Atlantas appoint Pankratjevas

FK Atlantas

RC Lens chairman Gervais Martel will remain at the helm of France's Union of Professional Football Clubs - or Union des Clubs Professionnels de Football - after winning last night's election. Indeed Martel, in charge of Lens since 1988, was the only candidate for a position he has held for the past 12 years. "I wondered if I should carry on after so much time," he said. "But I was asked to do so and I recognise that there is a lot of interesting business to deal with."

Coach Elshad Akhmedov has been released by Azerbaijani league newcomers MTK Araz Imishli. The 37-year-old, who was assistant coach to his predecessor Nazir Muradov, who was fired before the start of the season, has decided that the responsibility of coaching is too great for him. "It's too early for me to work in such conditions - first I have to get experience working as an assistant coach," said the former Azeri international.