England’s World Cup future to be safeguarded by Platini’s proposal October 28, 2013 ENGLAND’S hopes of qualifying for future World Cups will not be hindered by plans from world governing body Fifa to increase the number of African and Asian participants, if Uefa president Michel Platini’s counter-proposal to expand the competition from 32 to 40 teams from 2018 takes off. Fifa president Sepp Blatter said last week Africa [...]
Blues reserves good enough to knock out Gunners, says Schurrle October 28, 2013 CHELSEA winger Andre Schurrle insists they can overcome Arsenal in tonight’s Capital One Cup even if manager Jose Mourinho sees through his threat to make wholesale changes for the London derby. Mourinho has railed at the scheduling of the fixture, little more than 48 hours after their Premier League clash with title rivals Manchester City, [...]
Anti-racism chief says British game not reflective of society October 28, 2013 WORLD football’s most prominent anti-discrimination official has added to criticism of the English game for failing to involve enough black people in governance and management. Jeffrey Webb, head of Fifa’s anti-racism task force and tipped as a possible future president of the world governing body, says ethnic minority players in this country are “demoralised” by [...]
Golf Comment: Don’t rule out consecutive wins for Gonzalo October 28, 2013 ONE European player impressed me perhaps more than any other at last month’s Seve Trophy, so it was no surprise to see Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano win the BMW Championship in China at the weekend. The Spaniard has a tremendous swing and a new grip appears to have helped him to overcome some problems with putting that [...]
McIlroy eyes Tour victory and spot in Dubai finale October 28, 2013 FORMER world No1 Rory McIlroy is confident of building on yesterday’s first win of 2013 in the coming weeks and ensuring his place in the season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai. The Northern Irishman defeated world No1 Tiger Woods by one shot in an 18-hole exhibition at Mission Hills in China to taste success for [...]
Champion Vettel can get even better, says design chief Newey October 28, 2013 DOMINANT four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will risk upsetting Formula One fans further and become even better, according to his Red Bull team’s design chief Adrian Newey. Vettel scored his sixth win in a row at Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix to snap up his fourth consecutive title with three races to spare. Discontent at seeing [...]
Championship to stay in Sheffield October 28, 2013 SNOOKER: Chairman of World Snooker Barry Hearn has reassured British fans that the World Championship will not move from its regular home at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the duration of his tenure. Six-time world finallist Jimmy White believes moving the tournament to China is “inevitable”. But Hearn said: “Not in my lifetime and [...]
Tiote avoids prison sentence October 28, 2013 FOOTBALL: Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote has been handed a seven-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to possessing a fake driving licence. The 27-year-old admitted to buying a fake Belgian licence for £12,800 and then using the document to apply for a licence in the UK.
Exiles set to snap up O’Connor October 28, 2013 RUGBY UNION: Aviva Premiership strugglers London Irish are expected to complete the signing of Australia back James O’Connor today. The 23-year-old has been allowed to leave his homeland following a string of off-field incidents.
Ireland beaten in World Cup opener October 28, 2013 RUGBY LEAGUE: Ireland lost their opening game of the World Cup last night, going down 32-14 to Fiji at Spotland Stadium in Rochdale, with a hat-trick from Akuila Uate.