Sports

ZURICH — FIFA President Sepp Blatter refused to comment on allegations linking Qatar’s winning World Cup bid to payments received by voters.

Blatter said at a news conference on Friday “I have not even the right” to discuss claims published this week by the Daily Telegraph.

The British newspaper said it had evidence that a Qatari company controlled by former FIFA board member Mohamed Bin Hammam paid almost $2 million to former FIFA vice president Jack Warner’s family after the December 2010 vote.

Blatter referred questions to a statement on behalf of its ethics investigation panel, which was “aware of the material identified in the published article”.

The claims were aired as Blatter and other FIFA executive committee members were being interviewed in Zurich as part of an investigation by ethics prosecutor Michael Garcia into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests, won by Russia and Qatar.

Pressed further on the subject, Blatter insisted he will not comment “until they have finished their work”.

Garcia is expected to deliver a report this year to the judging panel of FIFA’s ethics court.

“As with any allegations of misconduct by football officials the ethics committee will take whatever action it feels is appropriate,” the statement on behalf of Garcia said.

Still, he has limited jurisdiction at best. Bin Hammam is already banned from football for life, and Warner resigned in June 2011 to avoid a previous FIFA investigation into a cash-for-votes scandal linked to the Qatari’s failed presidential bid.

As future World Cup hosts continue to trouble FIFA, Blatter said he would make another visit to Qatar before this year’s tournament starts in Brazil in June to press for progress in the gas-rich emirate’s treatment of migrant laborers.

Blatter’s board colleague, Theo Zwanziger, said FIFA has asked Qatari authorities for “honest reports” on the situation.

Labour unions and rights groups have campaigned to highlight unsafe conditions, unpaid salaries and contracts tying workers to their employer.

Blatter dismissed suggestions that aggressive actions by 2018 World Cup host Russia towards neighbouring Ukraine in the breakaway Crimea region could affect the tournament.

“The World Cup has been given and voted to Russia and we are going forward with our work,” said Blatter, who counts Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, among his board colleagues.

FIFA and UEFA have also endorsed an agreement that Crimea region clubs Tavriya Simferopol and FC Sevastopol should complete the season in the Ukraine Premier League. Both clubs expressed interest in switching to the Russian league next season.

Issues affecting FIFA’s next three major tournament hosts have not damaged the governing body’s finances.

Buoyed by record income of $1.386 billion last year, FIFA reported that its reserves grew to $1.432 billion after making a $72 million profit.

FIFA’s financial results typically peak in a World Cup year, which will be reported next March, and are set to grow with more valuable TV rights and sponsorship deals starting next year.

MADRID — Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has recovered from a bruised thigh and is available for Sunday’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ (2000 GMT) at home to Barcelona, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday.

Benzema took a knock in a collision with teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in last weekend’s 1-0 La Liga win at Malaga and the France international missed Tuesday’s Champions League game against Schalke 04.

“Benzema has recovered well and he trained with the rest of the team today without any problems,” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“We had a small problem with Isco who arrived with a mild cold and had some treatment before training and then trained normally,” added the Italian. “So all the squad is in good condition.”

With 10 games left, Real have a three-point lead over second-placed city rivals Atletico Madrid, who play at bottom side Real Betis earlier on Sunday (1600).

Champions Barca are a point further back in third and defeat on Sunday would severely damage their chances of winning a fifth La Liga title in six years.

Ancelotti said he would be sticking with his preferred midfield of Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria at the Bernabeu, when Real will seek to extend their 31-match unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back to a 2-1 La Liga defeat at Barca in October.

Benzema will return at centre forward with Portugal captain and La Liga top scorer Ronaldo on the left and Wales winger Gareth Bale on the right.

“The centre of the pitch will be very important tomorrow,” Ancelotti said.

“Our midfielders are playing well for a while now and I am confident we can win in that zone of the pitch tomorrow.

“Our idea is to play a match that shows off our best qualities. An offensive football, attacking together and defending together.

“I think the difference will be in the collective work of each team and not in the individual qualities of the players.

“We are not thinking about a draw because we have a small advantage in that we are playing at home.”

Real and Barca will also meet in next month’s King’s Cup final and both are through to the last eight of the Champions League along with Atletico.

MUNICH — Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich have had a hand on the Bundesliga title for months and could make their status as champions official at Mainz 05 on Saturday. Holding a 23-point lead at the top of the table and with nine games left, another Bayern victory this weekend and no wins from Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 would seal the trophy for the Bavarians. Fifth-placed Mainz will be no pushovers, having lost just once in 11 games. They are also attempting to record their best Bundesliga points haul this season. Third-placed Schalke, on 47 points, will try to keep the title race going a little longer especially as they are at home to bottom club Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday. Dortmund, in second spot on 48 points, are likely to be without defender Marcel Schmelzer at Hanover 96 on Saturday. Schmelzer was injured in the midweek 2-1 defeat by Zenit St. Petersburg that sent Juergen Klopp’s side through to the Champions League quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate.

LONDON — "Arsene Who?"

That famous headline in a London newspaper welcomed the relatively unknown Arsene Wenger when he was appointed Arsenal manager in September 1996. 

Many players at the club had the same question on their lips when the Frenchman walked into the dressing room for the first time.

A little less than 18 years later, Wenger will take charge of his 1,000th game as Arsenal manager when his team plays at bitter rival Chelsea on Saturday. 

And despite the former Monaco coach’s inability to deliver a trophy since 2005, Wenger's achievements in north London and his influence on English football have been immense.

Not only has Wenger presided over glory days at the club — Arsenal won three Premier League and four FA Cup titles under Wenger, including the double in 1998 and 2002 — he also achieved sporting and financial stability at Arsenal.

The club's longest-serving manager is also widely credited for having radically changed the face of English football, bringing in new training methods and his famous broccoli diet while discouraging alcohol consumption. 

First regarded as something revolutionary, Wenger's attention to detail quickly became popular among his players.

"At first, we didn't really know who Arsene Wenger was," said former England and Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour. "But we trusted [vice chairman] David Dein at the time, him saying Arsene Wenger was going to push the club forward," Parlour added.

"And certainly after six weeks or so you could tell that he was a top-class manager. When Arsene Wenger first turned up, he took me to another level. 

"His training methods were always great, he was on that pitch every single day, which is so important as a coach. He had lots and lots of brains about football and what he wanted to achieve."

Wenger arrived at Highbury on the back of successes at Monaco and a stint in charge of Japanese club Grampus Eight to become Arsenal's first foreign manager following short-term tenures for Stewart Houston and Bruce Rioch.

Arsenal finished third that season but Wenger won over the fans' hearts the next term when he led his team to the Premier League title with two games to spare after trailing leaders Manchester United by 11 points at one stage. 

The Gunners then added the FA Cup to secure the double in Wenger's first full season in charge.

Over the years, the Frenchman built a squad capable of fighting for the title every season, with the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit added to a roster including David Seaman, Tony Adams and Dennis Bergkamp. But Wenger's real masterstroke was signing Thierry Henry.

The World Cup winner arrived in August 1999, after Wenger's side had been denied back-to-back titles by one point by Manchester United. 

After failing to score in his first eight games, Henry netted 26 goals that season and went on scoring 226 times in 369 appearances for Arsenal between 1999 and 2007, winning seven trophies in his time in north London.

"He changed the philosophy of the club," Henry said. "He won stuff as soon as he arrived and therefore he earned the trust of the fans and the respect of everyone."

Unlike his great rival Alex Ferguson, who retired last season after turning Manchester United into a European powerhouse, Wenger has not tasted Champions League success. 

Despite qualifying for the lucrative tournament for 16 consecutive seasons, Arsenal has never won Europe's biggest prize, losing to Barcelona in the 2006 final.

Wenger is now trying to end a trophy drought stretching back to the 2005 FA Cup. 

Over that period, the fans' patience has been tested but they never turned their backs to the Frenchman as he stayed truthful to his ideal of beautiful football while rebuilding the team and guaranteeing the club's financial health.

"I believe that when one day I look back, certainly I will be very proud of what I have done," Wenger recently said about those difficult times. 

"It was a trophyless period but certainly a much more difficult and sensitive period, and we needed much more commitment and strength than in the first part of my stay here. 

"I went for a challenge that I knew would be difficult because we had to fight with clubs who lose £150 million [$248 million] per year when we had to make £30 million [$50 million] per year."

Last year, Wenger told The Associated Press that he had tried to adopt a "socialist model" for Arsenal's wage bill. 

That philosophy is harder to sustain when the pressure for short-term success gets bigger and Wenger broke Arsenal's transfer record last summer to sign Mesut Ozil for 50 million euros ($66 million).

"I always say to the players, 'Forget the money'," Wenger said. 

"What is important is how well you play together, what you share together is much more important. The money is only a consequence of your experience," he added. 

"The real experience is the game."

AMMAN — Week 13 of the 62nd Jordan Professional League kicks off on Thursday, with the most anticipated match of the season between all-time rivals Faisali and Wihdat slated for Friday.

As Leg 2 kicked off last week, Faisali and Wihdat still share the lead, with the former leading on goal difference. Faisali beat Arabi 2-1 as Wihdat beat Ramtha 1-0, with striker Moataz Salhani scoring a goal that has attracted international attention.

Ramtha are third and next play Hussein Irbid, while Baqaa, in fourth place, have a chance to improve when they face Sarih.

That Ras, who beat Tajikistan’s Ravshan 3-2 on Tuesday and boosted their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup Round 2 chances, will play Manshieh, who beat Hussein 2-0 to climb to eighth place.

Jazirah held Baqaa 1-1 and next play Arabi. On the other hand, titleholders Shabab Urdun, whose match against That Ras has been postponed, next play bottom placed Sheikh Hussein.

Faisali climbed up the standings only in the last part of Leg 1 after playing three postponed matches — beating Wihdat 1-0, holding Ramtha 0-0 and Shabab Urdun 2-2. Meanwhile, Wihdat lost momentum after going down 2-0 to That Ras.

The season was halted many times, including during the national team’s participation in the eighth West Asian Championship, the U-22 team’s participation at the AFC U-22 Championship and Asian Cup Group A qualifiers. Jordan beat Syria 2-1 in its final qualifier and has advanced to the Asian Cup.

The Jordan Football Association  has now set the season’s agenda to end May 31.

Standings after Week 12 (last week’s rank in parenthesis)

* Postponed match

MADRID — Cristiano Ronaldo’s scintillating form and the supporting role played by the likes of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema suggest Real Madrid have every right to believe a rare treble is well within their grasp.

Barcelona became the only Spanish team to win the Champions League and the domestic league and cup in the same season in 2008/09 but La Liga leaders Real are in a strong position to match their
archrivals after Ronaldo’s goals helped them put together a 31-match unbeaten run since the end of October.

The Portugal forward and World Player of the Year has scored 41 goals in 37 matches for the world’s richest club this term.

His double in Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Schalke 04, as Real secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a club record 9-2 aggregate success, took his tally in the latest edition of Europe’s elite club competition to 13.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti deployed Ronaldo in the last 16 first leg even though Real were leading 6-1 from the first game in Germany, when he also struck twice and Bale and Benzema each netted doubles.

“I feel good and the coach, who makes these decisions, decided it was good for me to play,” Ronaldo said on UEFA.com.

“I scored two goals and helped my team achieve a very important win to keep our good run going.

“We must continue on this path. Let’s see what happens in the next few games.”

Ronaldo’s opening goal in the 21st minute showcased his ability to time his runs to perfection as he sprinted into the area and clipped a Bale centre into the net.

His second strike 17 minutes from time was classic Ronaldo as he collected the ball near the halfway line and charged past the helpless Schalke players before smashing a low shot into the bottom corner.

“Ronaldo didn’t become World Player of the Year for nothing,” Schalke coach Jens Keller told a news conference. “His qualities are outstanding.”

With 13 goals in seven games, the 29-year-old former Manchester United player has surpassed his best Champions League haul and is one short of the record of 14 set by Barca forward Lionel Messi in 2011/12.

He also climbed above Real great Ferenc Puskas into fourth on the list of the club’s top scorers with 243 compared to the Hungarian’s 242 but still has some way to go to catch leading marksman Raul who scored 323.

One-man show

“Cristiano is the best in the world,” Real midfielder Casemiro, who had a rare chance to impress on Tuesday with his team virtually assured of going through, told reporters.

“He is a one-man show and an example for everyone,” the 22-year-old added. “I learn a lot from him and he is an incredible player.”

Real will find out on Friday who they will face in the quarter-finals and they could be drawn against Barcelona or city neighbours Atletico Madrid.

Real host Barca, the last team to beat them, in the La Liga “Clasico” on Sunday, when a win would stretch their lead over the champions to seven points and deal a severe blow to Barca’s chances of a fifth title in six years.

Barca are third after a couple of surprise defeats, a point behind second-placed Atletico.

Barca and Real also meet in next month’s King’s Cup final, a repeat of the 2011 showpiece which Real won 1-0, raising the prospect of a possible four meetings between them in the space of just over three weeks.

“We have to take things step by step,” Ronaldo told UEFA.com. “We had a very good group stage, scoring a lot of goals while accumulating points.

“Let’s see who we get next but I see the team doing well at the moment and, one step at a time, we will try to achieve our objective of winning three competitions.

“We know that will be difficult but at Madrid we have to aim high. With that attitude, anything is possible.”

Record signing Bale, who has started to come into form after an injury-disrupted start to his Real career, has developed a highly effective partnership with Ronaldo and the Wales winger said his confidence was high as the season enters a key phase.

“I am enjoying my game,” he told reporters. “We are playing well, with a lot of confidence, and are on a good run. We’re coming to a decisive part of the season and we have to keep it going.

“Barcelona is a direct rival and we will try to play a good match [on Sunday] and get the three points. They have very good players but we are focused on our game and on our team because we also have very good players.”

DUBAI –– Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee has denied being aware of any alleged payments by the disgraced former head of the country’s football association to an ex-vice president of FIFA.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday that a company under the control of Mohamed Bin Hammam paid $1.2 million to Jack Warner, the former president of North American football’s governing body CONCACAF, and a member of the FIFA committee which chose the 2022 World Cup hosts.

One of Warner’s companies requested that payment in December 2010, the Telegraph said, two weeks after a FIFA vote selected Qatar to stage the 2022 tournament ahead of rival bidders the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Qatar’s organising committee has always denied any wrongdoing and on Tuesday again reiterated that its practices were above board.

“The 2022 Bid Committee strictly adhered to FIFA’s bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics,” the committee said in a statement.

“The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and the individuals involved in the 2022 Bid Committee are unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals.”

The committee declined to comment on further questions asked by Reuters.

The Telegraph also alleged that $750,000 was paid to Warner’s sons, citing documents it says indicate the various payments to Warner family members were to “offset legal and other expenses” and “professional services provided over the period 2005-2010”.

It was reported in March 2013 that an FBI probe into corruption in international football had recruited Warner’s son Daryan as a co-operating witness.

Opting to host the world’s biggest football tournament in a tiny desert state where daytime summer temperatures rarely fall below 40OC has provoked widespread anger.

Among those opposing the decision have been Europe’s leading clubs and human rights groups highlighting dire working conditions in Qatar’s construction sector.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter previously admitted the governing had made a “bad mistake” over the bid processes for choosing the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venues, which were held simultaneously and led to the suspension of two Executive Committee members who attempted to sell their votes for cash.

Qatari Bin Hammam, the ex-president of the Asian Football Confederation and a former member of FIFA’s executive committee, challenged Blatter’s re-election as president, but days before the 2011 vote Bin Hammam was accused of trying to bribe Caribbean officials to vote for him in a plot orchestrated by Warner.

Bin Hammam and Warner both denied wrongdoing, but Warner subsequently quit his FIFA and CONCACAF positions and Bin Hammam was banned for life from all FIFA and football activities.

MANCHESTER/DORTMUND — If history was the only deciding factor then Manchester United would be highly fancied to overturn their 2-0 first leg defeat against Olympiakos and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday.

But the reality for manager David Moyes and his stuttering team is that present form, rather than past successes, will have a far bigger influence at Old Trafford.

United’s unimpressive season reached a new low on Sunday when they were crushed 3-0 at home by bitter rivals Liverpool, a result that left last season’s champions seventh in the Premier League with just a remote possibility of a top-four finish.

Their only realistic hope of competing alongside Europe’s elite next season would now appear to be by somehow winning the competition for a fourth time in May, starting by knocking Olympiakos out on Wednesday.

“The players are well aware of what it means on Wednesday and what we have got to do,” Moyes said.

“We’ve got something to go for so hopefully we can do that.”

Misfiring United, who last failed to qualify for the Champions League 18 years ago, have no guarantees at all of achieving their aim against the Greeks who have just won their domestic title for the fourth successive season, the 16th time in 18 campaigns they have ended as champions and the 41st in all.

Their head-to-head record, and the Greek side’s woeful record on the road against English clubs, does offer hope.

Until Olympiakos triumphed in Athens on February 25, United had won all four of the previous matches between the clubs.

They have also won all five matches they have played against Greek clubs at home while Olympiakos have lost all 11 of the matches they have played in England.

That sorry sequence began with a 4-0 loss at West Ham United in the old European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965 and has continued since with subsequent defeats at Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool (twice), Newcastle United, Chelsea, Manchester United (twice) and Arsenal (three times).

But they arrive at Old Trafford buoyed by a comprehensive title victory, even if Sunday’s 2-0 win over Panthrakikos was achieved behind closed doors.

While United have been in the unfamiliar position of looking up at the leading pack in the Premier League, the Piraeus club have been head and shoulders above their domestic rivals this season.

Spanish coach Michel is not getting carried away with their chances of reaching the last eight for the first time since 1999.

“We aim to do what we always do and that is concentrate on our own game,” he said.

Dortmund vs. Zenit

In Wednesday’s other match Borussia Dortmund go into the return leg with Zenit St. Petersburg as overwhelming favourites to advance to the quarter-finals following their convincing 4-2 victory in Russia last month.

Dortmund’s notoriously hot-tempered coach Juergen Klopp has barred fans from watching the team train this week as he seeks a calm lead-up to the tie against Zenit.

“On Wednesday, we have the next big game and we do not believe we are through yet,” defender Marcel Schmelzer said. “St. Petersburg will demand everything from us.”

Zenit have bigger concerns, going into the match under the guidance of new coach Sergey Semak, who replaced Luciano Spalletti earlier this month.

The 38-year-old has been handed a caretaker role at the club, though he lost his first game in charge, a 1-0 defeat to CSKA Moscow last week.

Zenit have failed to win any of their last four games in the Champions League, qualifying for the Round of 16 with a solitary win in the group stage.

“Ahead of the Dortmund game, we need to stay united. This is a time when we have to demonstrate that we are united,” keeper Yuri Lodygin told reporters. “This concerns the game and everything surrounding it. We need to make sure that we support one another.

MANCHESTER, England — With Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund all but through to the Champions League quarter-finals, the focus this week is on whether Chelsea and Manchester United can preserve English representation in the competition in what is proving a miserable season in Europe for Premier League clubs.

Chelsea are tied at 1-1 with Galatasaray ahead of their last-16 second leg at Stamford Bridge and United are in deeper trouble, behind 2-0 to Olympiakos after a wretched performance in the first leg in Greece.

Arsenal and Manchester City have already been eliminated from the Champions League and Tottenham, the sole remaining English representative in the Europa League, are also close to the exit after losing 3-1 at home to Benfica in their last-16 first leg.

Chelsea – Galatasaray 

Didier Drogba is set to be afforded a hero’s welcome when he returns to Stamford Bridge with Galatasaray for the first time since leaving Chelsea in 2012, two days after winning them the Champions League in his final match for the club.

“I am quite apprehensive about it,” Drogba told UEFA.com.

Whether Chelsea fans will be singing Drogba’s name at the end of the second leg remains to be seen.

The Ivory Coast striker, who scored 157 goals in eight years at Chelsea, is the biggest threat to his former team’s chances of progression and Jose Mourinho’s hopes of becoming the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs.

Chelsea will be disappointed not to have brought a lead back to London after dominating the first half in Istanbul but failing to add to Fernando Torres’ early goal. On the other hand, the Premier League leaders have lost just twice at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League since 2003 and are big favourites to advance.

Manchester United – Olympiakos 

The teams come into the match in very different states of mind.

While Olympiakos celebrated sealing the Greek title on Saturday with five games remaining in the season, United slumped to their most humiliating defeat of an already disappointing season on Sunday, a 3-0 loss to big rival Liverpool that virtually ended their chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

United’s best chance now of being back in Europe’s top competition is winning it this season, but that is unlikely on current form, and especially given the deficit they have from the first leg.

“We have a chance,” United midfielder Marouane Fellaini said. “We need the fans to stay behind the team and the club and we will fight to win in the game against Olympiakos.”

United were eliminated in the round of 16 last season, against Real Madrid.

AMMAN –– Jordan’s That Ras play an away match against Tajikistan’s  Ravshan on Tuesday in Dushanbe while Shabab Urdun host Kyrgyzstan’s Alay Osh on Wednesday in Stage 3 matches of the 11th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2014.

That Ras are third in Group A on goal difference after they scored an important 1-0 win over Oman’s Suweiq last week. That Ras had lost to group leaders Lebanon’s Safaa 1-0 in their opening match.

On the other hand, it will be  Shabab Urdun’s last chance as they seek to get back into the competition. They are last in Group D after losing 2-0 to Bahrain’s Rifaa and going down 3-1 to group leaders Iraq’s Erbil.

Shabab Urdun won the second-tier Asian club competition in 2007 and last year won the Jordan Professional  League title for the second time. However, they have had an inconsistent form and are now 7th in the league. This season, Shabab Urdun were eliminated by Bahrain’s Al Hidd in the  preliminary round of the AFC Asian Champions League. They also lost to Al Hidd in Round 1 of the Arab Football Association Clubs Cup.

On the other hand, That Ras, who won the Jordan Cup last year, beat Wihdat 1-0 and are now sixth in the league. While team officials were  apprehensive of AFC Cup results acknowledging  they lacked “competitive experience” in their first Asian experience, That Ras are hopeful to advance beyond this round. 

The 10th edition of the AFC Cup includes 32 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two in each group going on to the Round of 16.