Wada suspends Mexico laboratory for non-compliance |
- Wada suspends Mexico laboratory for non-compliance
- Viagra pills and other strange twists in the South Korean Park scandal (VIDEO)
- FA chairman regrets ‘appalling’ failure over abuse coach
- IGP gives Parliament rioters until 2pm to surrender (VIDEO)
- Barca’s Celtic win cannot hide problems with summer recruits
- Barca’s Messi downplays role in his team’s success
| Wada suspends Mexico laboratory for non-compliance Posted: 24 Nov 2016 05:41 PM PST
The suspension of the Labouratorio Nacional de Prevencion y Control del Dopaje comes just 10 days after Wada announced the laboratory in Qatar, host country of the 2022 football World Cup, had been suspended for four months. The suspension, which took effect on November 23, prohibits the Mexico lab from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples. The laboratory may apply for reinstatement prior to the expiry of the six-month suspension period. During the ban, samples must be sent to another Wada-accredited laboratory, "ensuring that athletes can have full confidence in continued high quality sample analysis and the wider anti-doping system." Wada is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories according to criteria set by the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL). — Reuters   |
| Viagra pills and other strange twists in the South Korean Park scandal (VIDEO) Posted: 24 Nov 2016 05:33 PM PST SEOUL, Nov 25 — The corruption scandal at the very top of South Korean politics is taking some weird turns. As well as accused of squeezing top companies for millions in funding President Park Geun-hye has had to explain why her office bought hundreds of Viagra pills. Reuters reporter Park Ju-min says: "The presidential office clarified that Viagra pills were for altitude sickness for her overseas trips. But the fact that they also purchased regular altitude sickness pills makes people not believe what the presidential office is saying. "Questions are now also growing over allegations that Park was using a fake name taken from a famous soap opera, to get vitamin injections more than 20 times at a private luxury anti-ageing clinic." Another key figure in the scandal — Park's childhood friend Choi Soon-sil — is heavily implicated in the president's alleged fraud and abuse of power.
"Choi Soon-sil, the friend with no official position seems to have advised Park on everything from her wardrobe to speeches. And many Koreans call Park as 'Choi's puppet' or Choi as Park's 'princess maker.'" Many older Koreans are especially shocked having supported Park based on the memory of her strongman father. That family legacy is now being eroded by a deepening scandal you simply couldn't write the script for. — Reuters  |
| FA chairman regrets ‘appalling’ failure over abuse coach Posted: 24 Nov 2016 05:27 PM PST
Barry Bennell, who worked for Crewe Alexandra, Manchester City, Stoke City and several junior teams in northwest England, was given a four-year sentence for raping a British boy on a football tour of Florida in 1994 and a nine-year sentence for 23 offences against six boys in England in 1998. Yet when approached to comment on Bennell in 1997 by a television documentary crew, the FA refused all requests for interviews. "That is appalling," Clarke, who became FA chairman in August, told reporters at Wembley Stadium yesterday. "We've got 8,500 safeguarding officers out there in the community and I wrote to 30,000 clubs today to raise their awareness. "These are heinous crimes and they need to be investigated by the police and they will get our support." 'No hiding place' Yesterday also saw British charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) announce it had launched a new telephone helpline after four English former footballers said they were abused by their coaches during childhood. "There must be no hiding place for sexual abuse in our national game and there may be many others who suffered through such horrors as young players, but have never come forward," said NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless in a statement released yesterday. "We welcome the FA's commitment to helping those in the game get the help and support they need." Earlier, former Manchester City and England forward David White became the fourth ex-player to allege abuse by a youth coach, following previous announcements by Andy Woodward, Steve Walters and Paul Stewart. White, Woodward and Walters all allege they were abused by Bennell. Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Stewart, capped three times by England, said he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by an unnamed man who threatened to kill his family if he told anyone. Sky News reported yesterday that 11 people have now approached Cheshire Police in northwest England with information regarding alleged football-related abuse and that officers are now in the process of contacting them. No arrests have been made. Newcastle allegations Meanwhile The Guardian said it had been approached by a former Newcastle United player, whose identity the newspaper did not reveal, alleging he had been the victim of abuse while at the northeast club. The ex-player has named George Ormond as the offender, claiming he was sexually abused by a man who has already had a six-year prison sentence for convictions involving boys from the club's youth system over a 24-year period. Both Crewe, a club renowned for its youth development system, and Manchester City have opened investigations into Bennell's links with their clubs. Crewe's director of football Dario Gradi, the club's manager between 1983 and 2007, said he knew nothing about Bennell's behaviour until around 1994. "I would like to express sympathy to the victims of Barry Bennell not only at Crewe Alexandra, but at other clubs in the north west," Gradi said in a statement. "The first I knew of Barry Bennell's crimes was when he was arrested in the United States in 1994. I knew nothing of his crimes before this time when he was employed by us." A brief statement issued by City to Britain's Press Association said: "The club is aware of allegations that Barry Bennell had an association with Manchester City in the 1980s. "As a result the club is currently undertaking a thorough investigation of any past links he might have had with the organisation." — AFP  |
| IGP gives Parliament rioters until 2pm to surrender (VIDEO) Posted: 24 Nov 2016 05:26 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 ― The people who tried to assault Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad in the Parliament compound yesterday will be arrested if they do not surrender by 2pm, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today. Police yesterday confirmed that Firdaus Tajuddin, the son of Deputy Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, was among the 10 people identified from the incident. "We are giving them time until this afternoon for surrender, or we will arrest them. We know where they are," Khalid said during a press conference at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters. MORE TO COME  |
| Barca’s Celtic win cannot hide problems with summer recruits Posted: 24 Nov 2016 05:24 PM PST
Despite splurging €122 million (RM571 million) on bolstering their ranks in the summer, Barcelona are still overwhelmingly reliant on the same starting 11 in their biggest games, with their expensive new recruits failing to deliver. Barca drew a blank against Malaga last Saturday without top scorers Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi and vital midfielder Ivan Rakitic, slipping four points behind leaders Real Madrid at the top of La Liga as a consequence. Luis Enrique's side were back to full strength on Wednesday, with Suarez and Rakitic producing lively displays while Messi pulled the strings and scored both goals in the 2-0 win at a bitterly cold and atmospheric Celtic Park. The win, however, only appeared to confirm fears that Barca's first-choice 11 has barely evolved since Luis Enrique took the club's reins in 2014. Nine of the 11 players that started in Glasgow played in their victorious 2015 Champions League final team against Juventus, yet they have struggled whenever the coach has turned to players on the periphery of the first team this season. The Catalans were beaten 2-1 by promoted Alaves in September after Luis Enrique made seven changes to his team, including resting Suarez and Messi, and they lost 4-3 at Celta Vigo when Messi was injured and Andres Iniesta was rested from the start. Similarly, Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba were unavailable in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City when Barca collapsed in the second half under the weight of intense pressing and speedy counters. Each of these results had the local media pointing the finger at the new recurits, none of whom have managed to score after 12 La Liga games and five Champions League outings. That statistic is most damning for centre forward Paco Alcacer, a €30 million signing from Valencia who was bought to relieve the pressure on Barca's dazzling attacking trident of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Alcacer has squandered a series of clear scoring opportunities in his eight apppearances but was almost anonymous in the stalemate with Malaga, going over half an hour without touching the ball. His old Valencia team mate Andre Gomes, who cost an estimated €35 million, has also had a disappointing start, failing to register a single goal or assist and looking out of sync with his midfield partners. Lucas Digne has done little to suggest he could unseat Alba at left back following his €16.5 million signing from Paris St Germain while goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen has only played once since joining from Ajax for €13 million. Luis Enrique has frequently praised 22-year-old midfielder Denis Suarez, his cheapest recruit at €3.5 million from Villarreal, while France centre-back Samuel Umtiti has looked a good fit though injuries have limited him to nine appearances. After the failure to beat Malaga, Luis Enrique tried to play down the significance of the absence of Messi and Suarez with the observation: "We have lost games without Messi and Suarez and lost games when they have played. Squads win titles." Yet with Barca already having dropped seven points in just six home games, the coach's costly attempts to construct a robust squad and reduce the reliance on his elite players cannot be said to have gone to plan. ― Reuters  |
| Barca’s Messi downplays role in his team’s success Posted: 24 Nov 2016 05:18 PM PST
The Argentina forward scored both goals in Barca's 2-0 Champions League win at Celtic on Wednesday, days after they had been held to a goalless draw at home to Malaga in Messi's absence. Talk of Barcelona being overly dependant on their all-time record scorer is nothing new, although it has been less frequent in recent seasons as fellow forwards Luis Suarez and Neymar have also flourished. Yet the weekend stalemate and Messi's brilliant double on Wednesday, which took his Champions League total to 92 goals, including nine in this season's group stages alone, reignited the debate about his role in the team. "It's not like that," he said at an Adidas event in Barcelona. "I'm in the best club in the world, it doesn't depend on one player. We have a great team and I don't think about that." In Messi's eyes, tactical discipline and team structure are more important than individual talent. "Everything starts with order," the 29-year-old said. "In today's football more than ever. You need a team that is organised, that knows how it has to move on the pitch. Order is the most important thing." Messi's double strike helped Barca reach the Champions League's last 16 as Group C winners and allowed them to refocus on domestic duties, starting with a fixture against in form Real Sociedad on Sunday. They then host Real Madrid in this season's first "El Clasico" on December 3. Sociedad have won four games in a row and are fifth in the table while Barca are second and four points adrift of Real Madrid. "It's going to be very demanding," Messi said. "Real Sociedad are playing very well and are high up in the standings." While Messi has won everything he can with Barcelona, titles have eluded him with Argentina. Their defeat on penalties against Chile in this year's Copa America marked their third straight final loss at a major tournament. Messi, however, says he has learned to cope with disappointment on the international stage. "One grows up as the years go by," the Argentina captain said. "You go through tough spells but in the end, you realise there are more important things than football, than winning and lifting titles. "Obviously I like to win, I want to achieve the aims we set ourselves at the beginning of the season. But if you don't achieve it, at least you have to try." ― Reuters  |
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