Donovan Loan Deal in Works
First, it was Tim Howard, with Carlos Bocanegra and Brian McBride following.
Now it appears that another American from Major League Soccer could be on track to test his skills in the English Premier League with the news Monday that Portsmouth had reached agreement with Landon Donovan.
But because of new FIFA regulations that limit player transfers, the move is far from assured, even though Portsmouth also has reached agreement with MLS and Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, which share Donovan’s rights.
“It’s an unfortunate situation as we’ve run into problems with FIFA,” Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric said.
Donovan’s agent, Richard Motzkin, said he had been trying to work out a loan to keep the player in England through the end of the season in May.
“At this point, we are trying to work through the new FIFA regulations to determine whether this is possible,” Motzkin said.
The new FIFA rules for MLS players say transfers must occur inside designated windows -- Jan. 1-March 31 or Aug. 15-Sept. 15. Under these conditions, Donovan would be idle for about three months, and the San Jose Earthquakes, his MLS club, would be left to wait.
Andreas Herren, a spokesman for FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, said he could not comment until FIFA’s legal department reviewed the case today.
Donovan, a two-time Honda Award winner as the top player in the U.S., led San Jose to the MLS Cup title in November.
Howard, a former MLS player, is the starting goalkeeper for Manchester United in the Premier League. Bocanegra recently signed with Fulham and was soon followed there by McBride.
U.S. Players
Coach Bruce Arena of the United States’ national team has picked 17 players, including Chris Albright and Danny Califf of the Galaxy, for a training camp next month in Bradenton, Fla., before selecting a team that will play the Netherlands at Amsterdam.
African Cup of Nations
Frederic Kanoute scored two goals to lead Mali to a 3-1 victory over Kenya in a Group B game of the African Cup of Nations at Bizerte, Tunisia.
In the group’s other game, Senegal, which reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, struggled to a 0-0 tie against Burkina Faso at El Menzah.
Sunday, another African power, Cameroon, also settled for a tie in its opening game, 1-1, against Algeria at Sousse.
Autopsy Inconclusive
An autopsy performed on Miklos Feher, a Hungarian player who died after collapsing on the field during a Portuguese league match Sunday, was inconclusive.
The attorney general’s office of Portugal said an inquiry would be opened and more tests would be conducted.
Quick Passes
Dutch international defender Frank de Boer has canceled his contract with Galatasaray of Turkey, according to his agent Rob Cohen, and has signed with the Glasgow Rangers through the end of the season in a move that reunites him with his twin brother, Ronald.
FC Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert has denied that he signed a pre-contract to join Arsenal at the end of the season.
Wales has asked UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, to exclude Russia from this summer’s continental championship in Portugal after it was revealed that Russian player Yegor Titov failed a drug test. The test occurred days before Russia’s 1-0 second-leg playoff victory in November that eliminated Wales.
Australia’s under-23 team defeated New Zealand, 2-0, in the first leg of a two-leg playoff at Sydney to determine the Oceania region’s Olympic qualifier.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
