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qatar aDVancE 

tHE road to the 2014 FIFA world cup 

shifted firmly into focus as about 200 

countries around the globe discovered 

the challenges ahead at the preliminary 

draw in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last week. 

Eighty-one years since Uruguay became 

the first team to win the world cup on 

home soil in Montevideo, world football’s 

biggest prize was in the limelight once 

more and if FIFA President Sepp Blatter, in 

his introductory speech, described football 

as Brazil’s ‘beating heart’, there were pulses 

accelerating inside hotel Marina da Gloria 

and far beyond as the draw unfolded. 

Some of the greats of Brazilian football 

Oman .....200 Baisas 

Bahrain....... 200 Fils 

Egypt ..................LE 2 

Lebanon 3,000 Livre 

Kuwait ........ 250 Fils 

Morocco ...........Dh 6 

ExcLUSIVE IntERVIEw | P 14 

piquE of tHE lot! 

UAE ....................Dh 5 

Yemen ......75 Riyals 

Sudan ........1 Pound 

KSA .............. 2 Riyals 

Jordan ......... 500 Fils 

Iraq ........................ $1 

Palestine .............. $1 

Syria .................LS 20 

VOLLEYBALL | P 22 

brEaKinG tHrouGH 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011 | Vol Vi | no.26 | QR2.00 | www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com 

hearts 

Beating 

Football’s biggest prize was in the spotlight yet again as hosts Brazil move closer to the 2014 

world cup by organising a spectacular preliminary draw, writes a special correspondent. 

— including Bebeto, cafu, Ronaldo, Mario 

Zagallo and Zico — helped FIFA General 

Secretary Jerome Valcke in conducting 

the draw and it threw up some intriguing 

contests. 

A record 203 teams will compete in the 

preliminary competition — a number that 

will be whittled down to 31, who will join 

the hosts for the 20th FIFA world cup finals 

to be held from June 12 and July 13. 

Blatter said Brazil must work to ensure 

the world cup left a legacy. He insisted the 

event was not a ‘circus’, which pitched its 

tent and then left no trace afterwards. 

the Swiss said he believed Brazil 

would assume its responsibilities as the 

huge country battles to get stadiums in 

12 cities ready in time and undertakes 

a huge overhaul of creaking transport 

infrastructure. the five-time world 

champions last hosted the tournament in 

1950. 

the FIFA chief said he could only 

underline the event’s importance to a 

country obsessed with the sport and 

growing apace in economic terms. 

“the world cup is the only event in the 

world which connects so many people — 

for a month the world will live and breathe 

football,” he said. 

Blatter confirmed FIFA was seriously 

looking at the possibility of introducing 

technological changes by ’14, including 

the use of goal-line technology, with 

systems already being tested with a view 

to approval at a March meeting of the 

International Football Association Board 

(IFAB) in London. 

thereafter, FIFA would decide which 

system “could be used for the ’14 world 

cup.” 

Blatter added a decision on additional 

match officials would be left until after 

Euro ’12 at an extraordinary meeting of the 

sport’s rule-making IFAB. 

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p 9 | football 

Qatar face West 

Asian challenge 

Qatar have been drawn with Iran, 

Bahrain and Indonesia in the third 

round of the 2014 Asian Zone 

world cup qualification. 

p 18 | ruGbY 

Worth a try! 

Qatar Rugby Federation General 

Secretary Jamal Suleiman 

Al Abdullah speaks about the plans 

to make the game more popular. 

technical support 

Shaheen Mohammed 

Michael R Pekson 

Abdul naser M 

Accreditation 

Accreditation 


Quality 

Assured 



Quality 

Assured 


p 24 | HanDball 

Qatar end up 15th 

Qatar finish 15th at the world 

Junior championship in 

thessalonica, Greece. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011 

www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com 3 

EDitorial 

The team’s performance against 

Vietnam in the second leg 

left a lot to be desired. 

qatar need to raise the 

level of their game 

qAtAR recently kick-started their journey to 

win a dream berth in the 2014 world cup 

finals in Brazil, but their bumpy ride early 

on has raised doubts about their ability to do so. 

Unlike most other west Asian teams, who 

thrashed their opponents, Qatar just sneaked 

into the third round on aggregate, after losing 

their away tie in Vietnam. the players may have 

relaxed a bit after their 3-0 win in the first leg, 

but then nobody expected them to lose against a 

side ranked 54 places below them. 

champions never take things easy on pitch, 

but always love to be ruthless against their 

opponents. Qatar’s performance against the East 

Asian nation in the second leg left a lot to be 

desired, forcing me ponder where do we go from 

here. 

“It’s football” could be the safest cliché the 

team management and coach Milovan Rajevac 

may opt for to negate the mounting criticism 

against them, especially in the local Arabic 

media. But a defeat to India, in a warm-up 

match earlier, too had exposed a few chinks 

in Qatar’s armour and I feel it’s time for 

introspection. the road to Brazil is still long 

and Qatar definitely have it in them to progress 

p 26 | atHlEtics 

Steely Bolt 

Jamaican Olympic and world 

champion Usain Bolt braves adverse 

weather to emerge as victorious in 

the Stockholm Diamond League. 

far forward. 

they should be relieved with the third-round 

draw which puts them alongside Iran, Bahrain 

and Indonesia, avoiding powerhouses like 

Australia, Japan and South Korea. nevertheless, 

if they have to advance, Qatar must raise their 

performance by a few notches. 

Despite a string of convincing displays at 

the Asian cup, the Qatar Football Association 

showed French coach Bruno Metsu the exit door 

and brought in Rajevac “to make a fresh start”. 

But they have not looked fresh under the Serb. 

On the contrary, they seemed rather tired and 

confused. 

I do agree that we’ve to give Rajevac some 

more time to get things in order. But to achieve 

this, everybody associated with the team must 

work in unison. the need of the hour is to 

strengthen his arms as well as create a healthy 

atmosphere for players to perform. A berth in 

Brazil should be the ultimate goal. 

Dr ahmed al Mohannadi 

Editor-in-chief 

p 28 | forMula onE 

Great Button! 

McLaren’s British driver 

Jenson Button prevails at 

the wet Hungarian Grand Prix.

AFP/Graham Stuart 

4 



football 

Rock from 

iraq part 

ways with sidka 

tHE Iraqi Football Association (IFA) has parted 

ways with its national team coach Wolfgang 

sidka after they drew goalless with Yemen in the 

second leg of the 2014 FIFA world cup second-round 

qualifier in Al Ain. 

the ’07 Asian champions, who won the first leg 2-0 

in Arbil, however, advanced on aggregate. 

IFA Vice-President Abdulkhaleq Masoud said, “we 

decided not to renew the contract of the coach after the 

poor results although we qualified for the third round 

of the world cup.” 

the IFA will hold a meeting later this week to decide 

on the German’s replacement. 

Sidka managed Iraq in three tournaments, including 

the ’11 Asian cup, since taking over the reins in last 

August. 

blues! 

Algerian international defender Madjid Bougherra 

is expected to join Qatar Stars League champions 

Lekhwiya, writes a special correspondent. 

the 

scOttISH Premier League 

champions Rangers’ defender 

Madjid Bougherra said he 

was poised to join Qatar Stars 

League (QSL) champions Lekhwiya, 

but insisted he was focused on 

his current team’s champions 

League qualifier. 

the 28-year-old is 

expected to line up 

against Malmo on 

wednesday in the 

second leg of the 

tie, with Rangers 

trailing 0-1 

from the first 

leg. 

Bougherra 

has been at Ibrox 

for three years, but 

believes he has taken 

his career as far as he 

can in Europe and is ready 

for a new challenge. the Rangers 

defender is reported to be subject 

of a £3m bid from Lekhwiya, 

who are confident of finalising a 

transfer later this 

week. 

“will I sign for Lekhwiya? 

Indeed, talks are going on,” he told 

France Football. 

“I don’t want to really talk 

about it so far. I’m completely 

focused on the return match of the 

champions League qualifier with 

Rangers,” he added. 

the Algerian international insists 

the QSL was improving. 

“In the Middle East, the game 

is improving quicker than what 

people think. Indeed, the level is 

really different than in Europe,” he 

added. “But I know the goal of the 

people in Qatar is to close the gap 

in quality. 

“they want young players to 

come over and help improve the 

League,” he said. 

Qatar-owned Paris St Germain 

(PSG) had reportedly been 

interested in signing the former 

charlton and Sheffield wednesday 

defender. 

But he said outside influences 

BoUgHeRRA, wHo wAs 

LInkeD wItH A moVe 

to Psg eARLIeR, HAs 

Been At IBRox foR 

tHRee yeARs. 

curtailed any chance of that deal 

materialising. 

“I was presented with the 

project by PSG and immediately 

I said yes. when I look back over 

my career, there’s been a natural 

progression,” he continued. 

“A move to PSG would’ve 

enabled me to return to a top club 

in France. I was asked to wait until 

Leonardo (Sporting Director) was 

appointed. 

“Unfortunately, two people 

threw a spanner in the works and 

then poor excuses were given. I 

don’t really want to get into too 

many details,” he said. 

At Lekhwiya, Bougherra is likely 

to replace Moroccan defender 

Abdesalam Ouddou.

p 10 | 2022 World cup 

Qatar all clear 

FIFA President Sepp Blatter reiterates the 

country will host the event in June and July. 



p 14 | Exclusive interview 

Pique of the lot! 

Spanish central defender Gerard Pique speaks 

about his stint at Barcelona and future goals. 

teams gear up for season opener 

sajith b Warrier 

aFtER a two-month break, it 

is back to business as usual 

in Qatar football with the 

season-opening Sheikh Jassim cup 

set to commence on wednesday. 

In the past, most teams, boosted 

by new signings, had preferred to 

experiment much in the low-profile 

tournament, which features 12 

Qatar Stars League teams and six 

Second Division sides. 

the plot is going to be no 

different this time and only after 

the conclusion of the tournament 

do teams make a fair assessment 

of the relative strengths and 

weaknesses of themselves as well 

as rivals. 

though Al Gharafa, Al Sadd and 

Al Rayyan are the three formidable 

forces in Qatar football, the Sheikh 

Jassim cup has always thrown up 

surprises as can be evinced by the 

fact that the last 10 editions have 

produced six different champions 

including less fancied teams like 

Muaither Sc and Al wakra. 

Last year’s edition saw the 

emergence of Lekhwiya, who 

made a smooth transition from 

the Second Division to the top 

flight. they beat fancied teams 

like Rayyan and Gharafa before 

faltering in the final against Al 

Arabi. 

But the performance in the 

Sheikh Jassim cup provided the 

cops the perfect launch pad as they 

went on to win the QSL in their 

debut season. 

Lekhwiya, who are drawn 

into Group A along with Qatar 

Sc, Al Khor, Al Markhiya and Al 

Mesaimeer, will definitely be eyeing 

a good fortune this time as well. 

Defending champions Arabi have 

got a relatively easy draw after 

being pooled alongside wakra, 

unItED Development 

company (UDc) were 

crowned champions in the 

Q-Sports Leagues’s inaugural 

six-a-side football tournament at 

the Al wakra Indoor Hall last week. 

In the final, they defeated 80th Stars 

3-1 in tie-breaker. the sides were 

locked 1-1 at the end of fulltime. 

Muaither and Al Ahli in Group B. 

Much has changed in the Arabi 

camp ever since Everaldo Perreira 

scored the last-gap winner against 

Lekhwiya in last year’s final. 

Everaldo moved to Umm Salal and 

they have a new coach in Paulo 

Silas. the Brazilian might rely a lot 

on his compatriot and new striker 

wanderley Santos to fill the void 

created by Everaldo’s exit. 

Gharafa, who have been boosted 

by new arrivals — Brazilian duo Ze 

Roberto and Edmilson, and Iranian 

Mohammed Reza — are one of 

the fancied teams in Group c along 

with arch-rivals Sadd. 

Army, coached by former Arabi 

boss Pericles chamusca, will also be 

fancying their chances, especially 

after high-profile signings like 

Brazilian striker Adriano. the other 

tweLVe QsL teAms 

AnD sIx seconD 

DIVIsIon sIDes wILL 

feAtURe In tHe sHeIkH 

JAssIm cUP. 

two teams in the group — Al 

Sailiya and Al Shahaniya — too are 

capable of pulling off upsets on 

their day. 

Emir’s cup champions Rayyan 

are, perhaps, the only team not 

to have made any major changes 

to their line-up. Youngsters have 

always acted as their fulcrum and 

Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori would 

be keen to bring the best out of 

his boys who completed a 20-day 

camp in Spain. Al Kharaitiyat, Umm 

Salal and Al Shamal constitute the 

group and Rayyan should have it 

relatively easy. 

with humidity on the rise, 

despite late kick-off, the energy 

sapping conditions will be a severe 

test of character and skill of the 

players. 

teAms 

Group a 

Lekhwiya 

Qatar Sc 

Al Khor 

Al Markhiya 

Al Mesaimeer 

In a closely-fought final, UDc 

went ahead early, but 80th Stars 

equalised just before half-time. Both 

teams then missed several chances 

and the match went into penalties. 

the competition, organised by 

Q-Sports Leagues and sponsored by 

the Qatar Olympic committee and 

Fitness First, featured 18 teams. 

Al Arabi won the Sheikh Jassim cup, their only title last season. 

Group b 

Al Gharafa 

Al Sadd 

Al Sailiya 

Army 

Al Shahaniya 

Group c 

Al Rayyan 

Al Kharaitiyat 

Umm Salal 

Al Shamal 

Q-Sports Leagues is a new and 

first-of-its-kind platform for sports 

enthusiasts in Qatar. 

It allows both individuals and 

teams to sign up for competitions 

in different disciplines through 

its interactive website www. 

qsportsleagues.com. 

“Q-Sports Leagues offers excellent 

Group D 

Al Arabi 

Al wakra 

Al Ahli 

Muaither Sc 

fIxtURes 

All matches except final at 9.30pm 

Wednesday, 

august 3 

thursday, 

august 4 

friday, 

august 5 

saturday, 

august 6 

sunday, 

august 7 

Monday, 

august 8 

tuesday, 

august 9 

Wednesday, 

august 10 

thursday, 

august 11 

friday, 

august 12 

saturday, 

august 13 

sunday, 

august 14 

Monday, 

august 15 

tuesday, 

august 16 

Wednesday, 

august 17 

thursday, 

august 18 

sunday, 

august 21 

thursday, 

august 25 

united Development company reign supreme 

opportunity to play different sports 

and get fit. It also brings together 

teams and individuals from a variety 

of cultures and backgrounds. It was 

great to see a good response to the 

event. One can expect more similar 

competitions in the coming days,” 

said Q-sports General Manager 

Ghanim Al Mohannadi. 

Lekhwiya vs Al Markhiya 

Al Khor Stadium 

Qatar Sc vs Al Mesaimeer, 

Al Ahli Stadium 

Al Gharafa vs Army 

Qatar Sc Stadium 

Al Sadd vs Al Shahania 

Al Sailiya Stadium 

Al Rayyan vs Al Kharaitiyat 


Umm Salal vs Al Shamal 


Al Arabi vs Al Ahli 

Al wakra Stadium 

Al wakra vs Muaither Sc 


Al Khor vs Lekhwiya 


Al Sailiya vs Al Gharafa 


Al Markhiya vs Qatar Sc 


Army vs Al Sadd 


Umm Salal vs Al Rayyan 


Al Kharaitiyat vs Al Shamal 


Muaither Sc vs Al Arabi 


Al wakra vs Al Ahli 


Al Shahania vs Al Gharafa 


Al Mesaimeer vs Lekhwiya 


Al Khor vs Al Markhiya 


Al Sailiya vs Al Sadd 


Al Shamal vs Al Rayyan 


Al Kharaitiyat vs Umm Salal 


Al Shahaniya vs Army 


Al Ahli vs Muaither Sc 


Qatar Sc vs Lekhwiya 


Al Khor vs Al Mesaimeer 


Al wakra vs Al Arabi 


Al Sailiya vs Al Shahania 


Al Markhiya vs Al Mesaimeer 


Qatar Sc vs Al Khor 


Army vs Al Sailiya 


Al Gharafa vs Al Sadd 

Qatar Sc Stadium. 

SEMIFInALS 

(Venue to be announced later) 

FInAL 

Doha Stadium, 9pm

6 

footBAll 



narrow 

squeak 

Qatar move ahead in the Asian 

Zone qualification for the 2014 FIFA 

world cup by getting the better of 

Vietnam on aggregate, writes our 

special correspondent. 

qAtAR crossed the first hurdle 

on the road to Brazil 2014 

by defeating Vietnam 4-2 

on aggregate in their second-round 

world cup qualifier. 

Qatar, who had won the home 

leg 3-0, suffered a 1-2 reversal at 

the hands of Vietnam in the return 

match at the My Dinh national 

Stadium in capital Hanoi last week. 

But the result, in front of a 

capacity crowd, did not have any 

bearing on Qatar’s prospects of 

tHe mAtcH wAs As 

gooD As oVeR As A 

contest In tHe 19tH 

wHen yoUsef AHmeD 

scoReD foR QAtAR. 

advancing as the advantage from 

the first leg proved crucial for the 

2022 world cup hosts. 

Going into the game, the dice 

was heavily in favour of Qatar and 

it was as good as over as a contest 

in the 19th minute when Yousef 

Ahmed scored for the visitors with 

a long-ranger. 

In fact, Yousef could have scored 

as early as the eighth minute, but 

his shot crashed against the right 

post. But the nippy striker was not 

to be denied a second time as he 

was bang on target much to the 

relief of the Qatar camp. 

In hindsight, Qatar coach 

Milovan Rajevac did the right thing 

by fielding Yousef in the starting 

line-up. He continued from where 

he had left off at the Al Sadd 

Stadium, where he came on as a 

second-half substitute and scored 

the third goal. 

A 4-0 aggregate, aided by an 

away goal at such an early stage of 

the match, gave Qatar the 

much-needed confidence while 

Vietnam knew they had a mountain 

to climb. Scoring five goals in 70 

minutes was going to be a miracle 

by any stretch of imagination. 

the tension was palpable on the 

face of Vietnam players while their 

Qatari counterparts seemed to relax 

a bit. 

Ahead of the encounter, Vietnam 

coach Falko Gotz had said his team 

would go for an all-out attack as 

they have nothing to lose. 

In the second half, Gotz’s wards 

did precisely that, with nguyen 

trong Hoang restoring parity for the 

hosts in the 59th when he deceived 

Qatar custodian Qasim Burhan. 

In the 70th, Gotz decided to bring 

more firepower to the attack, with 

striker nguyen Quang Hai replacing 

midfielder nguyen ngoc thuah. Hai 

made his presence felt immediately 

with some quick moves and, seven 

minutes later, brought something to 

cheer for the home fans by scoring 

the winner. 

Qatar kept pressing for an 

equaliser, with Sebastian Soria 

leading the charge. But Vietnam 

denied them with stout defending 

and rough tackles. 

It was Vietnam’s first victory over 

Qatar in five meetings, but the 

defeat did not prove costly for the 

latter who marched into the main 

draw.

face-off 

woRLD cUP QUALIfIeR 

VIetnAm Vs QAtAR 

“I’m excited to 

work with this 

enthusiastic team, 

which’ll gradually 

progress to meet 

the expectations of 

the fans. the players 

fought till the end 

and I feel sorry for 

them as we didn’t 

progress to the 

next round despite 

winning. Hats off to 

my boys. they did a 

good job. 

falko Gotz, 

Vietnam coach. 

“we made some 

mistakes in the 

defence, of which 

the rivals took 

advantage. Overall, 

Vietnam played 

better and deserved 

to win. Despite the 

defeat, we aren’t 

pessimistic at all. 

there’s still a long 

way to go and we 

need to work on 

certain grey areas of 

our game. 

Milovan rajevac, 

Qatar coach. 

coLLAteD ResULts 

Vietnam bt Qatar 2-1 

Qatar win 4-2 on aggregate 

Myanmar lost to Oman 0-2 

Match abandoned. Oman win 4-0 on 

aggregate 

nepal drew Jordan 1-1 

Jordan win 10-1 on aggregate 

Laos lost to china 1-6 

china win 13-3 on aggregate 

Philippines lost to Kuwait 1-2 

Kuwait win 5-1 on aggregate 

tajikistan lost to Syria 0-4 

Syria win 6-1 on aggregate 

Bangladesh bt Lebanon 2-0 

Lebanon win 4-2 on aggregate 

Hong Kong lost to Saudi Arabia 0-5 

Saudi Arabia win 8-0 on aggregate 

Indonesia bt turkmenistan 4-3 

Indonesia win 5-4 on aggregate 

Kyrgyzstan lost to Uzbekistan 0-3 

Uzbekistan win 7-0 on aggregate 

Malaysia drew Singapore 1-1 

Singapore win 6-4 on aggregate 

India drew UAE 2-2 

UAE win 5-2 on aggregate 

Palestine drew thailand 2-2 

thailand win 3-2 on aggregate 

Maldives lost to Iran 0-1 

Iran win 5-0 on aggregate 

Yemen drew Iraq 0-0 

Iraq win 2-0 on aggregate 

Qatar’s Khalfan 

Ibrahim, right, is 

engaged in a tussle 

with Vietnam’s Phan 

Van tai Em. 

cHInA stormed into the third 

round of the 2014 world cup 

qualifiers as they smashed six 

past hapless Laos to claim a 13-3 

aggregate victory. 

Laos went into the match in 

Vientiane trailing 7-2 after the 

first leg and there was no let-up 

from the visitors as Qu Bo opened 

the scoring after 24 minutes. Yu 

Hanchao put them two up at halftime. 

Visay Phaphouvanin gave the 

home side a glimmer of hope with 

a strike soon after the restart, but 

the lowly Laotians faded as the half 

wore on and goals from Yu, Deng 

Zhuoxiang and first-leg hat-trick 

star Yang xu sealed their fate. 

the 6-1 win took china through 

to the penultimate stage of Asian 

qualifying, when big guns Japan, 

Australia and South Korea enter the 

competition, along with Bahrain 

and north Korea. 

there was disappointment in 

southern china as Hong Kong 

crashed out after a 5-0 thumping 

at home by Saudi Arabia to add to 

the 3-0 reversal they suffered in the 

first leg. 

It was a good night for Middle 

East sides, with Kuwait, Syria and 

Jordan all progressing easily at 

the expense of the Philippines, 

tajikistan and nepal respectively. 

After suffering a 9-0 hiding in the 

first leg, nepal retrieved a modicum 

of pride, holding Jordan to a 1-1 

draw in Kathmandu, thanks to an 

80th-minute equaliser from Bharat 

Khawas. 

Kuwait came from a goal down 

to beat the Philippines 2-1 in 

Manila while two goals in each half 

saw Syria through 6-1 over two 

legs. 


footBAll www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com 7 

big wins for saudi, china 

Mike collett 

oMAn advanced to the 

next stage of the Asian 

world cup qualifying 

campaign after FIFA awarded them 

victory over Myanmar in a match 

abandoned in the 92nd minute 

because of crowd violence. 

Oman were leading the 

preliminary-round game 2-0 in 

Myanmar’s capital Yangon and 

were 4-0 ahead on aggregate 

when Japanese referee Ryuji Sato 

halted the match two minutes into 

stoppage time after fans hurled 

rocks and glass bottles at him, the 

visiting coach Paul Le Guen and 

Oman players. 

Saudi Arabia’s nawaf Shaker Alabid, left, fights for the ball with Hong Kong’s Lee chi Ho. 

kUwAIt cAme fRom 

A goAL Down to BeAt 

tHe PHILIPPInes 2-1 In 

mAnILA. 

A goal in each half took 

Bangladesh to a 2-0 win at home 

against Lebanon, but the visitors 

went through, thanks to their 4-0 

first-leg victory. 

In Jakarta, Indonesia survived a 

late surge from tajikistan to hold 

on for a 4-3 win, 5-4 on aggregate, 

thanks to a cristian Gonzales 

brace and goals from Mohammad 

nasuha and Muhammad Ridwan. 

It was honours even in the clash 

of the south-east Asian neighbours 

in Kuala Lumpur. Jia Yi Shi’s 73rdminute 

equaliser for Singapore 

cancelled out Mohd Sali’s opener 

for Malaysia. Singapore went 

FIFA said in a statement, 

“the Bureau of the Organising 

committee of the FIFA world 

cup has confirmed that the 

result standing at the time of 

the interruption of the match 

(2-0 for Oman) is final. therefore, 

Oman are qualified for the next 

round of Asia’s preliminary 

competition.” 

the matter will also be referred 

to the Disciplinary committee. 

Despite a heavy police presence, 

Myanmar fans turned unruly when 

Sato awarded a penalty to Oman, 

with the home side trailing 1-0 

and staring at early elimination 

from Asian qualifying for the 2014 

finals in Brazil. 

through 6-4 on aggregate. 

Second-half substitute Bahodir 

nasimov bagged a pair as 

Uzbekistan, Asian cup semifinalists 

earlier this year, beat Kyrgyzstan 

3-0 in tashkent to record a 7-0 

aggregate victory. 

Gouramangi Singh equalised 

deep into injury time as India came 

from two down to rescue a draw 

at home to the UAE, but again, the 

Gulf side’s first-leg advantage saw 

them through. 

In Male, Mohammed Khalatbari’s 

first-half strike was enough to give 

Iran a 1-0 victory over Maldives and 

a 5-0 aggregate victory. 

Former Asian cup winners Iraq, 

who last reached the world cup 

finals in 1986, drew 0-0 in Yemen, 

but went through, courtesy of their 

2-0 win in the first game. 

oman awarded victory after 

crowd violence in Myanmar 

Oman’s Ismail Al Ajmi converted 

the penalty kick to put his side 2-0 

ahead after 39 minutes. 

It sparked anger among the 

unruly crowd at the thuwunna 

Stadium, which prompted players 

to flee for cover in the dressing 

room. 

After returning to play out the 

rest of the match, the game was 

eventually abandoned when fans 

started throwing missiles on to the 

pitch. 

Frenchman Le Guen coached 

cameroon at the 2010 world cup 

in South Africa and has previously 

worked at Paris St Germain, 

Olympique Lyon and Glasgow 

Rangers.

8 



international 

WORLD champions Spain 

will face 1998 winners 

France in their campaign 

to qualify for the 2014 world cup 

finals in Brazil following last week’s 

gala preliminary-round draw. 

Spain, who are also the European 

champions, were the last name 

drawn in the European qualifying 

zone and the last of the 166 

countries to be allocated a place in 

the 107-minute globally televised 

event in a windswept auditorium at 

Rio’s glamorous Marina da Gloria. 

High winds buffeted the 

temporary building before the draw 

started, causing slight damage to 

the roof. But inside, stars of showbiz 

and football were unaffected with 

Pele given a huge welcome when 

he was introduced to the audience. 

Brazilian striker Ronaldo, the 

world cup’s record scorer with 

15 goals, drew Spain’s name out 

to place them alongside Belarus, 

Georgia and Finland in the fiveteam 

Group I. 

the other eight European groups 

consist of six teams. 

with only the group winner 

assured of an automatic place in 

the finals, one of Spain or France 

will most likely have to qualify 

through the play-offs to reach 

Brazil. 

the European draw produced 

some tantalising battles when the 


exciting duels 

A few exciting duels, featuring some of the biggest teams in the world, are in store for 

fans as the 2014 world cup qualification draws are made in Brazil, writes Mike collett. 

“France are 

sleeping giants. 

After South Africa 

they’ve initiated a 

process of renewal 

and will be terrible 

rivals. 

Vicente del bosque, Spain. 

“It’s a difficult 

draw. But you 

can’t change it. 

You’ve to beat all 

your opponents, 

that’s it. 

bert van Marwijk, 

netherlands. 

qualifiers start in the autumn of ’12 

after the European championship 

in Poland and Ukraine. 

coincidentally, those two 

co-hosts were drawn into Group 

H, along with top-seeded England, 

Montenegro and tiny San Marino. 

croatia and Serbia, once part of 

the old Yugoslavia, will meet each 

other in Group A, which includes 

British rivals Scotland and wales as 

well as Belgium and Macedonia. 

Four-time world champions Italy 

seem to have a fairly comfortable 

draw with Denmark and the 

czech Republic being their main 

opposition. Bulgaria, Armenia and 

Malta complete Group B. 

Germany should have little 

woRLD cHAmPIons sPAIn wILL fAce 1998 

wInneRs fRAnce In tHeIR gRoUP I cAmPAIgn. 

“England need to 

be careful. Ukraine, 

Poland and 

Montenegro won’t 

be so easy to beat. 

fabio capello, England. 

trouble qualifying from Group c 

that includes Sweden and Ireland, 

Austria and the Faroe Islands. 

the netherlands, runners-up to 

Spain in ’10, face Hungary, turkey, 

Romania, Estonia and Andorra in 

Group D. 

wHAt tHe mAnAgeRs sAID 

“naturally our 

task is to prepare 

a team as strong 

as possible to 

meet whichever 

countries qualify 

to come here (in 

Brazil). 

Mano Menezes, Brazil. 

Draws for five of FIFA’s six 

confederations took place with 

no draw for the South American 

zone as their nine teams play in 

one league. Hosts Brazil qualified 

automatically while four or five 

South American neighbours will 

hope to join them. 

Four will qualify automatically 

and an extra one will take their 

place if they beat an Asian qualifier 

in a play-off. 

African champions Egypt should 

coast through after being paired 

with Guinea, Zimbabwe and either 

comoros or Mozambique who play 

in a preliminary qualifier. 

“we had to face 

one of the top 

seeded teams, and 

we got the biggest 

(Spain). we 

should’ve been in 

the first group, but 

you’ve no choice. 

laurent blanc, France. 

FIFA General 

Secretary Jerome 

Valcke, left, 

presides as Brazil’s 

Felipe Bastos 

draws the name of 

an Oceania country 

out of the bowl. 

“Even small 

European teams 

are tough to beat 

now. Sweden and 

Ireland are difficlut 

opponents, but 

beatable. 

oliver bierhoff, 

General Manager, Germany.

AfRIcA 

first round 

(twelve matches, 

home and away 

between november 

11 and 15; winners 

proceed to second 

round) 

Seychelles vs Kenya 

Guinea Bissau vs togo 

Djibouti vs namibia 

Mauritius vs Liberia 

comoros Islands vs 

Mozambique 

Equatorial Guinea vs 

Madagascar 

Somalia vs Ethiopia 

Lesotho vs Burundi 

Eritrea vs Rwanda 

Swaziland vs congo 

Sao tome and 

Principe vs congo 

chad vs tanzania 

second round 

Group a 

South Africa 

Botswana 

central African 

Republic 

Somalia/Ethiopia 

Group b 

tunisia 

cape Verde 

Sierra Leone 

Equatorial Guinea/ 

Madagascar 

Group c 

Ivory coast 

Morocco 

Gambia 

chad/tanzania 

Group D 

Ghana 

Zambia 

Sudan 

Lesotho/Burundi 

Group E 

Burkina Faso 

Gabon 

niger 

Sao tome and 

Principe/congo 

Group f 

nigeria 

Malawi 

Seychelles/ Kenya 

Djibouti/namibia 

Group G 

Egypt 

Guinea 

Zimbabwe 

comoros Islands/ 

Mozambique 

Group H 

Algeria 

Mali 

Benin 

Eritrea/ Rwanda 

Group i 

cameroon 

Libya 

Guinea Bissau/togo 

Swaziland/congo 

Group J 

Senegal 

Uganda 

Angola 

Mauritius/Liberia 

Matches to be played 

between June 1, 

2012 and September 

10, ’13. 

Group winners 

advance to third 

round, paired into 

five home-and-away 

series between 

October 11 and 15 

and november 15 

to 19, ’13. winners 

qualify for the finals. 

AsIA 

Group a 

china 

Jordan 

Iraq 

Singapore 

Group b 

South Korea 

Kuwait 

UAE 

Lebanon 

Group c 

Japan 

Uzbekistan 

Syria 

north Korea 

Group D 

Australia 

Saudi Arabia 

Oman 

thailand 

Group E 

Iran 

Qatar 

Bahrain 

Indonesia 


between September 

2 and February 29, 

2012. 

Group winners and 

runners-up proceed 

to next stage. those 

10 teams will be 

drawn into two 

groups of five teams. 


from June 3, ’12 to 

June 8, ’13. the two 

group winners and 

two runners-up 

qualify for the finals. 

the two third-placed 

teams play off against 

each other and the 

winner advances to 

the intercontinental 

play-off against 

fifth-placed nation in 

South America. 

concAcAf 

second round 

Group a 

El Salvador 

Suriname 

cayman Islands 

Dominican Republic 

Group b 

trinidad & tobago 

Guyana 

Barbados 

Bermuda 

Group c 

Panama 

Dominica 

nicaragua 

Bahamas 

Group D 

canada 

St Kitts & nevis 

Puerto Rico 

St Lucia 

Group E 

Grenada 

Guatemala 

St Vincent & 

Grenadines 

Belize 

Group f 

Haiti 

Antigua 

curacao 

US Virgin Islands 



2 and november 15, 

2011. Group winners 

proceed to third 

round. 

third round 

Group a 

USA 

Jamaica 

winner second round 

Group E 


Group F 

Group b 

Mexico 

costa Rica 



winner Second round 

Group A 


Group B 

Group c 

Honduras 

cuba 


Group D 


Group c 


between June 8 to 

October 16, 2012. 

top two in each 

group qualify for the 

fourth round where 

the six teams play in 

one group. the top 

three teams qualify 

for the finals and 

the fourth-placed 

team advances to the 

intercontinental 

play-off against 

winners of Oceania. 

eURoPe 

Group a 

croatia 

Serbia 

Belgium 

Scotland 

Macedonia 

wales 

Group b 

Italy 

Denmark 

czech Republic 

Bulgaria 

Armenia 

Malta 

qatar face West asian challenge 

qAtAR have been drawn into 

Group E along with Iran, 

Bahrain and Indonesia in the 

third round of the 2014 Asian Zone 

world cup qualification. 

Iran, bidding to qualify for a 

fourth finals, are the favourites, 

but Bahrain, who lost out to new 

Zealand in a Asia-Oceania play-off 

last time, and ’22 hosts Qatar, will be 

keen to make an impression. 

Qatar, coached by Serb Milovan 

Rajevac, made it to the main draw 

after a 4-2 aggregate win over 

Vietnam. 

Asian cup champions Japan and 

north Korea are drawn into Group c. 

Japan, who reached the last 16 

in South Africa before losing on 

penalties to Paraguay, will be the 

team to beat in the group. 

Under Italian coach Alberto 

Zaccheroni, Japan won the Asian 

cup earlier this year, and boast a 

squad full of young Europe-based 

talent, including Yuto nagatomo, 

Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda. 

the Samurai Blue will, however, 

be wary of north Korea, who also 

went to last year’s finals, running 

Brazil close before being thumped 

7-0 by Portugal as they went out of 

AsIAn cUP cHAmPIons 

JAPAn AnD noRtH 

koReA ARe DRAwn 

Into gRoUP c. 

the competition in the first round. 

the duo will be strongly fancied 

to advance from Group c, which also 

consists of Asian cup semifinalists 

Uzbekistan and Syria. 

South Korea, who reached the 

pre-quarterfinal in South Africa, and 

who were semifinalists on home 

soil in ’02, are in Group B alongside 

the Middle East’s Kuwait, Lebanon 

and the UAE, who eliminated India 

in the second round. 

tHe DRAw 

Australia’s bid to qualify for a third 

successive finals begins in Group D, 

where they will meet Saudi Arabia, 

Oman and thailand. 

that appears to be a winnable 

group for the Socceroos, especially 

with traditional continental 

powerhouses Saudi struggling. 

the Saudis will, however, be 

hoping for a turnaround under new 

coach Frank Rijkaard. 

china are in Group A along with 

Jordan, Iraq and Singapore. 

the top two nations from each of 

the five groups go through to the 

next round. 

the 10 surviving teams will then 

split into two groups of five, with 

the top two teams in each group 

progressing to the finals in Brazil. 

the two third-placed teams will 

play off for the right to contest the 

intercontinental play-off against 

the fifth-placed nation in South 

American qualifying. 

“It’s a tough task considering that 

all teams in our group are equally 

strong. So we’ll make sure that we 

prepare properly. we’ll spend some 

time in Qatar and then we’ll have a 

10-day stint in turkey. 

Milovan rajevac, Qatar coach. 

Group c 

Germany 

Sweden 

Ireland 

Austria 

Faroe Islands 

Kazakhstan 

Group D 

netherlands 

turkey 

Hungary 

Romania 

Estonia 

Andorra 

Group E 

norway 

Slovenia 

Switzerland 

Albania 

cyprus 

Iceland 

Group f 

Portugal 

Russia 

Israel 

northern Ireland 

Azerbaijan 

Luxembourg 

Group G 

Greece 

Slovakia 

Bosnia-Herzegovina 

Lithuania 

Latvia 

Liechtenstein 

Pele poses 

for photographers 

with Brazilian 

Minister of Sports 

Orlando Silva. 

Group H 

England 

Montenegro 

Ukraine 

Poland 

Moldova 

San Marino 

Group i 

Spain 

France 

Belarus 

Georgia 

Finland 

Matches to be 

played between 

September 7, 2012, 

and October 15, ’13. 

Group winners qualify 

directly; eight best 

group runners-up 

take part in four twoleg 

play-offs with the 

winners advancing to 

finals. 

oceAnIA 

first round 

American Samoa, 

cook Islands, Samoa 

and tonga to play in 

a single group at a 

tournament in Samoa 

from november 21 

to 26. 

winner advances to 

the second round 

second round 

Group a 

Vanuatu 

First round winners 

new caledonia 

tahiti 

Group b 

Fiji 

new Zealand 

Solomon Islands 

Papua new Guinea 

Second-round 

matches to be played 

at a tournament 

which will double as 

the Oceania Football 

confederation cup 

between June 1 to 

12, 2012, with Fiji the 

proposed venue 

top four teams 

progress to the third 

round to be held 


7, ’12, and March 26, 

’13 on a round-robin 

basis 

winners advance 

to intercontinental 

play-off. 

soUtH 

AmeRIcA 

Argentina 

Bolivia 

chile 

colombia 

Ecuador 

Paraguay 

Peru 

Uruguay 

Venezuela 

After 18 round-robin 

match-days through 

to October 15, 2013, 

the top four teams 

qualify directly; 

fifth-placed nation 

proceeds to intercontinental 

play-off. 

Hosts Brazil 

have qualified 

automatically. 

pele enjoys draw 

with a box seat 

pELE enjoyed the world cup draw with a box 

seat in Rio de Janeiro’s Marina Palace Hotels — 

but only after President Dilma Rousseff issued 

an official invitation after the organising committee 

failed to do so. 

Pele has had lukewarm relation with the head 

of the Brazilian Football confederation and 2014 

Organising committee President Ricardo teixeira. 

But in the event, the two sat next to each other 

after Rousseff decided the star of three of Brazil’s five 

successful world cup campaigns had to be included. 

Pele had said earlier that “I don’t go where I’m 

not invited,” despite having a backseat role as an 

honorary ambassador for the tournament. 

“teixeira decided who was going and who wasn’t,” 

said the 70-year-old. 

Pele had been set to take a back seat at the 

ceremony despite a veritable who’s who of former 

stars being involved in drawing the balls for the 

various continental groups. 

Zico, Bebeto, cafu, Ronaldo and former coach 

Mario Zagallo were all there as past famous faces 

along with current stars neymar, Ganso and Lucas. 

But Pele took a front-row seat — and a bow to 

cheers from the watching crowd — after Rousseff 

paid him a warm tribute in her address after FIFA 

President Sepp Blatter had opened the proceedings.

10 




All clear 

FIFA President Sepp Blatter reiterates it will neither take away the 2022 world cup from 

Qatar nor force it to organise it in a cooler time of the year, writes a special correspondent. 

blatter tight-lipped about 

rummenigge’s comments 

WORLD football supremo 

Sepp Blatter last week 

did not comment 

on an attack by European club 

Association (EcA) leader Karl-Heinz 

Rummenigge on corruption in the 

ruling body FIFA and his call for a 

revolution from club level. 

“no comment,” Blatter told a 

news conference in Rio de Janeiro, 

Brazil, ahead of the 2014 world cup 

qualifying round draw. 

British daily The Guardian quoted 

Rummenigge as speaking of a 

“daily corruption process at FIFA.” 

“I don’t accept any longer that we 

(should be) guided by people who 

aren’t serious and clean,” he said. 

“now is the moment to 

intervene. Because knowing 

something is wrong is an obligation 

to change. 

“It’s time for democracy, 

transparency and the right 

balance in the football family,” said 

Rummenigge. 

“I’ll give them a chance, but I’m 

ready for a revolution if that’s the 

only way to come to a solution,” he 

said. 

Rummenigge said change could 

come neither from Blatter/FIFA nor 

the national federations because 

the current situation suited both. 

fIFA chief Sepp Blatter made it 

explicitly clear that the world 

governing body would not 

take away the 2022 world cup from 

Qatar, nor will it urge organisers to 

switch the event from June-July to 

a cooler time of year. 

Blatter, who was in Rio de 

Janeiro, Brazil, last week, to 

attend the ’14 world cup draw, 

told journalists that unless any 

evidence of wrongdoing by 

the Qatar Football Association 

(QFA) was found there was no 

question of shifting the ’22 event 

to elsewhere. He said if there was 

any evidence, it would be looked 

into by FIFA’s new anti-corruption 

“Blatter is saying (that he’s 

cleaning up shop), but the fact 

that no one believes him tells you 

everything you need to know. I’m 

not optimistic because the current 

system is tailor-made for the 

associations and voted for by the 

associations. they won’t go against 

(FIFA),” he said. 

Rummenigge, 55, who is also 

Bayern Munich chairman, heads 

the EcA, which represents more 

than 200 clubs on the continent. 

He said that all stakeholders 

— “clubs, associations, players, 

referees, and women’s football” 

— must be represented in 

decision-making bodies. 

Rummenigge reiterated that 

clubs and not countries were 

paying player wages and lashed 

out at an overblown calendar. 

“when I won the European 

championship (in 1980), 

there were eight teams in the 

finals. that figure will treble 

by ’16. In the world cup, it 

used to be 16 teams, now 

it’s 32. 

“the clubs pay the 

players, but aren’t part 

of the decision-making 

process. we aren’t treated 

respectfully,” he said. 

watchdog (Solutions committee) 

and appropriate steps would be 

taken. 

It may be recalled that there 

was a call from German Football 

Association President theo 

Zwanziger to reconsider FIFA’s 

decision to allot the ’22 edition to 

Qatar. 

“when I spoke with Zwanziger, 

he realised it’s too easy to say we 

should reopen things,’’ Blatter was 

quoted as saying by Britain’s The 

Telegraph newspaper. 

“He knows he’s to first come to 

FIFA with the evidence. Everybody 

must produce evidence,” he said. 

Blatter also denied that any of 

FIFA’s commercial partners had 

asked for anything to be changed 

with Qatar. 

“I’ve hadn’t received any, let’s say, 

‘reservations’ made by any sponsor 

of FIFA that we should change 

anything with Qatar”, he said. 

“Sponsors have no influence. 

what they want is to be associated 

with FIFA,” said the Swiss. 

Blatter confirmed that as of now 

the ’22 world cup would be staged 

in June-July. 

“For the time being, nobody has 

asked to change anything, neither 

the organising committee in Qatar 

nor the QFA. So for the time being 

the Qatar world cup isn’t touched 

and the basic is that it’ll be played 

in June and July,” he said. 

when asked whether that could 

change, Blatter replied: “that’s a 

possibility. But it isn’t my decision. 

It’s to come from the Qataris to 

ask to change something. For the 

time being they haven’t. we aren’t 

touching now the Qatar world 

cup,” he added. 

BLAtteR confIRmeD tHAt As of now tHe ’22 

Sepp Blatter and 

woRLD cUP woULD Be stAgeD In JUne-JULy. 

Brazilian President 

Dilma Rousseff at 

the preliminary 

draw of the 2014 

world cup.

fifa president 

says he is not 

a dictator 

Mike collett 

bELEAGUERED FIFA President Sepp Blatter, last 

week, denied he ran FIFA like a dictator, but 

refused to make any comment on his former 

ally Mohammed bin Hammam, who was banned 

from football for life on corruption charges. 

Bin Hammam, who is planning to appeal the 

ruling by FIFA’s Ethics committee, claimed in an 

interview that Blatter was a dictator who silenced 

anyone who opposed the way he ran football’s world 

governing body. 

Blatter refused to comment on what Bin 

Hammam had said. 

At the end of a long, rambling answer justifying 

how transparent FIFA was, Blatter was asked about 

his old friendship with Bin Hammam, who was 

going to run against him for the FIFA presidency on 

June 1, before withdrawing his candidature after 

being accused of bribery charges. 

those charges were upheld by the Ethics 

committee, who banned him from football for life, 

recently. 

the friendship between the two men during 

Blatter’s election campaigns of 1998 and 2002 is well 

documented, but they fell out when Bin Hammam 

was preparing to challenge Blatter, who went on to 

win a fourth term as president unopposed. 

Blatter said: “I am not alone, I am not a dictator 

as has been said, I am not alone, I work with my 

executive committee, with my administration, and 

with a lot of advisors. 

“they know what it means to have transparency 

on one side, and anti-corruption on the other side. 

Don’t forget that in FIFA we’ve 300 million people 

who work directly in football and in 300 million you 

can’t have only good people. 

“But I won’t make any comments on the decisions 

of the Ethics committee, and the follow-up by 

the media, and I ask you to understand my 

situation and let FIFA work in compliance 

with the strong demand of the FIFA 

congress to go forward,” he added. 

FIFA has been in the spotlight for 

months over bribery and corruption 

charges with nine members of 

the executive committee either 

being accused or found guilty of 

corruption recently. 

Before the election last month, 

Blatter denied FIFA was facing 

any crisis in its management, 

but has since signalled plans 

to form what he has called the 

“Solutions committee.’’ 

this would consist of 

outsiders like former US 

politician Henry Kissinger, 

opera singer Placido 

Domingo and former Dutch 

great Johann cruyff to 

help monitor FIFA’s actions 

from an unbiased, external 

viewpoint. 

Prince Ali bin Al 

Hussein, left, Zhang 

Jilong, second left, 

and Alex Soosay, 

right, during the AFc 

Excom meeting. 

M Jegathesan 

aSIAn football bosses last 

week decided against 

holding immediate elections 

to replace disgraced Mohammed 

bin Hammam, who was banned for 

life by FIFA over corruption. 

Despite calls from some members 

including Japan and Jordan for 

an immediate vote, interim Asian 

Football confederation (AFc) head 

Zhang Jilong of china managed to 

convince an executive meeting to 

put off elections until May, 2012. 

Zhang, who has led the AFc 

on a caretaker basis since June, 

chaired a special meeting at the AFc 

headquarters. 

Afterwards the AFc said its legal 

committee had ruled that a meeting 

to elect a new president could only 

be called once the office had been 

vacant for more than a year. 

“this means that an extraordinary 



Afc puts off presidential 

election until next year 

key DecIsIons 

the members were updated on 

the circumstances in which Asian 

Football confederation (AFc) Senior 

Vice-President Zhang Jilong stepped 

in as the AFc Acting President. In the 

absence of the president pursuant to 

Article 31 par 15 of the AFc Statutes 

for reasons as decided by the FIFA 

Ethics committee on May 29, the 

appointed senior vice-president shall 

deputise and in the absence of an 

appointed senior vice-president, the 

longest serving vice-president shall 

be deemed to be the senior 

vice-president pursuant to Article 31 

par. 14 of the AFc Statutes. 

the members were informed that 

the Legal committee is in agreement 

that an Extraordinary congress 

for the election of President may 

be convened in the event that the 

office of president falls vacant for 

more than one year. this means that 

an Extraordinary congress for this 

purpose could not be convened until 

after May 30, 2012. 

congress for this purpose couldn’t be 

convened until after 30 May, 2012,” 

the AFc said in a statement. 

Earlier, Japan Football Association 

President Junji Ogura said a 

quick election was vital after Bin 

Hammam’s ban. 

FIFA Vice-President Prince Ali 

bin Al Hussein of Jordan had also 

pressed for the replacement of 

ZHAng cHAIReD A 

sPecIAL meetIng 

At tHe Afc 

HeADQUARteRs. 

Qatari Bin Hammam. 

Zhang made an impassioned 

pleas urging the Asian football chiefs 

to work towards promoting the 

game and safeguarding its interests. 

He called on the members to 

join hands and face the challenges 

confronting the Asian game “like a 

concerned and united family.” 

AFc Legal committee member 

Robert torres made a presentation 

on the recent FIFA Ethics committee 

investigation and decision, which 

placed former AFc president 

Mohammed bin Hammam under a 

life-ban from all football activities. 

the members recommended that a 

joint AFc-FIFA taskforce be set up to 

proactively tackle match-fixing. the 

committee was informed that FIFA is 

considering opening a temporary FIFA 

Security Office for 12 months in Asia 

for the year ’12 in Bangkok, thailand. 

AFc General Secretary Alex Soosay’s 

re-appointment for the 2011-15 term 

was unanimously approved by the 

committee. 

the committee shared the concerns 

raised by the AFc women’s committee 

chairperson Moya Dodd over the hijab 

issue with FIFA Vice-President Prince 

Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan advising 

that it would be best to brainstorm on 

the issue and come up with a solution 

that would address the matter 

“today I’ll speak to you from 

the heart. today I’ll address you 

not only as the acting president 

of AFc and the chairman of this 

executive committee, but also as a 

very concerned fan and supporter of 

Asian football,’’ said Zhang. 

“Football is the no 1 sport in Asia. 

It’s followed by millions of people 

and everybody is looking to us for 

leadership and assurance. Our fans 

and sponsors want to be reassured 

that Asian football won’t be affected 

by this misfortune,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Zhang affirmed 

that the power of football is 

being mobilised to eradicate food 

insecurity throughout Asia. 

“AFc signed a historical agreement 

last year with the FAO and decided 

to use football in the global fight 

against hunger. the exceptional 

power of Asian football is mobilising 

the resources to eradicate food 

insecurity throughout Asia,” he said. 

worldwide. 

the resignation of north Korea’s 

female member Kim Sun-Hui owing 

to personal reasons was also accepted 

with regret by the committee. She 

also resigned from her position as 

the Deputy chairwoman of the AFc 

women’s committee. 

the committee decided to endorse 

nepal as the hosts of the AFc 

challenge cup ’12 Finals. the All 

nepal Football Association was 

advised to meet all the hosting criteria 

according to a deadline set by the 

administration. 

the date of the AFc champions 

League Final (november 4 or 5) will 

be reviewed by the AFc competitions 

committee and a new date will be 

proposed if Al Ittihad of Jeddah, Saudi 

Arabia, reach the final because of 

logistical issues. 

the decisions taken by the AFc 

Standing committees were ratified.

12 




TASTE OF 

mARADonA 

Manchester city’s new signing Sergio Aguero, hailed as Argentinian legend Diego Maradona’s 

successor on pitch, could bring more joy to the club, writes peter auf der Heyde. 

* Born on June 2, 1988, in Buenos Aires, 

Argentina. 

* nicknamed ‘Kun’ after a Japanese 

cartoon character with a similar hairstyle. 

* Made his debut for Independiente in 

July, 2003, becoming the youngest player 

in Argentina’s top division at 15 years and 

one month. 

* was part of the Argentina side that 

won the Youth world cup in netherlands 

in ’05. 

* Became Atletico Madrid’s most 

expensive purchase in May, ’06, at €23m, 

signing a six-year contract. 

AgUeRo fAct fILe 

* Finished third in the list of top-scorers 

in his second season, with 19 goals, 

and netted another 17 in the ’08-’09 

campaign to help Atletico secure a 

champions League spot. 

* Made his debut for the Argentina senior 

side in a 0-3 defeat by Brazil at London’s 

Emirates Stadium in August, ’06. 

* Scored twice and won a penalty to 

help Argentina to a 3-0 win over Brazil 

in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympics. 

Argentina beat nigeria 1-0 in the final to 

claim gold. 

* Fathered a son, Benjamin, with Diego 

Maradona’s daughter Giannina in 

February, ’09. 

* Announced at the end of May he 

wanted to leave Atletico and take the 

next step in his career. 

* Scored three times in four games for 

Argentina at the ’11 copa America as the 

hosts fell to eventual winners Uruguay 

on penalties in the quarterfinal. 

* Flies to Manchester on July 27, ’11, 

to complete his move to Man city and 

announces on his twitter feed he is a 

city player. 

MAncHEStER city fans are 

well used to hype, but 

they may be witnesses 

to something special after the 

team wrapped up the signing of 

Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero 

in a deal thought to be worth 

around £35m. 

city confirmed the 23-year-old 

has signed a five-year deal after 

joining from Atletico Madrid, and 

the reported fee would make him 

the club’s record transfer, exceeding 

the £32.5m they paid for Brazil 

forward Robinho in 2008. 

with a transfer fee that large 

come great expectations, but that 

is nothing new for Aguero, who 

is the son-in-law of legendary 

Argentinian star Diego Maradona. 

Labelled by some observers 

as Maradona’s heir on the pitch, 

wItH A £35m 

tRAnsfeR fee come 

gReAt exPectAtIons, 

BUt tHAt Is notHIng 

new foR AgUeRo, 

wHo Is tHe 

son-In-LAw of 

DIego mARADonA. 

Aguero has long been considered 

one of football’s brightest 

prospects and city have put their 

money where their mouths are 

as they look to compete for major 

titles this season. 

“when we were talking, I asked 

my agents to do everything they 

could because this was a good 

club, and I had always wanted to 

play in the Premier League. It felt 

right,” Aguero said. 

city moved quickly to sign the 

player after his international 

team-mate carlos tevez 

announced he intended to leave 

the club. 

tevez captained city to victory 

in the FA cup in May and was 

instrumental in securing them a 

place in the champions League for 

the first time. 

the Argentina captain’s 

proposed move to corinthians in 

Brazil recently fell through, but he 

is still expected to leave, handing 

the gauntlet to Aguero, who has 

been given the no. 16 shirt for the 

new season. 

“My style has always been to 

fight to the death for every ball, 

and give 100 per cent in every 

game,” he said. “Be concentrated 

to the maximum in everything I 

do — movement, running off the 

ball, winning the ball back and 

scoring goals. I’m not a player who 

can do everything, but I still have 

plenty to offer.” 

Aguero watched city’s FA cup 

victory on television and believes 

he can help the big-spending club 

to even greater triumphs, saying 

he thinks the style of play in the 

Premier League will suit him. 

“From what I’ve seen on tV, 

there’s a high level of skill here, 

and the football and the surfaces 

are very quick,” he said. 

“Personally, I like it when the 

pitches are quick, because when I 

commit a defender, they can lose 

their footing more easily, and that 

can only be a good thing. It’s quite 

different, but I need to wait for my 

first game, go out and do my best 

and find out for real what it’s like, 

because playing isn’t the same as 

watching it on tV.” 

Aguero said he could not wait to 

get started. 

“I don’t think I’ll have too many 

problems settling into the team,” 

he said. 

“I’ll obviously be doing my best 

to do what the manager asks and 

try to work the way he wants me 

to, and of course he’ll know how 

he wants to use me” he added. 

Meanwhile, Manchester city 

picked up their first silverware 

of the season last Sunday after 

routing Inter Milan 3-0 to win the 

Dublin Super cup. 

Aguero watched from the stands 

as Mario Balotelli opened the 

scoring one minute before halftime 

with a powerful header. 

Edin Dzeko made it 2-0 

moments after the restart and 

Adam Johnson rounded off the 

victory with a third goal in injury 

time, after some good build-up 

play from Shaun wright-Phillips.

torres on target as chelsea triumph 

Mccoist relieved as rangers earn 

their first competitive victory 

GOALS from Steven naismith 

and nikica Jelavic helped 

ally Mccoist earn his 

first competitive win as Rangers 

manager as his side ran out 2-0 

winners away to St Johnstone. 

Mccoist knew anything less 

than a win in the match would 

have seen him make the worst 

start of any Rangers manager 

after an opening-day draw to 

Hearts and defeat to Malmo in a 

champions League qualifier. 

However, his worries were eased 

when naismith headed home his 

50th Scottish Premier League (SPL) 

goal to give Rangers a 31st-minute 

opener. 

the Ibrox side dominated 

possession and added a second 

five minutes after the break when 

Jelavic fired a low shot past Peter 

rEcORD signing fernando torres scored his 

second goal for chelsea straight after coming 

on as a second-half substitute as his side beat 

Aston Villa to win the Barclays Asia trophy. 

It was a game of fast starts for Andre Villas-Boas’ 

men, with teenager Josh McEachran scoring in the 

first minute for a 2-0 victory on a steamy night in 

Hong Kong. 

the victory meant chelsea ended the Asian tour 

under their new manager with four wins from four 

and 11 goals scored to none conceded. 

the stadium announcer was still reporting that 

torres had come on the pitch in the 57th when 

Florent Malouda slipped as he took a long-range 

shot, allowing the Spaniard to race onto the 

ball and deftly redirect it past Shay Given. 

McEachran was on target as the 

capacity crowd in the 40,000-seater Hong 

Kong Stadium were still settling down 

from their pre-match Mexican wave. 

owen goal lifts united over barca 

VEtERAn Michael owen scored in the 76th 

minute to lift Manchester United to a 2-1 

victory over Barcelona in a friendly match 

that reprised their clash in the champions League 

final. 

thanks to the stature of the clubs, FedEx Field in 

suburban washington — home of the nFL’s Redskins 

— drew a crowd of 81,807, the largest ever for a 

football match in the washington Dc area. 

the English Premier League champions’ nani 

opened the scoring in the 22nd. tom cleverley set 

up Owen’s goal, intercepting Sergio Busquets’ 

pass intended for Seydou Keita and racing 

toward the goal before finding Owen, who 

lofted the ball over Barcelona keeper Victor 

Valdes. 

Six minutes earlier, thiago Alcantara had 

equalised, blasting into the top corner of 

the goal. 

Enckelman to seal the defending 

champions’ first League win of the 

season. 

It was a confidence-boosting 

win for Rangers, who will now 

travel to Malmo to try and 

overcome a 0-1 deficit in the 

second leg. 

Romanian defender Dorin Goian 

made his debut for the Glasgow 

giants in place of the injured David 

weir while Lee wallace made his 

first SPL start for the club. 

Rangers’ slow start had been 

the source of frustration for boss 

Mccoist, but they flew out of the 

traps in Perth with rival keeper 

Peter Enckelman needing to be 

at full stretch to stop Steven 

whittaker’s early effort. 

Both sides created early chances, 

but it was the visitors who took 

the lead just after the half-hour 

mark when Scotland striker 

mccoIst knew notHIng Less tHAn A VIctoRy In 

tHe mAtcH woULD HAVe seen HIm mAke 

tHe woRst stARt of Any RAngeRs mAnAgeR. 

naismith rose unchallenged 12 

yards out to send a powerful 

header past the helpless keeper 

from wallace’s curling free-kick. 

naismith was the architect of 

the second goal when he threaded 

a pass through to Jelavic, who held 

off callum Davidson and slammed 

the ball past Enckelman. 

Elsewhere, Motherwell remain 



sneijder keeps united option open 

aRSEnAL suffered the indignity of being 

jeered by their own fans after another 

careless display ended in a lacklustre 

1-1 draw against the new York Red Bulls in the 

Emirates cup last Sunday. 

arsene Wenger’s side had already irritated the 

supporters by squandering a two-goal lead in a 

2-2 draw against Boca Juniors the previous day 

and another frustrating result triggered an angry 

response from the 60,000 crowd in north London. 

Robin van Persie gave Arsenal the lead just 

before half-time, but the Gunners wasted several 

opportunities and their porous defence conceded a 

host of chances before Red Bulls finally equalised 

through a Kyle Bartley own goal in the final 

minutes. 

the draw was enough to leave Red Bulls as 

winners of the four-team tournament, which also 

featured Paris Saint-Germain and Boca Juniors. 

on top of the table on goal 

difference from Rangers following 

a goal-less draw with Kilmarnock. 

St Mirren moved up to third 

place with a 1-0 win over 

Aberdeen, thanks to a goal 

from new signing nigel 

Hasselbaink. 

Garry O’connor’s 

last-minute goal 

helped Hibernian 

to their first win of 

the season as they 

ran out 1-0 winners 

at Inverness caledonian 

thistle. 

intER Milan’s Wesley sneijder last Sunday kept 

the door open to a possible £35m switch to 

Manchester United. 

the midfielder has been strongly linked with a 

move to the English Premier League champions, and 

speculation continued this weekend despite recent 

comments from United boss Alex Ferguson that the 

club would make no further signings this summer. 

“there’s always a chance something will happen, 

but we’ll see,” said the former Real Madrid star. 

“what’s going to happen we’ll see, but I’m a 

happy guy. there’s always speculation, every year. 

I’ve been at the highest level for 10 years and there 

is always speculation, but look, I am still here. 

“I’m happy to train every day with my 

colleagues and play my games for the fans 

and every one at the club and 

whatever happens after that, 

we’ll see,” he added. 

arsenal booed by home supporters 

ResULts 

Hearts lost to Dundee Utd 0-1 

Inverness lost to Hibernian 0-1 

Kilmarnock drew Motherwell 0-0 

St Johnstone lost to Rangers 0-2 

St Mirren bt Aberdeen 1-0

14 



GERARD Pique is rated as 

one of the most important 

players in the Barcelona 

team. the central defender 

played 51 games for the catalan 

giants last season, winning the 

champions League and Spanish 

League titles once again. 

the 24-year-old has now set his 

sights on a new target, to captain 

Barca one day. Pique speaks about 

the challenges awaiting him in the 

coming season. 

Do you feel ready for a fresh start 

after your vacation? 

For sure. I feel my body has 

recovered after a long and hard 

season. I could feel that I just 

needed to relax and think of 

everything else other than football. 

I had a great vacation visiting a 

couple of nice countries. I enjoyed 

not training every day and staying 

away from the game. 

Your fitness level is high though. 

Have you exercised a lot during 

vacation? 

I always try to maintain my 

fitness and keep myself in shape. 

Because if I’m not fit when we 

begin training, I’m going to suffer 

in the pre-season to get back to my 

fitness level in the previous season. 

Did you celebrate the champions 


exclusive intervieW 

Pique 

of the lot 

Spanish central defender Gerard Pique 

tells oscar rodriguez about his stint 

at Barcelona, the rivalry with Real 

Madrid and his future goals. 

league and league titles a bit more 

this summer? 

this summer has been just 

perfect. Even better than the one I 

won the world cup with Spain. I’ve 

enjoyed every minute of it. It was 

such a great sensation winning the 

champions League final in London. 

we played a great game against 

Manchester United and deserved 

the title. 

i saw a Youtube clip of you on 

stage with your girlfriend shakira 

and dancing during her concert 

with some of your team-mates… 

we’ve never tried keeping our 

relationship a secret. I’ve some 

I feeL PRIVILegeD to 

PLAy footBALL As my 

PRofessIon. 

trouble handling the paparazzis, 

but that’s something we can’t 

change. the concert was great and 

we danced a lot and had a great 

time. 

How’ll you motivate yourself for 

a new season? 

It isn’t a problem to motivate 

myself. I feel privileged to play 

football as my profession and 

I’m here to win as many titles as 

possible. there’s so much quality in 

our squad that I’m sure we’ll win 

Gerard pique 

“

10 51 

titles Gerard Pique won in his 

three years with Barcelona 



Guardiola means a lot to the club and he’s played a key role in us winning so many titles since he 

took over the job. Guardiola has changed my life. He believed in me when he took over the first 

team and got me back from United and, since then, he’s placed his faith in me. I owe him a lot. 

a couple of titles yet again in the 

new season. 

Don’t you fear that after so 

many years on top of the world, a 

lot of players in your team will be 

tired or less motivated? 

I hope that won’t be the case. I 

can only speak on my behalf and 

can assure the fans that I’m ready 

to give my all again this season to 

win more titles with Barca. this 

is why I get up with a big smile 

every day. I love my job and look 

forward to the big matches, where 

every minute in the game can 

affect the entire season. 

can you compare the pique of 

today to the one who returned 

to barca from united three years 

ago? 

I’ve become more mature and 

much confident. I know how well 

I can play and that I belong to 

this team. It was a special feeling 

returning to camp nou, but I 

didn’t know how much a part of 

the team I would become. now I 

feel I’m an important player in the 

group. 

Where do you think you can 

improve further? 

I’m only 24, even though 

I’ve been around for 

quite a few years. that 

means I still’ve a lot 

to learn and I don’t 

think I could wish 

for a better role 

model than 

my team-mate 

carles Puyol. He’s 

the best example 

of a modern top-class 

centre-back and, to me, 

he’s a bigger star than many 

of the players the media tend to 

hype just because they’re scoring 

the goals. there’re a lot of areas, 

where I can improve. I need to 

score more goals coming forward 

on set pieces and I still need to 

keep my focus in each match 

even if we’ve the ball for 89 

minutes. 

What do you dream of 

achieving in your barca 

career? 

I’ve already won 

10 titles in just three years with 

this team. But I’m not done yet. 

we’ve set our target to win as 

many titles as possible because 

we’ve the potential to be one of 

the best sides ever in the history 

of the game. One day I would 

like to be Barcelona captain. 

that would be the proudest 

moment of my career. I’ve a lot 

of patience. I know that we’ve 

the best leader now in Puyol and 

there’s no other player in the 

squad who can replace him right 

now. Even if Puyol quits football 

or leaves Barcelona some day in 

the next couple of years, there’re 

still other players to choose from 

besides me. So it’s a dream at the 

moment and nothing more. 

there’ve been rumours that 

pep Guardiola could leave barca 

after this season because he can’t 

really achieve anymore with this 

team… 

I don’t like to comment on 

things that’re clearly speculations. 

As far as I know, he’s still my 

coach. Guardiola means a lot 

to the club and he’s played a 

key role in us winning so many 

titles since he took over the job. 

Guardiola has changed my life. 

He believed in me when he took 

over the first team and got me 

back from United and, since then, 

he’s placed his faith in me. I owe 

him a lot. 

if Guardiola left the club, would 

he be able to persuade you to 

follow him? 

that’s another question that’s 

purely speculative. Barcelona is 

my home and I can’t see myself 

leaving it. Barca is so much more 

to me than a club or a job. It’s 

been a huge part of my life and 

this is the only club I ever wanted 

to play for. So I’m living my dream 

right now and I don’t want to go 

anywhere. 

What makes barcelona so 

special? 

My grandfather (Amador 

Bernabeu) was vice-president 

and director of the club. I’ve 

grown up with Barca and I’ve 

always supported the club. It was 

a big moment for me to lift the 

champions League trophy last 

season and dedicate the title to 

my grandfather. He taught me 

everything about the values of 

Barça. You can’t really compare 

being in Barça with anywhere else 

in the world. 

real Madrid have bought players 

like nuri sahin, fabio coentrao and 

Hamit altintop this summer in their 

attempt to win the league title. 

How do you compare their squad to 

last season’s? 

I haven’t really thought about 

one DAy I woULD LIke to Be BARceLonA 

cAPtAIn. tHAt woULD Be tHe PRoUDest 

moment of my cAReeR. 

their transfers. I don’t really notice 

who the other clubs buy because I 

think the most important thing is 

our own team. I don’t think Real, 

at the moment, are any better or 

weaker than last season. they’ll 

definitely be our biggest rivals in 

the League title race yet again, but 

I’m very confident that we’ll make it 

four in a row. 

talking about the clasicos 

last season, do you think we’ll 

experience such matches again? 

it seemed there was hostility 

between the players… 

It was special to meet Real so 

many times in such a short period. 

I don’t think there was a hostile 

atmosphere on the pitch. the 

games were very intense and there 

were some bad tackles. But when 

you play the copa del Rey final and 

champions League semifinal, it 

would be odd if there’s no tension. 

winning or losing those games 

meant everything to the team’s 

seasons and I’m definitely pleased 

that we won the most important 

matches and I can live with the 

fact that we lost the copa, though I 

would’ve enjoyed winning that too. 

a lot of real and barca players 

travelled with the spain team to 

the us straight after the end of last 

matches the central defender played 

for the catalan giants last season 

season. Did the tough matches 

affect the rapport between the 

players? 

not in my opinion. we’re still all 

good friends and everyone knows 

that when we play these matches, 

we give all for our clubs. there was 

nothing personal in those matches 

and I didn’t experience any bad 

feeling in the Spanish squad. 

and this month, you’ve two new 

clasicos in the spanish super cup. 

What’re your expectations? 

I’m looking forward to 

starting our season with two 

new intense matches and 

winning another important 

title. then I await a complicated 

European Super cup final 

against Fc Porto and I 

would be pleased to 

start winning two new 

titles so early in the 

season. 

And if we win the 

La Liga, champions 

League, copa del 

Rey and Euro 2012 

with Spain, then I’m 

satisfied! 

Was it special to see Jose 

Mourinho defeated last season 

after his inter Milan team beat 

you the previous year in the 

champions league semifinal? 

I think it’s mostly the media 

and, maybe, fans who think 

about the Mourinho factor. He’s 

always good for a headline in 

the media, but I wasn’t that 

impressed by his tactics losing 

all important matches to Barca 

except the copa final. 

there’ve been almost a 

row between arsenal and 

barcelona regarding the 

future of your good friend cesc 

fabregas… 

I don’t like to be involved 

in that. It’s only up to cesc to 

decide what he wants and the 

clubs to speak together and 

negotiate. I dream of seeing 

cesc in the Barca squad, but if it 

isn’t now, then it’ll definitely be 

later. It’s for the clubs and cesc to 

decide. 

Hakkie-Tikkie Media 

PIQUe fAct fILe 

Date of birth February 2, 1987 

Place of birth Barcelona, Spain 

Height 1.92M 

Playing position centre-back 

current club Barcelona 

Jersey number 3 

Youth career 

1997-2004 Barcelona 

senior career 

Read as year, team, appearances and 

goals. 

2004-08 Man United 12 0 

2006-07 Zaragoza (loan) 22 2 

2008- Barcelona 88 6 

national team 

2002–03 Spain U-16 7 2 

2004 Spain U-17 8 3 

2006 Spain U-19 8 3 

2007 Spain U-20 5 1 

2006–08 Spain U-21 12 1 

2009– Spain 33 4 

2004– catalonia 4 0

16 



bUnDESLIGA clubs have 

remained faithful to their 

philosophy of financial 

prudence in the run-up to 

the new season, refusing to 

splash out large sums on bigname 

players. 

A surprising number of 

teams will rely on almost 

similar squads to last season as 

they prefer to balance the books 

rather than gamble on success. 

the result is a paradox — packed 

stadiums and one of the most 

competitive Leagues in Europe, yet 

with a lack of world-class performers 

and a relatively poor record in the 

champions League. 

Only two of the close-season’s 25 

most expensive signings so far have 

been by German clubs — in both 

cases Bayern Munich — according to 

independent website transfermarkt. 

de. 

Bayern, who boast the third 

highest revenue among European 


Paradox! 

Most clubs rely on almost similar squads to the previous season for financial 

reasons as the German Bundesliga kicks off on Friday, writes brian Homewood. 

clubs, splashed out on Germany 

goalkeeper Manuel neuer from 

Schalke 04 and defender Jerome 

Boateng from Manchester city, the 

only two Bundesliga-bound players 

who have cost more than €10m each, 

according to the website’s figures. 

Other clubs kept their hands in 

their pockets with VfB Stuttgart 

typical of the prevailing philosophy. 

Despite narrowly avoiding 

relegation last season, they have 

decided against an expensive 

overhaul with coach Bruno Labbadia 

instead preferring to focus on team 

harmony. 

cologne, another team who 

escaped the drop last season, took 

a similar line. their only major 

acquisition of the summer was 

midfielder Sascha Riether from VfL 

wolfsburg. 

Augsburg have also resisted the 

temptation for a splurge as they 

prepare to play in the top flight for 

the first time since the club was 

formed by a merger of Bc Augsburg 

and tSV Schwaben Augsburg back 

in 1969. 

their most prominent new arrival 

BAyeRn, wHeRe JUPP Heynckes Is stARtIng 

A tHIRD stInt In tHe Hot seAt, BegIn As fIRm 

fAVoURItes wItH BookmAkeRs. 

is Lorenzo Davids, the nephew of 

former Dutch star Edgar Davids, 

from nEc nijmegen. Otherwise, the 

squad is basically the one which won 

promotion. 

Schalke have been busy pruning, 

with Ralf Rangnick, back for a second 

spell as their coach, off-loading 16 of 

the 40-man squad he inherited from 

Felix Magath in March. 

Magath himself is now at 

wolfsburg, the club he led to the title 

three seasons ago, having narrowly 

rescued them from relegation after 

joining from Schalke two months 

from the end of the season. 

His priority has been to rebuild 

without playmaker Diego. the 

Brazilian has been told he has no 

future at the club after storming out 

of the last match of last season on 

being left out of the team. 

Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen, cologne 

and Hoffenheim start the League 

season, which kicks off on Friday, 

with new coaches. 

Bayern, where Jupp Heynckes is 

starting a third stint in the hot seat 

after his move from Bayer, start as 

firm favourites with bookmakers but, 

with four different champions in the 

last five seasons, the competition is 

wide open. 

title holders Borussia Dortmund, 

who came from nowhere to win 

last season, will no longer have the 

element of surprise and have lost key 

player nuri Sahin to Real Madrid. 

German 

League side 

Hoffenheim’s 

stadium prior 

to the official 

pre-season 

photo opportunity.

BUnDesLIgA 

2010-11 stanDinGs 

Borussia Dortmund 34 23 6 5 67 22 75 

Bayer Leverkusen 34 20 8 6 64 44 68 

Bayern Munich 34 19 8 7 81 40 65 

Hanover 96 34 19 3 12 49 45 60 

Mainz 34 18 4 12 52 39 58 

nuremberg 34 13 8 13 47 45 47 

Kaiserslautern 34 13 7 14 48 51 46 

Hamburg SV 34 12 9 13 46 52 45 

Freiburg 34 13 5 16 41 50 44 

cologne 34 13 5 16 47 62 44 

Hoffenheim 34 11 10 13 50 50 43 

VfB Stuttgart 34 12 6 16 60 59 42 

werder Bremen 34 10 11 13 47 61 41 

Schalke 04 34 11 7 16 38 44 40 

VfL wolfsburg 34 9 11 14 43 48 38 

Moenchengladbach 34 10 6 18 48 65 36 

Eintracht Frankfurt 34 9 7 18 31 49 34 

St Pauli 34 8 5 21 35 68 29 

Frankfurt and St Pauli were relegated while Hertha Berlin 

and Augsburg gained promotion. 

MaJor transfErs 

Read as player, from and to. 

Manuel neuer Schalke 04 Bayern Munich 

Jerome Boateng Man city Bayern Munich 

christian traesch VfB Stuttgart VfL wolfsburg 

Andre Schuerrle Mainz Bayer Leverkusen 

Manuel neuer 

LIgUe 1 

2010-11 stanDinGs 

Lille 38 21 13 4 68 36 76 

Oly Marseille 38 18 14 6 62 39 68 

Oly Lyon 38 17 13 8 61 40 64 

Paris St Germain 38 15 15 8 56 41 60 

Sochaux 38 17 7 14 60 43 58 

Stade Rennes 38 15 11 12 38 35 56 

Bordeaux 38 12 15 11 43 42 51 

toulouse 38 14 8 16 38 36 50 

Auxerre 38 10 19 9 45 41 49 

St Etienne 38 12 13 13 46 47 49 

Lorient 38 12 13 13 46 48 49 

Valenciennes 38 10 18 10 45 41 48 

nancy 38 13 9 16 43 48 48 

Montpellier 38 12 11 15 32 43 47 

caen 38 11 13 14 46 51 46 

Stade Brest 38 11 13 14 36 43 46 

nice 38 11 13 14 33 48 46 

Monaco 38 9 17 12 36 40 44 

Racing Lens 38 7 14 17 35 58 35 

Arles-Avignon 38 3 11 24 21 70 20 

Monaco, Lens and Arles-Avignon were relegated while 

Evian, Dijon and Ajaccio gained promotion. 

MaJor transfErs 

Read as player, from and to. 

Javier Pastore Palermo Paris St Germain 

Jeremy Menez AS Roma Paris St Germain 

Dimitri Payet St Etienne Lille 

Kevin Gameiro Fc Lorient Paris St Germain 

Alou Diarra Girondins Bordeaux Olympique Marseille 

Benoit Pedretti Auxerre Lille 

Sidney Govou Panathinaikos Evian 

Javier pastore 

Lille players 

celebrate their 

French league 

triumph, last 

season. 

lILLE stunned French football 

with last season’s surprise 

League and cup double, but 

they have shed their “modest” tag 

after a string of recent signings 

which make them well-equipped 

for further success this term. 

Ivory coast forward Gervinho, 

one of their most consistent 

performers last season, has left 

for Arsenal and Yohan cabaye 

for newcastle United, but 

Lille’s ability to cling onto 

highly-rated Belgian winger 

Eden Hazard is probably 

more crucial to their hopes in 

the coming months. 

Dimitri Payet has arrived from 

St Etienne to replace Gervinho 

and last term’s Ligue 1 top scorer 

Moussa Sow will be aiming to 

show he is not just the oneseason 

wonder that some pundits 

expect. 

Defender Laurent Bonnart, 

midfielder Benoit Pedretti, 

defender David Rozehnal and 

reserve keeper Vincent Enyeama 

are also among the new faces on 

board ahead of the first match of 

the League campaign at nancy on 

Saturday. 

Last week’s 5-4 champions 

trophy defeat by Olympique 




Psg could rival Lille 

Marseille after Lille were 3-1 up 

with five minutes to play has done 

little to dim optimism in northeast 

France. 

“the new recruits are feeling 

good, there’s good humour and 

the culture of hard work is as 

important as ever,” said coach Rudi 

Garcia. 

the signings will help Lille cope 

with the pressures of champions 

Psg HAVe sIgneD 

ARgentInIAn 

PLAymAkeR JAVIeR 

PAstoRe fRom 

PALeRmo foR €43m. 

League football as well as the 

defence of their title and news 

they can stay at their small home 

ground for European games is a 

boost ahead of the opening of 

their new stadium next year. 

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) could 

rival Lille having been bought by 

Qatar Sports Investments and 

having recruited former Ac and 

Inter Milan coach Leonardo as 

sporting director. 

It will take time for the 

under-achieving capital club to 

spend their newfound wealth, 

but the early purchase of AS 

Roma and France playmaker 

Jeremy Menez is a bold statement 

of intent. PSG have also signed 

Argentinian international 

playmaker Javier Pastore from 

Palermo for €43m. they also 

roped in Mali international 

midfielder Mohamed Sissoko 

and Italian goalkeeper Salvatore 

Sirigu from Juventus and Palermo 

respectively. 

Marseille, who won the 2010 

title, managed to keep coach 

Didier Deschamps, but the likes 

of Gabriel Heinze have departed 

and quality replacements have 

been hard to find with Girondins 

Bordeaux and France midfielder 

Alou Diarra their standout 

signing. 

the once mighty superpower 

of French football, Olympique 

Lyon, have also been relatively 

quiet in the transfer market with 

new coach Remi Garde already 

boasting a good side on paper 

who failed to show their potential 

on the field last season under the 

departed claude Puel. 

no team outside the big four is 

expected to challenge at the top, 

with Stade Rennes’ early form last 

term ebbing away through the 

campaign.

DSP/Vinod Divakaran 

18 



intErViEW 

Jamal suleiman al abdullah 

EVER since the Doha Rugby 

Football centre (DRFc) was 

established in 1974, the 

game has been played in Qatar. 

However, it still remains largely 

confined to the country’s expatriate 

communities. Several attempts 

were made to popularise it among 

the nationals, but in vain. 

the last such try came in 2006, 

during the Doha Asian Games, 

RUGBY 

xclusive 

worth 

a try! 

Qatar Rugby Federation General Secretary Jamal Suleiman Al Abdullah 

tells aju George chris about the plans to make the game popular. 

when an all-Qatari national side 

took the field for the first time. But 

four years down the line, they failed 

to make it to Guangzhou, china, as 

the team was disbanded. 

But the sport was in the limelight 

when a squad of Qatari and 

expatriate players defeated Jordan, 

Uzbekistan and Lebanon to win the 

Division Four competition of the 

Asian Five nations tournament in 

Dubai in May. 

Qatar Rugby Federation (QRF) 

General Secretary Jamal Suleiman 

Al Abdullah saw it as a good 

omen. He sounded confident of a 

turnaround in the game’s fortunes 

in the country. 

In an exclusive interview with 

Doha Stadium Plus, he spoke about 

the sport, the challenges that it 

faces and the road ahead. 

the sport hasn’t been in the 

news in recent times… 

It’s true we’ve been keeping 

a low profile after ’06, but that 

doesn’t mean we were sitting idle. 

In fact, we used the time to build 

up a strong base for the sport in the 

country. the success in Dubai was a 

direct result of our activities. It’s one 

of our high points and a sign of the 

sport’s resurgence in Qatar. the QRF 

has big plans for the future. 

and what’re they? 

It was a great decision by the 

International Olympic committee 

to include rugby at the ’16 Games 

oUR BIggest PRoBLem 

Is tHe QUestIon 

of How to RetAIn 

PLAyeRs. 

in Rio de Janeiro. Our dream is to 

compete in Brazil, gain experience 

and win the title four years later. 

the ’20 edition of the Games 

will be truly special as there’s a 

very good chance Qatar will host 

the quadrennial extravaganza. 

Although we’re yet to formally 

announce the candidacy, I know it’s 

just a matter of time. 

we’re planning to host four Asian 

sides separately — Iran, Lebanon, 

Uzbekistan and India — this year. 

we’ll also organise a five-nation 

event, featuring South Africa, 

Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and 

Qatar, in December. we want to 

prove we’re good at organising big 

events. 

How’s the national team shaping 

up? 

the team, coached by Briton 

George Hore, attended training 

camps in china, Sri Lanka and 

Malaysia during the last one year. 

Earlier, we had a Fijian, Usaia 

Biumaiwa, in the position. we want 

to get the team in shape before 

hiring a big-name coach. they’re 

presently not training, but will start 

after the holy month of Ramadan. 

are enough qatari players 

coming into the sport? 

Our biggest problem is the 

question of how to retain players. 

Since most of them work with the

Qatari Armed Forces, they aren’t 

able to train regularly. we solved it 

to an extent after the International 

Rugby Board (IRB) allowed us to 

field expatriate players who’ve 

been in Qatar for more than three 

years. Such a team won in Dubai. 

Another problem is that Qataris 

often confuse rugby with American 

football. Although both balls look 

identical, everything else — from 

the way players dress up to the 

shape of the field to the games’ 

rules — is different. Many Qataris 

come to us looking to join an 

American football team. 

Why didn’t qatar field a team at 

the Guangzhou asian Games? 

we had to register the team 

for Guangzhou by September, 

’10, through the Qatar Olympic 

committee (QOc). But the QRF was 

formed only this January, soon after 

the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football 

Union was disbanded. 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Faisal 

bin Jassim Al thani is the QRF 

president while Hore and Saud 

Mohamed Al Sheeb are also there 

in the Board. we’ve already become 

a member of the IRB and Asian 

Rugby Football Union. 

now that we’ve a national 

federation, we’ll field a full team 

at the ’14 Incheon Asian Games 

in South Korea. 

How effective is qatar’s club 

system? 

there’re four clubs in the 

country — the DRFc, Qatar Rugby 

club, Mesaieed tigers and Sri 

Lankan Lions. Lions, formed this 

year, consists mostly of Sri Lankan 

expatriates. we’ll start a club in 

Dukhan this year and are looking to 

start a team for Indian expatriates 

soon. 

these clubs operate under the 

QRF’s umbrella. we’re also looking 

to rope in Qatari clubs to form 

teams. Al Rayyan and Al Sadd have 

expressed their interests. the new 

sides may be in place by ’12. By 

August end, we’ll have sent out 

letters to all Qatari clubs enquiring 

about their willingness to join 

us. we don’t yet have a national 

League, but we’re working on it. 

What about the qrf’s 

grassroots-level initiatives? 

we’ve started a school 

programme to popularise the 

sport. we’re initially targeting three 

expatriate — American, British and 

Lebanese — and two Qatari schools 

— Al Rayyan and Al Muthanna 

Secondary. the ASPIRE Academy, 

which has several staff who’re good 

at the game, has agreed to host and 

train youngsters interested in rugby. 

we’re targeting children aged 12 

years and above as they’ll be great 

additions to our side in time for the 

’16 and ’20 Olympics. 

How’re you helping the Drfc? 

we acknowledge that the game 

in Qatar started at the DRFc. the 

QRF came into existence because of 

their efforts as well. we hold regular 

weekly meetings to assess the 

game’s progress in the country and 

also discuss common problems. 

Shifting venues to outside Doha 

has created lots of recent troubles. 

the DRFU has been functioning at 

the Doha college premises since its 

start. Although two new grounds 

are coming up fast, they’re too far 

from the city and it’s tough to reach 

there. 

QOc Secretary General Sheikh 

Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al thani 

had allowed us to use the Doha 

Stadium. Unfortunately, the 

dimensions of that field didn’t 

meet our requirements. A regular 

rugby field measures 144M by 70M. 

there should be at least five metres 

behind the goal, but there, we had 

only two. when players run fast to 

score, they need space to slow down 

or they risk crashing against the 

wall. this forced us to abandon it as 

a venue. 

RUGBY 

Members of 

the Qatar team 

celebrate after 

winning the 

Division Four 

title of the Asian 

Five nations 

tournament in 

May at Dubai. 



qatar in dire 

need of a 

stadium 

qAtAR needs to look only as far as the 

UAE to see how far it lags behind in 

terms of infrastructure for the game. 

the UAE has a custom-built world cupquality 

stadium, very close to city limits, called 

‘the Sevens,’ which also boasts of six full-sized 

training grounds. On the other hand, Qatar is 

yet to build a rugby stadium and the existing 

ground is set to move out of Doha. 

Qatar Rugby Federation General Secretary 

Jamal Suleiman Al Abdullah said plan to 

construct such a facility is in place, but sounded 

utterly disappointed about its progress. 

“we’ve plans to build a stadium in Qatar, 

which can even host world cup matches, but 

it’s constantly been delayed due to red tape. 

we’ve identified a suitable location near the 

Al Rayyan Stadium. the club management is 

also willing to help us maintain the stadium 

once its construction is complete. But we’re still 

waiting for the Ministry of Municipality and 

Urban Planning to allot us land. 

“they gave us a choice of plots, at either 

Rowdat Al Rashid or Umm Al Afai, but both 

were very far from Doha. the Qatar Olympic 

LAnD Is tHe onLy 

IssUe HoLDIng 

BAck tHe stARt of 

tHe constRUctIon 

woRk. 

committee 

is already 

building us 

two pitches 

down the 

Salwa Road, 

beyond the 

Aqua Park, but they’re almost 40km away 

from the city. It’ll be very tough for teams to 

commute and train there on a daily basis. 

Unless this situation is resolved, the sport will 

find its going tough,” he said. 

Jamal was all the more disappointed as the 

allocation of land is the only issue holding 

back the start of the construction work. He 

promised zero cost to the country in terms of 

construction charges. 

“It’s sad that despite having appropriate 

funding in place, we still can’t begin work on 

the stadium. the International Rugby Board 

and Asian Rugby Football Union have agreed 

to completely finance the building project, 

but appropriate land is the only issue. Once 

the new stadium is up, Qatar will become the 

rugby hub of the region. we can upstage the 

UAE in terms of facilities and quality of players,” 

he rued. 

“we’ve a rugby pitch at Al Rayyan, but it’s 

still a public park at the end of the day. what 

we urgently need is a dedicated facility with 

buildings for our administrative and team 

offices, dressing rooms and gym. Unless that 

happens, our hands are tied,” he added.


QATAR’S FIRST ENGLISH SPORTS WEEKLY 

RAhul 

DRAVID

22 



VollEYball 

a 

nEw chapter will be 

written in the Qatar 

Volleyball Association’s 

(QVA) history when the inaugural 

communities League begins on 

Friday. 

the QVA has always been at 

the forefront when 

it comes to 

innovation. 

cashing in on 

the popularity 

of the sport 

among the 

expatriate 

communities, 

it had launched 

the communities 

cup last year. 

close on the heels of the 

success of the two editions of the 

tournament comes the League, 

which will have competitions in both 

the men’s and women’s sections. 

ten communities — Indian, 

Filipino, Sudanese, Lebanese, 

nepali, Sri Lankan, 

Bangladeshi, 

BREAkinG 

tHRoUgH 

the Qatar Volleyball Association 

officials are upbeat that the 

inaugural communities League, 

which begins on Friday, will be a big 

success, writes sajith b Warrier. 

Indonesian, turkish and Iranian — 

are fielding teams in the League, the 

brainchild of QVA technical Director 

Hussein Imam Ali. 

Since the start of the League 

coincides with the holy month of 

Ramadan, matches will be held on 

alternate Fridays. More matches will 

be scheduled after Ramadan. 

“Friday is going to be a red-letter 

day in the history of the sport in 

Qatar. A whole new beginning is 

going to be made. the League is 

going to break barriers, and bring 

sports and entertainment together 

under one roof,” said Hussein Imam. 

while majority of the matches will 

be held at the QVA courts, 

Al Arabi Sports club will be an 

alternative venue in case of any lastminute 

change. 

the League will strictly adhere to 

the FIVB Rules of the Game. It will be 

spread over a period of five months 

DSP Photo 

and is expected to conclude before 

the start of the QVA’s domestic 

season in January. 

“we’re trying to make the 

communities League as competitive 

as the Premier League. Each team is 

ten exPAtRIAte commUnItIes ARe fIeLDIng 

teAms In tHe LeAgUe. 

allowed to register up to 24 players 

of which four can be guest players,” 

said Hussein Imam. 

the QVA official elaborated further 

on the guest player clause. 

“A guest player can be someone 

from a different community, but he 

or she should be registered with any 

of the QVA affiliated clubs. During 

the season, teams have the right to 

change the roster of the registered 

players. they’re allowed to cancel the 

registration of players and take new 

players, but at any given time the 

total should remain 24,” he said. 

Apart from the community 

members, the Qatar women’s Sport 

committee is likely to field a team to 

give the League a more diversified 

look. 

the draw of lots was held last 

week. 

QVA General Secretary Faraj 

Muftah Al Abdullah sounded 

upbeat. 

“the communities cup was just 

a precursor to the League. It was 

targeted to a limited audience. But 

the League will cater to a wider 

spectrum of fans. we’re going to 

prove yet again that sports has 

no boundaries. In due course, the 

tournament will become a way of 

life,” he said. 

Hussein Imam 

Ali, left, addresses 

a gathering of 

community leaders.

DSP/A k BijuRaj 

qAtARI colts finished a 

creditable sixth at the 

Arab Junior (Under-17) 

championship in Egypt last week. 

Bahrain won the 10-nation 

tournament held in the tourist city 

of Hurghada, defeating Egypt 25- 

22, 25-23, 25-19 in the final while 

defending champions tunisia 

finished third. 

Qatar, who had finished third in 

their group, lost to Saudi Arabia 

22-25, 14-25, 25-20, 22-25 in the 

fifth-place play-off. 

Despite the defeat, Qatar coach 

“we’re going to prove yet again that sports has 

no boundaries. In due course, the communities 

League will become a way of life. 

faraj Muftah al abdullah, General Secretary, Qatar Volleyball Association. 

qatari colts finish sixth 

Yousef Faredoon was banking on 

the positives. 

“It was a good exposure for the 

boys. they raised the bar while 

tHe PeRfoRmAnce of 

yoUngsteRs wAs 

one of tHe mAJoR 

gAIns foR QAtAR. 

playing against stronger teams like 

tunisia and Syria. the experience 

of competing in such a major 

tournament will stand them 

in good stead ahead of tough 

battles in future,” said Yousef. 

the performance of players like 

Mohammed Al Mulla, Abdullah 

Mousa and Mohammed Mabrook 

was one of the major gains for 

Qatar, a fact acknowledged by 

captain Ghanim Al Rumaihi. 

“we got limited time to prepare 

for the tournament, yet we did our 

best. Even in the matches that we 

lost, we didn’t go down without a 

fight. Our team has a bright future. 

One of the greatest strengths of 

this team is that it doesn’t wilt 

under pressure,” said Ghanim. 

tang Dynasty 

proved too good for 

Al Rayyan. 

Qatar’s Hamad 

Asman, right, 

smashes past 

Saudi Arabia. 



rayyan lose in 

quarterfinal 

aL RAYYAn’S FIVB Men’s club world 

championship hopes went up in smoke 

after they bowed out in the quarterfinal 

of the Asian clubs championship to china’s tang 

Dynasty in straight sets 20-25, 23-25, 9-25. 

with only the winner earning a direct entry 

into the worlds, Rayyan had plenty at stake, but 

they flattered to deceive in the championship 

won by Iran’s Payakan at the Palembang 

RAyyAn’s ResULts 

quartErfinal 

Lost to tang Dynasty 20-25, 23-25, 9-25 

(cHn) 

Group staGE 

Bt talyp Sport (tKM) 25-18, 25-16, 25-14 

Bt chang (tHA) 25-18, 28-26, 24- 

26, 20-25, 15-11 

Lost to Almaty (KAZ) 22-25, 23-25, 20-25 

Sport and 

convention 

centre 

Gymnasium in 

Indonesia. 

Rayyan had 

finished third 

in Group B 

after winning 

three matches and took on Group A runners-up 

tang in the quarterfinal. 

But after putting up a good fight in the first 

two sets, the reigning Gcc champions were 

virtually blown away in the third. 

In the group stage, Rayyan had put up a gritty 

display winning three matches and losing two. 

After losing their opener to Payakan 19-25, 

13-25, 25-17, 17-25, Rayyan bounced back to 

defeat Myanmar’s Asia world club 25-19, 27-29, 

25-18, 25-20. 

Rayyan then made mincemeat of 

turkmenistan’s talyp Sport 25-18, 25-16, 

25-14. Later, in one of the best matches of the 

tournament, they beat thailand’s chang 25-18, 

28-26, 24-26, 20-25, 15-11. 

chang side consisted mainly of thailand 

internationals who had performed superbly 

to finish fourth at last year’s Guangzhou Asian 

Games. 

with the match level at 2-2, Rayyan’s spiker 

Serbian Konstantin cupkovic used his height and 

experience to help his team clinch a thriller. 

But Rayyan were brought back to earth by 

Kazakhstan’s Almaty as they lost 22-25, 23-25, 

20-25 in their last group match.

24 



MixED zonE | qATAR 

HanDball 

Qatar end up 15th 

qAtAR finished 15th at the 

world Junior championship 

in thessalonica, Greece, 

last week. Although it was three 

places less than the country’s bestever 

finish at the tournament (12th 

in Brazil in ’03), 

it was far better than their 

20th-place showing in 

Egypt two years ago. 

Germany won the 

title, beating 

Denmark 

27-18 

in the 

final. tunisia 

were third, beating 

Egypt 24-18. 

Iran, 12th, finished 

as the top Asian team at 

the event, while South 

Korea came 19th out of 

24 sides. 

In the 15th-place play-off, Qatar 

exacted sweet revenge on the 

hosts (31-23) for their group stage 

setback. 

Qatar trailed early on as Greece 

controlled the game in the first half. 

But the men in maroon capitalised 

on a series of mistakes by the 

Greeks to draw level (14-14) at halftime. 

And a five-goal run, between 

the 36th and 40th minutes, saw 

Qatar take a 22-17 lead. the home 

side could not catch up with Qatar 

for the rest of the game. 

“My players fought valiantly 

to return with a win. I want to 

congratulate them because it 

was difficult to recover from the 

game against Slovenia, where 

we lost after two extra times. I’m 

pleased with how we finished our 

campaign,” said Qatar’s Slovenian 

coach borut Macek. 

QAtARI PLAyeRs fAILeD to RecoVeR In tIme 

AfteR tHeIR Loss to sLoVenIA. 

Qatari players had failed to 

recover in time after their loss to 

Slovenia in a marathon 

pre-quarterfinal. 

In another placement match 

against Portugal, Qatar were a pale 

shadow of their usual self and were 

outplayed (29-39). 

Qatar suffered another 

heartbreak as they lost to Algeria in 

a 13th to16th-place play-off by a 

single goal (26-27). 

Qatar Handball Association 

President Ahmed Mohammed 

Abdulrab Al Shaabi gave the team 

full credit. 

“we’re extremely happy with 

how the boys fared in Greece. 

Despite missing four key players, 

we gave Slovenia a run for their 

money. Had we won, we could’ve 

had a shot at a top-four finish. 

Unfortunately, the side’s morale 

went down after the loss. they 

didn’t get enough time to physically 

recuperate as well,” he said. 

1. Germany 

2. Denmark 

3. tunisia 

4. Egypt 

5. Spain 

6. France 

fInAL stAnDIngs 

7. Sweden 

8. Slovenia 

9. Portugal 

10. norway 

11. Brazil 

12. Iran 

13. Russia 

14. Algeria 

15. Qatar 

16. Greece 

17. Hungary 

18. Serbia 

Qatar’s Hadi 

Hamdoun, right, 

is blocked by 

Portugal’s Ricardo 

Pesqueira. 

19. South Korea 

20. Argentina 

21. chile 

22. canada 

23. Benin 

24. Venezuela

DSP/ Vinod Divakaran 

aju George chris 

tHE Qatar youth team, 

preparing for the world 

championship in Argentina 

(August 10 to 20), played two 

friendlies against Switzerland at 

the Qatar Sports club Indoor Hall 

last week. 

Although they lost both games 

(20-26 and 22-26), the players’ 

gritty displays came in for praise 

from rival coach Michael Suker. 

“European sides are technically 

and physically superior than 

Asians. Still Qatar gave us tough 

fights. Missing some key members 

affected their tempo and that 

made things easier for us. their 

players are tall and strong, and 

can definitely make an impact in 

“I’m pleased with the team despite the setbacks against 

the Swiss. we could’ve won the games, but we were 

concentrating on trying out various combinations. 

ahmed Mohammed abdulrab al shaabi, President, Qatar Handball Association. 

swiss pat for gritty qatar 

aSPIRE Academy boys 

thrashed Manchester 

United 5-1 to clinch the 

29th Milk cup tournament at 

Ballymena, northern Ireland, last 

week. 

the annual international youth 

(Under-16) tournament draws 

players from some of the topnotch 

clubs in the world. 

ibrahima Drame, who scored a 

hat-trick in the final, was the star 

of the show for ASPIRE boys. the 

skilful striker scored nine goals 

in the tournament to bag the 

Golden Boot. 

“we’re trying to develop the 

Argentina,” he said. 

Switzerland, who are in Group 

D along with Spain, Gabon, chile 

and hosts Argentina, started their 

preparations at home long ago. 

Suker felt it would help them start 

off well in the tournament. 

QAtAR’s gRItty 

DIsPLAy cAme In foR 

PRAIse fRom RIVAL 

coAcH mIcHAeL sUkeR. 

“we started training in 

January and played in a friendly 

competition in Hungary last 

month. we’ll move to Argentina 

on wednesday. Our lengthy 

preparations should help us 

progress from the group. this is 

our first worlds at the youth level 

players all the time. we bring 

them to such tournaments to 

expose them against players from 

teams like Manchester United 

and it’s a privilege to be on the 

same pitch as them,” said ASPIRE 

coach Simon Jennings. 

Drame’s first goal came after 

seven minutes. 

He then doubled the lead 

with a header in the 22nd. the 

hat-trick was completed three 

minutes later. 

ASPIRE made it 4-0 in the 49th 

when Pape Badacar tapped into 

an empty net. 

United grabbed a consolation 

and we hope to make it to the 

final four,” he said. 

Qatar Handball Association 

President Ahmed Mohammed 

Abdulrab Al Shaabi placed faith in 

the national side. 

“I’m pleased with the team 

despite the setbacks against 

the Swiss. we could’ve won 

the games, but we were 

concentrating on trying out various 

combinations. Algerian coach 

Lakhdar Arouch has been with 

the team for long and he’s done a 

great job,” he said. 

Qatar qualified for the worlds as 

Asian champions. 

South Korea and Bahrain, 

who finished second and third 

respectively, are the continent’s 

other representatives. 

football 

aspirE boys win Milk cup 

on the hour mark through 

tyler Blackett. 

the ASPIRE boys 

completed the rout 11 

minutes from time 

through Oumarou 

Kaina. 

“we know 

that we’ve a good 

group of 

young 

professionals,” 

added 

Jennings. 

Michael Suker, 

centre, instructs his 

players. 



MarinEsport 

spirit of qatar’s 

Villwock on top 

aMERIcAn Dave Villwock of U-96 Spirit of 

Qatar made a late charge to overtake Steve 

David and win a thrilling Lamb-weston 

columbia cup round of the Air national Guard 

Hydroplane race series on the columbia River in 

tri-cities, washington, last Sunday. 

Villwock was able to break David’s 

winning streak of three race victories 

at the venue by capping a perfect 

weekend that included success in 

his preliminary heats. the win was 

far from straightforward, however, 

and Villwock returned to the pits 

at the end with the turbine engine 

smoking and the cowling removed 

from the boat. 

“we’ve kind of used the boat up,” said Villwock, 

who now leads the national High Points standings 

after three rounds. 

“It looks like a top fuel car going through the 

lights on fire with parts throwing out of it. we’ll get 

it back in shape for the next race in Seattle,” he said. 

In the final, David had an early lead and the two 

veteran drivers were neck-and-neck for two-and-ahalf 

laps. By lap three, Villwock, who was running 

on the outside, was able to chase down David 

and pass him. He duly extended that lead on the 

final tour and earned his seventh Lamb-weston 

columbia cup and a 64th career win. Kip Brown 

finished third. 

tEnnis 

qafco open 

from october 3 

tHE Qatar Fertiliser company (QAFcO), 

in association with the Qatar tennis 

Federation, will conduct its 23rd Annual Open 

championship from October 3 to 17. 

Apart from the men’s and women’s events, 

competitions will be held in the Under-10, U-14 

and U-18 boys’, and U-10 and U-14 girls’ sections. 

the group matches will be held at three different 

venues — Khalifa International tennis complex, Al 

Maha and Al Banush club in Mesaieed. As a matter 

of tradition, the final will be held at Al Banush club, 

which has been hosting it since the tournament’s 

inception in 1987. 

the championship is quite often seen as a 

breeding ground for talented youngsters. Players 

like Qatar’s former Davis cupper Sultan Khalfan, 

Amir Ibrahim, Mohammed Abdullah Al Ansari, 

Renaldo Amazona and noel caga, who have 

made it big at the national level, have all come 

through the QAFcO Open ranks. 

Haider Hussein and Haidel Ali are the 

defending champions in the men’s and 

women’s section respectively. 

Entries close on September 10.

26 



atHlEtics 

steely 

Bolt 

Jamaican Olympic and world champion 

Usain Bolt braves adverse weather to emerge 

as victorious in the Stockholm Diamond 

League, writes lennox clarke. 

WORLD and Olympic 

champion Usain Bolt 

cruised to victory in 

the 200M at last week’s Diamond 

League meeting in Stockholm, 

Sweden. 

Bolt won in a time of 20.03sec 

against an unfavourable headwind 

in his last outing before he defends 

his sprint titles at the IAAF world 

championships in Daegu, South 

Korea, from August 27. 

the Jamaican superstar came 

into the straight comfortably ahead 

to celebrate his first career victory 

in the Swedish capital after two 

previous failures over 100M. 

“It’s fantastic to record my first 

win here,” said Bolt, who admitted 

he had felt a twinge in his back. 

“technically, it wasn’t a good race 

because the bends are a little right 

and I wanted to take care of my 

injury before the worlds.” 

Qatar’s Motaz Essa Barsham 

finished third in men’s high 

jump with a 2.30M clearance. 

the IAAF world junior champion, 

who also won gold medals at 

the Asian Games as well as Asian 

championships, finished behind 

Russia’s Ivan Ukhov (2.34) and USA’s 

Jesse williams (2.32). 

American Olympic champion 

LaShawn Merritt returned after 

a 21-month ban and clocked 

44.74sec to finish second in the 

400M. Jamaica’s Jermaine Gonzales 

(44.69) won while Bahamas’s chris 

Brown was third (44.79). 

Olympic and world champion 

Merritt had tested positive for the 

anabolic steroid DHEA in three 

tests between October, 2009, and 

January, 2010. 

Last October, an American 

oLymPIc cHAmPIon 

meRRItt RetURneD 

AfteR A 21-montH 

BAn AnD fInIsHeD 

seconD In 400m. 

Arbitration Association (AAA) panel 

declared that his ban would end 

on July 27, less than the usual 

24-month ban, thereby making 

Merritt eligible to compete prior to 

the world championships. 

the arbitrators stated they 

believed his positive test stemmed 

from an inadvertent action and 

was not intended to produce a 

competitive advantage. 

South Africa’s 800M world 

champion caster Semenya endured 

a miserable night, finishing 

eighth in her event in 

2:01.28, with Jamaica’s 

Kenia Sinclair claiming victory 

(1:58.21). 

Olympic 110M hurdles 

champion Dayron Robles pulled 

out of his eagerly-awaited head-tohead 

with this year’s world leader, 

the American David Oliver. 

Robles injured his ankle recently 

in Barcelona and with the world 

championships in mind, he 

preferred not to risk running in 

Stockholm. 

the cuban is the world record 

holder (12.87) while Oliver has 

produced the best time this season 

— 12.91. 

USA’s Jason Richardson took 

victory in 13.17, with Oliver in 

second spot (13.28). 

Kenya’s Vivian cheruiyot, the 

women’s world 5,000M champion, 

clocked the best time of the season 

(14:20.87). 

Olympic champion Yelena 

Isinbayeva won the women’s 

polevault with a 4.76M clearance. 

the 29-year-old Russian has set 

27 world records in her career, but 

the winning jump was way below 

her best ever mark of 5.06M.

2.30M 4.76M 

was the height Qatari jumper 

Motaz Essa Barsham cleared to 

win a bronze medal 

Jamaica’s 

Usain Bolt en 

route to winning 

the 200M race. 

fREncH sprinter christophe 

lemaitre produced a new 

100M national record after 

clocking 9.92sec to win the 

national championships at Albi last 

week. 

It was three-tenths of a second 

quicker than the previous record 

which he set in Stockholm on 

June 18. 

Lemaitre, a triple European 

sprint champion, was helped 

by the weather conditions — a 

temperature of 29 degrees celcius 

and favourable wind (2m/s) — 

which fell within the limits for 

records to stand. 

“It’s a great time,” said Lemaitre. 

“the conditions were ideal 

and it was good to rediscover 

the conditions and formula for 

championships which I’d just lost 

a little.” 



was Russian pole vaulter 

Yelena Isinbayeva’s 

winning effort 

Last week, the Frenchman had 

wilted at the Diamond League 

meeting in Monaco, trailing in fifth 

in 10.03. 

“After the Paris meeting, he’s 

been suffering a groin injury and 

that limited the speed work he 

could do,” said Lemaitre’s coach 

Pierre carraz. “Since Monaco, 

27 

lemaitre breaks own record 

he just had two light training 

sessions.” 

Meanwhile, a strong following 

wind thwarted his attempts at 

another French record, in 200M, as 

he clocked 20.08sec to win. 

the time was quicker than 

the existing record of 20.16 

that Lemaitre shares with Gilles 

Queneherve, but it did not count 

because the wind speed registered 

at 2.3m/s. 

“that’s life,” said the 21-year-old 

triple European sprint champion. “I 

had it in my legs, but there’re other 

factors that I can’t control. the most 

important thing is that I won the 

title,” he said. 

the 200M remains the longeststanding 

record in France. 

Queneherve ran it when he won 

the silver medal at the world 

championships in Rome in 1987. 

chambers 

qualifies for 

Worlds 

cOntROVERSIAL British sprinter Dwain chambers 

qualified for the IAAF world championships in 

Daegu, South Korea, after winning the UK 100M 

title in Birmingham last week. 

chambers received a two-year ban and a life-time 

suspension from the Olympics in 2003 for using 

prohibited substance tHG, but he remains one of 

Britain’s leading sprinters and will be in South Korea 

for the world finals this month. 

the 33-year-old won at the trials event in 10.09sec, 

ahead of Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Marlon Devonish, 

who both clocked 10.14. 

“I tell you what, it’s not getting any easier,” chambers 

said. “My age is kicking in now. But I relish the 

competition because that’s what brings out the best in 

all of us. It keeps me on my toes,” he said. 

In the women’s race, Olympic finalist Jeanette Kwakye 

put her injury nightmare behind with victory in 11.23, 

ahead of Anyika Onuora and Laura turner. 

Meanwhile, christine Ohuruogu insists there is no 

crisis ahead of the worlds even though she finished 

third in the 400M trials. Ohuruogu, who had already 

run the 400M qualifying time, needed to turn in a late 

surge to come home behind hurdles specialist Perri 

Shakes-Drayton and Shana cox in the 400M, the event 

in which she won the Olympic title in ’08 and world 

championship gold in Osaka in ’07. 

the 27-year-old has not broken 50sec since Beijing 

while her season’s best of 51.49 leaves her a lowly 33rd 

in world rankings. 

Asked about her prospects in Daegu, Ohuruogu said, 

“I’ll just win it. I went to Osaka running 53 seconds so 

nothing’s a crisis.”

28 



Motorsport 

forMula onE 

gReAt BUt 

McLaren’s British driver Jenson 

Button triumphs at a wet 

Grand Prix in Hungary, where he 

won his first race five years ago, 

writes Mark Meadows. 

McLAREn’S Jenson button 

celebrated his 200th 

Formula One start by 

winning the Hungarian Grand Prix 

after a thrilling race decided by 

tyre choices in the slippery, wet 

conditions. 

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was 

second despite an error-strewn race 

to increase his championship lead 

over team-mate Mark webber to 

85 points and move him closer to 

defending his title with eight races 

left after the mid-season break. 

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was 

third. 

Button sealed his second victory 

of the season after being wheel to 

wheel with Lewis Hamilton only 

for his team-mate to drop back to 

fourth after a choosing the wrong 

tyres and then serving a 

drive-through penalty following a 

spin. 

“A wonderful race, it’s just perfect 

for my 200th Grand Prix. this is 

where I first won in F1. I’m going to 

enjoy,” said Button, who won here in 

2006 under similar wet conditions. 

the Briton has now won 11 

Grands Prix in a career that started 

with williams in 

2000. 

the biggest 

example 

of the wet 

conditions was 

when Virgin’s 

Jerome D’Ambrosio came into the 

pits almost sideways as he slid all 

over the place. 

As the drizzle and tyre strategies 

came and went, the less than 

capacity crowd at the ageing 

Hungaroring track was treated to 

a string of overtaking moves at a 

twisty circuit where passing had 

been difficult in the past. 

Vettel made a good start from 

pole, but Hamilton kept on the 

BUtton PReVIoUsLy 

won In 

HUngARy In 2006. 

world champion’s tail having been 

second on the grid. 

Button, then also overtook the 

German in partially wet conditions 

as McLaren again showed their 

race superiority over the previously 

dominant Red Bull. 

“I was struggling a bit on the 

first stint. It was quite tricky,” said 

Vettel, who now has 234 points 

to webber’s 149, Hamilton’s 146, 

Alonso’s 145 and Button’s 134. 

Mercedes’ nico Rosberg cut past 

the two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and 

Alonso as well as webber in the 

opening exchanges as drivers 

struggled to keep their cars 

under control. 

Brazil’s Massa, who 

suffered serious head 

injuries in an accident 

in ’09, then spun 

violently into the 

grass on lap eight 

and slipped 

down to ninth 

before fighting 

back up to sixth. 

rED bull (sebastian Vettel 2, Mark Webber 5) 

the German world champion started on pole, but struggled 

early on in the wet and was passed by both McLarens. 

He still stretched his lead over webber to 85 points with 

eight races remaining, meaning another title beckons. 

webber was always on the back foot having qualified sixth. 

Although he gained a place, and scored points for the 12th 

race in a row, it was a largely forgettable afternoon. 

MclarEn (Jenson button 1, lewis Hamilton 4) 

After two retirements in a row, Button held his nerve in the 

wet to triumph in his 200th Grand Prix and on the track 

where he first won in F1 with Honda back in 2006. It was 

his 11th career win and second of the season. Hamilton 

was in attacking mode from the start and led before 

spinning his car around, earning a drive-through penalty 

for forcing Di Resta off track, and then making the wrong 

tyre decision when he was battling Button for the lead in a 

terrific wheel-to-wheel tussle. 

fErrari (fernando alonso 3, felipe Massa 6) 

wet conditions are not ideal for Ferrari, but the Italians can 

still be happy with Alonso’s fourth successive podium after 

he started fifth on the grid. Massa struck the barriers when 

he lost control on lap eight and although he fought back, 

his fourth position from qualifying was again wasted. As a 

consolation, he set the fastest lap and was the last driver not 

to be lapped by Button. 

MErcEDEs (nico rosberg 9, Michael schumacher retired) 

A great start from both drivers was soon undermined by 

their lack of competitive pace this season and Schumacher’s 

race ended early with a gearbox problem. Rosberg, in his 

100th race, slipped back to ninth as the Germans desperately 

battle to take some positives from a second poor season and 

think about improvements for next year. 

rEnault (Vitaly petrov 12, nick Heidfeld retired) 

Heidfeld had to leap from his car after it caught fire just 

after leaving the pit lane. It was his second retirement 

in two back-to-back races. Russian Petrov had an 

unspectacular day and his position ended Renault’s run of 

scoring in every race so far this year. 

teAm-By-teAm AnALysIs 

2victories Jenson 

Button has notched up 

this season 

saubEr (Kamui Kobayashi 11, sergio perez 15) 

Perez lost 10 places at the start and was hit by a 

drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags 

while his Japanese team mate, stretching the tyres to 

the limit, lost four places before his final pit stop. He just 

missed out on the points, but remained only five behind 

seven-time champion Schumacher. 

forcE inDia (paul di resta 7, adrian sutil 14) 

the roles were reversed from Germany with Di Resta this 

time excelling despite being blocked by Hamilton when 

the McLaren suffered a spin. Sutil’s chances vanished when 

he locked up the rear of the car into the chicane on lap one 

and went off the track. 

toro rosso (sebastian buemi 8, Jaime alguersuari 10) 

A double points finish in the team’s 100th Grand Prix. 

Swiss Buemi produced a superb drive having started 23rd 

on the grid following a five-place penalty from Germany. 

His Spanish team-mate also managed to sneak into the 

points with a solid drive, but lost a place after a collision 

with Kobayashi. 

WilliaMs (rubens barrichello 13, pastor Maldonado 16) 

Only four points all season is a sorry return, but neither 

driver could make any real impression given the wet 

weather and making wrong tyre calls. Barrichello lost part 

of his front wing at the start. Maldonado had a drivethrough 

penalty for speeding in the pit lane. 

tEaM lotus (Heikki Kovalainen retired, Jarno trulli 

retired) 

Both drivers were forced to retire with water leaks when 

the Finn had been poised for a decent finish, but still not 

good enough for the outfit’s first points. 

VirGin (timo Glock 17, Jerome D’ambrosio 19) 

D’Ambrosio had a scare in the wet when he skidded 

almost sideways in the pits and his mechanics had to dive 

for cover. 

Hispania (Daniel ricciardo 18, Vitantonio liuzzi 20) 

the struggling team was just happy both its drivers 

finished. the Australian had his best result so far while the 

Italian’s progress was hampered by a front wing change.

11 Grand 

ton! 

ResULts 

Jenson Button, 

rED Bull’s sebastian Vettel was 

overtaken by both McLarens in 

the Hungarian Grand Prix. But 

he ended up with a bigger lead in a 

championship already beyond the 

reach of most of his rivals. 

the German world champion, who 

won six of the first eight races, has 

now been beaten in the last three 

Grands Prix and struggled in damp 

conditions on intermediate tyres 

before benefiting from two Lewis 

Hamilton errors to finish second. 

“I started from pole and had 

the feeling we could win the race. 

Second is an important step, but 

the win was within the reach,” said 

Vettel. 

Vettel’s driving skills have come 

under greater scrutiny than ever 

in recent races, but he is 85 points 

ahead of team-mate Mark webber, 

his biggest lead of the campaign so 

far. 

Prix victories the 

McLaren driver has scored 

so far in his career 

speeds past rivals in 

Hungary. 

Vettel way ahead 

with eight races to come after 

a month’s break, it would be 

astonishing if the 24-year-old did 

not clinch his second successive title 

well before the end of the season. 

All the drivers below 

seventh-placed compatriot nico 

Rosberg, who has 48 points to 

Vettel’s 234, in the standings are 

now mathematically out of title 

contention. 

Vettel is being as hard on his team 

as on himself to try to find some 

answers and make sure the end 

of the season does not turn into a 

nervous nail biter. 

“At the start of the race I was 

struggling a little bit on the 

intermediates. Ferrari and McLaren 

in the last two races have made a 

step forward, we need to see why. 

there’re things we can improve 

without looking at the others,” 

he said. 

forMula onE 

1. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 1:46:42.337 

2. Sebastian Vettel (GER) RedBull at 3.588 

3. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 19.819 

4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 48.338 

5. Mark webber (AUS) RedBull 49.742 

6. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1:23.176 

7. Paul di Resta (GBR) Force India 1 lap 

8. Sebastien Buemi (SUI) toro Rosso 1 lap 

9. nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1 lap 

10. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) toro Rosso 1 lap 

Wrc 

1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) citroen 2:39:37 

2. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIn) Ford at 8.1 

3. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) citroen 12.8 

4. Mikko Hirvonen (FIn) Ford 1:09.1 

5. Petter Solberg (nOR) citroen 1:16.2 

stAnDIngs 

forMula onE 

DriVErs constructors 

1. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 234 1. RedBull 383 

2. Mark webber (AUS) 149 2. McLaren 280 

3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 146 3. Ferrari 215 

4. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 145 4. Mercedes 80 

5. Jenson Button (GBR) 134 5. Renault 66 

Wrc 

DriVErs constructors 

1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) 171 1. citroen 290 

2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIn) 144 2. Ford Abu Dhabi 225 

3. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) 140 3. M-Sport Stobart Ford 101 

4. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIn) 96 4. Petter Solberg wRt 71 

5. Petter Solberg (nOR) 83 5. Ice 1 Racing 38 

Sebastien Loeb, 

right, and his 

co-driver Daniel 

Elena celebrate on 

the podium. 



29 

WorlD rallY c’sHip 

loeb surges ahead 

after finland win 

cItROEn’S world champion Sebastien Loeb 

won Rally Finland for the second time in his 

career to forge further ahead in the overall 

standings. 

the French seven-time world champion, who 

also won in Finland in 2008, was the first 

non-nordic driver to win the rally twice. 

Loeb beat Ford’s Finnish driver Jari-Matti 

Latvala by 8.1sec with citroen’s other French 

driver, Sebastien Ogier, in third place ahead of 

Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen. 

Loeb (171) is now 27 points clear of Hirvonen 

(144) after eight rounds with five remaining. 

“I’m really happy with my performance 

because I’ve cleaned the road for three days, but 

won. It was the perfect rally,” said Loeb after his 

66th win of his world championship career. 

Hirvonen, who lost more than two minutes 

on the first day when he hit a tree, won eight 

of the day’s 11 stages and took an additional 

three points by taking the final Lajaavuori ‘Power 

Stage’. 

Loeb had started the final day as the first 

driver on the road, usually a handicap. 

However, damp conditions allowed him to 

keep his advantage while Latvala moved up to 

second place ahead of Ogier after the Frenchman 

suffered a puncture. 

“I just woke up a little too late for the rally,” 

said Latvala, last year’s winner. 

“the humidity was so high that all the roads 

were damp. the moisture bound together the 

loose gravel and the cars ahead didn’t have to 

sweep the dirt off the surface as we expected. 

“I was closing on the lead all the time but I ran 

out of kilometres. Just two more stages would 

have been enough,” added the Finn. 

Both Minis retired with overheating problems 

caused by sand and dust in the cars’ radiators.

30 



MixED zonE | inTERnATiOnAl 

Golf 

Dyson wins 

irish open 

bRItOn Simon Dyson took advantage of a 

final-hole error by Australia’s Richard Green 

to clinch the Irish Open title at the Killarney 

Golf and Fishing club in county Kerry last Sunday. 

Dyson had posted a 15-under-par 269 total 

with a closing four-under 67, but Green’s threeputt 

on the 18th green denied the left-hander a 

play-off, leaving him a stroke light after a 68. 

Green had looked to have the advantage when 

he led Dyson by a stroke with two holes to go after 

birdieing the long 16th. 

A stubborn Dyson refused to give in, though, 

and his birdie on 17 threw the two together again. 

when Green then took three to get down from 

50ft on the closing hole, the $350,000 victory 

and a start in the wGc Bridgestone Invitational 

beginning on thursday was the Englishman’s. 

Meanwhile, Rookie Scott Stallings held his 

nerve in dramatic fashion to win his maiden PGA 

tour title in a play-off with fellow Americans Bob 

Estes and Bill Haas at the Greenbrier classic in 

west Virginia, the US. 

the 26-year-old, who sank a five-foot birdie 

putt at the final hole in regulation to join the 

play-off, birdied the same hole moments later to 

triumph for the first time on the US circuit. 

the trio had finished the 72 regulation holes 

on 10-under-par 270 at the Greenbrier resort in 

white Sulphur Springs, Estes closing with a sixunder 

64, Haas with a 67 and Stallings with a 69. 

Elsewhere, taiwan’s Yani tseng staged a 

successful defence of the women’s british open 

title at carnoustie, Scotland, with a final-round 69 

and a 16 under par 272 total. 

simon Dyson 

china’s Sun 

Yang competes in 

the men’s 1,500M 

freestyle final. 

sWiMMinG 

sun rises in 

shanghai 

cHInESE teenager Sun Yang 

toppled swimming’s oldest 

world record last Sunday 

when he shattered Aussie Grant 

Hackett’s 10-year mark in the 

men’s 1500M, ensuring a rousing 

finish to the Shanghai world 

championships. 

Sun, roared on by a capacity 

crowd, put on a devastating burst 

over the last 100M as he made up 

a deficit of more than two seconds 

to touch in 14min, 34.14sec, 

0.42sec inside Hackett’s mark set at 

the 2001 worlds. 

America’s Ryan Lochte claimed 

a superb fifth gold medal, and 

stuttering Olympic great Michael 

Phelps enjoyed a successful final 

night when he helped the US 

defend their 4x100M medley title. 

British backstroker Liam tancock 

secured a second pool gold for next 

year’s Olympic hosts and American 

Jessica Hardy, who was serving 

a drugs ban at the last world 

championships, won the 50M 

breaststroke. 

But it was the 19-year-old Sun 

who made the eighth and final 

evening his own with his historic 

1500M triumph, to add to his 

800M title and 400M silver won 

earlier in Shanghai. 

the Zhenjiang native led from 

start to finish to break the only 

men’s mark to survive the 

infamous super-suits era, when 

muscle-compressing swimwear 

tHe cHInese teenAgeR 

sHAtteReD AUssIe 

gRAnt HAckett’s 

10-yeAR mARk In tHe 

men’s 1500m. 

helped set more than 200 global 

bests in just two years. 

Lochte, the only other recordsetter 

in Shanghai, underlined his 

current supremacy with his fifth 

gold medal in the 400M individual 

medley, matching Phelps’s haul 

from 2009. 

Phelps was instrumental in the 

US clinching the 4x100M medley, 

as he took them from fourth to 

second in the butterfly leg before 

nathan Adrian finished off the win. 

Lochte has long played second 

fiddle to Phelps, but he has called 

the tune in Shanghai, beating 

his contemporary in the 200M 

freestyle and 200M individual 

medley, which he won in worldrecord 

time. 

the 26-year-old also won the 

200M backstroke and gave the US 

a record fourth straight 4x200M 

medley world title with a superfast 

final leg, after a slow lead-off 

from Phelps. 

Sun led a youthful chinese team, 

which secured second place on the 

medals table with five golds behind 

the US on 16, giving them high 

hopes for the London Olympics. 

meDALs tALLy 

top 10 countries 

USA 16 5 8 

china 5 2 7 

Brazil 3 0 0 

Australia 2 8 3 

France 2 3 5 

Britain 2 3 0 

Italy 2 3 0 

Denmark 2 1 0 

the netherlands 2 1 3 

Russia 1 3 0

2 world 

olYMpic GaMEs 

DUBAI will not enter a bid for 

the 2020 Olympic Games, 

instead opting to enter the 

race to host the event four years 

later, a statement released by the 

emirate’s media office said last 

week. 

the national Olympic committee 

of the UAE had been eyeing a ’20 

bid, but decided a later one may be 

better timed, although it estimated 

70 per cent of infrastructure to host 

the event was in already place or in 

the planning stages. 

“we fully intend to place a bid 

once I’m totally satisfied that we’re 

prepared to host the greatest sports 

event in history in a way that would 

add value to the Olympic Movement 

itself,” Dubai crown Prince Shaikh 

Hamdan bin Mohammed Al 

Maktoum, a chairman of one of the 

Olympic planning committees, 

was quoted as saying in the 

5 

records were set at the 

Shanghai world championships 

Dubai opts out of 2020 bid 

tEnnis 

Williams back 

to her best 

aMERIcAn serena Williams sounded an 

ominous warning to her rivals that she will 

be a genuine contender at the US Open 

after winning the Stanford classic in california, 

last Sunday, in her third tournament back from 

injury. 

williams overpowered third seed Marion Bartoli 

of France 7-5, 6-1 in the final and her opponent, 

who won when they last met in the fourth round at 

wimbledon this year, applauded her performance. 

“She has really improved her level from 

wimbledon,” said Bartoli. 

“I would pick Serena (as the US Open favourite),” 

added Bartoli. 

In winning five matches on her way to the title, 

williams experienced only one hiccup when she 

dropped a set to Russian Maria Kirilenko in the 

second round. 

williams crushed Australian Anastasia Rodionova 

6-0, 6-0 in the first round, eased past fifth-ranked 

Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 in the last eight and destroyed 

wimbledon semifinalist Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-2 in 

the last four. 

the US Open, where williams has won the 

singles title three times, takes place from August 29 

to September 11. 

Meanwhile, Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis survived a 

few anxious moments in the final set, but held his 

nerve to upset top seed Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 

and win the los angeles international in the US. 

tHe nAtIonAL oLymPIc 

commIttee of tHe UAe 

Is now eyeIng tHe 

2024 gAmes. 

government statement. 

Dubai has aimed to draw various 

major sports events to its coastal 

city. It has hosted several world 

championships in sports such as 

golf, swimming and tennis in recent 

years. 

Meanwhile, South Africa is 

considering a bid for the ’20 

Olympics and will soon discuss the 

matter in the cabinet, Sports 

and Recreation Minister Fikile 

Mbalula said. 

South Africa had been seen as a 

leading candidate after its successful 

hosting of the’10 FIFA world cup, 

but the government said in May it 

was not considering a bid because it 

would divert too much money from 

state finances. 

“From the ministry of sports, 

we’re quite interested. So we’ll go 

back to cabinet in a week’s time 

and re-present our case to fit in the 

information that wasn’t there,” said 

Mbalula. 

“In this instance, Durban has put 

an important bid to us, which is 

convincing,” he said. 

International Olympic committee 

President Jacques Rogge prodded 

South Africa to bid. 

“South Africa proved during the 

world cup that they’re ready for 

a major event. As a nation they’re 

ready to host the Games,” he said. 

Indian captain 

Mahendra Singh 

Dhoni is trapped in 

front by England’s 

tim Bresnan. 



gold medals were won by American 

Ryan Lochte at the event 

cricKEt 

England thump 

india, go two up 

pAcER tim Bresnan bowled England to a 

crushing 319-run victory over India in the 

second test last Monday with a career best 

of five for 48 as the world no.1 side capitulated for 

158 with a day to spare. 

Bresnan followed up his 90 with the bat earlier in 

the day with a match-winning effort with the ball 

on the fourth evening to put England 2-0 up in the 

four-match series. 

Sachin tendulkar, seeking his 100th international 

century, top scored with 56, but failed to go on to 

the much-anticipated milestone. Harbhajan Singh 

entertained briefly with 46 from 44 balls after just 

one of the top seven batsmen reached double 

figures. 

England, bidding for their sixth straight series 

victory, need to win by two clear tests to topple 

India at the top of the world rankings. 

India lost the key wicket of Rahul Dravid (six) 

before lunch and another experienced batsman 

in V V S Laxman (four) followed him 12 balls after 

the interval. Rookie opener Abhinav Mukund 

(three), Suresh Raina (one), Yuvraj Singh (eight) 

and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (nought) also 

fell cheaply. 

Dravid, who scored 117 in the first innings 

following an unbeaten century at Lord’s, edged a 

good ball from Stuart Broad to keeper Matt Prior. 

Laxman was bowled by a James Anderson delivery 

that swung in and then left him to take his off 

stump. 

Mukund survived a “king pair” when Bresnan 

dropped him at second slip off Anderson’s first ball 

of the innings. But having endured 41 balls he 

fended a Bresnan bouncer to Andrew Strauss at 

first slip. 

Raina was peppered with a barrage of shortpitched 

bowling as England clearly felt he was 

vulnerable and the left-hander top-edged a hook 

off Bresnan to substitute Scott Elstone at fine leg.

32 



pEoplE 

Goalkeeper Manuel neuer was 

last Sunday named German 

Footballer of the Year in a poll by 

Kicker sports magazine. neuer, 

who left Schalke 04 for Bayern 

Munich after the past season, 

garnered 210 votes from the 

German sports 

media to win the 

award. 

EnGLAnD’S Stuart Broad 

produced a stellar 

performance both with the 

bat and ball in the trent Bridge 

cricket test against India last week 

to reiterate his credentials as a 

genuine all-rounder. 

Playing on his home ground, 

Broad, first came to his team’s 

rescue with the bat, hitting a 

blistering 64 off 66 on the opening 

day of the test. the 25-year-old 

then returned to torment the 

opposition with the ball on the 

second day, producing a 

career-best spell of 6-46 including 

a hat-trick. 

“It was a pretty special occasion. 

the atmosphere was amazing. 

we dragged ourselves back into 

this game,” said Broad, who 

became the 12th Englishman to 

take a hat-trick in tests and the 

first since Ryan Sidebottom in 

Hamilton, new Zealand, in March, 

2008. In the process, Broad also 

became the first player from any 

nation to capture a test hat-trick 

against India. 

India were sitting pretty at 267 

Senegal have suspended 

controversial Blackburn 

Rovers striker El Hadji 

Diouf for five years from all 

football-related activities 

in his home country. “I can 

confirm Diouf has been 

suspended for five years 

during which he won’t take 

part in games organised by 

the federation,” Secretary 

General Victor cisse said. 

for four before Broad brought 

England back to the game with his 

mesmerising spell which included 

five wickets in 16 balls. 

Broad’s spell began with the 

removal of Yuvraj Singh, caught 

behind by Matt Prior. In his next 

over, the 88th of the innings, 

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh 

Dhoni was taken at second slip by 

Jimmy Anderson to become the 

first victim of the hat-trick. 

Harbhajan Singh was the 

second, adjudged lbw even 

though it was obvious from the 

replays that he had edged the 

ball on to his pad. But there was 

no doubt about the hat-trick ball 

as Praveen Kumar was beaten all 

ends up by a fast, straight delivery, 

which shattered his stumps. 

“the ball was moving a little bit 

and I wanted to make sure I hit 

the stumps. So I just came wide of 

the crease and tried to angle it in 

as close to the stumps as I possibly 

could, and fortunately it just 

nipped back and caught the top 

of off stump,” said Broad who was 

adjudged man of the match. 

Kazakhstan’s beibut 

shumenov made his 

third successful world 

Boxing Association 

light-heavyweight title 

defence by stopping 

American Danny 

Santiago 44sec into the 

ninth round. Shumenov 

improved to 12-1. 

Barcelona footballer ibrahim 

afellay has torn a muscle 

in his left thigh and will 

be out of action for up to 

five weeks, the European 

champions said. the Dutch 

midfielder picked up the 

injury in Barca’s 1-2 friendly 

loss to Manchester United 

in washington, but will stay 

with the team during their 

pre-season tour of the US. 

star of the Week StUARt BRoAD 

St Louis slugger 

albert pujols has 

notched the 2,000th 

hit of his career, 

becoming the 263rd 

Major League Baseball player 

to reach the milestone. the hit 

was a double down the thirdbase 

line in the eighth inning 

of the cardinals’ 9-2 victory 

over the chicago cubs. 

Liverpool captain steven 

Gerrard is in hospital and 

will miss the start of 

the new season after 

suffering an infection in 

a long-standing groin 

problem. the England 

midfielder missed the 

club’s pre-season tour 

of Asia recently and is 

expected to be available 

for selection in September.

Former Real Madrid and netherlands 

coach leo beenhakker was appointed 

sporting director of Hungarian 

First Division club Ujpest. the 

68-year-old has also coached the 

national teams of Poland, trinidad 

& tobago and Saudi Arabia, plus 

European clubs including Ajax 

Amsterdam and Feyenoord and 

Mexican sides Guadalajara and 

America. 

America’s robert Kendrick 

has been banned from 

tennis for 12 months 

after testing positive for a 

banned substance at the 

French Open earlier this 

year. the 31-year-old was 

tested in Paris in May and 

his sample revealed traces 

of the banned stimulant 

methylhexaneamine. 

movers&shakers 

Domenech agrees 

to €1m settlement 

fORMER coach raymond 

Domenech, sacked for 

misconduct after the 

2010 world cup, has 

agreed for a €1m 

settlement from 

the French Football 

Federation (FFF). 

the agreement 

with FFF President 

noel Le Graet still 

needs to be ratified by its 

executive committee at a meeting 

in Paris on thursday, but it appears 

likely they will rubber-stamp it in 

aRGEntInA appointed 

alejandro sabella as national 

team coach to replace sacked 

Sergio Batista, the federation’s 

General Secretary Jose Luis Meiszner 

announced. 

Argentina’s copa America 

quarterfinal exit to Uruguay 

recently cost Batista his job 

even though he had 

only replaced Diego 

Maradona just eight 

months earlier. 

Batista was vilified 

in the Press for not 

seeming to know his 

best team — he chopped 

order to stop the case going to an 

employment tribunal. 

Domenech had claimed 

€2.9m in compensation 

while the FFF has been 

seeking to reclaim 

world cup bonuses 

that Domenech 

refuses to return. 

Domenech led 

France to a runnersup 

finish at the ’06 world 

cup in Germany, but the rest of 

his tenure, which began in ’04, 

became synonymous with failure. 

sabella succeeds batista 

and changed after a poor start before 

carlos tevez, whom he dropped after 

two games, returned to miss the 

decisive spot-kick against Uruguay. 

As a player, Sabella had brief stints 

with Sheffield United and Leeds. the 

56-year-old who began his playing 

career with River Plate in his home 

city of Buenos Aires, won 

the copa Libertadores 

with Estudiantes two 

years ago. 

that success was 

instrumental in 

pushing him to the 

front of the queue to 

replace Batista. 

Belgian philippe Gilbert won 

the San Sebastian classic cycling 

event with a devastating late lone 

attack. As the sunshine glittered 

off the red, black and gold of his 

national champion’s jersey, the 

Omega Pharma-Lotto rider even 

had time to salute the crowds 

before he claimed his 14th win of 

the season. 

Paraguay’s football coach 

Gerardo Martino, who 

guided his team to the last 

eight at the 2010 world cup 

and the ’11 copa America 

final, resigned last week. He 

will be replaced by former 

Paraguay defender Francisco 

Arce who won more than 60 

caps between 1995 and 2004. 

Klinsmann named 

us coach 

fORMER Germany world cup winner and 

manager Juergen Klinsmann was named 

United States coach last week. 

Klinsmann, who took over one day after Bob 

Bradley was sacked, became the first foreignborn 

coach to lead the US since Serbia’s Bora 

Milutinovic, who was in charge from 1991 to ’95. 

“we’re excited to have Juergen as the head 

coach. Juergen has had success in different areas 

of the game and we look forward to the leadership 

he’ll provide on and off the field,” said US Soccer 

President Sunil Gulati. 

Klinsmann brings with him a rich resume as 

both a player and manager. 

He helped Germany to world cup victory as 

a player in ’90 and as coach guided them to 

the semifinal in 2006 when they hosted the 

tournament. Klinsmann was one of the game’s top 

strikers and enjoyed a 17-year career that included 

stints in four major European Leagues and top 

clubs, including Inter Milan, tottenham Hotspur 

and Bayern Munich. 



sport tHis 

WEEK 

QAtAR 

Wednesday, august 3 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Lakhwiya vs Al Markhiya, 

9.30pm at Al Khor Stadium; Qatar Sc vs Al 

Mesaimeer, 9.30pm at Al Ahli Stadium. 

thursday, august 4 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Al Gharafa vs Army, 9.30pm 

at Qatar Sports club; Al Sadd vs Al Shahaniya, 

9.30pm at Al Sailiya Stadium. 

friday, august 5 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Al Rayyan vs Al Kharaitiyat, 

9.30pm at Al Ahli Stadium; Umm Salal vs Al 

Shamal, 9.30pm at Al Khor Stadium. 

VOLLEYBALL communities League, 9pm onwards at Qatar 

Volleyball Association Indoor Hall. 

saturday, august 6 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Al Arabi vs Al Ahli, 9.30pm 

at Al wakra Stadium; Al wakra vs Muaither Sc, 

9.30pm at Al Ahli Stadium. 

sunday, august 7 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Al Khor vs Lakhwiya, 

9.30pm at Qatar Sports club; Al Sailiya vs Al 

Gharafa, 9.30pm at Al Ahli Stadium. 

Monday, august 8 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Al Markhiya vs Qatar Sc, 

9.30pm at Al Khor Stadium; Army vs Al Sadd, 

9.30pm at Al wakra Stadium. 

tuesday, august 9 

FOOtBALL Sheikh Jassim cup, Umm Salal vs Al Rayyan, 

9.30pm at Al Ahli Stadium; Al Kharaitiyat vs Al 

Shamal, 9.30pm at Al Khor Stadium. 

InteRnAtIonAL 

Wednesday, august 3 

FOOtBALL world Under-20 championships, colombia 

(until August 20). 

SwIMMInG US championships at Palo Alto (until Saturday). 

tEnnIS AtP at washington and Kitzbuhel; wtA at San 

Diego (until Sunday). 

thursday, august 4 

cRIcKEt Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, only test, day one, 

at Harare. 

FOOtBALL Europa League third qualifying round, second 

leg; world U-20 championships, colombia. 

GOLF USPGA and EPGA at wGc-Bridgestone 

Invitational, Akron Ohio and USPGA also at 

Reno-tahoe Open; US LPGA at Guangzhou (all 

until Sunday). 

SwIMMInG US championships, at Palo Alto. 

tEnnIS AtP at washington and Kitzbuhel; wtA at San 

Diego. 

friday, august 5 

AtHLEtIcS Diamond League, at London. 

cRIcKEt Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, only test, day two, 

at Harare. 

FOOtBALL Start of the new German and Dutch seasons; 

world U-20 championships, colombia. 


saturday, august 6 

AtHLEtIcS Diamond League, at London. 

cRIcKEt Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, only test, day three, 

at Harare; Sri Lanka vs Australia, first t20I, at 

Pallekele. 

FOOtBALL Start of English championship season and 

French league season; Italian Super cup – Inter 

Milan vs Ac Milan, in Beijing; world U-20 

championships, colombia (until Aug 20) 

RUGBY world cup warm-ups, England vs wales, 

Scotland vs Ireland; tri-nations – new Zealand 

vs Australia, Auckland. 


sunday, august 7 

cRIcKEt Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, only test, day four, at 

Harare; canada vs Afghanistan, ODI, at toronto. 

FOOtBALL FA community Shield, Manchester United vs 

Manchester city, at wembley. 

MOtORSPORt Indy cars, at Lexington, Ohio. 

Monday, august 8 

BADMIntOn world championships, London (until August 

14). 

cRIcKEt Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, only test, day five, 

at Harare; Sri Lanka vs Australia, second t20I, 

at Pallekele. 

GEnERAL world University Games, in Shenzhen (until 

August 23). 

SQUASH Australian Open (until August 14). 

tEnnIS AtP at Montreal; wtA at toronto. 

tuesday, august 9 

cRIcKEt canada vs Afghanistan, ODI, at toronto. 

FOOtBALL world U-20 championships, colombia. 

SQUASH Australian Open.

34 



Mosaic 

WItH most of United 

States in the midst of 

a hot summer, new 

research shows football leads 

to more non-fatal, heat-related 

emergency room visits than any 

other activity. 

A study by the centers for Disease 

control and Prevention (cDc) of 66 

hospitals from 2001-09 found that 

nearly one-fourth of all emergency 

rooms visits for a heat illness were 

attributed to football. 

the second most common activity 

likely to lead to a hospital visit was 

exercise, including walking, jogging 

fitness 

Put your best 

foot forward! 

cALL them sneakers, trainers, 

athletic shoes or runners, 

sizing up the embarrassment 

of rubber-soled riches on offer 

these days can be a daunting task. 

Experts say the right footwear 

can make or break your workout, 

but money will not necessarily 

buy insole happiness, nor will 

following the foot traffic to the 

latest, trendiest model. 

“Your shoes are, from safety 

and comfort standpoint, the 

and calisthenics, which accounted 

for 20.4 per cent of the estimated 

5,946 annual visits. 

For males between the ages of 

15 and 19, football was linked to 57 

per cent of the non-fatal emergency 

room visits for heat illnesses, 

according to the study. 

More than 90 per cent of patients 

were treated at emergency rooms 

and released. the cDc said the study 

only covered non-fatal emergency 

room treatment and is “an 

underestimate of all heat illnesses.” 

In 2010, two high school 

football players died of heat 

most important thing about your 

fitness,” said Kevin Burns of the 

American council on Exercise. 

“they’re the most important 

success tool one can invest in.” 

But not all shoes fit all feet, 

or feats, according to Burns, a 

Minnesota-based group fitness 

instructor for more than 20 years. 

“newer shoes get most of 

marketing, but may not be 

appropriate for you,” he said. “If 

yoUR sHoes ARe tHe most ImPoRtAnt 

tHIng ABoUt yoUR fItness. 

stroke, according to a study for 

the American Football coaches 

Association. 

“All heat illnesses are preventable,” 

said the cDc, which recommended 

that coaches schedule frequent rest 

breaks and encourage athletes to 

drink lots of fluids. 

Summer sports practices should 

start slow and gradually increase in 

frequency and intensity, allowing 

athletes to acclimatise to the heat, 

the study said. 

the cDc also stresses the 

importance of making sure athletes 

drink water during workouts. 

you’ve got a high arch, you’ll tend 

to require more shock absorption. 

I’ve weak ankles, so when I teach, 

my shoes are high tops.” 

to find a shoe that suits your 

activities, fitness level and 

buying options, Burns said, 

try asking your personal 

trainer or exercise instructor 

for advice. 

cross trainers, the jack-of-alltrades 

of fitness footwear, are good 

general purpose shoes for those 

who vary their workouts, Burns 

said. But if you regularly engage in 

health 

Managing heat illnesses the better way 

In its guidelines to coaches and 

players, the organisation notes that 

athletes generally do not voluntarily 

drink enough water to prevent 

dehydration during physical 

activity. It recommends 

drinking water before, 

during and after practices, 

and games. 

“Drink early,” the 

cDc said. 

“By the 

time you’re 

thirsty, you’re 

already 

dehydrated.” 

a specific activity, such as running, 

tennis, aerobics or basketball, 

choose a shoe designed specifically 

for that sport. 

Athletic shoes have come a 

long way since the late 18th 

century, when early rubber-soled 

shoes, called plimsolls, were 

so crude they had no right or 

left foot. 

Burns said while many runners 

have found success with barefoot 

running shoes, if someone spends 

time on the treadmill, a cross 

trainer might be a better bet. 

Before you buy anything, he 

said, manipulate the shoe. Grab it 

at the heel and toe, bend it back 

and forth. 

“It should bend near the ball of 

the foot because that’s the natural 

hinge point,” he said, adding the 

shoe should then be twisted. “the 

less twist the more lateral support 

it’ll provide.”

ecome veg for 

better bowel 

movements 

a 

VEGEtARIAn diet seems to stave off 

common bowel disorder, characterised 

by cramps, gas, feeling of fullness 

and bouts of constipation or diarrhoea, say 

researchers. 

the disorder, known as diverticular disease, 

can attack suddenly. It causes intestinal 

bleeding, serious infections, digestive system 

blockage and can rupture the colon, which 

empties stools into the abdomen. 

Previous research had blamed low fibre diet 

for diverticular disease, but there was little 

evidence to substantiate this, medical research 

site www.bmj.com reports. 

Francesca crowe and team from the cancer 

Epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford 

examined the link between a vegetarian diet 

and fibre intake with the risk of diverticular 

disease, according to an Oxford statement. 

their findings are based on 47,033 British 

adults who were taking part in the European 

Prospective Investigation into cancer and 

nutrition (EPIc)-Oxford study. Of those 

recruited, 15,459 reported consuming a 

vegetarian diet. 

After an average follow-up time of 11.6 

years, there were 812 cases of diverticular 

disease (806 admissions to hospital and 

six deaths). 

After adjusting the factors such as 

smoking, drinking and body mass index, 

vegetarians had a lower risk of diverticular 

disease compared to meat eaters. 

Furthermore, participants with a 

relatively high intake of dietary 

fibre (around 25g a day) 

had a lower risk of being 

admitted to hospital 

with or dying from 

diverticular disease, 

compared with 

those who 

consumed 

less than 14g 

of fibre a day. 



sPortBiZ 

BBC, BSkyB to share f1 live rights 

tHE BBC and British paytV 

giant BSkyB said last 

week they would share live 

television rights for Formula One 

from 2012 to ’18, in a move that 

means Britons will only see half of 

each season’s races for free. 

the deal was unveiled as BSkyB 

announced big annual profits 

despite the phone-hacking scandal 

embroiling chairman James 

Murdoch, and amid pressure on 

the publicly-funded BBC to make 

rEAL Madrid have agreed 

a five-year sponsorship 

agreement with Dubai-based 

airline Emirates, the world’s richest 

club said last week. 

no further details of the deal 

were released at a plush event 

in the Spanish team’s Bernabeu 

Stadium. 

“we’re especially pleased to 

announce this union between 

two global brands, who’re leaders 

savings as part of government 

austerity measures. 

BSkyB said its operating profits 

soared 23 per cent to £1.073bn in 

the 12 months to June. 

Under the terms of the 

we’Re ABsoLUteLy 

DeLIgHteD tHAt 

foRmULA one wILL 

RemAIn on tHe BBC. 

agreement, the BBC will broadcast 

half of all races and qualifying 

sessions live, including the British 

and Monaco Grands Prix, while Sky 

Sports, BSkyB’s sports platform, will 

show them all live. 

the BBC had 

bought exclusive 

rights to Formula 

in their fields,” Real president 

Florentino Perez said. “I believe 

we’re at the start of an intense 

relationship.” 

One in ’09 and, for years, it has 

shown them on its free-to-view 

terrestrial channels, but there had 

been speculation it would pull 

out of motorsport altogether for 

financial reasons. 

“we’re absolutely delighted that 

F1 will remain on the BBC,” said 

BBC Sport Director Barbara Slater. 

“with this new deal not only 

have we delivered significant 

savings, but we have also ensured 

that through our live and extended 

highlights coverage all the action 

continues to be available to licence 

fee payers.” 

Sky Sports Managing Director 

Barney Francis said, “this is 

fantastic news for F1 fans and 

Sky Sports will be the only place 

to follow every race live and 

in HD.” 

Emirates airline in real Madrid deal 

the Real Madrid first team 

attended the function, minus 

coach Jose Mourinho who was 

in nyon to appeal against a UEFA 

punishment, before they set out on 

a promotional tour to England and 

then china. 

Emirates is an official FIFA world 

cup sponsorship partner and 

has links with a number of other 

football teams including Arsenal 

and Ac Milan.

36 

AFP/Andrew Yates 

AFP/ Marty Melville 



closE-up 

Japan’s Ai 

Miyazato plays out 

of a bunker on the 

second hole during 

the first round 

of the women’s 

British Open golf 

at carnoustie, 

Scotland. Miyazato 

finished joint 76th 

while taiwan’s Yani 

tseng emerged as 

champion. 

new Zealand’s 

Andrew Hore, 

centre, is tackled 

by South Africa’s 

Alistair Hargreaves 

and Gerhard 

Mostert, left, during 

their tri-nations 

Rugby Union match 

in wellington. Hosts 

new Zealand won 

the lung opener 

40-7.

AFP/Jonathan nackstrand 

America’s David Oliver 

competes in the men’s 

110M hurdles at the IAAF 

Diamond League meet 

Stockholm, Sweden. 

Oliver (13.28sec) finished 

second in the race won 

by his compatriot Jason 

Richardson (13.17). 



Hosts nice’s Eric 

Mouloungui, top, is 

tackled by Udinese’s Danilo 

Larangeira during their 

friendly football match. 

nice won 1-0. 

America’s Ryan Lochte 

competes in the men’s 400M 

individual medley heats at the 

FInA world championships 

in Shanghai, china. Lochte 

(4:7.13sec) won the gold 

medal. 

AFP/Valery hache 

AFP / Peter Parks

38 

july 27 

WEDNESDAY, Wednesday, JULY August 27, 2011 3, 2011 


9 81 6 2 

8 4 2 6 3 

MIND MinD SQUARE squarE 

7 3 36 5 

42 8 9 1 5 7 8 

67 74 

5 3 1 2 2 8 96 

5 32 3 4 SUDOKU-274 

sudoku-275 

8 2 4 65 

6 

8 7 41 1 

Sudoku sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 

grid with several given numbers. 

medium 

The the object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the 

empty squares so that each row, each column and each 

3x3 box contains the same number only once. 

The Daily Daily Sudoku: SuDoku: Fri 15-Jul-2011 Wed 15-Jun-2005 

Solution-273 

solution-274 

5 1 4 9 1 3 8 7 9 6 2 5 6 8 7 4 32 

7 2 9 5 2 8 6 4 3 1 4 9 5 6 1 7 83 

8 7 6 4 3 6 7 8 5 2 1 3 2 1 9 45 

1 4 7 8 8 7 9 2 3 6 1 4 5 3 2 56 

3 9 2 9 5 5 6 4 8 8 7 7 4 6 3 1 

6 5 3 4 1 1 2 7 5 3 4 8 7 2 8 9 

2 5 1 5 9 4 3 6 7 9 8 3 2 8 6 74 

4 3 8 7 6 2 3 1 1 4 7 6 9 5 28 

9 8 3 6 7 4 2 5 8 9 5 2 1 3 4 1 67 

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42 8 9 1 5 7 8 

67 74 

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5 32 3 4 

8 2 4 65 

6 

8 7 41 1 

The Daily Daily Sudoku: SuDoku: Fri 15-Jul-2011 Wed 15-Jun-2005 

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5 1 4 9 1 3 8 7 9 6 2 5 6 8 7 4 32 

7 2 9 5 2 8 6 4 3 1 4 9 5 6 1 7 83 

8 7 6 4 3 6 7 8 5 2 1 3 2 1 9 45 

1 4 7 8 8 7 9 2 3 6 1 4 5 3 2 56 

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OUTRAGED 

Embattled ex-AFC chief Mohammed bin 

Hammam vows to fight FIFA tooth and 

nail against his life ban, writes Kumar Ravi. 

life ban on bin Hammam 

not Japanese surprising women 

show the way 

the life ban imposed on Mohammed bin Hammam 

by Japan’s the FIFA triumph Ethics at committee the FIFA Women’s for attempting World to Cup bribe 

delegates (Doha Stadium in the caribbean Plus, July 20) Football was truly Union inspiring. hasn’t 

come The Far as East a surprise Asian (Doha country Stadium is often Plus, hit July by natural 27). 

calamities Ever since and Bin it Hammam badly needed decided this that victory. he wasn’t Japan 

going were to worthy resign champions from his post as they as the got Asian the Football better of 

confederation favourites Germany chief and vowed the US to in prove their his path to title. 

innocence Japan’s in achievement the Ethics committee should be hearing, an eye-opener the 

writing to Qatar was too clear in promoting on the wall women’s for the Qatari. sports, the as was very 

fact rightly that pointed he failed out to in appear the editorial for the hearing ‘Long-term reveals 

that planning Bin Hammam and tons himself of toil count wasn’t a confident lot’. of 

getting a clean chit. It seems a successful Ahmed Hassan, career has Doha. 

come to a rather ignominious end. 

Ahmed Al Kuwari, Doha. 

SOP makes right choice 

quality magazine 

The Qatar Olympic Committee has rightly chosen 

Sport and Family as the theme for this year’s 

I’m Schools a regular Olympic reader Programme of Doha Stadium (SOP) (Doha Plus and Stadium I 

like Plus, the July articles 20). SOP and Director its visual Khaleel appeal. Al It’s Jabir a quality is 

magazine. spot-on when However, he says being parental a hockey support fan, I’m is crucial rather to 

disappointed developing quality with your sportspersons. coverage of the sport. Hope 

there’ll Moreover, be more actively hockey following stories in sports the coming at schools issues. 

will lead to a healthy, fit generation and Jjilbin, will make Doha. 

the students understand the value of discipline and 

hard work. add more cricket stories 

Nadeem Khan, Doha. 

I visited the revamped Doha Stadium Plus website 

and loved it. I hope the site will be a huge success 

Qatar has the credentials 

just like the magazine. However, as an ardent cricket 

fan, It was I was heartening disappointed to hear with that your Qatar coverage is all set of the to bid 

high-profile for the 2020 India-England Olympics (Doha test Stadium series. Hope Plus, this July will 20). 

be The looked country into. has the infrastructure and financial 

power to organise the quadrennial Shoji Bahuleyan, extravaganza. Doha. 

Qatar has proved its organisational skills many 

times in the past and has a very good chance of 

Golden chance missed 

emerging as the winner if it enters the bid race. 

Qatar Meanwhile, missed a golden the launch chance of the to make revamped it to DSP 

the website quarterfinal is a treat of for the the world readers. Junior I hope Handball the 

championship exclusive sports (Doha portal Stadium will be Plus, as vibrant July 27). as they the 

failed magazine. to get past Slovenia in a thriller (35-38). Losing 

such close games can affect the Faisal psyche Al of Kubaisi, the team Doha. 

and it’s a big worry for the team management. 

Jahangir Khan, Al Khor. 

Huge shock 

England lord over india 

M 

OHAMMED bin Hammam, Blatter considers himself a leader or 

until recently Asian football not, but the leader doesn’t revenge.” 

supremo and a FIFA insider, Bin Hammam strongly denied he had 

has every right to feel outraged. He given any bribe (in cash) to members 

is a FIFA outcast now, having been of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), 

‘found guilty of bribery’ by its Ethics expecting their votes in return. 

Committee and, subsequently, banned “Everything (I had done during my 

from football for life. 

campaign) had been in compliance with 

The Qatari is certainly down, but FIFA rules. I didn’t give any money for 

claims he is not out. He insisted he distribution. But I’ve met the expenses 

would appeal against the ban, first with incurred to organise that meeting,” 

FIFA’s own Appeals Committee, then he said of the special CFU meeting in 

the Court of Arbitration for Sport and, if Trinidad in May. 

needed, Swiss civil courts, under whose The Qatari insisted he would not 

jurisdiction the world governing body resign from either the AFC or FIFA until 

falls. 

his name was cleared. 

Visibly upset and angered, Bin 

“I’ve all the right to fight against this 

�� 

Hammam, in a television interview shameful accusation until I clear my 

last Monday, called his 

name. That means I won’t render my 

�� 

friend-turned-foe Sepp Blatter a resignation as the AFC president and FIFA 

‘dictator’ and said injustice had been ExCom member representing Asia as far 

meted out to him. He spat venom on as the legal proceedings are continuing,” 

�� 

Blatter and his henchmen in FIFA for he wrote, in a letter to all AFC member 

�� 

fabricating allegations. 

nations. 

�� 

�� 

�� 

He also felt the Ethics Committee However, there are already calls within 

�� 

�� 

acted in haste, without even letting the AFC to elect a new president, with 

�� 

him know the charges against him. He Japan taking the lead. 

�� 

demanded FIFA to place the so-called “Bin Hammam has been banned for 

�� 

�� 

evidence that led to his ban in the life, so there’s a need for elections to be 

�� 

public domain. 

held,” said Japan Football Association 

�� 

“This is actually the act of the 

President Junji Ogura on Tuesday. 

�� 

dictators, and you’ve witnessed through If the AFC has to elect a new president, 

�� 

history the dictators, when they think it will have to first remove Bin Hammam. 

�� 

this or that person is a prominent one And this can be done only through a 

�� 

to replace him, the first thing they do no-confidence motion at the Congress. 

�� 

�� 

is execute him,” said Bin Hammam. The AFC ExCom, which meets on Friday, 

�� 

“And they try to fabricate any allegation will take a call on this. 

�� 

against him, to jail him or something 

�� 

like that. I don’t know whether Mr 

See also | P 8-9 

�� 

�� 

�� 

�� 

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The International Cricket Council’s fans’ Test team 

of all time (Doha Stadium Plus, July 20) was an 

England interesting outplayed one. No India doubt, in the it consists Lord’s cricket of true test 

(Doha legends. Stadium Plus, July 27). the much vaunted 

Indian However, batting Garry failed Sobers, twice in who the is match hailed while as the the 

English greatest seamers all-rounder exploited to have the played home conditions the game, to the 

hilt. failing to find a place in the eleven was a big shock. 

Winston Philip Davis, Jacob, Doha.

Mic win opener 

MIC beat Metabo by 53 runs in the inaugural match of the 17th Gulf 

Incon–Metabo cricket tournament at the New Ideal Indian School 

ground, Doha. 

MIC, electing to bat, made 174 for eight in their allotted 15 overs. 

Amit (34) and captain Ishtiaq (39 not out) shone with the bat while 

Qamar and Shahid took two wickets apiece. 

In reply, Metabo were bowled out for 121 off the last ball of the 

innings. Sekhar top-scored with 25. Imran claimed three wickets 

while team-mate Amit won the man-of-the-match award. 

Gulf Incon General Manager Ganesh Srinivasan (pictured batting 

at the opening ceremony), Sales & Marketing Senior Manager 

Rakesh Govindan, Customer Service Manager Anil Nair and Metabo 

Product Manager Sajjad Khan were among others who attended 

the inaugural ceremony. 

Meanwhile, Gulf Incon and Metabo are running a cricket quiz. 

those interested to take part may log on to the Qatar Veterans’ 

Cricket league website www.qvcleague.org. Winners will receive 

branded sunglasses. 

otHEr rEsults 

UP XI 78 in 11.2 overs (Arnold 2 wkts) lost to Master Blaster 79 for 

six in 8.1 overs (Poojari 20 n.o., obaid 2 wkts) 

Man of the Match: Sadam (UP XI) 

Hanan 180 (Ashiq 79 n.o., Jabir 39) bt AtS Qatar 101 

(Subramanya 29 n.o., Ashiq 2 wkts) 

Man of the Match: Ashiq 

Qatar tec 130 for seven in 15 overs (Amin 40, Indika 36, Ifzal 3 

wkts) lost to QAlCo 133 for four in 11.5 overs (Safraq 22 n.o, talha 

22 n.o., Rehan 20, Zia 2 wkts) 

Man of the Match: Ifzal 

naveed Munir sent us the photo and details. 



It is your turn now. tell us about sports events 

in your neighbourhood, send us photographs 

too and get them published in DSP. Our 

e-mail is dohastadiumplus@gmail.com

GOING GREEN… 

WE CARE FOR ENVIRONMENT 

Aspire Press adds new feather to its cap! 

The Aspire Printing, Publishing and Distribution company proudly announces that 

it has joined the prestigious ISO 14001 family. 

The ISO 14001:2004 specifies the actual requirements for an Environmental Management System. 

It applies to those environmental aspects which the organisation has control and over which 

it can be expected to have an influence. 

The scope of certification includes printing, digital printing, advertising and publication materials, 

and corporate forms. 

Aspire Press, which made its mark in Qatar in a short span of time, had received the ISO 9001:2008 Quality 

Management Systems Certificate of Accreditation last year. 

Quality on Deadline 

www.aspire-printingpress.com 

P.O. Box: 24598, Doha, Qatar Tel: +974 44999611/44999614 Fax: +974 44999610 e-mail: info@aspire-printingpress.com

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