The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Atletico Madrid boss unveils Atletico Kolkata Posted: 07 May 2014 07:37 AM PDT The Spanish club, who are in the final of this year's Champions League and top of La Liga, are co-owners of the Kolkata franchise in the newly-created Indian Super League (ISL) that kicks off in September. "This is an exciting time to be in India," owner Miguel Marin told reporters as the franchise's name was announced at a press conference. "We are very excited at the prospect of creating connection with one of the largest demographics for football globally," Marin added. "Our joint ownership of the club is testimony to our commitment to the Kolkata franchise. Through this franchise, the club will work to improve the game in India." Atletico are the only prominent international club linked to the ISL, which will see eight city-based teams compete against each from mid-September until the end of November. Organised by the All India Football Federation, the league is being backed by India's Reliance Industries, which is controlled by the country's richest man Mukesh Ambani, and by sports management giant IMG. Players' lists have not been revealed but among those who have been mentioned are ageing stars like former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, Argentina's retired marksman Hernan Crespo and ex-Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke. Atletico Madrid will share the ownership of the Kolkata franchise with former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and three city-based businessmen. Other team owners in the league, to be broadcast by the Rupert Murdoch-owned Star TV network, include cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham. The league has already run into fierce opposition from India's football top clubs, who say it will threaten their existence and ruin the existing national I-League domestic competition. Last year similar plans by football officials in West Bengal state – for a franchise-based league featuring fading stars like Argentina's Crespo and Italy's Fabio Cannavaro – failed to take off. India, ranked a lowly 145th in the world and 25th in Asia, has seen a surge in football's popularity due to live television coverage of matches played around the globe, especially from the English Premier League. – AFP, May 7, 2014. |
| Villarreal fined 12,000 euros for racist banana slur Posted: 07 May 2014 07:29 AM PDT The Spanish Royal Football Federation's disciplinary body imposed the fine but stopped short of ordering the club's stadium to be closed, the source who asked not to be named said. International outrage erupted after the banana landed on the pitch near 30-year-old Alves during the league clash at Villareal's Madrigal stadium on April 27. The federation took into account "the praiseworthy and firm decision by the club to deny entry" to the stadium for life to the fan who threw the banana, the source said. Alves won praise for nonchalantly picking up the banana and taking a bite before setting up a goal to help Barcelona come from behind to seal a 2-3 victory. "I have been in Spain 11 years and it has been the same for 11 years. You have to laugh at these backward people," Alves said after the game. The club had already received a warning from the disciplinary body in February over fans' behaviour after a smoke bomb was thrown on the pitch causing the team's stadium to be evacuated. A week after the Alves incident, Pape Diop, a 28-year-old Senegalese player for Liga side Levante, reacted by dancing when he was targeted by monkey chants during his side's 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid. – AFP, May 7, 2014. |
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