The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Tottenham deny surveillance allegations, man arrested Posted: 08 Nov 2011 03:24 PM PST  The Olympic Stadium with the figure 1 mown into the grass to mark one year to go until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, is seen in this undated aerial photograph released in London on July 27, 2011. — Reuters pic "An investigation was launched in August 2011 by officers from the Economic and Specialist Crime Command following allegations by West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company in respect of the unlawful obtaining of information," a Metropolitan Police statement said yesterday. "A 29-year-old man was arrested in connection with the investigation. He was arrested at an address in Sussex on suspicion of fraud offences and has been taken into custody at a Sussex police station, where he remains." West Ham were chosen as the preferred long-term tenants of the £500-million (RM2.49 billion) stadium in February. Tottenham football club, who said a £40-million loan from bid partner Newham Council gave West Ham an unfair economic advantage and made the decision unlawful, dropped their request for a judicial review after the deal to award the stadium to West Ham fell through last month. West Ham and Tottenham became involved in a war of words before and after the initial decision and the OPLC chairwoman Baroness Ford said the 14 board members who made the decision had been put under surveillance by Tottenham. Speaking to the London Assembly, she said: "My board were put under surveillance by Tottenham Hotspur and the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur felt confident enough to say that in the Sunday Times several months ago, that all 14 members of my board were put under surveillance. "The Metropolitan Police are now conducting an investigation into that surveillance. There has been all kinds of behaviour here that I could not have anticipated which, believe me, has not been pleasant in the last 12 months." Tottenham strongly denied any suggestion that it had carried out surveillance on executives at West Ham or the OPLC. "The club did not undertake, or instruct or engage any party to conduct surveillance on any member of the OPLC committee whatsoever and we consider the making of this baseless accusation to be wholly inappropriate and irresponsible," a club statement said. "We totally reject this accusation in the strongest possible terms." — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Soviet great Ivanov dies after long illness Posted: 08 Nov 2011 07:10 AM PST  Former Russian midfielder Valentin Ivanov carries the UEFA soccer championship trophy after the draw for the UEFA Euro 2008 soccer finals in Lucerne in this file photo of December 2, 2007. Ivanov died on November 8, 2011 after a long illness. – Reuters pic The Moscow native played in two World Cups, scoring two goals in 1958 and four in 1962 when he shared top scorer status with, among others, Hungary's Florian Albert who died last week. Ivanov, who would have been 77 in two weeks' time, helped the Soviet Union to their first major international title at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics where they beat Yugoslavia 1-0 in the final. He was also a member of the team that won the first European Championship in 1960 and finished runners-up in 1964, losing to Spain in the final. "He was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He had been sick for a long time," Nikita Siminyan, Ivanov's team mate on the 1956 Olympic team, told reporters. Viktor Ponedelnik, who scored the winning goal in the 1960 final in Paris, where the Soviets again beat Yugoslavia this time by 2-1 in extra time, added: "We played together on the national team for many years. He was more of what you now call a playmaker than a pure centre forward. You always had to be alert on the pitch because he always had some tricks up his sleeve." LEADING SCORER Ivanov, who was awarded the UEFA Order of Merit, spent his entire playing career with Torpedo Moscow, winning two Soviet league titles in 1960 and 1965 and Soviet Cup in 1960. He is still the club's all-time leading scorer with 124 goals. He also scored 26 goals in 60 appearances for the Soviet Union between 1955 and 1965, making him their third highest scorer behind Oleg Blokhin (39 goals) and Oleg Protasov (29). He later coached Torpedo to the league title in 1976. Ivanov was married to famous gymnast Lidiya Kalinina after they first met during the 1956 Melbourne Games, where she also won gold as part of the Soviet women's team. She repeated that feat at the Rome Olympics four years later. Their son, Valentin Ivanov Jr, was a FIFA referee, officiating at the 2006 World Cup in Germany where he was heavily criticised for handing out four red cards in a second-round match between Portugal and Netherlands. While Valentin junior never played in a World Cup, his father certainly left his mark on the tournament. After scoring twice in 1958, he netted four goals in 1962 to finish joint top scorer with Garrincha and Vava of Brazil, Leonel Sanchez of Chile, Drazen Jerkovic of Yugoslavia and Albert of Hungary, whose funeral took place on Sunday, just two days before Valentin's own death. The only one of the six players still alive is Sanchez. – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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