Football: Spurs fans have no confidence in Sugar

THE TOTTENHAM Action Group is calling on shareholders in the club to support a vote of no confidence in chairman Alan Sugar and the Spurs board at today's annual meeting.

Supporters who own shares will get the chance to voice their grievances during the meeting at White Hart Lane and the TAG members aim to give Sugar a hard time. The TAG spokesman, Mark Jacob, said: "Why should shareholders and season-ticket holders merely be used as turnstile fodder yet have no voice in the future of the club, yet once again be asked to provide the board with the power to return more of the same? We call upon our fellow shareholders to call the board of directors to account and to support a motion of no confidence in the board of directors."

TAG feel Sugar has not fulfilled his promises - such as vowing to stand aside and let "some other brain surgeon" have a go at running the club if he did not deliver the championship by the end of last season. They also want him to provide the funds to sign top-quality players and to hold on to Sol Campbell.

"Mr Sugar has supplied one trophy in eight seasons. Several world-class players have left and not been replaced with better or indeed similar quality ones. David Pleat says we will not sign mediocre players, yet that is what we already have," added Jacob.

The Football Association of Ireland said yesterday it had signed an agreement which gives Sky Television broadcasting rights for Ireland's home matches until 2002. The deal, signed in Tokyo, is worth a minimum of IRpounds 4.25m (pounds 3.5m) in fees to the FAI, the association said. The funds would be used to support the national league, the organisation's youth development programme and planning for its new stadium at Eircom Park.

The European Commission said in a preliminary ruling yesterday that it had no jurisdiction over a Uefa rule limiting ownership of more than one club by the same company.

"The Commission's preliminary view is that the rule in question, which does not allow more than one club belonging to the same owner to take part in the same competition, could fall outside the (EU) treaty's competition rules," the Commission said in a statement.

But the Commission added that, before taking a final decision, it would study whether less restrictive means could be found to ensure the integrity of competitions in cases where more than one club belongs to the same owner.

Uefa's limits on common ownership have come under the spotlight as a growing number of media magnates have sought stakes in leading European clubs. English National Investment Company has large stakes in four European clubs while the French television company Canal Plus owns Paris St-Germain and has a major stake in the Swiss club Servette.

The Turkish champions, Galatasaray, knocked Bologna out of the Uefa Cup yesterday, winning a mostly scrappy third- round, second leg game 2-1 for a 3-2 aggregate victory.

Hasan Sas opened the scoring after five minutes, sending a volley past the Bologna goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca from a cross by Okan Buruk. Bologna drew level three minutes later with a goal from Nicola Ventola, but midfielder Umit Davala won the tie for the Turks in the 29th minute, connecting with an outstretched foot from an Emre Belozoglu cross.

The Cameroonian Joseph-Desire Job then scored twice as Lens reached the fourth round with a 4-1 win at Kaiserslautern for a 5-3 aggregate win.