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Blatter condemns racist behaviour by Betis fans

MADRID (AP) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was “sickened” yesterday that supporters of Spanish club Real Betis had racially abused their own player.

TV footage showed Betis fans appearing to make racist gestures and noises at defender Paulo, a Brazilian player who is black, as he left the field after being sent off in a 4-0 loss to city rival Sevilla.

Blatter wrote on Twitter that he was “sickened to learn of ‘fans’ racially abusing a Real Betis player. I condemn their actions.”

Blatter added it was “nonsense to fight racism with fines. This has to be tackled by all competition organisers.”

Betis re-tweeted Blatter’s words a day after it had also condemned the actions by several of its fans on Twitter.

“Real Betis condemns any act of violence or racism which goes against the spirit and values the club has always, and will always, represent with a team that has traditionally included players of various nationalities and ethnicities,” Betis told The Associated Press in a statement. “Real Betis is certain these are isolated chants that do not identify with its principles or fans.

“The club will start an awareness campaign to speak out against violence and racism and will study measures for combating violent and racist conduct in football, especially regarding fans’ behavior. Once these methods are totally defined, they will be made public,” Betis added.

Burkina Faso lose World Cup appeal

PARIS, (AFP) – Burkina Faso’s appeal against their elimination from World Cup qualifying by Algeria has been rejected, FIFA said on Tuesday.

The Burkina Faso football federation (FBF) had claimed Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra was ineligible for the teams’ play-off match in Algiers last week.

Bougherra scored the only goal of the game on November 19, which gave Algeria victory on the away goals rule after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

But FIFA told AFP on Tuesday that: “Burkina Faso had not respected the formal conditions for an appeal” and that “Algeria had not committed any infraction”.

Algerian Football Federation president Mohamed Raouraoua said he was not worried: “We’re calm and serene. We’re at the World Cup and Bougherra was not suspended for the Algeria-Burkina Faso match.”

According to FBF president Sita Sangare, Bougherra picked up a yellow card during the group stage of qualifying against Mali and also went into the book during Burkina Faso’s 3-2 win in the first leg of their play-off, which should have ruled him out of the second leg.

Under-pressure Proteas face must-win Pakistan ODI

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP) — South Africa has slipped suddenly from a resounding 4-1 series win away over Pakistan to the prospect of losing a one-day series at home to Pakistan for the first time.

A 23-run defeat in the opening match of the three-game return contest leaves the inconsistent Proteas under pressure in a must-win second one-dayer today.

Captain AB de Villiers says “it will mean everything to us” to turn around the series against a Pakistan team which has already made history on its short tour by winning its first ODI at Cape Town’s Newlands.

The loss at Newlands on Sunday underlined South Africa’s ongoing struggle for consistency in limited-overs cricket despite it being the top-ranked test team.

Pakistani cricketer Razzaq robbed

LAHORE, Pakistan, (AFP) – Pakistani all-rounder Abdul Razzaq lost his passport, gold and cash when burglars broke into his house in the eastern city of Lahore early yesterday, the player said.

The incident is the latest piece of bad luck for the 33-year-old, who was sent home from Pakistan’s ongoing tour of South Africa after he injured his hamstring just two days before the first Twenty20 last week.

“Robbers broke into my house at around 5:30 am through the washroom window and took away the locker from the room, which had my passport, around 38 ounces of gold and 8,000 dollars and 2,500 pounds,” Razzaq told reporters.

Lahore police said they suspected the thieves had prior information.

Razzaq’s situation was unclear but Pakistani cricketers in the past have been regularly summoned by tax authorities for not filing returns and hiding valuables in their homes.

Earlier this month Razzaq staged a comeback in Pakistan’s Twenty20 team after a gap of one year, but he failed in both T20 matches against South Africa in Dubai.

He has played 46 Tests, 265 one-day and 32 T20 matches for Pakistan in a career spanning over 17 years.

“It’s a big setback for me but police are investigating the matter,” said Razzaq.

Bendtner arrested after causing criminal damage

LONDON (AP) — Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner has been given a formal warning by police after being arrested for causing criminal damage at his apartment outside London.

The Denmark international apologised for the incident on his Instagram account yesterday, saying he was trying to force open a door to his gym after deciding to go for a swim following a night out with family and friends on Saturday.

Bendtner wrote “we thought the door was stuck so we tried to open it and it caused some damage. I apologise for any inconvenience for my neighbours and I have paid in full.”

Hertfordshire Police said a 25-year-old man had been “cautioned for criminal damage and is no longer in custody.”

PACQUIAO: Authorities have seized my bank accounts

MANILA, (AFP) – Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao said yesterday authorities had frozen all his domestic bank accounts over allegations of unpaid taxes from lucrative fights in the United States, leaving him financially paralysed.

“This is harassment,” the former eight-division world champion said in an interview on ABS-CBN television, as he disclosed for the first time the freeze order issued by the Philippines’ Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Scale down on Japan Olympic stadium

TOKYO, (AFP) – Japanese sports officials yesterday bowed to growing criticism that a massive stadium planned for the 2020 Olympics was too big and costly, saying they would shrink the building’s area.

The proposed stadium, designed by London-based Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, is intended to occupy a spot in west Tokyo currently occupied by the national stadium, an area with numerous parks and a large Shinto shrine.

The new 70-metre (230-foot) architectural centrepiece — a futuristic, bike-helmet-shaped stadium — has drawn criticism that it would tower over other structures in the area, which are limited to a 15-metre height restriction, and would be visible all over the Japanese capital.

Yesterday the Japan Sport Council (JSC), which is in charge of running the current and future stadium, announced it would scale back the floor space by one-quarter to 220,000 square metres.

That would cut construction costs to about 180 billion yen ($1.8 billion), Japanese media reported, well down from 300 billion yen for the bigger building. Officials on Tuesday did not release a revised cost estimate.

“While we are still using Zaha Hadid’s design, we now plan to downsize it,” a JSC official told an expert panel which approved the new blueprint.

The reportedly slimmed-down cost is still nearly 40 per cent above the government’s initial estimates for a new stadium.

Officials said the building would meet International Olympic Committee conditions including seats for 80,000 spectators, a retractable roof and movable seats to adjust their configuration for different sporting events.

The height estimates would remain unchanged.

Shane Warne sells Melbourne home

SYDNEY, (AFP) – Australian spin legend Shane Warne has sold his sprawling Melbourne home for around Aus$15 million (US$13.7 million), reports said yesterday, amid speculation he is relocating to Britain.

Warne has been looking to sell the Victorian Italianate mansion, Kilkerran, for more than a year, the Sydney Morning Herald said, so he could be closer to UK-based model and actress partner Liz Hurley.

The trophy five-bedroom Melbourne home had an asking price of Aus$15 million and sold within the past two weeks, the reports said. Agent Jonathan Dixon confirmed the sale but not the price.

Warne bought the house for around Aus$8.55 million in 2009 as a family home with wife Simone and their three children before the couple split in 2010.

Warne and Hurley went through a rough patch in September with widespread reports that their affair was over, but the pair are now believed to be back together.

Munich tops team vote, Aguero 1st in player poll

LONDON (AP) — Bayern Munich’s resounding victory over Borussia Dortmund has given it the top spot in The Associated Press’ global football poll, and Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero is first in the player vote.

City is second in the club rankings with 178 points, well below Bayern’s 205, after thrashing Tottenham 6-0 at home.

Former Dortmund player Mario Goetze gave Munich the lead in the 66th minute after coming off the substitutes’ bench. Arjen Robben and Thomas Mueller sealed the victory with goals in the 85th and 87th minutes as Munich moved seven points ahead of Dortmund.

“Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund leads me to believe no one is going to beat them any time soon,” Tom Timmerman of the St Louis Post-Dispatch said. “They look unstoppable right now, capable of adapting and beating any opponent.”

Goetze is fourth in the player poll with 76 points, five places above Robben, who has 39.

In City’s win, Aguero scored twice.

“Manchester City not only destroyed Tottenham, but they did it with great style. If the league was only played at the Etihad, they would be undefeated,” Alejandro Cisternas of El Mercurio in Chile said. “Aguero is the key man to City’s great performances, and Manuel Pellegrini is not mistaken when he says that he comes behind (Lionel) Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Players’ union seeks urgent Qatar talks

LONDON (AP) — A delegation from the international footballers’ union is going to Qatar to challenge authorities over concerns players’ rights are being abused in the 2022 World Cup host nation.

FIFPro is demanding action is taken to stop players who are in dispute with Qatari clubs from being prevented from leaving the country.

The “kafala” employment system has been thrust back onto the international agenda by the case of French-Algerian player Zahir Belounis. He is under contract at Al-Jaish until 2015, but has been denied the chance to leave Qatar because he is suing the club in order to recover unpaid salary.

FIFPro said Tuesday that its delegation plans to meet Belounis as it tries to “resolve the deplorable situation” during the four-day visit to Qatar from tomorrow.

FIFPro is seeking “urgent talks” with Qatar’s football leadership and organisers of the 2022 World Cup to ask for the “kafala” system to stop applying to footballers and to establish an independent players’ association in a bid to ensure their human rights are respected.

“The World Footballers’ Association will not sit idly by as the rights of our players are being abused,” FIFPro said.

The FIFPro delegation, led by board member Mads Oland, will also include members of the International Trade Union Confederation concerned about the plight of migrant workers in Qatar.