Xavier starts court process
Abel Xavier, the former Middlesbrough defender who was suspended by Uefa after testing positive for a banned steroid in September, has taken the first step towards appealing against the 18-month suspension in the European Court. The former Portugal defender has taken out an injunction in a court in Cascais, near Lisbon, that centres on the argument
that the suspension is disproportionate to an offence that resulted from negligence, involving a contaminated food supplement, and that, at 33, it effectively ends his career.
Xavier moved back to Portugal after Middlesbrough rescinded his contract, but at a press conference in Lisbon, he had nothing but praise for the club. “Middlesbrough has been excellent,” he said. “The club had to rescind since I only had one year to go on my contract. But we have an agreement that if I win my action, the next day we sign a new one.”
Blatter promise
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Sepp Blatter has called for African countries to be given a bigger presence at future World Cup finals. Africa will be represented by five countries in the finals in Germany this summer — Ivory Coast, Ghana, Angola, Tunisia and Togo — and South Africa will host the 2010 finals. Highlighting that five African countries would be alongside 14 from Europe in Germany, Blatter, president of Fifa, world football’s governing body, told the Confederation of African Football Congress: “You have to fight on the pitch and I can assure you that we will continue to fight for a better African representation at the World Cup.”
Brazil stay top
Brazil stayed top of Fifa’s rankings this month, with the next three teams also unchanged — the Czech Republic, Holland and Argentina. France remained in fifth, tied with Spain. Mexico, who were tied for fifth last month, dropped into a tie for seventh place with the United States. The Americans moved up from eighth, while England remained ninth, ahead of Portugal. Germany dropped one place to seventeenth.