Decision on Oscar’s release may delay
Johannesburg: A review board has up to four months to decide whether and when Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison into house arrest, a spokesman for South Africa’s justice ministry said on Thursday. Two days before he was due to leave prison, Pistorius’ early release was put on hold Wednesday by South Africa’s justice department, which sent his case back to a parole review board. The athlete’s release was approved eight months into his five-year prison sentence, when he should have served 10 months before even being considered for release, said justice department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga. Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympic runner, was convicted last year of manslaughter for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013. News of the postponed release came to the Steenkamp family as they held a beachside commemoration for Reeva Steenkamp on Wednesday, what would have been her 32nd birthday.
Chelsea signs forward Pedro
london: Chelsea bolstered its striking options by signing Pedro Rodriguez from Barcelona in a deal worth up to $33 million on Thursday. The 28-year-old Spaniard has spent his whole career at Barcelona until now, winning every major honor.
Advani, Kothari slam govt for Oly bias
Kolkata: The Indian cue sport fraternity on Thursday alleged the government of bias towards Olympic disciplines and sought clarity on their policies as far as getting rewards are concerned. The issue has come to light in the wake of the ministry of sports’ rejection of three Arjuna Award nominations from the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India allegedly because the sport does not figure in the Olympic and Asian Games’ disciplines. BSFI secretary S Balasubramaniam, who had written to the ministry of sports to reconsider their nominations, on Thursday said he’s still waiting a response, as Indian top cueists Pankaj Advani and Sourav Kothari said the non-Olympic sport disciplines “are suffering” because of the discrimination.
Pakistan hockey chief steps down
Karachi: The President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and former Olympian. Akhtar Rasool, has resigned from his post on Thursday but insisted it was his personal decision and no one including the government had told him to step down. “I have decided to step down but I don’t want to make any more comments right now,” he said. It was expected that Rasool who represented Pakistan at two Olympics and four World Cups would resign following the national team’s failure to qualify for the Olympics.