ll and we dont hit, Mets manager Terry Collins said. Then theres a

ATHENS, Greece -- Michel Platini will be allowed to address European soccer leaders before his successor as UEFA president is elected, despite serving a four-year ban from the sport.UEFAs eagerness to ensure Platini can deliver a speech in Athens on Wednesday is in keeping with how the body has stood by the disgraced Frenchman since he was first suspended in October. No interim leader was installed as Platini was allowed to exhaust all legal routes in an attempt to overturn his ban over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2 million) from FIFA in 2011.The ban prevents Platini from holding any position of power in soccer or carrying out any activity that gives the impression he is still acting as an official. But the FIFA ethics committee said UEFA asked for an exception for Mr. Platini to be able to make a short farewell address at the congress in the Greek capital.The chairman of the adjudicatory chamber, Mr. Hans-Joachim Eckert, granted this exception as a gesture of humanity, the judges office said in a statement to The Associated Press.After being led since 2007 by Platini, a former France captain, UEFAs next president will be a largely unknown administrator -- either UEFA vice president Michael van Praag of the Netherlands or Slovenian federation leader Aleksander Ceferin.Platinis home federation of France has publicly backed Ceferin, as has Poland federation president Zbigniew Boniek, a former teammate of Platini at Juventus.In Athens, Platini is due to be publicly re-united with former UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, who seized on his boss being banned to pursue the FIFA presidency.Sepp Blatter, who was banned along with Platini for authorizing the payment, was not allowed to deliver a similar farewell address to the FIFA congress in February when Infantino was elected president.The careers of Platini and Blatter effectively ended when Swiss police raided FIFA after an executive committee meeting last September and questioned both about the payment.Switzerlands attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Blatter, while Platini is being treated as between a witness and an accused person. There has been no recent update on the status of the case.---Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReportsNike Air Max 270 Sale Dames . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Nike Air Max 270 Heren Sale . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/uitverkoop-air-max-tailwind/max-tailwind-8.html . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Nike Air Max 95 Sale Nederland . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Nike Air Max 270 Dames Goedkoop . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland.DETROIT -- Injuries are part of the game, but for the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, they seem to be an everyday part.One of the reasons Detroit didnt make any non-waiver trade deadline deals -- aside from having little to offer -- was the expectation of getting pitchers Jordan Zimmermann and Daniel Norris back from the disabled list along with right fielder J.D. Martinez.Theyre all back now -- sort of.Norris was taken off the disabled list -- and optioned to Toledo.Zimmermann came off -- and got rocked in his first start. Now hes dealing with a bad right lat muscle that might land him back on the disabled list. More might be known after he throws a side session on Sunday.Martinez came back as a pinch hitter and clubbed the winning home run on the first pitch he saw upon his return, then smoked a double on the first pitch he saw in his first start the following day.The Mets will be missing a middle-of-the-order bat for two weeks (or maybe more) with outfielder Yoenis Cespedes going on the DL with a right quad issue he has been dealing with for three weeks.Thats not to mention problems with keeping their first basemen healthy and assorted injuries to other infielders and key rotation members.It seems like theres a night we pitch well and we dont hit, Mets manager Terry Collins said. Then theres another night we score six and we win a game and the pitchings OK. The next night we dont hit again.Its certainly hard to understand why were going like that.New York will send right-hander Logan Verrett out to face Detroit for the first time when he starts Saturday night against the Tigers.dddddddddddd.Verrett is 3-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 28 games with the Mets this season, including 10 starts. He has made four starts since the All-Star break with no decisions but a 3.86 ERA. He has 16 strikeouts and eight walks.This will be his second straight start against an American League team, having allowed three runs in five innings against the New York Yankees in his most recent start.Detroit left-hander Matt Boyd will be seeking a chance to prolong his time in the rotation when he starts against the Mets.Boyd (2-2, 4.71 ERA) will be making his 10th start in 11 appearances with Detroit this season. He has done a decent job of filling in while Zimmermann and Norris recuperated.It will be his first game against the Mets and only his second time facing a National League opponent. Boyd got two outs in relief in a game against the Cubs last Aug. 19 in Chicago.Boyd has been inconsistent, tending to throw too many hittable pitches at some point in his most of his starts, but he did pick up a win in his last outing. He allowed three runs in five innings with a walk and six strikeouts against Houston on July 29.Detroit has pulled within two games of first-place Cleveland in the American League Central after winning nine of 10 games while the Indians have cooled off.We want everyone to join us, Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler said. Theres plenty of room on the bandwagon. ' ' '