Turning down England job still hurts, admits Scolari February 5, 2013 BRAZIL coach Luiz Felipe Scolari admits to still being tormented by his decision to turn down the England job, and hinted he would be open to taking charge of the Three Lions in future. Scolari, whose Portugal team knocked England out of successive major tournaments, held talks with the Football Association about succeeding Sven-Goran Eriksson [...]
Ireland sweat on centre pair February 5, 2013 IRELAND are giving injured centres Gordon D’Arcy and Keith Earls maximum time to prove their fitness for Sunday’s RBS Six Nations visit of England. D’Arcy suffered a dead leg and Earls a shoulder problem during Saturday’s 30-22 victory in Wales, and team manager Mick Kearney admitted both were still recuperating. “Gordon suffered a nasty dead [...]
Adlington retires and sets goal of improving kids’ swimming February 5, 2013 RETIRING double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington is aiming to ensure all children in Britain are able to swim 25m before the age of 12. Adlington yesterday confirmed the end of her hugely successful competitive career, which also brought medals at world, European and Commonwealth level. The 23-year-old from Mansfield insists she is not retiring from [...]
Reds game was probed February 5, 2013 HUNGARIAN football club Debrecen have confirmed their 2009 Champions League defeat to Liverpool was investigated for suspected match-fixing. Goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic was banned by governing body Uefa for two years in 2010 for not reporting being approached to rig games against Fiorentina and Liverpool. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Anfield side, who [...]
Ogogo rubbishes Hatton reports February 5, 2013 BOXING: London 2012 star Anthony Ogogo has denied reports that former world champion Ricky Hatton is to be his trainer. The Olympic middleweight bronze medallist, set for a professional debut in April or May, said: “Speculation regarding my trainer situation is wide of the mark. To be clear, no decision has been made at this [...]
Button fastest in first F1 testing February 5, 2013 FORMULA ONE: Britain’s Jenson Button enjoyed an encouraging start to the 2013 pre-season when he set the fastest time in testing in Jerez yesterday. The McLaren driver was 0.848 seconds faster than Red Bull’s Mark Webber, despite missing five hours’ track time with a fuel pump problem, with Romain Grosjean of Lotus third. English rookie [...]
Cavendish victorious in Qatar February 5, 2013 CYCLING: Manx sprint star Mark Cavendish produced a trademark finish to claim victory in the third stage of the Tour of Qatar yesterday. Cavendish’s second stage win since joining Omega Pharma-QuickStep left him fourth in the overall standings, eight seconds behind leader Brent Bookwalter.
Murray voices his fears over tennis doping February 4, 2013 BRITAIN’S Andy Murray has called on fellow players to sacrifice a portion of their earnings in order to fund more rigorous drug testing in tennis, admitting he does not know whether the sport can be called clean. Murray yesterday passionately argued for more blood testing and the introduction of the biological passport system in order [...]
Number of clubs at risk of financial fair play ban on the rise February 4, 2013 EUROPEAN football chiefs Uefa believe new financial fair play (FFP) rules are encouraging clubs to spend more responsibly, despite their latest figures showing the number of teams at risk of being banned has rocketed. Twenty teams from Europe’s top divisions – including two from England, thought to be Chelsea and Manchester City – recorded losses [...]
English Champions League tie was fixed, say European police February 4, 2013 FOOTBALL authorities reacted with bemusement last night after Europol said a Champions League fixture played in England was among hundreds being probed for suspected match-fixing. Investigators refused to specify which match, only to say that it had taken place in the last four years, but the Football Association said it was “not aware of any [...]