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| Friday,
May 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Kahn saves the day for Bayern Munich
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India, Pak likely to resume ties: Muthiah Cronje challenges ban on
speech Condon: implement
recommendations |
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Tough to weed out corruption: Taylor
Indians keen to overcome jinx Seles loses in second
round Fresh interest in football now:
Bhutia New hockey rules
after World Cup K. R. Singh is
SAI Director
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Kahn saves the day for Bayern Munich Milan, May 24 The German giants, who won their 17th Bundesliga title last Saturday, finally exorcised the ghost of their devastating defeat against Manchester United in the final two years ago by holding their nerve superbly to prevail 5-4 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 at the San Siro Stadium. Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was the hero for Bayern, saving brilliantly on three occasions in the shoot-out to spark wild celebrations amongst his team-mates and an army of German fans who had travelled to Milan. Kahn’s heroics handed Bayern their first European Cup since the Munich side’s heyday in the 1970’s when they won the tournament three times between 1974 and 1976. It also left Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld as only the second man to lead different clubs to victory in the European Cup. Hitzfeld, who coached Borussia Dortmund to the 1997 title, now joins Ernst Happel in the record books. Happel was victorious in the European Cup with Feyenoord in 1970 and SV Hamburg in 1983. But the Bayern coach admitted it had been a close call. “We were lucky winners at the end,” said Hitzfeld. “It’s very bitter when you lose on penalties. Valencia deserved to win too. We were lucky winners. We say thank you to Oliver Kahn.” His Valencia counterpart Hector Cuper, who has lost three successive European finals having lost in last year’s Champions League and the 1999 Cup Winners Cup with Real Mallorca, insisted his team had nothing to be ashamed about. “You need time for the pain to subside,” said the Argentinian. “We have to stand up again.” Last year Valencia were thrashed 3-0 by Real Madrid in the final and Cuper was pleased that his side had given their all. “First and foremost I believe we have done everything. It is down to the stability and the moral fibre of the players. “What I have told them in the dressing room is that they have done everything possible. But while Hitzfeld will earn praise for finally ending Bayern’s 25-year wait to get their hands back on the most prized trophy in European football, it was man-of-the-match Kahn who almost single-handedly won the day for the Germans. The match-winning penalty save came when Kahn dived to his right to parry a penalty from Argentinian defender Mauricio Pellegrino. He had earlier pulled off two stunning penalty saves, showing razor-sharp reflexes and agility to deny Valencia’s Slovenian substitute Zlatko Zahovic and Italian Amedeo Carboni. Brazil’s Paulo Sergio and Swede Patrik Andersson had earlier missed in the shoot-out for Bayern. Both goals in normal time also came from the spot. Stefan Effenberg’s penalty for Bayern early in the second-half had equalised Gaizka Mendieta’s after only three minutes. Effenberg had relieved Mehmet Scholl of penalty-taking duties after the latter’s seventh-minute effort had been saved by Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares. But the shoot-out provided a dramatic conclusion after a match that had started equally spectacularly. It was already an electric atmosphere as the match got underway but within two minutes of the start the roof almost came off the San Siro when Dutch referee Dick Jol awarded a penalty to Valencia. Giant Norwegian striker John Carew made the incursion on the left and as he
centered a melee ensued and Valencia players appealed for a spot kick — apparently for handball - and to the fury of the Bayern players Jol agreed. A minute elapsed before the kick could be taken but playmaker Mendieta kept his cool and netted, beating Kahn’s dive to the right. But within five minutes Jol was pointing to the spot again — this time at the other end. French full-back Jocelyn Angloma lunged at Effenberg in the penalty area and the Bayern midfielder tumbled. Jol again did not hesitate although his decision was equally furiously contested by the Spaniards. Before the kick was taken Canizares made a blatant attempt to intimidate Scholl and the tactic paid dividends as the German’s weak shot struck Canizares’ legs and ricocheted over. Both teams made a change at the break, Cuper bringing on David Albelda for Aimar and Hitzfeld introducing Carsten Jancker for Sagnol. But soon after the restart Bayern were level. This time there was no doubting the handball verdict as Carboni pawed the ball under pressure from Jancker. This time Effenberg volunteered for service and Canizares again tried his psychological warfare but the Bayern captain was unfazed and converted.
AFP Pressure immense, says Kahn
Milan “The pressure was unbelievable. I can’t explain it but I think it was a combination of luck, intuition and thank God!” Kahn said on Wednesday. Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and club president Franz Beckenbauer lavished praise on the Germany keeper. “It is great to be able to take the cup back to Munich. The Champions Leage is something unique for any club...Oliver Kahn was the absolute star and we have him to thank,” said Hitzfeld. Beckenbauer said Kahn was the reason why Bayern had won the Champions League. “Oliver Kahn has been fantastic in the Champions League. He is the main reason that we won the cup,” said Beckenbauer.
Reuters
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India, Pak likely to resume ties: Muthiah Lahore, May 24 India had allowed its national team to play against Pakistan in multination competitions. “The ice would further melt and the bilateral matches could also be resumed with the passage of time between the two countries,” he hoped. Dr Muthiah, did not agree that the cricketing ties between the two countries were strained. “We are here to attend the ACC meeting. The Indian team will be playing a match in the Asian Test Championship in Pakistan. So things are moving towards better relations”, he said.
UNI |
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Cronje challenges ban on speech Johannesburg, May 24 The affidavit objects to a decision by the UCBSA not to allow Cronje to be the guest speaker at a benefit dinner for one of his former colleagues, Gerhardus Liebenberg, who invited the player to do so in June. While the provincial cricket authority, including its two UCBSA representatives, did not object to this, it was sent to the board for ratification. The UCBSA refused to accede to the request. Earlier, UCBSA president Percy Sonn had said he did not want Cronje involved in any aspect of the game, including involvement in any UCBSA-linked function. Cronje’s legal representative, Leslie Sackstein, said the refusal by the board “amounts to an effort by the UCBSA to interfere with Hansie’s relationships and we are determined to fight that.” The hearing is set for September 26. Cronje is already fighting against a UCBSA decision banning from participating in any cricket-related events. Meanwhile Hansie Cronje said if match-fixing was to be permanently eliminated, “irrelevant” one-day games should be done away with. Cronje, whose admission to involvement in match-fixing early last year led to the King Commission and a later life ban from the game on the former national hero, was commenting on the International Cricket Council’s report on match-fixing, which was released on Wednesday. He did not elaborate on what he meant by “irrelevant” games when he spoke to the Afrikaans daily Beeld. “The International Cricket Council must realise that players will be threatened if they are willing to talk,” Cronje said in reaction to allegations made in the report about widespread match-fixing charges, including murder. The report did not name the informants who, Sir Paul Condon, head of the ICC anti-corruption unit, said, feared for their lives. Cronje also said South African players should become part of the executive committee and the disciplinary committees of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA). He was very explicit and had strong views on the involvement of players in the administration of cricket. “At least two players should serve in the executive committee of the
UCBSA. The disciplinary committee should also include players, because they are usually very firm (in acting) against their team mates,” Cronje said.
IANS |
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Condon: implement recommendations London, May 24 The 36-page report, made public yesterday, said that despite the world-wide investigations and exemplary punishments meted out to some of the biggest stars, corruption in cricket still continued and advocated strict implementation of the recommendations. The report, which criticised the ICC for its failure to control match-fixing, enumerated a number of measures to make the world body more effective in the fight against corruption including making the chief executive and the executive board directly accountable for their performance in combating malpractices. The report noted that many ‘undesirable people’ had been able to mix freely with players and the most basic norms of accreditations to mediapersons had not been followed and recommended the appointment of security managers in each of the member countries of the ICC. The security managers would be responsible for preventing and detecting improper approaches to players and could be recruited locally and employed by the national boards but work to a broadly similar job description. If necessary, they should be funded centrally by ICC, the report said. While variations in player conditions, remunerations and contractual obligations were only to be expected, the report argued that jealousy, insecurity and a potentially short international career had contributed to the temptation of the cricketers to be drawn towards corruption. It recommended a more consistent approach to player contracts, ideally common terms and conditions for players of all countries to be laid down by ICC, and an obligation by every cricketer to comply with the latest code of conduct. Cricketers and their representative bodies needed to be involved in the administration of the game and the report felt that they should be drawn into a more productive relationship with icc. However, the self declaration forms, which gave the players and others the opportunity to retrospectively report improper approaches and behaviour in the wake of the exposure of the match-fixing scandal, had not borne any result and should be discontinued, it said. The report felt that matches at neutral venues such as Sharjah, Canada and Singapore were more prone to the dictates of bookmakers and “extra vigilance and security will be necessary if these venues continue to be used or expanded”. “ICC must recognise that the relaxed carnival atmosphere and the blurred regimes for payments and gifts provide an ideal venue for improper approaches,” it said. The use of mobile phones by players and those with insider information during international matches should be restricted, the report said, in order to “avoid the perception or reality of improper release of information for betting purposes”. The report also calls for greater powers for the anti-corruption unit and rechristening it as the anti-corruption and security unit or just security unit to reflect its support to the new security manager posts. The operational independence of ACSU should be maintained with the unit reporting to the chairman of the code of conduct commission on specific investigations, and the work of this body should be at the core of an integrated process to combat malpractices, it said. The report highlighted the increasing
instances of drug abuse in the game, a relatively new phenomenon, and urged the ICC to review its policies on the issue. In view of the increasing commercial activities of the individual boards and ICC, the report made a strong case for the corporate governance of these organisations for professional utilisation of funds. A comprehensive awareness and training programme for players, umpires and ‘other relevant people in cricket’ highlighting the risks of corruption and the methods used to entice cricketers into malpractices has also been evisaged in the report.
PTI |
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Tough to weed out corruption: Taylor Sydney, May 24 Taylor said he was not surprised by Sir Paul Condon’s report on corruption in the game and was glad the governing body at last looked ready to do something about it. But he believed that corruption would be difficult to completely weed out. “You are never going to stop a bookmaker from approaching a player, whether it be in a practice session, in a team hotel or travel between events,” Taylor said. “What you can do though is try and put something in place where the players feel they are not threatened by it, they are prepared to talk to someone about it and do something about it. “I don’t think anyone really wanted to put their hand up and say ‘yes there is a problem in the game’ or they certainly didn’t want to put their hand up and say ‘Yes, I’ve been approached by a bookmaker’.”
AFP Indians keen to overcome jinx Mumbai, May 24 The team management comprising coach John Wright, vice-captain Rahul Dravid — skipper Saurav Ganguly was to join the team later tonight — and manager Chetan Chauhan was confident about winning the two-Test series against Zimbabwe and the following triangular one-day tournament with West Indies as the third team. “The boys are aware that India have not won a series abroad in past 15 years and they are brimming with confidence to break the jinx,” Chauhan told reporters here today. He said the performance in the recent home series against Australia had given them “the much needed boost”. Ganguly could not attend the joint press conference as he was held up in Kolkata due to “some personal reasons” and would join the team just before departure tonight, Chauhan said. Dravid said the important thing was a good performance by the team and the result would be taken care of. “It is important to concentrate on the basic processes without getting unduly excited over the result,” he said. Wright echoed his views saying there was no winning formula and the team would have to work on getting its basics right.
PTI |
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Seles loses in second round Madrid, May 24 The 25-year-old 1992 French Open junior champion, who reached the last 16 at Roland Garros last year as a qualifier, split the first two sets before she held her nerve to take the third and see off the three-time French Open winner. Seles, playing her first match on the tour since early March, admitted the defeat had dealt a blow to her French Open preparations. “I’m a little disappointed,” Seles said. “I hoped to come to Madrid to play a few matches before Roland Garros, but it didn’t turn out that way. I haven’t played in three months, so I’m quite tired, but Rossana played a great match, a smart match,” she added. De Los Rios said the win was the highlight of her career. “I knew that I could beat Monica, but when I was near victory I was thinking a lot of things, and I had to concentrate very hard to win. This is my most important victory,” she said. “I’m feeling very good going into Roland Garros, and hope i can do well there again.” Another former French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicrio had better luck though. She benefited from German opponent Barbara Rittner retiring with a thigh injury on the final point of the first set tie-break which the Spaniard took 7-4.
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Fresh interest in football now: Bhutia Kolkata, May 24 Talking to UNI here today, Bhutia said there was a growing interest in the sport after the string of successes Indian soccer had of late and with the new stream of thought in its administration. “Being hosts to pre-World Cup soccer matches was a high point in Indian football. It had renewed the charm of the game and had motivated the players to a great extent,’’ he said. “The club level players now aim for a higher mark than just playing in the National Football League or Federation Cup. They can look to play for India in the qualifying matches in the big pool,’’ he said. He blamed the media for depriving football of its due share of limelight and said soccer needed to be managed and marketed professionally to popularise it. Talking about Indian team’s coaching prospects, Bhutia said, Sukhwinder Singh is a fantastic man. He has got along well with the team. There is an urge to do better.’’ He added that Sukhwinder was a team man, thoroughly professional and systematic and had generated a lot of fighting spirit. “The boys are mentally much stronger thanks to him”. When asked for comparisons between Akramov, under whom he had also played, with the present coach, he said: “It won’t be judicious to compare them. Both have different styles. Akramov was more aggressive and technically better equipped, but ‘Sukhi sir’ is a team man. He knows the players thoroughly and uses them according to their strength. They are different. ‘Sukhi sir’ should be given a longer stint with the boys.’’ Bhutia felt the Indian coaches should be taken abroad for training so that their cultural and geographical knowledge and style of playing could be given the sheen of European or Latin American technique. “Sukhwinder sir has a steady head. He should be given a free hand in choosing the players. After all it is his job that is at stake. So the least the administration interfered the better,’’ Bhutia said without mincing words. When asked if he had shared with the players here some of his experience from his two seasons with Bury FC, he said it would not be particularly nice going out of turn to train fellows players in the presence of the coach. “However, I did what I could do to motivate the team,’’ a humble Bhutia added. He sounded confident when asked if there was enough fresh talent in the team. “The likes of R.C. Prakash, Alvito D’Cunha, Jules Alberto, Dipak Mondal and Basudeb Mondal have the skill. They needed opportunity to prove themselves and proper grooming. With time our reserve bench would look as strong as the playing eleven.’’ “Talking about his future, Bhutia said “I am only 24 now and have a lot of football left in me.’’ Talking about club football in the country, he said big clubs like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Churchill Brothers had been instrumental in giving the country some of the biggest names and should be given the right treatment by the All-India Football Federation (AIFF). While talking about player management of the clubs, he said the tussle that existed between the AIFF and the club officials regarding the lending of players to the camps for national duty looked ugly. “The teams pay the players big money and would obviously want their services for the graded matches like NFL and Federation Cup and the AIFF administration should consider that. Manchester United would not let their star striker leave the club in a crucial UEFA Cup match, will they? It is a matter of internal understanding.’’ “Our clubs have an attitude problem. They don’t support players. Bijen Singh is a good player. He has proved it. Now after a season of injury there are no takers for him,’’ he said. “The managers, officials and coach of his club should have supported him in the bad times. Sourav Ganguly had a bad patch. Is he out of the team? On the contrary, in soccer, they make excuses for turning Bijen out. They say he is bad, very bad. So even if there are chances of improving, its gone,’’ Bhutia complains. “If you like a player keep him. But if you don't like a player don’t destroy him at least. We got to be more professional in our outlook. I have seen it abroad,’’ he added. When asked about his feelings of captaining India, he said, “Its electrifying. I felt great. It is the ultimate goal for any footballer. I hope I have lived up to the expectation.’’
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New hockey rules after World Cup New Delhi, May 24 The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has decided to bring into effect three new rules — to discourage “over-crowding in the defence area, to increase the flow of the game and goal-scoring chances.” However, these rules will come into effect only after the next year’s World Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur. As per the new rules — a goal can be scored from any part of the 25 yard line, maximum of eight players of the defending team can remain in the defence area and only eight defenders will be standing in their area at the time of long-corner conversion by the rival team. The FIH rule board recommended these changes as it found that after the implementation of no-off-side rule, there was a rush of players in the circle which had decreased the chances of goals but increased the number of fouls. The FIH rule board agreed to introduce these changes after long study. It is of the view that these changes will be effective only if all the three were applied collectively. These would avert frequent whistling and stoppage of the play.
UNI |
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K. R. Singh is
SAI Director Chandigarh, May 24 The previous incumbent, Mr Jasbir Singh, who was posted to this centre in February 2001, had been ill for sometime and under treatment at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. In the past two years, this centre has had three directors. Mr Singh when contacted said the region — Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir — was full of potential and he would try to boost the sports activities here. Mr Sanjeev Sharma was appointed new Deputy Director. |
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