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EPL-New regulator could remove ‘rogue’ owners faster, says Fair Game THE incoming Independent Football Regulator (IFR) could speed up the removal of“rogue”owners from English clubs and prevent the kind of finan cial turmoil currently afflicting Sheffield Wednesday, according to campaign group Fair Game. Chansiri, who led a Thai consortium to buy the club in 2015 and invested heavily in the early years of his ownership in a bid to reach the Premier League, was subsequently prohibited from being an owner or director of any English Football League (EFL) club for three years. ers coming in and that’s where the remit is. The key is that the previous rules (on club ownership) were not fit for purpose.

playoff semifinal in Copenhagen yesterday to earn a place in Tuesday’s Path D decider against either Czech Republic. Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Norgaard were also on target as Denmark pulled away in the second half having been held scoreless in the opening period and they now head to the final seeking a third successive World Cup qualification. North Macedonia never showed much ambition to get forward but were stubborn opponents in the first 45 minutes. Once behind though, the floodgates opened and the home side scored three goals in 10 minutes to make the tie safe. The winners of this path in the European playoffs will be placed in Group A at the World Cup with co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. “I hope on this last matchday you (Liverpool fans) all will have a smile on your face and just be happy and thankful that you were part of one of the most incredible careers we will ever be part of.” – AFP JU R GE N KLOPP believes Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool as one of the “all-time greats”, with his “unmatched numbers” likely to prove tough to top for future generations at Anfield. Egypt forward Salah announced on Tuesday he would bring the curtain down on a brilliant nine years with Liverpool at the end of the season. The 33-year-old arrived from Roma in 2017 and has made 435 appearances for Liverpool to date, scoring 255 goals to be third on the club’s list of all-time goalscorers behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. “In the moment when you work with him, it is the same as every other player: ‘You can’t lose the ball here, you have to defend here’, all these kind of things,” Klopp told the Anfield Wrap yesterday. “But with the bigger view, it is just ridiculous. Unmatched numbers – will we be talking in 10 years and someone else has them? (Hugo) Ekitike or whoever. I think it will be really difficult (to surpass Salah). “I think he is one of the all-time greats.” Under Klopp, Salah won the Champions League, Premier League, three domestic cups, the Uefa Super Cup, and the Club World Cup. The bulk of those trophies came with Salah on the right of a front three also featuring Brazilian Roberto Firmino and Senegal’s Sadio Mane. Together, the trio scored 338 goals in five seasons. Salah led the way with 156 of those goals – 49 more than Mane and 81 ahead of Firmino. “He (Salah) was part of the best front three in world football for a long time – the one with the most numbers. That says something,” said Klopp. “It is not easy to be slightly above the other two guys. They all had their specific skills, but Mo was the one for the final moment. He wanted it more than anybody.” Klopp stunned Liverpool fans two years ago by announcing he would resign at the end of the 2023/24 season after “running out of energy”. He went on to receive an emotional farewell from the Anfield faithful following his last game in charge, at home to Wolves. Klopp now hopes Salah gets a similar reception come his last game for Liverpool. “We (Salah and Klopp) texted last night,” said the former Reds boss. “I really hope he enjoys the rest of the season. I know Mo will only enjoy it if he is winning football games and scoring. Mo than a legend Another bid is now on the table from a consor tium led by American businessman David Storch, although the club could be hit with a 15-point penalty next season under EFL rules if the prospec tive new owners do not pay creditors, including £15 million (RM80m) to Chansiri. – Reuters the EFL. Couper said ‘red flags’ could have been acted on before and says the IFR could intervene in simi lar cases under a new licensing system, which will be subject to ongoing monitoring of a club’s finances. A proposed £47.8 million (RM255m) takeover of Sheffield Wednesday by a consortium led by for mer professional poker player James Bord fell through in February.

“The hope is the new system will bring in much stronger rules and we can say ‘let’s start looking under the bonnet of these clubs’ and see how clean our national game is. “The answer is there are going to be a number of examples where it’s not.” Prior to the club being placed in administration, Chansiri defended his ownership, stating in 2023 that all he had ever wanted was “the best for Sheffield Wednesday”. The Owls were eventually dragged into a downward spiral as players and staff were not paid and multiple transfer embargoes were imposed by

Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game – an independ ent campaign group and think tank dedicated to reforming the governance of English football – believes that had the IFR already been in place, Wednesday’s situation would not have become so dire. “One of the big things from a Fair Game per spective is you have to start looking at retro-fit ting,” he told Reuters on Wednesday. “At the moment we’re talking about new own

Fans of second-tier Wednesday resorted to mass boycotts of home games to force out owner Dejphon Chansiri after the club’s finances reached crisis point last summer. Wednesday were subsequently docked 12 points after Chansiri eventually placed the club in administration in October and another six for vari ous financial breaches, resulting in the earliest ever relegation from the second-tier Championship.

Alexander-Arnold must accept ‘unfair’ England snub, says Tuchel No place for Trent

E NGLAND MANAGER Thomas Tuchel says he has been “a degree unfair” on Trent Alexander-Arnold after excluding the Real Madrid rightback despite naming a 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. The matches at Wembley this morning and Wednesday are the final opportunities for players to impress in an England shirt before Tuchel names his squad for the World Cup. Alexander-Arnold’s not only missed out on the initial squad, but was also over looked in favour of Arsenal’s Ben White after Jarrell Quansah dropped out due to injury. White has not played for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup early and then making himself unavailable for selection under Tuchel’s predecessor, Gareth Southgate. “A sportive choice. Maybe

It shows his quality.” Tuchel has allowed 11 of his squad that are more certain of their World Cup place to skip the Uruguay clash, among them captain Harry Kane. Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke and Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will, therefore, have the chance to make their case to be Kane’s understudy at the World Cup. “It’s important the two of them under stand it’s a big chance to be in camp with out Harry, to compete for a real chance to start and get good quality minutes,” said Tuchel.

Manchester City to reach the Champions League quarterfinals. The decision to bring White back into the international fold instead has been criticised. White reportedly had a falling out with Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland which led to his England exile. “Once I asked Ben if he would be ready to play for me and for England, he straight away, without hesitation, said he would love to come back and was desperate to come back,” added German boss Tuchel. “The reaction came within seconds. It was very

“The question is if we are chas ing a result do we really take Harry off? When is there a chance to be a sub for Harry? Or do we look for someone who will play with Harry? Or someone who is a good pen alty taker? “These are the questions we have to answer.” – AFP

euphoric, very positive and very emotional about it. That showed me he really means it. “The way he behaves and the way he has trained here in camp has been

a hard choice and maybe to a degree unfair,” said Tuchel yesterday when asked to explain the omission of former Liverpool defender Alexander-Arnold. “I know it creates noise when you leave a player like Trent out. We had a call, I tried to explain the situation. He just has to accept it.” After an injury-hit start to his Madrid career, Alexander-Arnold has ousted Dani Carvajal to become a regu lar under Alvaro Arbeloa and played a starring role as the Spanish giants beat

exceptional, very, very good.

England manager Thomas Tuchel and Trent Alexander Arnold. – AFPPIC

SHORTS

everyone had some butterflies today and that’s understandable. I had them, Gigi Buffon has them, we all did.” Italy battled past Northern Ireland but didn’t shine against a team which was largely made up of lower league players. Czechs fight back GOALKEEPE R Matej Kovar saved two penalties in a shootout to take the Czech Republic past Ireland in their World Cup 2026 qualification playoff in Prague yesterday. Eyeing their first World Cup berth since 2006, the Czechs now face Denmark in the playoff final in Prague on March 31. Ireland raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half but the Czechs eventually pulled one back with a

penalty then equalised just five minutes from time. After a tense extra-time the Czechs then converted four penalties to Ireland’s three in the shootout. The Czechs have made amends for a lacklustre qualification during which they swapped coaches just before the playoffs amid mounting criticism from fans and pundits. Long-time skipper Soucek lost the captain’s band before the game after a fumbled attempt to console fans dismayed with the qualifying performance last autumn. Isaksen sparks Danish rout GU S TAV I S AK S E N scored twice in two minutes as Denmark powered to a 4-0 win over North Macedonia in their 2026 World Cup European

Italy face final hurdle GE NN A R O GATTU S O said yesterday that Italy still have a mountain to climb with Bosnia and Herzegovina standing between the Azzurri and the World Cup finals. Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0 to reach the qualifying playoff final, which they will have to play away from home against the Bosnians. Italy haven’t been to a World Cup finals since being dumped out in the group stage in 2014 and the possibility of a third straight absence weighed heavily on players, coach and fans. “We’ve taken a little step forward, now we have to climb the mountain, the Everest,” said Gattuso. “We know that there’s a lot at stake, I think