The Times - UK (2022-01-13)

the times | Thursday January 13 2022 2GM 69

Sport

89MIN

Sikazwe first

blew for full-time

after 85 minutes,

above left, then

restarted and

ended the game

again before 90

minutes were up,

above right,

prompting a

furious reaction

from Tunisia’s

players and

coaches, with a

security team

later escorting

the officials off

the field, left

Newcastle United have made a fresh
bid believed to be about £28 million for
the Seville centre half Diego Carlos.
The club are determined to have at
least one new central defender in their
side for the Premier League game with
Watford on Saturday as they continue a
spending spree in which they have
already signed Kieran Trippier for
£12 million and agreed a £25 million
deal for the striker Chris Wood.
They were rebuffed at the start of the
week by Seville, who are second in La

selection as he described the “impossi-
ble” situation against his former club.
“I made this decision and I think that
Gollini played a good game,” the Italian
coach said. “In the first game we lost
2-0, today we lost only 1-0. We have to
try to think about situations that are
much more important than this.
“Pierluigi has always played in
Carabao and the [Europa] Conference
League. I think when you’re in a team
like Tottenham, it’s important to give
chances to the ’keeper because Pierluigi
showed [himself] to be reliable.
“Then we have to play three games in
seven days against Arsenal, Leicester

Afcon referee faced

corruption claims

looked as though the match might

restart for a second time, despite the

players having left the pitch. The Mali

players returned but the Tunisia team

did not reappear and nor, bizarrely, did

the referee, with the fourth offical

seemingly prepared to take charge.

Organisers then decided that the 1-0

win for Mali would stand.

Sikazwe, who refereed at the 2018

World Cup in Russia, was provisionally

suspended by CAF in November 2018

after allegations of corruption sur-

rounding an African Champions

League semi-final between Espérance,

of Tunisia, and the Angolan side

Primeiro de Agosto.

Espérance won 4-2 in the second leg

to make it to the final 4-3 on aggregate,

but Sikazwe awarded a questionable

penalty to the home side and denied

Primeiro de Agosto what looked to be a

legitimate goal during the encounter in

the Tunisian capital city Tunis.

Sikazwe was provisionally suspend-

ed but was allowed to return to elite ref-

ereeing after CAF’s disciplinary board

ruled in January 2019 that there was

“no sufficient evidence to implicate the

involvement of Mr Janny Sikazwe

regarding the elements of corruption

made against him”.

In the Mali versus Tunisia game,

Sikazwe first blew for full-time and

pointed to the tunnel after 85 minutes

and eight seconds — much to the

bemusement of the Tunisia bench and

the players on the pitch. The game then

resumed, with Mali’s El Bilal Touré

shown a straight red card in the 87th

minute before, with the clock on 89

minutes and 43 seconds, he blew the

whistle again. Tunisia’s coach, Mond-

her Kebaier, and other members of the

coaching staff were incensed. Kebaier

ran on to the field to confront the refer-

ee while pointing angrily at his watch

and the referee had to be escorted from

the field by security officials.

There were then suggestions that the

game would be restarted and officials

gathered on the field in Limbe about 30

minutes later and were seen in discus-

sions. The Mali players also came back

out on to the field and appeared to be

grumbling about the situation. They

started to warm up, all while Tunisia’s

players were still in the changing room.

But the Mali players then started

applauding their fans and celebrating,

and walked off for a second time. They

won the game thanks to Ibrahima

Koné’s penalty three minutes into the

second half.

Tunisia were awarded a late penalty

for handball after a video review by

Sikazwe. The Tunisia captain, Wahbi

Khazri, won and then took the penalty

but his powerful shot was saved by

Ibrahim Mounkoro.

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85MIN

Newcastle bid £28m for Seville defender

Liga, for the 28-year-old Brazilian Car-

los. Newcastle suffered a double blow

that day, with Lille also knocking back a

second attempt to sign the Dutch

defender Sven Botman.

A second bid has been made for

Carlos but the Spanish side have yet to

respond to the improved offer. It was

initially thought it would take a bid clos-

er to their valuation of £40 million to do

business. Carlos moved from Nantes to

Seville in 2019 and was part of the side

that won the Europa League in 2020.

Newcastle want their business done

quickly in the January transfer window,

aware of their precarious position in the

Premier League, having won once in 19

games this season. They sit in 19th place

with only 11 points and have conceded

the joint-most goals (42) in the division.

Wood, the 30-year-old New Zealand

international, spent yesterday on Tyne-

side, at the club’s training ground and

St James’ Park, undergoing a medical.

Newcastle want a young centre for-

ward to follow Wood into the club and

are weighing up a bid for Reims’s Hugo

Ekitike, who would cost in excess of

£25 million. They are also keen on the

Torino defender Gleison Bremer.

Martin Hardy

City wages cost over £354m

Manchester City set a Premier League

record for wage expenditure last season

and are liable for up to £228 million in

potential add-ons and bonuses, accord-

ing to their accounts.

City announced yesterday that they

had spent £354.6 million on wages in

the year ending June 30, 2021. It repre-

sented a 1 per cent increase on the pre-

vious year, but City still have the high-

est wage bill in Premier League history

and are ahead of the top flight’s second-

biggest spenders, Chelsea, who paid

staff £333 million last year. City said the

wage bill rose largely because of the

recruitment of 31 new employees in

their football department.

Another section of the report

revealed that City could pay almost

£228 million in transfer fee add-ons,

signing-on fees and loyalty bonuses.

Last year that figure was £158 million.

The report quoted an independent

study by Brand Finance, which claimed

that City are worth £1.12 billion and are

the fourth-most valuable football brand

in the world, behind Real Madrid,

Barcelona and Manchester United.

Paul Hirst

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

Tuchel: We were sloppy and must improve

and Chelsea again. I think he deserved

this chance to play an important game.”

Conte gave Daniel Levy, the Totten-

ham chairman, and the sporting direct-

or, Fabio Paratici, his targets for the

January transfer window this week and

said that Chelsea’s substitutes’ bench,

worth more than £200 million, proved

the gap between the two clubs.

“We cannot compare Chelsea’s situa-

tion with Tottenham’s situation,” he

said. “It’s not fair to compare the two

situations. It’s impossible to compare.”

Victory for Chelsea meant that after

only 350 days in the job Thomas

Tuchel, the head coach, became the

club’s first manager to reach the final of

the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and

Champions League. Chelsea will face

either Arsenal or Liverpool — who

compete in their semi-final first leg at

Anfield tonight — in the final at Wem-

bley on February 27 but Tuchel said

that his team had not been at their best

despite a 3-0 aggregate win.

“We started well, created big chances

and were in the lead but we played with

fire, we allowed chances from sloppy

mistakes and almost gave a penalty

away because of overconfidence,”

Tuchel said. “There is a lot to improve.”

Tuchel said that his team would have

recovered had Spurs scored, adding:

“There is enough quality there to

stand up, we’ve done that before when

we’ve conceded.”

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