FIFA panel calls for more on-field handshakes

FIFA says it will improve the game s image and sportsmanship. Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of the Task Force Football 2014, said after a meeting Wednesday that it recommended players should meet opponents in the center circle after matches. "At full time I think it would be a better image ... when leaving the pitch together and not refusing a handshake," Beckenbauer said. "They should be role models and should behave like role models." The German great later added that the sport must prevent future incidents such as Liverpool striker Luis Suarez s recent refusal to shake the hand of Manchester United defender Patrice Evra before a match. "This is the first time I ever saw it myself. I think we simply have to stop it," he said in comments translated from German. Beckenbauer advised against disciplining players for falling short of FIFA s fair play code, saying the governing body should first remind players and coaches of their responsibilities. FIFA President Sepp Blatter created the task force to suggest ways of improving the quality and image of football at the next World Cup, after suggesting too many matches lacked excitement at the 2010 event in South Africa. Blatter became embroiled in a separate furor about handshakes last November, following reports that Chelsea and England defender John Terry had aimed racial insults at an opponent. Terry denies the allegations and will stand trial in July. Blatter later apologized for suggesting that on-field confrontations should be settled by a handshake after the match. Beckenbauer said he believed a FIFA campaign promoting fair play would be "more intense during the 2014 (World Cup) in Brazil." The panel, which includes former playing greats Cafu of Brazil and Kalusha Bwalya, now president of Zambia s football body, gave its advice after watching footage of bad-tempered, high-profile matches. They included the 2010 World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain; a Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Barcelona last April; and last season s Copa Libertadores final between Santos and Penarol. Bwalya noted that coaches and substitutes also were criticized for their reactions to events on the field. "Officials on the bench are to first people to get upset," said Bwalya, whose national team won the African Cup of Nations this month to widespread public acclaim. Beckenbauer said encouraging handshakes and sportsmanship were "small things that could improve the image of football." He suggested that teams could leave the field together at halftime and emerge for the second period together, as well as gather in the center circle after the final whistle. "That is what we used to do when I was at school," Beckenbauer said. "I believe one should leave the pitch the same way one has entered the pitch."

Villas-Boas future in the balance after Champions League gamble backfires

Andre Villas-Boas’s gamble in leaving Frank Lampard, fit-again Ashley Cole and even the out-of-form Fernando Torres on the bench backfired spectacularly when Chelsea lost 3-1 at Napoli on Tuesday, increasing speculation over the coach’s future. Chelsea’s defeat in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie in Naples leaves them on the brink of elimination from the competition and means they have now gone five matches without a win. With Arsenal facing a 4-0 deficit in their second leg at home to AC Milan next month, England now faces the very real prospect of failing to have a team in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1996. Chelsea can still turn the tie around in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 14 and are lucky to still have the chance after a late goalline clearance by Cole, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Jose Bosingwa. Whether Villas-Boas is still Chelsea’s coach by the time Napoli come to London was the subject of some heated debate in Wednesday’s English media, with reports saying he omitted the big names because of a dressing-room power struggle. Although he is still talking confidently about his three-year project to rejuvenate Chelsea’s ageing team, his billionaire boss Roman Abramovich is not noted for patiently tolerating failure. “Speculation will continue as the results don’t happen,” the 34-year-old Portuguese said. “We have to solve these mistakes at the back. We need this concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure.”

BAD DAY

A day that began badly for Chelsea with news that skipper John Terry needs surgery on a knee injury and is likely to be out for between six to eight weeks ended with them trudging off the San Paolo pitch with Villas-Boas looking stunned. Chelsea started a roller-coaster match the better of the two sides and went ahead after 27 minutes when Juan Mata capitalised on a mistake by Paolo Cannavaro to pick his spot. But Napoli responded with goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani before halftime, with Lavezzi scoring a third midway through the second half to put Napoli in command of the tie as Chelsea’s shocking defensive lapses continued. “At the moment, without John, a very important player for the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently. We had improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed John,” Villas-Boas added. “But we have full belief in these players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right.” David Luiz, who has suffered a torrid time during an unhappy season, gifted Napoli their third goal with Chelsea defending like a parks team. “It’s obvious that the player has become a target,” said Villas-Boas. “He’s a fantastic young player with a big future ahead of him, and he has to work to try and be a bit better. We suffered three goals. If he’s linked to one, he might not be linked to the other two.” It was not only what happened on the pitch that is so alarming to Chelsea’s increasingly disgruntled fans, who have been accustomed to their team winning things since Abramovich bought the club nearly nine years ago. Reports of what is going on behind the scenes is worrying them too. While no-one is likely to say anything publicly until they retire and write their autobiographies, the relationship between Villas-Boas and some senior players is reported to be deeply strained and may have been reflected in his team selection. Villas-Boas, however, said his decision not to start Lampard, Cole, Torres and Michael Essien was purely tactical. “You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts,” Villas-Boas said. “Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we’d won the game. Any explanation is now useless given the result of the game, so there’s no point.” Villas-Boas continued: “I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank. Through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team. That’s perfectly understandable.” Only three teams have overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit since the Champions League format was introduced 20 years ago, but Villas-Boas added: “I want us to be the fourth.”

Pakistan look to redress balance in T20

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said his side are desperate to redress the balance in a Twenty20 international against England Thursday after a one-day series whitewash by the tourists. Pakistan were Tuesday routed 4-0 by England, who showed a big improvement from their 3-0 defeat in the preceding three-Test series. Misbah wants his side to regain the upper hand, but also wants to use the match as a stepping stone towards the World Twenty20 series later this year. “This is a very important series for us, more so because we won the Tests, they won the ODIs and now it’s almost the decider,” said Misbah. “And if you consider that this is World Twenty20 year, it’s very important for us to come back.”England will defend the title they won in the West Indies in 2010 when Sri Lanka host the fourth edition of the World Twenty20. “I think we need to learn from England on how they transformed their fortunes in ODIs, and I am confident that my boys can do that,” added Misbah. “I don’t think we were dispirited, because the team wants a win desparately and that’s why we were like that. Everybody was trying to give one hundred per cent and when it slips out of your hand it seems you are disjointed.” Pakistan will ring some changes, with experienced batsman Younis Khan and Azhar Ali returning home while dashing uncapped left-handed opener Awais Zia joins the Twenty20 squad. England have retained Alastair Cook, originally not named in the Twenty20 squad, after he showed great form in scoring back-to-back hundreds in the first two one-day matches. England paceman Stuart Broad meanwhile said his side would be using every opportunity possible to help prepare them for the defence of their World Twenty20 title. “Of course, we need to make use of every game we have because there isn’t many leading to the World Twenty20. And that being in the sub-continent we need to really make use of these conditions,” said Broad. “It makes these games pretty important. We are not looking to these matches as a warm-up, we are looking to win this series and that is what we will be focusing on,” added Broad. “Cookie is keen to play Twenty20 cricket. He has made that pretty obvious. He has been kept on in the squad because obviously we have got some injury concerns in the squad,” said Broad of Cook, retained as cover-up for injured Ravi Bopara.