CHICAGO – The Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league, in the United States, has suspended its 2012 season while it works to resolve legal issues with a former team owner, the league said on Monday.

The five-team league said its board of governors voted on Monday to cancel the season but with hopes of restarting it in 2013.

“Making the decision to suspend the 2012 season was a difficult and painful one,” WPS chief executive Jennifer O’Sullivan said in a statement.

“But it is necessary to take the time to address current issues and solidify our business in order to provide appropriate support needed to achieve the league’s long-term goals.”

The league’s decision came just a day after the U.S. women’s won a regional qualifying tournament for this year’s London Olympics.

ATHENS – Matches in Greece’s cash-strapped second and third tier leagues have been suspended after the players’ union (PSAP) went on strike on Monday.

Football League 1 and 2 clubs have no money to pay insurance contributions for their players as they are waiting for funds from a sponsorship deal with state-run betting company OPAP.

The agreement, which was supposed to be completed in May 2011, has not yet been signed by OPAP.

The Football League had said last Friday it would suspend matches from Feb. 13 but PSAP has declared a strike from this week meaning the 15th round of matches, due to take place on Wednesday, will not go ahead.

“We just finished our meeting and nobody is prepared to back down to find a solution,” PSAP president Stelios Giannakopoulos, a former Bolton Wanderers and Greece midfielder, told reporters.

“Only when a definitive solution is found will the players continue to play. All the clubs have been informed in writing.”

Giannakopoulos added that following a meeting with the general secretary for sport, Panagiotis Bitsaxis, he had been told the contract would be signed “within the next 15 days.”

OPAP, which has not commented on the matter, froze sponsorship payments at the end of last season because of the repeated crowd violence which marred Greek soccer. The move has heavily affected the income of clubs outside the top flight.

“We understand that the country is living an unprecedented crisis, however this does not mean that among other things we have to tolerate playing uninsured or partially insured only for the duration of games,” PSAP said in a statement.

SINGAPORE – Asian soccer’s acting president has urged the sport’s rule-makers to change the laws to permit women to wear a headscarf in official matches.

China’s Zhang Jilong reiterated the Asian Football Confederation’s favorable stance ahead of an International Football Association Board (IFAB) review in March.

“Many women footballers in Asia wear headscarves,” Zhang said on the AFC’s website on Monday.

“I would like to request the IFAB to favorably consider FIFA’s proposal and review the rule and allow women players to play wearing a safe headscarf that covers the neck.”

“I think it is in the interests of women’s football worldwide. I have personally seen the new designs with a Velcro joined at the neck, which releases if the headscarf is pulled, ensuring the player’s safety,” he added.

World governing body FIFA’s Law 4 regarding kit states that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player, including any kind of jewelry.

It lists the “basic equipment” as a jersey, shorts, socks, shin-guards and footwear.

Iran’s women’s soccer team were banned from an Olympic qualifier last June because of their full-body strip, which includes a headscarf and conforms to the Islamic dress code.

Opponents Jordan were awarded a 3-0 win and Iranian officials said the decision could cost them a place in the 2012 Games.

FIFA’s rules for the 2012 Olympics state: “Players and officials shall not display political, religious, commercial or personal messages or slogans in any language or form on their playing or team kits.”

IFAB, formed in 1886, is soccer’s ultimate law-making body comprising four members from FIFA and four from the British associations. It will meet in Bagshot, England, on March 3.

MEXICO CITY – Pumas UNAM’s broke FIFA rules by painting a giant letter ‘U’ on their pitch for Sunday’s home league game against Guadalajara and could be sanctioned, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) said.

The university side, held 0-0 by Guadalajara at their Olimpico Universitario ground in the capital in the Clausura championship, were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their promotion to the first division in January 1962.

“The reproduction, whether real or virtual, of representative logos or emblems of FIFA, confederations, member associations, leagues, clubs or other bodies is forbidden on the field of play, the goal nets and the areas they enclose,” state the laws of world governing body FIFA.

A FMF statement said the “violation of FIFA’s Laws of the Game 2011-2012 committed by Pumas club … will be forwarded to the Disciplinary Commission of the Mexican Football Federation … for its analysis and to determine a sanction.”

The match was something of a damp squib with a defensive Guadalajara glad not to notch up a fourth consecutive defeat.

Guadalajara were under new coach Ignacio Ambriz, appointed during the week to replace Fernando Quirarte, who resigned after the Chivas lost their first three matches, their worst start to a championship.

Pumas coach Guillermo Vazquez said both sides were mostly concerned with not losing given the intense rivalry between teams from the capital and the western city of Guadalajara.

‘IN DEBT’

“No-one wants to lose these kinds of matches, both sides go into them concentrating on not committing errors and the fight (for the ball) in all parts of the pitch is very even,” he told reporters.

Ambriz said: “I think both sets of fans are unhappy, what’s important in football are goals, there weren’t any today, perhaps we’re in debt, let’s hope we can improve.”

Santos Laguna took a two-point lead in the standings with a 3-1 win at Tijuana.

Goals from Colombia’s Darwin Quintero, striker Cristian Suarez and midfielder Juan Rodriguez sent Apertura championship runners-up Santos top with 10 points from four matches.

Argentine striker Jose Sand’s had promoted Tijuana back in the game with a 55th-minute penalty but Suarez restored the visitors’ lead within nine minutes.

Guadalajara’s arch-rivals America won 3-1 at San Luis on Saturday with two goals from Ecuador striker Cristian “Chucho” Benitez, who also laid on the second for Brazilian midfielder Rosinei.

America are second with eight points, one more than a group of four teams including Tijuana and title holders Tigres UANL, who beat Santos in the Apertura final in the first half of the season.

Argentine striker Emanuel Villa scored both goals in Cruz Azul’s 2-2 draw away to Atlante in Cancun, including a controversial 86th-minute equaliser which television replays confirmed he helped into the net with his arm.

LONDON – Liverpool striker Luis Suarez gave “unreliable” evidence to a panel investigating accusations he racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, a Football Association report said on Saturday.

The document detailed the reasons for Suarez’s eight-match ban, handed out earlier this month for abusing France defender Evra in a 1-1 Premier League draw at Anfield on Oct. 15.

“Mr Suarez’s evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance,” the report said, adding “Mr Evra was a credible witness”.

Uruguay international Suarez, the report added, used the word “negro” or “negros” seven times during their confrontation.

Suarez, for his part, has denied the FA charge and has consistently denied he is a racist.

“Mr Suarez’s words, which included a reference to Mr Evra’s color, were insulting,” said the FA document.

The independent panel took advice from linguistic experts in Latin American Spanish after Suarez said he called Evra “negro in an affectionate and friendly way which was common in Uruguay”.

The panel concluded Suarez brought the game into disrepute and warned that further offenses could lead to what it called a “permanent suspension”.

Suarez, who was also fined 40,000 pounds ($62,200) over the incident, has until Jan. 13 to lodge an appeal.

Liverpool said Suarez, the club and their legal advisers would take time “to read, digest and properly consider the contents of the judgment and will make no further comment at present.”

DETAILED ACCOUNT

The 115-page FA report gives a detailed account of the clash between the pair and the evidence given to the three-man panel by both parties and other witnesses.

It concludes: “Mr Evra was a credible witness. He gave his evidence in a calm, composed and clear way. It was, for the most part, consistent, although both he and Mr Suarez were understandably unable to remember every detail of the exchanges.”

“Mr Suarez’s evidence was unreliable in relation to matters of critical importance. It was, in part, inconsistent with the contemporaneous evidence, especially the video footage.”

“For example Mr Suarez said he pinched Mr Evra’s skin in an attempt to defuse the situation. He also said his use of the word “negro” to address Mr Evra was conciliatory and friendly. We rejected that evidence,” the report added.

“To describe his own behavior in that way was unsustainable and simply incredible given the players were engaged in an acrimonious argument. That this was put forward by Mr Suarez was surprising and seriously undermined the reliability of his evidence on other matters.”

“There were also inconsistencies between his accounts given at different times,” said the report.

The confrontation occurred as Evra marked Suarez at a Liverpool corner in the 63rd minute, five minutes after the Uruguayan had fouled the Frenchman.

“In the goalmouth Mr Evra and Mr Suarez spoke to each other in Spanish,” said the FA report. “Mr Evra asked Mr Suarez why he had kicked him.”

“Mr Suarez replied, ‘Porque tu eres negro (because you are black)’.”

“Mr Evra then said to Mr Suarez, ‘say it to me again, I’m going to punch you’. Mr Suarez replied, ‘No hablo con los negros (I don’t speak to blacks).’”

($1 = 0.6435 British pounds)

The love of soccer drives us all.  Players push through mental and physical barriers, coaches drive and maneuver winning formations, fans scream and cheer in their form of participation, and referees continue to learn, enforce, evolve, and promote the sport to all.

We started ProReferee in August 2009 to promote information to soccer officials.  This evolved to publishing Reuters soccer news and promoting internet blog posts that affected referees around the world.  A piece of news from Bulgaria could affect your next match on Sunday afternoon.  A “once in a lifetime” referee gaffe could help you from making the same mistake.  Most importantly, the material we were promoting was continuing to be shared throughout the online referee community.  This was crucial to our existence and ongoing investment of time and money.

Business partnerships formed and we began to pickup traffic from around the world.  Soon we had regular readers from Europe, Asia, South America, and on and on.  We opened a web store in July 2010 and it quickly grew to successful levels.  Combined with news, training, video, and social media integration, the discovery of our content continued to fuel our passions.  In August 2011, we celebrated the two-year anniversary of ProReferee.

Starting strong in 2012, our focus will be on the expansion of equipment and supplies with the ProReferee Store.  On April 1, 2012, we will cease publication of Reuters soccer news. This decision comes amid low ad revenues and growing costs as a news publisher. Our focus will be on distributing professional supplies, respecting our customers, and doing good for the global referee community.

We welcome your comments and feedback, or you can send me a message at jason[at]proreferee[dot]com

ROTTERDAM – A Dutch court has sentenced a 19-year-old Ajax Amsterdam fan who invaded the pitch and attacked AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Esteban to four months’ jail.

The judge gave the fan, who was identified only as Wesley van der W., an additional two months’ suspended imprisonment. He was also ordered to report to a police station during matches involving Ajax, Alkmaar and the Dutch national team for two years.

The fan attacked Costa Rican Esteban on Dec. 21 during the last 16 Dutch Cup tie between Ajax and Alkmaar, which was abandoned after Esteban was shown a red card for kicking his attacker.

The Dutch football association rescinded the red card a day later and decided this week the match would be replayed on Jan. 19 behind closed doors.

NEW YORK – Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner said he was sold the World Cup television rights for Trinidad and Tobago for as little as $1 in return for supporting FIFA president Sepp Blatter in soccer elections.

Warner, who resigned from all his soccer positions in June after he was suspended by FIFA following allegations in a cash-for-votes scandal, issued a statement on Thursday revealing the details of the television deals.

A spokesman for FIFA said soccer’s world governing body was “looking into” Warner’s statement and would make no further statement in the meantime.

Warner said that he was awarded the rights for seven World Cups at a minimal fee.

For the 1998 tournament, Warner said FIFA sold them to him, through a Mexican company, for just $1. Warner said the money he made from selling the rights “was used primarily to assist in the development of football in Trinidad and Tobago”.

“This was just after Blatter had won the FIFA presidency following a most brutal campaign against Lennart Johansson, a campaign in which (Mohamed) Bin Hammam and I played critical roles in support of Mr.Blatter,” Warner said in the statement.

Warner has been heavily critical of the FIFA boss ever since he resigned midway through this year as president of CONCACAF, the regional confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Warner was accused of having organized a meeting where Bin Hammam, the former Asian Football Confederation president from Qatar who was running against Blatter for the presidency, was alleged to have distributed $40,000 in brown envelopes to Caribbean soccer officials.

Warner and Bin Hammam have both denied the allegations against them with Warner promising to unleash a “tsunami” against Blatter.

In Thursday’s statement, he said he was sold the rights to more World Cups after helping Blatter get re-elected in 2002 and 2006.

“President Blatter sold me, not the CFU (Caribbean Football Union), the World Cup TV rights for 2002 and 2006, no doubt in appreciation of the work I did (with Bin Hammam) for his re-election. The sale of these rights was used to develop Caribbean football,” Warner said in his statement.

Warner, who is the Minister of Works and Infrastructure in Trinidad and Tobago, said the rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals were again sold to him, but “using the CFU as the vehicle”.

Warner said he was offered another deal this year “in exchange for my support (and by extension the support of the CFU and the CONCACAF) in the FIFA presidential election, FIFA again offered me the sale of the World Cup Rights for 2018 and 2022 as a “gift” at a nominal fee.”

Warner said FIFA also agreed to grant two $500,000 ‘Goal Projects “as a gift to the CONCACAF to do with as CONCACAF wished.”

Warner said FIFA had since withdrawn the television rights for the 2014 World Cup and revoked the offers for 2018 and 2022.

Blatter was re-elected for a fourth term on June 1 and vowed to introduce reforms in the wake of bribery and corruption allegations.

LONDON – Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez was banned for one match and fined 20,000 pounds ($31,300) by the English FA on Wednesday for making an offensive gesture to Fulham fans after Liverpool lost a Premier League match at Craven Cottage earlier this month.

Liverpool were also fined 20,000 pounds and warned as to their future conduct by the FA after their players surrounded referee Kevin Friend who had sent off Jay Spearing in the second half of the match on December 5 which Fulham won 1-0.

Last week Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined 40,000 pounds by the FA for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October.

He intends to appeal against that decision so was eligible to play in Liverpool’s Premier League match against Newcastle United on Friday, but will now miss the game.

In a statement on their official website (www.thefa.com), the FA said Liverpool were being fined and warned as to their future conduct “for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion” during the game at Fulham.

The club admitted the charge, which was in relation to the dismissal of Spearing, but did not accept the standard 20,000 pounds penalty for the offense.

However, an Independent Regulatory Commission found Liverpool guilty and the FA imposed the fine on Wednesday when Suarez was also banned after admitting the offense.

ROTTERDAM – The abandoned Dutch Cup tie between Ajax Amsterdam and AZ Alkmaar will be replayed on Jan. 19 behind closed doors, the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) announced on Wednesday.

The Dec. 20 match was halted after 38 minutes when an Ajax fan ran on to the pitch and attacked Alkmaar goalkeeper Esteban, who picked up a red card from referee Bas Nijhuis for his violent retaliation against the supporter.

Alkmaar coach Gert Jan Verbeek immediately ordered his players back to the dressing room and the team refused to continue the match, saying they feared for their safety.

“This decision was easy to make as we only could choose between finishing the match and a replay” KNVB director Bert van Oostveen said.

Esteban’s red card was rescinded by the Dutch FA last Thursday, which made the option of finishing the game with Ajax leading 1-0 impossible.

Ajax were also fined 10,000 euros for allowing the fan to get on the pitch.