Kaboul successfully appeals red card

LONDON, England (AFP) — Tottenham Hotspur defender Younes Kaboul has succeeded with an appeal against his dismissal in his side’s 4-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, the Football Association announced yesterday.

The 28-year-old was shown a straight red card after he was adjudged to have tripped Samuel Eto’o in the second half of the Premier League game, with Eden Hazard scoring the subsequent penalty to put Chelsea 2-0 up.

The Frenchman stood to miss his side’s home game against north London rivals Arsenal this Sunday, but he will now be available to play after the FA rescinded his red card.

“Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today (Tuesday), a claim of wrongful dismissal concerning Tottenham Hotspur’s Younes Kaboul was upheld,” read a statement on the FA website.

“Kaboul was dismissed for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity during the game against Chelsea on March 8, 2014. The player’s one-match suspension has therefore been withdrawn with immediate effect.”

Speaking after the game, Spurs Manager Tim Sherwood was critical of referee Michael Oliver’s decision to penalise Kaboul.

“I appreciate the referees have a very tough job, but that one went against us,” he said.

“I think it’s a soft decision. I think it’s not a penalty. It’s a shame the referee didn’t get the chance to look at it again.”

Jezki wins Champions Hurdle at Cheltenham

CHELTENHAM, England (AP) — Jezki capitalised on a disappointing run by defending champion Hurricane Fly to win the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival yesterday in a race marred by the death of a horse.

Ridden by Barry Geraghty, Jezki (9-1) held off My Tent or Yours (3-1) in a sprint to the line in the signature race on day one of the jumps meeting.

Organisers said Our Conor, who fell as he attempted to jump a hurdle midway through the race, was destroyed because of a serious back injury after receiving extensive treatment by doctors.

Ruby Walsh made up for his failure on Hurricane Fly by riding Quevega (8-11 favourite) to a sixth straight win in the Mares’ Hurdle, making her the first horse in the history of the Cheltenham Festival to win the same race six times.

Walsh held up six fingers as he returned to the paddock to cheers from fans. He started the four-day festival with a victory on Vautour, with his double extending his record number of winners at Cheltenham to 40.

Hurricane Fly was looking to become the sixth horse to win the Champions Hurdle three times, but faded after being close to the leaders throughout and placed fourth.

The New One (10-3) finished third, despite being impeded by Our Conor’s fall.

Degenkolb wins stage 3 on Paris-Nice to take lead

CIRCUIT DE NEVERS MAGNY-COURS, France (AP) — John Degenkolb of Germany dominated a sprint finish to win the third stage of the Paris-Nice race and take the overall lead yesterday.

Degenkolb, who finished the first two stages in second place, was relieved to finally get a victory, although this was never in doubt as he finished more than a bike’s length ahead of Australian rider Matthew Goss after attacking some 200 metres from the line.

“It’s really unbelievable because we tried it two times and now today everything worked out perfectly,” Degenkolb said. “We were not too nervous in the end because there was still space to move up. The other days there was always something missing, and I’m really happy to get the win for my team because they really supported me.”

Spanish rider Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil was third, with all three riders clocking the same time of 4 1/2 hours over 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Toucy to Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, a motor racing circuit in central France, which hosted Formula One races until 2008.

In the overall standings, Degenkolb moved eight seconds clear of overnight leader Nacer Bouhanni of France and 12 seconds ahead of Moreno Hofland of the Netherlands.

Rojas Gil climbed up to fourth overall, 18 seconds back.

Today’s fourth stage promises to be more difficult for Degenkolb and other sprinters, with climbers finally getting a chance to test their legs on a 201.5-kilometre (125-mile) trek from Nevers to Belleville featuring three medium category 3 climbs and one tougher category 2 ascent.

Wasim Akram tips Pakistan among favourites for World Twenty20

KARACHI, Pakistan (AFP) — Former Pakistan captain and legendary paceman Wasim Akram yesterday tipped Pakistan as one of top three favourites to win the World Twenty20 starting in Bangladesh next week.

The fifth edition of the World Twenty20 with 16 teams in competition will be held from March 16 to April 6.

“For me Pakistan, India and the West Indies are top three favourites as they play this format well and have enough experience at their disposal,” Wasim said during a reception here.

India won the inaugural World Twenty20 held in South Africa in 2007, while Pakistan won the second edition held in England two years later.

The West Indies will defend the title they won in Sri Lanka in 2012.

Hosts Bangladesh and Zimbabwe along with six qualifiers will open the first round of the fifth edition of the World Twenty20.

The top two teams from the first round will join the eight seeded teams in the second round which kicks off with a much-awaited India-Pakistan clash in Dhaka on March 21.

Wasim said an Indo-Pak match will be an ideal kick-off to the main round.

“What else do you want as an opening match,” said Wasim, who will be commentating on the event. “Whenever Pakistan and India play, millions watch the game and there are no favourites in that match.”

Wasim said Pakistan must enter the event with a positive frame of mind.

“Pakistan had a very balanced squad and all they need to do is to enter the event with a positive frame of mind,” said Wasim, who criticised Pakistan’s loss in the Asia Cup final to Sri Lanka last week.

Sri Lanka chased down a challenging 261-run target in 46.2 overs with opener Lahiru Thirimanne notching a brilliant 101.

Defending champions Pakistan had posted a tough 260-5 with Fawad Alam hitting a maiden hundred with 114 not out.

This was Sri Lanka’s fifth Asia Cup title, equalling India’s number of triumphs in the event initiated in 1984.

FIFA opens new phase of ticket sales for World Cup

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — FIFA will open a new phase of ticket sales for the World Cup today, with entrances available online on a first-come, first-serve basis.

About 160,000 tickets will be available for all matches except the opener, the final and five others, including two group matches in Manaus, England vs Italy and United States vs Portugal.

Tickets for two second-round matches and the semi-final in Belo Horizonte also won’t be available because of high demand in previous sales phases.

This phase will remain open until April 1, but FIFA said “tickets are expected to sell out fast”.

Of the 3.3 million tickets available for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950, more than 2.3 million have already been allocated.

The last-minute sales phase is expected to start on April 15.

Huge World Cup incentives for Nigerians

ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s footballers could earn more than US$100,000 each if they become the first African team to win the World Cup this year.

The figure pales into insignificance compared to the US$800,000-plus given by Spain to its players who won the 2010 cup, however.

And Nigeria’s players are already angry about unpaid prizes from last year’s African Cup of Nations triumph.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has asked the country’s parliament to approve 1.2 billion-naira (US$7.2 million) for the Super Eagles’ bid to become the first World Cup winners from Africa.

Under the NFF budget, submitted to parliament on Monday, each player would pocket $10,000 for each group stage victory.

There is a US$12,000 bonus for a win in the round of 16, US$15,000 in the quarter-final, US$20,000 in the semi-final and US$30,000 in the final.

In addition, every one of the 23-man squad will get a daily allowance of $200, taking the potential total bonuses and allowances for the 32-day competition to $2.6 million.

The remaining cash will go towards the fees of coaches and backroom staff, accommodation, business class air travel and training camps in the United States and Brazil.

Nigeria have been beset by financial problems, in particular over bonuses.

There have been heated discussions between players and the federation. Coach Stephen Keshi and his assistants have gone months without pay, forcing the government, which funds the NFF, to step in.

Nigeria captain Vincent Enyeama has called on Africa’s richest man, cement, sugar and flour magnate Aliko Dangote, to keep a pledge to pay the team $1 million.

Dangote, who is worth $25 billion according to Forbes magazine, was one of several wealthy Nigerians to promise cash if the team won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

No one was immediately available for comment at Dangote’s office when contacted by AFP. But the tycoon was reported as telling the BBC that he had been waiting for the NFF to make contact.

Last week, the Cross River state government kept a promise to give land in the city of Calabar to each player and official of the triumphant 2013 squad.

US investment firm builds up stake in Man United

LONDON, England (AP) — A US investment firm has bought nearly a quarter of all the shares available to buy in New York-listed English soccer club Manchester United PLC.

The Glazer family in 2012 put 10 per cent of Manchester United for sale in a stock listing. A filing on the Securities and Exchange Commission shows Baron Capital now owns 24 per cent of those shares. That leaves Baron with an overall stake of 2.5 per cent.

On its website, Baron says it “remains positive” on Manchester United’s prospects.

Manchester United is one of the most lucrative brands in the world of sport even though it’s struggling this season following the departure of long-time manager Alex Ferguson.

Manchester United shares were to open for trading late yesterday, having closed Monday at $15.84, their highest level since November.

Brazil says it’s ready to fend off cyber-attacks

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s defence minister says it is prepared to fend off cyber-attacks during the World Cup.

Celso Amorim said yesterday the country’s defence strategy against cyber threats has already been put to test during recent major events, including last year during the pope’s visit and the Confederations Cup.

Amorim said officials were able to avoid major disruptions.

The minister said we “obviously have to be on alert, but we are prepared against any attack that my happen during the World Cup”.

Some hacker groups have already made threats of attacks during football’s showcase event that begins in June, including the group called Anonymous.