MILAN - AC Milan is set to fire coach Clarence Seedorf and replace him with youth team coach Filippo Inzaghi, Italian media said Tuesday. Seedorf is only four months into a two-and-a-half year contract and has overseen a considerable improvement in results, but rumors about the Dutchman's future have been rife for several weeks. Club President Silvio Berlusconi met chief executive Adriano Galliani to discuss the move at the former's villa in Arcore, around 20km outside Milan, late Monday night, media reported. Italy's three sports papers, Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport, all carried similar reports, which were unsourced. Seedorf, 38, who spent 10 years of his playing career at Milan, took over at the end of January to replace Massimiliano Allegri, who was fired after two-and-a-half years in charge. Former Italian prime minister Berlusconi had been chasing Seedorf for several months before finally appointing him, yet the Dutchman quickly fell out of favor. Although Seedorf had no previous coaching experience, results improved markedly under him with 11 wins in 19 league games, compared to five in the previous 19 under Allegri. Milan climbed up the table to finish eighth, missing out on Europa League qualification by one point. However, it also suffered an embarrassing exit from the Champions League after losing 5-1 on aggregate to eventual finalists Atletico Madrid in the round of 16. Similar to Seedorf, Inzaghi has no previous experience of coaching a senior professional team. The 40-year-old spent 11 seasons playing for Milan, where he won two Serie A titles and two Champions League titles, and also won 57 caps for Italy. He has been in charge of Milan's under-19 team for the past two seasons. Gonzalez is Espanyol coach Former Spain international Sergio Gonzalez was Tuesday named as the new coach of his former club Espanyol. Gonzalez, who succeeds Mexican Javier Aguirre, steps up from coaching the Catalan side's reserve team on a two-year contract. The 37-year-old played for Espanyol and also had spells with Deportivo La Coruna and Levante. He earned 11 caps for Spain. UEFA, Europol team up to fight fixing UEFA has signed a working agreement with Europol, which says it is involved in nine investigations of organized crime syndicates linked to match-fixing. Europol director Rob Wainwright says it is supporting police services across Europe in the cases. No details of the investigations were given at a signing ceremony with UEFA President Michel Platini. Platini says fighting match-fixing is a personal priority for him as a former player. Wainwright says Europol, the European Union police agency, will share information on suspected fixing and illegal betting with UEFA and its 54 member federations. The agency has a sports corruption unit comprising 15 EU members and two other countries. Wainwright says match-fixing is not a major problem in European football “but we are making sure it doesn't become one.” — Agencies
