Manchester United defender and veteran footballer Rio Ferdinand has been left out of the 2012 England Euro squad. According to England’s new manager Roy Hodgson, Ferdinand was omitted from the squad for ‘footballing reasons’ and nothing else.

Ferdinand’s absence was revealed when Hodgson made the official 23-man team announcement on Wednesday that includes Ferdinand’s teammates Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck.

However, Chelsea captain John Terry was selected for the team despite facing alleged racist charges against QPR player Anton Ferdinand who happens to be Rio’s brother. Terry, who denies the charges, will be facing them in court in July.

Hodgson said that: ”I selected John Terry for footballing reasons and I left out Rio Ferdinand for footballing reasons. I’ve spoken to both of them of course. I had to do that. In the last couple of days I’ve spoken to both of them and explained to them why I’ve come to the decision.”

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Staurt Pearce & Fabio Capello

FA Chairman David Bernstein has confirmed that Stuart Pearce will be the interim England manager for the upcoming friendly match against the Netherlands while it searches for a permanent successor to Fabio Capello. Pearce once served as Capello’s assistant.

Capello officially resigned on Wednesday as a result of disagreements over former England captain John Terry, as a result of his pending racism trial, leaving the team without a manager four months before the start of the Euro 2012. England Under-21 and British Olympic team coach Pearce will lead the team when they host the Netherlands at Wembley on 29th February as they continue preparations for the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. Bernstein said of Pearce that “He knows the players very well. He just said if you would like me to do it, I would like to do it.”

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, who was recently cleared of tax evasion charges, is the favourite to take over the position however he was recently reported as saying that with his focus on the performance of Spurs, he hadn’t even thought about it. The Football Association has confirmed that a short-list will be confirmed tomorrow.

There have been calls to avoid appointing another foreign coach but Bernstein said that there is no way to guarantee that the next man will definitely be British. He stated that the FA had a preference for a British candidate but insisted the priority is to appoint the best person.

Source: Daily Mail

Tottenham Hotspur manager, Harry Redknapp, has been cleared on Wednesday by a court in London of tax evasion charges after a long investigation into allegations of financial corruption in British football.

Redknapp, who is tipped to be the next England team manager, was charged with cheating the public revenue in relation to payments totalling $295, 000 made to his bank account in Monaco during his time as manager of Portsmouth.

After hearing the verdict, Redknapp who had to fight back tears of relief, said that the strain of the investigation had been “horrendous”.

Since being cleared, Redknapp applauded the Tottenham directors and supporters for backing both him and former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric. ”I have to thank the fans, especially, the fans of Tottenham. The other night, the Wigan game, was the most moving I’ve ever felt for me personally to have them singing my name throughout the game,” he said.

The verdict clears the way for Redknapp to replace Fabio Capello as manager of the England team when the Euro 2012 tournament comes to an end this summer when the Italian is due to step down. Capello’s imminent replacement comes after clashes between him and the Football Association who recently stripped John Derry of his English captaincy.

The tax authorities have defended their actions stating that, ”We’ve no regrets about pursuing this case because it was vitally important that the facts were put before the jury for their consideration,” said Chris Martin, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigations at HM Revenue and Customs.

Source: Reuters

Chelsea defender John Terry has been stripped of his England captaincy by the Football’s Association chairman, David Bernstein. Bernstein delivered the news to the player in a phone call on Friday morning.

This is the second time that Terry has been stripped of his title as captain for off-pitch reasons. In this case Terry faces charges for his alleged racist remarks against Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand, the trial for which has now been scheduled for the 9th July so as not to interfere with this summer’s European Championships.

Because the Euro 2012 takes place a week before the trial date it is possible that Terry could captain the national side during the championship. However, Anti-racist campaigners have displayed disapproval of allowing a man accused of racism to lead his country a sporting event. Piara Power, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe said that ”The seriousness of the allegations mean that he can’t lead the nation. The FA must do the right thing.”

England manager, Fabio Capello, who is currently out of the country and will be returning to watch a Premier League game tomorrow, had selected Terry for the matches against Spain and Sweden last November despite the allegations.

Since the criminal charge was announced in December 2011, Terry has consistently denied that he ever racially abused the QPR defender saying that “I will fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence. I have campaigned against racism and believe there is no place for it in society.”

Terry was first stripped of his England captaincy by Capello when it was revealed that the defender was having an affair with his team mate and friend Wayne Bridges’s wife. Capello felt it was best for the squad that he not lead them as captain.

Source: The Guardian

Portugal are hoping to convince Real Madrid to release Jose Mourinho to take charge of their national team for the next two Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Portugal have dismissed Carlos Queiroz, who led the team to the World Cup, after he received a six-month ban for his aggressive attitude towards anti-doping officials.

Having drawn 4-4 with Cyprus in their opening qualifier and then lost 1-0 to Norway, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) is now hoping that Mourinho will take charge of the qualifiers against Denmark and Iceland in October to get their campaign back on track.

Record says FPF president Gilberto Madail has flown to Madrid, along with former president Joao Rodrigues, to speak to Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes, about the prospect of an agreement.

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France received chilling notice that the road to post-World Cup redemption will be long and hard when they lost 1-0 to Belarus in Paris on Friday, while Portugal threw away two points in a frantic 4-4 draw at home to Cyprus.

England and Italy were able to start repairing their reputations with contrasting wins in their first Euro 2012 qualifiers and Spain swatted away Liechtenstein 4-0 with an ease befitting their status as world and European champions.

England played with the quick passing and invention that eluded them in South Africa as they beat Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley, Jermain Defoe netting a smartly taken hat-trick and Adam Johnson getting the fourth in the Group G clash.

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