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T H I S D AY •WEDNESDAY MAY 18 2016
WEDNESDAYSPORTS
EUROPA FINAL: Why Liverpool Should Fear Sevilla Liverpool will attempt to secure its first major piece of European silverware for 11 years when the Reds take on Sevilla in the Europa League final in Basel, Switzerland, today. Sevilla finished seventh in Spain’s La Liga, 39 points behind champions Barcelona, yet cannot stop winning in the Europa League and is looking to win the trophy for a fifth time since Liverpool’s Champions League win in 2005 - and the third time in a row. But who is its main threat? Why are they so good in this competition? Who is the mastermind behind their Europa League success? Here, BBC take a look at what awaits Jurgen Klopp’s Reds at St Jakob-Park. Sevilla earned a place in this season’s Champions League group stage with a successful defence of their 2014 Europa League triumph - one that ended with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Ukrainian side Dnipro in Warsaw, Poland 12 months ago. A 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach suggested Los Sevillistas could make an impression and advance to the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition. It wasn’t to be, however, as four straight defeats saw them eliminated from Group D, which also contained Manchester City and Juventus, although the thirdplaced did send them back in their favourite tournament. Sevilla have owned the Europa League in recent years, with their back-to-back triumphs in the past two seasons following in the footsteps of consecutive wins in 2006 and 2007. “Everyone connected with
Sevilla thoroughly enjoys taking part in this competition, and I’ve always encouraged everyone to approach it with the passion it deserves,” said boss Unai Emery. Since their first European triumph in 2006, Sevilla have also won the domestic Copa del Rey twice, and will have another chance to lift that trophy when they face Barcelona in the final at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon on 22 May. That’s no accident because Sevilla have fielded some fabulous players in the past decade, including Barcelona pair Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitic, as well as prolific strikers in their prime such as Luis Fabiano, Frederic Kanoute, Alvaro Negredo and Carlos Bacca. The club’s sporting director Monchi has been showered with praise for his ability to repeatedly build high-quality squads packed with ambitious players who are on an upward curve - and the silverware has been fully deserved. Last season it was Carlos Bacca who was Sevilla’s main goal threat. The 29-year-old Colombia international’s departure to AC Milan has seen Kevin Gameiro step up to become the forward the opposition fear most. Half of Sevilla’s 14 Europa League goals this season have come from the former Paris St-Germain player, who has proved influential since moving to Spain three years ago. The 29-year-old France international marked his first season in La Liga with 15 goals and has followed it up with another 24 since. Gameiro’s goalscoring form is excellent, but his biggest asset to the team is his insatiable work rate - and it makes him the kind
Visa Marks Rio2016 Countdown with New Payment Tech In its 30th year as the exclusive payment provider of the Olympic Games, Visa is creating and managing the entire payment system infrastructure and network throughout all venues of the Rio2016 Games in Brazil including stadiums, press centres, Point-of-Sale (POS), the Olympic Village and Olympic Superstores. A press statement from the payment provider said that this year, Visa will implement 4,000 POS terminals across key Olympic venues, as well as 11 ATMs in partnership with Bradesco. Visa also extends the value of its sponsorship to Olympic Games host cities, facilitating the development and advancement of payment infrastructure in those markets.
“This year Visa will introduce acceptance of new technologies and innovation throughout Rio, focusing on new ways to pay including payment wearables and mobile phones – letting fans swipe, tap, dip or click to pay in Rio. “Visa has always stood for universal acceptance and the most secure and fast way to pay across merchants, borders and currencies,” said Executive Vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at Visa Inc. Jim McCarthy. “As we prepare for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Visa is transforming the way fans pay, giving them choice in how they want to pay for anything, anytime and everywhere,” he concluded.
of player who is a real pain for defenders. But it could still be a busy summer for Gameiro because he has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona, who are looking for an experienced striker to offer cover and competition for Luis Suarez. “He has a fantastic turn of pace
to get away from players and he’s very good at getting shots away quickly - a really sharp finisher,” said Emery. “He puts the first line of pressure on the opposition, with his speed and ability in transitions. That’s very positive for the team.” Emery does not always get the credit he deserves. He really
should be regarded as an elite manager considering the success he has enjoyed throughout his career. After starting out by leading lowly Lorca and Almeria to promotion, he guided cashstrapped Valencia to three consecutive third-place finishes in La Liga - and the scale of that
achievement is underlined by how much they have struggled since he departed in 2012. The 44-year-old Spaniard then had a brief and unsuccessful stint with Spartak Moscow before returning to Spain with Sevilla, where he has kept the team in the top half of the league as well as masterminding their cup
A H E A D R I O 2 0 1 6 O LY M P I C S
Up to 31 Athletes Face Ban after Beijing Retests Up to 31 athletes from six sports could be banned from competing at the Rio Games, Olympic chiefs have said. The announcement comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) retested 454 selected doping samples from the 2008 Games in Beijing. The IOC said the retests were conducted using the very latest scientific analysis methods. It also revealed it is awaiting the results of 250 retests from the 2012 Olympics in London. “All these measures are a powerful strike against the cheats we do not allow to win,” IOC president Thomas Bach said. “They show once again that dopers have no place to hide. We keep samples for 10 years so that the cheats know that they can never rest. “By stopping so many doped athletes from participating in Rio, we are showing once more our determination to protect the integrity of the Olympic
L-R: Chairman, Organising Committee, Walk For Life Programme organised by Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Mr. Bala Yesufu; Prince Gbenga Lufadeju, Vice President, Lagos Lawn Tennis Club and Mr. Shina Atilola, Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Sterling Bank Plc at the press conference organised by Sterling Bank for the LLTC Walk For Project
competition.” More than 4,500 tests were carried out at the Beijing Games in 2008 - but just nine athletes were caught cheating. The IOC said the retests were focused on athletes who could potentially take part in Rio. It added 12 affected national Olympic associations would be informed in the coming days. However, the IOC said it would not be revealing the names of athletes who had returned adverse findings until B-samples had been tested and individuals informed. The British Olympic Association said it has not been contacted by the IOC. The organisation also confirmed it is to start retesting samples from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Last week, a whistleblower alleged Russian secret service agents helped to protect drug cheats in Sochi, although the Russian authorities denied the claims. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is now investigating those allegations and yesterday announced it had appointed former Interpol agent and French Gendarmerie major Mathieu Holz to lead the inquiry. The latest measures taken by the IOC come after Russia and Kenya were found to have breached anti-doping rules in recent months. Russia was banned from athletics competition in November after a WADA commission report recommended the sanction. The nation’s athletics federation accepted its ban from international competition, with sports minister Vitaly
Mutko saying this week Russia was “very sorry” and “ashamed” of cheating athletes who were not caught by its anti-doping systems. But he argued not lifting the ban for the Rio Games would be “unfair and disproportionate” and that clean athletes should not be punished. Meanwhile, Kenyan Sports Minister Hassan Wario is confident the nation will not be banned from Rio despite being judged to be non-compliant with the global anti-doping code. WADA has written to Kenya, outlining what it must do to meet the anti-doping code. The IOC said it is funding WADA to carry out intelligencegathering before the Rio Games to make pre-event testing “as efficient and independent as possible”.
Win-Win Situation at Ikoyi Club Tennis Championship It will be a win-win situation at the ongoing Ikoyi Club Tennis Championship which kicked off at the weekend with over 75 participants vying for honours. The championship sponsored by Zenith Bank would see all participants in both the individual and team tennis events meant strictly for members of Ikoyi Club 1938 Tennis Section go home with valuable prizes. According to the Games Captain, Tennis Section of Ikoyi Club 1938, Akeem Mustafa: “Every participant in the competition had been assured of valuable prizes. For taking part in the tournament at all, you are sure of going home with something.” In the team tournament, the players are divided into the
Red and Grey groups, with each group comprising of four teams of seven players. The team names represent Zenith Bank product brands, and there are also the individual events which include the men’s singles A and B, ladies singles, men’s doubles and veteran’s doubles competitions for players aged 60 and 70 years above and super veteran’s singles for players aged 70 years and above. Speaking at a press briefing to herald the competition, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc., Mr. Peter Amamgbo, represented by Bukky Latunji, GM/Group Zonal Head, Ikeja Zone in Zenith Bank, said “the bank is very happy to be in this collaboration for the second
year running, and the bank hopes to make this bigger and more fun next year. The competition is in line with the vision of the bank, which is to encourage a healthy life style through promoting sports such as Tennis.” The Chairman, Tennis Section of Ikoyi Club 1938, Esan Ogunleye revealed that “the Zenith Bank MD/CEO, is an active tennis player and would participating in the championship to add more colour to the tournament”. The championship which is to lasts for one week, is meant to promote inclusiveness as about 75 per cent of the participants will be rewarded with exciting prizes and trophies.