France sponsors to base payouts on results and behaviour

Thu, Oct 07 10 09:17 PM

France's 12 sponsors will base their contributions over the next four years on results and behaviour following the team's embarrassing World Cup campaign.

A 10 to 15 percent bonus could be awarded to the French Football Federation (FFF) if results and behaviour are deemed good enough. However, if they are not there may be a 10 to 15 percent reduction in contributions.

"There will be bonuses and penalties based on results and image," FFF vice-president Noel Le Graet told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifier against Romania in Paris on Saturday.

Several sponsors distanced themselves from France when they were knocked out in the first round of the World Cup in South Africa in June.

Striker Nicolas Anelka was also kicked out of the squad for insulting then-coach Raymond Domenech, triggering a strike among the players.

Credit Agricole suspended an advertising campaign that pictured some players, including Franck Ribery, as angels, while GDF Suez said it would reassess its partnership with Les Bleus.

FFF president Fernand Duchaussoy said, though, that the federation had now "restored a relationship of confidence with our partners".

Source: Published>

Pak team for SAfrica series announced; no captain named

Thu, Oct 07 10 09:07 PM

Karachi, Oct 7 (PTI) A 15-member Pakistan cricket team, sans captain, was announced today for the upcoming series against South Africa starting later this month. Former Test skipper Intikhab Alam has been named as the manager of the squad for ODIs and T20 matches against the Proteas in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Shahid Afridi, who looked favourite to lead the team, was named in the squad, but has not been given the charge as captain, while batsman Misbah-ul-Haq makes a comeback as the PCB chose him over out of favour Younis Khan. Wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal was also kept off the squad as he is recovering from an appendicitis operation. The announcement was made in a press conference by PCB media manager Nadeem Sarwar, in absence of selectors and senior board officials. Meanwhile, former cricketer Intikhab Alam returned as the manager of the team for this tour after Yawar Saeed stepped down as manager after a turbulent England tour, which saw a dismal performance by the team and spot-fixing allegation against three players -- Salman Butt, Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif. "Right now his immediate task is to manage the team in the South Africa series and the board will decide later on for other series," he said, without giving any explanation on why the squad does not have any captain. Earlier, Alam became coach in October 2008 and helped the Pakistan to win T20 World Cup in England, but after a shambolic tour to Australia early this year, he was replaced by Waqar Younis. The squad includes: Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanvir Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider. PTI CORR KAB SHN

Source: Published>

India fades away 2-5 in front of Australia''s power

Thu, Oct 07 10 08:57 PM

Saumojyoti S Choudhury New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Australia proved too hot for India to handle as the world champions spanked the home team 5-2 in a Pool A match and inched a step closer towards the semifinals of the men''s hockey event in the Commonwealth Games here today. Desmond Abbott (2nd minute), Trent Mitton (6th), Eddie Ockenden (48th), Liam de Young (54th) and Glenn Turner (58th) scored for Australia while Dharamvir Singh (12th) and Sandeep Singh were India''s goal-getters. The match was a golden opportunity for Australia to avenge their World Cup defeat, where they lost by identical margin earlier this year at the same venue, but once against the home team disappointed their fans. Despite conceding two early goals, India displayed some spark in the opening half but the Australians showed why they are the world beaters as they completely outplayed the Rajpal Singh-led side in the second period. Even though the Indians were impressive in the midfield in the opening half, their defence wore a sorry look throughout the match, which eventually turned out to be the difference between the two sides. Dhanjay Mahadik was a blunder at the back while Tushar Khandkar failed to impress upfront. Custodian Bharat Chetri too had a bad day in office as he failed to deny the Australians when it mattered most. The Indians were also undone by poor penalty corner conversion as they found the net only once out of the six chances they earned in the match. Contrary to scoreline, India dominated the first half barring the first 10 minutes but poor finishing let them down. As expected, the encounter started at a brisk pace with Australia coming out on top in the initial exchanges, while India took some time to get their footing in the match. The backline continued to haunt the Indians in yet another tournament as Australia took a 2-0 lead within the first six minutes of the match, courtesy some sloppy work by the defenders. .

Source: Published>

Enforcement Directorate issues 'Blue Alert' for Lalit Modi

Published>Thu, Oct 07 10 08:47 PM

New Delhi, Oct. 7 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly issued a 'Blue Alert' with the help of Interpol for former Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Lalit Modi over substantial Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations amounting to hundred of crores.

A Blue Alert is issued by Interpol to establish the whereabouts and activities of a suspect person if he or she is traveling abroad.

Under the Blue Alert, Modi cannot travel outside the country, and if he does, he can be detained at any public port of embarkation and disembarkation.

After detainment at any International Check Post (ICP), the authorities of that country have to get in touch with Enforcement Directorate officials and hand Modi over for further investigations.

The Blue Alert has been issued after Modi repeatedly failed to make himself available for interrogation. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

Sreesanth should focus on his strength: Shastri

Thu, Oct 07 10 08:38 PM

Kochi, Oct 7 (PTI) Temperamental pacer Sreesanth today received a word of advice from former captain Ravi Shastri who said the speedster should focus on his strength and not be intimidated by anyone including the Australians. "Focus on your strength, be your self and do not be intimidated by anyone least of of all by Australians ", Shastri advised Sreesanth, during a function here to mark the 60th year of the formation of the Kerala Cricket Association. "With Ishant Sharma, being ruled out of the second test against Australia at Bangalore starting on Oct 9 Sreesanth could find a place in the playing eleven," he said. Stressing the need to develop infrastructure in Kerala schools he said, "Focus on the districts. .. They are more passionate about cricket and dream about the sport and above all have few distractions. People in the metros are soft." Shastri termed India''s victory in the Mohali Test was one of the greatest Test matches and said it was a great endorsement for Test cricket. He lauded the performances of both V V S Laxman and Ishant Sharma. "This was the best performance of Indian Test Cricket. It shows the self-belief and character of the team, for more than 12 months we held the position of number one in test match ranking," he said. Ishant had a very good performance and Sreesanth should take heart from that and perform well if he gets selected to the playing eleven, the former Indian captain said. Asked if he was hopeful of the Kochi IPL team becoming a reality this season despite being dogged by controversies, he said, "We will get to know about it in 10 days. Showcause notices have been issued to three teams, including Kochi." "I do not want to speculate on it as it will be foolish on my part", he said.

Source: Published>

Indian shooters continue to dominate Karni range

Thu, Oct 07 10 08:22 PM

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) It was business as usual for Indian shooters in the 19th Commonwealth Games as they added two more gold medals and a silver to their kitty at the Dr Karni Singh Range here today. Vijay Kumar and Gurpreet Singh opened the day''s account by bagging the yellow metal in men''s 25-metre rapid fire pistol pairs event, while Ronjan Sodhi ended it on high by winning a silver in men''s double trap. Gurpreet then combined with Omkar Singh to clinch one more gold for the hosts in 10-metre air pistol, late in the evening. There, was, however, disappointment for women shooters Tejaswini Sawant and Lajja Gausami as none of them managed to win a medal in 50-metre rifle 3 position. Winner of the last World Cup final in Turkey and a world record holder in double trap, Sodhi prevailed in a pulsating three-way shoot-off to clinch silver after England''s Steven Walton bagged the gold medal scoring 190 points. The event went into shoot-off after Sodhi, Asher Noria and Isle of Man''s Timothy James Kneale were locked at 186 points after the regulation round. In the three-way shoot-off, a fired-up Sodhi clinched the issue with a clinical performance after both Kneale and Noria missed their targets. There was still hope for Noria to aim for bronze in the two-way shoot-off, but pressure, probably, did him in. Fresh from his exploits at the Junior World Championship in Munich, Noria, in a high-pressure two-way shoot-off with Kneale, fumbled to give the island nation its first medal in shooting. .

Source: Published>

No award can scale Sachin''s greatness: Kapil

Thu, Oct 07 10 08:17 PM

Kolkata, Oct 7 (PTI) India''s only World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev today said no award could actually determine the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar, who has been named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year. Reacting to the batting maestro''s winning his first ICC award yesterday, the legendary all-rounder said: "He doesn''t require any award. Sachin is so great that no award can measure him." While, hailing India''s thrilling one-wicket win over Australia in the first of the two-match series, Kapil said "Mohali Test once again brought back those good old memories," recalling his team''s win in Melbourne Test in 1981 and the tie Test in Chennai in 1986. The man, who took 434 Test wickets, also advised India to play more longer version cricket. "Playing 50 T20 matches and 50 ODIs is not good. The team must play a good amount of Test cricket," he told reporters during a promotional event here. Asked to compare between India''s Test victory in Mohali and the success at the ongoing Commonwealth Games, he said: "Every victory is important. But at the same time, you can''t compare it with other sporting events. Hockey, athletics and cricket are different games and it would be foolish to compare." Meanwhile, the former ICL chief Kapil denied any rift with the IPL. "There is no rift in cricket. There wasn''t any rift between IPL and ICL (Indian Cricket League). To me everything is the same. I''m only concerned with the development of the game." PTI TAP

Source: Published>