Crucial BCCI meeting today
Mumbai: The BCCI’s all-powerful Working Committee is to meet here on Sunday afternoon at its headquarters to find a pathway to satisfy the latest directive of the Supreme Court in the case related to corruption in last year’s IPL. The apex court, while turning down N Srinivasan’s fresh plea to return to the helm of the Board’s affairs as its elected chief, has ruled that he cannot be given back the BCCI’s reins till he comes out clean in a probe conducted against him and 12 others, including India-capped cricketers, whose names have been mentioned by Justice Mudgal Committee report in the IPL corruption scandal. The apex court also put the ball back in the BCCI’s court for future course of action to probe the damning contents of the Mudgal Committee report on its own through appropriate means. Meanwhile, former BCCI President Shashank Manohar will attend the meeting as a special invitee of the Vidarbha Cricket Association. Manohar is not part of Vidarbha Cricket Association but has been co-opted by them him so that he can represent them at the meeting. Manohar is one of the prominent faces who have called for change in guard in BCCI in the wake of IPL spot and betting scandal. (PTI)
More recognition if I wasn’t African: Toure
MANCHESTER: Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, one of six nominees for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) player of the year award, says he would have more global recognition if he was not from Africa. The talismanic Ivory Coast international believes he and Africans like compatriot Didier Drogba (Galatasaray) and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o (Chelsea) would be more appreciated around the world but for their heritage. City team mate Samir Nasri suggested last month that it would be a different story for Toure if he had been born in Europe or South America. “I think what Samir was saying was definitely true,” Toure told the BBC’s Football Focus TV programme. “To be honest proper recognition has only come from the fans. I don’t want to be hard and I don’t want to be negative but I want to be honest.” Toure has won domestic titles in Ivory Coast, Greece, Spain and England and the 2009 Champions League with Barcelona but said that despite his success he was not as well known as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi or Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. “If you go to any part of Africa now people will say, ‘yes, we know him (Messi)’ but when you come to Europe and say ‘Yaya Toure’ people will say, ‘who is that?’,” he added. “Some will say they know my name but not know my face. But they will know Messi’s face. I am very proud to be African. I want to defend African people and I want to show to the world that African players can be as good as the Europeans and South Americans,” said Toure. (Reuters)
Klopp dismisses Barca rumours
Berlin: Borussia Dortmund’s charismatic coach Jurgen Klopp has poured cold water on rumours linking him to Spanish giants Barcelona with the 46-year-old insisting he is happy where he is. Klopp, whose present contract ties him to the German side until 2018, has enjoyed great success steering Dortmund to back-to-back German league titles in 2011 and 2012, plus last season’s Champions League final. They are are currently a distant second in the Bundesliga. There has been speculation in the Spanish media linking the German to Barcelona and newspaper Marca reported that 31.3 percent of their readers would like to see Klopp coach them. Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino is under pressure after his side failed to reach the Champions League semi-finals, lost in the Spanish Copa del Rey final to bitter rivals Real Madrid and are third in La Liga. Klopp, though, insists he will not be replacing Martino. “No one has to give it any thought,” he told the BVB.de website. “We’re all still a bit in love with this club here and the way we do things.” Klopp still has hopes of lifting some silverware this season as they face German champions Bayern Munich in the German Cup final on May 17. Klopp’s popularity bore unusual fruit on Thursday when bids for an alleged piece of gum he chewed during Dortmund’s 2-0 German Cup semi-final win over Wolfsburg on Tuesday received bids of 150 euros (US$207) on Ebay before the seller abruptly ended the auction. (AFP)