In Hyderabad, Australia made 351-7 from their 50 overs with Glenn Maxwell particularly ruthless on Pakistan’s bowlers.

Maxwell cracked 77 off 71 balls with four boundaries and six sixes.

Cameron Green was undefeated on 50, David Warner clubbed three sixes in his 48 while Josh Inglis also made 48.

Marnus Labuschagne, a late call-up by the five-time World Cup winners, contributed 40.

Pakistan leg-spinner Usama Mir impressed with 2-31 as he dismissed Warner and Mitchell Marsh after the openers had put on 83 for the first wicket.

Mir’s leg-spinning partner Shadab Khan was expensive with his one wicket costing 69 runs.

In reply, Pakistan, who lost by five wickets to New Zealand in their opening warm-up, were dismissed for 337 in the 48th over.

Captain Babar Azam hit a fluent, unbeaten 90 off 59 balls with 11 boundaries and two sixes and shared a 144-run partnership with Iftikhar Ahmed who made 83 off 85 deliveries.

Mohammad Nawaz contributed 50 but Pakistan fell just short.

Rahmanullah century

At Guwahati, Kusal Mendis scored a breathtaking 158 as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 294 by Afghanistan before slipping to a six-wicket defeat in a rain-hit match.

Mendis, captain for the day with Dasun Shanaka sitting out the final warm-up, made his runs off only 87 balls.

He hit 19 fours and nine sixes as Afghanistan struggled to apply the brakes with only former skipper Mohammad Nabi enjoying sustained success with 4-44.

Afghanistan were sitting comfortably on 118-1 in the 21st over in reply when rain stopped play.

They were then set an adjusted target of 257 off 42 overs and cruised home with 23 balls to spare.

Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz smashed 119 from 92 balls with eight fours and nine sixes, sharing a 212-run second-wicket partnership with Rahmat Shah.

Shah’s 93 was made off 82 balls and featured 10 fours and three sixes.

Meanwhile, India’s superstar cricketers endured a 3,400km cross-country journey to play a warm-up only for the match to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.

India were to face the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram, on the southern tip of India, but they were left kicking their heels in the rain.

On Saturday, their scheduled game against defending champions England up in the north-eastern city of Guwahati was also washed out.

In total, the wet weather forced three warm-up matches to be abandoned while four others were rain-affected, leaving teams and players frustrated ahead of Thursday’s World Cup start.

However, the weather forecast for the rest of the week in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Dharamsala — venues for the first three days of the tournament — is optimistic with sunshine instead of showers.

England will play New Zealand in the tournament opener at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Pakistan clash with the Netherlands in Hyderabad on Friday, while Afghanistan and Bangladesh play in Dharamsala on Saturday.

Pakistan’s football fraternity was in mourning on Friday after former national team captain Ali Nawaz passed away on Friday. The former striker had been in hospital for the past several days after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

The KMC Stadium, where Ali Nawaz starred in the 1960s and 1970s while playing for the national team as well as Pakistan International Airlines, saw a large gathering of former players, coaches, referees and officials as his funeral prayers were said.

Ali Nawaz, who was awarded the Pride of Performance Award from the Pakistan government in 1996, was also revered for his goal-scoring abilities in Bangladesh, where he played for Dacca Mohammedan, and the United Arab Emirates, where he featured for Emirates FC.

He began his coaching career in the UAE before returning to Pakistan where he was coach and manager of the PIA football team.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2022

Blatter and Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football respectively, were cleared on July 8 by the Federal Criminal Court in a trial following a mammoth investigation that began in 2015.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) told AFP that it had filed the appeal before the deadline was reached Wednesday night, confirming a report in L’Equipe.

Switzerland’s top prosecutor “has applied for the full annulment of the first-instance judgement,” a spokeswoman for the Office of the Attorney General wrote in an email.

The prosecutors reportedly had 20 days to make their intentions clear after the reception of the full verdict from the Federal Criminal Court, based in the southern city of Bellinzona, on Sept 29.

Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 67, were cleared of the allegations that shook world football and torpedoed their time at the top.

The Federal Criminal Court rejected the prosecution’s request for a suspended prison sentence of a year and eight months.

The trial revolved around payment for Platini’s work as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002.

Platini was accused of having submitted to FIFA in 2011 an allegedly fictitious invoice for a claimed debt still outstanding for his advisory work.

They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, which was paid in full by FIFA.

But the pair were tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.06 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

Blatter told the court the pair had actually struck a “gentleman’s agreement” for Platini to be paid a million Swiss francs a year.

Both were accused of fraud and forgery of a document. Blatter was accused of misappropriation and criminal mismanagement, while Platini was accused of participating in those offences.

The court concluded that fraud was “not established with a likelihood bordering on certainty”, and therefore applied the general principle of criminal law according to which “the doubt must benefit the accused”.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2022

The Egyptian forward’s stunning goal in the 76th minute sealed a 1-0 win after a crackling contest at Anfield and leaves champions City four points behind the Gunners, who won by the same scoreline at Leeds.

Elsewhere, a Mason Mount double secured a 2-0 win for Chelsea at Aston Villa and Manchester United played out a 0-0 stalemate at home to Newcastle, while Southampton drew 1-1 with West Ham.

Liverpool and City could not be separated in the first half at Anfield but the game caught fire after the break.

Jurgen Klopp’s team had a glorious chance to take the lead early in the second half when Salah broke clear on goal but Ederson managed to get a faint touch to tip his shot wide.

City thought they had snatched the lead moments later through Phil Foden but VAR spotted a foul by Erling Haaland on Fabinho in the build-up and the goal was disallowed.

Instead it was Liverpool who struck, with Salah spinning past Joao Cancelo on the halfway line as the pair challenged for an Alisson clearance and racing away to fire beyond Ederson.

The game became heated in the closing stages and referee Anthony Taylor sent Klopp to the stands for the German’s angry reaction to a perceived injustice.

But Liverpool repelled City’s desperate attacks in the closing stages to secure just their third league win in nine games after poor start to the season.

Earlier, England midfielder Bukayo Saka slammed home emphatically 10 minutes before the interval at Elland Road as Mike Arteta’s Arsenal won for the ninth time in 10 league games this season.

Leeds substitute Patrick Bamford missed a penalty and his side had another spot-kick decision in stoppage time, initially awarded by referee Chris Kavanagh, overturned after a VAR intervention.

Earlier, play was suspended seconds after kick-off when the match officials lost contact with the video assistant referee and goal-line technology due to a power cut.

Kavanagh led the players off the pitch to a chorus of boos and play did not resume for about 40 minutes.

Chelsea’s fourth consecutive league win came courtesy of Mount’s two goals plus an inspired performance from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Mount’s first came after Villa defender Tyrone Mings — in the sixth minute — miscued a simple header straight to the England midfielder, who finished coolly past Emiliano Martinez.

Despite their early gift, Chelsea struggled to find attacking fluency and were indebted to Arrizabalaga, whose best save came from a point-blank header from Danny Ings.

Mount doubled the visitors’ lead in the 65th minute, curling home a free-kick from 25 yards after he was brought down by Mings.

Chelsea manager Graham Potter heaped praise on Mount and said Arrizabalaga, who is keeping Edouard Mendy out of the starting line-up, had produced a “world-class performance”.

Cristiano Ronaldo was handed just his second start of the Premier League season against Newcastle but could not add to his tally of 700 club goals — a milestone he reached last week against Everton.

Eddie Howe’s visitors could have been ahead at the break after an impressive first half in which Joelinton hit the crossbar before turning the rebound onto the post.

But United rued two squandered late chances to win the game, with Fred and substitute Marcus Rashford both guilty.

On Saturday, Harry Kane’s second-half penalty on his 400th appearance for Tottenham Hotspur helped them to a 2-0 win over Everton to cement their place in the Premier League top four.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2022

Fulham and Bournemouth remain in the top half of the table after sharing the points in a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage.

Leicester’s only league win this season was a 4-0 victory against Forest earlier this month but that proved to be a false dawn for the 2016 champions.

The Foxes, who have the leakiest defence in the division, were solid at the back on Saturday but failed to capitalise on their chances at the King Power.

“The players are fighting and running and giving everything,” said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers. “I always felt after the summer market we would have to fight our way through the season but the players are doing that and hopefully we will get better results as the season goes on.”

Steve Cooper’s Forest have taken just one point from their last seven games on their return to the top flight after 23 years after losing out in a tale of two penalties at Molineux.

Ruben Neves scored from the spot to move managerless Wolves out of the bottom three before Jose Sa saved Brennan Johnson’s penalty at the other end.

Bournemouth extended their unbeaten run to six games under caretaker boss Gary O’Neil, but let a win slip away after leading twice at Fulham.

Dominic Solanke slotted home the opener from Philip Billing’s cut-back after just two minutes.

Issa Diop levelled midway through the first half with a towering header from Andreas Pereira’s corner, but Bournemouth retook the lead just seven minutes later when Solanke teed up Jefferson Lerma.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had been a doubt due to a foot injury, but Fulham’s talisman made his mark from the penalty spot to salvage a point after he had been hauled down inside the area by Lerma.

On Friday night, Brentford striker Ivan Toney scored with a deft backheel finish in the first half and added a penalty in the second to give his side a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Gtech Community Stadium.

It ended a three-game winless run for the Bees as the home side moved eighth in the standings on 13 points, one behind seventh-placed Brighton, who are still searching for their first win under new boss Roberto de Zerbi.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2022

Both clubs have shared the supremacy of English football over the past five years, with City twice edging thrilling title races over Liverpool by a single point in 2018/19 and last season.

But a run of two wins from their opening eight Premier League games has left Liverpool 14 points behind leaders Arsenal and 13 adrift of City.

By contrast, the defending champions are averaging nearly four goals a game as Erling Haaland’s arrival has taken even a squad of seasoned winners to a new level.

Guardiola could afford the luxury of resting Haaland for a 0-0 draw in Copenhagen on Tuesday that sealed City’s place in the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare.

The Norwegian has struck 20 times in just 12 games since Liverpool opened the season with a 3-1 win over City in the Community Shield.

Guardiola’s men are unbeaten in 13 matches since with Haaland failing to score only once in his short Premier League career.

But City have only won at Anfield once since 2003 and that was in front of an empty stadium in February 2021.

“I expect them to be at the best Liverpool possible,” Kevin De Bruyne told Sky Sports.

“Obviously they lost some points but they are still Liverpool and I expect them to be good.”

There was at least some relief for Liverpool in a 7-1 demolition of Rangers in the Champions League on Wednesday as Mohamed Salah came off the bench to score the fastest hat-trick in the competition’s history.

“It changed the mood completely, but we all know who we are welcoming on Sunday and this will be a different game,” said Klopp after putting the Glasgow giants to the sword at Ibrox.

Newcastle celebrated a year under the ownership of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund by thrashing Brentford 5-1 last weekend to move into the top six.

The Magpies have been beaten just once this season and a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday will be a barometer of both sides’ ambitions for the season.

Manchester United have won five of their last six league games, but a 6-3 humiliation at the hands of City in between times showed they are far from the finished article in the early months of Erik ten Hag’s reign.

A first victory at Old Trafford since 2013 would bolster belief on Tyneside that they can fast track their route into the Champions League next season, especially with another opportunity to splash their wealth in the transfer market just weeks away.

Aston Villa may be on a four-game unbeaten run, but the manner of performances in drawing against 10-man Leeds and struggling Nottingham Forest in recent weeks has jacked up the pressure on Steven Gerrard’s position.

The former Liverpool captain has been heavily backed in the transfer market, but Villa’s ambitious owners are seeing little return for their investment on the field.

Gerrard’s men are just three points above the relegation zone and face the daunting task of a Chelsea side in fine form since Graham Potter’s arrival as manager on Sunday.

Fixtures: (all times GMT) Friday: Brentford v Brighton (1900).

Saturday: Leicester v Crystal Palace (1130), Fulham v Bournemouth, Wolves v Nottingham Forest (both 1400), Tottenham v Everton (1630).

Sunday: Aston Villa v Chelsea, Manchester United v Newcastle, Southampton v West Ham, Leeds v Arsenal (all 1300), Liverpool v Manchester City (1530).

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2022

Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez all netted for Pep Guardiola’s side before Haaland added his customary goal to seal yet another one-sided success at the Etihad Stadium.

Haaland has scored an astonishing 20 goals in his first 12 competitive games since his 51 million ($56 million) move from Borussia Dortmund.

Fuelled by the Norway striker, City are the first club to score at least three goals in nine consecutive top-flight home matches since Wolves in 1959.

The champions are now two points clear of second placed Arsenal ahead of the north London club’s clash with Liverpool on Sunday.

City have scored 24 goals in their last six games, winning eight of their last nine games across all competitions.

In stark contrast to City’s blistering form, Southampton’s fifth successive defeat added to the mounting pressure on boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.

City opened the scoring in the 20th minute as Joao Cancelo weaved through the Southampton defence, evaded James Ward-Prowse’s challenge and fired through the legs of keeper Gavin Bazunu.

Phil Foden doubled City’s lead as he ran onto Kevin De Bruyne’s pass and clipped a deft lob over Bazunu into the far corner after 32 minutes.

Riyad Mahrez put the result beyond doubt in the 49th minute, the Algeria winger meeting Rodri’s cross with a clinical volley from a tight angle.

Inevitably, Haaland wasn’t to be denied and he finished off Cancelo’s pass with a typically ruthless close-range effort in the 65th minute.

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea racked up a third win in new boss Graham Potter’s four games since replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel.

Potter made seven changes after the midweek Champions League victory over AC Milan, with Reece James, Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among those rested.

Showing the depth of their squad, Chelsea took the lead when Kai Havertz netted three minutes into first half stoppage-time with a looping header from Mason Mount’s pin-point cross.

Christian Pulisic put Chelsea in complete control with a cute finish after exchanging passes with Mount in the 54th minute.

Armando Broja grabbed his first goal for Chelsea with a 20-yard drive in the 90th minute. Chelsea are provisionally up to fourth place, while managerless Wolves, who sacked Bruno Lage earlier in the week, remain in the relegation zone after a third successive defeat.

Bournemouth put under-fire Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers back on the hot seat with a 2-1 win at Dean Court. Second bottom Leicester took the lead in the 10th minute when Patson Daka slotted home.

But Bournemouth equalised in the 67th minute through Philip Billing, who volleyed into the roof of the net following a mistake from Wout Faes.

And Ryan Christie completed Bournemouth’s comeback in the 71st minute with a close-range finish after Dominic Solanke flicked on Billing’s cross.

Fifth placed Newcastle thrashed Brentford 5-1 at St James’ Park. Eddie Howe’s men went ahead after 22 minutes when Bruno Guimaraes headed in from Kieran Trippier’s cross.

Six minutes later, Callum Wilson crossed for Jacob Murphy to tap into the empty net. Ivan Toney reduced the deficit with a 54th minute penalty awarded for a handball by Dan Burn, but Guimaraes’ long-range blast restored Newcastle’s two-goal advantage two minutes later.

Miguel Almiron struck in the 81st minute and Ethan Pinnock’s 90th minute own goal completed Brentford’s dismal day.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2022

On a remarkable day in the top-flight, 10-man Chelsea beat Leice­ster City 2-1, while Manchester United’s revival continued with a 1-0 win at Southampton.

Liverpool stole the spotlight as they recovered from Monday’s lacklustre 2-1 loss at United in astonishing style.

After three games without a win, the Reds rebounded by equa­lling United’s 9-0 wins against Ipswich in 1995 and Southampton in 2021, as well as Leicester’s thrashing of Southampton in 2019.

It took just three minutes for Luis Diaz to strike at Anfield as the Colombia winger headed home Roberto Firmino’s cross.

Three minutes later, Liverpool moved further ahead as Harvey Elliott bagged his first Premier League goal with a20-yard curler.

Trent Alexander-Arnold rifled into the top corner from 25 yards in the 28th minute.

After providing three assists, Firmino scored himself with close-range volley to put the result beyond doubt by the 31st minute.

Virgil Van Dijk headed in Andrew Robertson’s corner on the stroke of half-time as Liverpool scored five in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time.

Chris Mepham’s own goal from Alexander-Arnold’s 46th minute cross was followed by Firmino grabbing the seventh in the 62nd minute.

Fabio Carvalho’s first goal since his summer move from Fulham made it eight in the 80th minute.

Diaz notched the historic ninth from Kostas Tsimikas’ corner with five minutes left as Liverpool equalled their biggest ever top-flight margin of victory, set against Palace in 1989.

Champions City staged another impressive rally as they came from 2-0 down to beat Palace at the Etihad Stadium.

Palace went ahead in the fourth minute as Eberechi Eze’s free-kick deflected off John Stones into the net for an own goal.

City fell further behind in the 21st minute when Palace defender Joachim Andersen was left unmarked to head in Eze’s corner.

But the champions came from 3-1 down to draw at Newcastle United last weekend and Bernardo Silva gave them hope of a repeat with a 53rd minute effort that deflected in off Jeffrey Schlupp.

City equalised in the 62nd minute when Phil Foden’s cross reached Haaland and the former Borussia Dortmund striker headed his first home goal since joining in the close-season.

In the 70th minute, Haaland got his fifth in four games, prodding home from Stones’ pass after a flowing move. The Norwegian sealed his hat-trick from Silva’s pass in the 81st minute.

Raheem Sterling scored his first goals for Chelsea in a dramatic win over Leicester.

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher was sent off in the 28th minute for a needless foul on Harvey Barnes just moments after being booked.

Sterling struck in the 47th minute, the former City forward’s shot deflecting off Daniel Amartey into the net.

Sterling doubled his tally in the 63rd minute as he tapped in from Reece James’ cross before Barnes squeezed in a low shot three minutes later.

Erik ten Hag said United have learned from their dismal start to the season after Bruno Fernandes clinched a hard-fought win against Southampton.

Ten Hag’s side sat bottom of the Premier League after losing their opening two games.

But United have recovered from that embarrassing start to secure successive league victories for the first time since February.

Fernandes netted in the 55th minute when he met Diogo Dalot’s cross with a volley from just inside the area.

“I think the players learnt some lessons from Brentford. We were more compact on the long balls. Of course we were really happy,” Ten Hag said.

Vitaly Janelt scored an 85th minute equaliser as Brentford drew 1-1 with Everton, who took the lead through Anthony Gordon’s 24th minute opener.

Brighton beat Leeds United 1-0 with Pascal Gross’s 66th minute goal at the Amex Stadium.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2022

Last season saw an increasing number of pitch invasions at the end of the season with fans celebrating titles, promotion or survival.

Several altercations took place on the field, including one involving Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira, while Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp was attacked by a fan after a playoff defeat at Nottingham Forest.

Smoke bombs and pyrotechnics, which have long been used at games in continental Europe and elswhere in the world, used to be relatively rare in England but their use has become a more regular occurance.

The leagues and the Football Association said that from the start of the new season “all identified offenders will be reported by clubs to the police and prosecution could result in a permanent criminal record, which may affect their employment and education, and could result in a prison sentence.”

“Furthermore, anyone who enters the pitch and those identified carrying or using pyrotechnics or smoke bombs will now receive an automatic club ban. These bans could also be extended to accompanying parents or guardians of children who take part in these activities,” the statement said.

The bodies said they were working with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure prosecution “will become the default response”.

The leagues are also seeking to censor publication of videos showing pitch invasions and smoke bombs by working with social media companies to remove footage quickly while asking government to reform regulations to restrict the supply of pyrotechnics and smoke bombs.

FA Chief Executive Mark Bullingham said: “The rise in anti-social behaviour that we saw in stadiums at the end of last season was entirely unacceptable and put peoples safety at risk. Together, English football has introduced new measures and stronger sanctions, for the start of the coming season, to send out a clear message that we will not tolerate this type of illegal and dangerous behaviour.” The move was backed by the Football Supporters Association (FSA).

“We are contacted by supporters on a fairly regular basis who have been caught jumping on the pitch, or with pyro in the stands, and without exception they regret doing it,” FSA head Kevin Miles said.

“Whether they had positive intentions or not is irrelevant in the eyes of the law — pyro and pitch incursions are illegal, you will be prosecuted and you will be banned by your club.”

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2022

Eriksen, who needed life-saving treatment on the pitch last year when he suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest in a European Championship match against Finland in June, returned to action with Brentford after signing a short-term deal in January.

Eriksen is United’s second recruit in the close season under new Dutch manager Erik ten Hag after the club signed Dutch left back Tyrell Malacia.

“Manchester United is a special club and I cannot wait to get started. I have had the privilege of playing at Old Trafford many times but to do it in the red shirt of United will be an amazing feeling,” Eriksen said in a statement.

“I have seen Erik’s work at Ajax and know the level of detail and preparation that he and his staff put into every day. It is clear that he is a fantastic coach.

“Having spoken with him and learned more about his vision and the way he wants the team to play, I am even more excited for the future.” Eriksen was an Inter Milan player when he collapsed and underwent surgery to be fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) device — which is not permitted in the Italian Serie A — leading to the termination of his contract.

After signing for Brentford, he made 11 league appearances under Danish coach Thomas Frank, scoring a goal and providing four assists as Brentford finished 13th in their first season in the Premier League.

He is no stranger to the Premier League, however, having spent nearly seven seasons with Tottenham Hotspur, making more than 300 appearances in all competitions for the London side.

He also resumed his Denmark career, scoring against Serbia on his return to the Parken Stadium where he had collapsed.

“I still have major ambitions in the game, there is a huge amount that I know I can achieve, and this is the perfect place to continue my journey,” Eriksen added.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2022

Liverpool looked jaded and on the back foot for much of the match against a United team with superior fitness who capitalised on a series of first-half errors in Bangkok with three goals in the space of 21 minutes.

Liverpool had the best of the early action before United opened the scoring after 12 minutes when a Bruno Fernandez cross was poorly handled by the Liverpool defence, allowing Jadon Sancho to fire into bottom corner.

Liverpool came close to an equaliser soon after when new signing Fabio Carvalho’s shot beat goalkeper David de Gea and cannoned off the far post, with Luis Diaz latching onto the ball in the ensuing scramble and hitting the upright.

But United remained in control, with chances for Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay troubling Liverpool.

United doubled their lead on the half hour mark when Fernandez and Anthony Martial linked up before laying the ball off to Fred, whose deft finish sailed over outstretched keeper Alisson Becker.

United made it 3-0 three minutes later when Martial dispossessed substitute Rhys Williams and coolly lifted the ball over the advancing Alisson, while Diogo Dalot almost added a fourth when his angled shot struck the post.

Managers Juergen Klopp and Ten Hag made 10 changes around halftime, after which Liverpool emerged better organised, with chances from their 75 million euros striker Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, who was frustrated late on by De Gea and the woodwork. But United completed the demolition with 14 minutes left, Facundo Pellistri latching onto an Eric Bailly pass on the counter and converting with ease after a one-two with Amad Diallo.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2022

China’s football association said in April clubs who failed to settle all outstanding wages by Dec 31 would be relegated or expelled, with Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic the latest team to collapse due to rising debts.

Chongqing players had shared an open letter on social media in May saying they had not been paid.

FIFPRO said non-payment of salaries was also a recurring problem for players in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Romania and Turkey while second-division clubs in Greece often cease operations without honouring debts.

Research published by Greece’s players union (PSAP) in December showed clubs in the country owed more than 25 million euros ($25.62 million) in unpaid wages.

“The elevated number of clubs in Romania that enter into insolvency procedures continues to have severe consequences for players, pushing them into never-ending insolvency procedures with little to no chance of getting any compensation,” it added.

“For the past two years, Greece has been the country with the highest number of players seeking to get some of their unpaid wages from the FIFA Player Protection Fund.” World governing body FIFA teamed up with FIFPRO in 2020 to set up the fund to provide compensation for players when their clubs fall into financial difficulties or go out of business, with $4 million set aside this year.

FIFPRO also said it was concerned about the increasing number of foreign players stranded in Libya as clubs that employ them “refuse to provide the relevant documentation to leave”.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2022

United players who had been away on international duty over the close-season were scheduled to meet up with the rest of the squad on Monday.

But, according to British media reports, Ronaldo did not attend, with his reason for failing to appear at United’s training ground accepted by the club.

However, the 37-year-old’s absence will be interpreted as the latest salvo in his bid to engineer a move away from Old Trafford.

Ronaldo is said to be disappointed by United’s decline since he returned to the club from Juventus last year.

United failed to qualify for this coming season’s Champions League after finishing sixth in the Premier League.

Despite the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag from Ajax, Ronaldo reportedly does not believe United can challenge for major honours in the near future.

In the twilight of his career, Ronaldo would prefer to join a club capable of satisfying his desire to compete for the game’s top prizes.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who has a year left on his United contract, has played 19 consecutive seasons in the Champions League and is the tournament’s all-time leading scorer.

The former Real Madrid star’s agent Jorge Mendes has reportedly sounded out Bayern Munich and Chelsea about a potential move, yet United are said to be adamant Ronaldo is not for sale.

Ronaldo was United’s top scorer with 24 goals last term, but his campaign was marred by public shows of frustration on several occasions as the team struggled under first Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

Ronaldo’s absence from training comes as United are due to leave for their pre-season tour of Asia and Australia on Friday.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2022

The Egypt international has signed an extension until 2025, with the deal coming after strike partner and Senegal forward Sadio Mane left to join German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on a three-year deal last month.

“I feel great and (I am) excited to win trophies with the club. It’s a happy day for everyone,” Salah said in a statement on the club website.

“It takes a little bit of time, I think, to renew, but now everything is done so we just need to focus on what’s next.

“I think you can see in the last five or six years the team was always going (upwards). Last season we were close to winning four, but unfortunately in the last week of the season we lost two trophies.” Salah scored 23 league goals for Liverpool last season to share the Premier League golden boot with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min.

He was named the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year and also took the top honour from the Football Writers’ Association.

The 30-year-old scored 31 goals in all competitions for Liverpool and helped them capture the League Cup and FA Cup. They were beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League final in May.

Salah, who joined the Merseyside outfit from Italian side AS Roma in 2017 and has scored 156 goals in 254 appearances, would have been available to leave them on a free transfer at the end of next season.

He is now expected to lead a new-look front line for Juergen Klopp’s side in the absence of Mane and Divock Origi — who left the club — with Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez having joined in the close season.

“My message (to the fans) is the players in the team want to give our best next season to try to win all the trophies,” Salah added. “As usual, you stay behind us and give us a big push and I’m sure we are going to win trophies again (together).”

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2022

In what can be considered an extraordinary development in the officiating of the game, technology will be able to resolve contentious offside calls with a speed and accuracy unimaginable less than a decade ago.

Using cameras strategically positioned around the stadiums, and a chip in the match ball, FIFA said the technology will go a long way to cutting down on continuous Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decisions on marginal offside calls and reduce the time needed to check.

“We have been working on a more consistent use of VAR, in particular concerning the line of intervention,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, at a news briefing.

“We are aware that sometimes the length of checks or reviews is too long, in particular, concerning offside.” The solution, FIFA unveiled, is the so-called SAOT, which will bring a futuristic, space age feel to the game, with spectators able to see some of the 3D animation when the VAR decisions are explained on a stadium’s giant screen.

It uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted under the roof of a stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch. The 29 collected data points include all limbs and extremities relevant for making offside calls.

A sensor inside the ball sends data 500 times per second, allowing a precise detection of the kick point for offside decisions.

All this information will ensure the VAR makes a much better informed decision, Collina added.

“The testing has been a major success and we are very confident that in Qatar we will have a very valuable support tool to help referees and assistant referees make the best and most correct decision on the field of play,” he said.

“Someone called it ‘robot offside’; it’s not. The referees and the assistant referees are still responsible for the decision on the field of play.” By combining the limb and ball-tracking data, and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology provides an automated offside alert to the video match officials inside the video operation room whenever the ball is received by an attacker in an offside position.

Before informing the on-field referee, the video match officials will validate the proposed decision by manually checking the automatically selected kick point and the automatically created offside line, which is based on the calculated positions of the players’ limbs.“This process happens within a few seconds and means that offside decisions can be made faster and more accurately,” said FIFA, which has used universities in Boston, Melbourne and Zurich to help build the technology.

The optical tracking system was trialled at the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and had also been tested at the Arab Cup in Qatar last December and now it will be used at all the venues at the tournament.

“Semi-automated offside technology is an evolution of the VAR systems that have been implemented across the world,” the global body’s president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

“This technology is the culmination of three years of dedicated research and testing to provide the very best for the teams, players and fans who will be heading to Qatar later this year, and FIFA is proud of this work, as we look forward to the world seeing the benefits of semi-automated offside technology at the World Cup 2022,” he added.

The competition begins on Nov 21 when Senegal play the Netherlands in Doha with the final on Dec 18 in Lusail.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2022

Jurgen Klopp’s men have four matches left in their historic attempt to become the first English team to win all four major trophies in one season.

They beat Chelsea to lift the League Cup in February and have reached the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League, where they face Real Madrid on May 28.

No English club has come this close to such an incredible clean sweep, but Liverpool know their hopes of winning the Premier League are starting to fade.

Manchester City moved three points clear of the second-placed Reds with a 5-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday and need four points from their last two games against West Ham United and Aston Villa to retain the crown.

If a second English title in three seasons proves beyond Liverpool despite their blistering form in the second half of the season, then winning two more cup competitions would be a memorable consolation.

First up is a rematch with Chelsea, who fought gamely in an intense League Cup final in February before Liverpool prevailed 11-10 in the shoot-out that followed a 0-0 draw.

Liverpool and Chelsea are the first English teams to meet in both domestic finals in the same year since Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in 1993.

Klopp’s side will hope they emulate Arsenal, who did the cup double against Wednesday that season.

But, in their 60th game this season, fatigue could be a threat to Liverpool’s hopes of a first FA Cup triumph since 2006.

In a bid to keep his stars fresh, Klopp made several changes in Tuesday’s win at Villa, yet still lost Brazil midfielder Fabinho to an injury that rules him out of the final.

Liverpool, seven-times FA Cup winners, have not lifted the trophy since 2006 and it is the first time they have advanced to the final under Klopp, who took over at Anfield in 2015.

“It’s our first FA Cup final and we are really, really desperate to win it, but we know our opponents are as well,” Klopp told a news conference on Friday. “When you go for three or four trophies, it’s clear you get it or you don’t. It’s a busy season, but it will never happen that the FA Cup is just a normal game.

“It’s a special game and, for some, the biggest in their career. We want to enjoy it and deliver for our people. We are really looking forward to this opportunity. It’s now a massive final for us and I’m really happy we are part of it.”

Like Liverpool, Chelsea’s season will conclude with 63 games played, but it has been Thomas Tuchel’s side who have looked more drained in recent weeks.

Before Wednesday’s 3-0 victory at Leeds consolidated their grip on third place, the Blues had won just once in five league games as they struggled to recover from their painful Champions League quarter-final exit at Real Madrid.

Uncertainty over the future of the both the club and several key players has also been a factor since Roman Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale just before he was sanctioned by the government after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With LA Dodgers co-owner Boehly and his consortium agreeing a 4.25 billion ($5.2 billion) takeover last weekend, subject to approval from the Premier League, Chelsea can finally plan for next season.

Before that, Tuchel has the chance to end the Abramovich era with one last prize, in the process winning his first English domestic trophy after leading Chelsea to Champions League and Club World Cup glory over the last year.

Tuchel, whose team are third in the league, said Chelsea want to give a “hard fight” to Liverpool, who remain on track for a haul of four trophies this season.

“You have to be spot on in these matches, they are such close matches lately... it will be down to margins and details,” Tuchel told reporters on Friday. “We are facing one of the very best coaches and teams in the world. We are up for the fight.”

Tuchel said he hoped Mateo Kovacic can play through the pain barrier as the Chelsea midfielder battles to recover from an ankle injury sustained during the win against Leeds.

“We will try it [training] today. Mateo wants to try it,” Tuchel said. “The medical department gave the green light to try it. We’re hoping that maybe time is enough that he makes it.”

Tuchel will also try to push N’Golo Kante to play against Liverpool. The France midfielder has struggled with a series of injury niggles in recent weeks.

“We will try for N’Golo,” Tuchel said. “It is the time now to take calculated risk, with it being the cup final.”

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2022

City looked certain to go through when Riyad Mahrez put them 1-0 up and 5-3 ahead on aggregate but Rodrygo, on as a substitute, scored an incredible late double, his goals in the 90th and 91st minutes sending the tie to extra time.

With City still reeling, Real Madrid landed the knock-out blow as Benzema earned and then converted a spot-kick to snatch a 6-5 win on aggregate, with another remarkable fightback at the Santiago Bernabeu added to the club's long list of magical European nights.

This season, Madrid had already performed the unlikeliest of rescue acts to defeat both Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 and Chelsea in the quarter-finals but, given the stakes and how close they were to defeat, this one against Manchester City was surely the most dramatic.

Like PSG and Chelsea before them, City will wonder how they emerged as losers from a match they largely controlled and there will be fresh scrutiny too on coach Pep Guardiola, who, for all his success, goes another year without leading City to the European glory they so crave.

City's collapse would have been almost inexplicable had it been against anyone other than Real Madrid, who advance to their 17th final in the competition. They are a victory against Liverpool away from lifting a 14th European Cup.

"Another magic night from the kings of Europe," read a banner draped over the stand at one end before kick-off but for most of normal time, this match failed to live up to the seven-goal thriller at the Etihad Stadium last week.

Real Madrid were the more assertive early on, with Benzema given a couple of difficult opportunities that only he, in his current form, might have expected to convert. Instead, he headed over and fired high.

In between, Luka Modric and Rodri clashed over a Casemiro challenge and then City stepped forward, squeezing Madrid into errors as Kevin De Bruyne hit Thibaut Courtois from distance before the goalkeeper had to make a smart reaction save from Bernardo Silva.

Real Madrid survived and then improved before the break, Modric causing a roar of satisfaction when he outsprinted De Bruyne to cut off a counter.

Probably their best chance came within seconds of the restart as Dani Carvajal found space down the right but Vinicius Junior shot wide at the back post.

City were on the back foot as space opened up for Modric in the box but a poor touch made his finish difficult. A sloppy Kyle Walker pass set Casemiro loose but the weaving Vinicius was unable to find a way through.

Mahrez strikes

An injury to Walker checked Madrid's momentum and when the game found its rhythm again, City struck, Ilkay Gundogan's pass cutting through Madrid's midfield and finding Silva, who danced through to the edge of the box.

Silva shaped to shoot but instead wedged the ball right to Mahrez, who smashed it hard, early and past Courtois.

Modric went off and with the Croatian seemed to go some of Madrid's belief.

Jack Grealish, on as a substitute, could have made it two for City but somehow Ferland Mendy cleared off the line, before another Grealish shot flashed past the post.

It felt inconsequential because Madrid looked dead and buried but somehow, out of nowhere, they found a way back.

It was the 90th minute when Benzema cushioned a ball brilliantly across for Rodrygo to feather in at the near post and the cheer for the goal was only a little louder than for the stadium announcer then saying there would be six minutes of added time.

Madrid only needed one as City, for so long so compact and composed, were suddenly sprawled and all it needed was for Carvajal to swing a cross into the box, where the diminutive Rodrygo headed in.

When play resumed, Madrid emerged the stronger and four minutes in, they had a penalty, Benzema tumbling over the tired, lunging leg of Ruben Dias before ignoring City's attempts at distraction by rolling the spot-kick into the corner.

City pushed as Fernandinho came up just short at the back post when Courtois parried away. A late flick from Dias into the box floated harmlessly into the hands of Courtois, City's final attempt coming to nothing.

Ever since the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee for the PFF was forced out of Lahore headquarters of the country’s football governing body, Dr Fehmida was hoping for direct talks with officials of the global football body.

Just past midnight on Wednesday, the IPC ministry shared videos on its official Twitter account of Dr Fehmida attending a virtual meeting with officials of FIFA’s and Asian Football Confederation’s Member Associations division.

The meeting came almost six months after the government decided to side with the Normalisation Committee in its battle to regain control of the PFF headquarters from the clutches of the court-elected PFF of Ashfaq Hussain Shah and lift FIFA’s suspension on Pakistan.

Ashfaq and his officials, who came into power through a PFF election held by the Supreme Court in December 2018 which wasn’t recognised by FIFA, had taken over the headquarters in March last year citing laxity on part of the NC to fulfill its mandate of holding PFF elections after it was appointed in September 2019.

However, they were forced to vacate the PFF headquarters in November with the property being taken over by Lahore’s Deputy Commissioner and subsequently the lease agreement the PFF had with the Punjab government for it was cancelled. The PFF had rented a portion of its offices, which was in violation of the lease agreement.

That opened a new issue despite the government having pledged full support with the NC and holding a news conference in Islamabad in the first week of February where Dr. Fehmida said the PFF headquarters will be handed over the Haroon Malik-led committee within two weeks.

More than a month has passed since with talks between the NC and Punjab Revenue Board yielding little result but there is growing optimism of a deal being struck by the end of this week.

FIFA has said that the ban on Pakistan will only be lifted once its appointed officials are back in office to complete their task of holding elections of the PFF, which has been mired in conflict and crisis since 2015. Dr Fehmida was hopeful of that happening soon.

“We had a positive meeting with FIFA and AFC and we apprised them of the situation and that the NC will soon get the PFF headquarters,” she told Dawn on Thursday. “We have told them that the government will fully back the NC in the process of holding fresh elections of the PFF to end this crisis once and for all.”

The NC has given the government an eight-month roadmap to hold the elections once it is back in office. The government will have oversight over the inflow of FIFA and AFC funding while it will establish a regulatory framework with the NC.

FIFA generally wants its member associations to work independently without any interference from governments or courts but Wednesday’s meeting is a sign that it is willing to work with the government in Pakistan to resolve the PFF issue.

“The government wants football to flourish in Pakistan, FIFA wants to do the same,” Dr. Fehmida said. “The goal is the same.”

PFF NC member Shahid Khokar informed that the PFF would receive a hefty funding through FIFA’s Forward Programme for football development once the issue is resolved.

A huge chunk of funding through the Forward Programme is still on hold for the PFF due to its long-running crisis.

“We are hopeful and things are headed in the right direction,” Khokhar told Dawn on Thursday. “The meeting was to reaffirm our stance as the NC that we are keen to put football back on track in the country.”

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2022

On the fourth day of the invasion, Ukrainians and Russians said they were ready for talks to halt a conflict that has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

France were crowned world champions in 2018 after beating Croatia in the final in Moscow.

“The world of sport, and especially football, cannot remain neutral. I certainly would not oppose the expulsion of Russia,” said Le Graet.

Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have all refused to play Russia in the World Cup play-offs.

Poland are due to play Russia in Moscow on March 24 and should the hosts win they would host the winners of the match between the Czechs and the Swedes on March 29.

Le Graet concurred with the trio’s stance.

“In these dramatic circumstances, how can one envisage playing football against this country,” he said.

FIFA have yet to take any action against Russia saying on Thursday they were “concerned” by the “tragic” situation with president Gianni Infantino saying the World governing body had the capacity to take action on the play-off matches at “any moment”.

European governing body UEFA did take action on Friday, stripping Saint Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena of the Champions League final on May 28 and awarding the showpiece match to the Stade de France in Paris.

UEFA are also believed to be debating whether to cancel their sponsorship deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom, whose majority shareholder is the Russian state.

Gazprom renewed the contract in May 2021 to run to 2024.The deal to sponsor the Champions League is worth a reported 40 million euros ($45 million) a year.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2022

“Following the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine in the last 24 hours, the UEFA president has decided to call an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee for Friday 25 February at 10:00 CET (0900 GMT), in order to evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions,” UEFA said in a statement.

“We are dealing with this situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency. Decisions will be taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and announced tomorrow,” the organisation added in a further statement.

The final of European club football’s premier competition is scheduled to be played on May 28 at the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg, which already hosted several matches at last year’s European Championship and at the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.

European football’s governing body has a major sponsorship deal with Gazprom, the Russian state energy giant.

Reuters and the Associated Press both reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the situation, that the final will be moved from St Petersburg.

UEFA has already moved the last two Champions League finals due to the pandemic from Istanbul to Lisbon in 2020, and then again from the Turkish city to Porto last year.

The Champions League final was last staged in Russia in 2008, when Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.

Zenit St Petersburg, the reigning Russian champions and current league leaders, are still involved in UEFA competition this season and were due to play Real Betis in Spain in the Europa League on Thursday. UEFA said that game would not be impacted.

A group of European lawmakers wrote to UEFA on Thursday, asking it to change the venue and to stop considering Russian cities for international football competitions.

The 2023 Champions League final is due to be held in Istanbul with Wembley in London hosting the following year and Munich’s Allianz Arena the venue for the final in 2025.

The Ukrainian league, which was due to resume this weekend after its long winter break, has been suspended.

“We’ll withstand it,” posted Shakhtar Donetsk, the 13-time Ukrainian champions who have been exiled from their already war-torn home city for eight years, on Twitter with a picture of the Ukrainian flag.

UEFA’s later statement condemned the Russian invasion.

“UEFA shares the international community’s significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine,” the organisation said.

“We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people.”

In a separate move, German club Schalke 04 said it was removing Gazprom’s logo from its shirts due to events in Ukraine.

A senior Gazprom executive also quit the supervisory board of the Gelsenkirchen-based club after being a target of US sanctions. Matthias Warnig is CEO of the newly built but never operated Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline which is a multibillion-dollar project of Gazprom and European companies.

Critics said Schalke was used to popularise Gazprom in Germany as it pushed to construct the gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, which bypassed Ukraine. Gazprom has been a sponsor since 2006 and provided the cash that fuelled a run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2011.

German newspaper Bild this week began covering the Gazprom logos on Schalke jerseys with Freedom for Ukraine to protest against Russia’s deepening military intervention in Ukraine.

IOC CONDEMNS BREACH OF OLYMPIC TRUCE

The International Olympic Committee said it “strongly condemns the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government,” days after the end of the closing of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The truce is intended to secure safe passage for athletes during the Games and, in the long term, promote the idea of working toward world peace. It runs until the end of the Paralympics, which are due to open in Beijing on March 4.

The International Paralympic Committee condemned Russia and said it held talks with sports officials in Ukraine, which still plans to compete in Beijing and requires safe passage for its athletes.

“This is a truly horrible situation, and we are greatly concerned about our National Paralympic Committee and Para athletes from Ukraine,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said. “Our top priority right now is the safety and well-being of the Ukrainian delegation, with whom we are in regular dialogue.”

Russia’s name, flag and anthem are already barred from the March 4-13 Paralympics in Beijing over previous doping disputes. Its team is due to compete as RPC, short for Russian Paralympic Committee.

Russia has violated the Olympic Truce three times in 14 years, fighting a war with Georgia over the disputed territory of South Ossetia during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and launching a military takeover that annexed the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine after the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics closed.

Focus is turning to Russia hosting other major sports events in the coming months.

In basketball, Barcelona said its team would not fly to Russia for two games against Russian teams Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow on Friday and Sunday in the Euroleague.

In rugby, European organisers postponed Georgia’s match with Russia on Sunday in Tbilisi in the Rugby Europe Championship. The women’s game between Spain and Russia on Saturday in Madrid was still on.

Formula One said it was closely watching the very fluid developments but made no further comment on whether its race in Sochi would be cancelled in September. Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel said he would not compete at the Russian Grand Prix.

“I will not go,” the German driver said. “I think it’s wrong to race in the country. “I’m sorry for the innocent people that are losing their lives, that are getting killed (for) stupid reasons and a very strange and mad leadership.”

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson highlighted concerns about the showpiece men’s game being played in St Petersburg on May 28 as he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin not to conduct a full invasion of Ukraine.

Russia sparked an outcry by announcing on Monday that its recognition of independence for areas in eastern Ukraine extended to territory currently held by Ukrainian forces.

“It’s absolutely vital in this critical moment that President Putin understands that what he is doing is going to be a disaster for Russia,” Johnson told the House of Commons.

“He is going to end up with ... a Russia that is more isolated, a Russia that has pariah status, no chance of holding football tournaments in a Russia that invades sovereign countries.”

UEFA provided no fresh comment on Tuesday after saying over the weekend that it was constantly and closely monitoring the situation and had no plans to change the final venue. But a person with knowledge of the situation said the Ukraine crisis was discussed by top-level officials at UEFA on Tuesday, including its president, Aleksander Ceferin. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss talks assessing the geopolitical situation.

With four representatives in the round of 16 of the Champions League, England has the most teams remaining in the competition. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who holds the sports brief in Johnson’s cabinet, said she would discuss serious concerns about Russia staging the final with UEFA.

“We won’t allow President Putin to exploit events on the world stage to legitimise his illegal invasion of Ukraine,” Dorries said.

UEFA has had to move the Champions League final in the last two seasons, both times from Turkey to Portugal due to the pandemic. A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine would significantly change UEFA’s belief the final could still be played in St Petersburg.

FIFA council member Alexey Sorokin, who also leads the organising committee for the final, said no discussions with UEFA had taken place about St Petersburg losing the hosting rights.

“We are preparing for the final according to plan,” Sorokin said. “We expect more than 50,000 foreign fans to arrive.”

Russian officials haven’t yet acknowledged any troop deployments to the rebel east, but Vladislav Brig, a member of the separatist local council in Donetsk, told reporters that the Russian troops already had moved in, taking up positions in the regions north and west.

UEFA has been keeping Ukrainian and Russian teams separated in draws to prevent them from playing each other since Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula of Ukraine and backed separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Russias state gas company, Gazprom, has been a sponsor of the Champions League since 2012 — the same year Ukraine co-hosted the European Championship with Poland. But the company’s logos were removed from a UEFA-branded Champions Festival on Kyiv’s main street when the Ukrainian capital staged the 2018 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Russia is already serving a punishment from WADA for state-sponsored cheating that prevents it from hosting international sports events through 2023. But UEFA was not bound by the ruling as a European governing body which meant St Petersburg has already hosted four games at the European Championship last year.

But if Russia qualifies for the World Cup in Qatar in November the team name must be changed to something neutral that likely would not include the word Russia. The Russian team at the past two Olympics has been called the Russian Olympic Committee. Russia is due to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff in Moscow next month.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2022

Mane drilled the decisive penalty in a shootout into the bottom left corner to beat Salah and Egypt in Sunday’s final in Yaounde and make up for missing a penalty early in the game.

Senegal won the shootout 4-2 after it ended 0-0 after extra time. Salah, who was supposed to be his team’s final penalty taker, didn’t get a say in the shootout after two of his team-mates missed.

Senegal had lost two finals previously, including against Algeria at the last African Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2019, when Mane was left inconsolable.

This time Mane provided the winning moment. He raced off to joyously celebrate with teammates but also returned to spend some time consoling Salah, who was in tears.

“We are proud,” said Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who was also crucial to the cause by saving a penalty in the shootout. “We never won before. We worked really hard to win this trophy and today we won as a group, as a country.”

Egypt had their goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal to thank for getting them into the shootout at the Stade d’Olembe as he was outstanding in keeping Senegal at bay in what was the fourth time in as many games they had played extra time in energy-sapping conditions.

There may be some poetic justice for Senegal coach Aliou Cisse, who was captain of the side in 2002 when they lost the final on penalties to Cameroon after a goalless draw, having missed his kick in the shootout.

“It just shows that if you work hard, if you persevere, you will get what you want,” Cisse told broadcaster beIN Sports. “I am very emotional because the people of Senegal have wanted this trophy for 60 years.”

Abou Gabal, who was named man of the match, summed up the Egyptian mood, saying: “We are really disappointed but that’s football, either you win or you lose.”

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2022

Alejandro Dominguez, the president of CONMEBOL, said on Thursday that “it’s a waste of time” for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to continue pushing his desire to stage a World Cup every two years.

“CONMEBOL will not play every two years and that is final. ... It is a no go, there’s no chance,” Dominguez said in an interview. “This [plan] was dead at birth, we have made it clear from day one.”

Infantino has insisted that staging the World Cup every two years instead of every four years will allow more countries to qualify and create more interest and revenue. But Dominguez said South American and European teams, which have won every edition of the tournament since 1930, will not take part under that format.

“Without European and South American teams I have doubts that one can achieve these revenues they talk about,” Dominguez said.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has also publicly opposed FIFA’s plan, and their joint disapproval of the proposal seems to have brought the European and South American governing bodies closer together.

Ceferin visited CONMEBOL’s headquarters two weeks ago for a celebration for Dominguez’s sixth anniversary at the helm. But Dominguez insisted that they don’t have a personal beef with Infantino.

“This is not action against Infantino,” he said. “It is just impossible to think that we can have a World Cup every two years. It would kill Copa America, and Copa America is a very important source of income for our associations. That would not be equivalent to a World Cup every two year.”

Dominguez also said the controversial proposal for biennial World Cups will not affect Infantino’s chances to remain as FIFA president in the next elections.

“Today I don’t see any rival that is emerging or reemerging, someone that proposes something different to Infantino’s leadership,” the CONMEBOL president said.

The partnership between CONMEBOL and UEFA will include friendlies between South American and European teams before the World Cup in Qatar, Dominguez said.

Brazil and Argentina, who have already qualified for the tournament in Qatar, have long complained about the difficulty in scheduling matches against European rivals.

“Speaking about a Nations League between South America and Europe is very important. The Europeans also know they have to play against South Americans. Home and away,” the CONMEBOL president said.

Copa America winners Argentina and European champions Italy will face off in June. There’s also a proposal for continental runners-up Brazil and England to clash before Qatar.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2022

The European football governing body and its South American counterpart CONMEBOL have strongly opposed the idea which FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said would create an extra $4.4 billion in revenues for the world soccer organisation.

“Europe and South America are against [the plan] and those are the only [continents with] World Cup winners in history. The problem is that the World Cup has to be every four years to be interesting,” Ceferin said at the Expo 2020 Dubai fair.

“Second, if it would be every two years, it would cannibalise women’s football because it would be at the same year as the women’s football [World Cup], other sports, the Olympic Games — many mistakes.

“It’s simply a bad idea and it will not happen because it is a bad idea, not because we are opposing it.”

FIFA’s plans had the International Olympic Committee (IOC) worried with attendees at a summit earlier this month voicing “serious concerns” over the proposals and its impact on the world sporting calendar.

“Why are the Olympic Games every four years? Because it’s an event that you have to look forward (to), that you have to wait [for], and you have to enjoy it,” Ceferin added.

“And it’s the biggest football event — it has to be every four years. But it’s very clear - 75% of fans around the world reject the idea [of a biennial World Cup].”

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2021

Just four games were left on the schedule this weekend out of the original 10 as Britain’s worsening coronavirus crisis took its toll on the Premier League.

Clubs will meet on Monday to discuss what action to take, with growing questions over the integrity of the competition as the busy festive period looms.

Stumbling Chelsea, who have struggled with illness and injuries in recent weeks, were only able to name four outfield players on the bench for their match at Molineux.

The visitors, who have now won just two of their past six league games, enjoyed the bulk of possession but mustered just one shot on target and are now six points behind leaders City.

Thomas Tuchel was without Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who have all tested positive for Covid-19. Jorginho, Kai Havertz and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were also not in the squad.

Chelsea earlier confirmed that their request to have the game called off been turned down.

The European champions’ request is understood to have been rejected because the Blues were deemed to have had enough players to fulfil the fixture according to Premier League regulations.

“We did ask to postpone the game,” Tuchel confirmed before kick-off. “We thought we had a strong case regarding the security and the health of the players.

“We have seven positive cases and every single day we’ve had another positive case coming in. We travelled together for three hours on the bus, we are in meetings together, we have lunch and dinners together. The situation does not feel like it will stop.”

Defending champions City crushed Newcastle 4-0 to confirm their position at the top of the table at Christmas.

Eddie Howe’s side shot themselves in the foot in just the fifth minute, when calamitous defending handed City the lead after goalkeeper Martin Dubravka had carelessly conceded a corner.

The defence only half-cleared and Joao Cancelo hooked the ball back into the six-yard box. Newcastle appeared to be in little danger but Ciaran Clark inexplicably chose not to make a simple headed clearance and Ruben Dias headed the loose ball into the net.

The home side rallied and Joelinton went close to equalising with a stinging shot from distance that flew just wide of Ederson’s right-hand post.

But City silenced the passionate crowd at St James’s Park shortly before the half-hour, when Cancelo jinked his way past Joe Willock and Isaac Hayden before smashing a right-footed shot past the helpless Dubravka from the edge of the area.

City maintained their firm grip on the match in the second half, with Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling doubling their lead.

Pep Guardiola’s City have now won eight league games in a row to move four points clear of second-placed Liverpool, who were in action at Tottenham Hotspur later on Sunday.

But relegation-threated Newcastle remain three points from safety having now played two games more than Watford, who are just outside the drop zone.

In the only Premier League match to take place on Saturday, injury-hit Leeds United slumped to their second alarming loss in five days, 4-1 at home to Arsenal.

The match was marred by an allegation of racial abuse from a spectator toward Arsenal’s players. It was reported to officials by Arsenal, manager Mikel Arteta said.

Coming off a 7-0 thrashing at City on Tuesday, Leeds were down to nine senior players and with a 15-year-old on the bench amid an injury crisis was ripped apart in the first half as Gabriel Martinelli scored twice and Bukayo Saka added another.

Leeds lost another player, Jack Harrison, to injury before halftime and manager Marcelo Bielsa had his head bowed as he walked back to the dressing rooms, with his team having allowed 15 shots on goal in a chaotic display.

The home side was better organized in the second half and managed a consolation when Raphinha converted a penalty after 19-year-old striker Joe Gelhardt was tripped by Ben White.

Substitute Emile Smith Rowe’s 84th-minute goal, after he was played through by Martin Odegaard, piled on the misery for Leeds, who are five points above the relegation zone having played three games more than third-to-last Burnley.

Arsenal consolidated fourth place in the race for Champions League qualification and is four points above fifth-placed West Ham United having played 18 of 38 games.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2021

Algerian rejoicing at Saturday’s 2-0 extra-time win over Tunisia in the final after goals by substitute Amr Sayoud and Yacine Brahimi — exactly a year before the 2022 World Cup decider, and with FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the stands — will have been accompanied by satisfaction from Qatari officials.

But now comes the hard work as Qatar prepares for the unique task of hosting a World Cup in and around a single city, Doha, with limited hotel accommodation and a transport network that is likely to come under strain.

The wealthy Gulf state will also be bracing for intense scrutiny after coming under fire over the rights of the migrant labourers who have built its infrastructure, including the World Cup stadiums.

And it will be mindful of a cultural gap when fans from around the world arrive in a conservative Muslim country with restricted access to alcohol, and where public drunkenness and homosexual relations are illegal.

More than 600,000 tickets were sold for the 16-team Arab Cup, including a Qatari-record 63,439 crowd when the hosts played fierce rivals the United Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals.

Six of the eight World Cup venues were employed as Qatar took the chance to test its stadiums and training sites, transport, accommodation, volunteers and other areas including security.

A fan ID system was dropped midway through the tournament following reports of long queues and complaints from fans, but crowd trouble appeared limited to some damaged seats at the quarter-final between Tunisia and Oman.

Qatar will “take account of the lessons learned to organise the best World Cup”, said Jassim Al-Jassim, the organising committee’s vice-president of operations.

The Lusail Stadium, which will host the World Cup final, was notably not used for the tournament. In October, its project manager said that it still needed final checks and tests.

Coaches were impressed by the facilities, with Algeria’s Majid Bougherra, a World Cup veteran, saying “everything is perfect” — apart, perhaps, from the accommodation.

“The stadiums are great, the pitches are great. Perhaps one small downside, but it won’t be the case at the World Cup, is that we were in the same hotel as everyone else,” he said.

“We congratulate [Qatar] on this beautiful Arab Cup and I think the World Cup will be exceptional,” Bougherra added.

Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz, the former Iran, Portugal and Real Madrid boss, said the Qatar World Cup has “all the ingredients to succeed”, but called for better communications.

“If there is one advice I will give to everybody, we need to talk, because the better we talk the better the harmony between the needs inside and outside the pitch,” he said.

Daniel Reyche, a sport policy and politic researcher and visiting associate professor at Qatar’s Georgetown University, said he was impressed by the organisers’ ability to learn from their mistakes, for example by dropping the fan ID.

“Overall, I think the test went well, but it is difficult to compare the FIFA Arab Cup and the FIFA World Cup, since most visitors this time came from within the country and next year they will come from outside the country,” he said.

And after Qatar dismissed concerns from the LGBTQ+ community about attending the World Cup, FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura gave assurances next year’s tournament would be inclusive.

“People are free to display any kind of flag they want, including the rainbow flag, without them being targeted or singled out,” she said this week.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2021

Free-scoring Liverpool laid down the gauntlet by hammering Southampton 4-0 the previous day to move to within one point of leaders Chelsea, who host Manchester United in Sunday’s late kick-off.

But reigning champions City stayed in close touch with victory at home to high-flying West Ham as the Premier League increasingly resembles a three-horse race.

Riyad Mahrez had a strike ruled out for offside at the Etihad but the hosts eventually claimed the lead shortly after the half-hour mark when a Mahrez ball into the box was deflected into the path of Ilkay Gundogan, handing the German a simple finish.

Declan Rice forced a good save from Ederson as West Ham threatened late on but substitute Fernandinho made it 2-0 to City in the closing minutes.

Manuel Lanzini pulled one back but it was not enough for David Moyes’s team to avoid a second successive defeat.

Leicester’s Jamie Vardy reminded Ranieri of his enduring quality even in his mid-30s, scoring twice at the King Power Stadium in a 4-2 win against Watford.

Ranieri, who famously won the Premier League title with unfancied Leicester in 2016, received a rapturous reception on his emotional first return to the stadium as an opposition manager since leaving the club early the following year.

Midfielder James Maddison gave Leicester an early lead when he capitalised on a mistake by William Troost-Ekong, only for Josh King to level from the penalty spot in the 30th minute after Wilfred Ndidi brought down Emmanuel Dennis in the area.

Leicester regained the lead four minutes later when Vardy lifted the ball over goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann from an angle and the former England striker grabbed his second three minutes before the break when he glanced in Maddison’s corner.

Dennis pulled a goal back just after the hour when he robbed Timothy Castagne to race through and chip over Kasper Schmeichel but Ademola Lookman scored from close range to restore the home side’s two-goal cushion.

Brentford heaped the pressure on Rafael Benitez by beating Everton 1-0 to secure their first Premier League win since early October, courtesy of a first-half penalty from Ivan Toney.

Everton have now taken just two points from their past seven league matches and are sinking fast.

The game between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur was called off a little under an hour before kick-off because of heavy snow at Turf Moor in northwest England.

Attempts to clear the pitch proved in vain as the undersoil heating struggled to cope and snow fell as quickly as it could be removed.

On Saturday, Diogo Jota’s double and goals by Thiago Alcantara and Virgil van Dijk eased Liverpool past Southampton in another masterful display by the best attack in the league at Anfield.

Liverpool’s former skipper Steven Gerrard enjoyed a second consecutive win as Aston Villa manager with a 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace.

Second-from-bottom Norwich City failed to make it three wins in a row as they drew 0-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wand­erers but they moved level on nine points with 18th-placed Burnley.

The match between Brighton & Hove Albion and by Leeds United also ended goalless, however, the point did edge Brighton up to eighth place, ahead of Manchester United.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2021

Team director Oliver Bierhoff said on Tuesday that Suele was fully vaccinated and does not have any symptoms. Suele also tested positive for Covid-19 a year ago.

Germany have already qualified for next year’s World Cup. They host Liechtenstein in Wolfsburg on Thursday and then play Armenia in Yerevan on Sunday.

The other four players Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala and Karim Adeyemi tested negative for the virus but have been instructed by the local health authority in Wolfsburg to isolate because of their proximity to the infected player.

It’s unclear how long they will be in quarantine.

“It’s in the hands of the local heath authority,” Germany team doctor Tim Meyer said. “It depends on whether any symptoms arise. It depends on how any subsequent tests turn out. There are certainly possibilities that the clubs will also be affected.”

Suele, Kimmich, Gnabry and Musiala all play for Bayern Munich. Adeyemi plays for Austrian club Salzburg.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann only returned last week after missing four games because of his Covid-19 infection. He has also been fully vaccinated.

Another four unnamed Germany players who were on the flight to Wolfsburg with Suele are being kept apart from the rest of the team as a precaution. They are considered less risk and can remain at the team hotel. Tuesday’s early training session was called off in favor of individual exercises. An evening session was to go ahead as planned.

Germany coach Hansi Flick called up VFL Wolfsburg players Ridle Baku and Maximilian Arnold, and Monaco forward Kevin Volland to the squad after the others’ departure. Florian Wirtz and Nico Schlotterbeck have also dropped out with injuries. Flick called up Bayer Leverkusen defender Johnathan Tah on Monday.

Germanys rate of virus infections has been climbing steadily in recent weeks and reached a new pandemic-high on Tuesday with 213.7 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.

Kimmich previously caused a furore in Germany by voicing his reluctance to get vaccinated.

“Kimmich’s opinion has been widely discussed and I don’t think I can add anything new,” Meyer said. “I think at a certain stage you have to say, we accept it the way it is.”

Meyer said employee protection laws don’t allow the German football federation to oblige players to be vaccinated. Only vaccinated or recovered spectators are allowed at Thursday’s game in Wolfsburg. Mayer said there were different laws in place for workplace and leisure environments.

The situation is likely to change as infection numbers continue to rise with politicians already discussing new restrictions to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

Last weekend, a second-division game in Germany was called off after one of the clubs reported 18 new coronavirus cases among players and staff.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2021

Having opened the season with three losses, Mikel Arteta’s side is now on a 10-game unbeaten run with 20 points from 11 games, provisionally behind fourth-placed West Ham United on goal difference.

Benjamin White rode a number of challenges before being tackled, with the ball breaking into the path of Smith Rowe to net in the 56th minute after an inspired performance from Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster had frustrated the hosts, with Juraj Kucka dismissed late on at the Emirates Stadium.

Claudio Ranieri’s Watford remain two points and a place above the relegation zone.

Conte, who won the 2017 title with Chelsea, witnessed his new side come off second best to opponents beset by injuries and low on morale after not winning in their previous four matches.

A game short on clear-cut chances at Goodison Park could easily have ended in Tottenham’s sixth defeat in eight league games but for a controversial intervention from VAR to overturn the decision to award Everton a second-half penalty.

Giovani lo Celso nearly snatched all three points for Spurs when his shot hit the post late on before Everton had to see out stoppage time a man down following Mason Holgate’s straight red card.

Tottenham are ninth with 16 points from 11 games with Everton, who ended a run of three successive league defeats, a point worse off.

At Elland Road, Leeds United winger Raphinha’s superb free kick was cancelled out by Leicester City forward Harvey Barnes in an entertaining 1-1 draw.

The result left Leicester 12th on 15 points from 11 games, with Leeds up to 15th on 11 points.

MANEGERIAL MOVES

The sackings of Norwich City boss Daniel Farke and Aston Villa manager Dean Smith over the weekend took the total in the English top-flight to five already this season.

Norwich fired Daniel Farke as manager despite finally winning their first game of the season on Saturday. Mathias Normann’s solo effort and Teemu Pukki’s penalty clinched a 2-1 win at Brentford in a meeting of promoted clubs.

But while Brentford are in 14th place, Norwich are seven points behind in the 20th and last place.

Only a superior goal difference is keeping Newcastle United, who are understood to have agreed a deal in principle with former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe to take over at St James’ Park, off the bottom of the standings after drawing 1-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Chelsea lead the standings with 26 points, three ahead of Manchester City after they were surprisingly held 1-1 at home by Burnley.

Kai Havertz headed Chelsea in front from a Reece James cross but 18th-placed Burnley levelled late on through Matej Vydra.

Crystal Palace are up to ninth after Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher scored in a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2021

But Laporta refused to confirm Xavi will succeed Ronald Koeman, who was sacked on Wednesday night, and maintained Barca have “other options”.

Laporta’s enthusiastic assessment of Barca’s legendary former midfielder will be taken as a strong indication that he is the preferred replacement for Koeman.

After a glittering career at Camp Nou, Xavi left in 2015 to play for Al Sadd in Qatar before becoming coach of the team two years ago.

“I said it when he went to Qatar, that Xavi would end up being the coach of Barca, in fact I would like him to be coach of Barca during my presidency — what I don’t know is when,” said Laporta in a press conference on Friday.

“It is true the reports we have about him are very good. I have not followed Al Sadd, but we have talked about Bara games on the phone. We have watched games together almost. Let me say no more. For all the talk of Xavi there are also other options. Barca have other options.”

Koeman was let go on Wednesday following a 1-0 loss at Rayo Vallecano that left Barcelona in ninth place in La Liga. That followed painful losses to Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Bayern Munich this season.

Barca promoted reserve team coach Sergi Barjuan the next day to act as caretaker coach. Laporta said Barjuan will be in charge for Saturday’s home game against Alaves and possibly next week’s Champions League match at Dynamo Kiev.

He admitted he should have dismissed Koeman sooner.

“Looking at the situation as of today, it probably would have been the best decision [to terminate Koeman’s contract before],” Laporta said. “Now it is easy to say that but that are circumstances that led us to wait. We thought that Koeman needed more time. I take full responsibility but the situation got to a point that was unsustainable.”

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2021