Ref claims he fixed United game December 20, 2011 FOOTBALL: A Chinese referee has alleged he received a bribe to fix the result of a 2007 friendly between Manchester United and Shenzhen FC. Huang Junjie said in court that the match, which United won 6-0, was one of eight games he was paid more than £160,000 in bribes to fix. There is no suggestion [...]
Top duo set for King George December 20, 2011 HORSE RACING: Last year’s winner Long Run and four-time champion Kauto Star are among just eight confirmations for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Dual Champion Chase winner Master Minded, Kauto Star’s stablemate, steps up to three miles for the first time, as does Arkle winner Captain Chris. Somersby, Diamond Harry, [...]
CAN ANYONE STOP CITY? December 19, 2011 The men in Blue sit proudly atop the Premier League and are favourites for the title. But what chance do their rivals stand? City A.M. assesses the pack DEFEAT to Chelsea might have raised questions about Manchester City’s assault on the Premier League but they answered those triumphantly by beating Arsenal on Sunday. They showed [...]
Arsenal and Chelsea face Boxing Day fixture chaos December 19, 2011 THE PROSPECT of industrial action has forced Arsenal and Chelsea to consider moving their Boxing Day fixtures to 27 December, potentially providing a major inconvenience to over 100,000 fans. The mooted 24-hour Tube strike would impact on the safety of supporters planning to attend the game at Emirates Stadium, as well those fans travelling to [...]
Olympic spotlight won’t daunt British star Halsall December 19, 2011 WERE medals being handed out for enthusiasm alone, Fran Halsall would surely threaten Michael Phelps’s record eight-gold haul in Beijing at next summer’s London Olympics. As an exceptionally talented 21-year-old athlete, of whom much is expected, the Southport-born swimmer could be forgiven were she to feel a sense of trepidation ahead of the biggest eight [...]
Bumper attendances lift Fulham to record profits December 19, 2011 REGULAR full houses at Craven Cottage last season helped Fulham achieve best ever revenues and a record net profit of £4.8m for the year ending 30 June. Attendances rose 4.9 per cent, with the stadium on average 98 per cent full, as the west Londoners finished eighth in the Premier League. Pre-tax profit was £5.4m, [...]
Dow stadium branding scrapped December 19, 2011 OLYMPICS: London 2012 sponsor Dow Chemicals has confirmed it will not have branding on the Olympic Stadium’s fabric wrap, which they have sponsored for £7m, either before or during the Games. Plans for it to be branded pre-Games were dropped in the summer, Dow said. Organisers are facing calls to drop Dow as a sponsor [...]
Premier League to remain seated December 19, 2011 FOOTBALL: Premier League chiefs have ruled out the possibility of following their Scottish counterparts by planning to re-introduce safe standing areas to top-flight football grounds. “Standing at matches is illegal under the legislation that was brought in after Hillsborough,” said a Premier League spokesman.
Coyle and Kean face six-pointer December 19, 2011 FOOTBALL: Under-fire managers Steve Kean and Owen Coyle insist they are refusing to contemplate the repercussions of defeat ahead of Blackburn and Bolton’s relegation six-pointer at Ewood Park tonight. Kean, whose side are a point and a place ahead of bottom of the table Bolton, maintains the club’s owners still trust him to steer Blackburn [...]
Cleverly focuses on beaten Froch December 19, 2011 BOXING: WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly is open to the possibility of facing fellow Brit Carl Froch. The unbeaten Cleverly watched Froch lose his WBC super-middleweight title to Andre Ward on Saturday night. He said: “It’s a fight that would make sense and would be great for the British public.”