THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 SPORTS Kaepernick reveals death threats over anthem protest

SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco 49ers rather than standing. The 28-year-old says threats being acted upon. “It’ll be loud emblematic of the issues Kaepernick is over the next 10 months, while launching quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he is protesting racial inequality and injus- and clear why it happened.” protesting against. “This is a perfect a website to detail how the money is Tuesday he has received death threats tice in America, including the actions of The quarterback said he had anticipat- example of what this is about,” spent. Meanwhile, Kaepernick won backing over his national anthem protest as the law enforcement towards minorities. ed the backlash before he embarked on Kaepernick said. “It will be very telling from 49ers legend Jerry Rice, who had ini- killing of an unarmed black man in Kaepernick told reporters on Tuesday he his protest. “I knew there were other about what happens to the officer that tially criticized the quarterback’s protests. Oklahoma sparked renewed outrage. had received threats from different things that came along with this when I killed him. They shot and killed a man “I support @Kaepernick7 for bring- Kaepernick has staged a silent boycott of avenues since starting his protest. “If first stood up and spoke about it. It’s not and walked around like it wasn’t a human ing awareness for injustice !!!!” Rice “The Star-Spangled Banner” during 49ers something like that were to happen, something I haven’t thought about,” he being,” he added. tweeted. “As Americans we all have games this season, pointedly sitting or you’ve proved my point,” said Kaepernick said. The killing on Friday of 40-year-old Kaepernick meanwhile said he will rights! Im (sic) hoping we all come kneeling during renditions of the song when asked about the possibility of the Terence Crutcher by police in Tulsa was donate $1 million to local communities together#solution.” — AFP Five players who fell out with their club

LONDON: Four-time African player of the year Yaya Toure is out in the cold at his club Manchester City after Pep Guardiola said he would not play until his agent apologised for remarks he made. AFP Sports looks at five other examples of players who either refused to play or were barred by the manager from doing so:

Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United) The former Bayern Munich enforcer has incurred the wrath of Jose Mourinho by turning down a loan move to Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon after being told by his coach that he would not feature for United this season. The 32- year-old is training on his own and rolling up to pick up his wages of a reported £190,000 ($246,000, 220,000 euros) a week.

Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) The adrenalin burn Argentinian international striker played up to his nickname of ‘Apache’ by refusing to warm up to potentially go on as a sub- stitute in the last moments of a Champions League PARIS: France’s Renaud Lavillenie competes in the Pole Vault contest of the “Fly match in September 2011 with Bayern Munich. Manchester City’s Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure. Europe Paris” European Athletics Circuit event in Paris yesterday. — AFP City coach Roberto Mancini said Tevez, then 28, demotion to the reserves. Spurs complained to much he wanted the player to leave just weeks would never play for City again. But a combination the Premier League about United ‘tapping up’ later. Bogarde dug his heels in and stayed for four of his massive wages and the huge fee City were the striker but eventually sold him on years, despite being dropped first to the reserves Fly Europe ‘to take off’ asking meant there were no takers, as Tevez holi- September 1 that season for £30million. and the the youth team. He justified his behav- dayed in Argentina and considered retiring before iour by declaring in his biography: “This world is despite Paris lethargy eventually returning to the first team in March. He Winston Bogarde (Chelsea) about money (he was on a reported £40,000 a was to leave in 2013 for Juventus. Another Dutch international to cause his club week), so when you are offered those millions endless headaches. Signed aged 30 and appar- you take them. Few people will ever earn so PARIS: The Paris leg of the new European for fans to see who reached terminal veloci- Pierre van Hooijdonk (Nottingham Forest) ently without the knowledge of then Blues man- many. I am one of the few fortunates who do. I athletics circuit “Fly Europe” may have ty. In pole vault, the bar isn’t systematically The Dutch international striker’s goals had ager Gianluca Vialli in the 2000/01 season, the may be one of the worst buys in the history of attracted few fans yesterday but organisers raised as those still in the competition try been instrumental in Forest returning to the latter’s successor Claudio Ranieri disliked him so the Premiership but I don’t care.” — AFP believe it is set to take off. to clear it, but competitors pick a height to Premier League at the first time of asking but Despite the presence of French pole attempt without their opponents’ knowl- went on strike at the beginning of the 1998/99 vault star Renaud Lavillenie, the world- edge. Lavillenie delighted the home fans season because he was furious key players had record holder, the Parc Andre-Citroen in by clearing 5.80m for the 115th time in his been let go. He then trained at his old club NAC the west of Paris was hardly buzzing with career. It is such innovative and original Breda and demanded a move which was reject- excitement. “The aim is to see and sell ath- regulations that provide part of the attrac- ed. He yielded only when the club would not letics in a different way,” said Marco Sicari, tion for the series, which takes place on the budge and then manager Dave Bassett felt com- an Italian Athletics Federation official. streets as opposed to in a stadium. pelled to play him. The depth of antipathy at the His is one of five countries-alongside The Fly Europe circuit in Germany took club was reflected when he scored his first goal Britain, France, Germany and Spain- place in Berlin 10 days ago in the shadow on his return and the players congratulated involved in launching the Fly Europe circuit. of the Brandenburg Gate. Scott Gemmill for creating the chance and not “In 2017 the idea is to organise the five The concept for a series of street events him. Forest were relegated and he left, Vitesse stages during the second half of has been going strong in the German capi- Arnhem buying him for £3.5million. September, after the Diamond League,” tal since 2011 but is now being exported added Sicari. Coming so close after the around western Europe. All that was lack- Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur) Olympics and being barred from some of ing from Paris was a stand-out perform- The moody Bulgarian international striker Paris’s more iconic venues due to security ance, but other street events have been tested the patience of the Spurs hierarchy and concerns may have affected the turnout, blessed with startling successes. In manager Juande Ramos as he looked to engi- but those who ventured into the park- Belgrade earlier this month, home favourite neer a multi-million pound ‘dream’ move to intentionally or not-were impressed. Ivana Spanovic beat her long-jump nation- Manchester United at the beginning of the “Seeing them so close, the beauty of their al record with a leap of 7.10m, a month 2008/09 campaign. Appropriately for a player movements, it’s almost like works of art,” after winning Olympic bronze. who learnt English by watching the Godfather said Yannick Bruno, a jogger. That same day, September 11, Kenyan films he awaited an offer Spurs couldn’t tun “You can imagine the effort it takes to 800m world record holder David Rudisha down. He refused to play in the Premier League get to that level.” Men’s pole vault, men’s set a new world best time over 500m of game with Sunderland and was threatened with Manchester United’s German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. sprint and women’s long jump were on the 57.69sec at the Great North CityGames in card in Paris, although with some crucial northern England in front of 20,000 people. differences. The most notable is the sprint Usain Bolt has previously raced the being judged on top speed and not the Great North Run in Manchester while Syrian teenager who swam time it takes to cover a set distance. Wroclaw in Poland hosts a yearly hammer Special speed guns linked to giant competition in which competitors fling the screens were used to give real-time results weight over the river Oder. — AFP at Rio Olympics honoured LONDON: A Syrian teenager who saved fellow This week Mardini, who now lives in ing social change for girls. chiefs plan revamp refugees from drowning and then swam for Germany, told world leaders at the United The social enterprise DoctHERS, which the refugee team at the Rio Olympics was Nations summit on migrants and refugees that brings healthcare to vulnerable girls and of Davis, Fed Cup finals among those honoured at the inaugural Global she wanted to change perceptions of those women in Pakistan, won an award for its cam- Goals Awards in New York. displaced from their homes. paigning work. It matches trained junior LONDON: Tennis chiefs plan to adopt the “Right now we know who are in the Yusra Mardini, 18, who fled Syria with her “This experience (the Olympics) has also female doctors in Pakistan with rural women NFL’s Super Bowl model, by selecting fixed- finals but we don’t know where it is going sister in 2015, received the Girl Award at the given me a voice,” she said. “I want to change and girls via telemedicine. venue cities in advance for their showcase to be.” ceremony on Tuesday night honouring cham- perceptions of refugees. It is not a choice to Aimed at rallying support for the Davis and Fed Cup finals. The switch away Croatia will host Argentina for the 2016 pions for women’s and girls’ rights worldwide. flee your home, and refugees can achieve any- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from one of the finalists hosting the Davis Cup title after winning their respec- Mardini, who had to swim for her life when thing.” Rebeca Gyumi, a lawyer who fights agreed last year to tackle poverty and decider is part of a broader strategy aimed tive semi-finals last weekend. But a host her overloaded boat broke down in the against child marriage in Tanzania as head of inequality by 2030, the Global Goals Awards at developing the men’s and women’s inter- city has yet to be named. Mediterranean on the way to Europe, captured the Msichana Initiative, was also honoured at were judged by a panel comprising the 17 national team events. “This is all part of our “It is really hard to plan and get viewer- headlines when she competed for the 10- the awards, curated by the U.N. children’s SDG advocates who advise UN Secretary- mission to make the appeal of tennis broad ship and fans excited,” Haggerty said of the strong refugee team at the Games in Brazil. agency, UNICEF. She won the award for achiev- General Ban Ki-moon. — Reuters and wide,” International Tennis Federation current format. “If you have a fixed site, President David Haggerty told Reuters. people can begin to plan and look ahead. Other options under consideration “Last year we had a fantastic final in Ghent. include a tweak of formats to reduce the But the reality is, Britain could have sold Puig knocks Kvitova out of Tokyo length of matches, and expanding the top- out the (13,000-capacity) stadium. Belgium tier Fed Cup competition to feature 16 could have sold it out, too.” In the women’s TOKYO: Rio Olympic champion Monica Puig nations. Haggerty, elected president a year competition, Haggerty is eager to intro- beat seventh seed Petra Kvitova 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 ago, hopes to have the new hosting system duce an expanded Fed Cup top group, and with a dogged display to reach the Pan Pacific in place by 2018. introduce a “Final Four” format. Open quarter-finals yesterday. “Davis Cup is 135 nations,” Haggerty “We are going to spend the next nine Puig, who beat Germany’s said. “This is a way to unlock potential rev- months working with players, with our in last month’s Olympic final to capture Puerto enue which will help grassroots tennis.” nations, talking about other possibilities, Rico’s first ever gold medal, recovered from a Speaking at his Roehampton office, in a such as formats. nightmare start in Tokyo to stun Czech Kvitova, a suburban district of south-west London, “Should it be in Davis Cup two out of two-time Wimbledon champion. Haggerty did not name a figure cities three sets, or three out of five? It could be “The balls felt heavy today with the roof would have to come up with to host the looking at a two-day format.” Haggerty said open,” said Puig. “It took some time to adjust to final, but said he thought it would be “sig- one of the prime benefits of the “neutral the conditions but I kept fighting and that’s nificant”. “We’re waiting for cities to distin- final” plan was to unlock more potential what got me through.”In other matches, former guish themselves,” he smiled. “And we’ll see revenue. “This can then be used to grow world number one also what it is. I don’t want to prejudge what it our mission, which is to distribute funds to advanced, the Dane toppling fourth seed Carla might be.” grassroots tennis, especially to nations who Suarez of Spain 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 while Japanese The ITF membership will vote on the need money for development. teenager Naomi Osaka upset Slovakia’s plans next August. In American football’s “Because right now the hosting country Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-1. Super Bowl, the host city is selected well in is the one that gets all the glory, and the Osaka, born of a Japanese mother and advance, usually three-to-five years before money. This would enable us to distribute it Haitian father and who models her game on her the game. Similarly, European soccer’s gov- in a far better way to achieve our mission. idol , insisted she paid no atten- erning body, UEFA, selects the host city for “Our mission is to make tennis broad and tion to rankings after thrashing the world num- the Champions League final two years in wide. We have 700,000 spectators that come ber 12. “I honestly don’t care about that,” said the advance. to Davis and Fed Cup each year... about 3.6 18-year-old tournament wildcard, herself ranked billion people view it on TV, but it’s got to be 66th. “Maybe she didn’t know much about me.” PRIME BENEFITS more than that. “It’s got to be bigger than After her upset win, Osaka revealed that her Haggerty said he hoped to see cities, that, and with a neutral final venue we can mind had wandered during the match to what federations and their sponsors come work with our broadcast partners and make she was going to eat for dinner. Asked to pin- together to bid for 2018. “The most likely it a much bigger show than just two nations point how her game has improved over a break- scenario would be for two-to-three-year that know they’re playing each other. “We out season, Osaka replied cryptically: “I don’t TOKYO: Monica Puig of hits a return against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic terms,” said the American who won a four- can make this into a much more massive know. To be honest, I kept thinking that I’d fancy during their women’s singles second round match at the Toray Pan Pacific Open tennis tourna- year presidential spell in 2015. win for tennis.” — Reuters some grilled meat.” — AFP ment in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP