Sindhu, Saina retain positionsin Singapore Open
NEW DELHI: PV Sindhu who reached the semi-finals of the Singapore Open continued to retain her sixth position while Saina Nehwal who crashed out in the quarterfinals remained static at ninth in the latest World Badminton Rankings released on Tuesday. Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, who defeated Sindhu and Saina in the semi-finals and quarter-finals respectively, jumped to second spot after climbing one position up in the rankings. Meanwhile, winner of the Singapore Open, Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying continues to dominate no 1 spot in the women’s singles. In the women’s doubles Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy drop one spot to 23rd position. However, in mixed doubles, there is no change in the rankings of Pranav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy as they remain static at 24th position. (UNI)
FIFA levies life ban onex-Brazilian football coach
RIO DE JANEIRO: Former Brazilian Football Confederation (BFC) president Jose Maria Marin has been given a life ban from all football-related activities for corruption, the sport’s governing body FIFA said on Monday. The 86-year-old was also fined one million Swiss francs (997,000 U.S. dollars) and ordered to forfeit 3.34 million dollars. Marin, who is currently serving a four-year prison term in the United States after being convicted on bribery charges last year, was found guilty by FIFA’s ethics committee of accepting illicit payments in exchange for media and marketing rights. “In its decision, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Marin had breached art. 27 (Bribery) of the FIFA Code of Ethics and, as a result, banned him for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level,” FIFA said in a statement. Marin’s predecessor as CBF president, Ricardo Teixeira, and his successor, Marco Polo del Nero, were also indicted on corruption charges by U.S. authorities but have not been extradited. (UNI)
La Liga organises training workshop for Indian coaches
NEW DELHI: Spain’s premier football league, LaLiga, conducted a three-day training workshop, ‘Train the Trainer’ for Indian coaches from April 13 to 15 here. In association with India On Track (IOT), 48 LaLiga Football Schools’ India coaches from across the nation were brought here with an objective of increasing their knowledge and showing them the LaLiga systems and methodology. The workshops were conducted by LaLiga Football Schools Technical Director, Javier Cabrera, Spanish coordinator Saul Vazquez with the support of LaLiga Sports Coordinator, Juan Florit. The training was delivered to provide Indian coaches with theoretical and practical understanding of maximising the potential of aspiring footballers in the country. (PTI)
Enrique recovers from tumour
MADRID: Former Liverpool and Newcastle defender Jose Enrique has been given the all-clear by doctors after he was diagnosed with brain tumour last year. Enrique said in June 2018 that he had undergone an operation to remove the tumour and he has since been going through a series of radiotherapy sessions. He, recently informed in a video about his recovery. (PTI)
Visa-free entry in Euro 2020
MOSCOW: The Russian State Duma passed a bill on Tuesday, enabling football fans who intend to visit the country for watching matches of the UEFA Euro 2020 to entry without a visa. The Russian city of St Petersburg will host four Euro 2020 matches along with 11 other cities across Europe. The draft law prepared by the Russian government envisages visa free entrance for holders of Euro 2020 tickets and UEFA volunteers’ entrance based on humanitarian visas. The bill also stipulates that visitors of the UEFA Euro 2020 will be allowed to use free of charge public transport in St Petersburg and in the neighboring Leningrad Region on the day of the matches as well as on the next day. The draft legislation also simplifies procedure of granting working permits for foreigners involved in the activities of UEFA, the Russian Football Union and other relevant organizations.(UNI)
