AS China SEASON Starts, FAMOUS Imports Still a Mixed Blessing
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Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016 French soccer HQ raided in Swiss case against Blatter GENEVA: Swiss authorities say evidence cution office said in a statement, which candidate to succeed Blatter as president in Caribbean with former FIFA vice president has been seized in a search at the French detailed a formal request for help from FIFA’s emergency election on Feb 26. The Jack Warner. soccer federation headquarters for their French authorities on Jan 14. payment emerged during a wider investi- Platini has previously said he asked criminal case against former FIFA president Blatter and Platini were both banned gation led by Switzerland’s attorney gener- Blatter for a salary of 1 million Swiss francs Sepp Blatter. The office of Switzerland’s from soccer for six years after an investiga- al, Michael Lauber, of FIFA business. The when approached in 1998 to work for the attorney general on Wednesday said the tion by FIFA’s ethics committee. They are investigation includes suspected money newly-elected president. Blatter said there governing body for French soccer consent- appealing against their sanctions at the laundering in the 2018 and 2022 World was a contract for 300,000 Swiss francs, the ed to the search carried out Tuesday with Court of Arbitration for Sport. Both men Cup bidding contests. same as FIFA’s then secretary general in the cooperation of the French Financial have constantly denied wrongdoing and Platini’s status in the Swiss investigation line with its salary structure, plus a “gentle- Prosecution Office. claimed they had a verbal deal for addition- is “between a witness and an accused per- man’s agreement” to get the rest later. Criminal proceedings were opened al salary that former France great Platini son,” Lauber has said. The case against Swiss law obliged FIFA only to pay the against Blatter last September for suspect- would receive for working as Blatter’s presi- Blatter also involves alleged misappropria- deferred money within five years. It was ed financial mismanagement over a $2 mil- dential adviser from 1999-2002. tion of FIFA funds during his more than 17 not until 2010 that Platini, by then presi- lion payment he approved from FIFA funds years as FIFA president, which formally dent of the governing body for European for Michel Platini in 2011. “Documents ‘Accused person’ ended two weeks ago. He allegedly football and a FIFA vice president, report- were seized in connection with the sus- Before the payment was revealed in arranged an undervalued deal for 2010- edly asked for the balance, and was paid in pected payment,” the Swiss federal prose- September, Platini had been the leading 2014 World Cup broadcast rights for the February 2011. — AP Veteran Pizarro fired up for Bayern return BERLIN: Evergreen Claudio Pizarro is relishing his return to Bayern Munich tomorrow as the 37-year-old cannot stop scoring in Germany’s top flight. The Peru striker is out of contract at Werder Bremen in June, but is enjoying the Indian summer of his career and is Werder’s top scorer this season. He has netted 11 league goals this season, scoring five times in his last three games, including a hat-trick in Werder’s shock 4-1 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen last week. Pizarro had two separate stints at Bayern from 2001-2007 and then 2012-2015. He left at the end of last term, returning to Bremen for the fourth time, after Bayern boss Pep Guardiola deemed him surplus to requirements. “Of course it will be a special game for me against for- mer colleagues at the Allianz Arena,” he said. “I hope we can beat Bayern and, best of all, with a goal from me.” With his 38th birthday approaching in October, Pizarro is to Germany’s top flight what Ryan Giggs was to England’s Premier League. The Welshman retired in 2014, aged 40, having played nearly 700 games for Manchester United, scoring over 100 goals. Pizarro holds the German league records for the most goals (187) and games (405) and has no thoughts of retiring. He even wants to play at the 2018 World Cup in Russia with Peru. While Bayern want to become the first club to win four straight Bundesliga titles, Bremen are just focusing on staying up, as they remain only three points from the rel- egation play-off place. “It is important that we look positively ahead, rather than downwards,” he added. NANJING: Former English Premier League Chelsea’s player Ramires Santos do Nascimento of Brazil waves to Chinese soccer fans as he arrives at Nanjing Lukou International Airport. — AP ‘Too much pressure’ “It’s crucial that we pick up points from game-to-game. “We’re on As china season starts, famous a good run now and if we keep it up, I am confident we won’t slide back towards the bottom.” Bremen have shot up to 13th in the table with back-to-back wins, while Bayern’s lead is now five points after imports still a mixed blessing defeat to Mainz was followed by a crucial draw with Dortmund. Pizarro’s nine goals in the second half of the season means he has scored more times than even Bayern’s star striker Robert BEIJING: After the $300 million splurge on ment of Chinese football, it’s a despicably play, they are not scoring too much. A few of Lewandowski. “We’re slowly getting used to Claudio scoring in every high-profile foreign stars in the preseason bad thing,” the Guangzhou Daily News them are doing good jobs but others are game, without wanting to, of course, put him under too much pres- transfer window, there was one striking sta- reported. Dejan Damjanovic agrees. The struggling. There needs to be improve- sure,” said Bremen captain Clemens Fritz. tistic from the opening round of the Chinese Montenegrin striker was the third-highest ments. They need to improve their young If he needed any extra incentive, his 100 goals for Werder leaves Super League. Of the 16 goals scored, not scorer in the 2015 Chinese Super League players and the youth facilities if they want him just one short of the club’s record of 101, held by current board one could be attributed to a homegrown while playing for Beijing Guoan in a year to be one of the best leagues and national member Marco Bode. “We have nine games left, he’ll do it,” said Chinese player. when only two local forwards finished in the teams in Asia.” Bode. “Perhaps he’ll even manage it in Munich.” — AFP The influx of expensive imports has top 15 marksmen. Australian midfielder Erik Paartalu, who strengthened Chinese Super League clubs “This is the problem,” Damjanovic told spent a season with Chinese Super League and increased attendances at home and the The Associated Press. “In all teams, it is the team Tianjin Teda in 2013, said the issue league’s profile overseas, but has com- foreigners who are making the difference needs to be addressed if Chinese football is pounded concerns about the effects of too and scoring the goals and so clubs are buy- to advance. “The clubs just want a big name many overseas strikers in the domestic com- ing strikers and midfielders to help them to attract crowds and to make their owners petition. achieve their aims.” The problems this cre- look good,” Paartalu said. China “won’t have Brazilians Ramires and Alex Teixeira cost ates for the national team are evident. any success at international level anytime Jiangsu Suning more than $80 million, and soon if it continues because (local forwards) both scored in the first round. Asian champi- Reliance on strikers need to be playing. And there isn’t many on Guangzhou Evergrande paid almost $50 China needs to defeat Qatar on March 29 Chinese playing outside of China.” million to Atletico Madrid for Jackson to have any chance of progressing to the The reliance on foreign strikers has been Martinez, and the Colombian international final round of Asian qualification for the an issue across Asia for some time. Even duly scored for his new team. The closest 2018 World Cup. The country has only Japan and South Korea, the continent’s most there was to a local goal came from appeared at one World Cup, in 2002, when successful countries, struggle to produce Taiwanese international Chen Po-liang. With China lost all three games and failed to score top-class goalscorers. It is perhaps becoming the array of foreign and creative strikers in a single goal. more extreme in China, though. In the 2015 the league, the Chinese attacking talent is “Generally, the national team of China is J-League season, seven of the top 10 scorers being crowded out. having problems because of this,” added were Japanese. In South Korea, half of the “From the perspective of the develop- Damjanovic. “Chinese strikers when they top 10 were Korean. — AP Claudio Pizzaro .