Football in Brief

Heart checks for World Cup

Every team at next year’s World Cup finals will have to present evidence that their players’ hearts are in good condition in an effort to prevent further cases of sudden cardiac arrest, Fifa said yesterday, the second anniversary of the death of Marc-Vivien Foé, the Cameroon player. Hugo Cunha, a midfield player with UD Leiria, of Portugal, died of a suspected heart attack during a kickabout with friends on Saturday.

Aloisi on his way to Greece

Portsmouth’s bid to re-sign John Aloisi, the Australia striker, looks destined to fail as the 29-year-old is likely to sign for Panathinaikos this week. Aloisi, who is available on a free transfer after four years in Spain at Osasuna, is said to have been swayed by the lure of Champions League football in Greece.

Aloisi joined Portsmouth in August 1997 before moving to Coventry for £650,000 just over a year later.

Fixtures list a thankless task

CHELSEA WERE reported to be upset with the FA Premier League over their fixtures for next season, but perhaps they should be more sympathetic to the authorities. It is not easy formulating a schedule that has to solve the problems posed by the likes of the Northampton Balloon Festival, the Notting Hill Carnival, Brighton’s Gay Pride celebrations and the centenary of Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road. Oh, and the 2006 World Cup finals.

“It’s going to be a tight one,” David Cookson, the Football League’s fixtures secretary, admitted. The Coca-Cola Championship play-offs final has been brought forward a week because of the World Cup finals and with so few free dates, bad weather could create snarl-ups.

Work on the fixture list begins two years in advance, when international dates are announced. A questionnaire is sent to clubs in the spring and they work with the police to decide which dates and opponents present potential problems for the coming campaign. The authorities had to deal with around 120 requests from clubs this year.

Boxing Day fixtures are worked out by hand, with the rest picked by a computer in Cheshire that randomises matches within certain rules. For example, clubs cannot have three home or away games in succession, and sides promoted from non-league are given a low-profile match on the opening day of the season.

Once the computer has done its stuff, there is limited scope to make alterations. The FA Premier League, for example, decided that Aston Villa versus Birmingham City on the final day was not a good idea, so the derby was moved to Easter and Sunderland travel to Villa Park on May 7 instead.

“We’ve had a lot of very promising comments,” Cookson said. “With 72 clubs there’s got to be an element of compromise.”

TOM DART

Executive role for ‘El Diego’

HE LOST 60LB BY GETTING his stomach stapled shut, he is now on speaking terms with his former wife, Claudia Villafane, and he no longer spends his time smoking cigars with Fidel Castro in Havana and comparing George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. Diego Armando Maradona’s life seems to be returning to some semblance of normality, which may explain why Mauricio Macri, president of Boca Juniors, has seen fit to name him as the club’s executive vice-president.

Make no mistake about it, this is not just an honorary role. “El Diego” will be heavily involved. Among his responsibilities will be selecting Boca’s new manager and handling all transfer activities. “I won’t just be sitting behind a desk, I’ll be in the thick of the action,” he said.

For Maradona, the prospect of a real job — after years of playing golf, opening supermarkets and making inflammatory statements — is certainly good news and those close to him hope that it will accelerate his journey back to sanity.

Whether this is good news for Boca remains to be seen. He does not officially take over until August 1, yet he has already criticised openly Macri’s first choice of manager, Juan Cesar Falcioni, and has given no indications that he is ready to toe the party line.

GABRIELE MARCOTTI

Miracle worker in charge

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI, the former Italy manager, has taken the helm of VfB Stuttgart. Trapattoni is a cult figure in Germany, thanks to his three seasons at Bayern Munich, culminating in a famous televised rant.

Despite his enduring quirkiness, Trapattoni has won more big trophies than any active manager apart from Sir Alex Ferguson: 21 in total.

Last year he took a debt-ridden Benfica to their first Portuguese crown in 11 years. Now, he takes charge of a similarly cash-poor club.

GABRIELE MARCOTTI

Get serious

THOSE WHO DO NOT LIKE Franz Beckenbauer probably could not help but smile on Saturday when Brazil beat Germany 3-2 to reach the Confederations Cup final. Beckenbauer had complained that the world champions were not giving the competition the respect it deserved.

“They treat these games as if they were training matches,” he said. “They’re not a serious team.” After the game, one Brazilian commentator suggested that being “serious” was not as important as being “talented”.

Yet Brazil’s perceived lack of “seriousness” and lacklustre results (defeat by Mexico, draw with Japan) were merely a result of fatigue. As Ronaldinho put it, the Brazilians are “exhausted, stressed and have overdosed on football. We need a break.”

Take Kaká, the AC Milan playmaker. Wednesday night’s final will be his 70th competitive game of the season. After the match, he will return immediately to Brazil for a brief holiday, then, 16 days later, he needs to be back in Milan for their pre-season training.

GABRIELE MARCOTTI