Nepal implementing ‘corrective measures’, says FIFA
BERNE: Nepal’s football association (ANFA) is implementing ‘corrective measures’ amid allegations from its own senior officials about embezzlement of funds, soccer’s governing body FIFA said on Monday. FIFA said the Nepalese FA had been the subject of an ‘unsatisfactory’ external audit in 2012, when ‘unappropriated cash movements’ were identified, and was also targeted by an ethics committee investigation in 2013. Last week, two ANFA vice-presidents asked FIFA ethics investigator Michael Garcia to look into ANFA president Ganesh Thapa and how funds to Nepal from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) were used. The request, via an emailed letter seen by Reuters and dated October 15, came after the country’s public accounts committee ordered an investigation of Thapa, an AFC vice president, over what it said was alleged embezzlement of funds. Thapa has repeatedly denied all allegations, saying he has done nothing wrong. ‘With the ANFA mired in unresolved allegations of impropriety and scandal, we respectfully request that an investigation be immediately launched by the FIFA Ethics Committee Investigatory Chamber to resolve these many concerns and questions,’ said the letter. (Reuters)
Donbass Arena damaged by shelling By Igor Nitsak
KIEV:Shakhtar Donetsk’s Donbass Arena suffered serious blast damage from shelling on Monday despite a ceasefire agreed between the Ukraine government and Russian-backed separatists. Photographs posted on Twitter showed damage to the glass facade of the stadium in eastern Ukraine’s separatist stronghold. ‘As a result of a powerful explosion, the blast wave caused serious damage to the western and eastern parts of the arena,’ Vadyn Gunko, the Arena’s interim executive manager, told the shakhtar.com website. ‘A part of the facade glass crashed, a large area of it with critical damage. The inner facilities also were hit. We are assessing the damage at the moment, blocking the dangerous areas. ‘We are warning the residents of Donetsk not to approach the stadium under any circumstances as it might be unsafe,’ he added. Shakhtar have moved their headquarters from the strife-torn industrial city to Kiev, with home games being played in the western city of Lviv. The 52,000-seat venue, which hosted five matches at Euro 2012 and regularly staged Champions League matches, has suffered minor damage in shelling over the past two months with the north-eastern facade damaged in September. (Reuters)
Champions League absence hurting Man-United: Van Gaal
London:Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal feels his club, which failed to qualify for the Champions League, are suffering due to their absence from the elite European tournament and insisted that his team will only reach higher levels when they will be up against some of the best sides in the world. With rivals Manchester City and Liverpool are preparing for Champions League encounters against CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid, respectively, United instead travel to West Bromwich Albion in search of Premier League points, reports The Daily Telegraph. “I don’t know if there is an advantage (being out of Europe). When you can play the Champions League and also the Europa League, you can compare yourselves as a team with the better players, with a higher level,” van Gaal said. “Maybe in my first year I have more chances to train with my players and that is probably better than all the matches maybe. But at the end, it’s always better to play in the Champions League and all the cups and play all the matches because you can compare yourself with higher level opponents.”(IANS)
U-16 India girls face must-win game against UAE
Dhaka:The Indian women’s Under-16 football team will take on United Arab Emirates in a must-win Group B clash of the AFC Championship qualifying round at the Bangabandhu Stadium here Tuesday. Severely thrashed by Iran, Jordan and Bangladesh in their previous matches, India will now have to win both their matches against the UAE and Jordan and hope Jordan or Bangladesh put a spanner in the works of Iran to stand a chance of topping the group. Chances then are that it will boil down to goal difference and as done by other teams, India will also look to make the most of this fixture to plunder as many as they can and bridge the gap on Jordan who are placed a rung above them in the table. (IANS)