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52 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 MARCH 2014 FOOTBALL RUGBY Sport Pardew facing fine and long ban for headbutting player Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew faces a hefty fine and a touchline ban after being sent off for headbutting Hull City midfielder David Meyler during his side's 4-1 win at the KC Stadium yesterday. PARDEW was sent to the stands by referee Kevin Friend in the 72nd minute of the Premier League match for his attack on Meyler, who was booked for his part in the in- cident. Pardew told Sky Sports: "I will have to sit down from now on be- cause that's two or three incidents I've been involved in. It was a heat of the moment thing - I massively regret it. "I didn't mean to do anything ag- gressive but I did move my head for- ward and that's enough. I wouldn't have got involved if I'd been on the other side of the line. Perhaps it will teach me to sit down. "It's a shame because it took the gloss off a fantastic performance from us." Ladbrokes quickly suspended bet- ting on Pardew being the next Pre- mier League manager to lose his job following the incident, while Wil- liam Hill slashed their odds on his sacking after releasing a statement suggesting that the under-fire man- ager's five-year contract could be terminated for gross misconduct. "We wait to see how Pardew's ac- tions are dealt with," said Ladbro- kes spokesman Alex Donohue. "Keeping the market open during games often keeps us on our toes but we've never come across cir- cumstances like this to date." Hull manager Steve Bruce told Sky: "It was a good job it was David Meyler because we have seen peo- ple rolling around on the f loor but David has acted okay. "But I think Alan knows he has been stupid and he has apologised. We all do stupid things in the heat of the game and Alan will regret it. He has led with his head and he will regret it. "I haven't seen anything like that before. It is an unsavoury incident but we have accepted his apology and we move on." Newcastle were leading 3-1 when the incident occurred after goals by Moussa Sissoko and Loic Remy had put them 2-0 ahead by halftime before Curtis Davies gave the home side some hope with a header at the start of the second period. Sissoko restored Hull's two-goal lead after 55 minutes and Vurnon Anita added the fourth in the dying minutes. But the game was overshadowed when Meyler and Pardew clashed on the sideline after the Ireland international ran into the Magpies boss and manoeuvred him out of the way to take a quick throw in. Pardew moved his head towards the midfielder and was promptly sent off after Meyler received his booking. Pardew stared straight at the referee, then marched off. On the opening day of last sea- son, Pardew shoved assistant ref- eree Peter Kirkup and was given a two-match ban and fined £20,000 pounds by the FA for improper conduct. Malta to face Greece and the Czech Republic MALTA will open 2014 European Championship C against Greece in June before traveling to Havlichkuv Brod to tackle the Czech Republic, the Rugby League European Fed- eration (RLEF) has announced. The announcement was made as the RLEF introduced European Championship branding to its three-tiers of official competition, aligning the organisation with the majority of European sports. The European Cup will now be known as the European Champi- onship, while the Shield and Bowl are replaced by European Cham- pionship B and European Cham- pionship C. The latter two compe- titions are already linked and the RLEF is planning for all competi- tions to have a connecting rela- tionship of some degree, pending confirmation of the Rugby League International Federation's multi- year calendar. For the Maltese, it will be a re- turn to European competition af- ter a quiet 2013, their last competi- tive fixture was a 74-12 drubbing of Denmark in Copenhagen which saw the 22-in-the-world ranked Malta win the Dove Men+Care International Series in September 2012. The Maltese are expected to be strengthened in the coming years approaching the 2017 Rugby League World Cup following the emergence of a number of players into the sport's highest stage, Aus- tralia's NRL and England's Super League. In the Super League, Malta born international Jonathan Magrin has been put on standby by coach Tony Rea to debut in the London Broncos' first team. In Australia, Jake Mamo and Andrew Hef- fernan, both eligible to represent Malta through their grandparents, have debuted with the Newcastle Knights and the Canberra Raiders respectively in recent weeks. Malta half back Jarrod Sammut is also a regular star in the English Super League and Danny Galea is starting with Widnes Vikings af- ter moving from Australian club Canterbury Bulldogs over the off- season. Across in Italy, the FIRL has paid tribute to the work done by head coach Carlo Napolitano who has stood down from the national role after leading the Azzurri in their inaugural 2013 Rugby League World Cup campaign. "Rarely in life do you meet people of the calibre of Carlo Napolitano" said Italian Rugby League Presi- dent Orazio D'Arro, D'Arro. "From 2008 he has dedicated a large portion of his life to the de- velopment of rugby league in Italy, often without due reward. During this period Carlo has made a major contribution to the on-field suc- cess but most importantly he has provided support and contribution to the establishment of the consti- tution and operational structures of F.I.R.L." The Malta Rugby League (MRL) will welcome two touring English teams in order to help prepare Malta coach Anthony Micallef 's locally based Malta national team players prepare for selection in the summer internationals. In May, the West Yorkshire Police team will visit Malta before a BARLA representative team tours in June. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt