Romario WANTS Brazil clearout Rio De Janeiro: Brazilian footballing legend-turned-politician Romario yesterday stepped up criticism of Brazil’s Football Confederation (CBF), demanding a clear out at the top. During a World Cup which saw the five-time champions crushed in the semi-finals by eventual champion Germany, 1994 champion Romario said the game’s rulers were corrupt.
Now a lawmaker, he repeated his distaste for then in a speech to fellow lawmakers. “Marco Polo del Nero is to lead the CBF for the next four years. Do you think this man is capable of overseeing changeIJ I am sure he isn’t,” said Romario. Del Nero will take over next year from Jose Maria Marin, but Romario thinks he is more of the same at the age of 73 -- even if he is a decade younger than the incumbent. “This obscure and clandestine election needs to be annulled,” said Romario of last year’s naming of De Nero as the new man in charge. “Brazilian football doesn’t deserve to be run by a gang which already showed itself incompetent ... Which rakes in money and does with it as it sees fit but not for the good of our football.”
Real, Barca top Forbes rich list
New York: Spain may have been embarrassingly dethroned as World Cup holders, but Real Madrid and Barcelona are still champions at making money after they were named as the world’s two richest sports franchises. For the second successive year, Forbes business magazine tagged European champions Real Madrid, where Cristiano Ronaldo plays, as the number one sports team with a value of $3.44 billion. Barcelona, the home of lionel Messi, Neymar and now the notorious luis Suarez, are second in the chart with a current value of $3.2 billion, while English giants Manchester United are ranked at three at $2.81 billion despite their miserable season. The only other football club in the top 10 are German champions Bayern Munich whose current value of $1.85 billion is good enough for seventh spot. The rest of the top 10 is from Major league Baseball and the National Football league. The New York Yankees are number four, valued at $2.5 billion with the Dallas Cowboys, worth $2.3 billion, holding the fifth place.
Tours arranged by AIFF
New Delhi: As part of preparations for the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, All India Football Federation has arranged for two exposure tours to Czech Republic and China for the Indian men’s U-23 team. The squad of 30 is presently training in Bangalore under national coach Wim Koevermans in the camp that kicked off on July 1. A 25-member squad will be leaving for a tour to Czech Republic on July 21 and return on August 8. The Indian squad will play three matches during the period against three different clubs — Senco Doubravka, FK Most and TJ Domazlice. The team will be based in Pilsen. After Czech Republic, the squad will also be travelling to China for another exposure tour from August 25-September 8, and from there the squad will be leaving directly for Korea.
India 151, Germany ON TOP
New Delhi: he Indian men’s football team has gone up three places to be ranked 151th in the FIFA rankings, which is topped by recently-crowned world champions Germany. India, who were ranked 154th last month, have 144 points in their kitty. Germany returned to the top of FIFA’s world rankings for the first time in around 20 years, riding on their superb show in the recently-concluded Football World Cup, where they clinched the title by defeating Argentina 1-0 at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana in the finals. Germany have moved up a position to be at the top of the chart. lionel Messi’s Argentina have gained three places to be at second spot, while the Netherlands jumped 12 rungs into third after their third-place finish at the World Cup. The James Rodriguez-inspired Colombia earned four places to reach the fourth position, while Belgium (+6) and Uruguay (+1) also earned places to climb up the ladder to be in fifth and sixth positions, respectively. Brazil’s not-so-impressive show at the World Cup has pushed them to number seven, a drop of four spots, while Spain fell seven spots to eighth.
Pak player commits suicide
Karachi: A female Pakistani cricketer who committed suicide by drinking acid was under extreme stress after an administrator sued her for pursuing a sexual harassment case against him, her cousin said on Thursday. Halima Rafique, a 17-year-old all-rounder from the central city of Multan died in her home on Sunday in a case that has shocked both fans and women’s rights activists, who have accused cricket authorities of covering up her damaging claims. Rafique along with four other domestic cricketers — Seema Javed, Hina Ghafoor, Kiran Irshad and Saba Ghafoor — had jointly levelled the charges against Multan Cricket Club chairman Maulvi Sultan Alam and selector Mohammad Javed in a television show in June last year.