Ecuadorean Referee’s Job on the Line
Italian soccer fans certainly remember Byron Moreno.
Now, the Ecuadorean referee is under fire in his own country.
Ecuador’s most popular club, Barcelona, on Monday demanded the permanent suspension of Moreno after he added 12 minutes of injury time during a 4-3 weekend loss to Liga de Quito.
Barcelona led, 3-2, after 90 minutes when the fourth official indicated six minutes of injury time, a total Moreno ended up doubling.
Liga scored in the 99th and 100th minutes to win.
Barcelona President Leonardo Bohrer said the club would ask for Moreno to be removed from the referees’ list for “openly prejudicing us with bad intent.”
In June, Italians were furious when Moreno red-carded Italy striker Francesco Totti for diving and disallowed what would have been a game-winning goal by Damiano Tommasi in a 2-1 loss to South Korea in a round-of-16 World Cup match.
Gascoigne to Sign?
The Football Kingz, New Zealand’s only professional soccer team, has denied an agent’s claim that they are close to signing former England international Paul Gascoigne.
Ian Elliott, British-based agent for Gascoigne, 35, said the player was ready to accept a short-term contract with the Kingz who play in the Australian Premier League.
But Kingz chief executive Chris Turner has denied his cash-strapped club has had any dealings with Gascoigne, who in July had a five-day tryout with D.C. United of Major League Soccer but wasn’t offered a contract.
“We have not signed and are not signing Paul Gascoigne,” Turner said.
Lewis Now Eligible
U.S. World Cup player Eddie Lewis was granted a work permit in England and can now play for his first-division club, Preston North End.
Originally, the English government denied Lewis’ application because he had not played in at least 75% of U.S. national team games in the last year.
Lewis, who played for Fulham in the Premier League last season, could play his first match for Preston on Wednesday against Scunthorpe in the Worthington Cup.
Major Injuries
A weekend of qualifying matches for the 2004 European Championship and the African Nations Cup have left some key European-based players injured and sidelined for extended periods of time.
The most serious was a right knee injury to midfielder Otto Addo of Ghana, which will keep him out at least six months. Making matters worse was that Uganda stunned Ghana, 1-0.
Addo, who plays for Borussia Dortmund of the German Bundesliga, will travel to Colorado to undergo surgery.
Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart, a 19-year-old striker for Ajax of Amsterdam, tore a ligament in his left knee during the Netherlands’ 3-0 victory over Belarus and is expected to be out six to eight weeks.
MLS Wins Arbitration
MLS won an arbitration case against three players who claimed they had been improperly released earlier this year.
Arbitrator Richard Bloch sided with the league, which said it acted properly in ending the contracts of Ian Bishop, Danny Pena and Johnny Torres, who were not selected in January’s dispersal draft after the Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny were folded.
Champions Final Set
Mexican clubs Morelia and Pachuca will play the final of the 2002 CONCACAF Champions Cup on Sept. 18 at Estadio Azul in Mexico City. The final was originally scheduled to be a home-and-home series, but both clubs requested to play only one game.
Chastain’s Mother Dies
The mother of Brandi Chastain, a star of the U.S. women’s national team, has died. Lark Chastain, 56, died in her sleep Friday at her San Jose home. The cause of death was not immediately known.
