Legend Ali pictured enjoying Super Bowl after his family deny he is 'close to death'
Olympic opening ceremony” class=”blkBorder” />
Warning signs: Ali, pictured with wife Lonnie, left, was very frail during his appearance at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, pictured right with Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti
Danger: Former world champion Ali last had a public health scare after the funeral of boxing great Joe Frazier
We wouldn't pay Remy ransom: Pardew fears QPR now have edge over Newcastle
By
Colin Young
PUBLISHED:
16:27 GMT, 17 January 2013
|
UPDATED:
21:46 GMT, 17 January 2013
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew
has admitted Queens Park Rangers have a stronger squad for the
relegation run-in after Marseille striker Loic Remy rejected a move to
Tyneside to join the Barclays Premier League’s bottom club.
But Pardew, who is still looking for a
replacement for Chelsea’s early transfer window signing Demba Ba, says
he was still surprised the France star chose to move to Loftus Road
rather than St James’ Park.
Getting shirty: Remy chose to join QPR over Newcastle
Newcastle face fellow strugglers
Reading at home tomorrow and Pardew is desperate for a win to appease
fans unhappy with the club’s progress in the transfer market, and the
threat of captain Fabricio Coloccini quitting to return to South
America.
This week Remy rejected a move to Newcastle after accepting Rangers’ offer to double his wages to 80,000 a week.
It was a huge public blow for Pardew
and the club, who are still reeling from Ba’s departure to Stamford
Bridge within days of the transfer window opening.
Pardew said: ‘It was a little
strange. We put a lot of work into it, we made his club an offer that
was accepted and made a fantastic offer to the player.
We did all we could: Pardew was left frustrated on missing out on Remy
'I honestly think if you’re a French
player with the French players that we’ve got in the squad, this would
be my first port of call. That is why the Remy decision surprised me
because of course we get the communication through to those players.
Colo go Pardew hopes the Argentina defender stays at St James' Park
'But we’re not going to pay silly
money to anybody.
'We’ve lost Demba Ba and we need to find a replacement,
there is no doubt about that. We definitely need a player or two in
this window to make sure of our Premier League status.
There are better
teams than the one I manage who have gone down. I could argue QPR’s
squad, on paper, is stronger than ours in terms of depth. I’m not sure
about starting XI, but we’ve not had our first XI out all year.
'I think we shouldn’t be lost to the
fact that we could be relegated. I’m not going to lose that. That’s an
important message for our fans too. We need them to not give up on us.'
On the Coloccini issue, Pardew added: 'We’re going to sit down next week
and hopefully iron out the issues and come to a conclusion where Colo
stays. That’s what I hope for.'
Capello is returning to England… but only to address the Cambridge Union
By
Liv Lee
PUBLISHED:
13:08 GMT, 12 January 2013
|
UPDATED:
13:19 GMT, 12 January 2013
Ex-England manager Fabio Capello is probably more used to team talks than public speaking, but he will be making his best attempt when he addresses the Cambridge Union at the end of February.
The Italian is booked to appear at the historical debating society, which has hosted sporting names such as Lord Coe is the past.
Capello will be in good company, with the Dalai Lama, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Ian McKellen and Clint Eastwood all having made appearances.
Returning: The ex-England manager will address the Union at the end of February
The manager walked away from the England job after John Terry was
stripped of his captaincy by the FA in February last year, and since
then has been working with the Russian national team.
They are currently fighting for qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
England rugby international James Haskell is also set to address the students of Cambridge this month.
Roll on Rio: Olympic and Paralympic funding for 2016 to get 11 per cent increase on 2012
UK sport announce record pot of 347million18 sports had their funding increase, five had cuts
Boxing biggest winner with 44.5% increaseCycling, athletics, rowing and gymnastics all have funding increases
Swimming, volleyball, archery, judo and badminton all have cuts
|
UPDATED:
17:27 GMT, 18 December 2012
Most of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports were celebrating the announcement of funding rises for the next four years but several sports, including swimming, basketball, volleyball and handball, are paying the price for failure with severe cuts to their income.
UK Sport announced a record pot of 347m to be distributed in the run-up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games with cycling, rowing, boxing, athletics and gymnastics among those given increases.
It is a different story for those
sports that did not meet their performance targets in London including
swimming, whose funding is cut to 21.4m from 25.1m, volleyball (down
to 400,000 from 3.5m), plus basketball, handball, wrestling and table
tennis, which miss out on funding altogether.
UK
Sport’s target is for Britain to be even more successful in Rio than in
London, where the teams won 65 medals in the Olympics and 120 in the
Paralympics.
The funding
body’s chief executive Liz Nicholl said: 'We want to be the first nation
in recent history to be more successful in the Olympics and Paralympics
post-hosting.'
UK Sport’s chairman Sue Campbell admitted some sports would be devastated by the news.
She added however: 'It isn’t about being popular it’s about making tough decisions about where public money goes.'
The
biggest increase of any Olympic sport goes to boxing, a 44% increase,
to 13.8m, though 9.55m is conditional on sport sorting out some
internal issues.
Cycling is
up to 30.6m from 26.3m, athletics has a 1.7m increase to 26.8m,
rowing up from 27.3m to 32.6m, and gymnastics up from 10.8m to
14.5m.
Investment in Paralympic sport also rises dramatically, up 43% on London 2012.
Increase: Nicola Adams won one of GB boxing's three gold medals in London and the sport has enjoyed the largest funding growth
Dominant: Britain's cyclists won seven out of a possible 10 gold medals in the Velodrome as well as Wiggins's time trial win
Artistic: The British gymnastics team won four medals and 15-year-old Rebecca Tunney also gave a good performance
Disappointing: Michael Jamieson's 200m breaststroke silver was as good as it got for Britain's swimmers who endured a difficult Olympics
Cycling ends stellar year with more gold… and netball and triathlon profit too
|
UPDATED:
22:52 GMT, 17 December 2012
Cycling has received a huge increase in funding to top off a superb 2012.
Netball and triathlon were also rewarded for increased participation as Sport England announced a 493million investment in grassroots sport over the next four years.
However, swimming, tennis and basketball have been told to engage more people to be assured of getting their cash.
Wheely good news: Cycling is among the sports to get a cash injection
Cycling, the event in which Britain had most success at the London Olympics, will receive 32m — more than any other sport.
Netball is the third highest funded sport (after football in second) with 25.3m to support a game played almost exclusively by women. Triathlon, which will get 7.5m, also aims to put on cheaper events so more people can participate.
Sport England chief executive Jennie Price said: ‘For the first time we have created a specific fund to reward success by national governing bodies who prove they can grow their sports. This is about backing winners.
‘Investment in this scale from the public purse is a big responsibility for the sector and we are committed to a tough but fair approach of payment for results. We are determined to get good value for every pound of this funding.’
Non-Olympic sports such as cricket and both codes of rugby suffered big cuts.
Cricket will see a 15m drop in grassroots funding up to 2017, although the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to Shine programme will receive an additional 7.5m over three years. Rugby union’s allocation was cut by 8.8m and rugby league’s by 10.1m.
The Lawn Tennis Association will receive 7.5m next year but their long-term plan to get more people involved in the game was labelled ‘not strong enough’ and there is no assurance they will receive the 10.3m that has been provisionally allocated to them for 2014-17.
Pride of Britain: The success of the Brownlees has given a lift to triathlon
Britain’s elite swimmers underperformed at the Olympics and the Amateur Swimming Assocation will also have funds withheld until they can show Sport England their participation plans are working.
David Sparkes, chief executive of the ASA, said: ‘While we are disappointed with the one-year investment for participation, we are encouraged by the confidence Sport England has shown in our plans to increase swimming participation levels over the next four years.’
How Fergie's bedtime habits set standards at Old Trafford
By
Patrick Collins
PUBLISHED:
22:23 GMT, 15 December 2012
|
UPDATED:
00:26 GMT, 16 December 2012
In more than a quarter-century of intense public scrutiny, Sir Alex Ferguson has successfully resisted every intrusion into his private life. Yesterday, in the month of his 71st birthday, he offered a glimpse of his domestic habits.
In the wake of last Sunday’s remarkable Manchester derby, he went to bed with his head spinning. ‘I just couldn’t sleep,’ he said, ‘and at about four o’clock in the morning I gave up trying, got up and watched a video of the whole of our game against Manchester City all over again.’
The tale is worth recording because it is the nearest thing to a bedroom revelation that Ferguson will ever provide. It also tells us something about the nature of a hopelessly driven man.
Driven: Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
Carried away by the excitement of
United’s victory, it seems he found it difficult to ascertain where his
team had fallen short of his standards.
He was, therefore, left with no
alternative but to watch the entire match through the small hours of a
December night. And was it worth it Indeed it was. As he explains:
‘With the help of the video my suspicions were confirmed. In the second
half we were giving the ball away too easily.’
Try to think of another major football
manager, past or present, who might regard that as perfectly rational
behaviour and only Bill Shankly springs to mind. It was Shankly, of
course, who took his wife to watch Huddersfield Reserves on their
wedding anniversary. Truly, the west of Scotland breeds single-minded
football men.
Happy days: Ferguson celebrates victory over Man City with Patrice Evra
I doubt that Sir Alex lost any sleep
last night, since Sunderland were dispatched with the minimum of fuss.
But he seemed perceptibly irritated by United’s lack of ruthlessness,
their failure to bury outclassed opponents in dramatic fashion after
scoring twice within the first 20 minutes.
They may be six points clear at the top but such laxity could cost them dearly on more difficult days.
He did not criticise, of course, since
that is not his way. But he did mention that Wayne Rooney ‘might have
scored four’, and his failure to do so may provoke some pertinent
questions.
That ferocious work ethic, that
refusal to be satisfied, underpins everything Ferguson has achieved in
the game. After all these years, he has achieved the status of an
institution, to the extent that a match day at Old Trafford without his
looming presence seems almost unthinkable.
His name infiltrates every
conversation along Sir Matt Busby Way. From the shop called Legends of
Fast Food, featuring portraits of Cantona, Giggs, Rooney; all men whose
names are synonymous with sausage and chips. To the stalls selling
United car stickers, baby bibs, woolly hats. To the man pleading with
the passing public to buy red and white wrist bands for 1: ‘Listen,
I’m nearly giving ’em away!’
The old North Stand is now the Sir
Alex Ferguson Stand. There is a statue which bears a passing resemblance
to somebody who looks a bit like Ferguson. At times, the whole place
takes on the appearance of a shrine to the great man.
The temptation to coast, to relax, to
bask in past glories could be considerable but it is scornfully
rejected. For the focus is always on the future, of cups and titles
still to come.
Sweet dreams: United are six points clear of City at Christmas
His current work is as impressive as
any he has done. The team are not remotely the equal of Ferguson’s best
United sides but they are proceeding like a runaway train. He used to
speak of the importance of being ‘in touch at Christmas’. Instead, they
are six points clear.
Mention the fact to Ferguson and his
mind flickers back some 15 years, to the season when they were
overhauled by Arsenal. Never relax, he preached. Bad things can happen.
And yet, he had seemed in high good
humour when he appeared yesterday, hurrying along with that urgent,
short-stepping stride, pausing to greet some disabled fans, signing
programmes, glad-handing all round.
By contrast, Martin O’Neill, once touted as a possible successor, slipped in almost anonymously.
For the entire 90 minutes, Ferguson
never once left his seat to storm the touchline. Goals were greeted with
an excited little clap or a satisfied grunt. Chomping relentlessly on
his gum, he concentrated intently; smiling when his side passed with
bright urgency, glowering when goals were squandered or runs went
untracked.
When it was over, he rose from his
seat, shook the hand of O’Neill and walked briskly back along the
touchline, offering the crowd six brief claps of his hands, and a
further detonation on reaching the mouth of the tunnel.
He was not satisfied, not even
particularly pleased, but that was another match over. On to the next
one, and the one after, and the one after that.
At 70, Alex Ferguson is still looking restlessly forward. Even at four o’clock on a winter’s morning.
You love Rooney! United striker voted best in Premier League while Giggs and the Ox also win fan awards
|
UPDATED:
17:18 GMT, 13 December 2012
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been voted the best player currently plying his trade in the Barclays Premier League.
In a poll of over 30,000 fans from over 200 different territories, 20 per cent of supporters declared that Wayne Rooney would be the first name on their team sheet.
The Barclays Global fans survey saw Rooney come out on top, ahead of his Manchester United team-mate Robin van Persie, who secured 14 per cent of the public vote, while Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was voted into third place, with 10 per cent of the public support.
Popular: Wayne Rooney was voted best current player in the league while Ryan Giggs the best of all time
Fourth and fifth were Ryan Giggs and Luis Suarez respectively.
Manchester United and England star Rooney said: 'It's great to be recognised by the fans in this survey. I get messages from fans all over the world so I know how popular the Barclays Premier League is outside of the UK.'
Interestingly, Wayne Rooney succeeds Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, who was voted as the Premier League’s most popular player in the 2008 survey.
Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs was voted as the best Barclays Premier League player of all time, ahead of former Arsenal hero Thierry Henry, with Steven Gerrard once again coming in third place.
Write caption here
Come back: Fans want Jose Mourinho to return to the Premier League
Giggs’ Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson retained his place as football fans’ favourite boss, gaining 41 per cent of the public vote, although 38 per cent of those questioned admitted that Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is the manager that they would most like to see back in the Barclays Premier League.
The survey also revealed that Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is considered the brightest new prospect for the next five years, with the winger gathering 17 per cent of the public vote, edging ahead of fellow England and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere on 13 per cent and Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley on 8 per cent.
On a more light-hearted note, Rio Ferdinand gained the accolade of being named as the Premier League’s top Tweeter, followed by Wayne Rooney.
Eight days after beating the All Blacks, England coach Lancaster is back to basics
|
UPDATED:
22:30 GMT, 9 December 2012
Stuart Lancaster was back in matchday mode on Sunday. Eight days after his England team stunned the All Blacks, he was savouring the warm afterglow on a cold morning.
From the noise and euphoria of Twickenham, this was a different kind of home fixture; West Park Leeds Under 12s versus Doncaster in the Yorkshire Cup.
From a Test match before 82,000 spectators and a worldwide TV audience, this was local grassroots rugby, with 50 wind-whipped fans watching the young players — including Lancaster’s son Daniel at fly-half.
Grassroots: Stuart Lancaster at West Park Leeds RFC watching his son Daniel
They know Stuart well at the club and there were plenty of warm words from parents who relished seeing New Zealand beaten.
‘There are a lot of Manu Tuilagi fans among the lads here now, although there always were,’ said Lancaster.
‘So many mums and dads have already been talking about where they were watching the game, shouting at the telly. It’s been fantastic — the performance captured the imagination of the rugby public, which is great. My son played a school game yesterday at Nottingham High School, and I went down to watch. It really brought it home to me the impact that one result has had on so many people. I was even asked to do a motivational team talk for one of the sides there, who were struggling at half-time.
Young guns: Lancaster addressed the team, including his son Daniel (right) who was also in action
‘I turned up to training here on Wednesday and afterwards, I got a nice text from one of the parents. He said that, after training, his son was saying, “After watching the game on Saturday, I just want to play rugby all the time now”.’
Lancaster may be head honcho with England, but at West Park, he is assistant to Graham Chadwick. Once Daniel’s side had won comfortably, he acted as ball boy for Leeds v Pontypridd in a British & Irish Cup game. Then father, son and daughter Sophie were going home, so Lancaster could watch Leicester play Treviso.
The last result was glorious but the work goes on.
Ex-Newcastle midfielder Emre faces jail over alleged racist slur aimed at Zokora
|
UPDATED:
14:24 GMT, 7 December 2012
Former Newcastle midfielder Emre Belozoglu could face up to two years in prison after being prosecuted for an alleged racist insult directed at Didier Zokora.
The incident with Zokora happened in April of this year when the Atletico Madrid player was playing for Fenerbahe.
Scroll down to watch the video
In the dock: Emre (right) could be sentenced to a jail term
He was accused of directing racist insults at the Ivorian Zokora during a game against Trabzonspor and given a two-match ban.
As our video below shows, Zokora took his own form of revenge when the two next met.
But it now appears Emre will have to answer to Turkey’s Public Prosecutor who, according to Turkish newspaper Hrriyet, will call for between six months and two years in prison for the alleged slur.
Claim: Didier Zokora was allegedly racially abused
Emre admitted to having insulted Zokora in English, but insisted there was no racial element. When the Turkish Football Federation banned him for two games they did not state that the abuse had been of a racist nature leading Trabzonspor to lodge the legal complaint.
The Turkish midfielder faced FA charges over racist abuse while in
England in 2007 for an incident in a match at Everton in December of the
previous year.
But despite evidence given by Joleon Lescott, who said Emre had
called team-mate Yobo a 'f*****g negro', and from goalkeeper Tim
Howard, that he had called the same player a 'f*****g nigger' he was
let off because an independent commission concluded that there was a
lack of proof.
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They won the World Cup, now they've won the Olympic Stadium… West Ham win race for the newest Premier League ground
|
UPDATED:
12:34 GMT, 5 December 2012
West Ham have been named as the preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium to end a three-year saga over its future.
After the success of the Games this summer, there has been uncertainty over what happens next for the arena.
But Barclays Premier League side West Ham are now set to inherit the venue that framed many of this summer's iconic sporting moments.
We're moving, lads: West Ham are ready to leave their Upton Park home
They beat Leyton Orient, a Formula One consortium and a Burnley-based football business college.
The London Legacy Development Corporation board voted today when they met in Stratford under the chairmanship of London mayor Boris Johnson.
The key issue concerned how to meet the estimated 150million cost of converting the stadium to include football, athletics and concerts.
A new dawn: The Olympic Stadium is set to host football in the future
West Ham have upped their contribution to 15m, plus 9m a year including rental, merchandising, catering and naming-rights revenue.
They believe that, with fellow tenants Newham Council paying 60m and the Treasury committed to a 38m subsidy, there will be no further call on the public purse.
They also dispute that the conversion will cost as much as 150m. No tenders are out for the work.
The Treasury have already said that they have not been asked for extra funding towards the stadium, which will remain unused until at least 2015 and possibly the 2016-17 football season.
Decisions, decisions: London mayor Boris Johnson has been at the centre of plans
That looks to have ruled out the stadium being a host venue for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
West Ham were given the stadium in 2011 before legal complaints sunk the deal. Although a repeat may occur, it is thought the new process will stand up to scrutiny.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE DEAL… by Simon Cass
The athletics track will have to go, won’t it
Not if the next generation of Mo Farahs and company are going to have something to run on in five years’ time. The stadium will host the 2017 World Athletics Championships after Lord Coe’s persuasive powers proved instrumental in bringing yet another major sporting event to London following the best Olympic Games in history.
So West Ham fans will need binoculars to see the action then
Here’s where the money starts mounting up. A key part of West Ham’s bid is to retain the running track but they do not want fans match-day experience to suffer. The plan is to install retractable seating to slide over the running track to ensure Hammers’ fans continue to get a close up view of their club’s renaissance.
Alright, the view will be OK but won’t we get soaked on a wet Wednesday night in January
Mercifully the weather held out for those magical nights in August but the stadium was originally conceived as a summer venue. Another chunk of cash has been earmarked to extend the venue’s circular roof to protect West Ham fans from the unpredictable elements.
Er, how much is all this going to cost
Converting the iconic venue to one which fits the bill for the Barclays Premier League, and one which can also cater for athletics and pop concerts, won’t come cheap. Estimates for the work range between 130million up to 200m and it is worth remembering the stadium cost 429m to put up in the first place.
So who is going to cough up
Well, West Ham are willing to part with 15m towards the conversion plus 9million annually in rent and cash from commercial proceeds. Fellow tenants, Newham Council, are in for between 40m and 60m while the Treasury has reached into its pockets for another 38million. Some shortfall estimates for the work range between 15 and 20m although West Ham argue that the cost of the conversion is covered with the cash already on the table.
This is starting to sound like a cracking deal for West Ham – are they getting a 60,000 stadium for a knockdown price
There is little doubt that moving home would do wonders financially for a club currently around 80 million in debt and turning over around 80 million a year, provided they can maintain their top flight status. Do so and the match day revenue generated by the move to Stratford will dwarf the 18m they pull in annually at Upton Park. David Gold and David Sullivan shelled out in the region of 50m to buy a 50% controlling stake in West Ham in January 2010 and a Premier League club with an iconic, state of the art home could certainly be an attractive proposition for outside investors. But one of the caveats of West Ham’s lease is expected to be that they share a slice of the profits with taxpayers if Gold and Sullivan eventually decide to cash in.
So off to the New Boleyn Ground we go then
Romantic though that sounds, there is little prospect that West Ham will not attempt to sell the naming rights to their new ground. Manchester City get an estimated 400m from Etihad to have the airline’s name emblazoned on what was the City of Manchester Stadium, constructed for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. And while West Ham are unlikely to strike a deal of that magnitude, the potential naming rights cash would be too tempting to turn down especially if it covered the 9m-a-year they are paying their landlords.
And what happens to West Ham’s old Green Street home
Flattened is the overwhelming expectation. A 99-year lease on their new arena means the beige towers built from the proceeds of the 18m sale of Rio Ferdinand to Leeds will slip into memory. Potential buyers are already circling with community houses, flats and a supermarket the likely uses for the site.
When will West Ham move in
Prior to the last bidding process collapsing in May, the club reckoned they could be out of their present home by the summer of 2014. But as a result of the delays in reaching a decision about the fate of the Olympic Stadium West Ham will need to extend that until at least the start of the2015/16 season. Many feel that timescale errs on the optimistic side as the necessary construction work may take until the summer of 2016 to be finished.