Soccer Capsules: Omar Bravo signs with Kansas City Wizards
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) — Omar Bravo has become the latest Mexican star to join Major League Soccer, signing with the Kansas City Wizards.
Under a loan agreement announced Friday involving the Wizards, MLS and Chivas, Bravo will remain with his Guadalajara club through the Mexican Apertura season and then join Kansas City for the 2011 preseason.
Chivas is currently in the final of the Copa Libertadores, Latin America's club championhip
"I am very happy about joining Kansas City in 2011 and staying with Chivas through the finals of Libertadores and the Apertura," Bravo said. "I want to win two more trophies for Chivas and then focus on bringing championships to Kansas City in Major League Soccer.
Bravo has 16 goals in 65 international appearances, scoring twice in the 2006 World Cup.
He follows two other Mexican stars to MLS this summer — Nery Castillo signed with Chicago and national team captain Rafael Marquez with New York.
"Although he won't join us until 2011, we feel that it will be very beneficial for Omar to go through a whole season with us, beginning with the preseason," Wizards manager Peter Vermes said. "The 2011 preseason will give Omar a great start to the year and allow us to indoctrinate him into our system. Omar's high-pressure, attack-oriented mentality will complement our style of play extremely well."
Chivas Guadalajara to play Philadelphia Union
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Copa Libertadores finalist Chivas Guadalajara will play an exhibition against the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park on Sept. 1.
The exhibition was announced Friday. Chivas' roster includes Omar Bravo, Alberto Medina, Adolfo Bautista and Jonny Magallon.
Chivas lost at home 2-1 to Brazil's Internacional on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final, South America's club championship.
Brazilian defender Jackson loaned to Dallas
FRISCO (AP) — Brazilian right back Jackson Goncalves has been loaned to Major League Soccer's FC Dallas from Brazil's Sao Paulo.
The 22-year-old joined Sao Paulo's youth teams in 2003 and made his professional debut with the club in October 2007. He has since been loaned to Uberaba (2008), Mogi Mirim (2009), Sao Caetano (2009) and Botafogo (2010).
Jackson was on trial with FC Dallas this year and played in an exhibition against the minor league West Texas United Sockers on June 9.
He will be eligible to play Saturday at D.C. United, FC Dallas said Friday.
Robert Warzycha to return as Crew coach next year
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Robert Warzycha is coming back next year as coach of the Columbus Crew. The Major League Soccer team announced Friday it would exercise its option on Warzycha's contract for the 2011 season. The Crew are 11-4-4 this season and lead the Eastern Conference.
Warzycha became coach midway through the 2005 season. He took over a team that was 4-10-2, leading Columbus to a 7-6-3 mark the rest of the way. He then returned to his previous position as an assistant coach before becoming full-time coach for the 2009 season. The team went 13-7-10.
Warzycha was one of the best players in Crew history before joining the coaching staff nine years ago. His coaching record is 31-17-17.
Rapids M Colin Clark out for season with torn ACL
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Colorado Rapids midfielder Colin Clark had his season come to an early end for a second straight season with a torn ACL in his left knee.
Clark was injured last Saturday during the second half of a 1-0 win over San Jose. He will have surgery next week to repair the ligament.
Last season, Clark tore his ACL in a training session on Aug. 11. Clark has played in 16 games this season and logged 866 minutes.
League News
Blackpool misses glamor in Premier League debut
LONDON (AP) — Blackpool's first topflight match since 1971 is not the glamorous English Premier League debut fans were dreaming of when the Tangerines were promoted in May.
At least Saturday's short trip to Wigan represents a more realistic chance to start the season with some points than the opening games for the other two promoted clubs.
West Bromwich Albion is at Chelsea and Newcastle plays at Manchester United on Monday.
Striker Marlon Harewood joined Blackpool this week and is one of the club's few players with Premier League experience. He said even a game against a Wigan side that finished six points above last season's relegation zone will prove a challenge for his new teammates.
"We're the underdogs now but we've got nothing to worry about, we've just got to go out there and enjoy ourselves," said the former West Ham and Aston Villa striker. "They'll get used to it straight away but obviously it's a big step up from the championship and they'll realize that on the first day.
"They're used to playing football but we're up against top-class players now."
Harewood is one of the few additions to a side that finished sixth in the second-tier League Championship and clinched qualification through the playoffs.
Harewood, defender Craig Cathcart, winger Elliot Grandin and midfield pair Ludovic Sylvestre and Malaury Martin all arrived at Blackpool this week, with the club's first offseason transfers going through only after manager Ian Holloway had ended speculation he was going to quit by signing a new contract.
Harewood and former Manchester United trainee Cathcart should make their debuts against Wigan, but Sylvestre and Grandin need international clearance before they can play.
Blackpool is favorite to finish last in the Premier League and return back to the League Championship, but then it was also expected to be relegated last season instead of getting promoted.
Holloway has spurned the usual newcomers' approach of signing former Premier League players, opting for Cathcart, Monaco-trained Malaury and former Marseille winger Grandin.
That should at least continue Blackpool's reputation for attractive football.
"I will make good preparations and I'll be ready," Grandin said. "I can keep hold of the ball and I'll create opportunities for the guys in front of me, applying speed to the game out wide."
West Brom's challenge on its return to the Premier League after a season away is to at least keep the score respectable against defending champion and FA Cup holder Chelsea.
Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is back from the knee ligament injury that ruled him out for several months last season and manager Carlo Ancelotti is likely to install the Ghana international alongside John Obi Mikel and Frank Lampard — if the latter recovers from the ankle injury he sustained with England in midweek.
"I feel like I am ready for the season and I am looking forward to it so much," Essien said. "I think this season could be a big one."
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and defender Alex have overcome calf injuries, with Alex set to play alongside captain John Terry. Striker Didier Drogba is also fit after he missed Ivory Coast's midweek friendly win over Italy.
Newcastle manager Chris Hughton is hoping striker Andy Carroll recovers from a back problem in time to lead the attack against a Manchester United side that began the season last week with a 3-1 Community Shield win over Chelsea.
Carroll was hurt in the Magpies' final preseason friendly but has trained this week. New signing Sol Campbell is not yet fit to face Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov in Newcastle's first Premier League match since a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa condemned it to relegation in May 2009.
Also Saturday, it's: Aston Villa vs. West Ham; Blackburn vs. Everton; Bolton vs. Fulham; Sunderland vs. Birmingham; Tottenham vs. Manchester City; Wolverhampton vs. Stoke.
Arsenal is at Liverpool in Sunday's match.
-- Stuart Condie
Sevilla hosts Barcelona in Supercup 1st leg
MADRID (AP) — Barcelona's top players will try to shake off the exertions of the World Cup and midweek international action when they play Sevilla in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup on Saturday.
League champion Barcelona seeks to retain the cup, which pits the league winner against the Copa del Rey champion in Spain's biggest preseason clash.
Eight Barcelona players were part of Spain's World Cup-winning team. The national side also made a draining trip to Mexico for a friendly that ended 1-1 on Wednesday.
World Cup hero David Villa, who moved to Barcelona from Valencia in the summer, admitted he was tired ahead of the Supercup first leg, which will be in Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
"I had hoped my first training session would be in different circumstances," the striker said. "We arrived a bit tired from the journey, but I'm keen and happy to get started."
With so many key players fighting off the fatigue, coach Pep Guardiola is expected to dip into Barcelona's famed youth academy for the game.
One of the beneficiaries could be goalkeeper Ruben Mino, to replace Victor Valdes.
With the transfer window still open, both Barcelona and Sevilla could yet see personnel changes before the first league action of the season on Aug. 28-29. Media reports have linked Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a move to Manchester City, while Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano is reportedly mulling a move to the Spanish champions.
For Sevilla, forward Luis Fabiano is in advanced talks with Marseille.
Meanwhile, for Barcelona utility player Adriano Correia, Saturday's game will be a return to the stadium he left at the end of last season.
"I'm delighted about the time I spent at (Sevilla) and now I'm really excited to go back," said Correia, who played in defense and midfield for the Andalusian side. The Brazilian said he was not sure what position he will play if he starts Saturday's game, but he was certain his former team will play hard.
"Sevilla won't hold back. They are interested in this game against Barcelona because it's a final, it's a chance to win a title."
A win for Barca in the two-leg encounter would give its historians something to celebrate going into the league season, as it would hand the club a record nine Spanish Supercup title, one more than archrival Real Madrid.
The return game will be played in Barcelona on Aug. 21.
-- Guy Hedgecoe
Elsewhere
England players accept fan abuse as season starts
LONDON (AP) — Some Premier League clubs' decision to ban vuvuzelas might backfire on some of England's biggest stars when the season starts Saturday.
Instead of the buzzing horns that created the soundtrack of the World Cup, they'll just hear booing from a nation still angry at how they flopped in South Africa.
Thousands of England fans traveled across the world expecting Wayne Rooney and company to end the country's 44-year title drought after arriving with one of the best qualifying records.
Not only did the team return home empty-handed after woefully underperforming, but they won just one of their four matches and fell in the second round to rival Germany.
Returning to the clubs that pay them multimillion-pound (dollar) annual salaries, the players will have all they can do to regain the trust of disgruntled fans.
And the players know it — from the captain on down.
"It's going to take quite a while to turn everything around after a disappointing World Cup," Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard said. "We need to start turning the fans back round on our side. It's going to be tough for all England players in the next couple of weeks with rival fans and will get a bit of stick.
"But we deserve that and need to take it on the chin."
They got a taste of what is to come at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. The 20,000 empty seats were a sign of the disillusionment surrounding the team.
And the 10 England players to survive coach Fabio Capello's post-World Cup cull — none more so than defender Ashley Cole — were jeered during a 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary.
It didn't help that they fell behind a team that last qualified for a major tournament 24 years ago. Only Gerrard's two goals in five minutes spared the team from embarrassment.
"When you play games like this you're expected to roll teams over," Gerrard said. "Hopefully the nation will get back behind us."
While the players accept they weren't performing at their peak in South Africa, they are quick to hit back at fans who question their commitment to the national team.
"I don't see it as a hassle (playing for England)," Gerrard said. "But I'm not going to lie to you — since we were knocked out of the World Cup it's been really difficult to be an England player."
Few doubt Rooney's commitment — the striker was even yellow-carded in a training match on the eve of the World Cup — but his failure to get a single goal in the tournament mystified fans and pundits who saw him score 34 times for Manchester United last season.
Rooney has cut a frustrated figure since returning to action, both in Sunday's Community Shield victory over Chelsea and when he returned to Wembley with England on Wednesday.
"I think there'll still be a bit of disappointment in the lad," United manager Alex Ferguson said ahead of Monday's league opener against Newcastle. "I think all the players coming back from the World Cup who didn't do well, who didn't reach their expectations, will feel that they've missed something.
"That's because the World Cup is only once every four years. That's the horrible part of that tournament. We have several players who have come back very, very disappointed."
But for United defender Patrice Evra, the France captain, escaping his homeland will be a relief after being part of a national team that endured a far more farcical World Cup than England's, with infighting and a player-mutiny.
"Once they're back in here there's a different world for them," Ferguson said. "They've got familiarity and the support of everyone. It's always been there. It's a constant. It's a football club and I think the players like to get here."
-- Rob Harris
A wildly improbable soccer journey to Old Trafford
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — He grew up in a shelter for underprivileged children, played soccer in the streets and impressed scouts with his slick moves at a tournament for the homeless.
Now, in a rags-to-riches story straight out of Hollywood, Tiago Correia has been catapulted onto the international stage. He has been offered a contract by one of soccer's giants — Manchester United.
In the space of a few weeks, the 20-year-old Portuguese player has gone from obscurity to the "Theatre of Dreams," as United's Old Trafford stadium is known.
"It's a dream come true," he says.
Correia is better known by his nickname "Bebe," which means baby in Portuguese. Until two months ago, he was still living in the shelter that has been his home for the past 10 years.
If he passes a medical to complete his move to Manchester United, Bebe will tread the same path as Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, who went from Portuguese clubs to Old Trafford. His new English Premier League teammates will include Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.
"It is a fairytale when you read about his background," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said Friday. "But it is one of those things that happens when you identify someone with potential."
Ferguson reportedly met with Bebe during a visit to Lisbon this week to testify at a misconduct hearing for former assistant Carlos Queiroz, who coaches Portugal's national team.
The Portuguese first division club Vitoria Guimaraes bought Bebe two months ago from second division Estrela Amadora, reportedly paying $64,000. Man United has paid a reported $11.5 million to Guimaraes, a club whose budget this season is only $14 million.
"He's a player we've been following, but he really came on the scene in the last week or so," Man United chief executive David Gill said. "It's exciting. He's a potential player, and a lot of Manchester United's focus is about getting players who have the potential."
The Red Devils had to strike quickly: Guimaraes president Emilio Macedo said four major European clubs were considering bids for Bebe.
Sudden celebrity and generous salaries can be disorienting for young players. But Arsenio Isidoro, a priest who helps run the Casa do Gaiato home where Bebe grew up, said he's not worried because the player has shown himself to be levelheaded.
"He was always a very disciplined person and a hard worker," Isidoro said.
He noted, however, that Bebe always complained when he had to do the dishes after meals at the institution where 80 young men and boys live.
Bebe was born in the blue-collar Cacem suburb of Lisbon. Like Man United winger Nani, his parents are immigrants from the Cape Verde islands off west Africa, a former Portuguese colony. His elder brother gave him his nickname.
At 10 he was placed in the Casa do Gaiato, which caters to children whose parents can't care for them. He started out in the youth team at a tiny club but sometimes had to miss training because of his chores.
Bebe turned heads at the European Streetsoccer Festival in Bosnia in 2008, where he was the top scorer with 40 goals in six matches. He was to have played for Guimaraes in the first division this season, which starts this weekend.
Jorge Paixao, his former coach at Estrela Amadora, said the 6-foot-2 forward is an unpolished but gritty player with a strong physique and a gift for the game. Bebe has twice played for Portugal's under-19 squad.
"He's come through street football," Paixao said. "These days players tend to come up through clubs' youth teams, but he doesn't have any of that training. He's an old-style player. He learned what he knows in the street and he has a natural creativity which is a bit irreverent and sets him apart."
-- Barry Hatton
Liverpool reviews proposed takeover bids for club
LONDON (AP) — Liverpool's board reviewed "a number of proposed bids" for the Premier League club on Friday but said the prospect of any takeover remains uncertain.
The two publicly known bids are from Kenny Huang, who heads a China-based investment group, and Syrian Yahya Kirdi, who is the frontman for a Middle Eastern consortium and Canadian investors.
Barclays Capital was hired in April, to oversee the sale process and had wanted proof of funds by Friday.
"The Liverpool FC board has reviewed a number of proposed bids for the club at a meeting held today," read a statement Friday. "The board will continue to act in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club and its supporters, doing all that it can to ensure that the club is ultimately sold to a buyer who has the resources and real commitment to give it a long-term, stable and secure funding position for its plans.
"The sale process is continuing," the statement added. "However, its timing and outcome remain uncertain."
Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. put the club up for sale in April due to financial problems, three years after buying the 18-time English champions in a deal valued at 218.9 million pounds (then $431 million).
Chairman Martin Broughton had hoped the club would be sold before the summer transfer window closes on Aug. 31.
Liverpool begins its Premier League campaign against Arsenal on Sunday, trying to improve on last season's seventh-place finish that denied the team a spot in the lucrative Champions League.
Ahead of the board meeting, Huang said Liverpool had welcomed initial investment plans presented less than 10 days ago and told the group to proceed with a formal offer.
"Our opponents are big and strong and our experience too little," Huang said in Chinese magazine ibasketball, for which he is a chief consultant.
Asked how confident he was of winning the bid, Huang answered: "About 50 percent."
His interview in the magazine's Aug. 12 edition builds on comments earlier this month by Marc Ganis, whose Chicago-based company Sportscorp Ltd. has helped form the investment group.
Huang's QSL Sports Limited would be the controlling owner of the proposed limited liability corporation to own Liverpool.
Huang, who had earlier declined all media interviews, refused to identify the members of the investment group and did not say how much they would be willing to offer. Ganis had said the amount would not even be close to the $950 million that Hicks and Gillett have reportedly been asking for the club. Liverpool's known debt last stood at 237 million pounds ($370 million).
"It's most definitely not my money. It's an investment group's money," Huang said.
Huang had been relatively unknown outside business circles before becoming the public face of a group that last year snapped up 15 percent of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He also owns a Chinese basketball team and invested this year in the previously obscure Chinese National Basketball League. With Ganis, he represents the New York Yankees in China and has pledged to inject several million dollars a year into a new Chinese youth baseball league.
Asked what sparked his interest in the club, Huang said the Liverpool brand offered excellent value and its price had dropped considerably from two years ago. He said QSL's main advantage was in offering greater access to Asia and China.
"This would be a great help in Liverpool entering the Asian market," Huang said.
Huang said the group was not aiming simply to pump the club's value before offloading it at a profit.
"Many people think that what we're doing is mere speculation, but that would be a wrong way of putting it," Huang said.
QSL is co-headed by Guang Yang, executive vice president of Franklin Templeton Investments and chief investment officer of the China Life/Franklin Templeton Fund. According to Ganis, the two would be the only owners involved in the management of the club. Other investors would be passive, and each would own no more than 20 percent.
After QSL's interest emerged, Kirdi, a former Syrian club player, said he was fronting a consortium of investors from the Middle East and Canada that was close to completing a takeover.
-- Rob Harris
Manchester City signs Balotelli from Inter Milan
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City signed Italy forward Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan on a five-year contract Friday, moving a step closer to completing its summer transfer spending.
Balotelli completed the transfer three days after making his international debut to become City's fifth high-profile signing since it narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification by finishing fifth in the Premier League.
City did not announce the transfer fee but it was widely reported to be about 24 million pounds.
City coach Roberto Mancini, who worked with Balotelli at Inter, said Friday that the club is also on the verge of making England midfielder James Milner its final signing of the summer transfer window.
That would push City's spending close to 150 million pounds ($234 million) since the end of last season, with David Silva, Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov also arriving.
Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported that Balotelli's contract is worth €3.5 million ($4.4 million) annually plus bonuses.
Balotelli missed out on selection for Italy's World Cup squad but made his debut under new coach Cesare Prandelli in Tuesday's 1-0 friendly loss to Ivory Coast in London.
He joined too late to be considered for City's Premier League season opener against Tottenham on Saturday.
Milner should be with the club soon, once City can negotiate the details of his transfer from Aston Villa.
"We need another two or three days for this situation," Mancini said. "We need everyone to be happy."
Villa rejected an initial offer from City but British papers say City increased its bid and will send Stephen Ireland to Villa in part exchange if the Irish midfielder can be persuaded to leave.
Mancini is already making room for his new acquisitions in accordance with new Premier League rules that clubs must pick a 25-man squad for the season.
The coach said Wales striker Craig Bellamy, who has been linked with moves to Celtic, Fulham and Tottenham, will not be included.
"I have to choose 25," Mancini said. "The rest must find another team. Craig is out of the list."
Kaka rejects doctor's "career in jeopardy" claim
MADRID (AP) — Brazil striker Kaka has pledged to once again be the best player in the world, saying a doctor who operated on his knee had exaggerated the seriousness of his injury.
After a routine preseason check by Madrid doctors discovered a problem, Dr. Marc Martens performed arthroscopic surgery on Kaka's left knee on Aug. 5 then claimed the player put his career in jeopardy by playing at the World Cup.
But Kaka denied it in an interview published by Spanish newspaper Marca on Friday.
"Martens is a great professional but he raised the alarm, he exaggerated a lot," said Kaka.
Martens said Kaka was in unbearable pain during Brazil's quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands in the World Cup.
Kaka said he played in pain before that game.
"I played in pain in a lot of games, not just with the national team, but also with Real Madrid," he said. "And not just my knee, but other parts of my body, too."
After a €65 million ($83 million) move from AC Milan, Kaka had a disappointing first year at Real Madrid last season, when he was hampered by a groin injury. The groin problem aggravated the knee injury, he said.
He said he got through the pressure caused by the injury with the help of "faith, family and friends," and he expects to return to action in four months.
"I will be the best in the world again. Today it's difficult to say this, but I think I'm going to be successful with Real Madrid. I had the operation to be No. 1 again."
Ronaldo shows big belly, little pace
SAO PAULO (AP) — Ronaldo, sporting a large belly and little pace, acknowledged Friday he is overweight and out of shape as he tries to return to Corinthians after a thigh injury sidelined him for three months.
The 33-year Ronaldo, a three-time FIFA Player of the Year, said on Twitter that he could be in shape to play in 15 days.
Ronaldo trained on Thursday against a Corinthians youth team and showed few of the skills that made him one of the world's top players at the height of his career at Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid.
Corinthians play Sunday against Avai, and Ronaldo will be on the bench.
"Ronaldo won't play," coach Adilson Batista said. "He's a long way from what's needed to get through the game. He hasn't played in three months so we have to be careful. Unhappily, he's not ready for 45 minutes."
Ronaldo has been plagued by several knee injuries and has battled weight problems for much of his career. Despite the setbacks, he has had a lengthy career. He was a member of Brazil's winning 1994 World Cup team but did not play. He featured in 1998, 2002 and 2006, leading Brazil to the title in 2002 in Japan.
Chelsea completes signing of Brazil's Ramires
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea has completed the signing of Brazil midfielder Ramires from Benfica in its highest profile move of the summer transfer window.
Benfica confirmed last week that it had agreed to sell the 23-year-old player for €22 million ($29 million) and he completed the move Friday after passing medical tests and agreeing to a four-year contract.
"He is a fantastic player," Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "He will be the future of the Brazil national team and I hope he will be the future of Chelsea."
Ramires was a standout in the team that captured the Portuguese league title last season and played four games as Brazil made the World Cup quarterfinals in South Africa.
He has scored twice in 15 international appearances.
The Brazil international, whose full name is Ramires Santos Nascimento, joined Benfica last year from Cruzeiro in a €7.5 million ($10 million) transfer.
With Deco, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack having left since Chelsea won the Premier League and FA Cup last season, Ramires will compete with Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Yossi Benayoun for a place in midfield.
-- Stuart Condie
Arsenal coach Wenger close to signing new contract
LONDON (AP) — Arsene Wenger is close to signing a new contract with Arsenal to extend his stay as coach of the Premier League club past the end of this season.
Wenger has been with the north London side since September 1996 and his current contract expires at the end of the 2010-11 campaign.
The Frenchman says he had been offered a new deal by Arsenal ahead of Saturday's season opener at Liverpool, and says his "situation will be sorted out very soon."
Wenger added that "I have to show how much I believe in this team by showing my commitment."
Wenger has led Arsenal to three Premier League titles and three FA Cups. He has said he expects his young side to challenge strongly this season for a first league title since 2004.
Norway football to replace flawed national flags
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norway's football body is replacing 50,000 novelty national flags after a perceptive fan noticed a design error while watching Norway's 2-1 friendly win over France this week.
Football Association of Norway spokesman Svein Graff said on Friday that, due to a manufacturer error, fans received incorrectly proportioned flags. Graff says a single TV viewer — and former royal guard — pointed out the error to association officials after the match.
The flags contain more red relative to blue and white than specified in a 1898 law that defines the flag's exact color proportions. Norway's flag features a blue cross within a larger white cross on a red background.
The association hopes to have the flags replaced before Norway faces Portugal in a home European Championship qualifier on Sept. 7.
FIFA extends Sudan's deadline for leadership vote
ZURICH (AP) — FIFA has extended a deadline for the Sudanese soccer federation to elect new leaders or face suspension.
FIFA says it accepted the Sudan Football Association's request to vote on Aug. 30, after originally setting a target of Aug. 15.
Soccer's governing body reminded Sudan it faces suspension the day after if the elections are not free and independent of government interference.
FIFA refused to recognize government-influenced polls last month, and insists SFA president Kamal Shaddad is still in charge and responsible for the election assembly.
Sudan is scheduled to begin 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on Sept. 3 against Congo in Khartoum.
If suspended by FIFA, it could forfeit the match 3-0.
Ivory Coast denies that player power blocked coach
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast's football federation has denied claims made by Gerard Gili that player power stopped him from being appointed as the national team coach.
The federation said Friday that it had received no messages from players about Frenchman Gili potentially succeeding Sven-Goran Eriksson, who guided the team at the World Cup.
It rejected Gili's comments to French daily L'Equipe on Thursday that some Ivorian players wrote to the federation "explaining their hostility to his recruitment."
The federation would continue to look for an experienced coach, it said on its website.
Interim coach Francois Zahoui took charge of the Elephants team for its 1-0 victory over Italy in a friendly on Tuesday.
Ronaldinho commits himself to AC Milan
MILAN (AP) — Ronaldinho says he is fully dedicated to AC Milan following an offseason filled with transfer speculation.
The 2004 and 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year told the Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday he's happy at Milan, adding, "I'm here to play and I let my brother worry about the market questions."
Ronaldinho's brother, Roberto de Assis, is also his agent.
Ronaldinho had been linked with a move to the Los Angeles Galaxy and missed the opening of Milan's preseason training. After a week of running, he said he was ready to play in Friday's preseason TIM Cup against Inter Milan and Juventus.
After missing the World Cup squad, Ronaldinho said he's hoping to return to the national team under new Brazil coach Mano Menezes.
Celtic's Aiden McGeady signs with Spartak Moscow
MOSCOW (AP) — Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady has signed a four-year deal with Spartak Moscow, the Russian Premier League club announced.
The fee for the 24-year-old Irishman was not released but is thought to be around €11.6 million ($14.8 million).
The Glasgow-born McGeady, who scored 37 goals in 252 games for Celtic, joins midway through the domestic Russian season and looks ahead to Champions League football in September. Spartak is currently languishing midtable after finishing second in 2009, earning direct passage to the Champions League group stage.
"Celtic is the team I have supported my whole life and will miss so many things, however I am looking forward to the challenge of playing for Spartak Moscow," he said in a statement on Celtic's website.
Leicester bought by Thai-led consortium
LEICESTER, England (AP) — English second-tier club Leicester has been bought by a consortium led by Thai businessman Aiyawatt Raksriaksorn.
The League Championship club announced Thursday that Milan Mandaric will stay as chairman and is a stakeholder in the Asia Football Investments consortium. Financial details were not disclosed.
Raksriaksorn owns Thailand-based duty-free shopping business King Power Group, which last week secured a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with Leicester.
Leicester's last major title was winning the League Cup in 2000.
Lazio signs Brazilian midfielder Hernanes
ROME (AP) — Serie A side Lazio has signed Brazil midfielder Hernanes from Sao Paulo.
The Rome-based club agreed a five-year contract with Hernanes after paying Sao Paulo a reported €13.5 million ($17.3 million) for his transfer.
At the player's unveiling Friday, coach Edy Reja noted that Hernanes can play any of the midfield positions.
Hernanes, whose full name is Anderson Hernanes de Carvalho Andrade Lima, recently made his second appearance with Brazil's national team in a 2-0 win over the United States in a friendly Tuesday.
Hamburg says Netherlands' Elia to stay
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Hamburg coach Armin Veh says Netherlands forward Eljero Elia will stay with the club despite interest from rivals in Germany and Italy.
Hamburg said on Friday that Wolfsburg and Juventus had shown "strong interest" over recent days in Elia, who was part of the Netherlands squad that reached the World Cup final.
But Veh said "Elia is staying with us. I'm not letting him go."
Veh said Elia also had told him personally "that he would like to stay at Hamburg."
