FOOTBALL | Page 4 NBA | Page 7 Lekhwiya Curry fi res in To Advertise here coach Belmadi Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 51 as Warriors wary of shoot past ‘diffi cult’ Sailiya Wizards 134-121 Friday, February 5, 2016 GOLF Rabia II 26, 1437 AH McIlroy lift eded GULF TIMES by unlikely birdie in Dubai SPORT Page 9 FOCUS CRICKET ICC blow Al-Attiyah to cut down for India, on rallying for Rio push England, ‘We have won it 12 times. I hope to win again because this will be a new record for MERC’ Australia Reuters By Joe Koraith Dubai Doha he boards of India, England and Aus- hen it comes to the pin- tralia will no longer be permanent nacle of sport, the Ol- members of the International Cricket ympics pretty much Council’s decision-making executive rule the roost. Dreams Tcommittee, the governing body said yesterday. Ware made or shattered on a quadren- The ICC approved wide-ranging changes in nial basis, and 2016 is that year when 2014, giving the three powerful nations perma- the Olympics will transform the ef- nent seats in its executive committee and the forts of a select few into stardom. lion’s share of the revenue while also promising And every athlete, worth his or her more funds for everyone. salt, is trying hard to make it to Rio After taking over the reins at the ICC last come August. year, Indian cricket board president Shashank Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah is Manohar fl ayed the imbalance of power and one of them. criticised the 2014 restructuring. His last outing in the Olympics “The board has agreed to carry out a com- had yielded him a bronze medal in plete review of the 2014 resolutions and consti- the men’s skeet event. But since tutional changes,” the governing body said in a London 2012, you could say that al- statement following a board meeting held at its Attiyah has been a little pre-occu- Dubai headquarters yesterday. pied with other things - like winning The ICC received widespread criticism two the WRC2 Championships in 2014 years ago with some suggesting the ‘Big Three’ and the momentous Dakar Rally in would take over the sport at the expense of the 2015. other cricketing nations. In 2016, al-Attiyah fi nished a brave The governing body’s constitution is also to second despite his Mini being slower be completely reviewed and all members asked than the Peugots that dominated the to provide feedback in the next few weeks, it event and won the title. said. But this year, it’s all about the Ol- “No member of the ICC is bigger than the ympics for the rally legend. During other and I am determined to make a meaning- the recently concluded Asian Olym- ful contribution in this regard with support of pic Qualifying Tournament in Delhi, all the members,” Manohar said before adding al-Attiyah could only fi nish 12th in the ICC chairman would not be allowed to hold his event. But Qatar’s Rashid Saleh a position in a member country board in future. Hamad and Vitaliy Dovgun earned Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel at the start of the Qatar International Rally yesterday. The ICC has also reinstated Sri Lanka as a full quota places for Qatar, which means member after the country held elections last that al-Attiyah still has a chance Qatar is hosting a world shooting support, from the Volkswagen group. month to appoint a new organisation to run the to go to Rio. And the 45-year-old is championship in 10 days’ time and I am quite happy to race here in Qatar sport. planning to go ‘all guns blazing’ for that will be the fi rst pit stop for al- again and would like to thank all the Sri Lanka had previously been sanctioned for that spot. Attiyah. “In the next 10 days we have sponsors,” said al-Attiyah. government interference. “I won’t be taking part in WRC2 a Grand Prix in Qatar. There will be From “Dakar to Delhi to Doha”, or in any cross country rally. Except 300 shooters participating. This is has been a tough ask even for the ex- for 2-3 cross country races (includ- for fi rst time that we have so many treme athlete that al-Attiyah is but SPOTLIGHT ing Sealine Rally because it’s in taking part,” he said. he promises to give it all in the Qatar Qatar) and the Middle East Rally “After that we go to Cyprus (Grand Rally. “I am still tired. You need to Championships, I will not be tak- Prix & World Cup) and then we have have at least one month to recover. I ing part in any motorsport event. Italy, Azerbaijan and also a trial event have trained well and this is impor- News about This year it will be very quiet until in Rio. I will do my best to take part in tant to compete here in Qatar. I will the Olympic games. Because after the Olympics again,” he added. try to do my best with the new car. I the Olympics I can push again for For the next couple of days though, have lots of experience here.” Schumacher motorsport,” said al-Attiyah dur- al-Attiyah will be in familiar terri- And there’s added motivation to ing a press conference held for the tory because he will have a steering win this 2016 edition. “I have a lot 2016 Qatar Rally yesterday. wheel in hands rather than his rifl e. of experience in the Qatar Rally. We ‘not good’: There are fi ve world championship He will be driving the Skoda Fabia in have won it 12 times. I hope to win events in which al-Attiyah plans to Qatar’s Abdulaziz al-Kuwari in action during the special stage at Doha the Qatar Rally, the same car he was again because this will be a new take part to improve his shooting and Corniche yesterday. using in WRC2. record for Middle East Champion- Montezemolo get into prime form before the Olym- “It’s the fi rst time I will be racing ships.” pics and earn that quota place. “I will chance to get to the Olympics. Also show that I can compete in the next the Skoda Fabia in the Middle East. I After that it’s back to cradling the compete in all these world events it’s not good to take the quota place Olympics,” said the 45-year-old yes- tested it during WRC 2 in Spain and gun and getting that Olympic place. because if I don’t compete there’s no from the other shooters. But I need to terday. we like the car and we get factory Ready, steady, PULL! Reuters Milan he latest news about the health of sev- en-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher (pictured) is not good, his former Ferrari boss Luca Tdi Montezemolo said yesterday. The German is still receiving intensive treat- ment far from the public eye at his home in Switzerland following severe head injuries that he suff ered in a skiing accident in France in De- cember 2013. “I have news and unfortunately it is not good,” Montezemolo told reporters without giving any further details. “Life is strange. He was a fantastic driver and only had one accident with Ferrari in 1999,” the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation president Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah with the participants ahead of the start of the Qatar International Rally yesterday. former Ferrari chairman said. Gulf Times 2 Friday, February 5, 2016 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT FOCUS FIFA election globetrotters avoid In-form PSG set football’s real problems: experts AFP and delivering the solution to the Zurich problem. new French league “This is particularly the case in sport, especially in the highly he battle for the FIFA political world of football,” said presidency has turned Sean Cottrell, chief executive of into a gruelling round- the lawinsport.com website and the-globe marathon for a lecturer on sports business in Tthe fi ve candidates but observ- London. ers say they are avoiding the real “Therefore only when some- unbeaten record problems facing the scandal-in- one is elected and the FIFA con- fected world football body. gress has passed the recommen- With Asian Football Confed- dations, subject to any changes, ‘We can be very pleased... The record, it really is something. About the match itself eration president Sheikh Sal- we will know if they have ad- man Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifah dressed the real problems.” though my feelings are mixed. We were not in total control at certain times...’ and UEFA general secretary Gi- Football is the biggest sport and anni Infantino leading the pack, FIFA the most powerful sporting AFP many will descend on an African federation but it has been dragged Paris congress in Rwanda today and through the mud over the past quickly move on to Miami for year by corruption scandals. a meeting of north and central US authorities have charged 39 aris Saint-Germain established American soccer nations. individuals and two companies a new Ligue 1 record on Wednes- There will be more air miles to over more than $200 million in day as they stretched their un- cover in the race to succeed the bribes for football marketing and beaten streak to 33 matches by disgraced Sepp Blatter at a Feb- broadcasting deals. Peasing past Lorient 3-1 at the Parc des ruary 26 election in Zurich.