THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015 SPORTS Former FIFA ref slams Premier League officials

LONDON: The standards of some Cup final as well as matches in the who himself was on the receiving end “I was with a group of FIFA referees Hackett said of the referees. “At the Premier League referees were “bor- European Championship and Olympic of a reckless challenge,” he said. from Nigeria who watched with moment, these guys are performing dering on appalling” during matches Games in 1988, said on his blog “You “It is unbelievable that a so-called amazement. Do you think I took joy in well below the level.” over the busy holiday period, accord- Are The Ref” he counted “over 20 top referee should make such a mis- that?” Marriner is one of the five refer- However, PGMOL countered that ing to former FIFA referee Keith major errors” during the Christmas take. “I see standards falling. Over the ees identified by Hackett who should the accuracy of decision-making by Hackett, who has named five referees period. Christmas period, it reached stan- no longer officiate Premier League referees in the Premier League was he claims should be dropped. He cited the “stupid” red card dards that were bordering on matches after the end of this season. currently at an all-time high. Their fig- The organisation that controls the shown to Swansea City’s Wayne appalling.” He continued: “There was a As well as Marriner he named Mike ures say accuracy on major decisions referees, Professional Game Match Routledge at Queens Park Rangers by pretty poor performance from Andre Jones, Lee Mason, Chris Foy and Lee was up to 95 percent from 94.1 per- Officials Limited (PGMOL) has reject- Anthony Taylor on New Year’s Day and Marriner in the Manchester City v Probert, who refereed last season’s FA cent, accuracy on decisions in the ed Hackett’s claims, saying standards which has since been overturned, as Everton game (on Dec. 6). First of all, Cup final, adding that his successor as penalty box stood at 98 percent, and had risen since he stepped down as being of particular concern. “The lat- the failure to spot a challenge that the head of PGMOL, Mike Riley, offsides were now 99 percent accu- head in 2010. est big game decision error was the resulted in Sergio Aguero having to should be replaced. rate, compared to 92 percent when Hackett, who refereed the 1981 FA stupid dismissal of Wayne Routledge, go off, then a non-penalty decision. “You can’t live on your reputation,” Hackett left PGMOL.—Reuters Match-fixing scrutiny for Asian Cup matches

SYDNEY: Fears of match-fixing will lurk in the to Malaysia. No suspicious betting patterns years we ponder if there was anything suspi- background at the Asian Cup as the stain of were detected. cious behind it,” Ferguson said. corruption proves hard to shift despite efforts And in November, Saudi club Al Hilal cried “Highly sophisticated logarithmic models to clean up football. foul over their AFC Champions League final derive most betting markets these days,” he While most attention will focus on the big defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers after a added. “There will always be room for human matches in Australia, games between smaller string of penalty appeals were waved away. adjustment on top of that... but particularly teams will also be under scrutiny for potential in-play, the models will accurately predict manipulation by illicit betting rings. ALARM BELLS what each team’s respective chances are. Swiss-based Sportradar, which has a part- Ferguson, a former head of education at “When markets deviate from this and nership with the Asian Football Confederation bookmakers Betfair who runs the Sport is heavy monetary support continues to force (AFC), will monitor for unusual betting pat- Made for Betting website, said the risk of prices further away from numbers derived terns once the tournament starts tomorrow. match-fixing at the Asian Cup was “fairly low”, from databases of tens of thousands of Smaller teams, where players are usually given the event’s high profile and anti-corrup- matches, alarm bells ring.”—AFP paid less, are considered more vulnerable to tion efforts in Australia. match-fixers who may offer them bribes to But organisers will remain on their guard. throw a match. In September, Sportradar said betting pat- “Any time you have meaningless matches, terns showed a strong likelihood of fixed foot- Matches on TV pool games where the result means nothing, ball matches at the Asian Games. (Local Timings) or teams where the players are poorly reward- Elsewhere, Japan’s coach Javier Aguirre will CHINA: In a file picture taken on February 28, 2014, former Lyon and Marseille boss ed... there is a risk,” betting industry expert appear in a Spanish court in February over Alain Perrin (right) talks to a player as he takes part in a training session for China’s Scott Ferguson told AFP. Match-fixing, along accusations of match-fixing in 2011, when he Spain Copa del Rey national football team. —AFP with doping, is one of the biggest threats to was in charge at Zaragoza. the integrity of sport and is fuelled by a multi- Major scandals have been uncovered in Granada V Sevilla 22:00 billion dollar illegal betting industry. many countries in Asia, including China, beIN SPORTS 3 HD Perrin spices up A crackdown on several fronts has yielded where officials were jailed in a mass clean-up, beIN SPORTS 11 HD results, with scandals uncovered in Australia and South Korea, where a player committed and England and a leading suspect now suicide following revelations of fixing in the K- beIN SPORTS 14 HD China challenge detained for more than a year in Singapore. League. But incidents persist, creating the damag- Monitoring betting is a key weapon in the Friday SYDNEY: China are hoping a young line- tures seven players from Guangzhou ing perception that any unusual results-espe- fight against fixed matches, giving an instant Barcelona V Elche 0:00 up and a new coach will bring a change Evergrande, including their captain and cially in hotspot Asia-have been manipulated. indication of whether a shock result is legiti- beIN SPORTS 2 HD of fortunes as they bid to reach the talisman Zheng Zhi, their only represen- Last month, Vietnamese football officials mate or down to foul play. beIN SPORTS 11 HD raised concerns about their own national “Shock results do actually happen, given a Asian Cup knock-out stages for the first tative aged more than 30. beIN SPORTS 14 HD time in more than a decade. Striker Yang Xu was selected along team after their AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final loss large enough sample size. It’s only in recent The world’s most populous nation is with Gao Lin, whose goals helped one of football’s biggest under-achievers Guangzhou win last year’s Champions but recent success at club level provides League as well as a fourth straight a glimmer of hope for Alain Perrin’s side. domestic title this season. China, with a population of 1.3 billion Perrin’s first game in charge was and ever-expanding financial muscle, China’s final qualifier, a 3-1 loss to Iraq in have mystifyingly stalled since reaching March when Zhang Xizhe’s second-half their first and only World Cup in 2002. penalty was enough to see them squeak They came perilously close to missing through on goal difference. their first Asian Cup in 11 editions, but But China have lost only one of their scraped through on goal difference as 10 friendlies since, a 3-1 defeat to Mali, the best-performing third-placed team and have carved out wins against in the qualifying groups. Macedonia, Kuwait, Paraguay and However, Guangzhou Evergrande Thailand. earned respect last year when they Their task looks challenging but not became China’s first winners of the AFC insurmountable in Group B, where they Champions League, shepherded by will compete with Uzbekistan, three- World Cup-winning coach Marcello time winners Saudi Arabia and North Lippi. Korea for one of two quarter-final slots. Now Perrin, formerly of Lyon and However, China’s exclusively home- Portsmouth, will try to steer China past based squad remain largely untested the group stage for the first time since and 1-1 home draws against Jordan 2004, when they reached the final on and New Zealand suggest they may home soil. struggle to break down solid opposi- The 58-year-old Frenchman arrived in tion. “We are not the favorite, we do February at the helm of a side in flux not have the best chance,” Perrin said, after the sacking of expensively hired ex- when asked about China’s Asian Cup Real Madrid and Spain boss Jose chances. “What I know is that the play- Antonio Camacho. ers are ready to give the best they can... Perrin’s first competitive squad fea- anything is possible.” —AFP UAE hoping for safe hands from Naser

DUBAI: There is no question Majed In 2001, he threw a rock at a linesman Naser has the talent to fill the void of and assaulted the referee during a youth BRAZIL: In a file picture taken on June 21, 2014, Iran’s Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz reacts during the Group F football match. —AFP absent United Arab Emirates captain Ali team match for home town side Fujairah Khaseif at the Asian Cup but can the but that did not prevent Al Wasl stepping notoriously hot-headed goalkeeper keep in to sign him a few seasons later. Keeping Queiroz was his cool in the pressure cooker environ- He was handed a 13-match ban for ment? assaulting a linesman in 2007 and then a The 30-year-old Al Ahli stopper, who is further 17 games in 2012 for slapping an also a policeman, has one of the longest opposing manager on the back of the vital for Iran- Dejagah charge sheets in Asian football. From head at the end of a league match, which head-butting opponents, slapping man- led to the 2007 Gulf Cup winner agers, throwing chairs on the field and MELBOURNE: Retaining master coach Carlos the country as well, for the young players Emirates and Qatar. In a regime pressured by announcing his retirement from the even assaulting a referee, Naser has rou- Queiroz was not only a boon for Iran’s because he is a really good coach and I think political and economic sanctions, Iranian game. He swiftly retracted that prema- tinely masked his goalkeeping talents national soccer team but a coup for the he can help the team a lot. authorities have struggled to find willing ture decision but only two months later, with his failure to keep his temper in game in the Middle Eastern nation, accord- “We had the whole world (watching) at opponents for a team who have played just with former Argentina great and fellow check. Foolish behavior indeed by a man ing to midfielder Ashkan Dejagah. the World Cup and we have a good spirit two matches, a 1-0 win over South Korea and hot-head Diego Maradona as his manag- born on April 1. In spite of the issues, Former Portugal and Real Madrid manag- together. Carlos knows what to do. “He’s Sunday’s 1-0 warmup victory over Gulf er, he head-butted an opponent 10 min- UAE coach Mahdi Ali saw fit to include er Queiroz will guide his under-prepared but worked for a lot of big teams, he’s worked neighbours Iraq. utes into a Gulf Club Champions League Naser in his squad for this month’s Asian highly fancied side into the Asian Cup finals with stars. Other Asian Cup finalists have played six Cup in Australia after a year-long ban for final match and was banned for six in Australia, seeking to harness the team So I’m really proud to be a player for him.”I friendlies. Queiroz lamented in an interview spitting at a referee was overturned in months. spirit that won admiration at the World Cup think it’s the same with the other players, I with Australia’s SBS broadcaster on Tuesday November. A new start came with a shock move last year. think we can learn a lot from him and will that his team, the highest-ranked in the tour- A place in the 23 raised questions for to Al Ahli and he played a handful of some but then skipper and first choice Getting Queiroz to commit was tortuous, continue to.” nament at 51 in the world, was the worst games in their title-winning campaign with the coach declaring his relationship prepared of all the finalists. Khaseif pulled out to complete national last term before earning the surprise service just as the team boarded their with Iranian soccer authorities a “one-sided LACK OF FRIENDLIES Dejagah, 28, who switched from English recall for a third Asian Cup after several marriage” when he announced he would The 61-year-old Queiroz has worked with Championship side Fulham to play in Qatar fight to Australia and Naser was sudden- years out of the international fold. ly first choice. “He promised to abide by step down after the tournament in Brazil. Iran since 2011, turning an outfit short of last year, said it was no exaggeration. “We’ve He is expected to start in their Group our rules and training regimes, and that In September, he put pen to paper to the world class talent into a highly disciplined, played just one friendly game to now,” he C opener against Qatar on Sunday before he will keep out of trouble,” Ali said of applause of most Iranian soccer fans and defensive unit that held Argentina at the said. “This is very important to the teams to Naser’s inclusion. matches against Bahrain and Iran and he declared his team had hopes of winning “a World Cup until an outstanding stoppage have friendly games and have good camps. I “We want to benefit from his presence was relishing yet another second chance. medal” at the Asian Cup. time winner by Lionel Messi. don’t know. I was also surprised. Why just and it’s a chance for him to prove that he “It is a new challenge for me,” the “It was really, really important he re- The delay in his signing cramped Iran’s one friendly game, but it’s like that. is up to the responsibility.” Ali’s is a famil- goalkeeper said. “What had happened signed,” Dejagah, one of the team’s highest- preparations, which have also suffered from “If you see the other teams like Qatar, iar statement echoed by many of Naser’s earlier with my behavior is behind me. I profile players, told Reuters in an interview a lack of friendly matches in the lead-up to Emirates, they’ve had a lot of friendly games, previous coaches as they tried to help am looking forward to give my best for before training in Melbourne. the tournament where they will play Group C I think 16 or something. But the team is him following previous indiscretions. my team and my country.” —Reuters “Not just for us but really important for opponents Bahrain, the United Arab ready, we work hard.”—Reuters