Ajax ‘sign’ chronically ill eight-year-old fan
AMSTERDAM: With all the cynicism and greed within top flight football, it is always touching when a club goes out of their way to give an ill young fan the opportunity of a lifetime. Ajax have done exactly that with eight-year-old Jay-Jay Willems, who is suffering from IBS abdominal ache, a chronic bowel disorder. The Amsterdammers gave Jay-Jay a well-deserved break from his laborious medical routines with a VIP tour of their stadium, followed by a media “unveiling” in which manager Frank de Boer announced that he had signed the youngster: “I would like to introduce a new player. Jay-Jay is a left forward and during training he got our attention. With his qualities we think he eventually can play with the first team.” “We keep an eye of the stars of the future. Look at this guy from Ajax. Jay-Jay, is a fast, smart, roguish player. He knows a lot about football, you can see that in the way he moves. Pay attention to this little guy – another hero is born at Ajax, Jay-Jay Willems.” After his debut press conference, Jay-Jay put his new teammates through their paces during a session at the club training complex. The experience, set up by The Ajax Foundation and Opkikker, got even better the next day when he warmed up with the team ahead of their home clash with NAC Breda. To cap off a remarkable adventure, Ajax won the match 4-0. (Agencies)
Former Juventus executive has his sentence shortened
Rome: Former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi has successfully appealed to cut his 5-year, 4-month jail sentence in the 2006 Italian match-fixing scandal to 2 years and 4 months. Moggi, yet to serve his term, got the reduction Tuesday because of limitations for one of the charges – sports fraud – expired, reports Xinhua. Moggi’s lawyer Maurilio Prioreschi said they would file another appeal in the Court of Cassation, Italy’s top criminal court and the final level of justice. Former referee designator Pierluigi Pairetto and former Italian football federation vice president Innocenzo Mazzini were each sentenced to two years, while former referees Massimo De Santis and Paolo Bertini got 12 and 10 months, respectively. A judge in Naples ordered a retrial for Paolo Bergamo, another former referee designator. Fiorentina owners Andrea and Diego Della Valle and Lazio president Claudio Lotito were among those cleared. (IANS)
SAI to hire CEOs for national sports federations
New Delhi: Sports Authority of India (SAI), in its bid to professionalise the running of sports bodies in the country, has decided to hire CEOs for the National Sports Federations (NSF). SAI, the nodal agency of the sports ministry, took a number of decisions at its governing body meeting on Tuesday chaired by sports minister Jitendra Singh. One of the steps taken was to appoint CEOs for the affiliated NSFs. It was also agreed that private academies can be run by “eminent sportspersons/agencies at SAI facilities across the country on revenue-sharing basis”. In a statement, SAI said it will promote sports in tribal, Jammu and Kashmir, north east and naxal affected areas to give a boost to indigenous sports by setting up Special Area Games (SAG) centres. It also asked NSFs receiving government financial support to “recognize the contribution of SAI by prominently displaying the SAI logo in all publicity material, official merchandise and sports kits during all domestic and international sporting events”. (PTI)
Olympiakos, Zenit handed partial stadium closures
Undated: Olympiakos and Zenit St Petersburg will play their Champions League round of 16 home games in partially closed stadiums because of racist behaviour by their fans, UEFA said on Wednesday. The Greek side will have to close the lower tier of the north stand of their stadium in the first leg match against Manchester United on February 25 and have also been fined 30,000 euros. UEFA said the sanctions were imposed for ‘the racist conduct of supporters, insufficient organisation, the setting-off of fireworks and the use of a laser’ during the group stage match at home to Anderlecht on December 10. Zenit were sanctioned for incidents during their 4-1 defeat at Austria Vienna and will have to close the area of the stadium which usually houses their ultras when they host Borussia Dortmund, also on February 25. (Agencies)