Blatter aims fire at English December 4, 2011 Fifa president Sepp Blatter has renewed his attack on his English critics, claiming they are bitter at the failed bid to stage the 2018 World Cup. “They thought that football should have come home; the World Cup was theirs by right,” Blatter said. “When they came with David Beckham, Prince William and Prime Minister Cameron, [...]
O’Sullivan knocks out Davis December 4, 2011 Ronnie O’Sullivan beat Steve Davis 6-1 in a first-round clash of former champions at the UK Championships in York. World No1 Mark Selby eased into round two with a 6-0 drubbing of Ryan Day and will play Marco Fu next, after he beat Stuart Bingham 6-4.
Pattinson shines on Test debut December 4, 2011 Seamer James Pattinson took 5-27 on his debut as Australia beat New Zealand by nine wickets in the first Test in Brisbane. Pattinson, younger brother of former England bowler Darren, claimed a triple-wicket maiden as the tourists slumped to 28-5, and although Dean Brownlie’s 43 hauled them to 150 all out, Australia reached their target [...]
Greenwood: RFU right to wait for boss December 1, 2011 FORMER England centre Will Greenwood believes the Rugby Football Union is right to delay naming a permanent successor to Martin Johnson until after the Six Nations. The RFU confirmed on Wednesday its intention to appoint a caretaker manager, which would seemingly pave the way for former Italy head coach Nick Mallett to take over ahead [...]
TRAIN-ING | Rugby stars play at City station December 1, 2011 PREMIERSHIP champions Saracens stunned onlookers at Liverpool Street Station yesterday by practising at the busy City terminal. Players Mouritz Botha (with ball), Jacques Burger and Kelly Brown put on line-out demonstrations and even roped in curious passers-by for some impromptu training as part of the build-up to their Heineken Cup clash with Ospreys at Wembley [...]
Late goal and red card dash Fulham hopes of easy route December 1, 2011 FC TWENTE 1 vs FULHAM 0 FULHAM manager Martin Jol refused to blame striker Andy Johnson after his stoppage-time red card completed a miserable Europa League night in Holland for the Cottagers. An 89th-minute winner from Marc Janko condemned the west Londoners to a defeat that leaves them needing to win their final group fixture [...]
FA hints at U-turn over Capello as England prepare to discover Euro 2012 opponents December 1, 2011 ENGLAND chiefs have paved the way for a spectacular U-turn over manager Fabio Capello after admitting he could stay on beyond next summer’s European Championships. The backtracking comes as England today prepare to discover who they will face at Euro 2012, when the draw is made in Kiev this afternoon. Both the Football Association and [...]
CPS mulling Terry case after police pass on files December 1, 2011 ENGLAND and Chelsea captain John Terry faces an anxious wait to discover whether he will be prosecuted over allegations of racist abuse, after police passed their file to the Crown Prosecution Service. Centre-back Terry has repeatedly and emphatically denied aiming a racial slur at QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during the Blues’ 1-0 defeat in a [...]
Devonish: I lost medals to drug cheats but don’t mind BOA scrapping life ban December 1, 2011 Exclusive: Sprinter tells Frank Dalleres why dopers deserve a second chance GOLD winning sprinter Marlon Devonish has delivered a blow to the British Olympic Association’s battle to uphold its lifetime ban for doping by insisting he does not mind competing alongside previous offenders at the London 2012 Games. The BOA is under intense pressure to drop [...]
MAKING THE GRADE | London 2012 hopefuls go back to school December 1, 2011 BRITISH London 2012 hopefuls from every single Olympic and Paralympic sport dusted off their uniforms for a school photo-style shoot yesterday – with four-time gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent as headmaster. Arsenal footballer Kieran Gibbs (row three, far left), tennis star Elena Baltacha (row two, fifth from left), sprinter Marlon Devonish (row four, fifth from [...]