Sports

Champions League clubs' share of billion-dollar annual prize money is set to rise through 2018.

ZURICH (AP) - Champions League clubs  share of billion-dollar annual prize money is set to rise through 2018 as their need for income increases in the "Financial Fair Play" era.

The agency marketing Champions League rights on behalf of UEFA said Monday that clubs will be "happy" with their increase when the next deals kick in.

Switzerland-based TEAM Marketing is currently selling broadcast and sponsorship deals for the 2015-18 seasons, which follow existing three-year deals worth 1.34 billion euros ($1.85 billion) annually.

"It is a fantastic time  15 to  18, we will generate growth and we will see happy clubs with the results," TEAM director Martin Wagner told The Associated Press in an interview. "The clubs are expecting growth and we will manage that."

The 32 clubs playing in this season s Champions League will share at least 900 million euros ($1.24 billion) in UEFA prize money.

Last season, Juventus was the biggest earner getting 65.3 million euros (then $86.3 million) from UEFA despite being eliminated in the quarterfinal.

Each club is paid an entry fee for reaching the group stage, plus results bonuses through the competition and a share of their national broadcasting deal.

Champions League income is key for elite clubs trying to meet UEFA s "Financial Fair Play" rules which regulate spending and require clubs to approach break-even on their football income. In the most serious cases, clubs face being barred from the Champions League.

Missing out is increasingly risky for broadcasters and clubs.

"The unique model of the Champions League is it s the mass (audience), you get the numbers," Wagner said on the sidelines of the International Football Arena conference.

Wagner told delegates at FIFA headquarters that a global average audience of at least 170 million watched Bayern Munich beat German rival Borussia Dortmund in the final last May the biggest rating for a sports event in 2013.

"Everybody needs premium content," Wagner said, adding that the Champions League is "unique to have for sponsors who need to connect with consumers."

Wagner predicted "enormous growth" potential in the China, India and the United States, where Fox holds the 2012-15 rights. Some European markets including Britain would have strong competition between pay-TV broadcasters.

"What you get now, you have in the future," Wagner said of broadcasters  sports-led business model. "Bidders like Sky, they need to do the job now because then they have the so-called inertia benefit, meaning people are then reluctant to change to other systems."

The 2015-18 deals will likely be the last when a winning bid gets the broadcast rights across all digital platforms.

"The bidders know that something is coming," Wagner said, predicting big change driven by social media and young fans. "All the companies who try to sell devices will be strong bidders in future."

Change should also be lucrative for UEFA and clubs, with screen technologies such as virtual advertising set to "revolutionize everything," Wagner said.

"You can put your message regionally, you can target your groups better, so this will generate more income," he said.

The Ballon d'Or, or world player of the year, winner will be announced Jan. 13 in Zurich.

ZURICH (AP) - Lionel Messi, Franck Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Neymar are among 23 candidates on the short list for the Ballon d'Or announced by FIFA on Tuesday.

Ribery, who won UEFA's best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles.

Messi, winner of the last four Ballon d'Or awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals.

Neymar joined Messi at Barcelona this season after a move from Santos in his native Brazil, while Welshman Bale moved to Real Madrid from Tottenham in September for 100 million euros, the richest transfer in football history.

Another nominee was Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, who missed the start of the 2013-14 Premier League season while serving a 10-game suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League game in April.

The Ballon d'Or, or world player of the year, winner will be announced Jan. 13 in Zurich.

Two now-retired managers Alex Ferguson of Manchester United and Bayern's Jupp Heynckes  are among 10 nominees for FIFA's coach of the year award.

 

Scotland international Fletcher was finally given the all-clear to return to training last week.

LONDON (AFP) - Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher returned to action on Monday in the latest stage of his battle to recover from a serious stomach illness.

Fletcher has played just 13 games since announcing he was taking an extended break from football in November 2011 after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

The 29-year-old has since undergone several operations the last of which took place in January, and been put on a strict dietary regime in a bid to correct his stomach condition.

Scotland international Fletcher was finally given the all-clear to return to training last week and on Monday took the first steps towards featuring for David Moyes' side by playing 67 minutes for United's Under-21 team in their 2-2 draw against Fulham.

"I've been training for a few weeks now and the next progression is to get some match-time. I enjoyed it," Fletcher told MUTV.

"The plan was to get to half time and see how I felt. Then get to 60 minutes and take it from there and, although I felt I could have gone on a bit longer, the plan was not to play more than that so I'm better sticking to the plan and not upsetting the sports science lads."

Fletcher also saluted the club and his family for their help in helping him get back onto the pitch after such a gruelling struggle.

"They've been great, especially the doc Steve McNally. He's worked closely with me, getting myself right and back, and the support from the club has been fantastic - from Sir Alex Ferguson to the new manager and David Gill," Fletcher said.

"It's been tough. Luckily, I've got a great family around me - my wife, children, mum, dad and sisters. It's a great family and, if it was not for them, I wouldn't be standing here today.

"They keep me going, keep me motivated and lift me when I'm down. All these factors contributed to me standing here today on the road to recovery."

Wenger's team have gone eight years without a trophy.

LONDON (AFP) - Arsene Wenger says Arsenal's League Cup fourth round tie against Chelsea on Tuesday is a golden opportunity to prove they can be serious contenders for silverware.

Wenger's team have gone eight years without a trophy, but they are finally showing signs of once again becoming major players in the race for the sport's top prizes.

They hold a two-point lead over second-placed Chelsea in the Premier League after seven wins in an eight-match unbeaten run and Wenger believes Arsenal's clash with Jose Mourinho's men at the Emirates Stadium provides another chance to underline their improvement this season.

"We haven't won the title for a few years and people question that now," Wenger said.

"At the end of the day, the Premier League will reflect the quality of the performances of the team throughout the season and how well you do in the big games.

"This is a good opportunity for us to show we are ready."

However, Wenger, who is likely to field a weakened team, is uncertain if the League Cup clash will have an impact on the Premier League title race and is unconcerned by the opinion of those who believe his side will be overhauled at the top of the standings.

"I'm not sure it will affect the Premier League at all, but you know people will look at you, how you behave and whether you can win the big games like that," Wenger said.

"What is for sure is that you want to win these sort of games. That has a certain psychological influence on the team.

"What we want to do is to show that we want to be considered as a very strong team and that comes only with the way we play and with the results, so let's just focus on that. We will absolutely go for this game."

The match pits Wenger against his old adversary Mourinho for the first time since the Chelsea boss returned to English football after spells with Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Wenger endured a difficult relationship with Mourinho during his first stint in charge at Chelsea, but refused to be drawn into a war of words ahead of their latest clash.

"It was not a big surprise because there was talk about it many times," Wenger said of Mourinho's return.

"When he left Madrid, it looked to be one of his best opportunities to come back."

 

 

Bulgaria's Dimitrov continued his rich form Tuesday with a 3-set win over Frenchman Lodra.

PARIS (AFP) - Bulgaria s Grigor Dimitrov continued his rich vein of form on Tuesday as he marched into the second round of the Paris Masters with a three-set win over Frenchman Michael Lodra.

The lanky 22-year-old lost the opening set in a tie-break before taking control and setting up a meeting against Italian 16th seed Fabio Fognini with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3 victory.

The highly touted Dimitrov picked up his first ATP win last weekend when he triumphed in Stockholm and continues to impress since taking on Leyton Hewitt s former coach Roger Rasheed.

His win in Sweden was the first for a Bulgarian in the Open era and this result took his record for the season on indoor surfaces to 13 wins in 16 matches.

Lodra meanwhile, who is a two-time semi-finalist at Bercy, became the fifth Frenchman to be eliminated in two days of action.

Earlier, Poland s Michal Przysiezny broke his duck against veteran Jarkko Nieminen by defeating the Finn for the first time in four meetings 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).

The 29-year-old, who came into the week ranked 65 in the world will now face American 13th seed John Isner for a place in the last-16.

There was more bad news for French fans when two-time finalist Gael Monfils pulled out of the tournament on the eve of his first round match against Canadian Davis Cup semi-finalist Vasek Pospisil.

Pospisil, who narrowly lost to Roger Federer in last weekend s Swiss Indoors semi-finals has climbed to 32 in the world and will now face lucky loser Pablo Andujar of Spain.

World number two Novak Djokovic makes his bow in the final match of the evening on Tuesday when he takes on French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Ranked 189 in the world, the 22-year-old Herbert caused a stir when he ousted compatriot Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-2 in his first match on centre court to book a dream date against the Serbian seven-time Grand Slam winner

 

 

 

Yaya Toure warns the slaughter of elephants for ivory was threatening their existence.

NAIROBI (AFP) - Reigning African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure, star of Manchester City and Ivory Coast, warned Tuesday that the slaughter of elephants for their ivory was threatening their very existence.

"Poaching threatens the very existence of the African elephant and if we do not act now we could be looking at a future in which this iconic species is wiped out," Toure told reporters, as he was appointed an ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

"Ivory Coast s national team is named  The Elephants  after these magnificent creatures that are so full of power and grace, yet in my country alone there may be as few as 800 individuals left," Toure added.

Toure, speaking at UNEP headquarters in the Kenyan capital, said he wanted to help combat the illegal ivory trade that sees thousands of elephants poached each year.

Poaching has risen sharply in Africa in recent years and the illegal ivory trade has tripled since 1998, according to UNEP.

Large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have more than doubled since 2009 and reached an all-time high in 2011, UNEP added.

Ivory trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Africa is now home to an estimated 472,000 elephants, whose survival is threatened by poaching as well as population expansion and increasing urbanisation encroaching on natural habitats.

The illegal ivory trade, estimated to be worth up to $10 billion (seven billion euros) a year, is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East.

Elephant tusks are used to make ornaments and rhinoceros horns are used in traditional medicine.

 

Rubel Hossain claimed 6 wickets including a hat-trick as Bangladesh crushed New Zealand by 43 runs.

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 43 runs in the first one-day international at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Scores: Bangladesh 265 all out in 49.5 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 90, Naeem Islam 84; J. Neesham 4-42, T. Southee 3-34) and New Zealand 162 all out in 29.5 overs (G. Elliot 71, Rubel Hossain 6-26)

Rubel Hossain claimed six wickets including a hat-trick as Bangladesh crushed New Zealand by 43 runs Tuesday in the first one-day international, leading 1-0 in the three-match series.

Rubel finished with 6-26, helping the hosts to dismiss New Zealand for 162 runs after the visitors were set a revised target of 206 runs in 33 overs in the rain-hit match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

New Zealand were 82-3 in 20 overs, replying to Bangladesh s 265 all out, when rain halted the game for nearly two hours.

Needing 124 off 78 balls on resumption, Corey Anderson hit some lusty blows before Rubel turned the table with his hat-trick.

Rubel bowled Anderson, who scored 46 off 31 balls including three fours and fours sixes, before taking the wicket of Brendan McCullum and James Neesham to complete the hat-trick in his third over.

New Zealand skipper McCullum was caught by substitute fielder Shamsur Rahman while Neesham flicked a catch to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim on the leg side as Rubel became the third Bangladeshi to claim a hat-trick in a one-day international (ODI).

Rubel took the wicket of Ross Taylor before rain later added Nathan McCullum and Grant Elliot (71) to his tally, equalling the record of Mashrafe Mortaza for the best ever ODI bowling for Bangladesh.

Mashrafe, who claimed 6-26 against Kenya at Nairobi in 2006, took the catch of Elliot, the last man out for New Zealand.

The visitors conceded a defeat as Kane Williamson was unable to bat for a thumb injury.

Earlier, Mushfiqur and Naeem Islam hit half-centuries to set up Bangladesh s total after New Zealand captain McCullum won the toss and elected to field.

The pair added 154 for the fourth wicket to rescue the home side from a perilous 25-3.

Skipper Mushfiqur hit a solid 90 off 98 balls with eight fours and two sixes before he fell to Neesham.

Naeem struggled initially, taking 17 balls to get off the mark, but soon grew in confidence to hit a career-best 84 off 113 balls.

Naeem, who was picked in the starting line-up after Bangladesh were forced to leave out ailing all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, smashed 12 fours in his fourth one-day half-century.

Tim Southee ended Naeem s innings when he forced an edge to the wicket-keeper.

Neesham and Southee were the pick of New Zealand bowlers, sharing seven wickets between them as Bangladesh lost their last five wickets for 33 runs.

Neesham claimed a career-best 4-42, while Southee returned with 3-34.

 

 

 

5 Lessons from Zimbabwe Tour for Pakistan

5 Lessons from Zimbabwe Tour for Pakistan

Everyone thought Pakistan tour of Zimbabwe would be a piece of cake, until Pakistan got the beating in the first Odi then followed by a Test loss which resulted in Pakistan dropping  to spot 6 from 4th in test ranking before taking on the mighty South Africans in UAE. Much of the assumptions were based on after how the young Indian side led by Virat Kohli whitewashed Zimbabwe in ODI’s. Pakistan Cricket has been on decline due to several factors which are known to everyone but comparatively doing better if compared to other sports or Pakistan’s National sport hockey. Loss or win, the connection and love of fans with cricket is as strong as it used to be back in the times of Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Inzamam. The test loss to Zimbabwe is an eye opener for Pakistan Cricket Management and selection committee to review few things which are hurting Pakistan Cricket a lot for a long time now. The 5 strong factors which are contributing towards the downfall of Pakistan Cricket are.

Need of different teams for different formats:

One of the main reasons of Pakistan decline is the fragile batting Pakistan carries. This issue has been around a time now but nothing much has been done .Pakistani opening problem is something which has not been cured from years now after the departure of left handed combination of Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail.  Some players are getting chances in every format despite not having the right temperament to play in certain formats whereas some players are just sidelined without any concrete reasons. Muhammnad Hafeez is a prime example of someone who despite suffering from an awful form in test cricket is getting continuous chances. Management needs to make sure that they pick right players for the format they are best suited for. Teams like India, England and South Africa are prime examples who have separate teams for different formats and there ranking shows the effectiveness of it. Very few players justify places in all three formats, and it is the job of the management to provide a suitable selection for the team.

Batting Coach:

Pakistan needs a permanent batting coach.  It is hard to imagine that a team who has been suffering in batting unit don’t have a batting coach. Pakistan is in a need of a batting coach desperately who can walk through the players and nurture them further. Temporary coaches or consultants are not doing any good. If Pakistan have to see improvement in batting department, then the need of batting coach is a must. Pakistan was exposed completely in South Africa on the seamy and turning pitches against the likes of Steyn, Philander and Morkel because of the weak technique they carried. Pakistan needs to keep in mind that they will be playing the 2015 world cup in Australia and New Zealand which will be a testing period for a batting line up as Pakistan.

Proper chances:

Players need to be ensured that one or two failures will not put a question mark on their careers. The tradition of dropping a player after one failure is not something new in Pakistan Cricket. Until players won’t feel at ease, they can’t play in the natural manner of their own. Greats like Younus Khan ,Misbah-Ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi don’t have much of cricket left , so it is a high time that management select the players who are going to be the future of team for at least the next 6-8 years. It is only possible if players are given proper chances on long runs in the presence of seniors who are not going to be around for a very long time.

Stop Political Influence:

The title is enough to hint that what needs to be stopped immediately. Depoliticise cricket or any sports from politics. In a country where the president has a free will to choose a person to govern a sports body does not make any sense. Until and unless management and think tanks are under the influence of political body, one can’t think of any positive changes. Involving politics in sports is just going to ruin it more and more.  Pakistan Cricket Board people who understand cricket and know how to govern it and can make changes without the fear of anyone.

 Strengthening relations between India and Pakistan Cricket Boards:

Pakistan and India, a relation like Tom and Jerry. Cricket has to suffer the most whenever tension arises between both these countries. Both countries have no problem when the singers are singing in each other countries, acting in movies together at both sides across the border, or sharing any other platform in front of the world. Greats like Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, and Sunil Gavaskar always emphasized that their cricket improved when they played against each other.  They had more pressure and that made them do well and was beneficial for the future success. Pakistani new cricketers have not had much exposure to such situations and that is why they tend to fail in pressure situations. On top, having no cricket at home has dented the already bad situation into much worst. For the revival of quality cricket, Pakistan needs to strengthen the relation with Indian Cricket Board because it is the need of present Pakistan Cricket than Indian.

Pakistan has a lot of cricket coming up.  Pakistan will be hosting South Africa and Sri Lanka in UAE this year followed by events like Asia Cup and T20 2014 WC. Pakistan needs to take some serious step in order to bring cricket where it was. As a powerhouse of cricket and arguably the second biggest cricket supporting country, Pakistan is very important to world cricket and world cricket to Pakistan. Wake up PCB, before it is too late. World crickets wants to see another Imran, Wasim, Shoaib and Afridi.

Misbah lost 8th consecutive toss in test matches today ! (World Record is 9 by Sunil Gavaskar)