Mohamed Bin Hammam has launched a scathing attack on FIFA ethics committee deputy chair Petrus Damaseb and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, saying he is confident of coming out unblemished from the bribery allegations designed by Valcke and Blatter, and believes if he was European then he wouldn’t receive the same kind of treatment.

Taking a more aggressive stance in fresh criticism of FIFA, the Qatari, who is appealing a lifetime ban following an investigation into claims that he paid $40,000 cash bungs to Caribbean Football Union members, has published a letter sent to Damaseb on Sunday on his website.

“I am capable enough financially and otherwise to defend myself for years if it is necessary,” he writes.

Bin Hammam, forced to quit the FIFA presidential race in May amid accusations he attempted to buy CFU votes to aid his bid to oust Sepp Blatter, claims the 75-year-old Swiss is using Damaseb “as his pawn in his battle for revenge”, with Valcke also pulling the strings.

Suggesting racist motives for FIFA’s condemnation of him and Caribbean members, he writes: “Were I a European, or were the Caribbean were part of Europe, neither Blatter nor Valcke will dare lay a finger on us; were we Europeans, you would have never been given the opportunity to chair this Ethics Committee panel and slaughter people left and right, as you have done.”

Pledging to clear his name, the Asian Football Confederation chief reiterated that he had never tried to bribe anyone at the CFU meeting in Trinidad on May 10 and 11 where he was accompanied by former CONCACAF president Jack Warner. 

Warner quit FIFA in the summer amid an ethics committee probe into his alleged wrongdoing in the bribery scandal.

“Nobody in this world will believe that Valcke and Blatter are qualified to fight any sort of corruption,” Bin Hammam writes.

“If they are serious about fighting corruption, they should have the courage to volunteer themselves as first subjects of such investigations on the allegations raised against them since years until today,” Bin Hammam writes, a reference to bribery allegations that swirled around Blatter during the 2002 FIFA presidential election contest with African football boss Issa Hayatou.

“Please do not let Blatter use you as his pawn in his battle for revenge. Blatter is immune and is so used to betrayal, conspiracy and wrongdoings but you are not,” he goes on.

Bin Hammam adds: “Have you read Valcke’s threatening letter to the Caribbean Football Union member associations two days after my conviction? [July 25] He clearly indicated to them, either they admit that they had received bribe from Bin Hammam, or they will be punished. He goes on to say that if they admit that they received the bribe, the Ethics Committee will forgive them. 

“Did you or the Ethics Committee decide that? Or is this just another example of him pulling the strings and then later, dictating to you? How have you convicted me first and then now you are asking them to determining whether they have been bribed or not?

Recalling the 2002 FIFA presidential election when Blatter was himself accused of buying votes to see off the challenge of Hayatou, Bin Hammam notes that Damaseb in his role as president of the Namibia FA had voted for Blatter.

“What will be your position if his opponent had won the election, and started a similar witch-hunt questioning and pressurising you with threat of sanctions if you do not admit that you were bribed for voting Blatter,” Bin Hammam writes.

“If your conscience is on vacation, it is time to recall it because enough is really enough!! You should stop Valcke–Blatter damaging people’s reputation and lives. Those people have children and families. Just think what kind of crime you are committing.

“Please stand for the virtues of your profession and for what this noble profession embraces: fairness and justice, not oppression.”

The 62-year-old Qatari is preparing for a drawn-out appeals process.

Two weeks ago, he finally received the FIFA Ethics Committee’s explanation for his ban and promptly launched his appeal to the FIFA Appeals Committee. 

He has said he expects to lose but promises to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Zaka Ashraf will return as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board after his powers were restored by a Pakistan Court

The Islamabad High Court has restored Ashraf to his former position six months after the same court stripped him of the role.

Ashraf was elected as PCB chairman in July on a four-year term, but the IHC ruled the elections were “malafide” and “illegal.”

The Pakistan government appointed Najam Sethi as acting chairman, although his authority was restricted by the IHC and he was instructed to organise a new election.

No elections were forthcoming, forcing the government to create an interim cricket management committee with Sethi acting as chief.

But Ashraf’s appeal has been successful, and the IHC have confirmed that he will take over as PCB chairman with immediate effect and he is now entitled to form his own committee.

“Zaka Ashraf has been reinstated as board chairman with immediate effect by the court and he can take charge from Thursday,” said Ashraf’s legal advisor, Afzal Kundi.

“With this judgment the interim management committee also ceases to exist.”

Ashraf added: “I hope everyone accepts this decision wholeheartedly and we can start working for the betterment of Pakistan cricket. I plan to go to office in two days’ time.”

Eurostar is blaming a travel dip during the run-up to the Olympics and the weak Euro for a 5 per cent fall in sales revenue during the third quarter of 2012 but the company said bookings have ‘bounced back’ since the Games and that it intends to capitalise on the ‘post-Olympic glow’.

The company is also reporting that a £700 million investment in new, faster trains and a refurbishment of the existing fleet is on schedule for completion in 2015.

Eurostar said its trading results, released last week, amounted to a ‘solid performance’. Total passengers for the year so far are 7.4 million, compared with 7.3 million during the same period in 2011.

Passenger numbers were up 4 per cent during the Olympics, compared with 2011, but the number of leisure travellers coming from the continent to London in July was lower than last year. The business market was also hit, because companies advised their employees to steer clear of the capital in the last few weeks before the Games began. These factors, combined with the weakening Euro, meant that quarterly revenue was £188 million compared with £197 million in 2011.

Total sales revenue for the year so far is £612 million compared with £619 million in the same period in 2011, but chief executive Nicolas Petrovic is shrugging off the gap. He said: “We have had an inspiring and rewarding summer bringing athletes and spectators from around the world to the Olympic Games. Whilst many corporate clients and business customers decided to steer clear of London during the Games, we nonetheless delivered a solid performance.

“Looking ahead to the end of the year, the outlook is strong. Bookings have bounced back and we are now seeing a return to more typical travel patterns. With the tremendous boost that London has experienced over the summer we are looking forward to capitalising on the city’s post-Olympic glow.”

Der Vorstand des Ligaverbandes hat sich im Rahmen seiner heutigen Sitzung ausführlich mit dem Thema Torlinien-Technologie und einem möglichen Einsatz im deutschen Profi-Fußball beschäftigt. Dabei wurde zunächst der Bericht einer gemeinsamen Expertengruppe von DFL Deutscher Fußball Liga und Deutschem Fußball-Bund (DFB) besprochen, viagra buy die in den vergangenen Wochen ihre Arbeit aufgenommen hatte. Einstimmig kam der Ligavorstand im Anschluss zu dem Ergebnis, erectile | dass vor einer Entscheidung Gespräche mit möglichen Anbietern sowie dem DFB geführt werden sollen.

Der Vorstand des Ligaverbandes hat sich im Rahmen seiner heutigen Sitzung ausführlich mit dem Thema Torlinien-Technologie und einem möglichen Einsatz im deutschen Profi-Fußball beschäftigt. Dabei wurde zunächst der Bericht einer gemeinsamen Expertengruppe von DFL Deutscher Fußball Liga und Deutschem Fußball-Bund (DFB) besprochen, die in den vergangenen Wochen ihre Arbeit aufgenommen hatte. Einstimmig kam der Ligavorstand im Anschluss zu dem Ergebnis, dass vor einer Entscheidung Gespräche mit möglichen Anbietern sowie dem DFB geführt werden sollen. 

Darüber hinaus soll die Gesamtheit der 36 Vereine und Kapitalgesellschaften des Ligaverbandes im Rahmen der geplanten Mitgliederversammlung am 27. September 2012 in die Entscheidung einbezogen werden. “Bei einer für das Spiel so bedeutenden Angelegenheit geht Gründlichkeit vor Schnelligkeit. Vor diesem Hintergrund gilt es, viele Faktoren im Vorhinein verlässlich zu klären – angefangen von der Genauigkeit der angebotenen Systeme über die Kosten bis zur Frage, ob und in welcher Form die Torlinien-Technologie beispielsweise in den europäischen Wettbewerben und im DFB-Pokal eingesetzt wird”, erklärt Liga-Präsident Dr. Reinhard Rauball.

Soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, has appointed the leading international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media as exclusive sales representative for the distribution of Asian broadcast rights to the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups and all other FIFA Events 2015-2022 following an international tender process.

The agreement covers 26 countries, including China, Hong Kong India, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. The territories of Japan, the whole of Korea and Malaysia/Brunei are not included.

Infront is already a well-established FIFA partner, having been involved in various highly specialised areas of the FIFA World Cup project in part or in whole with success since 1997. Infront currently holds a 50 per-cent stake in Football Media Services (FMS), a joint venture with the Japanese advertising company, Dentsu.

The JV company acts as its exclusive sales representative in key Asian territories with respect to the distribution of all broadcasting rights to the 2010 & 2014 FIFA World Cups and all other FIFA Events
2007-2014. 

Infront will handle the marketing of all television, radio, broadband internet and mobile broadcasting rights to the 2015-2022 FIFA events including the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups™ in 26 Asian territories.

Niclas Ericson, FIFA’s Director TV, said: “Infront offered the best package for this important and very complex project both in financial as well as marketing aspects. We believe that the team will deliver the best possible results for FIFA and help us achieve our distribution and financial objectives in Asia.”

Stephan Herth, Infront’s Executive Director Summer Sports, heading Infront’s international media sales team, added: “We are extremely pleased and excited about our new partnership with FIFA going forward. Infront will provide an excellent solution based on our extensive experience in the marketing of football media rights, as well as, specific knowledge of marketing of such rights in the Asian territories. We will ensure substantial growth for FIFA in these important markets.”

The men’s Champions Trophy that was stripped away from India by the FIH has been awarded to New Zealand where they will host the event in Auckland from 3-11 December.

The FIH statement puts to rest all the speculation that the former hosts would be reinstated after India were banned from staging the tournament due to administration problems in the country which iSportconnect reported a week ago.

What the tournament’s relocation to Auckland also means is that New Zealand, ranked 7 in the world, will replace India, ranked 9, in the Champions Trophy. India was originally allotted a place in the Champions Trophy as the host, but has now been extended an invitation to play as the top-seeded team at the Champions Challenge in November in South Africa.

Leandro Negre, FIH President, said: “It is always tough to move an event out of any country, but I have to say that the silver lining is the bid from New Zealand. New Zealand will put on a first-rate Champions Trophy and has been extremely flexible and professional given the tough circumstances and tight timeline. I know that they will do an excellent job hosting the event.”

New Zealand is honoured to get the opportunity to bring the top men’s hockey event of 2011 to Auckland.

Hilary Poole, Hockey New Zealand chief executive, said: “It is a privilege to be hosting this event. We have been overwhelmed by how quickly our key partners have come together to offer support to ensure this is a truly fantastic event. We have the structure in place and with work already underway, we are confident that we can deliver a world-class event in a short time frame.”

FIH competitions committee chairman Ken Read went to New Zealand for a site visit and came away with a positive impression.

“After seeing the facilities and infrastructure first hand I am very confident that Hockey New Zealand is prepared to host a great event for the athletes and supporters,” Read concluded.

The schedule of the 2011 Men’s Champions Trophy will be released in the upcoming weeks, but it is certain that the dates of December 3-11 will remain fixed.

In addition, a revised schedule for the Champions Challenge in South Africa will also be published. Both events will have eight-team pools in a nine-day tournament.

To see the original new news bulletin of India’s ban click here

The Serie A strike has been postponed after the Italian players’ association and league signed a temporary collective contract, clearing the way for the season to start this weekend.

The new contract is expected to expire in June, whereas usually the deals last three years.

The strike postponed the scheduled start of Serie A the weekend of August 27-28, and both sides wanted to reach an agreement before the second round begins Friday with defending champion AC Milan facing Lazio at the San Siro.

While details were still emerging, the agreement was expected to stipulate that the sides reach a deal over the next 30 days on the last remaining conflict – a clause concerning the rights of players to train with the first team.

Clubs want the clause to state they can force unwanted players to train away from the first team or accept a transfer.

Changes to the government’s austerity package eliminated the other major conflict, a new solidarity tax that would have applied to high-wage earners like top-division footballers.

Both sides were slated to meet with the government later to discuss new stadiums, brand protections and other issues.

The conflict between the players and the league has been ongoing since the last collective contract expired in June 2010.

The players set two strike dates during the first half of last season, both of which were avoided with last-minute verbal agreements.

The players’ association first proposed a one-year temporary contract lasting through June 30 as a last-minute emergency measure to avoid a strike. The clubs rejected the proposal then but accepted it after further review during a league assembly last week.

Tommasi told RAI state radio.:”The most important thing was the will of the league to evaluate our proposal last week,. In the meantime, two things happened: The solidarity tax was erased and the round-table with the government was set up.”

Both sides wanted to get matches in before the Champions League group phase begins next week with Milan opening at defending champion Barcelona, Inter hosting Turkish club Trabzonspor and Napoli visiting Manchester City.

The first round of league matches wiped out by the strike will likely be made up at a later date.