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Soccer Capsules: Longtime DC United, U.S. player Ben Olsen retires
Comments 0 | Recommend 0WASHINGTON — Longtime D.C. United and U.S. team midfielder Ben Olsen retired Tuesday, finally succumbing to the numerous ankle injuries that kept interrupting his career.
Olsen leaves United as one of the most popular players in franchise history. He was the MLS rookie of the year in 1998 and helped the United win the MLS Cup in 1999 and 2004. He was the MVP of the 1999 championship game and a two-time league All-Star.
Olsen also played 37 games for the U.S. from 1998 to 2007.
Olsen said he felt regret, disappointment but also relief that he won’t have to play through pain for another year. His ankle problems had reached the point that he sometimes couldn’t carry his child up the stairs.
"You come to a crossroads and say, ‘At what cost do you come back and play?"’ Olsen said.
Olsen’s star was on the rise when broke his ankle while on loan to English club Nottingham Forest in 2000. He needed four surgeries and more than a year of rehabilitation before he was able to play for United again in July 2002.
Olsen required four more ankle surgeries late in 2007, costing him all but one game of the 2008 season. He returned this year to appear in 20 games with 18 starts. He had one goal, one assist and was a finalist for the league’s comeback player of the year award.
Olsen retires in second place in United history in games (221), minutes (17,098) and game-winning goals (13). He ranks third in assists (49) and shots on goal (155) and seventh in goals (29).
Yet, because of the injuries, Olsen said he sometimes wonders "What if?" when thinking about his career.
"What if these ankles never acted up, where would I be?" Olsen said. "Would I have a bigger house? Just kidding."
United’s head coaching job is vacant, but Olsen said he is not a candidate.
"I am in no way ready for that role," he said.
Hamlett out as Fire coach
CHICAGO — Denis Hamlett will not return to the Chicago Fire next year after leading them to the Eastern Conference finals in each of his two seasons as head coach.
Fire technical director Frank Klopas says the organization "has decided to take the team in a new direction in 2010."
Hamlett’s contract expires at the end of the year, and the team says he plans to pursue other coaching opportunities.
Hamlett joined the staff as an assistant in 1998 and got promoted to head coach 10 years later. The Fire went 24-17-19 in his two seasons while making back-to-back appearances in the conference finals and reaching the SuperLiga final this year.
Commentary: The silver lining in Thierry Henry’s hand ball
PARIS — Thank you, Thierry Henry. If nothing else, your cheating against Ireland has shown that ordinary folks — those who are passionate about soccer and those who are not — remain, by and large, decent.
In the wake of the shameful hand ball by France’s captain that set up the goal that put his nation into the World Cup, it would have been easy to draw depressing parallels with our troubled era.
Fraud on Wall Street, dishonesty in government and, on a chill night in Paris, deviousness on the field of play — a place where, ideally, those human weaknesses are meant to be set to one side.
Deceit is everywhere, the spirit of fair play is dead, we could have concluded before deciding that, since everyone else is doing it, we should start cheating, too. On our taxes, for instance, or in a card game with our kids.
But no. Although this won’t be of any consolation to the Irish, the silver lining in Henry’s now infamous "Hand of Gaul" is that there are still large numbers of people who refuse to see glory in victory obtained by underhand means.
Yes, cheating is everywhere. Encouragingly, acceptance of it is not.
For proof, look no further than Henry’s native France. Instead of boisterous celebrations, the way in which France denied Ireland a place in the World Cup has triggered deep malaise. Supporters of Algeria’s team, which qualified on the same night as France last Wednesday with a playoff defeat of Egypt, took to the streets of Paris in droves, waving flags and honking horns. Fans of France were notably absent.
Pollsters subsequently found that a healthy majority of those asked frowned on Henry’s hand ball and that most have little or no faith that the 1998 world champions will now go on to repeat in South Africa next July.
Most tellingly, nearly half of those polled said the match against Ireland should have been replayed — in other words, they would have preferred that France run the risk of not qualifying for the World Cup than win in the way that it did. And finally, in France at least, support for the introduction of video replays to catch such trickery has become overwhelming.
Basically, in illegally using his hand and in celebrating after the goal as if he had done nothing wrong, Henry went against the grain of a nation that has long held itself up as an example of a place where injustice is fought and fundamental values are cherished.
As his former teammate on the France squad, Bixente Lizarazu, told Henry during a radio interview broadcast Monday night: "You are paying for the fact that France has always given lessons of morality to everyone else."
"It’s the boomerang effect," Lizarazu added. "We have qualified for the World Cup with a hand ball, which isn’t part of the game, through cheating, and that is why we are being made to pay. And the person paying most of all is you."
Only, Henry isn’t really paying at all. Sure, he suffered bad headlines and became a figure of scorn and derision for fans in Ireland. But a stain on his reputation is as far as it goes.
FIFA refused a replay, hiding behind its laws that say referees’ decisions during games are final. The French Football Federation hid behind FIFA, saying there was nothing it could do. And Henry hid behind his belated apologies and statement that a replay would be the "fairest solution," which cost him nothing because the decision didn’t rest with him. Together, it all amounted to a collective washing of hands.
With his club side Barcelona beating Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday and old enemy Real Madrid on Sunday in the Spanish league, Henry now has the luxury of being able to put the Ireland match behind him.
Teammates past and present have also sprung to his defense, proof that although fans and soccer aren’t quite at the point of divorce over the moralities of Henry’s actions, they are no longer blissfully wedded, either.
"I got a lot of calls from players, from managers, from people that I had lost contact with who supported me, who said that all of this was nonsense and that it had gone too far," Henry told Lizarazu. "I’ve moved on to other things."
But the fans haven’t.
John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester@ap.org
Swedish ref pondered quitting over hand-ball furor
STOCKHOLM — The Swedish referee who failed to spot Thierry Henry's hand ball in the World Cup playoff between France and Ireland says he considered quitting because of the furor.
Martin Hansson has spent eight years as an international referee. He said in Tuesday's edition of the Swedish newspaper Sydostran that even his parents were hounded by photographers.
"I thought: Is the job really worth all this degradation that I have to hear?" he said. "Maybe this is not my thing."
Last week, Henry's hand ball set up the tying goal for teammate William Gallas in the playoff that helped give France a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 win on total goals. France advanced to next year's tournament in South Africa at the expense of the Irish.
Although the hand ball appeared clear, it was not spotted by the referee or linesmen and the goal stood. Ireland appealed for a replay but FIFA rejected it.
Hansson said he wasn't to blame nor were his linesmen because their views were obstructed.
"I realize that it was not my fault," he told the newspaper. "It was an unfortunate event that had big consequences for Ireland, but it wasn't the fault of the refereeing team."
The 38-year-old Hansson began his professional career as a referee in 1992. He is to work a Champions League game Dec. 8 or 9 and is looking forward to getting back on the field.
"It feels good to get a match so soon after this unfortunate episode," he said. "But best of all has been the support I've had from players and team officials."
World Cup
Australian bidders promote World Cup bid in Asia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Now that Australia has qualified for the World Cup via Asia, Football Federation Australia chief Frank Lowy is wasting no opportunities in trying to persuade continental members to back his bid to bring the marquee tournament back to the region in 2018 or 2022.
Lowy, a billionaire businessman who has overseen the reinvigoration of the game Down Under, is promoting his bid's proximity to Asia and the region's "staggering" economic growth as key reasons for FIFA to grant the World Cup to Australia.
"The world football pendulum is moving (this) way ... we are on the threshold of a historic and exciting era in which Asia will supercharge the growth of our game, not just here but around the world," Lowy said Tuesday. "Within this historical context sits Australia — a country with a largely European heritage but now very much part of the region of Asia.
"But of all the integration with Asia, the most important in terms of Australia's bid to host the FIFA World Cup is that we are now part of the Asian Football Confederation and our football future, thankfully, is in lockstep with that of the whole region."
Australia is competing with rival Asian bids from South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Qatar — with Qatar and South Korea bidding only for 2022.
South Korea and Japan jointly hosted the 2002 World Cup, the first held in Asia.
Lowy was also looking at competition from Europe and North America when he spoke at the International Football Arena conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, outlining the "immense commercial opportunity" for FIFA.
England is a strong contender to win the rights for the 2018 World Cup, with other European contenders coming from Russia and in joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal. The United States is bidding for both World Cups, and considered among the top candidates for 2022.
FIFA's 24-man executive committee will decide the 2018 and 2022 hosts in December 2010.
"Not only is Asia the center of the future of the world's economy, but it is also the center of the future of world football," Lowy said. "Asia is home to two-thirds of the world's population, and is expected to be four times the combined population of developed western economies by 2020."
Lowy said he anticipated economic growth in the region over the next 20 years would be "staggering" and that football's governing body should act quickly to make the most of the opportunities.
"A World Cup in the Asian region would secure the future of football in the region as well as give FIFA and its commercial partners the opportunity to generate maximum revenues," he said. "In the critical next 10 years or so we have a historic opportunity to entrench football as the mainstream sport in this fastest-growing region of the world."
Lowy pointed to Australia's successful hosting of the Olympics — in Sydney in 2000 and Melbourne in 1956 — and other major events such as the rugby and cricket World Cups as evidence of it capability to stage the world's biggest single sport event.
Australia switched from the Oceania confederation to Asia after its second-round exit to eventual champion Italy at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. A reversal of the decision to give Oceania a direct World Cup entry was behind the move.
Australia secured a place at South Africa 2010 atop its Asian qualifying group. Oceania champion New Zealand also qualified by beating Bahrain — the fifth-place Asian team — in an intercontinental playoff.
Richards resigns from England's WCup bid board
LONDON — Premier League chairman Dave Richards resigned from the board of England's 2018 World Cup bid team on Tuesday following a recent restructuring.
Richards wrote to bid chairman David Triesman to say he wanted to leave the board but would continue to support England's efforts to host the tournament for the first time since 1966.
"With the recent changes to the England 2018 bid team structure, I feel I can now best support a successful bid without the necessity of sitting on the board," Richards said.
"My positions as Premier League chairman, FA board member and chairman of the FA's international committee provide me with ample opportunities to bang the drum for English football."
England trimmed its bid team this month to replace some of the politicians and businessmen on the board with sporting figures including former Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson.
Board and FA chief executive Andy Anson said Richards' decision to leave was a personal one.
"He clearly remains committed to helping England win and he'll continue to go around the world lobbying on our behalf," Anson said. "This is not a Premier League issue. Sir Dave has made his own decision about his place on the board, so we've accepted his resignation and we move on."
Britain says World Cup fans at risk of carjacking
LONDON — The British government has warned that fans arriving in South Africa for next year's World Cup could be at risk of carjacking when they leave Johannesburg airport.
The planned high-speed Gautrain rail link from the airport to Pretoria has already been curtailed and may now not be ready in time for the start of the monthlong tournament on June 11.
That will leave most fans hiring cars or taking taxis, and the government's foreign office says they should be on guard.
"South Africa is a wonderfully diverse country and promises our fans a great experience next summer," foreign office minister Chris Bryant said. "However, it is crucial that those planning to travel to the region are aware of what measures they should take to stay safe."
England will be the only British nation at the 32-team competition. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland failed to qualify.
The government is urging fans to purchase comprehensive travel insurance before heading to the World Cup and to book car hire ahead of time to cut the chances of being targeted.
Euroepan Roundup
Barcelona beats Inter in Champions League
Barcelona revived its chances of holding onto the Champions League title with a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan on Tuesday night, while Fiorentina and Arsenal advanced to the second round and Liverpool was eliminated.
In danger of getting knocked out, Barcelona (2-1-2) beat visiting Inter (1-1-3) on goals by Gerard Pique in the 10th minute and Pedro Rodriguez in the 26th to move from third place into first in Group F.
Barcelona won without injured forwards Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Thierry Henry spearheaded the offense.
"To win titles you need everybody, the whole team to be involved," coach Pep Guardiola said.
Fiorentina (4-1) clinched a berth among the final 16 by defeating visiting Lyon 1-0 on a 28th-minute penalty kick by Juan Vargas. Lyon (3-1-1) also is assured of advancing, and that eliminated third-place Liverpool (2-2-1), which won 1-0 at Hungary's Debrecen on David Ngog's goal in the fourth minute.
"I'm very disappointed because we had chances in all the games," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. "We were not worse than the other teams."
Arsenal (4-0-1) clinched first place in Group H, defeating Standard Liege 2-0 in London on goals by Samir Nasri in the 35th minute and Denilson in first-half injury time.
In other games, Rubin Kazan tied Dynamo Kiev 0-0 in Group F; Stuttgart won 2-0 at Glasgow Rangers and Unirea beat visiting Sevilla 1-0 in Group G; and AZ Alkmaar tied Olympiakos 0-0 in Group H.
Arsenal advanced to the knockout stage for the 10th consecutive season.
"In this group, we were favorites," manager Arsene Wenger said. "We did the job. If you put the 10 years together, we have been consistent."
Gunners left back Kieran Gibbs broke his left foot and will be sidelined for about three months.
-- Robert Millward
Match-Fixing
Swiss referees not suspected in match-fixing probe
GENEVA — Swiss prosecutors said Tuesday that a football match-fixing investigation does not involve referees or club officials in Switzerland, while one team under suspicion is asking its players to sign a declaration of innocence.
Switzerland is one of nine countries named in European football's biggest corruption scandal, with 28 Swiss matches among about 200 under suspicion, according to German investigators leading the probe.
"From where it stands today, the investigation of match-fixing in Switzerland is not against referees, neither against club officials," said Jeannette Balmer, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutors' office.
Swiss second-tier clubs FC Thun and Gossau have both suspended a player questioned by police since the scandal broke last week.
Thun suspended forward Omar Faye until the end of the year, and will ask the rest of the players to sign a declaration of their innocence.
"They have to admit that they have nothing to do with this betting scandal and have never been involved in criminal bets," Thun president Markus Staehli told The Associated Press. "We want to give each player an opportunity to put himself on a kind of white list."
Staehli said players who refused to sign would be directed to speak with police and football authorities. Those who sign and are later shown to have been dishonest will be dismissed.
"We will release their contract without any delay," Staehli said.
Swiss media reported that Thun's 5-1 defeat away to Yverdon last April is reportedly on a list of 22 Swiss second-division matches suspected of being fixed in organized betting scams.
Also named were Thun's 4-3 defeat against Gossau in April and Gossau's 4-0 loss at home to Locarno in May.
Gossau said midfielder Mario Bigoni was suspended indefinitely after he told the club that "not everything was clean" during the Locarno match.
Former Gossau goalkeeper Darko Damjanovic also has been sought for questioning in Germany, Swiss tabloid Blick reported.
Six friendly matches involving Swiss teams hosting international opponents have also raised concerns.
Top-tier clubs Young Boys and Aarau both recorded 5-0 victories over visiting Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Mezdra this month.
Young Boys got its fifth goal when a Lokomotiv player scored in his own net in the closing minutes, while Aarau got a late penalty to complete its win in the Nov. 17 fixture.
Swiss Football Association officials will join colleagues from Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey at the Nyon, Switzerland, headquarters of European governing body UEFA on Wednesday to share information on the case.
German police last week arrested 15 people suspected of involvement in the betting scam.
-- Graham Dunbar
UEFA to meet 9 nations in match-fixing probe
NYON, Switzerland — Top soccer officials from nine countries embroiled in a match-fixing scandal will meet with the sport’s European governing body Wednesday.
UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner said national associations and leagues were invited to the briefing because their domestic matches are among 200 suspected of being fixed by an organized betting operation.
Games in Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey are believed to have been manipulated.
Also under suspicion are three qualifying round matches from UEFA’s elite Champions League competition and 12 from the second-tier Europa League. A qualifying match for the Under-21 European Championship is also on the list.
"We are meeting to go through the information we have got and talk them through the process of how we have been involved," Faulkner said Tuesday by telephone. "It’s a criminal investigation and as such we are bound by the prosecutor’s office in Germany as to the information we can disclose."
The meeting will be led by UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino and Peter Limacher, its head of disciplinary services who joined German police in Bochum last week to reveal the scale of Europe’s biggest soccer corruption investigation.
Police said more than 50 raids were conducted in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Britain and that evidence, $1.48 million in cash and other valuables were seized.
Police arrested 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland. Authorities say they have caught the ringleaders of the gang that bribed players, coaches, referees and officials.
Swiss League president Thomas Grimm said Tuesday that the probe could have "devastating consequences" for European soccer.
"We can only act preventively and call on the honesty and fairness of all the people concerned, and stay vigilant," Grimm told the Berner Zeitung daily.
While no Swiss top-tier matches are suspected, Grimm said he had no illusions about how far the alleged corruption could spread.
"Betting is about so much money that unfortunately we can’t exclude anything," he said.
Swiss second-division clubs Gossau and Thun have suspended a player who was questioned by police.
National associations would have responsibility for bringing disciplinary cases against any player proven to have helped fixed a match or who took money from criminal gangs.
Infantino said last week that UEFA would demand "the harshest of sanctions" for any individuals, clubs or officials implicated in match-fixing.
In April, UEFA issued life bans from involvement in soccer to the president and former captain of Macedonian club Pobeda, who were judged to have manipulated the outcome of a Champions League qualifying round match in 2004.
Pobeda was banned from entering UEFA’s club competitions for eight years
Slovenian arrested for match-fixing in Germany
ZAGREB, Croatia — Croatian police said Tuesday they arrested a Slovenian man in connection with the investigation into match-fixing in European football.
Police said Dragan Mihelic, 38, was stopped Monday as he was entering Croatia from neighboring Slovenia on an arrest warrant issued by Germany. German authorities suspect him of fraud and money laundering in Europe's biggest match-fixing scandal.
Mihelic was in custody, and judge Ratko Scekic said Germany now has to seek his extradition.
German prosecutors have targeted about 200 people suspected of fixing games in nine European countries. Police have arrested 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland.
Croatia's anti-corruption body confirmed late Monday it was investigating matches in the Croatian League. Germany suspects that 14 matches in Croatia were fixed.
Police official Oliver Grbic said Germany asked Croatia to check if brothers Ante and Milan Sapina — men of Croatian origin who were among those arrested in Germany — have property or bank accounts in Croatia.
Ante Sapina was convicted in a previous match-fixing scandal in Germany.
Croatian football officials are scheduled to attend a UEFA meeting Wednesday in Nyon, Switzerland, along with officials from other countries linked to the scandal.
Elsewhere
For Eto'o, it was a Barcelona homecoming to forget
BARCELONA, Spain — It was a Barcelona homecoming to forget for Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o.
The striker made little impact in his first match back at the Camp Nou on Tuesday, as the European champions eased to a 2-0 Champions League victory that put it atop Group F.
Eto'o, a key member of Barcelona's attack for five seasons before being sent to the Serie A champions as part of the swap for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, was welcomed back by over 90,000 fans with a loud ovation at the start.
That was as good as it got for Eto'o, who had few touches and even fewer chances.
With one match to play, Barcelona tops Group F with eight points — two better than both Inter and Rubin Kazan, who meet in the last match. Dynamo Kiev has five in the still open group.
"I have confidence that we will qualify despite the defeat and I hope that Inter and Barca reach the (final) at the Bernabeu," Eto'o told Spanish TV.
Eto'o had a weak penalty appeal waived away just before halftime, hit wide in the 58th and then misplayed Thiago Motta's pass on a break in the 69th as the Nerazzurri were swallowed up by Barcelona's high-speed offensive game.
Eto'o at times seemed happier to soak up the attention from the warmup, when he took time to applaud the few fans who had already trickled in. Eto'o helped Barcelona win eight major trophies in five seasons, including a historic treble of Champions League, league and Copa del Rey trophies last season.
"I won't change the opinion I have about this great player," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who shipped Eto'o out because he had a "feeling" it was time for the striker to go.
Eto'o said the strangest thing was "being in the other locker room, but that's football."
"To everybody, I thank you with all of my heart," Eto'o said to his former fans.
-- Paul Logothetis
Portsmouth fires Paul Hart
PORTSMOUTH, England — Paul Hart became the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season when he was fired by Portsmouth on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old Hart paid the price for the south coast club having been in last place since the start of the season.
He was fired after Sunday's 1-0 loss at Stoke and his departure immediately prompted speculation that former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who has been Portsmouth's director of football since early October, might take over to attempt to save the club from relegation.
Sunday's defeat left the club with only seven points from 13 games, three points fewer than next-to-last Wolves, and Portsmouth issued a statement saying Hart had been relieved of his duties.
"Paul has worked under very difficult circumstances with the financial restrictions the club has faced since he took over," said Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie.
"However, the board feels that the team should have accrued more points to date and that we need a new man in charge to ensure Premier League survival."
The club said that first team coaches Paul Groves and Ian Woan would take charge of the team until it found a replacement for Hart, who had been in charge since February.
But Portsmouth has an ideal replacement in Grant, the 54-year-old Israeli who had a spell at the club as technical director before he moved to Chelsea and led that club to runner up in both the Premier League and Champions League in 2008.
The decision to fire Hart comes at a time when Portsmouth is banned by the Premier League from making transfers because of debts it owes to other clubs. Its backers say that will be lifted soon when the debts will be paid off.
The club's ownership has also changed hands twice this season, with Alexander Gaydamak selling it to United Arab Emirates businessman Sulaiman al-Fahim in August. But his tenure as owner lasted less than six weeks as he failed to inject capital into the club and pay the players' wages on time and that led to a takeover by Saudi Arabian property magnate Ali Al-Faraj.
Storrie also faces a criminal prosecution for alleged tax evasion arising out of the transfer of a player, Senegal midfielder Amdy Faye, who joined Portsmouth from French club Auxerre in 2003. Storrie says he will defend himself "in the strongest possible terms."
Portsmouth, which won the FA Cup in 2008 but has not had a league title since 1950, said that Hart was offered the role of technical director which meant developing players between the ages of 18 and 21 but he declined.
"Paul is a man of great dignity and we hoped he would stay and help us develop younger players on the fringes of the first team," Storrie said. "We are genuinely sad to see him leave. Everyone at the club wishes him well for the future."
Domenech: I never thought of quitting
PARIS — France coach Raymond Domenech says he never thought about quitting despite being heavily criticized by fans.
Domenech has been under heavy criticism since France's failure at the 2008 European Championship, and the team's struggles during World Cup qualifying only increased the calls for his resignation.
"I've never resigned and I will never resign," Domenech told the Web site of L'Express magazine on Tuesday. "The harder the pressure is, the more I get motivated. In adversity I'm in my element. When everything is calm, I get bored and I start worrying."
France only qualified for next year's World Cup in South Africa after Thierry Henry's hand ball set up an equalizer for teammate William Gallas in a playoff against Ireland. The French drew 1-1 to win 2-1 on aggregate and advance at the expense of the Irish.
Despite guiding France to the 2006 World Cup final, Domenech has never won a major title in his career as coach of Lyon, France's under-21 or national team.
Loathed by fans, who systematically boo him when the national team plays at the Stade de France, Domenech said he would have looked like a "coward" if he had decided to quit after beating Ireland.
"That would suggest that I've accomplished my mission and that I don't care about the consequences," he said.
Domenech also said he was shocked by the way Henry was criticized in the media after his handball.
"I didn't sleep for two days and I'm only starting to recover," Domenech said. "We didn't cheat. We benefited form a referring mistake."
Vitaly Mutko resigns as Russian football president
MOSCOW — Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko stepped down Tuesday as president of the Russian Football Union.
Mutko's resignation was expected after President Dmitry Medvedev recently announced that all sports federations must be run by full-time professionals.
The union said in a statement Tuesday that Mutko's top deputy, Nikita Simonian, will serve as interim chief until February, when a new president will be elected at the extraordinary meeting of the union.
Mutko replaced longtime RFU chief Vyacheslav Koloskov in 2005.
Many see Mutko's top achievement as appointing Dutch coach Guus Hiddink to lead the national team.
Under Hiddink, Russia reached the semifinals at the 2008 European Championship — its best post-Soviet showing. But it recently failed to qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa.
Mutko, who spearheaded Russia's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, was appointed to the post of sports minister in May 2008.
Various high-level officials and businessmen have headed numerous sports bodies in Russia.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stepped down from the national Canoe Slalom Federation on Monday.
Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs breaks bone in left foot
LONDON — Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs will undergo surgery on Wednesday after breaking a bone in his left foot following a tackle in the Champions League match against Standard Liege.
Gibbs will be sidelined for around three months, Arsenal said on its Web site. After the challenge from Eliaqium Mangala moments before the final whistle on Tuesday, Gibbs hobbled off the pitch. He'd just returned after bruising an ankle with the England Under-21s last week.
He is Arsenal's backup left back and had been playing regularly since the first choice in that position, Gael Clichy, sustained a stress fracture to his back this month.
"Gibbs has a big hole in his leg," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told reporters before the club confirmed the extent of the injury on its Web site. "It was a very bad challenge by the No. 22 and it was not his first try, unfortunately. It doesn't look good for Gibbs."
Armand Traore, who played left back for Arsenal in the 1-0 defeat to Sunderland in the English Premier League on Saturday, will most likely fill in at the position. Wenger can also use Bacary Sagna, who normally plays right back, on the left, or center back Thomas Vermaelen, who is left-footed.
Arsenal also picked up other injuries in the 2-0 win over Standard as the London team prepares to face Chelsea in a crucial Premier League match on Sunday.
Center back William Gallas sustained an ankle injury in a tackle, and a swollen eye after a collision with Arsenal teammate Andrei Arshavin, who needed staples for his head wound.
"I think (Gallas) will recover for Sunday. We hope so. It wasn't a concussion, but he couldn't see anymore because his eye was swollen. Arshavin will be available for Sunday."
Arsenal is also without top scorer Robin van Persie, who damaged ligaments in an ankle during the international break this month.
-- Frank Griffiths
Endo wins Asian Player of the Year award
TOKYO — Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo has been named Asian Player of the Year, becoming the fourth Japanese player to win the award.
Endo, who finished 20 points ahead of compatriot Kengo Nakamura and Sayed Mohamed Adnan of Bahrain, was presented with the award by the Asian Football Confederation on Tuesday.
Syria's Firas Al Khatib and Iranian Hadi Aghily were also nominees.
Past Japanese winners were Masami Ihara (1995), Hidetoshi Nakata (1997-98) and Shinji Ono (2002).
"I hope I can be a role modal for young players everywhere and give hope to others in Asian football," said Endo, who helped Japan qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Endo played three Asian Cup 2011 qualifiers this year as well as six Champions League matches. He also played in three World Cup qualifiers for Japan.
The AFC Player of the Year Award is decided by points awarded by match commissioners and the AFC's technical study group officers.
Messi, Ibrahimovic on bench for Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain — Forwards Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have been left out of the starting lineup for Barcelona's Champions League match against Inter Milan.
Both players are available off the bench, even though Messi injured his leg in league play on Saturday and Ibrahimovic has been struggling with a hamstring injury.
Thierry Henry, Pedro Rodriguez and Andres Iniesta will lead the European champions' attack.
Samuel Eto'o starts against his former club in his first return to the Camp Nou since being sent to Inter as part of an offseason swap for Ibrahimovic.
Inter Milan's Maicon suspended for 2 matches
MILAN — Inter Milan fullback Maicon has been banned for two games after being sent off for abusing a linesman at the weekend.
The announcement by the Italian league's disciplinary committee on Tuesday means the Brazilian will miss crucial league matches against Fiorentina at home on Nov. 29 and Juventus away on Dec. 5.
Inter said on its Web site it would appeal against the ban.
Maicon was sent off in the last minute of Inter's 3-1 win against Bologna on Saturday for verbally abusing a linesman.
Inter is currently top of Serie A with 32 points, five ahead of Juventus. AC Milan is a further two points back in third.
Villa's Shorey to join Nottingham Forest on loan
NOTTINGHAM, England — England fullback Nicky Shorey will join League Championship club Nottingham Forest on loan this week after losing his place in Aston Villa's first team.
Shorey will join the second-tier club on Thursday and is set to stay for a month.
Shorey started Villa's first five matches of the season but has since been replaced at left back by Stephen Warnock.
Shorey made the last of his two appearances for England in a friendly loss to Germany two years ago.
Villa is fifth in the Premier League, with Forest ninth in the League Championship.
Ex-officials charged with laundering drug money
BOGOTA — Eleven former officials of Colombian football club Independiente Medellin were charged on Tuesday with using it to launder drug money.
Among those charged were Rodrigo Tamayo, club president in 1998-2000 and 2004, Tamayo's wife, Dolly Cardenas, and two other former presidents, Mario de J. Valderrama and Luis Fernando Jimenez. Conviction carries a prison term of six to 15 years.
Prosecutor Cesar Velez, using estimates from the club's former auditor Juan Bautista Avalos Salgar, estimated Tamayo laundered $4.6 million during his terms as president.
Avalos Salgar said one way of laundering money would be to sell a player for, say $100, but enter the transaction on the books as $1,000. This means the extra $900 entered on the books was money gained allegedly through drug trafficking.
Ribery's wife has swine flu
MUNICH — Bayern Munich says France international Franck Ribery is training on his own after his wife contracted swine flu.
Coach Louis van Gaal says Ribery practiced on his own on Tuesday with a physiotherapist and that the winger has not developed any swine flu symptoms.
Ribery has been suffering from tendinitis of the knee but has resumed light training.
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