SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2015 SPORTS FIFA plunges into new corruption scandal

BERLIN: Already reeling from the accu- mess that FIFA can ill afford with its pres- Adidas, Robert Louis-Dreyfus in order to story, however, with popular daily Bild Both FIFA and South Africa deny any sations surrounding the attribution of ident Sepp Blatter having already been buy the votes of four Asian members of running the title: “Was the 2006 World wrongdoing. American authorities are the 2018 and 2022 World Cup competi- suspended for 90 days due to suspicions FIFA’s 24-strong executive committee. Cup bought?”. also examining previous World Cup tions, FIFA has been plunged into a new a two million Swiss franc ($2 million, 1.8 Germany won the bid to stage the Such a possibility would have a detri- events after another former FIFA official, scandal relating to the 2006 edition. million euros) payment he made to UEFA 2006 World Cup ahead of South Africa mental affect on Germany, the current Chuck Blazer-who, like Warner, has been Although vehemently denied by the counterpart Michel Platini was not by 12 votes to 11, with one abstention. world champions, for whom the 2006 banned for life from football-related German Football Federation (DFB), cor- above board. Spiegel claimed the DFB then trans- tournament was the biggest event in the activities-turned whistle-blower and ruption claims made by Spiegel weekly Platini has also been suspended for ferred 6.7 million euros (the equivalent country since the fall of the Berlin Wall in admitted to accepting bribes from newspaper on Friday would have felt like the same period by FIFA’s independent exchange rate for the borrowed Swiss 1989. But for FIFA, it is yet another blow Morocco and South Africa over the bid- yet another body blow in the annals of ethics committee, as well as the organi- francs at the time) to a FIFA account in to the already waning confidence in an ding process for the 1998 World Cup, world football’s governing body. sation’s secretary general Jerome Valcke. 2005 to reimburse Louis-Dreyfus. organisation that runs the world’s most eventually won by France. The succes- On top of the Swiss investigation into Seven former FIFA officials were The DFB preempted Spiegel’s claims popular sport. sion of scandals prompted FIFA in June the attribution of the 2018 World Cup to arrested by Swiss authorities in May as by issuing its own statement on Friday The 2010 World Cup has not been to decide to suspend the nomination Russia and the 2022 tournament to the United States attempts to have them admitting they had made that last pay- spared suspicion due to a $10 million process for the 2026 World Cup. And Qatar, and the surrounding bribery scan- extradited to face charges of accepting ment to FIFA, but said their internal payment made by South Africa to then until the spate of criminal investigations dal that has seen 14 people arrested by bribes. Spiegel claimed on Friday that investigation had found that “the pay- FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who is come to a head, FIFA will remain in tur- American and Swiss authorities, now the DFB had borrowed 10.3 million Swiss ment was not connected with the currently fighting extradition from his moil. For now, each new and damaging Spiegel have claimed that votes for the francs in 2000 from the now-deceased awarding” of the 2006 World Cup. Trindad and Tobago homeland to the US revelation or accusation is increasingly 2006 edition were bought. It’s another former CEO of German sportswear giant German media have jumped on the to answer corruption charges. met with diminishing surprise.—AFP Ibrahimovic leads PSG past Bastia

PARIS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s second-half pass from the Italian was pounced upon by brace guided Paris Saint-Germain to a 2-0 Gael Danic but the ‘keeper redeemed him- victory at Bastia yesterday as the reigning self by blocking at the feet of the Bastia champions extended their unbeaten start midfielder just before the half-hour. to the campaign. Ibrahimovic had the ball in the back of Ibrahimovic slotted home the opener on the net just after half-time but his effort 72 minutes at the Stade Armand Cesari was correctly ruled out for offside, while after he was set up by Edinson Cavani Bastia ‘keeper Jean-Louis Leca held well despite the Uruguayan being offside in the from a crisply-struck Cavani volley on the build-up. hour. Rabiot then planted a header straight The Swede then netted his second of at Leca following a corner but Paris eventu- the contest seven minutes from time as ally made the breakthrough, albeit in con- Paris registered their fourth straight league troversial circumstances. win and avenged last season’s shock 4-2 Cavani latched on to a clipped ball over defeat in Corsica. the top from Pastore and then showed It was a far from convincing perform- excellent composure as he teed up ance from Laurent Blanc’s men but the Ibrahimovic to slot home from close range, result provisionally moved Paris eight but Bastia were left feeling agrieved as points clear at the top with nearest chal- replays indicated the Uruguayan was in a lengers Angers and Caen in action later on. clear offside position as he broke in behind Goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu made his the defence. The Swede then made the first start of the season in place of the points safe on 83 minutes with his second injured Kevin Trapp, while PSG were also straight brace, having netted both goals in without Blaise Matuidi due to suspension a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Marseille before as well as injured duo Marco Verratti and the international break, as he tucked away David Luiz. Meanwhile, Angel di Maria was a cutback from Serge Aurier. rested ahead of Wednesday’s Champions Former Manchester United defender League clash at home to Real Madrid with Rafael salvaged a 1-1 draw with an 85th- Adrien Rabiot and Benjamin Stambouli minute equaliser for Lyon at ten-man handed starts in central midfield. Monaco on Friday. Mario Pasalic, on loan Javier Pastore’s diving header that from Chelsea, netted his first Ligue 1 goal skipped wide of the post on 20 minutes to put Monaco in front on 39 minutes but represented the visitors’ best chance in a the home side were unable to hold on after SPAIN: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo kicks the ball during a Spanish soccer match between Real Madrid and Levante at the Santiago fairly uneventful first half. Wallace was sent off midway through the Bernabeu stadium yesterday. —AP There was a hairy moment for Sirigu, second half for a horror tackle on Rachid however, on his return to the side as a poor Ghezzal. —AFP Record-breaking Ronaldo eases Real past Levante

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo became Real Madrid’s who earlier this week announced his decision to inside their own half and a neat one-two between all-time leading scorer as Los Blancos moved to the retire from football next month after a brief stint Marcelo and Ronaldo allowed the Real captain in top of La Liga thanks to a 3-0 win over Levante yes- with the New York Cosmos. the absence of the injured Sergio Ramos to fire terday. Ronaldo paraded his record fourth golden boot home. Levante nearly struck back immediately, but Ronaldo struck his 324th goal for the Spanish for being the top scorer in Europe last season to an Navas’s brilliant start to the season continued as he giants in just his 310th game with a fine shot from adoring crowd before kick-off. flew to his left to somehow claw Deyverson’s pow- outside the area after he had set up Marcelo to However, after disappointing performances in erful header to safety. open the scoring for the hosts. draws against Malaga and Atletico Madrid before And within seconds Levante were punished for Jese Rodriguez added a third nine minutes from the international break, the Bernabeu faithful again giving the ball away as Kroos squared for time. A first victory in three league games moves quickly became restless after another slow start Ronaldo to thunder home his 11th goal of the sea- Madrid two points clear of Villarreal at the top, but from their side. son. Madrid briefly threatened to run riot as champions Barcelona can move level with Real Levante have now won just one of their open- Ronaldo should have turned home Bale’s cut-back. should they beat Rayo Vallecano at home late yes- ing eight league matches, but had the first opening However, after Bale had been replaced by Lucas terday. of the game when Roger forced Keylor Navas into a Vazquez at half-time to keep him fresh for Madrid had to name a bench with seven acade- smart save against his old club at the near post. Wednesday’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the my graduates due to the absence of Sergio Ramos, Ronaldo was frustrated moments later when Champions League, another flat second-half dis- Luka Modric and Karim Benzema through injury the referee waved play on after he appeared to be play followed from Benitez’s men. FRANCE: Paris Saint-Germain’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) vies with and coach Rafael Benitez was happy to secure a barged in the back by Simao Mate Junior inside the Navas again had to rescue his side with a smart Bastia’s French midfielder Gael Danic during the L1 football match. —AFP comfortable win in the circumstances. area. Gareth Bale was partnering the Portuguese in stop from Nabil Ghilas and Nacho made a remark- “We had a bit of a handicap and to win 3-0 with attack for the first time in over a month, but the able block to prevent Deyverson pulling a goal some very good phases of the game for me is very Welshman failed to make an impact before being back. Madrid’s greater firepower proved the differ- Celtic return positive,” said the former Liverpool manager. The substituted at half-time as he headed over with his ence once more, though, as substitute Jese round- scale of Ronaldo’s latest record is exemplified by best chance from Toni Kroos’s corner. ed off the scoring as he ghosted past Simao and Matches on TV the fact he has played 431 fewer games for Madrid The opener arrived on 27 minutes when smashed the ball high past the helpless Ruben to the top (Local Timings) than previous record holder and club legend Raul, Levante needlessly gifted possession to Madrid Martinez.—AFP MOTHERWELL: Celtic returned to the summit of the despite missing a English Premier League host of chances in a 1-0 win over Motherwell Newcastle v Norwich City18:00 Bayern make it nine wins in a row at Fir Park yesterday. beIN SPORTS 11 HD Aberdeen’s 2-0 defeat away to Ross County on Friday - their third straight loss in the Spanish League BERLIN: Bayern Munich became the with one eye on Arsenal. after the hour mark and then complet- good start to life in the top half con- league - meant Celtic knew they could Villarreal v Celta 13:00 first team to win their opening nine “This time the performance was ed his hat-trick late on. tinued with a 2-0 victory at Augsburg. leapfrog the Dons at the top of the table if beIN SPORTS 2 HD games of a season yester- enough but we will need to do more Schalke 04 are third, just a point Sandro Wagner and Peter they could avoid defeat to Motherwell. After Sociedad v Atletico 17:00 day as a first-half Thomas Mueller in the coming weeks.” Dortmund behind their Ruhr rivals Dortmund, Niemeyer both netted in the first half some early pressure it was Nadir Ciftci, making beIN SPORTS 2 HD strike proved enough for Pep coach Thomas Tuchel returned to face after struck a stoppage- as Darmstadt climbed into the top his first start in the league for the Hoops since Getafe v Las Palmas 19:15 Guardiola’s side to beat Werder his former club in Mainz and saw time winner to see off Hertha Berlin 2- half of the table and left Augsburg, joining from Dundee United in the summer, beIN SPORTS 2 HD Bremen 1-0. Mueller stole in front of Marco Reus put the visitors in front in 1. Benedikt Hoewedes had earlier who are in this season’s Europa who fired Celtic in front in the 15th minute Deportivo v Bilbao 21:30 Alejandro Galvez to control a Thiago the first half. headed the Royal Blues in front but League, third from bottom. after Kris Commons’ initial effort had been beIN SPORTS 2 HD Alcantara cross at the near post and The Germany star then had a sec- Salomon Kalou’s 73rd-minute header host Gladbach stab past Felix Wiedwald for the only ond-half penalty saved but Henrikh looked set to earn Hertha a share of in late yesterday’s late game before saved. The Glasgow giants then missed a num- Italian Calcio League ber of opportunities to add to their advantage goal of the game, his ninth of the sea- Mkhitaryan made sure of the three the spoils. Meanwhile, Bayer Cologne entertain Hanover 96 and Bologna v Palermo 13:30 while they had two good claims for penalties son, at the Weserstadion as Bayern points late on as Borussia bounced Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw at Ingolstadt go to bottom club VfB beIN SPORTS 3 HD turned down by referee Alan Muir as Mark made more Bundesliga history. back from their 5-1 hiding at the Hamburg and promoted Darmstadt’s today.—AFP Atalanta v Carpi 16:00 That was despite in-form Robert hands of Bayern in their last outing to McGhee’s return as Motherwell manager got beIN SPORTS off to a losing start. Lewandowski, having netted 15 times register a first win in five. Napoli v Fiorentina 16:00 in his previous six games for club and Germany striker Max Kruse scored Victory sends Celtic two points clear of beIN SPORTS 3 HD Aberdeen at the top of the table and gives country, for once failing to score. his first career hat-trick as Wolfsburg Verona v Udinese 16:00 However, the Pole felt he should climbed up to fourth with a dramatic them a morale boost ahead of their trip to beIN SPORTS have had a penalty in the second half 4-2 win at home to Hoffenheim at the Norway to take on Molde in the Europa Genoa v Chievo 16:00 after being taken out by Wiedwald Volkswagen Arena. League on Thursday. beIN SPORTS 9 HD “For 70 minutes it was very satisfying but Frosinone v Sampdoria 16:00 when through on goal, and Mueller’s Dieter Hecking was taking charge we should have scored more goals and we beIN SPORTS 10 HD solitary strike sufficed to condemn of a Bundesliga game for the 300th should have had at least one penalty, maybe Sassuolo v Lazio 16:00 Bremen to a club record-equalling time and saw his side open the scor- two,” Celtic manager Ronny Deila said. beIN SPORTS 1 HD fifth consecutive league defeat. ing with just 41 seconds played when “In the last 20 minutes we should have Inter v Juventus 21:45 The win, their 999th in the Julian Draxler squared for Kruse to been braver on the ball and kept it more so we beIN SPORTS 3 HD Bundesliga, set Bayern up nicely for score his first goal since signing from didn’t have to stress so much.” Motherwell their trip to face Arsenal in the Borussia Moenchengladbach in the manager Mark McGhee thought the result was German Bundesliga Champions League in midweek and summer. about right. “The first half we felt like we were Koln v Hannover 16:30 saw them once again move seven Draxler then crossed for Bas Dost playing with a missing player but there was a beIN SPORTS 4 HD points clear at the top of the table to head in the second goal inside sev- 20 minute spell at the end when we did a lot Stuttgart v Ingolstadt 18:30 from nearest challengers Borussia en minutes but Hoffenheim fought better,” McGhee, in his second spell in charge, beIN SPORTS 4 HD Dortmund, who won 2-0 at Mainz on back, Jeremy Toljan reducing the Friday. deficit before Jonathan Schmid con- said. “We might have nicked something but I French League think them winning 1-0 was just about the But despite the win Guardiola indi- verted at the second attempt to level Marseille v Lorient 15:00 balance of the game.” Celtic made three cated that he was not happy with the matters on 54 minutes. beIN SPORTS 5 HD changes for the match as Ciftci was handed a display by the reigning champions. “It But Kruse, who came off the bench Bordeaux v Montpellier 18:00 rare start up front in place of top scorer Leigh wasn’t easy to find the necessary to score the winner for Germany beIN SPORTS 1 HD spaces. Let’s say we won a difficult against Georgia in Euro 2016 qualify- Griffiths, who could only find a place on the Rennes v Nice 22:00 BREMEN: Bayern’s Jerome Boateng and Bremen’s Melvyn Lorenzenen bench after recovering from an injury picked match,” said Guardiola, who left Brazil ing last weekend, put the Wolves back beIN SPORT 5 HD winger Douglas Costa on the bench in front from a Luiz Gustavo assist just challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match up on international duty.—AFP between Werder Bremen and FC Bayern Munich. —AP