WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014 SPORTS Club World Cup preparations going ahead as planned, say FIFA

BERNE: Preparations for the Club postponement of that event. CAF World Cup in Morocco in December are due to meet with Moroccan are going ahead as planned and authorities in Rabat next week. have not been affected by the Ebola FIFA said that clubs whose players crisis although the situation is being take part in an international match monitored, FIFA said yesterday. FIFA involving one of the three high-risk also supported the Confederation of countries should carry out a check- African Football’s (CAF) decision to up on their return. avoid playing international matches It added that Liberia, Sierra Leone in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, and Guinea should hold pre-match the hardest-hit countries, as it issued training and meetings on neutral recommendations for teams and grounds and that, before interna- players. tional games, players and officials “According to the World Health from those teams should conduct Organization (WHO), there are cur- self-monitoring, “including daily rently no cases of Ebola reported temperature control”, for any symp- from Morocco and therefore all toms. preparations continue as planned,” Guinea have been staging their said FIFA in a statement. “FIFA is home matches in the Nations Cup monitoring the situation and is in qualifying competition in close contact with the Moroccan Casablanca while Sierra Leone have authorities and constantly updating played in Democratic Republic of its position in accordance with WHO Congo and Cameroon. technical guidance. The venue for their home match “Should the situation change we against Ivory Coast on Nov 14/15 will be in touch with the participat- has not been confirmed. Liberia ing clubs accordingly.” Morocco is were eliminated by Lesotho in a pre- also scheduled to hold the African liminary round tie in June and have Nations Cup in January and not played an international game February, and has asked CAF for a since. —Reuters Germany to bid

CHENNAI: Mumbai FC football player Nicolas Alenka (right) moves the ball near Chennai FC defender Jario Andres Saurez Carvajal during their for 2024 Olympics Indian Super League football match. ñ—AFP FRANKFURT: Germany will bid to deadly attack on Israeli athletes by stage the 2024 Summer Olympics, Palestinian gunmen. with Berlin and Hamburg vying for the Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Anelka fails to inspire candidacy. The German Olympic Games, misused by Adolf Hitler as a Committee’s board approved unani- propaganda tool for his Nazi regime. mously yesterday to present a bid and Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the will now hear proposals from both Winter Olympics in the same year. as Mumbai loses badly cities before selecting the representa- There have been several unsuccess- tive in March next year. “We are confi- ful bids from Germany. Berlin failed to dent that it will be a big opportunity land the 2000 Summer Olympics in CHENNAI: Former France striker Nicolas Syed Rahim Nabi scored a consolation international career with 14 goals in 69 for one of the cities and a big oppor- Sydney and Leipzig was defeated for Anelka had a forgettable return from suspen- goal for Mumbai, which is placed sixth appearances. tunity for the entire sport,” national the 2012 Games in London. Garmisch- sion when his Mumbai franchise team was among eight teams with three points from The former Arsenal and Real Madrid striker Olympic Committee chairman Alfons Partenkirchen lost the bid for the 1960 drubbed 5-1 by Chennaiyin in the Indian four outings. is among the many veteran stars playing in Hoermann told reporters. Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Super League yesterday. Anelka’s had been banned for performing the league with , Robert “We are also confident that an California while Berchtesgaden missed The 35-year-old Anelka, who sat out the the ‘’ as he celebrated scoring in West Pires, Luis Garcia, and David Trezeguet the Olympic project can be - and will be - out on the 1992 Winter Games which first three matches because of a five-match Brom’s 3-3 draw with West Ham last other top names in the ISL, which is being good for our country,” Hoermann said. was awarded to Albertville, France. ban imposed in England for a racially aggra- December. organized with the hope of drawing in If the bid for the 2024 Olympics in Munich’s planned bid for the 2018 vated goal celebration that led to his exit The gesture involves pointing one crowds for football in a cricket-crazy country unsuccessful, Germany will then likely Winter Olympics was rejected in a from West Bromwich Albion in March, made straightened arm downward while touching of 1.2 billion. The involvement of cricketers bid for the 2028 games. Berlin is the local referendum which was seen as a some early runs down the right, but failed to the shoulder with the opposite hand. It was and Indian movie actors has also created a German capital and Germany’s slap in the face of IOC -which is dent the defense. popularized by French comedian Dieudonne buzz around the tournament that runs till biggest city, while Hamburg is the regarded as corrupt and nontranspar- Colombian striker Stiven Mendoza and M’Bala M’Bala, who has been convicted for Dec. 20. large port city in the north on the Elbe ent by many Germans. The IOC is Brazilian midfielder Elano scored two goals inciting racial hatred and anti-Semitism. Other than Dhoni, retired great Sachin River. expected to pass a set of broad rang- each and Jeje Lalpekhlua netted once for Anelka had also been sent home from the Tendulkar co-owns Kerala Blasters while for- “We have two excellent candidates ing reforms in December that have Chennaiyin, with Indian cricket captain and 2010 World Cup after insulting France coach mer captain Sourav Ganguly and batsman in Berlin and Hamburg,” Hoermann been promoted by its German presi- team co-owner Mahendra Singh Dhoni Raymond Domenech in the dressing room. Virat Kohli have stakes in Atletico de Kolkata said. The final candidate will be picked dent, Thomas Bach.Still, the final watching on in the stands. Anelka refused to apologize and ended his and Goa.—AP on March 21. German bid runs the risk of being There have been no other official rejected by the residents. Both Berlin candidates for the 2024 Olympics until and Hamburg plan referendums, once now, although the United States is it is known which of the two will be among the countries expected to the candidate. The German Olympic lodge a bid. The host will be chosen Committee says that according to its by the International Olympic own polls, a narrow majority was Committee in 2017. Istanbul, Rome, against the Games in Berlin, while the Paris and Doha, Qatar, have been men- project had the support of 53 percent tioned as possible bidders. Germany of the Hamburg population. “We have last hosted the Summer Olympics in to promote the product and convince 1972 in Munich, overshadowed by a the citizens,” Hoermann added. —AP

Tennis star Sabatini statue left empty-handed by vandals

BUENOS AIRES: Perhaps it was meant as such as tennis player Guillermo Vilas and a backhanded compliment. Vandals have basketball player Manu Ginobili. made off with the racket that was Officials are also planning statues of clasped in the hands of a newly unveiled several other sporting stars including statue of Argentine tennis star Gabriela soccer gods and Diego Sabatini in Buenos Aires. Maradona, and the golfer Roberto de The miscreants left the artwork look- Vicenzo. ing rather empty-handed just a few The work by artist Carlos Benavidez weeks after it was made public on the was made with polyester resin and fiber- Rio de la Plata waterfront. glass, then reinforced with various They severed the bronze-colored rack- paints, inks and oils that look like bronze et that was formerly clasped tightly in and protect the statue from the weather. the statue’s hands, leaving Sabatini sans During her 11 years as a pro, Sabatini, racket as she lines up for a backhand now 44, won 27 titles including the US smash. Open, when she beat Steffi Graf in 1990. The statue is located among other She is the only Argentine to have won a tributes to Argentine sporting greats, Grand Slam singles. —AFP SPAIN : British’s Andy Murray returns a ball to Spain’s Tommy Robredo during the ATP Valencia tennis Open in this file photo. —AFP Murray getting that winning feeling back after surgery

PARIS: Andy Murray admitted yesterday that he beneficial for me,” Murray said at Bercy ahead of game. “I still have a chance of getting maybe to is almost back to his best form as he targets his second round against Frenchman Julien four (in the world) between now and the end of more success at the Paris Masters and wrapping Benneteau who is world number 28. the year, which would be very important for the up his place at the World Tour Finals. “I gained a lot of confidence in my body beginning of next year, as well. The British number one, who won his third again from playing this many matches, and then “The only way to do that is also to get to the tournament of the year last Sunday when he also from winning a lot of tough, long, close O2, as well”. The Glasgow-born Murray began to outlasted Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the matches, especially in the finals, match points find his form in Rome when he pushed Rafael longest final of the year at Valencia, has jumped down. Nadal to three sets and qualified for the first of to five in the Race to London rankings. “The one when (David) Ferrer was serving for three straight quarter-finals at Masters tourna- He can seal his place in the English capital for the match (Vienna), as well. So I have been fight- ments in Italy, Toronto and Cincinnati. the seventh straight season by reaching the ing extremely hard in the matches and got some During that spell he also reached the French quarter-finals at Bercy this week. The World Tour good results, so it’s been nice. Open semi-finals where he was again beaten by Finals feature the top eight players in a round- “I mean, you know, right now I’m number five Nadal, who has won nine of the past ten titles at robin format and run at the O2 Arena from in the race and it’s supposed to have been a ter- Roland Garros. November 9-16. rible year for me, so I’m happy with that,” he “I started to feel good about it like in Rome Following his breakthrough Grand Slam tri- added with a wry smile. this year, and then the French Open, Wimbledon, umph at the 2012 US Open and becoming the all the way up to now obviously, and the US first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936 in TOUGH SURGERY Open I clearly physically still had work to do, but 2013, important back surgery followed which “I have come back well from a tough surgery, that wasn’t necessarily that I hadn’t been work- put the brakes on his meteoric rise to the top. and there is still hopefully a couple of tourna- ing hard. Now after playing 20 matches in five weeks, ments left between now and the end of the year “I just needed to get mentally a bit stronger BUENOS AIRES: Composition made with a handout picture taken on October 8, 2014 which included winning the Shenzhen Open where I can try to make more improvements. in those situations again. And physically, you released by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, showing Argentine former and Vienna Open as well as Valencia, he is again “But if not, I’m still very happy, especially with know, I have always felt when I feel strongly that tennis champion Gabriela Sabatini (left) and Buenos Aires’ Mayor Mauricio Macri feeling fully fit and challenging for the highest the last few weeks. But also a lot of the tennis I proves how I feel mentally. “I think the two are posing in front of a statue depicting Sabatini, on the day of its inauguration along honours in the game. played since really the French Open has been quite closely linked, for me, anyway, and that’s the Costanera Sur’s ‘Walk of Glory’. —AFP “It’s been a long few weeks, but it’s been very good. I have been making improvements in my been a big help the last few months. —AFP