Giggs to quit international scene

Poll doesn’t go quietly

Former Exeter chairman jailed

Ryan Giggs announces his retirement from international football. The 33-year-old Manchester United star will make his 64th and last appearance for Wales in Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic in his home-town of Cardiff. It means the man who has won more league title winning medals than any other player will not have graced a major international tournament. Despite that obvious omission from his otherwise glittering CV, he candidly believes his decision benefits all parties:

“It definitely helps myself, I’ll get those breaks in the season, and obviously it will help Manchester United because I’ll be playing less football. But it will also help Wales. I don’t feel that I’ve been performing as well as I could have. Hopefully this will not only prolong my career but allow me to be fresher and allow me to enjoy the last two or three years.”

Giggs made his Wales debut against Germany in October 1991.

Top referee Graham Poll may have retired as a Premer League official but there’s not much chance of him being forgotten. A day after confirming his retirement, he accuses the Football Association of a lack of support and undermining the authority of referees. Speaking in a BBC TV’s Inside Sport programme that is due to be screened next week, he is aggrieved that chief executive Brian Barwick didn’t give him any public backing after Chelsea captain John Terry disputed Poll’s reasons for sending him off against Tottenham Hotspur in November:

“I pleaded ‘You must sort this Brian, it’s something you must do’. He chose to ignore that’. Unfortunately, in this case, John Terry was - and still is - England captain. So they’re left with the confrontation of England captain versus English referee. It shouldn’t be that. It should be that whoever the player is, if he has done something wrong, he should be dealt with properly.”

FA chairman Geoff Thompson is named Britain’s next FIFA vice-president after John McBeth has his nomination withdrawn following the Scottish FA president’s accusations that the African and Caribbean nations are being soiled by corruption and greed. Jack Warner - the controversial FIFA vice-president from Trinidad and Tobago - composed an official letter of protest about the respected Scot’s comments. He said: “Geoff Thompson should have been in that position in the first place. The other guy was just an idiot.”

John Russell - the former chairman of Exeter City - is jailed for 21 months having been found guilty of fraudulent trading during his time in charge at St James’ Park. His deputy Mike Lewis is ordered by Bristol Crown Court to serve 200 hours community service for his lesser role in the fraud. Ex-Scarborough chairman Russell had claimed he had the assets to guarantee the club’s debts. Prosecutor Paul Dunkels disagreed: “He was broke. He had no assets, no money and no bank account and certainly had no money to invest in Exeter City.” They left the club in May 2003 after a year in charge. They also left the Grecians £4.5million in debt but blamed the previous regime.