United's Ferguson calls for end to chants mocking tragedies

MANCHESTER, England — The managers of Manchester United and Liverpool are urging their clubs' fans to stop the ugly chants at matches in the wake of the release of findings about the Hillsborough tragedy.

The rivalry between England's two most successful teams often spills over into goading in the stands, with some United fans singing songs about Hillsborough and Liverpool fans taunting their counterparts about the Munich air disaster in 1958 in which eight United players died.

Documents released on Wednesday brought the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush at an F.A. Cup semifinal in 1989, back into public consciousness a little more than a week before United visits its fierce rival for a league match on Sept. 23.

"You would hope that maybe this is a line in the sand in terms of how the supporters behave with one another," United manager Alex Ferguson said Friday. "We are two great clubs and we should understand each others' problems in the past. Certainly the reputation of both clubs doesn't deserve it.

"The fact we are playing them after the findings we have been reading about in the last couple of days does bring a focus to it."

An independent report exonerated Liverpool fans from any blame for the Hillsborough tragedy, condemning instead police and authorities for what happened when too many fans were herded into a section of the stadium, leading to a fatal crush.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers cannot understand how such an incident can be the focus of chanting.

"I speak as a human being and I don't ever like to hear anything like that, whatever club it is, that associates with other people's tragedies and death," Rodgers said. "Unfortunately you have a very small percentage of idiots at any club who will always try to smear another club's reputation.

"Of course, it is obvious these are chants that no one wants to hear about any club. Unfortunately there are that minority of supporters who will maybe disappoint but let's hope we can all move on and we can all learn from this whole process."

Before the Liverpool-United match, there is a derby match between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea on Saturday during which fans' behavior will be scrutinized.

It will be the first time John Terry, the Chelsea center back, has met Anton Ferdinand in public since being acquitted of racially abusing the QPR defender at a league match last year.

The question of whether Ferdinand and Terry will shake hands as part of the traditional pre-match team ritual has overshadowed the game between the west London rivals, and could spark a reaction among fans during a match that can attract a hostile atmosphere.

Both clubs have released statements on their websites, appealing for fans to show respect at the game and warning that there will be a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination or abuse.

Under the headline, "Your Behavior: A Reminder," QPR warned that "racial, homophobic or discriminatory abuse, chanting or harassment is strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the ground, and in addition the club will impose a ban for one or more matches."

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Italian Premier Monti calls for soccer suspension

Under the microscope: Italian players, headed by Leonardo Bonucci, train in Parma, Italy, on Monday. AP

ROME — Premier Mario Monti suggested Tuesday that Italian soccer be suspended for two to three years after the latest match-fixing scandal rocked the national team and again tarnished the sport's image in the country just a week before the European Championship.

Dawn raids on Monday resulted in 14 arrests — including Lazio captain Stefano Mauri — to bring the total number of suspects arrested in the match-fixing inquiry to about 50 since last year. Many more have been placed under investigation.

"Football should be stopped for two to three years," Monti said on Tuesday in a powerful message to Italy's soccer authorities on the need to clean up the game. "It is not a proposal by the government but a question I am asking as someone who was passionate when football was still football."

Monti made the comments while standing beside the prime minister of Poland, which is co-hosting Euro 2012 with Ukraine starting June 8.

"I'm not making a proposal, and even less is it a proposal that comes from the government, but it's a desire that sometimes I feel inside me: That it would really benefit the maturity of us Italian citizens if this game was completely suspended for two to three years," he said.

He also ruled out the use of public money to bail out teams in difficulty.

Police swept through the Italian national squad's training camp near Florence on Monday as part of the operation and Italy defender Domenico Criscito was left off the Euro 2012 squad after he was placed under investigation.

Antonio Conte, who coached Juventus to the Serie A title this term, was also officially notified that he is under investigation for alleged wrongdoing while in charge of Siena in 2010-2011.

Apart from those arrested Monday, three people have been placed under house arrest and two others are to present themselves to authorities. Five of the arrests were made in Hungary.

Numerous others have had their houses searched, including Chievo Verona striker Sergio Pellissier as well as Conte and Criscito.

The investigation was started by judicial authorities in Cremona last year. It has resulted in former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni being banned from soccer for 3? years, and the arrest of former Lazio captain Giuseppe Signori.

Serie A clubs Atalanta, Novara and Siena were among the 22 Italian teams notified at the beginning of this month that they are being investigated by sports authorities.

Prosecutors in Cremona have detailed an extensive match-fixing ring stretching as far as Singapore and South America that was allegedly in operation for more than 10 years.

Italy has only recently recovered from the 2006 match-fixing scandal — known as Calciopoli — that resulted in Juventus being relegated to Serie B for a season, plus points penalties for several other Serie A teams and long bans for club and refereeing officials.

The Italian national team reacted in the best possible way, winning the World Cup that year.

PARMA, Italy — Defender Andrea Ranocchia and striker Mattia Destro were cut from Italy's final 23-man squad for the European Championship on Tuesday, while defender Leonardo Bonucci was included despite reportedly being under investigation for match-fixing.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli trimmed his provisional squad from 32 to 25 on Monday. One of the players axed was Zenit St. Petersburg defender Domenico Criscito, who was officially placed under investigation for possible match-fixing when he played at Genoa.

"It was very painful on a human level to remove Criscito from the group," Prandelli said. "But we couldn't give him the pressure of taking this story around Europe, we wanted to protect him. He immediately told me he had nothing to do with it and we believe in 'Mimmo.'

"The most annoying thing is that some people have put Bonucci's case together with Criscito's. I repeat, Bonucci has not received any official notification from the prosecutors. That's why he's coming with us to the Euros. We all want to play, to win. And to come out of it clean."

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Putin calls Sochi delays 'unacceptable'

MOSCOW — Russia President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned construction companies working in the 2014 Olympic city of Sochi against inflating prices and lagging behind schedule.

Putin has been a key backer of Sochi's bid to host the Olympics and has personally overseen most of the preparations.

A day after the authorities announced they had foiled a terrorist plot on the Olympic city, Putin went to Sochi to inspect sites for the Winter Games and chide construction companies. He reminded their executives they are responsible for the bills they submitted to the government years ago, and warned against inflating prices in the final months of building the Olympic infrastructure in the Black Sea resort.

"I'm aware of the desire of some ordering parties and subcontractors, to increase the cost of the sites now, in the final stages of the construction," Putin said in televised remarks. "This is unacceptable."

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Hakuho calls time on Baruto's perfect record

Yokozuna Hakuho drew a line in the sand Sunday, beating ozeki Baruto to deny the Estonian goliath a 15th win on the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.

Sting in the tail: Hakuho (right) pushes Baruto out of the ring on the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday. KYODO

Baruto was trying to become the first wrestler at sumo's No. 2 rank to win a tournament with a perfect 15-0 mark since Hakuho achieved the feat at the 2007 summer basho, but Hakuho had other plans for sumo's jolly giant in the grand finale at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

With his mother and wife in the audience looking on, Baruto came flying out at the charge and attempted to grab Hakuho's arm, but the yokozuna escaped his grasp before heaving Baruto out for a first loss in front of another full house.

Hakuho, who had been bidding to win his third straight title, finished his campaign with a 12-3 mark.

"I feel great. I tried my best till the end. Next basho I will give it my all," said Baruto, who will need to continue to perform at a high level to make a run at promotion to sumo's highest rank of yokozuna.

Asked if he felt much pressure during the 15-day meet, Baruto said, "Not really. I just remained focused on my own sumo each day. If I can continue to perform well like I did at this meet I have confidence that I can reach my ultimate goal, yokozuna," he said.

In other noteworthy bouts, Kisenosato unleashed a salvo of strikes against Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu (10-5) before wrapping his left hand around his opponent's mawashi and escorting him over the edge to finish his ozeki debut at 11-4.

Ozeki Kotoshogiku, who needed a majority of wins, escaped with his eighth victory in an intense battle with Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji (11-4), getting his left hand inside before muscling his rival over the straw bales.

Sekiwake Toyonoshima was twisted down to his knees by Kitataiki (2-13) to end on an unflattering 5-10 mark.

Kakuryu chased out Myogiryu after a series of quick shoves to pick up his 10th win, further building his case for a run at ozeki at the spring basho in March.

Mongolian sekiwake Kakuryu received his first Outstanding Performance Prize after being the first to send Hakuho to a defeat on the 10th day.

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Mayweather calls out Pacquiao on Twitter

NEW YORK — Floyd Mayweather Jr. has taken his quest for a fight with Manny Pacquiao to Twitter.

The unbeaten Mayweather publicly challenged and taunted the Filipino superstar on Tuesday, daring Pacquiao to meet him May 5 in Las Vegas.

"Manny Pacquiao, I'm calling you out. Let's fight May 5 and give the world what they want to see," Mayweather tweeted.

Moments later, Mayweather tweeted: "My jail sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in. Step up punk."

Mayweather is available for a fight in May at the MGM Grand Garden after a judge agreed last week to postpone his jail sentence in a domestic violence case until June. Mayweather was sentenced to 87 days in jail, but likely will serve less time.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are boxing's top two stars, and they have circled each other warily for more than two years. Both have said they're eager to fight, yet still haven't reached a deal for what's likely to be the most lucrative bout in boxing history.

While Pacquiao appeared to be more eager for the fight when the two first began verbally sparring in 2009, Mayweather has taken the lead in recent months, stepping up his campaign since Pacquiao's narrow win over Juan Manuel Marquez last November.

Mayweather's tweets appear to put the megafight's future in Pacquiao's hands — and a decision likely will be made soon.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum traveled to the Philippines this week to meet with Pacquiao, planning to choose the eight-division champion's next opponent. Arum, who has repeatedly said Mayweather won't actually agree to fight Pacquiao because he fears losing, has a list of candidates including Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Lamont Peterson and Timothy Bradley Jr. for Pacquiao's next bout.

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