e_Paper (23 December 2016)

Sport 27
DT
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016
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Bruised Amir set
for Boxing Day Test
Pakistan spearhead Mohammad
Amir is expected to play the Boxing
Day Test against Australia despite
stiffness and a bruised thigh, officials
said yesterday. The left-arm seamer,
who completed a five-year ban for
spot-fixing last year, left the field
during the first Brisbane Test on a
motorised stretcher after falling on
the Gabba turf. He appeared in agony
but returned a short time later and
continued to bowl. Amir was also
hit on the thigh by a Mitchell Starc
full toss.
–AFP
Kvitova out for six
months
Two-time Wimbledon tennis
champion Petra Kvitova, whose hand
was wounded in a knife attack, will
not play again for at least six months
and it is too early to say when she
can return to competition, her
publicist said on Wednesday. Kvitova
was injured on Tuesday when she
fought off an intruder in her home
in the Czech Republic, damaging
all the fingers on her playing hand.
Following a successful operation,
the world number 11 will begin her
rehabilitation in about six to eight
weeks and hopes to be able to grip
a racket again after three months,
publicist Katie Spellman said.
–REUTERS
Jose ‘too young’ to
be tempted
Wealthy Chinese clubs are unlikely
to lure Jose Mourinho away from
England as the Manchester United
manager says he is enjoying the
challenge of competing in the
Premier League. Chinese clubs have
been shelling out huge sums of
money on foreign players.
–REUTERS
DAY’S WATCH
FOOTBALL
NEO SPORTS
10:00PM
Supercoppa Italiana
Juventus v AC Milan
TEN 1 HD
A-League
Brisbane Roar FC v Western Sydney
Wanderers FC
CRICKET
STAR SPORTS 2
12:38PM
KFC T20 Big Bash League
Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes
3:43PM
KFC T20 Big Bash League
Perth Scorchers v Adelaide Strikers
Barcelona’s French defender Samuel Umtiti vies with Hercules’ goalkeeper Ivan Buigues during their Spanish Copa del Rey
(King’s Cup) round of 32 second leg match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Wednesday
AFP
Barcelona
pummel
Hercules
• AFP, Madrid
Turkey international Arda Turan
scored a hat-trick as holders Barcelona
thrashed third-division side
Hercules 7-0 in the second leg of
their Copa del Rey last-32 tie.
Turan struck his second hattrick
in as many weeks - following
a quickfire treble against Borussia
Moenchengladbach in the Champions
League a fortnight ago - as Barca
eased into the last 16 following
an 8-1 aggregate win.
Luis Enrique rested his formidable
front three of Lionel Messi, Luis
Suarez and Neymar but the floodgates
opened once Lucas Digne
broke the deadlock on 37 minutes
at the Camp Nou.
Ivan Rakitic added a penalty
with Rafinha and Paco Alcacer the
others to get on the scoresheet.
Luciano Vietto and Wissam Ben
Yedder also scored three goals each
as Sevilla pummelled fourth tier Formentera
9-1 in Andalusia, completing
a 14-2 victory over the two legs.•
Ex-SA batsman Petersen banned for two years
• AFP, Johannesburg
Alviro Petersen, a veteran of 36
Test matches, on Wednesday became
the highest-profile South
African cricketer to be banned for
corruption since former captain
Hansie Cronje in 2000.
Former opening batsman Petersen,
36, was banned for two
years after agreeing a plea bargain
with Cricket South Africa.
He is the sixth player to be
banned following a corruption
scandal which led to former international
player Gulam Bodi being
banned for 20 years for attempting
to fix matches in South Africa’s domestic
Twenty20 competition during
the 2014/15 season.
More players could yet be
charged. A statement by CSA announcing
Petersen’s ban said investigations
were continuing.
Petersen admitted several
breaches of CSA’s anti-corruption
code - four charges of failing to
disclose details of an approach to
engage in corrupt conduct; four
charges of failing to disclose full
details of evidence involving another
player, four charges of failing
to provide accurate and complete
information to investigators; and
one charge of concealing and destroying
information that was relevant
to the investigation.
After considering representations
made by Petersen, CSA withdrew
other charges, including
those relating to fixing or contriving
to fix any match and seeking,
accepting or offering to accept any
bribe or other reward to fix or influence
any match.
The two year-ban will be effective
from November 12 this year,
when Petersen was suspended
Pakistan’s Afridi says arrest of
Indian fan ‘shameful’
• AFP, Karachi
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi
said Wednesday the arrest of an
Indian student for wearing a shirt
bearing his name was “shameful”,
but would not deter the subcontinent’s
cricket-mad fans from supporting
rival players.
Ripon Chowdhury, 21, was arrested
on Sunday in Hailakandi, a
small town in the northeastern state
of Assam, while watching a local
cricket tournament after his shirt
angered a Hindu nationalist group.
“A complaint was lodged against
him by a local right-wing outfit. We
arrested him based on the complaint
but gave him bail immediately,”
a source told AFP on condition
of anonymity, refusing to confirm
media reports that Chowdhury had
been charged with obscenity in a
public place.
Afridi, whose mighty sixes and
all-or-nothing approach to batting
earned him a huge following across
the cricketing world, slammed the
move.
“It was shameful to arrest a fan
for wearing my shirt,” the 36-yearold
told AFP. “Such incidents don’t
suit civilised people.”
He said fans in both India and
Pakistan put the sport above the often-fraught
relations between their
countries and admired each others’
players.
“You cannot stop fans from
supporting a player by arresting
them,” he said. “Sports and politics
should be kept apart and such
incidents go against the principles
of sportsmanship.”
Afridi himself landed in hot water
with home fans for saying he got
“more love” in India than he did in
Pakistan, ahead of a crucial clash in
the World Twenty20 in March.
In January a Pakistani fan was
arrested for waving the flag of India
after his idol Virat Kohli struck
a match-winning knock against
Australia.•
because charges were laid against
him.
Petersen apologised, according
to a CSA statement which quoted
him as saying: “I would like to
apologise to my family, friends, the
public who are fans of the game of
cricket, my team-mates, Gauteng
cricket, Lions cricket and especially
to CSA for my actions.
“At the time that the meetings
with Bodi and the fixers happened,
I never had any intention of fixing
matches or taking money.
“I now deeply regret having participated
in these meetings. ”•
Argentina, France
take honours
• AFP, Zurich
Lionel Messi’s beaten Copa
America finalists Argentina end the
year top of FIFA’s world rankings
while France, defeated in the Euro
2016 final, were named “mover of
the year”.
Argentina finish 2016 out in
front of arch rivals Brazil to inherit
the “team of the year” title
from Belgium, displaced from the
FIFA summit by the Edgardo Bauza-coached
Albiceleste in April. •
FIFA TOP 10
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Germany
4. Chile
5. Belgium
6. Colombia
7. France
8. Portugal
9. Uruguay
10. Spain