SPORTS 15
Saturday, 20 June, 2015
I’VE NEVER TAKEN DRUGS: MO FARAH FORMER ENGLAND STRIKER KERRY DIXON JAILED FOR NINE MONTHS SPORTS DESK Former Chelsea and England striker Kerry Dixon has been jailed for nine months after being found guilty of a “shocking and sickening” assault. Dixon, who earned eight international caps, denied assaulting a man – who apparently called him “fatso” – at a pub in Luton in May 2014. The 53-year-old was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of the offence last week. Judge Barbara Mensah said the attack was “shocking and sickening to watch”, adding the violence was “disproportionate, unnecessary and completely over the top”. The assault was captured on CCTV cameras at the Nags Head in Dunstable, with the judge saying the footage showed Dixon had started the attack “out of the blue”. “You were not just striking him, knocking him off his bar stool, but continuing to strike him when he was on the ground,” she said. “Then you continued to pummel him on the ground.” Dixon scored 147 goals for Chelsea during a fruitful stint at Stamford Bridge. He also spent time at Oxford United, Reading, Southampton, Luton Town, Millwall, Watford and Doncaster Rovers.
SAMI TO LEAD DOLLAR EAST IN RAMAZAN CRICKET EVENTS
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O Farah has released a statement strenuously denying that he has ever taken performance-enhancing drugs. Farah posted the statement on his Facebook page to protest his innocence after a fortnight that has seen his coach Alberto Salazar and training partner Galen Rupp accused of doping, and in which his own two missed tests ahead of London 2012 have been used to drum up suspicion. “I have never taken performance enhancing drugs in my life and I never will,” Farah said in his statement. “Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative. “I’ve fully explained the only two tests in my career that I have ever missed, which the authorities understood, and there was never any suggestion that these were anything more than simple mistakes. “The last two weeks have been the toughest of my life – with rumours and speculation about me that are completely false – and the impact this has had on my family and friends has left me angry, frustrated and upset. “In particular, the media pressure on my young family and my wife, who is 5 months pregnant, is extremely painful, especially as I’m away training for
some important races. The last two weeks have been the toughest of my life – with rumours and speculation about me that are completely false “As I made clear, I went to Portland to speak to Alberto Salazar and demand
JURGEN KLOPP’S EXIT PUT BORUSSIA DORTMUND IN ‘SHOCK’
KARACHI AGENCIES
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Sami has been named to lead Dollar East cricket team in various Ramazan tournaments. Sami staged a comeback in the recent Twenty20 and ODI series at home against Zimbabwe and was quite successful with his pace bowling. “Besides Sami we are also fielding rising Pakistan wicketkeeperbatsman Mohammad Rizwan and international Faisal Athar and a number of experienced first- class cricketers in our team,” head of sports Zaheer Ahmed said while announcing the squad on Thursday. Dollar East will be taking part in four events including Omar Associates Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival, M.A.Shah Night Trophy, Aga Khan Gymkhana Ramazan Cricket Tournament and Naya Nazimabad Ramadan Cup. SqUAD:Mohammad Sami (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Faisal Athar, Mohammad Rizwan, Khurram Shehzad, Waqas Haroon, Tariq Haroon, Shehzad Azam, Taha Mamsa, Nasir Awais, Amjad Manzoor, Furqan Khalil, Ejaz Ali Shah, Umar Imtiaz, Zeeshan Jamil, Kashif Bhatti, Usman Qadir, Shahrukh Dar.
answers. He reassured me that the claims are false and that he will soon be providing evidence to make that clear. “Until then I will not be commenting further on the allegations. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fans, family, friends
and teammates for all the great support they have provided over the last few days and hope that I will now be allowed to focus on my training and winning medals for my country.” Farah’s denial comes a day after the Daily Mail revealed that Mo Farah had missed two doping tests in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics. On one of those occasions, Farah argued that he had not heard the doorbell at his house in Teddington. However, Friday morning’s edition of The Sun claimed that doping investigators, “rang Mo Farah’s doorbell for an HOUR without reply while the athlete was inside”. The paper quoted the legal director of UK Anti-Doping, Graham Arthur, explaining that to do so is standard practice: “Doping control officers are required to make reasonable efforts to locate the athlete,” he said. “That includes ringing the doorbell every 10-15 minutes or so, knocking and staying there for the full hour, even longer on the off-chance that the athlete is running late or is trying to make it back in time. “A missed test doesn’t mean that somebody has deliberately not opened the door, or has hidden in the bathroom for an hour. If we thought that had happened, we would take action against them for evasion. That carries a straight four-year ban.”
SPORTS DESK Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak has revealed that the entire squad were stunned when Jurgen Klopp quit as manager. Klopp announced his decision to quit in April, following a seven-year stint in which he led the team to two Bundesliga titles, a DFB-Pokal and a
Champions League final. And Langerak admits that he and his fellow players could scarcely believe what they were hearing - not least because Klopp still had three more years on his contract. “It was a shock for everybody, myself included,” he told Perform. “For all the players it was an emotional time. It was an end of an era.
“We had such a successful time together. For all the boys it was a bit of a shame. “He was there for seven years, I was there for five of those and probably the five most successful. We won titles and reached some great times as a team. It was fantastic to be part of that.” Langerak, an Australian international, also paid tribute to how much help he received from Klopp. “He had a massive impact on my career,” he said, “When I came to Germany I was quite young [21]. I knew I was coming to a massive club and it wasn’t going to be easy, but he definitely made the transition smooth for me. Over time I got my chance and played some games under him. “As a person, as a coach, his mentality is brilliant. He’s very charismatic and passionate. You know what you are going to get. If you perform or you give everything you have, he will be happy regardless of the outcome of the game. “If you take his instructions, you will never have problem with him and that is something he told me in my first meeting with him before I signed.”
Sergio Ramos celebrates like Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring in a charity match SPORTS DESK Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark celebration is now so popular even his own team-mates have decided to get in on the act. The Real Madrid man, who usually performs his famous celebration after scoring, was mimicked by team-mate Sergio Ramos during a recent charity game. Ramos is currently working in Cuba as Spain’s UNICEF ambassador to ensure the human rights of millions of children whilst also improving their precarious living conditions. After scoring a goal during a match with children from Old Havana, Ramos jogged away and performed Ronaldo’s celebration much to the delight of the watching crowd.
NEYMAR SITUATION EMBLEMATIC OF HUGE PROBLEMS BRAZIL FACE SPORTS DESK Miguel Delaney argues that Brazil are at huge crossroads having failed their real first challenge since the World Cup. Having shoved Neymar to the ground, Carlos Bacca then shoved it right in his face. “I
believe that, because of the loss, Neymar took bad decisions like kicking the ball and hitting one of my teammates,” the Colombian striker said. “Later, he gave a head-butt to [Jeison] Murillo. I pushed him to warn him not to do it again.” Bacca was effectively saying the Brazil-
ian superstar couldn’t handle his country’s 1-0 defeat to Colombia, and that portrayal of the incident - which saw both the Sevilla striker and Neymar sent off after the whistle - certainly doesn’t describe a player dealing with it all that well. It cuts to the core of a huge problem that this Brazil squad face, both mentally and on the pitch. While noone would ever accuse Neymar of not being able to handle defeat in such a way with Barcelona, the ludicrously disproportionate dependence that the country have on the 23year-old does seem to create undue pressure on him, and bring out an extreme psychological brittleness in an already limited team. It was what happened in the World Cup, as Brazil totally collapsed without their brilliant star. It may well happen here, as Neymar is suspended for the last group game with Venezuela. The scenario alone should keep the sirens sounding. On first taking the Brazil manager’s job again, Dunga had attempted to argue that the 7-1 humiliation at the feet of Germany last summer was a
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“freak”. Yet, while that may be true in terms of the uniquely historic and emotional scale of that event - which is pretty much the only way to describe it - a first-round Copa America elimination to Venezuela would be embarrassing in itself. It would also reflect the reality that a bad defeat to Germany, if not necessarily a 7-1, was not freakish in the slightest. It was coming. Now, Brazil have already lost their first real challenge after that, in losing to Colombia. They are not that great a side right now, and may well fail to reach the last eight of the tournament. Those are the stakes. This is the state of the team. You only have to look at the way so much of the dialogue around the side, as well as the play, is dominated by their number10. “They know the personality of Neymar and they went in search of him,” Dani Alves said of Colombia. “They tried to provoke him and make him nervous.” The problem was that Brazil already looked so nervous, and that was because
Neymar himself couldn’t provoke any properly attacking play. He admitted it himself: “I didn’t play well either. I acknowledge that and take full responsibility on what happened today.” What Neymar really needs is someone else to take responsibility too. With the number-10 failing to fire, Brazil failed to come up with anything more imaginative than just uselessly thumping the ball into the box. Alves attempted to pin the blame elsewhere, taking up his manager’s line by pointing to the referee. “We are used to this in South America - everyone here is against Brazil.” Those words touch on another mental issue with this current side. Brazil have a historical superiority complex, and find it difficult to adjust when notionally weaker countries don’t just roll over, but all of that is underscored by an almost subconscious realisation that they themselves are not up to much without Neymar. They are very much a side at a crossroads, and that is the case in this Copa America.