Prez term limits urged for FIFA
Zurich: FIFA adviser Domenico Scala says imposing term limits on presidents and top officials is needed to change soccer's governing body. Scala published his reform proposals on Thursday in a rare show of FIFA transparency, saying a limit of three four-year mandates will help curb problems caused by people who "stayed too long in key positions." Scala says the limit "cuts those relationships and political dependencies that go with too-long terms of office." Sepp Blatter was FIFA president for 17 years before winning the elections and then resigning a week later. Scala presented his ideas last week to a FIFA-appointed reform group led by veteran Olympic official Francois Carrard.
7 medals for India at CYG
Apia (Samoa): Indians collected seven more medals, including two gold, on the penultimate day of competitions in the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games. Archer Prachi Singh bagged a gold in the girls recurve individual event while the tennis mixed doubles team of Sasikumar Mukund and Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal clinched another yellow metal to boost India's medal tally. Boxer Gourav Solanki (52kg), archer Nishant Kumawat (boys recurve individual) and the squash mixed team of Velavan Senthil Kumar and Harshit Jawanda won silver, while pugilists leichombam Bhimchand Singh (49kg) and Prayag Chauhan (64kg) settled for bronze. India occupy sixth spot in medal tally.
Kohli joins Royals as co-owner
Dubai: Joining the IPTl bandwagon, India Test captain Virat Kohli has become co-owner of the UAE Royals, which will be led by Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro had played for Indian Aces in the inaugural season and this season he will be joined by Goran Ivanisevic, Ana Ivanovic, Daniel Nestor, Kristina Mladenovic and Tomas Berdych. The UAE leg of the league will be held from December 14-16. The league will be from December 2 - 20.
ISl opener tickets available
Chennai: Ticket sales for the Indian Super league opening ceremony scheduled for 3 October, commenced on Thursday. Tickets for the ceremony and the opening match are priced from Rs150 (General category) to Rs2500 (Hospitality) and are available online on BookMyShow. A galaxy of stars are expected to descend upon Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for the opening ceremony followed by opener between Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata.
India beat Malaysia, enter semis
Changzhou (China): Skipper Rani Rampal led from the front and slammed a hat-trick as Indian eves thrashed Malaysia 9-1 in their last league game of the seventh women's Junior Asia Cup here on Thursday. By virtue of this win, India has qualified for the semi-final of the tournament.
‘Trying to apologise to Blake’
New York: Former tennis professional James Blake said Thursday that he wants an apology after a case of mistaken identity led police to handcuff him and take him to the ground. "I'd like an apology," Blake said. "I'd like an explanation for how they conducted themselves because I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions, and police as well." Police Commissioner William Bratton said he'd been trying to reach Blake by phone to apologize but Blake hadn't responded to messages. Blake said he was standing outside Manhattan's Grand Hyatt New York hotel on Wednesday waiting to head to the US Open when he looked up from his cellphone and saw an officer charging him. He said he was body-slammed.
Verma requests reforms
New Delhi: livid at N Srinivasan attending the BCCI working committee meeting, Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma shot a letter to the Justice lodha Committee, requesting the body to recommend administrative reforms in the Cricket Board. "BCCI, even though has been held to be amenable to writ jurisdiction, is functioning more like a private club of few individuals having vested interest," Verma wrote in the letter. The BCCI had last Thursday sought the opinion of the Supreme Court on whether Srinivasan could attend the meetings of the board as the authorised representative of TNCA. Srinivasan had attended the working committee meeting in Kolkata last week, despite being told to stay away from BCCI meetings owing to conflict of interest issues.