in his first appearance since shoulder surgery in November.

Walcott admits he is not fit enough to start yet, but he hopes to make an impact from the substitutes bench in the Stadio Olympico.

"I need a few more training sessions, a few more games coming off the bench and hopefully if I am doing well the boss will put me in," Walcott said.

"I am just looking forward to another experience in Italy. In Arsenal training, you obviously dont want to injure your own players so you tend to be a little softer but matchdays are totally different.

"I still haven’t experienced getting clattered yet so that’s the next test but our new doctor has come from a rugby background. He has dealt with two dislocated shoulders a year and he said, touch wood, I’ll be OK."

With Walcott and Eduardo and Cesc Fabregas set to return by the start of April, Arsenal are approaching full strength again at a crucial stage of the season.

The Gunners are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they face Hull for the right to play Chelsea in the last four, and are only three points behind Aston Villa in the battle for a top four finish in the Premier League.

"I believe everyone at this club is a big player but the more there are in the squad it boosts the fans which is very important. As soon as we have got these players back, hopefully we will be flying," he said.
"We haven’t really lost that many games, we have just drawn a few. I am going to try and give something back to the team and try and push for those Champions League spots.

"We are not going to get too ahead of ourselves. But if we play football like we did against Burnley we can beat anyone."
Written by: AFP

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