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After the dust over
the August 21, 2010, election into the board of the Nigeria Football
Federation (or Nigeria Football Association, if you choose) has
settled, it is pertinent to ask if the controversy was necessary, after
all.

The bone of
contention was the ineligibility ascribed to chairmen of the state
football associations, who were primed to be delegates to the election,
to elect a new NFF executive. Contestants for various positions in the
football house had argued that the tenure of majority of the state
chairmen had since expired and had rendered them ineligible to partake
in the election. Essentially, the contestants were asking that fresh
elections be conducted in the states.

In the quest by the
contestants to have their prayers answered, however, no reference was
made to the NFF Congress in Makurdi in 2008 when it was ratified that
the national election, fixed for August 2010, would precede the states
polls. Neither did the contestants consider that the Congress’ decision
had been communicated to the world football governing body, FIFA, as
well as the continental body, CAF, whose officials had in turn noted
August 21, 2010, in their itineraries.

Indeed, some
members of the outgoing board had reckoned the perceived irregularity
in having the national election precede the state category. Short of
labelling the Makurdi decision devious and deliberately tailored to
suit the interest of certain individuals, the members conceded that the
former board had erred in its decision.

Candidates’ doublespeak

Oyuki Obaseki, a
Vice President in the former board, said the Makurdi decision was
riddled with lack of foresight. Nonetheless, he maintained that
Congress ruling was supreme. “We can only guide against a repeat of
such oversight in the future,” Obaseki counselled.

Yet, the plea failed to hit a target, as aggrieved candidates would rather the state elections were held first.

One of the
contestants for board membership of the NFF, Aisha Falode, was vehement
in her vituperation against the electoral committee. “I have no
confidence in the committee and its leadership and if we must move
forward, the committee should be dissolved to restore the confidence,”
the prominent broadcaster insisted.

In her private
dealings with the committee, however, she was said to have commended
its effort, especially its modification of the earlier stringent rule
that stifled her out of nomination by Edo State, which had preferred
the candidacy of Obaseki.

Another contestant,
Segun Odegbami, had also not been initially nominated by Ogun State,
which preferred the state Sports Commissioner, Bukola Olopade; but had
entered the race for the NFF Presidency through the intervention of the
electoral body which he would later commend in private for its wisdom
to “provide a level playing ground for contestants.” Interestingly,
after Odegbami appeared to view his chances at coveting the top
football job as slim, he had petitioned FIFA, citing what he called
irregularities in the election process and asking the world body to
intervene with a view to impressing the electoral committee to stop the
election.

He was variously
reported as having withdrawn from the race, but was also quick to
refute the story, although his curious late arrival to the venue of the
President Debate in Abuja on August 14 suggested that he could have
only had a change of mind at the last minute.

When news got to
the electoral body with three days to the polls, with Odegbami
featuring prominently as the vanguard of a court injunction purportedly
seeking a stop to the election pending the determination of a suit
filed at a Lagos High Court by former Nigerian internationals, the
presidential aspirant denied his involvement, contrary to his public
utterances.

The electoral
committee dispatched a letter to Odegbami, seeking his stand on the
legal issue and expressing its desire to stop the election in deference
to the court, even as it was not served any notice of an injunction
that was curiously already awash in the media.

Odegbami’s response
was as startling as it was illuminating. It made the controversy that
trailed the election needless and it is pertinent that Nigerians are
aware of the somewhat unwholesome saga that threatened to de-brand
Nigerian football.

“I have absolutely
no knowledge of any such suit,” Odegbami re-assured the electoral
committee in his letter to the body dated August 20, 2010.

“I have given no
one or lawyer any directives to go to court over any matter,” he
further stated, apparently to drive home the point that football
matters are not for the regular courts to adjudicate.

In a bid to
extricate himself from the legal web imposed on the electoral
committee, Odegbami continued, “This is fraudulent and the handiwork of
agents who want to paint me in bad light for their own ulterior and
narrow purpose”.

Determined to
further impress the committee of his innocence, he concluded, “I have
given my lawyers directives to investigate the matter and they have
come back to tell me there is no such suit registered in any court in
Abuja”.

The foregoing
suggests that Odegbami could well have sought the NFF presidency only
on account of his undoubted meritorious service to Nigerian football,
spanning 35 years, and perhaps aware that he could not match the
political savvy of the so-called opportunistic football administrators,
opted to heat up the polity to curry public favour.

Could he not have
tackled the opportunistic cabal that have held Nigerian football
hostage for decades grit-for-grit and tact-for-tact, deploying his
popularity as a veritable edge over his perennial adversaries? Perhaps
it will not be too late for him to provide an answer when the next
election is up in 2014.

I am fervently
asking God for the grace, to address this issue of restitution
adequately between now and October 1, 2010, when by the very special
grace of God, we would be celebrating our 50th anniversary as a nation.
I know from experience that genuine restitution bears with it some
degree of excruciating pain, and this is why human beings avoid it.

But believe me, I
also know that after the pain involved in restitution, not the fake
one, comes the gain – which usually is always of unquantifiable benefit
to all involved in the act of restitution.

No preparation to revive sports

To discontinue
reaping the fruits of shame, ineptitude, corruption, demonic covenants,
age falsification that is grossly affecting the development of millions
of youngsters, who are supposed to be groomed as Nigeria’s future
leaders on the platform of sports, restitution has to be done. It will
eliminate fraud, favouritism, moral decadence, drug abuse, violence,
winning at all cost, negligence and all other social vices that have
been sown as seeds in Nigerian sports. Lest I forget, the latest of
such evil, are the intense disdain, insult and disregard of the laws by
representatives of FIFA and the goon squad representing them in Nigeria.

Sunday, September 5
saw me in Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State, Nigeria, to watch the
opening game of the U-17 International football competition organised
by the Pepsi Academy of Nigeria, under the supervision of Kashimawo
Laloko. I was on my way back to Lagos after the opening ceremony to
watch the Nigeria versus Madagascar match, but became double-minded on
sighting a bus conveying players of the Liberty Professionals Academy
from Ghana, driving on the opposite side of the road towards Abeokuta.
I then had to make a choice between heading home to watch the Eagles,
hoping that they would be super this time around, or making a U-turn to
Abeokuta. I chose to make the U-turn, since I have uncompromisingly
committed myself to such age-grade grassroots football development. I
have no doubt that I made the right choice, but whether I derived
anything positive remains a big doubt.

Anomie and too much pressure

Apart from the poor
level of officiating at the games, there was so much pressure on the
young lads from the coaches. The question is – when do we begin to see
exceptional dribbling skills, ball juggling and through passes,
displayed by our age grade football players? The foundation we are
laying is very weak. I left the M.K.O. stadium, feeling very
uncomfortable and disappointed. I kept on asking myself the question –
“where do we go from here”?

Another observation
had to do with the number children spectators – for whom these football
matches are organised. I was shocked to see a population of less than
100 and a 100 adults. Well, was this new to me? No, I saw a worse
situation in Lagos during the recent Lagos Youth Championship football
competition. The question is why should this be so? What can be
responsible for empty stadiums during age-grade football competitions?
The answers are simple and several. No right thinking parent for
instance will allow his/her ward go watch matches in Nigerian stadiums
that have been taken over by social miscreants and other forms of
gangsters. It is no longer strange to those who are bold enough to risk
going to any stadium in Nigeria to see drugs being hawked, sold and
consumed with such reckless abandon, even in the presence of security
agents.

I got home to be confronted by another anomie; the FIFA U-17 Women’s
World Cup, going on in Trinidad and Tobago. Nigeria played against
North Korea. As a patriotic Nigerian and football coach, I decided to
watch the game, but forgot absolutely that my daughters, at home on
holidays would also watch. It would have been okay if the commentators
had not mentioned the ages of the “women” representing Nigeria. One of
them was my student in the Brazilian Soccer School, about 5 years ago
and she was introduced aged 14. One of my daughters watching the match
is an SS3 student; what kind of example are we setting for the
young(er) ones? May God forgive this nation? Please say a very loud
Amen.

Portugal were held
at home by Cyprus 4-4 on Friday but it was no surprise as the
Portuguese were without Cristiano Ronaldo and banned coach, Carlos
Queiroz. But stand-in captain, Ricardo Carvalho has pledged on behalf
of his team mates that they will beat Norway today when they file out
at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.

Carvalho, who spoke to UEFA.com said they were unlucky and should have won the game against Cyprus.

“Our focus was good
going into the game, but we started badly, and even though we got into
a winning position we didn’t manage to go on and get the win,” he said.
“We could have scored a fifth goal (when leading 4-3) but didn’t and in
the end we ended up with the draw. We have to be more compact,
especially at the back. We played well going forward but we’re normally
more secure in defence.”

Left-back, Fabio
Coentrao, will miss the game in Oslo because of a thigh injury and they
are still missing Ronaldo, who is out of action for a further two weeks
on account of an ankle injury.

More pressure for Blanc

Laurent Blanc was almost in tears after Belarus taught his team the essence of a smash and grab win.

“We can’t just say
it was a catastrophe. We have to look a little closer at what happened.
We certainly haven’t started well. Indeed after the debacle and the
embarrassment caused by the team to South Africa, this was not what the
doctor ordered,” Blanc said after the game.

“We weren’t able to
take our chances, and when you can’t win a match, you have to make sure
you don’t lose it. Nothing went for us in Friday’s game.

“Today’s game is
important – the decisive games will come towards the end of the
qualifying campaign. A draw against Belarus would have been a mediocre
result, but at least (it) would have allowed us to get off the mark. We
didn’t do that, and we’ll have to make up for that in Bosnia. It’s
difficult to take something positive away from this. We were a little
naïve.”

That naivety showed on the part of both the coach and the players.

Guillaume Hoarau
will be replaced by Karim Benzema and Loic Rémy and Louis Saha are also
out injured but there has been a recall for Lyon’s Jimmy Briand.
Benzema is very keen to get back the adulation of the fans. “I am ready
to fight for my place in both the France team and at Real Madrid.
Things didn’t go well for me last year, but now I really want to play
and I am ready to make the necessary sacrifices,” he said.

Blanc is wary of his teams’ losses in their last four matches and that they have now gone eight games since they last won.

“In this context,
we can’t say we’re going to Bosnia to win. No, we need to show some
humility. We can’t go around talking ourselves up after what happened
on Friday.”

England goes for Swiss encore

After the feel good
atmosphere on account of the 4-0 win over Bulgaria, England coach,
Fabio Capello will be hoping that Wayne Rooney will not be distracted
by the sex scandal and ruin a second win against Switzerland today.
Captain Steven Gerrard is not expecting an easy match against the only
team to beat Spain at the 2010 World Cup. Gerrard said on UEFA.com,
“Internationals away from home are always going to be difficult, I
think Switzerland showed at the World Cup what a good side they are by
beating Spain, so we have to perform at the same level as (against
Bulgaria), and we want that result.”

Capello needs more of the three goals from Jermain Defoe that sank
Bulgaria tonight at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel. British fans had
turned against Capello after the 4-1 thrashing received from Germany at
the World Cup but applauded the team off the pitch after the 4-0 rout
of Bulgaria and the Italian coach must know now that things can quickly
turn from adulation to hate.

The corruption
scandal that exploded this week is the latest damaging blow to Pakistan
cricket and former players fear it could be the one that finally
crushes the credibility of the sport in the South Asian nation.

Over the last few
years, ball-tampering accusations, doping scandals, security problems
and dressing room intrigues have all contributed to a volatile cricket
culture without severely denting the popularity of the game among
Pakistanis.

However, the
British police investigation into allegations that players Salman Butt,
Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif took bribes to fix incidents during the
fourth test against England last week looks like stretching that
loyalty to its limits.

“We have one of the worst cricket systems in place,” former test captain Aamir Sohail told Reuters.

Sohail and his
fellow former captain Javed Miandad fear this latest scandal might be
the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Pakistan’s millions of
cricket fans.

“I think even the people have had enough of this indiscipline in the team,” Miandad said.

Political interference

Political analyst
Kamran Khan believes Pakistan is so regularly haunted by controversy
largely because of political interference in the running of the game.

The country’s president is chief patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and has the authority to appoint its chairman.

“In no country does the president or prime minister appoint someone to head a sports body,” he said.

“In Pakistan merit
is ignored when appointing people to run the board and they remain
unaccountable and that is root cause of the problems we see in our
team.”

In March, the board
banned and fined seven players for indiscipline and misconduct on the
Australian tour but political clout as well as public and government
pressure saw five return to the national team after just three months.

Imran Khan, who led
Pakistan to a World Cup triumph in 1992 and is now a politician,
believes the problems of Pakistani society are reflected in the cricket
set-up.

“When the players
see corrupt politicians in governance, when they see people pardoned in
financial scams, they think we can also get away with this,” he said.

“Unfortunately this
scandal has come as a demoralising blow for many Pakistanis, wherever I
go people ask me what is going on, it is a heartbreaking situation.”

Even though
security issues have meant no home international cricket for the last
17 months, thousands of fans still pack the stadiums for the national
Twenty20 tournament.

As further
testament to the game’s importance, even reporting of the floods which
have killed more than 1,600 people and made at least six million
homeless has been sidelined by coverage of the cricket scandal over the
last few days.

“Cricket is one
thing that still binds together the Pakistani people, who have to cope
regularly with major problems like terrorism, rising inflation,
religious intolerance and now these devastating floods,” cricket
analyst Saad Shafqat added.

Talented players

The country also
continues to produce a string of talented players, among them the trio
at the centre of the allegations currently being investigated.

Songs berating the
players and officials and hot-tempered discussions have dominated the
airwaves in Pakistan with one lawmaker demanding the players be brought
home in handcuffs.

Pakistan cricket
has always been a passionate affair, however, with victories sparking
all-night celebrations and defeats prompting sometimes violent
reactions.

Even if the
allegations prove to be unfounded and the fans remained loyal, the
scandal would do nothing to improve Pakistan cricket’s reputation
outside the country, said another former captain.

And we all thought
that football should bring enjoyment – the recent debacle loosely
referred to as the NFF elections draws attention to the less than
attractive side of the game. That it was a flawed process from start to
finish is stating the obvious. England’s Rugby Union had Bloodgate,
Golf had Tigergate, and Formula One had Crashgate, now we have our very
own NFFgate.

The election was
one roller coaster – initially scheduled elections were rightly
postponed only for the NFF to hold them a week later despite court
orders not to do so; Harrison Jalla, President of the National
Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) was escorted by police in a
bid to stop the elections and was met by armed police courtesy of the
security team at the NFF; Presidential candidate, Segun Odegbami sent
two written request to FIFA to intervene and the world football
governing body previously swift to act in the wake of the post-World
Cup suspension of all national teams, has been mysteriously struck
dumb. Several candidates pulled out of the elections as a matter of
integrity but votes were still counted for them. What an auspicious
start! There is no gainsaying that new blood is desperately needed in
our football administration. This foundation isn’t shaky, it’s
nonexistent. Nigerians had been hoping for a messiah and here we don’t
even have a John the Baptist. There is simply no recollection of the
NFF doing or achieving much without controversy.

If what we have at
the moment is an illegally elected Board, how do they plan to gain
acceptability? It would appear that is not their primary concern. It is
truly a sad period in the history of our football. Just when one
thought football has reached its nadir of decay, impossibly a new low
rears its head. It can be concluded that the expected shake-up is not
going to happen with this new executive. So it’s business as usual
while we watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Plunging to new depths

It’s not just
football that is in crisis, all our sports have sunk to new depths.
There are very few positive results to report in any aspect. Take the
forthcoming New Delhi Commonwealth Games; preparations are so far below
the radar as to have become invisible. The Games are to be held in
October and there is what we can call a deafening silence surrounding
them.

I’ll share a quote attributed to the president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria:

“We are taking
steps to ensure successful (sic) outing at the Games but that may not
happen if our top athletes don’t approach the whole issue with the
seriousness it deserves.”

The first take-away
here is that one can actually use a good amount of words without saying
a single thing worthy of note. Mr President, would you care to outline
the steps you are taking? Also, could you explain what you mean by the
‘whole issue?’ The second take-away: if one is in a position of
authority, certain responsibilities come with this and it’s no good
passing the buck. Mr President, how on earth will the preparations of
the AFN be affected by the athletes’ approach? You do your work and
they’ll do theirs. For me, his words sum up the general attitude in
sports administration – a lot of flowery statements to disguise a lack
of specific strategy.

Comparable to the narrator in Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not
Taken’, who faced a crucial choice at the fork of a road, the Sports
Ministry also needs to make a choice. The figurative forked road
becomes the future of Nigerian sports. There is a need to evaluate the
choices open to the ministry in the quest to improve sports in Nigeria,
act decisively on this and make a difference.

Super Eagles
skipper Joseph Yobo has finally joined the national team for this
weekend’s 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Madagascar.

The defender, who
was given permission to finalise his season-long loan move from English
Premier League side Everton to Turkish Super League giants Fenerbahce
joined the squad yesterday morning.

Yobo’s arrival
brought to 25 the number of players in camp ahead of the Group B
encounter scheduled for Sunday at the UJ Esuene Stadium, in Calabar.

Early arrivals to
camp include goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama of top Israeli club Hapoel Tel
Aviv, Akpan Bassey of Nigerian Premier League outfit Bayelsa United,
Chidi Odiah of Russia’s CSKA Moscow, Michael Eneramo of Tunisian club
side Esperance, and Osaze Odemwingie who recently left Russia’s
Lokomotiv Moscow for West Bromwich Albion of the English premier League
while Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel and Danny Shittu, who has agreed to a
mutual termination of his contract with Bolton Wanderers, arrived Abuja
on Wednesday.

Injured Eagles

Fulham’s Dickson
Etuhu was also in camp but had to return to his base in England on
Wednesday. The combative midfielder had reported to the national team’s
base in Abuja, but had to be excused from Sunday’s match against the
Indian Ocean island nation as a result of an ankle injury he had picked
up in his club’s hard earned 2-2 draw against Blackpool last Saturday;
a game that saw Etuhu grabbing a late equaliser for the Cottagers.

Club Brugge of
Belgium striker Joseph Akpala had earlier been forced to pull out of
Sunday’s encounter after suffering a niggling knee injury in his club’s
Europa League tie against Russian side Dinamo Minsk.

Off to Calabar

With the arrival of
all the invited players to camp, the team led by caretaker coach
Augustine Eguavoen and his assistant, former Super Eagles defender
Benedict Iroha, flew out of Abuja later in the day for Calabar where in
the evening they had their first feel of the artificial turf for
Sunday’s match.

“We just wanted the players to get a feel of the pitch and try to condition themselves to it,” Iroha told NEXTSports.

“We are going to
train a few more times on it before the match and everyone is doing
their best to ensure we put a big smile on the faces of Nigerians after
the match”

The game against the Madagascans is the first of six matches to be
played by the Super Eagles in Group B where they also have for company
Ethiopia and Guinea who will also meet in Addis Ababa this weekend. The
tournament comes up in January 2012 and will be co-hosted by Equatorial
Guinea and Gabon.

Nigerian defender Danny Shittu is hoping for a fresh start after being released by English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers.

The Nigerian
international’s contract with the Trotters was cancelled on Wednesday
after both parties agreed to a mutual termination of a three-year deal
that commenced back in August 2008 when the then 28-year-old arrived
from Watford on a £2m transfer fee.

Shittu, who turned
30 yesterday, made only 12 appearances during his time at the Reebok
Stadium – all 12 appearances were in his debut season – and was deemed
surplus to requirements by the club’s management.

He however remained
in the plans of Super Eagles handlers and featured at January’s Africa
Cup of Nations in Angola before following it up with an appearance at
the World Cup in South Africa where he got to feature in all of
Nigeria’s matches.

Alternatives

Shittu was one of
the standout players of a Nigerian team that failed to impress in South
Africa and that placed the former Queens Park Rangers ace in the radars
of a host of clubs who are reportedly interested in securing his
services.

One of such clubs
is Scottish side Celtic, who are rumoured to be tracking the former
Watford man as their manager Neil Lennon considers his defensive
options following a poor start to a season that has seen them crash out
of the UEFA Champions League at the qualifying round stage.

Clubs in Turkey,
France and the Middle East are also believed to be interested in Shittu
but the central defender won’t be rushed into making a decision
regarding his future, as he left Bolton in search of regular football.

“I believe quitting Bolton was the right step to take as I didn’t have options to play at Bolton,” Shittu told skysports.com.

“I wish the club all the best in the future and now I have to find myself a new club.

“I am now reviewing my options and there are quite a few sides interested in me from Europe and the Middle East.”

“Hopefully I can announce where my future lies shortly after I return from international duty.”

Shittu began his career as a trainee at English club Charlton
Athletic, moved in 2002 to QPR on a permanent deal financed by
supporters after he impressed during a loan spell, and went on to make
over 160 appearances for the R’s before moving to Watford for £1.6m in
the summer of 2006.

The ongoing
“Friends of Rugby” competition organised 2010 Lagos Rugby Union League
continues tomorrow at the sports pitch of the National Institute of
Sports within the National Stadium in Lagos from 12noon to 6pm.

With defending
champions, Cowrie emerging winners with two matches to go – they have
an unassailable lead of 46 points – the battle for second place is
going to be a fight to finish between Addax Rugby Club and Lagos Rugby
Club.

“The battle for the
2nd slot is heating up as the first position has already been
determined in the last match results. The third placed Lagos RFC will
tackle Addax RFC, which is in second position in the third game of the
day, which starts by 4pm.

“This star match is
expected to determine who truly claims the second position on the 2010
Rugby League table,” said Ntiense Williams.

In the first match
of the day, which comes up by 12 noon Cowrie RFC face Eco II RFC, while
Young Lions RFC will battle a highly motivated Police Machine Rugby
team in the second match of the day fixed for 2pm. Police Machine won
their first match of the 2010 Rugby League two weeks ago against Eco II
RFC.

The win lifted them
to 5th position with 9 points, while Young Lions RFC dropped to 6th
position with just 5 points in their kitty. All of these teams will be
hoping to take advantage of the last two matches to better their
chances on the league table.

Ladipo outstanding

Azeez Ladipo of Cowrie RFC has been the most prominent hitman
scoring a total of 65 points. Thus making him the highest point scorer
in the league. He has also scored four tries. Yahaya Samson of Police
Machine RFC is second highest point scorer with 41 points and has
scored four tries. Sulaiman Oyebola of Addax RFC is third with 38
points and he is the highest try scorer. A total 52 players have scored
in the league.

After the debacle
of South Africa and the various player bans, new France manager Laurent
Blanc has invited his old friend Zinedine Zidane and Fabien Barthez to
their Clairfontaine camp to inspire the new team.

“I think both he
and the players will really enjoy it. Everyone knows what he achieved
during his career but not everyone knows the man himself. He is an
interesting character and the players will be able to get up close to
him,” Blanc said.

The manager is hoping that his one-time team-mate will be able to participate in the team´s training session.

“The training
session is likely to be a mainly technical one. Technically, Zidane is
still a really great player. He showed that in Nantes recently. What he
does is exceptional. He has an incredible relationship with the ball
and that is something that he will never lose.”

Time to move on

Guillaume Hoarau,
the 26-year-old giant striker from PSG, will be out to win his second
cap and finally cement his place in the new French national team.

Hoarau has been
plagued by injuries but returned to the fold in the summer, earning his
first cap in France’s 2-0 friendly defeat in Norway.

Hoarau said he and France have to start anew.

“Now, I need to get a move on. There’s a coach here watching my performances very closely. It’s now or never,” he said.

The striker is likely to be paired with new Marseille striker Loic Remy; in a partnership which has showed promising signs.

“I know Loic. His
game completes mine. The coach knows us back to front and he plays us
in our best positions. So, necessarily, that helps matters. Everything
will depend on what we do on the field, on the spark that we inject
into the team’s game. We had a big training session on Tuesday and
already the understanding is emerging, even though most of the side
haven’t played together before.”

Catching up with Spain

After finally
climbing the pinnacle of world football, Vicente Del Bosque and his
all-conquering Spanish are set to defend the European title they won in
Vienna two years ago, starting with a visit to Liechtenstein’s
Rheinpark Stadion.

Spain’s aim is to
become the first team to retain the European Cup; West Germany were the
closest to achieving the feat in 1976 when, after European and world
triumphs, they lost out to Czechoslovakia in their quest to win a third
successive tournament. Carles Puyol is out of the tie with a dead leg
but La Furia Roja will be very confident of getting a good result
against the minnows.

Germany also start
their campaign without erstwhile captain, Michael Ballack. After
finishing second and third in the last European Cup and World Cup
respectively, Joachim Loew and his young squad will attempt to go get
their hands on a major trophy in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.

Guus Hiddink also
returns to international action with Turkey in Kazakhstan while Russia
will begin life under another Dutchman, Dick Advocaat, when they travel
to Andorra.

Italy also have a
new manager, Cesare Prandelli, and he will want an improvement on his
debut 2-1 defeat by Cote d’Ivoire as they face a tricky trip to Estonia.

Extra officials

Europe’s leading coaches are in favour of two extra linesmen behind the goals and prefer it to the use of goal-line technology.

The new refereeing
system which will be in use during the qualifiers will feature one
extra linesman behind each goal, was first tried in the Europa League
last season and has now been extended to Euro 2012 qualifiers.

UEFA supports the
experiment which is being carried out in other competitions worldwide
over the next two years before FIFA decides whether to implement it on
a permanent basis.

UEFA’s technical director Andy Roxburgh said leading European coaches are ‘very positive about this experiment’.

“They’re very much
aware of the problems of going down the technology route and, like
[Michel] Platini; they would like to keep it human if possible, so this
experiment with the additional referees allows us to do that.

“The additional refs sometimes do not always look very active but
they are very active because they are in constant touch with the
referee,” added Roxburgh.

Pakistan test
captain Salman Butt and his two opening bowlers Mohammad Amir and
Mohammad Asif have withdrawn from the tour of Britain while
investigations into alleged corruption continue.

Pakistan High
Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan told reporters in London the trio had
asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to withdraw them from a seven-match
one-day series against England because of the “mental torture” they had
undergone.

“They said they are extremely disturbed at what has happened,” Hasan said. “They mentioned that they are entirely innocent.”

Hasan said he believed in the players’ innocence and added Pakistan could take legal action to defend them.

British police
confiscated the three players’ mobile phones following allegations of
corruption in a British newspaper. They were accused of taking bribes
to fix incidents in the fourth test against England which finished at
Lord’s last Sunday.

Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed told reporters on Thursday the three players would be replaced.

“We will ask for three replacements,” Saeed told reporters before a one-day warmup match against English county Somerset.

“The T20 squad for
two games will remain as it is here this morning, this means 13 people.
For the one-day internationals subsequently we will be asking for
replacements to make up the squad of 16 again.”

Pakistan play two Twenty20 matches against England in Cardiff starting on Sunday followed by five 50 overs games.

“The boys will
focus on the cricket and we are here to play good cricket,” Pakistan
one-day captain Shahid Afridi told Sky television.

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke said the board welcomed the decision to withdraw Butt,

Amir and Asif.

“As chairman of the
ICC’s (International Cricket Council) Pakistan task team I look forward
to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, the chairman of
the Pakistan Cricket Board and everyone involved in taking forward
cricket in Pakistan,” Clarke said in a statement read to reporters.

Clarke has called for an ICC team to visit Pakistan, which has not
hosted international cricket since militant gunmen attacked the Sri
Lanka team bus in March last year.