Thursday July 26, 2012
Kaieteur News
Page 21
CFU U17 WCQ competition... Greek triple jumper withdrawn for racist tweet Guyana face BVI; T&T oppose Suriname (Reuters) - Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou was withdrawn from the London Olympics on Wednesday after causing an uproar at home for a tweet slammed as racist, the Greek Olympics team said. “With so many Africans in Greece... the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!!!” she had posted on her Twitter account. The country’s Olympic Committee said she was being pulled from the team because her comments were against the Olympic spirit. “She showed no respect for a basic Olympic value and unfortunately she is out,” Greek mission chief Isidoros Kouvelos told SKAI TV. “She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes.” The 23-year-old athlete, who was scheduled to leave for her first Olympics next week, later apologized for what she said was “an unfortunate and tasteless joke”. “I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone,” Papachristou, a blonde-haired athlete who sports a navel piercing, wrote on her Facebook page in Greek and English. “My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values.” The Athens-born athlete was a long shot for a medal with a season’s best of 14.58 meters, almost half a meter behind the world leaders. Papachristou’s coach attacked the decision to expel her, saying it was too harsh a
Paraskevi Papachristou sanction for someone who had already apologized. “It’s too much, the penalty should not have been so strict,” George Pomaski told Reuters. “This is a big disappointment not only for her but for her family and for myself and anyone involved in the Greek team.” One man has died in a small outbreak of the West Nile virus in Athens this month and at least five other cases have been reported, Greece’s disease control and prevention body said. Papachristou’s withdrawal is a blow for Greece, which was hoping its Olympics team would be a source of pride for an austerity-hit nation deeply hurting from a debt crisis.
Greece is sending 105 competitors in 16 sports to the London Olympics beginning on Friday. “VILE JOKE” Papachristou’s tweet appeared to divide opinions in Greece, which has long struggled with an influx of illegal immigrants from Africa and Asia and has seen a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment amid its economic crisis. Those who pushed for her expulsion included the coruling Democratic Left party. “She can make as many vile ‘jokes’ as she likes on social networking sites when she watches the Olympic Games on TV,” it said in a statement. “But she certainly cannot represent Greece in London.” However, hundreds of fans rushed to Papachristou’s defence, flooding her Facebook page with messages of support. A group titled “We want Voula Papachristou in London” was created within minutes of the announcement and soon counted more than 2,000 fans. “Since when is clever humor a crime?” one fan posted. “Making mistakes is human. Recognizing our mistakes demands character and compassion,” another wrote. Papachristou finished 11th in last month’s European championships in Helsinki with a jump of 13.89 and failed to make the final in the 2011 world championships. In 2009 she qualified for the final of the European indoor championships with the second-longest jump but then failed to register a jump in the final.
PM off to support team Jamaica at Olympics PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller left the island Tuesday afternoon for London, England to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad which will also be attended by a number of other Heads of Government and Heads of State. The Prime Minister’s attendance is also as a result of invitations extended to her by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) to attend the Opening Ceremony. The Prime Minister said there was much significance in the Games in this 50th year of Jamaica’s Independence
and 64 years after McKenley, Wint and others blazed a trail of glory at our first participation in the Olympics in London in 1948. “Once again, all roads lead to London and I am expecting the Jamaican team to perform to the best of its ability and it is only fitting that we give them all the necessary support during the Games,” Simpson Miller said. While in London, she will participate in a welcome flagraising ceremony at the Olympic Village and meet with the Jamaican athletes before participating in the official Opening Ceremony. The Prime Minister returns to the island on Saturday. During her
Following their 1-3 loss to Suriname in their opening game of the Caribbean Football Union Under-17 round of World Cup Qualifying, Guyana’s Junior Jaguars will be seeking to make things right when they face the British Virgin Islands in their second game today at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, T&T. The home team will be riding high following their 23-0 mauling of the BVI in the feature game on Tuesday at the same venue. Guyana will not be taking the BVI for granted despite the fact that they have been hammered by T&T.
They young Guyanese will be going for a win and their first points. They will be looking to Franklyn Parks, Jermaine Fletcher, Kareem Knights, Jason Cromwell, Mark Wrong, Keron Solomon and Paul Miggins to lead their quest for victory. Trinidad and Suriname on the other hand will be going after their second win in as many matches. Given their demolition of the BVI side, the home team will start the game with the advantage but the Surinamese will not ease off the throttle as they too, will fancy their chances of taking another win. Kick off time is 17:00hrs.
North Koreans walk off after flag row The North Korean women’s football team walked off the pitch at their Olympic match in Glasgow after their images were shown on a screen beside a South Korean flag. Kick-off was scheduled for 19:45 BST. The game started over an hour late. North Korea played Colombia in the second of the Olympic matches being held at Glasgow’s Hampden stadium. Games organisers in London have apologised to North Korean officials for the mistake. The error occurred when a video package was being shown ahead of kick-off, with the North Koreans noticing that their faces were being pictured alongside the South
Korean flag. The squad walked off and could only be persuaded to return when the teams were announced again with each player’s face displayed next to the North Korean flag. The match ended with a 2-0 victory to North Korea. Relations between the two Koreas have been tense since the Korean War, which ended in 1953. South Korea will face North Korea in the first round of the men’s Olympic table tennis team event after the pair were drawn against each other on Wednesday. A statement released by London 2012 organisers said: “Today ahead of the women’s football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen
video package instead of the North Korean flag. “Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again.” It was not immediately clear who had produced the video which was shown in the stadium. London 2012 spokesman Andy Mitchell said: “The South Korean flag was shown in the video package on the screen before the kickoff and the North Koreans were naturally very upset about that. “We have made a full apology to the team and the North Korean NOC. A genuine mistake was made for which we apologise.”
Chelsea sign Brazilian midfielder Oscar on five-year deal Chelsea have completed the signing of attacking midfielder Oscar on a fiveyear contract for a fee understood to be in the region of £25m. The Brazilian, who is in his country’s Olympic squad, joins from Internacional having previously played for Sao Paulo. The 20-year-old has been compared to countryman Kaka in Brazil.
Champions League winners Chelsea have already signed Marko Marin and brothers Eden and Thorgan Hazard this summer. Oscar had previously insisted he would wait until after the Olympics before completing his move to Roberto Di Matteo’s side. “All Brazilian players have this dream,” he said after he had helped his country beat Great Britain 2-0 in an
Oscar
Olympics warm-up. “I have, like everybody, the dream to play in Europe and the Premier League.”
Sattaur benefits for NIDECA...
Portia Simpson Miller absence, Dr Omar Davies, Minister of Transport, Works and Housing will be in charge of the Government.
From page 22 on Monday with three matches. The three-day competition will be played from July 28 to August 16, comprising five rounds of matches. The 50 overs-a-side competition will be played from August 19 to 29, comprising seven rounds of matches. An ICC Americas Under20 side will join the Under-19 sides from the six WICB territories- Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands- for the
one-day tournament only. Jamaica start their defence of the three-day title against traditional rivals Trinidad and Tobago in the opening round, which also features hosts Barbados against Windward Islands at Queen’s Park, and Guyana against Leeward Islands at Bayfield. Hosts Barbados will start their defence of the one-day competition against ICC Americas at Queen’s Park, when Jamaica tackle Guyana at Bayfield, and Trinidad and Tobago meet Leewards at
Friendship. The Guyana team reads: Shawn Perriera (Captain), Chanderpaul Hemraj (Vicecaptain), Tajenarine Chanderpaul, Mohan Ramdeen, Shimron Hetmyer, Ricardo Adams, Denesh Mangal (Wicket-keeper), Romario DeJonge, Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai, Mark Tyrell, Kamesh Yadram, Brian Sattaur, Dexter George and Vijay Surujpaul. The coach is Adrian Amsterdam, while Alvin Johnson is the manager.