WORLD SPORTS SCENE / RANDY HARVEY : Ban on English Soccer Teams May Lengthen
When the poet wrote that there will always be an England, he apparently was not thinking about the three prestigious European soccer cup tournaments, where there might never again be an England.
Although English professional teams have been prohibited from playing on the Continent since the 1985 disaster at Brussels’ Heysel Stadium, where Liverpool fans started a riot that claimed 39 lives, it appeared as if the ban would be lifted next season.
But 24 hours of violence involving a reported 2,000 to 3,000 Leeds United fans and 400 police in riot gear surrounding an English League game last Saturday at Bournemouth has caused European Football Union authorities to reconsider. A decision is expected on May 24.
In a letter to English football officials, Dorset Chief Constable Brian Weight, whose territory includes Bournemouth, reported that “shop windows were smashed, innumerable cars damaged, women indecently assaulted, families and my officers were attacked and injured.”
Weight said that if police lines had not held, the result could have been another tragedy like the one last year at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Stadium, where 95 people were killed before a soccer game.
As it was, in Bournemouth, 20 persons were injured and 120 arrested. Property damage was estimated at $66,000.
While Parliament met to discuss the violence in Bournemouth and three other cities last week, England’s sports minister, Colin Moynihan, was in Rome to consult with World Cup officials about their preparations for the English invasion.
The officials also were contemplating a report that Italian hooligans have invited their counterparts from England, the Netherlands and West Germany to Rome for a pre-World Cup rumble.
The United States could be in contention for at least one trophy in its first World Cup appearance in 40 years. Italy’s soccer federation has announced that it will present a prize to the team with the best-behaved fans.
Having won five and tied one of its of 12 exhibition games since qualifying for the World Cup last November, the U.S. team will finish its national tour against Partisan Belgrade, a Yugoslav club team, May 20 in New Haven, Conn. The U.S. tied Ajax of Amsterdam, 1-1, in Washington Saturday.
In its most recent victory, 3-1 over Poland Wednesday night at Hershey, Pa., the United States beat a team that did not qualify for the World Cup but was respectable in splitting games last weekend in Chicago, losing to Colombia, 2-1, and beating Costa Rica, 2-0. Colombia lost to Atlas of Guadalajara, 4-1, in the final of that tournament.
The United States leaves for Europe on May 26 and has exhibition games at Liechtenstein and Switzerland before starting the World Cup on June 10 against Czechoslovakia at Florence, Italy.
In the European Cup Winners’ Cup final Wednesday night at Goteborg, Sweden, Sampdoria of Genoa, Italy, beat Anderlecht of Belgium, 2-0, in overtime. Italian teams made the finals of all three European cups.
Mexican star Hugo Sanchez scored three times last Sunday for Spanish champion Real Madrid and finished the season with 38 goals. Only Austria’s Gerhard Rodax, with 35 goals and two games to play, has a chance to catch Sanchez for the Golden Boot award, given annually to Europe’s top scorer. Sanchez will be with Real Madrid for games at the Coliseum on May 22 and 24.
The U.S. under-20 team has been impressive in a regional qualifying tournament in Guatemala. The United States beat Costa Rica, 2-0; Barbados, 3-0, and Guatemala, 4-1, before losing, 1-0, to Trinidad and Tobago. A victory over Mexico would earn the Americans a berth in next year’s World Youth Championships.
The International Skating Union decided last week that professional figure skaters will be allowed to compete in events such as the World Championships and the Winter Olympics, but it includes only those skaters who turn pro after the ruling was made. That was a disappointment to 1988 gold medalist Brian Boitano, who wanted to defend his championship in 1992 at Albertville, France.
“I think I’m better than I was in 1988,” he said. “I’m still trying to stretch. Somebody asked me recently what it will take to make (1990 U.S. champion) Todd Eldredge better. I said, ‘Time.’ He’s 18; I’m 26. I’m just hitting my peak physically.”
Boitano will have to be content with the touring show that stars him and East Germany’s Katarina Witt, a two-time Olympic gold medalist. They will play the Forum Wednesday night. Although skaters usually do not test themselves in shows, Boitano does nine triple jumps.
Despite the liberalization of the rules, one event that skaters cannot enter and still retain their eligibility is Dick Button’s professional competition, because it is not sanctioned by the ISU.
The Athletics Congress, U.S. governing body for track and field, has granted long jumper Larry Myricks a hearing Tuesday to appeal his three-month suspension. He tested positive for a stimulant found in Alka-Seltzer, which he said he took before a meet this winter because he had a cold.
If Myricks loses the appeal, he will pursue legal action. The suspension, which ends on July 13, will cause him to miss the national championships and a chance to qualify for the Goodwill Games July 20-Aug. 5 in Seattle.
“To be suspended without a hearing, that’s totally unfair,” Coach Ernie Grigoire said.
When the president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, met recently with sports leaders from Eastern Bloc countries, he invited three U.S. Olympic Committee officials--President Robert Helmick, Executive Director Harvey Schiller and deputy secretary John Krimsky--to give them marketing advice.
Most of those countries’ sports federations have lost government support because of economic reforms related to the transition from Communism.
“We discussed how we raise money through sponsorships, licensing, merchandising, television and direct fund-raising,” Schiller said. “Everybody’s hitting on them. They needed some direction.”
One result is that the USOC is on the verge of announcing a merchandising agreement with Yugoslavia and is close to signing similar deals with Romania and Hungary. Olympic-related merchandise, such as sweat shirts, key chains and beer mugs, would be manufactured in the United States.
“I guess we’ll find out if baseball caps sell in Romania,” Schiller said.
