HARRY Redknapp rips into his overpaid QPR flops, ex-EPL star accused of gay slur and spitting at a ref, Iraq soccer federation denies link to Diego Maradona, Barcelona win for stricken coach and Bangladesh on verge of becoming first team to tour Pakistan since 2009 terrorist attack.
REDKNAPP RIPS INTO OVERPAID QPR FLOPS
WHEN Harry Redknapp isn't happy, he tends to let people know about it.
This morning was no exception.
"There are a lot of players at this club who earn far too much money for what they are; far, far, far too much money for their ability and what they give to the club,'' Redknapp said.
"I don't really want to see the owners have their pants taken down like they have in the past."
A frustrated Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp during a 1-0 loss to Newcastle. Source: AFP
FORMER EPL STAR APPEALS BAN FOR GAY SLUR AT REF
EX-CHELSEA and Liverpool man Raul Meireles is claiming his hand gesture was misinterpreted after he was hit with an 11-game ban for allegedly spitting and making at a gay slur at referee while playing for Turkish club Fenerbahce.
Meireles will have to wait until next week to find out whether his appeal has been upheld, with the commission waiting to review "images of the incident from every angle''.
"I don't know what the hand gesture for calling somebody gay is in Turkey but what I did was entirely based around the referee being a coward and bowing to the pressure,'' Meireles said.
"Look at my hairstyle, what I wear, I'm not a prejudicial person, my hand gesture was in no way, shape or form a homophobic one.
"The referee's accusations are outrageous and defamatory. I have an eight-year-old child, can you imagine if kids start saying your father spat at a referee?''
Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles has been accused of making a gay slur towards a referee. Source: AFP
IRAQ DENIES MARADONA INTEREST
"There's no negotiation between the Iraqi soccer federation and Diego Maradona, and we don't have any intention of hiring him,'' the federation's deputy director, Abdul-Khaliq Masoud, told Argentina's official Telam news agency.
An Argentine sports executive said Thursday in Buenos Aires that Maradona was the leading candidate to become the next coach of Iraq's national soccer team.
"They called us from Iraq asking for a coach. We offered Diego and they were delighted,'' Hernan Tofoni of World Eleven, a firm that organises friendly matches for the Argentine national team, told Buenos Aires daily Clarin.
Iraq's soccer federation has denied interest in hiring Diego Maradona as manager. Source: Getty Images
BARCA COACH RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
BARCELONA coach Tito Vilanova was released from hospital overnight, just 48 hours after undergoing cancer surgery.
The 44-year-old needed an operation on Thursday to remove a tumour from a salivary gland.
"Given a quick post-surgery recovery Tito Vilanova has been allowed to leave hospital on Saturday afternoon. The Barca coach was operated on Thursday according to plan," read a brief statement from the club.
Vilanova will now face around six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova. Source: AFP
BANGLADESH AWAITING PAKISTAN CLEARANCE
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf had said that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had announced their intention to tour, making them the first team to visit the country since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan squad in 2009.
Foreign teams have shunned playing in Pakistan since gunmen opened fire on a convoy in Lahore, killing eight people and leaving seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach injured.
The attack pushed Pakistan into a cricket exile as the national team was forced to play their home series at neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and England.
If the tour goes ahead, Bangladesh will play a Twenty20 and a one-dayer on January 12 and 13 respectively, both in Lahore.
Mohammad Ashraful in action for Bangladesh. Source: AP
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