Sports Briefs
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KASHIMAWO Laloko, a former technical director of the Nigerian Football Federation, is very unhappy that Joseph Yobo, captain and defender of the Super Eagles, has been recalled to the national team. Laloko said he did not believe that Yobo would add anything new to the African champions’ squad which will feature at coming the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“What is Yobo coming to do that he has not done. If (Stephen) Keshi puts him in the team, he’ll regret it. The man is old. He has done enough and I think he should go and rest. My answer is no (he should not have called him up)!
“There’s so much pressure on Keshi to take Yobo. Yobo is overspent. Keshi would remember that I was the one who invited Yobo to Malaga to start his career and the year 2000 to date is 14 years,” Laloko said.
The 33-year-old last featured for the Super Eagles at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but later fell out of favour because of his lacklustre performance on the pitch. However, a few good showings for Norwich City, England, where he is on loan from Fenerbahce, Turkey, seemed to have earned him earn a recall.
Schumacher’s Picture Causes Revolt
A GERMAN mineral water company is under fire for promoting a product using Michael Schumacher, seven times Formula One world champion, despite concerns he may not make a full recovery following his skiing accident.
The advert was produced for a March edition of a football referee association in Frankfurt and was printed in January as Schumacher, 45, was fighting for his life in an artificially-induced coma.
The advert even has Schumacher, who faces the possibility of being in a permanent vegetative state for the rest of his life, saying that water gives the consumer “2-1 for your body.”
Hassia, the company which bottles the water, said: “We reacted immediately after the accident, cancelled radio and TV commercials as well as all print and outdoor ads. We could not however replace at short notice the pre-press advertisements.”
Schumacher has been in coma since December 29, last year following a low-speed ski-accident at the French Alpine resort of Meribel. He hit his head on a rock and suffered such severe brain injuries that he was not expected to last the night when he was flown in an emergency helicopter to Grenoble’s University Hospital. Doctors operated to remove blood clots from his brain, but some were left because they were too deeply embedded.
Three weeks ago doctors began slowly easing back on the anesthetic keeping him under in a bid to bring him round and, hopefully, see signs of life.
Barrett Becomes Tennis Hall of Fame
JOHN Barrett, former BBC sport commentator, has become the third British journalist to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Barrett, 82, a former Davis Cup captain, reached the third round of the men’s singles at Wimbledon four times.
He joined the BBC in 1971 and became the corporation’s ‘Voice of Tennis’ until his retirement in 2006. “This accolade could not go to a more deserving gentleman. On behalf of everyone here at BBC Sport, I would like to congratulate John on this achievement. John’s career as the BBC’s ‘Voice of Tennis’ spanned more than four decades and we were privileged to bring his vast knowledge and talent to our coverage of tennis and, in particular, Wimbledon.” Barbara Slater, BBC director of sport, said.
Barrett, a graduate of Cambridge, is only the eighth journalist to be honoured by the organisation in its 60-year history and will be one of five people to be recognised this year. Others in the ‘Class of 2014’ are Lindsay Davenport, former world number one; Chantal Vandierendonck, five-time Paralympic medallist; Nick Bollettieri, a coach and Jane Brown Grimes, a former president of the United States Tennis Association.
Powell Gets April Date
APRIL 10 date has been set for Asafa Powell, former 100m world record holder, to know how long his ban from the sport he will serve for failing drugs test last year.
Ashafa, 31, tested positive for banned stimulant oxilofrine in June 2013 and faces up to a two-year ban if convicted. In final submissions in Kingston, Jamaica, on Wednesday, his legal team appealed for leniency because it was his first offence.
Sherone Simpson, who failed a test at the same event, will receive her verdict on April 8. Both Powell and Simpson, who were provisionally suspended in July, argued for the minimum suspension, on the grounds of minimal fault.
However, Jamaica’s Anti-Doping Commission lawyer argued that they were negligent and had blindly trusted the physical trainer whom both blamed for their positive tests. Chris Xuereb, the trainer, however, denied supplying a supplement known as Epiphany D1, which contained the banned substance.
During an earlier hearing in January, the court heard that Xuereb was also administering Powell’s anti-inflammatory injections and vitamin B12, despite not being certified as a doctor, massage therapist, chiropractor or physiotherapist.
Along with Simpson – a silver medallist in the 4 x 100m relay at the London 2012 Olympics – Powell was among five Jamaicans who tested positive at the Jamaican National Championships in June of last year. At the time, he said checks done by his team “told us the supplements were fit for consumption by professional athletes.”
Powell set a world record of 9.74 seconds in 2007 and won gold in the men’s 4 x 100m relay at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
— Mar. 17, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
Tags: Asafa Powell Barbara Slater Davis Cup Formula One Grenoble's University Hospital International Tennis Hall of Fame Jamaica's Anti-Doping Commission John Barrett Kashimawo Laloko Michael Schumacher Nick Bollettieri Nigerian Football Federation Sherone Simpson Stephen Keshi Super Eagles United States Tennis Association
