The wave of foreign owners taking over English Premier League clubs is dismaying FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
“Something is wrong here,” Blatter said at the European Parliament yesterday.
Seven Premier League clubs are in the hands of foreign owners: Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Manchester City and Fulham.
A senior British government official has urged the Football Association to tighten regulations over who can buy clubs.
Blatter realizes he has limited influence in national legislation.
“I don't have a remedy,” he said.
Last year, leading officials said foreign ownership brought a new edge to the Premier League but Blatter said too much was too much.
“It is not only American investors who have come in. Arab investors are coming,” Blatter said. “Now you sell a team like you buy a shirt or whatever.”
Also yesterday, Blatter said he will propose new World Cup bidding rules that would dash the hopes of the United States hosting the 2018 tournament.
Blatter said he wants to avoid the World Cup staying in the Americas after Brazil stages it in 2014. He said there were enough strong candidates to organize the world's biggest sports event in 2018 that some countries should be spilled over into the 2022 bidding process.
MORE SOCCER
Poland's suspended football federation reached a last-minute deal with the government that will allow it to avoid a suspension by FIFA and likely retain hosting rights to the 2012 European Championship.
David Beckham will miss the Los Angeles Galaxy's final road game of the season Oct. 18 at Houston because of a mandatory one-game suspension for earning his fifth yellow card.
The United States lost to Portugal 8-1 in Brasilia, Brazil, completing the Futsal World Cup with four straight losses and a last-place finish in its group.
NBA
Former NBA head coach Paul Westphal was hired as the Mavericks' executive vice president of basketball operations. Westphal will assist GM Donnie Nelson.
New York Knicks center Eddy Curry practiced for the first time this season yesterday after he was sidelined last week because of a bacterial infection.
SPORTS AND COURTS
Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe was among 10 people arrested during a brawl with police at a weekend wedding reception in a Galveston, Texas, hotel bar.
Backe was charged with interfering with a police officer and resisting arrest. Both charges are misdemeanors. He was released on $1,500 bond.
Former Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry appeared in court yesterday, handcuffed and wearing yellow prison clothes for a hearing that stemmed from his arrest last week over an alleged cocaine deal.
A judge set bail for Henry at $400,000 and ordered the case moved to Montana, where authorities say they discovered a car with three kilograms of cocaine and six pounds of marijuana that was supplied by Henry and co-defendant James Mack.
HORSE RACING
Curlin, preparing for a possible appearance in this month's Breeders' Cup Classic against Big Brown, worked out yesterday for the first time on the synthetic surface at Santa Anita.
The four-year-old son of Smart Strike covered a half-mile in a relaxed 52.80 seconds at the Arcadia track.
HOCKEY
Maple Leafs left wing Ryan Hollweg received an automatic two-game suspension after collecting his third boarding or checking from behind major in a 41-game span.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Scott Walker is expected to be sidelined for six weeks after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand.
The Washington Capitals sent 2007 first-round draft pick Karl Alzner and Chris Bourque to Hershey of the American Hockey League. Bourque is the son of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque.
The Vancouver Canucks traded defenseman Lukas Krajicek and minor league forward Juraj Simek to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Shane O'Brien and right wing Michel Ouellet.
MOTORSPORTS
Denny Hamlin was released from a hospital, a day after a tire failure led to a hard crash at Talladega Superspeedway.
Hamlin was kept overnight for observation at a Birmingham, Ala., hospital after his car slammed into a wall.
TENNIS
Two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, who is recovering from hip surgery, plans to return to the ATP tour in January at the Sydney International, a tuneup for the Australian Open.
Hewitt, a former top-ranked player, said that his recovery is “going well.”
Amelie Mauresmo rallied to beat Alize Cornet 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The former top-ranked Frenchwoman will play second-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia in the next round of the dual WTA and ATP tournament.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, once ranked No. 1 but now No. 44, beat fourth-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in the opening round of the BA Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Austria.
GOLF
Seve Ballesteros was admitted to a hospital yesterday after feeling dizzy and fainting.
Ballesteros, the winner of three British Opens and two Masters, was taken to La Paz hospital in Spain after briefly losing consciousness, the hospital said in a statement. His condition was stable, and he was undergoing diagnostic tests, the hospital said.
USD's men's golf team is ninth of 16 teams with one round left at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic at Notre Dame. The Toreros shot team scores of 302-299 for a two-round total of 601 on the par-70 Warren Golf Course. Minnesota leads at 579. USD's Dale Smith is tied for 17th place at 147 . . . Palomar College freshman Cora Busby (Torrey Pines) shot 82 and is in sixth place among 128 golfers facing four-year college opponents at the Ninth Annual Golf Mart/Lady Otter Invitational women's tournament at the par-73 Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Course at Seaside/Monterey.
– FROM NEWS SERVICES
