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Albania wants UEFA probe
Albania wants UEFA to investigate match-fixing allegations involving its last two European Championship qualifiers. State Minister Ylli Pango, responsible for sports, wrote to UEFA and implicated Albania's top soccer official in the alleged scandal, ministry spokeswoman Suela Musta said Wednesday. "We have received a letter relating to two games by the Albanian national football team, pointing out that there were some irregularities and encouraging us to investigate," UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said. "We have a number of means to find out about irregularities, so of course we will treat it like any other kind of information we receive. We will pay attention to it." Albania lost to visiting Belarus 4-2 and at Romania 6-1 last month in their final Group G qualifiers.
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Dudek wants out of Madrid
Jerzy Dudek wants to leave Real Madrid for a starting place at another club to improve his chances of playing for Poland at next summer's European Championship. "I would like to leave," Dudek told Spanish newspaper Marca on Wednesday. "Poland have qualified for the first time and I have received a call from the coach Leo Beenhakker who told me that if I played regularly I would be his goalkeeper at Euro 2008." The 34-year-old Dudek joined Madrid on a free transfer from Liverpool during the European summer transfer window, signing a three-year deal. However, he has not played a single minute in the Spanish league or European Champions League while serving as a reserve behind Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
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Coach deceived by players
As many as four Peruvian national team players, including Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro, were drinking in a hotel room with women last month, four days before the side was beaten by Ecuador 5-1 in a World Cup qualifying match, the Peruvian Football Federation said on Wednesday. "It's confirmed that there was a lack of discipline. The players were enjoying a night of pleasure, with women and alcohol" at their Lima hotel after Peru drew 1-1 with Brazil, said Lander Aleman, a member of the federation's World Cup commission. The players were supposed to abstain from such parties during the qualifying rounds, which Peru officials call "a period of concentration." Peru are currently ninth in the 10-team South America table with two points, trailed only by Bolivia with one point.
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Imran hit by revolt: Miandad
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan survived a player revolt before leading his team to victory in the 1992 World Cup, former teammate Javed Miandad said. Miandad, a former captain and three-time coach of the national side, said leading players had grown disaffected with Imran's leadership style throughout the tournament. "The revolt took place before the semi-final against New Zealand. But to me the country was more important and I convinced the players to carry on playing under Imran," Miandad said on a local television chat show late on Wednesday. "Imran retired after winning the World Cup and before the England tour in 1992 because he had come to know about the revolt." Miandad, when contacted on Thursday, confirmed his statement but would not elaborate. "I have never spoken about this incident but now many people know about it so I disclosed the truth," he said.
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