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We need better referees, says Sepp Blatter
Exit Poll
Powerhouses call the shots
Nothing unites like football
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Weak leagues to blame for Asian failure, says AFC chief
World Cup air for sale!
India look to end stalemate
BCCI launches hunt for ‘cricket star’
Board withholds subsidies to CAB Rupeetinder stars in PSEB’s win in hot weather cricket
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We need better referees, says Sepp Blatter
Berlin, June 29 “In the same way that our members send their best teams, FIFA owes it to itself, in its own flagship competition, to send out the best referees,” Blatter said. “Even more so because hundreds of millions of players and referees around the world are watching what happens in Germany with the desire to improve themselves and understand how the game is changing. “Instead, I’ve noted that instructions aren’t being followed consistently from one match to another. When a coach complains to me that shirt pulling earned his player a yellow card one night and nothing for his team’s group rivals the next, how am I supposed to respond? And then there are the tackles from behind I’ve seen go unpunished and the violent conduct that has escaped sanction, not to mention the serious errors made in applying the rules.” Blatter, however, said he still opposes video review. “I’ve always supported referees, who are essential in football, to the extent that I continue to oppose video usage and other experiments that would restrict them in the execution of their duties. If we want better matches, we need better referees as well.” “Because of that, we need to push for the professionalisation of the refereeing corps and spread the net in terms of who decides who the best ones are. I will make sure FIFA leads this debate once the World Cup is over.” Blatter talked up the tournament in the rest of the interview. And in a newspaper interview to be published today, he called the World Cup in Germany “the best of all time”. “Never has an event been presented so well, both globally and emotionally. And we are being offered very high quality games,” Blatter told the Berlin daily Taesspiegel, which released excerpts yesterday. Blatter told FIFA.com he had been certain a tournament in the heart of Europe hosted by a country with a soccer pedigree like the three-time world champions would be a success. Blatter also praised the host team in the newspaper interview. FIFA chief slams Eriksson
Blatter has taken a swipe at England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson for playing with a sole striker in the 1-0 second round win over Ecuador. Eriksson sent Wayne Rooney on alone up front against the South Americans in front of a five-man midfield and while he played well, England struggled in what turned out to be a dour affair. In an interview today with Tagesspiegel newspaper, Blatter said while he was happy with most of the attacking play so far in the World Cup, he had been disappointed with the England game-plan. “I am happy that the play is very offensive. The only exception is England who fielded just one striker in their second round match,” he said. Eriksson started the World Cup against Paraguay with both Michael Owen and Peter Crouch up front. But after Owen was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, the Swede reverted to a fit-again Wayne Rooney playing solo up front. England take on Portugal in Gelsenkirchen on
Saturday. — AFP
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Exit Poll
He showed three yellow cards to Josip Simunic of Croatia before sending him off in the 2-2 draw with Australia on June 22. Poll told Sky Sports News he deeply regretted his mistake which he called inexcusable. FIFA yesterday dispensed with Poll’s services for the rest of the football tournament in Germany.
— Reuters
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Powerhouses call the shots
Frankfurt, June 29 Four years ago, half of the quarterfinalists at the World Cup were from nations with no history of major football success. Turkey, South Korea, Senegal and the USA gave the tournament a truly global look and two of them made it to the semifinals. And after some first-round upsets this year, unfamiliar faces mixed in with the powerhouses among the last 16 with Australia and Ecuador joining World Cup newcomers Ukraine and Ghana. But of the four, only Ukraine made it to the quarterfinals. The reality is that, once again, the same names are chasing football’s biggest prize. The first quarterfinal at this year’s World Cup has three-time champion Germany taking on Argentina, who has won the title twice. Brazil, a record five-time World Cup winner and also the defending champion, face 1998 champions France. Italy, another three-time winner, must get past Ukraine, while 1966 champions England face Portugal, who are coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man who led Brazil to its fifth title four years ago. It’s a spectacle that has the most powerful man in football, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, gushing and claiming part of the credit for ensuring that domestic leagues closed for business well ahead of the World Cup kickoff in Munich on June 9. “A lot of the traditionally dominant teams arrived in a weakened state in 2002,” the omni-present Blatter said. “This time we’re seeing quality play from players who came here fresh. They’re in good shape,” he added. Six of the eight quarterfinalists have won the title before. Four years ago, that figure was three. Take a look back to other World Cups of the recent past and see the familiar names lining up in the quarterfinals. At France ’98, it was Brazil and Argentina against six European teams, including Italy, Germany and the hosts, who won their first title. In the USA four years earlier, Brazil was on their own against seven from Europe but went on to win their fourth title. It’s not a healthy sign if football is to improve its reputation as a true world wide sport. Maybe on the truly neutral venues of South Korea and Japan, European teams didn’t adjust properly to the climate, time zones or even the food. The Koreans also had home advantage as they went all the way to the semifinals, but that doesn’t explain why Turkey got there, too, and the Americans and Senegalese reached the last eight. Turkey and Senegal didn’t even qualify this time. The problem is that Europe, and particularly the big leagues in Spain, Italy, England and Germany, dominate the game. They have the clubs who can pay the top wages and that attracts the biggest names from South America, Asia and Africa. The English Premier League also has seven players from the United States squad that played in the World Cup. That means national teams in Africa, Asia and North and Central America have to call many of their players back from Europe to play for their countries. When it comes to friendlies, that’s not always possible. It also gives the Europeans a big advantage. The entire Italian squad at the World Cup plays in Italy. All but two of England players are in the Premier League and only three Germans will play outside the Bundesliga next season.
— AP, AFP
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Berlin, June 29 While politicians wrap themselves round the flag and take the polls boost from their team’s success, the more positive aspect of what it can do for a country is how it can also be a unifying force. The latest case is the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine, whose team may not have played attractive football but, having reached the last eight on their tournament debut, have had a dramatic impact on their politically divided country. That is no small achievement in a country of 47 million that was split into two warring camps by the “orange revolution” in One side, the Ukrainian-speaking nationalist northwest, backed Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Western reformer eventually swept to the presidency. The other, the Russian-speaking southeast, supported Viktor Yanukovych who wanted to retain close ties to Moscow. “Nothing unites quite like football,” said Vassyl Androsenko, a 52-year-old engineer in Kiev. The footballers have taken up the slack as ignoring which part of the country they come from or language they speak, they room together irrespective of political differences and converse in both dialects. “I think these guys have done more tonight to reunite the country than all politicians put together,” commented Petro Poroshenko, tipped to be the next parliament speaker after the penalty shootout win over the Swiss in the second round. Franz Beckenbauer, German football legend and the man responsible for winning the right for Germany to host the extravaganza, is convinced that the sport has more far reaching effects than simply firing up brief bouts of nationalism. “Football occupies an incredibly important position, especially in Africa a continent that has all sorts of problems,” he told the German magazine, Bundesliga earlier this year. “In Ivory Coast and Togo the people are embroiled in terrible civil wars, while Angola has emerged from decades of internal conflict and is still riddled with land mines. “Football can help to build bridges. It brings opposing chiefs together to sit beside each other and watch matches and it is almost as if it helps them to understand each other.” The 'Kaiser's' opinion may seem naive given the amount of discord and war on the African continent, but it certainly echoes the efforts of the Ivory Coast players to ensure their success on the pitch helps with bringing the rebel-held north of the country together with the government maintained south. — AFP
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Weak leagues to blame for Asian failure, says AFC chief
Kuala Lumpur, June 29 Only Australia, who qualified for the World Cup as Oceania representatives but have since switched to the AFC, advanced from the group stages before losing to Italy. “Our results in Germany, with the exception of Australia, have brought great disappointment to many Asian fans,” Hamman said. “It is my belief that this defeat is because of poor competition structures, particularly club competitions, both at national and confederation level. “We will not see any improvement at the international standard unless we restructure and improve the professionalism in our clubs and in our leagues.” Hammam said Australia already have a head start over most Asian countries. “In my mind, a key contributor to Australia’s success (at the World Cup) is that most of their team play in very strong leagues. “We need to build strong leagues in Asia so that our national teams have the same experience to bring to the field in such important competitions.”
— Reuters
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World Cup air for sale!
Beijing, June 29 Li Jie, the CEO of the former “Lunar Embassy in China”, whose licence was revoked for selling plots of land on the moon, has “gathered” air from German stadia hosting World Cup matches for sale in China. His new venture, Beijing Lunar Village New Energy Science and Technology Co Ltd, claims to have “gathered” air from German stadia while workers mowed the grass in the fields before matches, the Beijing-based Star Daily reported yesterday. With no official licence as of now, the company has given four bags of the “auspicious air” to some football fans as present, the report said. “I will be giving out another 12 bags, on first come first serve basis,” Li was quoted as saying. He has received 25 plastic bags full of “World Cup air”, which he intends to sell for 50 yuan ($ 6.25) each. The bags are approximately 3cmX9cm. Unfortunately, the air in four of the bags leaked out during the journey from Germany to China, Li said. His new venture may meet the same fate as that of his earlier one as an unnamed official of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce was quoted as saying that air is not allowed to be sold.
— PTI
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India look to end stalemate
Kingston, June 29 Generally, wickets here are more encouraging to fast bowlers than any other venue in the Caribbean, bar Kensington Oval at Bridgetown, Barbados, which has now been knocked down to construct the Three Ws Stadium (named after Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell, who adorned the game in the post-World War II period), which will host next year’s World Cup final. A fairly consistent approach of having local clay and Bermuda grass has been adopted by major West Indian grounds. They are kept moist, despite the frequent rainfall, because the long spells of a hot sun dehydrate the surface and creates the possibility of opening up cracks — which would play into Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh’s hands. For India, a critical question inevitably is whether to include an extra bowler to force the issue? A solution here would be to recall Irfan Pathan in place of Yuvraj Singh, thus strengthening the bowling without significantly weakening the batting. The matter has been debated, but the indications were the Punjab left-hander, purely because of his outstanding performance preceding the current Tests, is likely to be retained. Sources in the touring party suggested both captain Rahul Dravid and chief selector Kiran More, who joined the trip from the third Test as an observer, are in favour of his retention. Of course, if the track is bowler friendly, a fifth bowler may be redundant; and six specialist batsmen are advisable. In the past, India’s appearances here have mostly triggered livelier conditions; and they have lost six of the nine Tests they have engaged, including two in 1962, and never registered a win. India’s best showing was not surprisingly in 1971, when they won the series in the Caribbean for the only time) and Ajit Wadekar enforced a follow on, much to his opposite number, Garfield Sobers’ incredulity, as he had forgotten the rule if a match is reduced to four days (which it was due to rain). Indeed, as the Wisden Almanack recorded, the Indian squad in 1976 resembled Napolean’s troops on the retreat from Moscow as they trudged along the tarmac at Kingston’s airport to catch the plane home. Bishan Singh Bedi had infamously declared the second innings on 97 for five after the West Indian fast bowlers had battered the tourists into submission in what was also the decider (the score being level 1-1 prior to the match). And four years ago, India could not even cope with a much lesser attack to surrender the series 2-1 after taking the lead. West Indian coach Bennett King hinted that the hosts were toying with the idea of roping in either Jermaine Lawson or Andrew Richardson, both locals, to fortify their pace department. But at a reception last evening, when asked whether he would play three fast bowlers (as he did at St Kitts) or four, Brian Lara only smiled enigmatically.
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BCCI launches hunt for ‘cricket star’
New Delhi, June 29 The initiative, part of a global hunt for the best young cricketer, will begin in August and the final selection will be done in November. The winner will earn a place at the national trials and a year’s expenses-paid contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club. From August onwards, aspiring young cricketers in India can apply online or by post and after a screening, shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend auditions at a regional centre under the auspices of a local cricket board. They will be assessed there by celebrity cricket judges, including national selectors and BCCI technical staff. The final group selected will attend the Cricket Star Academy from November and the finalists will have to spend upto 10 weeks for evaluation by a panel of cricket legends and current India Test and ODI players. They will play televised cricket matches against state XIs, India Under-19 XI and celebrity XI. The final selection will be done through voting by television viewers by phone, online or text SMS messages.
— UNI
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London, June 29 Nadal recovered from two sets down to beat American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round today. The Spanish second seed launched a stirring comeback to win 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Centre Court. Meanwhile, 2004 champion Maria Sharapova swept into the third round today with an authoritative 6-2, 6-2 victory over American Ashley Harkleroad. Mahesh loses
Mahesh Bhupathi and his German partner Alexander Waske crashed out in the first round of men’s doubles here today. Bhupathi and Waske, seeded 13th, went down 6-7, 6-3 6-7 to Frederic Niemeyer of Canada and Glenn Weiner of the USA.
— Agencies
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Board withholds subsidies to CAB
New Delhi, June 29 The BCCI said CAB had failed to furnish details of the amount transferred to its account from the Bhawanipur branch of Indian Overseas Bank, Kolkata, by Dalmiya from 1995 to 2006. In a letter to CAB, the board secretary Niranjan Shah also informed the state association that the board decided to debit to CAB Rs 40 crore for which Dalmiya failed to furnish details of the account No. 1223 with the Bhawanipur branch along with vouchers, bills, ledgers and audited balance-sheets despite a notice being served to him on April 15.
— PTI
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Rupeetinder stars in PSEB’s win in hot weather cricket Patiala, June 29 PSEB started on the wrong note and soon found themselves floundering at 75 for five before Rupeetinder Singh rescued them by playing a knock of 87. He was well supported by Harikrishen Kali who scored 50 as PSEB ended their stipulated 50 over by scoring 255 for eight. In reply, the Chandigarh team was all out for 239 with opener Amit Prashar scoring 71 and Gurkirat managing to score 46. Scores: PSEB, Patiala: 255 for eight (Rupeetinder Singh 87, H. Kali 50, Gautam Mandora 25 n.o, Sandeep Kohli 22, Naresh Gogian 3 for 24, Sarul Kanwar 3 for 63, Akashdeep 1 for 50). Central Cricket Club, Chandigarh: 239 all out (Amit Parashar 71, Gurkirat 46, Sarul Kanwar 34, Vishwas Bhalla 25, Vipul Sharma 5 for 35, Gautam Mandora 2 for 36, Hardavinder Singh 1 for 36, Sandeep Kohli 1 for 56).
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Berlin, June 29
London, June 29
