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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Botham and Vaughan mourn England hard man Brian Close LONDON, England (Reuters) - Former England captains Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan have led the tributes to Brian Close after the hard man of cricket died from lung cancer at the age of 84. Yorkshireman Close was the young Botham's first county skipper at Somerset in the 1970s when the great all-rounder burst on to the scene with his good friend, swashbuckling West Indies batsman Viv Richards. "The best captain a young player could ever have wished for! Myself & IVA (Richards) owe you so much," Botham said on his Twitter account yesterday. Close, England's young-
est-ever Test cricketer and the man who had the courage to deliberately fend off bouncers from the fearsome 1976 West Indies pacemen with his chest, died on Sunday. The batting all-rounder made his debut at the age of 18 against New Zealand in 1949 and went on to play 22 Tests, captaining England seven times. "Such a sad day," said Vaughan. "He was a true inspiration to all of us. Thanks Brian for helping me as a kid growing up at Yorkshire. "I once had an lbw problem. Closey, aged 60, came into the nets and batted without pads 'only way, young man, you will sort your problem'."
Flashback: England's Brian Close takes evasive action after a ball from West Indies bowler Michael Holding hit him on the neck in 1976. (PA Sport)
Close's autobiography 'I Don't Bruise Easily' typified his spirit. Another Yorkshireman, former Test umpire Dickie Bird, recounted a familiar tale involving Close's fielding exploits at short leg, before the invention of helmets. "He'd take anybody on, he had no fear whatsoever," said Bird. "He used to field in front of the bat and was hit on the head once, I remember. "The batsman pulled the ball, it hit him on the head and it flew to cover. Somebody dropped it and Brian's first words were, 'have you caught that?'." Michael Holding was a member of the hostile attack that left bruises all over
Close's body when the-then 45-year-old took on the West Indies. "He was someone who was very tough," said Holding. "When they called him back in 1976 he didn't say 'no, I'm an old man I can't do that'. "He was willing to go out there and fight for his country." Close's last Test innings, in the third match of the 1976 series at Manchester, is part of cricketing folklore. He opened the batting with John Edrich and the pair put on 54 against the likes of Holding and Andy Roberts, fending off repeated short balls.
U.S. expects more indictments in soccer probe ‌Swiss freeze assets By Joshua Franklin and Brian Homewood ZURICH, (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have expanded their investigations into corruption in global soccer and expect to file additional criminal charges, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said yesterday, deepening the crisis surrounding the sport's governing body. As part of a separate Swiss investigation, Switzerland's chief prosecutor said his office had seized property and flats in the Swiss Alps in connection with its probe into corruption inside Zurichbased FIFA. The developments are the latest in the worst crisis in FIFA's 111-year history, which erupted with the arrest of seven senior soccer officials and sports marketing executives over corruption accusations in Zurich in May. "What I can say is that separate and apart from the pending indictment, our investigation remains active and ongoing, and has in fact expanded since May," Lynch said at a news conference in Zurich alongside Swiss Attorney-General Michael Lauber. "Based upon that cooperation (with Swiss authorities) and new evidence, we do anticipate pursuing additional charges against individuals
and entities," Lynch said. She added that the global response to the FIFA scandal had sent a clear message: "You are on the wrong side of progress and do a disservice to the integrity of this wonderful sport." Lauber said the Swiss investigation had not yet reached the half-way mark and his office had continued to build up its mountain of seized data. Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has so far gathered around 11 terabytes of electronic data -- up from nine in the OAG's June update -- and 121 different bank accounts have been flagged for suspicious activity. The OAG had said last month it had received 103 suspicious financial activity reports for its investigation. SWISS ALPS ASSETS Lauber also said the OAG had conducted house searches in western Switzerland and seized apartments in the Swiss mountains which could have been used to launder money. "Where proportional and needed, financial assets have been seized, including real estate, for example flats in the Swiss Alps," Lauber said. "At this point I would like to emphasis that investments in real estate can be misused
for the purpose of moneylaundering." However, he said he was surprised at an apparent lack of interest from authorities abroad. "Since we opened our criminal case against unknown persons, almost no foreign jurisdiction has requested mutual legal assistance so far," he said, adding that he did not include the United States in his comment. "One can only speculate why this is and how it is." The United States has indicted nine soccer officials and five executives, charging them with racketeering, money-laundering and wire fraud for orchestrating multi-million dollar bribery schemes over 24 years. Separately, Swiss authorities launched an investigation into whether corruption was a factor in Russia and Qatar's successful bids to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has not been accused of wrongdoing by Swiss or U.S. authorities, but sources have said the FBI is examining his stewardship of the organisation. However, U.S. and European law enforcement have said no criminal charges are currently pending against Blatter, who has denied any wrongdoing. Lynch would not comment on whether Blatter could become a target of the U.S. investigation and whether he would face arrest
if he travelled to the United States or other countries with which the United States has close law enforcement ties. "I'm not going to comment at this time on individu-
als who may or may not be the subject of the next round of arrests," Lynch said. "So therefore I am not able to give you information about Mr Blatter's travel plans."
Blatter has said he would step down as FIFA president after his successor is decided in an extraordinary FIFA congress in February.