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发表于 2006-7-16 13:50:48 |显示全部楼层

Sir Alex Ferguson's hopes of signing players from Juventus as a result of the Italian match-fixing scandal diminished yesterday with the news that AC Milan, the club owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, are the team likely to benefit from the exodus of players from the former Italian champions.

The United manager, who yesterday saw his team open their South African tour with a 4-0 victory over Orlando Pirates, said afterwards: "The situation with the clubs in Italy is something we are addressing at the moment. It's not exactly clear at this stage what the circumstances are with the clubs that have been relegated.''

But many of Juventus's Italian players, who would prefer to stay in their own country, are now hoping to join AC Milan (who were docked 15 points but not relegated) because they still have a chance of playing in next season's UEFA Cup.

An indirect mistake by the Italian sports Federal Appeal Court (CAF) has given Milan hope of their UEFA Cup place. The CAF punished AC Milan on Friday by ranking them eighth in last year's league table behind Empoli, a small club in Tuscany who would automatically gain the right to play in Europe for the first time in their history.

However, Empoli are currently not allowed to take part in any European competition because they do not have the necessary permit.

"At present Empoli Calcio are not licensed by UEFA and would not be able to take part in the UEFA Cup,'' a spokesman for AC Milan said yesterday. ''The possibility could therefore open up for Milan to take part in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup."

Empoli were convinced the whole 'Calciopoli' affair would end with an amnesty for all the clubs involved and therefore had not prepared to take part in the competition but they insisted yesterday that they would fight Milan's claims to their place in the competition.

"On Monday we will contact UEFA to obtain the licence," said Empoli's secretary general Stefano Calistri. "We have already received some reassuring indications."

But the Italian players think otherwise and defender Gianluca Zambrotta and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, both stars during the last World Cup, are now certain to join AC Milan, according to people close to the players. This news is likely to disappoint Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who was believed to be keen on signing Buffon. Christian Abbiati, another AC Milan goalkeeper who was loaned to Juve last season, may now be sold to Arsenal instead.

Fabio Cannavaro, Italy's captain, has also been approached by Milan, but he is still more tempted by the idea of going to Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo have reassured AC Milan fans, promising loyalty to the club who launched them. This means that Gattuso will not join Manchester United, disappointing Ferguson, who is still desperately seeks a replacement for midfielder Roy Keane. So Ferguson may turn his attention to Juventus's Patrick Vieira, the former Arsenal midfielder who has made it clear that he will definitely be leaving Juventus. Vieira has so far not ruled out a return to the Premiership.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina are facing the possibility of losing last season's Serie A Golden Boot winner, Luca Toni. Again Manchester United were reported to be interested in the striker to replace Ruud van Nistelrooy but Toni appears to be heading to Milan's other club Internazionale.

Although Empoli might not obtain the licence to enter the UEFA Cup, it is not yet certain that AC Milan would gain access to the competition.

AC Milan's fate now rests with the Italian Football Association.
http://wc2006.telegraph.co.uk/Do ... F-8249-6AD08FEBE80F