Sport – praag.org

Celtic’s Aleksandar Tonev given seven-match ban for racist insults

Celtic have backed Aleksandar Tonev after the winger was suspended for seven matches for using “offensive, insulting and abusive language of a racist nature” against Aberdeen defender Shay Logan.

The 24-year-old Bulgarian, on loan from Aston Villa until the end of the season, was handed the hefty ban at a Scottish Football Association’s disciplinary tribunal hearing at Hampden Park on Thursday for the incident which took place in the Premiership clash between the two teams at Celtic Park on 13 September.

The Parkhead club immediately released a statement on their official website, saying they had accepted Tonev’s claim of innocence and confirming the player will appeal the decision.

A Celtic spokesperson said: “Racism has no place in football and, as a club for all people, Celtic absolutely abhors racism of any kind.

“This was a very unfortunate case, but the club has accepted Aleksandar’s explanation that he did not say the words that were alleged to have been said and that he is not a racist. We are, therefore, very disappointed by the outcome today and can confirm that Aleksandar will be appealing this decision.”

Two years ago, then Celtic manager Neil Lennon stated that any form of racist behaviour at the club was “an instant sackable offence” – a view with which his successor Ronny Deila appears to concur, although he too backed his player.

Speaking at the club’s Lennoxtown training complex before the verdict was announced, the Hoops boss said: “I have spoken to him. He said it was not true and I believe him. Of course we don’t want racism at Celtic – that is the total opposite as what we want to be as a club. That is not acceptable.”

The original hearing date of 9 Octoberwas postponed as Tonev, who joined Villa last summer, was on international duty with Bulgaria.

The former CSKA Sofia and Lech Poznan player was making his belated Celtic debut, after arriving at Parkhead in the summer with a groin injury, when the incident took place. Logan immediately spoke to referee Bobby Madden and skipper Mark Reynolds before informing manager Derek McInnes.

Fourth official Crawford Allan and Celtic were also made aware of the allegation by the Dons management team.

Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) Scotland campaign manager Vicki Burns said: “SRtRC welcome the news that the SFA investigation has now concluded. The length of the ban for Aleksandar Tonev shows how seriously the SFA are taking the issue of racism.

“While it’s always sad to see players banned, the decision is in line with bans in football over recent years for similar incidents and I think this sends out a clear message to players and fans.

“Racism has to be taken seriously and there is no room for racism in Scottish football or society.” – The Guardian

Nigerian coach blames white US referee for Africa’s loss

Nigeria’s coach Stephen Keshi blamed American referee Mark Geiger after his side lost 2-0 to France in the World Cup last 16 in Brasilia.

Germany and France snuffed out African hopes after both European powerhouses left Africa with no teams to support.

France beat African champions Nigeria 2-0 and Germany secured their 2-1 victory over Algeria in extra time.

Joseph Yobo from Nigeria scored an own goal to add to France’s 1-0 victory.

It was the first time two African teams had reached the second round.

Both black teams went out within hours of each other to leave the continent still struggling to make an impact despite many teams including black players.

SABC commentators in South Africa openly favoured only-black teams in the competition, often making it a case of racial pride.

Many Nigerian supporters however, wore white-face to cheer their team.

Keshi opined at his post-match press conference at the Mane Garrincha National Stadium. “I’m not happy with the officiating,” because Emmanuel Emenike had a first-half goal ruled out for offside.

Replays show however that the call was correct.

Keshi also complained that France had been allowed to get away with certain offences.

Africans in World Cup Soccer match-fixing scandal

Ghana has been exposed as agreeing to take part in international football matches organised by match fixers.

An undercover investigation found that the President of Ghana’s Football Association agreed for the team to play in international matches that others were prepared to rig.

The team is currently competing in the World Cup finals in Brazil, and on Saturday pulled off a 2-2 draw against Germany. A team launched a six-month investigation into match-fixing after receiving information that some football associations rigging scores in international games.

Christopher Forsythe, a registered Fifa agent, along with Obed Nketiah, a senior figure in the Ghanaian FA, boasted that they could employ corrupt officials who would rig matches played by Ghana.

Forsythe and Nketiah agreed on a contract which would see the team play in the rigged matches, in return for payment. The contract stated that it would cost $170,000 for each match organised by the fixers involving the Ghanaian team, and would allow a bogus investment firm to appoint match officials, in breach of Fifa rules.

Forsythe said that match fixing was “everywhere” in football and that he could even arrange rigged matches between Ghana and British teams.

He also listed a number of African and European countries, adding “we can look for match officials who will sing to our tune”.

Forsythe and Nketiah introduced the undercover team to Kwesi Nyantakyi, the president of the Ghana FA, at a five-star hotel in Miami earlier this month shortly before his team played South Korea in Miami before heading to Brazil.

During the meeting in Florida, the president agreed to a contract that would cost the investment company $170,000 and that they could appoint the match officials for each game.

During the meeting, the president suggested that the fictional investment company put on two matches after the World Cup to prove that they were able to organise games.

Officers from the National Crime Agency, Britain’s FBI, have asked Fifa to issue an alert over attempts to rig the game. Insiders say match-fixing is widespread. It is happening at every level and in many countries.

Match-fixing syndicates have infiltrated all levels of football and sport from national, regional and onto international.

Over the last month, Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, has faced calls to stand down after it emerged the former Qatari executive committee member had made millions of dollars in payments to Fifa officials.

Jack Warner, one of the people that participated in the decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup, was paid $1.2 million shortly after the vote.

Red card struck from Bismarck’s record

A red card against Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis in a weekend rugby test between South Africa and New Zealand has been removed from his record.

“The judicial officer found that the decision made by referee Romain Poite to issue a yellow card as a result of the tackle by Du Plessis on Dan Carter was wrong, as it was within the laws of the game,” Southern hemisphere rugby body Sanzar said on Monday.

“No further sanction was imposed on the player. However, the second yellow card remains on his record for the remainder of the Rugby Championship.”

Du Plessis received a yellow card in the 17th minute of the Rugby Championship match in Auckland on Saturday, for what proved to be a perfectly legitimate tackle on New Zealand flyhalf Dan Carter.

Poite ignored the advice of the Television Match Official (TMO) and deemed his tackle to have been high and without arms.

The International Rugby Board admitted in a statement on Sunday that Poite had made the wrong decision in carding Du Plessis for the tackle.

“Just as players and coaches make mistakes, the decision was an unfortunate case of human error by the match officials who, having reviewed the match, fully recognise and accept that they made a mistake in the application of the law,” the IRB said.

“All match official performances are thoroughly reviewed and assessed by the IRB and are considered when appointments are made for future test matches.”

Du Plessis copped a second yellow card in the 42nd minute for elbowing flanker Liam Messam in the throat, which resulted in a red card.

Judicial officer Terry Willis removed the red card from Du Plessis’ disciplinary record following a judicial hearing on Monday.

Gerrie Swart appeared at the hearing — which was originally scheduled for Tuesday — on behalf of Du Plessis, via teleconference.

“Submissions were made on behalf of the player and the video footage was reviewed,” Sanzar said. – Sapa

Lions maul Bulls 62-23

Josh Strauss, supported by Derek Minnie, of the Lions in action against the Bulls during a Super Rugby match last year

The Golden Lions secured their second victory over the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld with an emphatic 62-23 triumph in a Currie Cup match on Saturday.

The visitors ran in eight tries to two for the Bulls, while Lions flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff also played a central role with a 100 percent kicking record converting all eight tries and slotting over two more penalties.

After last weekend’s snore fest, the Loftus faithful were treated to an action-packed Jukskei Derby in the Capital City.

The scoreboard ticked over for the first time four minutes after the start and continued do that almost every five minutes.

Bulls flyhalf Tony Jantjies opened the scoring with a penalty conversion, while his opposite number Boshoff replied with a penalty goal two minutes later.

The hosts again made the first move in terms of crossing the whitewash when Travis Ismail scored in the left-hand corner after a good passage of play, with Jantjies missing the conversion.

Five minutes later the Lions responded with a devastating driving maul from a lineout with Jaco Kriel scoring from the back.

In a typical tit-for-tat battle, it was the turn of the Bulls to cross the line, with fullback Jurgen Visser adding a five-pointer, but failing to convert his own try.

Just before the half-hour the Lions trailed by three points before flanker Willie Britz picked up a fumbled Bulls ball and showed a burst of speed to advance to within five metres of the line with Deon Helberg fielding to go over the lin.

Visser brought his side within a point of the Lions before Boshoff had the last say of the half with a penalty conversion to give his side a four-point lead going into the break.

The Bulls made an encouraging start to the second half thanks to a superb break by Clayton Blommetjies, who gave a well-weighted pass to Francois Venter for the score, with Visser converting.

The game, however, swung in the Lions’ favour when Bulls prop was given a yellow card in the 49th minute for a repeated offence.

A minute later Man-of-the-Match Britz scored his second try of the match after another rolling maul by the Lions.

Lions captain Derick Minnie scored his side’s bonus-point try four minutes later after some great interplay between Anthony Volmink and Britz.

The rampage continued unabated as the Bulls could not plug the holes with Minnie adding his second five-pointer in the 59th minute, while Volmink broke the Bulls’ spirit with an intercept try seven minutes later.

The Bulls’ suffering was far from over as the Lions added two more tries with Warwick Tecklenburg adding his name to the scorers, while Volmink gave up his second try to Elton Jantjies bringing their try fest to an end four minutes from time.

Scorers: Blue Bulls 23 (16): Tries: Travis Ismaiel, Jurgen Visser, Francois Venter.

Conversion: Visser.

Golden Lions 62 (20): Tries: Willie Britz (2), Deon Helberg, Derick Minnie (2), Anthony Volmink, Warwick Tecklenburg, Elton Jantjies. Conversions: Marnitz Boshoff (8). Penalties: Boshoff (2). – Sapa

Johan Cronje claims 1500m medal

A perfectly timed surge at the finish helped Johan Cronje claim bronze and the first ever medal for South Africa in the men’s 1,500 metre event at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow on Sunday.

Cronje, the national record-holder in the 1,500m, clocked 3 minutes 36.83 seconds just behind Kenyan Asbel Kiprop who won in 3.36.28, and American Matthew Centrowitz in second with 3:36.78.

Not only was it the first time a South African featured in the top eight of the event at the world championships, it was also the only medal the South African team claimed at the Moscow games.

After the race, Cronje said had not expected to be up on the podium.

“I believed in myself – but I wouldn’t have put money on myself”, said Cronje.

Cronje found himself boxed in during the race, and fancied with a better approach he could have grabbed silver.

“I’m a bit disappointed I was a few split-seconds from second.

“I think if I wasn’t boxed in I could have snatched that one, but I had a terrible tactical race,” said the Bloemfontein speedster who had initially expected a fast race.

Asbel Kiprop took control of the race from the gun, pulling the field through 400m, and Cronje found himself boxed in on the kerb initially in fifth, then dropping back to eighth with 300m to go.

“I couldn’t go fast as everyone was on my right and I had Centrowitz ahead.

“It was only the last 60 I had to go past as that’s when it opened up [on the inside].”

Cronje said he thought the tactics in the final would be different from his previous expectations.

“I realised that everyone was in there as individuals, the Kenyans weren’t going to run as a team, so they were watching each other and would also have Centrowtiz on their mind, so perhaps they would forget a guy like myself or Brannen from Canada,” said Cronje.

“Before the race I knew it could be slow: I had to be upfront and I had to be wide, and everything I knew I didn’t do.

After 900m Cronje said he had to break free from the group.

“It was stupid I was swearing at myself [for being boxed in], saying Johan this is your only opportunity, use it.

“I was sitting, sitting — looking right — [I] couldn’t get a gap and saw Centrowitz and knew he was a fast finisher, so I would stick with him.

“When he moved out and around, I saw the guys inside were looking outside - so I waited.

“As soon as you look outside your body moves out and I waited for that 20 centimetres to open up and I moved through on the inside,” added Cronje who is a semi-professional athlete, who is an investment specialist in his day job.

In the women’s javelin, once again Sunette Viljoen, the defending javelin bronze medalist from Daegu, threw her best distance with her opening trial.

Viljoen threw 63.58 metres, which was good enough for a sixth place overall after failing to improve on her first attempt.

It was a performance far below her season best of 64.51m set with the first throw of the qualification round, and her personal best of 69.35m set in New York in May of last year.

A visibly distressed Viljoen walked through the post-race zone without sharing any thoughts.

South Africa’s sole medal placed them 33rd and last on the medal table, compared to a ninth place in Berlin and 17th in Daegu. – Sapa

Cheetahs narrowly beat Lions

The Free State Cheetahs got their Absa Currie Cup campaign off to a good start when they narrowly beat the Golden Lions 30-29 at Ellis Park Stadium on Saturday.

They return home with maximum points after outscoring their opponents by four tires to three. After conceding an early penalty, the Cheetahs scored the first try of match through centre Robert Ebershon. The visitors, who had several Super Rugby players in their starting line-up, appeared to be the more polished side as they put the Lions under pressure. They were rewarded when Boom Prinsloo went over for a typical forward’s try to give his side a 13-6 lead.

The Lions have some good runners in their side as well…. one of them is centre Stokkies Hanekom, who scored their first try. The Cheetahs, who were trailing 16-13 at half time, only had themselves to blame as they squandered several scoring opportunities. Although the second half was rather scrappy at times, the Cheetahs enjoyed territorial advantage early on.

They regained the lead through a Sarel Pretorious try, before Johan Sadie gave them the bonus point try. The introduction of Elton Jantjies gave the Lions a new lease on life. They scored two tries in the last quarter, but fell short by a point as the Cheetahs won the first round of the cat fight. – SABC

Schoeman, Le Clos get gold in Germany

Team South Africa continues to fly the flag in FINA’s Swiming World Cup events.

After bagging 6 medals in the Eindhoven event last week, Roland Schoeman and Chad le Clos opened South Africa’s account with gold medals in Berlin, the German leg of the competition. South Africa’s veteran Schoeman got proceedings underway in fine style. The 33-year old, who claimed gold in the 50 metres breast stroke in the Eindhoven event last week, followed that up with another gold winning performance. With a time of 25, 65 seconds, Schoeman edged out Italy’s Fabio Scozolli.

Chad le Clos, the new superstar in world swimming, followed up on Schoeman’s triumph with yet another gold in his favourite event, the 200 meters butterfly. As is his habit, Le Clos started the race conservatively, but maintained his position with the leaders. Le Clos eventually charged to victory in a time of one minute, 49, 90 seconds.

Myles Brown became Team South Africa’s third medallist on the opening day of the competition. Brown claimed bronze in the men’s 400 meters Freestyle. The dynamic duo of Schoeman and le Clos ended the night in Berlin with another two pieces of silverware. In an exact replica of the event in Eindhoven, the pair claimed first and third places in the men’s 50 meter butterfly.

Le Clos powers to 100m butterfly gold at Fina World Championships

“After winning the 200m, people were saying that the time was not fast. So I just wanted to prove to everyone that I could win the 100 and do a fast time,” Le Clos said.

Le Clos, who had earlier in the competition won the 200m butterfly, was only fifth at the turn, but won in a time of 51.06, beating Hungarian Laszlo Cszeh by 0.39 seconds.

Poland’s Konrad Czerniak won the bronze In winning his second and South Africa’s fifth medal in the Palau Sant Jrodi in Barcelona, the 21-year-old broke his own South African record, which stood at 51.44.

Le Clos, who famously beat American superstar Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly Olympic final last year and also won silver in the 100m, admitted that he had been nervous before the race.

“I was so worried last night, I did not get a lot of sleep in and I was really nervous this morning,” he said.

“But when I woke up half past three in the afternoon, I felt much more relaxed. The closer I got to the race, the more relaxed and confident I became and I thought that I really had a good chance of winning it.”

Le Clos said he was very happy that big names like Ryan Lochte were competing in the race. “The bigger the names, the bigger the hype is and it is good for the sport,” he said.

“Once the race starts, it makes no difference who is racing against me, I just want to win.”

He said winning the 100m felt different than winning the 200m. “This one is very special,” said Le Clos.

“Ryan Lochte came in and he really wanted to win. That gave the race extra flavour, I think it was one of the biggest races of the night.

“The crowd just would not keep quiet and I went: ‘Chad, don’t jump into the pool,’ and then I was getting nervous and I thought that it was time to get going.”

He said that when he came out, he still felt strong. “I am not even tired now, I feel like going again.” – Sapa

Briton, 22, arrested for ‘racist Tweet’ aimed at black footballer

A 22-year-old man has been released on police bail in connection with racist tweets aimed at the West Ham striker Carlton Cole, police said.

The man, from Southend in Essex, was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.

The footballer highlighted the messages on Twitter, which he received after his side’s defeat at Swansea at the weekend.

The 28-year-old player was targeted by the supposed Hammers fan in two foul-mouthed postings after West Ham lost 3-0 in south Wales.

The comments, which the player retweeted from his @CarltonCole1 account, questioned his performance and used a racist term to describe him.

A police spokesman said: “A man from Southend who was arrested in connection with racist football tweets has been released on police bail while the investigation continues.

“The 22-year-old man was arrested on Sunday August 26 following the tweets to West Ham player Carlton Cole. He has been released on police bail until Friday September 28 pending further inquiries.”

Cole took to Twitter to criticise his abuser.

He said: “Listen, i take racism a lot lighter than others and i do understand the banter that comes a long with it to get under peoples skin but…

“… it can sometimes be hurtful & insulting, i don’t mind when people criticise me for having a bad game or they think I’m crap at football…

“…but just say that, whether i am crap or had a bad game has nothing to with my race, creed or religion. lets just keep it FOOTBALL. Kapeesh? “

Fellow West Ham players Matt Jarvis, Kevin Nolan and Guy Demel were also subjected to abuse. – Press Association

Race an issue while white South African swimmers win gold

Le-Clos-gold — Chad le Clos with his gold medal, not good for South Africa's image as a "black" country

While white South African swimmers, Cameron van den Burgh and Chad Le Clos, have won gold medals at the Olympic games in London, complaints that “Team SA” is “too white” have surfaced. In a country where affirmative action requires black majorities everywhere, even racial quotas for sports teams, the sight of two young white men winning gold medals have jarred local sensibilities.

On Twitter, one member of the black elite tweeted “Whites will be hugged by the likes of @Sentletse @Mabine_Seabe @khayadlanga because of that Gold. #2012London I’ll wait for Caster’s Bronze”. Caster refers to Caster Semenya, the black female 800m athlete whose career has been marred by a controversy about her gender.

Whereas white faces are almost never shown in leadership positions on state TV, many of the black presenters for the Olympic games have enthused about “our gold medals” won by the the two white swimmers.

Sapa reports that former ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has defended the racial make-up of the SA Olympic team after suggestions that it was too white.

Malema was asked about the team during an interview with British Sky News on Tuesday.

The Sky News interviewer said: “It did strike me that there weren’t many black faces in the group for a black majority country.”

Malema said the team members were chosen because they were qualified.

“We think that we’re a non-racial country and all South Africans who have qualified to make Team SA should carry the flag proudly, and we support them,” he said.

“It’s not [any] more about the issue of colour.”

Malema said there was still a problem with poor communities not having access to sport. Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula was working to resolve this.

“It’s quite a serious challenge, but we’re still very proud of our Team SA,” Malema said.