Everton to serve drugs ban

The Spanish Sports Disciplinary Committee has ratified the two year ban handed out to Celta Vigo Brazilian midfielder Everton Giovanella for testing positive for nandrolone.

After Celta Vigo's second division game with Pontevedra in December 2004, Giovanella provided a urine sample which was found to contain 3.7 nanograms of nandrolone per millilitre in his blood, almost twice the maximum amount allowed. The two-year ban was handed out by the Spanish Football Federation on 27th September 2005.

The club appealed to the Federation, unsuccessfully, and now the Sports Disciplinary Committee, generally Spain's highest appeal court for such cases, has ruled the player must serve the two year ban.

It seems, though, that even 15 months after the test was carried out, the case will be prolonged even further. Giovanella himself insisted on Tuesday:

"They're not going to wear me down. If they think this, they're very much mistaken. I will continue to fight until the end."

Giovanella has decided to take the matter to civil courts to try and have the decision overturned. He indicated he "believed in the courts" before castigating the Spanish footballing and sporting authorities who wanted him banned "no matter what."

The 35-year-old has played only two games this season for his club, and appealed for the sanction to be lifted until the matter is sorted. The Sports Disciplinary Committee refused this, just as the Spanish Federation had done last year. Should the player fail with his final appeal, it is likely to spell the end of his career.

Atlético Madrid captain Fernando Torres has urged the club to let current caretaker coach Pepe Murcia continue beyond the end of the season and make his position permanent.

After a disastrous start to the campaign under Argentinean manager Carlos Bianchi, Murcia has managed to revive the fortunes of the &lsquorojiblancos'.

Last Sunday's victory over Racing Santander was their 7th in their last 8 games, and has put the club in a genuine position to aim for the UEFA Cup spots by the end of the season.

For Torres personally, the managerial switch was the kickstart needed to get his season underway too. He revealed the early part of the season was particularly difficult

"There were moments that were particularly bad. Not just for me personally, but also for the team, as I could see another year lost, with no solutions to the problem visible."

Since the turn of the year, however, Torres has found the back of the net seven times - more than any other striker in the league, a statistic he attributes to the qualities Murcia has brought to the dressing room.

"I hope they (the board) let Murcia continue, as he has demonstrated that he can lead Atlético. He has led us out of a very bad situation. He has brought hope back to the fans, which is even more difficult than bringing hope back to players."

Only time will tell if Murcia will be given the job on a long-term deal, though he couldn't have done more to merit it. He is now the favourite of both the players and the fans, and many see his appointment as an inevitability, though with Atlético's history of consistently employing big name Managers, the final run-in may yet prove crucial.

Espanyol travel to Galicia today to defend their 2-1 aggregate lead from the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Deportivo la Coruña.

The tie has fallen behind schedule due to the abandonment of Deportivo's quarter-final in Valencia, when a linesman was struck by a coin thrown from the crowd.

Deportivo coach Joaquin Caparros is set to prefer Diego Tristan to Arizmendi in attack as they go in search of a place in the final for what would be only the third time in their history.

Miguel Angel Lotina's job as Espanyol manager has come under pressure this season as his side failed to hit the heights of last season when goals from Maxi Rodriguez (now at Atlético) and Raul Tamudo fired them to a UEFA cup spot.

Since then, however, their league form has been patchy and although they lie 12th spot, they are only four points clear of the relegation zone.

The winner of the tie will face Real Zaragoza in the final, who could scarcely have had a more difficult path. Following their sensational win in the quarter-finals over Barcelona, Zaragoza thumped Real Madrid 6-1 in the Romareda, and survived a scare in the Bernabeu to make their second final in three years.

FC Bruges have signalled they would like to make Javier Portillo's loan move permanent&hellip Barcelona pair Edmilson and Thiago Motta will serve one match bans for their dismissals against Osasuna last Sunday&hellip Ronaldo and Iker Casillas pulled out of yesterday's training session with minor strains&hellip Independiente striker Sergio Aguero has said he would relish a move to Real Madrid.

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