Milan Chief Wants Club & Country Fixtures Separated

THE man who runs Italian champions AC Milan for super-rich owner Silvio Berlusconi has called for the abolition of midweek international matches.

Milan's hopes of retaining their Serie A crown were dented on Sunday when they drew 0-0 with lowly Cagliari, just days after stars like Germany's Oliver Bierhoff represented their countries in Euro 2000 warm-up matches.

And now vice-president Adriano Galliani has been quoted on the club's website as saying: "The idea of playing an international in midweek, with a league game on the weekends, needs to be done away with. The Italy squad should be given a set period of time just for them, which would also allow the media to cover the action in more depth."

With more European friendlies scheduled between now and the summer's tournament and qualifiers for the Copa America beginning next month, cosmopolitan clubs like Milan must prepare for more league matches featuring jet-lagged internationals.

The Copa America qualifiers "will mean that the South Americans will be commuting between Europe and South America," continued Galliani, "so once a week they will have to take a long-haul flight, with jet lag and all the other inconveniences that go with it.

"It would make more sense to fix a time when the European, American and African Nations Cups could be played all at once."


HAVE YOUR SAY...
Should football's ruling bodies rehash the calendar so that club and international fixtures are kept separate? Would it be good to have all World Cup, European Championship, Copa America and African Nations qualifiers played within a few weeks instead of spread out over more than a year? E-mail your views to