John Carlin, a New York Times writer said he was “shocked” at Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez’s refusal to come onto the football pitch against Bayern Munich in their Champions league match at the Allianz Arena, Munich. Tevez has been unhappy with life in Manchester had publicly stated in the summer that he wanted to leave Manchester City to be closer to his family.
Manchester City was trailing Bayern Munich 0-2 when manager Roberto Mancini asked the Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez to warm-up to get onto the pitch around the 59th minute of the match. Tevez refused to obey the manager’s orders. “He will never play for me again.” said a disgusted Mancini in the post-match conference. “He is finished.” Tevez followed that by saying he was not in the “right frame of mind” to play.
“Footballers get paid such a ridiculous amount of money.” said British football journalist Sean Mullan. “That compounds the problem.” Tevez earns an estimated £250,000 a week.
Two days after the incident, Tevez said that there was a gap in communication and he had “refused to warm up, but not refused to play.”
“I don’t know if Tevez is right and there was a misunderstanding.” said Carlin. “I doubt it. Mancini was so angry that he seemed genuine”. Mullan said that Tevez’s refusal was a spontaneous decision and not something he planned.
After enquiry and trial, Tevez was found guilty of five serious breaches of contract. He was suspended for a fortnight and fined two weeks' wages. He was ordered to train by himself and then with the reserves. Tevez’s problems compounded in November when he left for Argentina and failed to appear at the training sessions.
Dario Weitz called the 27-year old Tevez as the “player of the people” because he “never forgot where he came from.” Weitz, who lives in Rosario, Argentina and is a fan of Boca Juniors said Tevez was “born in the slums” in the “dangerous” neighborhood of Fort Apache. “His life, like other people in Apache, should go in misery, except for football.” said Weitz.
Mullan said that the Brazilian club Corinthians had made an offer of €40 million but Manchester City wanted €56 million and €16.5 million in a first installment to release Tevez from his contract. “Corinthians wanted to wait till 2012 when they get their new television rights and hence the deal did not go through.” he said.
“Can the Corinthians pay £250,000 a week?” said Carlin. “How many teams can pay even two-thirds of his salary? He bought himself out of the market.”
“I read an article by an Argentine journalist who called Tevez his ‘own worst enemy’. His own national coach does not want him.” said Carlin, who recently co-authored with Raphael Nadal on “Rafa: My Story” and spent over two years covering football and politics in Argentina. “I sometimes feel sorry for him. He has made a mess of his life. Some players come from extreme poverty and violence in childhood. But then so do players from Africa, some of whom are so well-behaved.”
Both Carlin and Mullan wanted a salary-cap to be enforced in football but could not see it happening.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Did Serena get away?
“It is a joke” said tennis referee Charles Granville referring to the $2000 fine imposed on Serena Williams for lashing out at a chair umpire in the recently concluded US Open. Mr. Granville, father of American professional tennis player Laura Granville, said that suspending players rather than fining them would make the tennis players behave themselves on court. French newspaper journalist, Cecile Soler said that unless a player goes physical or swears at the officials, he or she should not be suspended. Soler said: “Taking the point away is the biggest thing and that was what the umpire did.”
Williams was down 30-40 in the first game of the second set against Australian Sam Stosur in the final match of the US Open. She then hit a crunching forehand and yelled “come on” before the ninth–seeded Stosur dived at the shot. Chair umpire Eva Asderaki assessed Williams a code violation and a point penalty that gave the game to Stosur. During the changeover, Williams called Asderaki a “hater”, a “loser” and “unattractive inside” saying: “you’re giving me a code violation because I expressed who I am? We’re in America, last I checked.”
Armand Diab, another tennis referee based in Chicago, said that suspension is the ideal punishment. However, he also said that suspension would not be a practical solution as that would mean incurring “lot of revenue loss” for the tournament. Diab said: “It (the fine) is not right or wrong, it’s business”. Diab then said that he had seen cases where men said a lot worse things and have got away with it.
Williams earned $900,000 for her runner-up finish in New York and $500,000 for winning the summer's Olympus US Open Series. Armand Diab described the $2000 fine as a “slap on the wrist” for Williams. Williams was on probation after she had threatened a line judge saying she was going to “shove a ball down her throat” in a semi-final match at the US Open in 2009. ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said “I don't think [suspending Williams] would make much sense because it would penalize the people handing out the punishment."
“What has happened in cricket has not happened in Tennis.” said Granville. Cricket, another British-originated sport, gives the ultimate authority to the on-field umpire. Cricketers are suspended if they don’t respect the officials. Granville then compared the incident to the “two-year ban on first violation” imposed on players who are tested positive for using illegal substances. Granville then likened the incident it to the time taken by players between points. “Do Nadal and Djokovic follow the 20-second rule between points? The importance of players has had a corrupting effect (on the tennis authority).”
Soler, who has been writing on Tennis for Le Figaro for 20 years, called the umpires to be “brave and make the right calls”. Diab, on the other hand, said: “I read the recent article on New York Times which said how poorly the umpires are paid at the US Open”. He said that the tennis officiating profession could be under threat.
Williams was down 30-40 in the first game of the second set against Australian Sam Stosur in the final match of the US Open. She then hit a crunching forehand and yelled “come on” before the ninth–seeded Stosur dived at the shot. Chair umpire Eva Asderaki assessed Williams a code violation and a point penalty that gave the game to Stosur. During the changeover, Williams called Asderaki a “hater”, a “loser” and “unattractive inside” saying: “you’re giving me a code violation because I expressed who I am? We’re in America, last I checked.”
Armand Diab, another tennis referee based in Chicago, said that suspension is the ideal punishment. However, he also said that suspension would not be a practical solution as that would mean incurring “lot of revenue loss” for the tournament. Diab said: “It (the fine) is not right or wrong, it’s business”. Diab then said that he had seen cases where men said a lot worse things and have got away with it.
Williams earned $900,000 for her runner-up finish in New York and $500,000 for winning the summer's Olympus US Open Series. Armand Diab described the $2000 fine as a “slap on the wrist” for Williams. Williams was on probation after she had threatened a line judge saying she was going to “shove a ball down her throat” in a semi-final match at the US Open in 2009. ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said “I don't think [suspending Williams] would make much sense because it would penalize the people handing out the punishment."
“What has happened in cricket has not happened in Tennis.” said Granville. Cricket, another British-originated sport, gives the ultimate authority to the on-field umpire. Cricketers are suspended if they don’t respect the officials. Granville then compared the incident to the “two-year ban on first violation” imposed on players who are tested positive for using illegal substances. Granville then likened the incident it to the time taken by players between points. “Do Nadal and Djokovic follow the 20-second rule between points? The importance of players has had a corrupting effect (on the tennis authority).”
Soler, who has been writing on Tennis for Le Figaro for 20 years, called the umpires to be “brave and make the right calls”. Diab, on the other hand, said: “I read the recent article on New York Times which said how poorly the umpires are paid at the US Open”. He said that the tennis officiating profession could be under threat.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Arsenal 0 -2 Liverpool. But there is still hope!
After a summer of unrest, Cesc finally leaving for Barca, Nasri on the verge of going to Man City, the Gunners had a lot of questions to answer. Over the summer, the struggling Denilson and the effervescent, versatile Eboue had also departed. Wilshere, Rosicky, Gibbs were out injured. Song and new signing, Gervinho were serving suspensions. As if that was not enough, the improved Koscielny injured his back 10 minutes in the game. There was no lack of effort from Arsenal. Theo Walcott, Arshavin tried to make runs, but could not quite penetrate. Nasri starting the game was surprising to me. But, Wenger did say that "Samir has been 100% committed ever since he joined the club". I don't think the fans should berate players looking for a transfer. Would you not go to another employer if he offered you twice of what you are earning? "Part of our job" is how Wenger described the Nasri situation. Can Wenger convince Samir to stay just like the United gaffer did last year with Rooney? Unlikely, but possible.
Happy times ahead?
Back to the game. Frimpong came in for Song and had a decent game considering that it was his debut and he is not even 20 yet. Carl Jenkisnon and Ignasi Miquel, another couple of teenagers had impressive games and would definitely be good backups to Kosh and Gibbs (although Jenkinson is a right-back). Arsenal competed well with a really depleted team for 70 minutes before they lost Frimpong, who got a deserved red card. (another red card on debut for a gunner after Gervinho and Kosh). With 10 tired men on the pitch, Arsenal finally went down to a freak own goal from Ramsey. 'Rambo' certainly did not have a good game and the own goal summed up a bad day for him. Looking for an equalizer the Gunners committed men forward and were punished by Suarez. The gunners lost 2-0.
Arsenal's best player on the pitch was Vermaelen. The Belgian was a ROCK and kept Carrol ( and the Liverpool attack) quiet for the most part. Along with Sagna and a fit Gibbs, and an improving Kosh, Arsenal seem to have a solid back four. Schzeny has been stable. With Wilshere coming in, I believe there is still light at the end of this tunnel. With the current squad of players (assuming everyone is fit and Nasri and Bendtner leave), our starting eleven would be:
Schzeny
Gibbs
Sagna
Vermaelen
Koscielny
Song
Wilshere
Rosicky/Ramsey
Arshavin/ Walcott
Van Persie
Gervinho
on the bench:
Jenkinson
Squilacci
Miquel
Arshavin/ Walcott
Rosicky/Ramsey
Ryo Miyachi
Chamberlain
Chamakh
I think this is definitely a top 4 team. If Wenger can pull out a creative midfielder or convince Nasri to stay, we will be right in the mix for a push for the title.
I would still urge all the gunners to get behind our team. Wenger said before the game. "You can question my decisions for the club, but not my loyalty towards the club"
With some caution I say, "Bring on Udinese"
Back to the game. Frimpong came in for Song and had a decent game considering that it was his debut and he is not even 20 yet. Carl Jenkisnon and Ignasi Miquel, another couple of teenagers had impressive games and would definitely be good backups to Kosh and Gibbs (although Jenkinson is a right-back). Arsenal competed well with a really depleted team for 70 minutes before they lost Frimpong, who got a deserved red card. (another red card on debut for a gunner after Gervinho and Kosh). With 10 tired men on the pitch, Arsenal finally went down to a freak own goal from Ramsey. 'Rambo' certainly did not have a good game and the own goal summed up a bad day for him. Looking for an equalizer the Gunners committed men forward and were punished by Suarez. The gunners lost 2-0.
Arsenal's best player on the pitch was Vermaelen. The Belgian was a ROCK and kept Carrol ( and the Liverpool attack) quiet for the most part. Along with Sagna and a fit Gibbs, and an improving Kosh, Arsenal seem to have a solid back four. Schzeny has been stable. With Wilshere coming in, I believe there is still light at the end of this tunnel. With the current squad of players (assuming everyone is fit and Nasri and Bendtner leave), our starting eleven would be:
Schzeny
Gibbs
Sagna
Vermaelen
Koscielny
Song
Wilshere
Rosicky/Ramsey
Arshavin/ Walcott
Van Persie
Gervinho
on the bench:
Jenkinson
Squilacci
Miquel
Arshavin/ Walcott
Rosicky/Ramsey
Ryo Miyachi
Chamberlain
Chamakh
I think this is definitely a top 4 team. If Wenger can pull out a creative midfielder or convince Nasri to stay, we will be right in the mix for a push for the title.
I would still urge all the gunners to get behind our team. Wenger said before the game. "You can question my decisions for the club, but not my loyalty towards the club"
With some caution I say, "Bring on Udinese"
Monday, June 6, 2011
French Open Final 2011: Federer poetic, but Nadal is the unstoppable warhorse
It was another amazing match between two athletes who have brought out the best in each other and played some unbelievable matches over the last 5 years. It is not for no reason that Nadal is considered to be the best on clay. His record is 40-1. (Won 40, lost 1). If ever there was anything that was going to stop this unrelenting Mallorca man, it was Federer. The last time these two met at the French Open final was in 2008, when Nadal won 6-1,6-3,6-0, one of the most lopsided games in the history of French open finals. Several had written Federer off. But the Swiss king came back to life. He hired Paul Annacone as his coach, tweaked his game a little and indeed, came back to win the French Open the next year, in 2009. If ever there was anything missing from the Federer resume, it was to beat Nadal on clay at a Slam.
So, Nadal started slowly and Federer broke the Spaniard in his first service game and raced to a 3-0 lead. He was well and truly in control of the first set and got a set point at 5-2. His audacious drop shot missed the line by inches and Nadal fought back to 5-3, still a break down. Federer then seemed to hit one of the troughs and lost his confidence completely as Nadal took the first set 7-5, winning 5 consecutive games. 1st set Nadal, but what a confidence-breaker for Federer, having had a set point.
Nadal continued his strong momentum. Most players would have mentally been disintegrated against the inspired world number 1. But, Federer continued to fight and just managed to stay in the set. There were some unbelievable exchanges. Shots that would have been "sliced" or "floated" in by others were turned into offensive shots by these two. Federer, with his amazing athleticism and smoothness. Nadal, with his whippy, loopy top-spin into the Federer backhand. Despite Federer's fightback, Nadal got to set point serving at 5-4. He lost the set point and to add to the drama, the skies opened up and there was a 9-minute delay. Nadal had said before the game that he would not want it to rain and have the conditions dry for that would favor his top-spin game better. The players came back with Nadal serving at 5-4, 40-40. Inevitably his first serve was a top-spun serve high into the Federer back-hand and he earned himself another set point. Tribute to Federer, he fought back, broke back and the 2nd set went to a tie-break. Fortunes continued to swing. After the path the first set took, where Federer lost a set point, you could not help but get a feeling that this would go Federer's way (with Nadal having dropped set points). But, that indeed, was not the case. Nadal took the tie-breaker. Potentially, another huge blow to the Federer psyche.
Only one-time has Nadal lost a game having won the first two sets. That was way back in 2005 in Miami. The opponent? Surpise surprise - ROGER FEDERER. But that was when Nadal was a 17-yr old and Fed was on top pf the world. A totally different cup of tea now!
Nadal again raced to a 4-2 lead in the 3rd and just when you thought "that was it", Federer played some unbelievable drop shots and made some volleys out-of-this world. He made more unforced errors but came up with more winners and took the 3rd set 7-5.
Nadal was consistent. After the first 2 games of the match, he played the whole match at an (80/100) level. Federer, on the other hand, played some points at (50/100) and some at a godly level, more like 150/100. Nadal would run-down every ball. It was upto Federer to come up with the drops, the volleys, the approaches, the slice and all the variations.
Nadal came out in the 4th set and was under the pump and 0-40 on his serve. From there on, he managed to rise and what a rise. He came back to win the game and took the 4th set 6-1 and won the match 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1.
An unbelievable match. Some rallies and exchanges were out of this world. The final score may be a bit flattering for Nadal for he knew he was in a dog-fight for the best part of 3 hrs and 50 minutes.
The Federer-Nadal rivalry may be reaching its twilight. But if the history is anything to go by, we are in for another final between these two. For every time they have made it to the French open final, they have also made it to the Wimbledon finals!
So, Nadal started slowly and Federer broke the Spaniard in his first service game and raced to a 3-0 lead. He was well and truly in control of the first set and got a set point at 5-2. His audacious drop shot missed the line by inches and Nadal fought back to 5-3, still a break down. Federer then seemed to hit one of the troughs and lost his confidence completely as Nadal took the first set 7-5, winning 5 consecutive games. 1st set Nadal, but what a confidence-breaker for Federer, having had a set point.
Nadal continued his strong momentum. Most players would have mentally been disintegrated against the inspired world number 1. But, Federer continued to fight and just managed to stay in the set. There were some unbelievable exchanges. Shots that would have been "sliced" or "floated" in by others were turned into offensive shots by these two. Federer, with his amazing athleticism and smoothness. Nadal, with his whippy, loopy top-spin into the Federer backhand. Despite Federer's fightback, Nadal got to set point serving at 5-4. He lost the set point and to add to the drama, the skies opened up and there was a 9-minute delay. Nadal had said before the game that he would not want it to rain and have the conditions dry for that would favor his top-spin game better. The players came back with Nadal serving at 5-4, 40-40. Inevitably his first serve was a top-spun serve high into the Federer back-hand and he earned himself another set point. Tribute to Federer, he fought back, broke back and the 2nd set went to a tie-break. Fortunes continued to swing. After the path the first set took, where Federer lost a set point, you could not help but get a feeling that this would go Federer's way (with Nadal having dropped set points). But, that indeed, was not the case. Nadal took the tie-breaker. Potentially, another huge blow to the Federer psyche.
Only one-time has Nadal lost a game having won the first two sets. That was way back in 2005 in Miami. The opponent? Surpise surprise - ROGER FEDERER. But that was when Nadal was a 17-yr old and Fed was on top pf the world. A totally different cup of tea now!
Nadal again raced to a 4-2 lead in the 3rd and just when you thought "that was it", Federer played some unbelievable drop shots and made some volleys out-of-this world. He made more unforced errors but came up with more winners and took the 3rd set 7-5.
Nadal was consistent. After the first 2 games of the match, he played the whole match at an (80/100) level. Federer, on the other hand, played some points at (50/100) and some at a godly level, more like 150/100. Nadal would run-down every ball. It was upto Federer to come up with the drops, the volleys, the approaches, the slice and all the variations.
Nadal came out in the 4th set and was under the pump and 0-40 on his serve. From there on, he managed to rise and what a rise. He came back to win the game and took the 4th set 6-1 and won the match 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1.
An unbelievable match. Some rallies and exchanges were out of this world. The final score may be a bit flattering for Nadal for he knew he was in a dog-fight for the best part of 3 hrs and 50 minutes.
The Federer-Nadal rivalry may be reaching its twilight. But if the history is anything to go by, we are in for another final between these two. For every time they have made it to the French open final, they have also made it to the Wimbledon finals!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
French Open, IPL and AF bans a journalist
Interesting news at the French open?
Disappointment for the fans as Ana Ivanovic lost to unknown Swede Larsson, 7-6, 0-6, 6-2. Bizzare score that. More disappointment as Somdev Devvarman lost to Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets. Finally some good news as Sania Mirza won her 1st round singles and doubles match. She is paired up with Ukraine-born Russian Vesnina. Nadal survived a major scare from the 7-foot American, John Isner as he had to dig deep to come back from 2 sets to 1 down to win in 5 sets. The others have gone through fairly comfortably, including Federer, Soderling, Djokovic and Murray. Roddick has withdrawn from the FO and no one seems to care! :(..... Can he do a Goran'01 in 2011?!
The best match of IPL - qualifier 1. Why? Most of my favorites were on show - Dhoni, Zaheer, Gayle, Vettori, Bravo, Ashwin! And what a game it turned out to be. Terrific performance by all these guys. Gayle 4-0-19-0 with the ball. Dhoni 29 off 19. Zaheer got Hussey and Vijay and finished with 4-0-31-2 and Ashwin got Gayle cheaply, so it does not matter what he did after that. Vettori was the only one who had an off day :( Dont care too much for the result, oh ya Chennai won in the last over. For some reason it is always fun to see the owner of the losing team's faces (especially Shilpa Shetty), this time it was Vijay Mallaya. So, probably I did support Chennai, coz their owner does not try to come to the limelight. Who is their owner btw?
Alex Fergusson banned one of the journalist's from attending the pre-match conference. The journalist had asked about the absence of Ryan Giggs from training despite being told before the conference to not talk about it. HEres the full story:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24052011/58/champions-league-ferguson-bans-journalist-mentioning-giggs.html
Some pictures from today's game:
Going down! Kohli and Pomersbach.........in a nasty collision
Albie, its the pitch not your pool!......Morkel Dives to the crease without a bat!
Calypso joy!.......Bravo celebrates with team mates
Disappointment for the fans as Ana Ivanovic lost to unknown Swede Larsson, 7-6, 0-6, 6-2. Bizzare score that. More disappointment as Somdev Devvarman lost to Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets. Finally some good news as Sania Mirza won her 1st round singles and doubles match. She is paired up with Ukraine-born Russian Vesnina. Nadal survived a major scare from the 7-foot American, John Isner as he had to dig deep to come back from 2 sets to 1 down to win in 5 sets. The others have gone through fairly comfortably, including Federer, Soderling, Djokovic and Murray. Roddick has withdrawn from the FO and no one seems to care! :(..... Can he do a Goran'01 in 2011?!
The best match of IPL - qualifier 1. Why? Most of my favorites were on show - Dhoni, Zaheer, Gayle, Vettori, Bravo, Ashwin! And what a game it turned out to be. Terrific performance by all these guys. Gayle 4-0-19-0 with the ball. Dhoni 29 off 19. Zaheer got Hussey and Vijay and finished with 4-0-31-2 and Ashwin got Gayle cheaply, so it does not matter what he did after that. Vettori was the only one who had an off day :( Dont care too much for the result, oh ya Chennai won in the last over. For some reason it is always fun to see the owner of the losing team's faces (especially Shilpa Shetty), this time it was Vijay Mallaya. So, probably I did support Chennai, coz their owner does not try to come to the limelight. Who is their owner btw?
Alex Fergusson banned one of the journalist's from attending the pre-match conference. The journalist had asked about the absence of Ryan Giggs from training despite being told before the conference to not talk about it. HEres the full story:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24052011/58/champions-league-ferguson-bans-journalist-mentioning-giggs.html
Some pictures from today's game:
Albie, its the pitch not your pool!......Morkel Dives to the crease without a bat!
Calypso joy!.......Bravo celebrates with team mates
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