GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 26, 2019
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Mo Farah, Haile Gebrselassie Florida matches pulled, as CPL sets September start date in dispute over alleged theft By Stephan Sookram
FOUR-time Olympic champion Mo Farah and Haile Gebrselassie are involved in a dispute over an alleged theft at a hotel belonging to the Ethiopian athletics great in Addis Ababa. The Briton said he had money, a watch and two phones taken from his room, and that Gebrselassie did not help him. “I was just disappointed with Haile,” said 36-yearold Farah. Gebrselassie, 46, responded by accusing Farah of “blackmail” and “defaming” his reputation and business. Farah made the claims at the media preview event of Sunday’s London Marathon. “Just to be honest, it’s Haile who owns the hotel and when you stay for three months in that hotel, it was very disappointing to know that someone who has that hotel and that kind of support couldn’t do nothing,” said Farah, who had been training in Ethiopia. Gebrselassie accuses Farah of ‘disgraceful conduct’. Farah alleged that the items were stolen on March 23. In a statement sent to BBC Sport via his agent, double Olympic 10 000m champion Gebrselassie said he was considering taking legal action against Farah. He said a text message he received from Farah before the London Marathon news conference was an attempt to “blackmail” him. Gebrselassie said guests staying at his hotel are asked to declare if they are carrying more than $350 (£271) in cash, so they could
be given the option of keeping the money in a safe box or giving it to officials for safe-keeping. He claimed that Farah chose to hold on to his money, which meant his hotel was not legally accountable for it. Gebrselassie said the alleged theft was reported and that five of the hotel’s employees were investigated but released without charge, adding that police “found nothing on the reported robbery case”.
lassie’s claims, a spokesperson for Farah said: “Mo is disappointed with this statement and the continued reluctance by the hotel and its owner to take responsibility for this robbery. “Mo disputes all of these claims, which are an effort to distract from the situation, where members of his hotel staff used a room key and stole money and items from Mo Farah’s room (there was no safe as it was faulty, and
FLASHBACK: Mo Farah (left) and Haile Gebrselassie (centre) raced against each other at the 2013 Great North Run.
Gebrselassie, who won four world titles, said Farah was given a 50% discount on his hotel rates, but left without paying his service bill of 81 000 Ethiopian Birr (£2 170). He also said his hotel staff reported “disgraceful conduct” by Farah and his entourage and that he was reported to the police for “attacking a married athlete in the gym”. Gebrselassie said a criminal charge was dropped because of his own mediation role. ‘FARAH WANTS MATTER RESOLVED’ In response to Gebrse-
Mo requested a new one). “Police reports confirm the incident and the hotel admitted responsibility and was in contact with Mo’s legal adviser. “The hotel even offered to pay Mo the amount stolen, only to withdraw the offer when he prematurely left the hotel and moved to other accommodation due to security concerns. “Despite many attempts to discuss this issue privately with Mr Gebrselassie, he did not respond but now that he has, we would welcome him or his legal team getting in touch so that this matter can be resolved.” (BBC Sport)
South Africa sweat on injured Steyn for World Cup CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa face an anxious wait over the fitness of experienced seamer Dale Steyn after a flare-up of an old shoulder injury ruled him out for the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, putting his World Cup prospects in doubt. The 35-year-old Steyn felt discomfort having played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, just his second game of the competition after he was signed as an injury replacement for Australian seamer Nathan Coulter-Nile. “Upon assessment and subsequent investigations, a flare-up of his right shoulder was confirmed,” South Africa team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in a statement yesterday.
“With the World Cup around the corner, it is our priority to get him back to full fitness before the squad departs on May 19.
Dale Steyn
“He will consult with a shoulder specialist upon his return and a recovery plan will
be put in place.” Steyn, arguably his country’s greatest fast bowler, was sidelined from South Africa’s one-day international side for two years with shoulder, hamstring and foot problems before returning in October 2018. He was last week named in a 15-man squad for the World Cup being held in England and Wales, having previously appeared at the tournament in 2011 and 2015. Steyn is viewed as a key part of a three-man pace attack that also includes Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada, this season’s leading wicket-taker in the IPL. South Africa will open their World Cup campaign against England at The Oval on May 30.
FLORIDA will not see action when this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) gets going in September. Chief Operating Officer (COO) Pete Russell told a media conference yesterday that the organisation has opted to pull that country from its 2019 edition, citing a lack of crowd support for some of the games. Instead, all games will be played in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the tournament will commence in September instead of its regular August month styling. According to Russell, “The September month allows us a clean window of action because we want all of our West Indian stars available.” India is set to tour the West Indies in July and August 2019 immediately after the World Cup. Russell also maintained that they will play the same number of games as last year as to not drag the tournament out. As it relates to games for Guyana’s hosting, the COO contended that they are still in negotiations with the government.
He noted that “the hope is that we can get the same number of games. The playoffs that we hosted here last year were a great success”. LESS INTERNATIONAL, MORE LOCAL PLAYERS The 2019 edition of the tournament will also see a reduction in the number of international players, with teams only being allowed five and a total of four in the starting eleven. This, according to Russell, is to keep the West Indian flavour. Instead, the franchises will now choose two players from a West Indies development squad (which will be selected by the West Indies selection panel). At least one of those two players will have to be in the starting eleven at any time. This move is not a direct response to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Ricky Skerritt’s comment about the structure of the CPL. “We (CPL) were lining this up under Mr Dave Cameron. We meet with the CEO of CWI in Barbados on Monday.”
TALLAWAHS TO REMAIN JAMAICAN The Tallawahs will remain a Jamaican franchise according to Russell who told the media, “The Jamaica Tallawahs are firmly rooted in Jamaica.” Some media indicated that the franchise would have been bought by a Florida-based company but that seems to have fallen through. There is also no increase of teams from the 2018 edition with Russell fearful of the tournament becoming too congested and people losing interest. “Sometimes less is more,” he said, adding that, “Some tournaments like the Big Bash run for long periods and we don’t want that.” The CPL COO was also quizzed on the possibility of female involvement in the tournament and responded by saying they are considering it. He stated that they are looking to have an exhibition game before the final, “Maybe a North vs South team or we get senior West Indies female players to choose their team.” He said the CPL is interested in having female competition but that is up to CWI.
Sterling wins ... each year, try and develop not just on the field but off it. “I was just speaking about my personal experiences, I didn’t expect it to get so much attention. “I just wanted to bring it to the attention of my audience on Instagram. It’s been really pleasing to see people listening and trying and do better.” England manager Gareth Southgate presented the award and said Sterling’s actions had made “a massive impact on British society”. “I’ve worked with Raheem now for around five years and to have seen his
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maturity as a person has been lovely to watch,” said Southgate. “This is about his own personal improvement, his improvement on the field and his recognition he can make a difference off the field. That has been increasingly powerful over the last six months and had a massive impact on British society I think.” Sterling suffered allegedly racist abuse from Chelsea fans during City’s 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in December, prompting an Instagram post in which he questioned newspapers’ portrayal of black players. In January, it was revealed
he wrote a letter to a young City fan who was racially abused, urging the supporter “stand tall, don’t let them take away your courage”. He was also racially abused during England’s European Championship qualifier in Montenegro in March, along with international team-mates Danny Rose and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Earlier in April he was hailed as “an iconic British sports star” and “a trailblazer” after being named sportsman of the year at the 2019 British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards. (BBC Sport)
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