‘Gentle giant’ passes away

London: Wales international striker John Charles, dubbed the “gentle giant” by Italian fans during five prolific seasons with Juventus, died early on Saturday at the age of 72.

Charles, who had emergency heart surgery and part of his foot amputated due to serious blood circulation problems after falling ill in Milan in January, died in a Wakefield hospital.

Born in Cwmdu near Swansea on December 27, 1931, Charles scored 147 goals for Leeds United in 200 games before moving to the Turin club in 1957 for a then British record of £65,000.

He became one of the greatest players to represent Juventus, notching 93 goals in 155 matches, and also enjoyed the rare distinction of playing an entire career without being booked or sent off. Charles, tall, strong and quick, was equally formidable at centre-half or in midfield and was the first leading British player to make a lasting impression in Italy.

Roger Federer pulls out

Marseille: World No.1 Roger Federer has pulled out of the Marseille Open next week because of injury, organisers said on Saturday. Federer, the Australian Open champion, was the top seed in the tournament which also features Russian Marat Safin and Spaniard Juan-Carlos Ferrero.

The organisers were unable to give any details of the injury.

Lehmann says sorry

Berlin: Arsenal’s Jens Lehmann has apologised to Oliver Kahn for the controversial remarks about his goalkeeping rival and said he is prepared to travel with him to the Euro 2004 finals.

Germany’s reserve goalkeeper had said he was better than Kahn and criticised Kahn’s lifestyle. “I understand that what I said can be interpreted as a moral judgement and that was certainly irresponsible. I have to apologise for that.” Lehmann told Saturday’s mass-circulation Bild daily.

Hiddink signs

3-year contract

Amsterdam: Coach Guus Hiddink has agreed a three-year contract as coach and technical director with Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, the club said.

An agreement between club chairman Harry van Raaij and the former Dutch and Korean national coach was over-ruled by PSV’s supervisory board this month because the board wanted extra conditions such as the possibility of cancelling the contract after one year. “I’m pleased that the conflict inside the board of PSV has been solved,” said van Raaij.

Fifa surplus

Zurich: Fifa announced on Saturday that it had a surplus of $113.7 million in 2003. The body received revenue of $574 million, but only spent $460.5 million, it said in a statement. This is the first year for which Fifa has produced audited accounts.

Fifa said it also had equity of $75.8 million and $275 million in cash. “The financial credibility of our organisation has finally been restored. We can now celebrate our centennial safe in the knowledge that we have preserved the legacy of our predecessors,” said Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

Els pulls out

Los Angeles: World No.3 Ernie Els has withdrawn from next week’s Match Play Championship for personal reasons.

“Unfortunately this year’s WGC-Accenture Match Play falls on the week preceding Samantha, my daughter, beginning her first year of school in London,” the South African said.

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