Italians Delay Start of Season

The Italian soccer league took the unprecedented step Tuesday of postponing the start of its 2002-2003 season by two weeks because not all of its clubs have reached agreement on television coverage of their games.

The season, which was to have started Sept. 1, will now begin Sept. 15, assuming there is no additional delay.

Larger and more successful clubs such as Juventus, AS Roma and AC Milan have signed lucrative television contracts, but eight of the less-popular clubs in Serie A--Atalanta, Brescia, Chievo, Como, Empoli, Modena, Perugia and Piacenza--have not.

The smaller clubs are each asking for $9.84 million for the rights to live coverage of their home games, but the pay-per-view television companies are offering less than half that.

At a meeting in Milan, league members agreed unanimously to delay the start of the season in the hope that a compromise could be reached.

Adriano Galliani, the league’s president and a vice president of AC Milan, said the big clubs had made the decision “to give strong political support to the teams in Serie A and Serie B” still seeking television contracts.

“Today is a good day for Italian football because we have taken this decision in total unanimity and shown great unity,” he said.

Only one round of Serie A games will be affected by the delay because the league’s first division is dark in the second week while Italy plays a Euro 2004 qualifying match against Azerbaijan.

Portugal Dollar Debate

Portugal’s government is committed to paying its share of the $541 million it will cost to build or renovate the 10 stadiums that will play host to the European Championship in 2004, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said.

Newspaper reports had suggested that the government, beset by a sizable budget deficit, would reduce its 25% contribution to the cost of staging the quadrennial 16-nation tournament.

The Diario Economico reported that the country’s finance minister, Ferreira Leite, and its defense minister, Paulo Portas, had recommended cutbacks in the government’s support of Euro 2004.

Portuguese soccer federation and league officials, however, are seeking an increase in government funding for the event, second only to the World Cup in scope and popularity.

U.S. to Play Mexico

The defending world champion United States women’s national team has learned who its opponents will be in the Oct. 27-Nov. 9 CONACACAF Women’s Gold Cup, which will also serve as qualifying for the fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup in China next year.

The U.S. will play Mexico at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 27; Trinidad and Tobago at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium on Oct. 29, and Panama at SAFECO Field in Seattle on Nov. 2 in Group A.

Group B will consist of Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica and either Haiti or Suriname, and will play its games in Victoria, Canada.

The semifinals will be played in Seattle on Nov. 6 and the third-place game and final will be at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 9.

New Coaches in Africa

Qualifying for the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia begins next month and several African countries are lining up new coaches for the event.

On Tuesday, Madagascar said it would sign Hans Heiniger, 61, of Switzerland, as its coach. Sudan earlier had selected former Poland’s national team coach, Wojciech Lazarak, to lead its campaign.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s new coach, Christian Chukwu, is touring Europe, assessing Nigerian players at clubs in England, France and Netherlands.

Raul to Lead Spain

Spain’s Coach Inaki Saez has appointed Real Madrid striker Raul as the national team’s new captain in place of retired defender Fernando Hierro.

“He has played more internationals than anyone else in the side and, apart from his charisma and quality, he is the archetypal professional who is always trying to improve, score more goals and push himself to the limit,” Saez said.

Raul, 25, who has scored 28 goals in 55 games for Spain, will lead the team against Hungary in Budapest today in Saez’s first game as national coach.

Meanwhile, France’s Coach Jacques Santini, who will make his own debut against Tunisia in Tunis today, confirmed that Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly would continue as captain.

“He knows that he has the backing of the coach and staff as well as a majority of the players with whom he has shared some difficult moments,” Santini said.

German Coach Rudi Voeller named defensive midfielder Jens Jeremies honorary captain for today’s game against Bulgaria in Sofia because goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who is the captain, has been sidelined by a knee injury.

“Jens is the most-capped player in the squad and this is also a way to thank him for his behavior and performances at the World Cup,” Voeller said.

Egypt Blanks Uganda

Goals by Ahmed Belal in the second and 30th minutes earned Egypt a 2-0 victory over Uganda in front of 20,000 fans in Cairo on Tuesday night.

Let Them Eat Cake

Brazil will celebrate its World Cup victory with a game against Paraguay in Fortaleza, Brazil, today that is intended as a farewell party for Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. However, Paraguay’s Coach Anibal Ruiz said that he has something else in mind.

“We’ve been invited to the party and we intend to eat most of the cake,” Ruiz said.