Adidas says will come out on top in World Cup kit fight |
- Adidas says will come out on top in World Cup kit fight
- Singapore PM asks Japan to turn page on history
- Ex-Madoff accountant pleads guilty to aiding fraud
- Andy Murray editing ‘The Beano’ in Wimbledon special
- Emotional Zaccheroni bemoans Japan failings
- Haze expected to worsen amid dry weather
| Adidas says will come out on top in World Cup kit fight Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:55 PM PDT
Chief Executive Herbert Hainer said Adidas would reach its target of €2 billion (RM8.76 billion) of football sales in 2014, keeping it ahead of rival Nike's estimated US$2 billion in football turnover. "We as a brand have by far scored the most goals," Hainer told a news conference, highlighting the World Cup performance of players wearing Adidas boots like Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben of the Netherlands and Thomas Mueller of Germany. Adidas, the world's second-biggest sportswear company, has been losing market share in western Europe, its home territory, to Nike, which is also challenging its dominance in football. While Adidas has supplied the match ball for the World Cup since 1970 and has extended its sponsorship of the competition to 2030, Nike is for the first time kitting out more teams — 10 out of 32 finalists — including hosts and favourites Brazil. Nike, the world's biggest sportswear company, has only been a serious player in football since the World Cup was held in the United States in 1994. But it believes it has already overtaken Adidas in boots, including in its home market Germany. All-Adidas final? Hainer said he was disappointed that reigning champions Spain were already out but he was happy with the performance of the other teams Adidas sponsors, in particular Germany, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. He predicted a final between Argentina and Germany. "Germany was fantastic ... Argentina will get better and better. Messi is Messi. He is a genius," he said, referring to Argentina's Lionel Messi, the player leading the Adidas marketing campaign who has already scored twice for his country. Brazil's Nike-sponsored player Neymar is the tournament's top goal scorer so far, but the US company's biggest star, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, has yet to score. Three of the Nike teams have already gone out of the World Cup — England, Australia and Croatia — to two of the Adidas-sponsored sides — Spain and Bosnia. Hainer said about 80-90 per cent of the Adidas World Cup jerseys had already been sold when the competition started. "Whatever happens through the tournament, this is the icing on the cake," he said. "If Germany wins, we still can sell a few more but this will not materially change our results." He said it was too early to give a forecast for football sales in 2015, but predicted the World Cup would have a lasting impact, particularly on sales in Latin America: "It will be another great year for us in football." Hainer said Adidas expected to sell more than 8 million jerseys of the nine national sides it is sponsoring, including more than 2 million of the Germany shirt, with more than half a million of those sold outside Europe. It also expected to sell more than 14 million replicas of the "Brazuca" official World Cup match ball, a million more than the ball it produced for the 2010 competition. He said he was satisfied with the way football's governing body FIFA was dealing with allegations of bribery to secure the 2022 World Cup for Qatar, even though he reiterated he would have preferred the tournament to be staged in the United States. "We are absolutely happy with our relationship with FIFA," he said. "We are preparing ourselves for Qatar 2022." He said everybody was taking seriously concerns about poor working conditions for those building stadiums in the country. Adidas and other football sponsors have called on FIFA to deal thoroughly with the allegations. Hainer said the fact former US prosecutor Michael Garcia, who is leading FIFA's internal investigation into the award of the 2022 tournament, had banned German World Cup-winning player and coach Franz Beckenbauer from the sport for 90 days for failing to cooperate with the inquiry showed he was serious. "He wants to get to the core whether there is something or not," he said. Beckenbauer was on the FIFA executive committee which awarded the 2022 World Cup hosting rights to Qatar in 2010. — Reuters  |
| Singapore PM asks Japan to turn page on history Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:47 PM PDT
While China and South Korea have vociferously criticised conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on history, Lee said Singapore approached the issue as a partner of the Japan "which wishes it well." "Unless you can put the Second World War behind you and not keep on reopening issues of comfort women, of aggression, of whether or not bad things were done during the war, I think that this is going to be a continuing sore," Lee said at the Council on Foreign Relations on a visit to Washington. Abe has said he will not change a landmark 1993 apology to "comfort women" forced into sex during World War II. But his government last week released a review that said there was no evidence to corroborate the testimony of Korean women in Japanese military brothels. South Korea responded angrily and summoned Japan's ambassador. Around 200,000 women — mainly from Korea but also from China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere — were forced to work in brothels for Japanese troops as they stomped around Asia before and during World War II. While mainstream Japanese opinion holds that the wartime government was culpable, a small but vocal tranche of the political right — including Abe — continues to cast doubt, saying the brothels were staffed by professional prostitutes. Japan captured Singapore in February 1942 in the British military's biggest ever surrender. Singaporean historians say Japanese forces killed 50,000 ethnic Chinese in the island city before surrendering in 1945. Despite the dark past, Japan had developed warm relations with Singapore and other Southeast Asian nations. — AFP |
| Ex-Madoff accountant pleads guilty to aiding fraud Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:47 PM PDT
Paul Konigsberg, 78, a former senior tax partner at Konigsberg Wolf & Co, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of falsifying the records of a broker-dealer before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in New York. He also agreed to forfeit US$4.4 million (RM14.17 million). He became the 15th person to plead guilty or be convicted at trial in connection with the fraud. "I'm here today to take responsibility for what I did wrong," Konigsberg told Swain. He said he had worked with others at Madoff's firm to manipulate customer account statements, including by backdating transactions, and then filed false tax returns based on those amended statements. But he said he had not been aware that Madoff's entire investment advisory business was a massive fraud. "It's important to me to say that I was not aware of Madoff's horrific and evil Ponzi scheme that brought so much suffering to so many," he told Swain. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, who said in a court filing they would recommend a lighter sentence if he provided "substantial assistance in an investigation or prosecution." It's not clear whether prosecutors are continuing to probe additional crimes tied to Madoff's fraud; Konigsberg was the only criminal defendant whose charges remained pending. Prosecutors said Madoff steered some of his biggest clients to Konigsberg for accounting services. Konigsberg was handling more than 300 investment accounts at Madoff when the scheme collapsed in December 2008, according to prosecutors. He was also a minority shareholder in Madoff's London-based affiliate, the only person outside the Madoff family to own a stake in one of Bernard Madoff's businesses, prosecutors said. Madoff, 76, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2009 to running the decades-long fraud that was uncovered in December 2008 and estimated to have cost customers more than US$17 billion in principal. Konigsberg's plea came three months after a federal jury convicted five former Madoff aides on all counts following a months-long trial in New York. The aides, including portfolio managers Annette Bongiorno and Joann Crupi, computer programmemers Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, and back-office director Daniel Bonventre, have asked Swain to throw out their convictions. Several former Madoff employees who have pleaded guilty testified for the government at the trial, including Madoff's former right-hand man, Frank DiPascali. Other Madoff employees who pleaded guilty included his brother, Peter; another former accountant, David Friehling; and Enrica Cotellessa-Pitz, the controller for Madoff's firm. Konigsberg faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced, but a maximum sentence is unlikely given his plea agreement. — Reuters |
| Andy Murray editing ‘The Beano’ in Wimbledon special Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:38 PM PDT
Regular troublemaker Dennis the Menace steps in to help Andy up his game and use his emotions in a controlled manner rather than unleashing them indiscriminately. "Olympic Gold was my proudest moment; becoming the first male British Wimbledon winner for 77 years was amazing," writes Murray in his introductory editor's letter. "This might be my greatest title yet. Andy Murray — editor of the Beano!" Plastered all over the front of The Beano's June 28 issue, on sale from June 25 and celebrated with a supporter's poster, the World #5 defends his title at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, whose men's singles final is scheduled to take place on July 6. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| Emotional Zaccheroni bemoans Japan failings Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:32 PM PDT
Japan, needing an unlikely combination of results to qualify for the last 16 going into their final match against high-flying Colombia in Cuiaba, again came up short, losing 4-1. The Blue Samurai impressed in the first half, dominating possession and equalised through a Shinji Okazaki header on the stroke of half-time, but they were undone by a vibrant Colombia in the second period. It followed a 2-1 reverse to Ivory Coast in their opening Group C game and a dour 0-0 draw against Greece, who eventually took the second qualifying slot after a last gasp 2-1 win over the Ivorians, alongside Colombia. Zaccheroni said Japan had not managed to play the type of possession and pressing game they had produced so often over the past four years, though they had improved in their final group match. "In general terms, we all thought we would play a lot better," said the veteran Italian, who described the performances in Japan's first two matches as sub-par. "As we showed today, especially in the first half, even against strong opposition I think we were able to show that when we play with intensity as we normally do, then we are able to generate opportunities to win." Zaccheroni masterminded Japan's fourth Asian Cup victory in 2011 and took them to the top of their Asian qualifying group but he said his side had fallen short both in last year's Confederations Cup in Brazil — where they lost all three matches — and at the World Cup. "This team could have done a lot, lot more. I'm certain that here in Brazil I brought a great squad," he said. The Italian described coaching Japan as an "incredible experience" but, looking visibly moved, said he would not discuss his future before first talking with Japanese football chiefs.
"Now we will go back to Japan and after that I will speak with the management and we will let you know whether or not I will stay," he said. "I think it's appropriate for this question to be discussed within the team first." — AFP |
| Haze expected to worsen amid dry weather Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:31 PM PDT
Citing an official from the Meteorological Department, the Star reported that the number of hot spots in neighbouring Sumatra are expected to rise while the change in monsoon winds will worsen the situation in Peninsular Malaysia. "There is a possibility the haze will be worse than that early this year due to the movement of the wind from Indonesia," the paper quoted department spokesman Dr Hisham Mohd Anip as saying. He was further quoted as saying that there could be scattered showers in the middle of next week, bringing temporary relief. On Monday, national news agency Bernama blamed burning activities in Central Sumatra for the haze. The problem has been recurring over the past few years, enveloping much of the west coast of Malaysia. |
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