Bayern Munich’s treble-winning former coach Jupp Heynckes has turned down Pep Guardiola’s invite to help celebrate the club’s historic fourth straight German league title this Saturday in the Bavarian capital.
Heynckes, 71, steered Bayern to the 2013 treble of Champions League, German Cup and Bundesliga titles before his successor Guardiola became head coach for the 2013/14 season. The Spaniard continued Heynckes’ success by steering Bayern to the German league title in each of his following three seasons in charge.
Bayern have won this season’s Bundesliga title, making them the first club to win the German league title four years in a row. But Heynckes has turned down Guardiola’s invite to join the party this Saturday at the Allianz Arena, after the final game of the season at home to Hanover 96, in what will be the Spaniard’s final home game before coaching Manchester City next season.
“Many thanks for the invite, but the party belongs to Pep,” Heynckes told German daily Bild. “Not just because of the fourth (straight) title, but also because it will be his farewell party.” Bayern were confirmed the 2015/16 Bundesliga champions after Saturday’s 2-1 win at Ingolstadt, after which Guardiola made his invitation. “Of the four championship titles, I only helped with one, so a quarter, Pep took the other three and that is a great achievement,” added Heynckes, who turned 71 yesterday.
 
Bale left out of Wales training squad
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale was not included in the 29-man Wales squad announced by manager Chris Coleman yesterday for a pre-Euro 2016 training camp in Portugal. Wales head to the Algarve for a five-day get-together on May 24 and Bale is due to line up for Real against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final in Milan on May 28. In his absence, the stand-out names were Swansea City centre-back Ashley Williams, the captain, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen of Liverpool.
The announcement of the squad was delayed by four hours to allow Coleman time to check on the fitness of players who sustained injuries over the weekend. Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley was selected despite being forced off with a knock after coming on as a substitute in his side’s 2-1 win over Stoke City in the Premier League on Saturday.
The only uncapped player was 21-year-old Bristol City striker Wes Burns. Coleman, who has led Wales to a first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, will whittle his squad down to the required 23 players on May 31.
Wales play their final pre-tournament friendly game against Sweden in Stockholm on June 5. They open their Euro 2016 Group B campaign against Slovakia in Bordeaux on June 11 before playing neighbours England in Lens five days later and then tackling Russia in Toulouse on June 20.

FIFA’s Rocha loses final appeal against US extradition
Switzerland’s top court yesterday rejected ex-FIFA official Julio Rocha’s bid to block his extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with a raft of corruption-related offences.
Rocha, the former president of the Nicaraguan Football Federation and a FIFA development officer, was among the seven people arrested in a raid in May last year at a luxury Zurich hotel by Swiss police acting on a US warrant.
He agreed to be extradicted to his native Nicaragua, where he also faced graft charges, but the Swiss justice ministry gave priority to the US request, which Rocha fought.
After his appeal against US extradition failed in a lower court in March, Rocha lost another legal battle yesterday when Switzerland’s Federal Tribunal confirmed the legality of his transfer to US jurisdiction.
“Complaints raised against the judgment (of the lower court) are unfounded,” said a statement from Switzerland’s highest court.
US prosecutors have accused Rocha of taking bribes in exchange for the sale of sports marketing rights for World Cup qualifiers when he led the Nicaraguan federation.
His transfer to New York is likely to be carried out in the coming days, Swiss justice ministry spokesman Folco Galli told AFP.
Rocha is the last of the so-called FIFA suspects to remain in Switzerland. The six others arrested last May and two suspects seized in December have all be extradited to the United States or their home countries.
It was the May 2015 raids that unleashed an unprecedented scandal at FIFA, which has seen 40 people charged with graft-related offences by US prosecutors.