Govt officials set to skip Geneva UN rights meet

8
Ponting to lead
Mumbai Indians
FORMER Australia skipper Ricky Ponting
will replace Harbhajan Singh as captain of
the Mumbai Indians for the sixth edition of
the Indian Premier League, starting April 3.
Ponting, who retired from international
cricket late last year, was bought by
Mumbai Indians at a base price of
$400,000 during the IPL players’ auction
held in Chennai earlier this month.
ROB HUGHES
LONDON, FEB 21
SO how does a faded Milan,
whose owner sold the
club’s best assets last summer
and gave the coach
journeymen players instead,
put Barcelona on the brink of
elimination from the
Champions League?
Two Ghanaians, Kevin-
Prince Boateng and Sulley
Muntari, struck fine
opportunist goals. No Barcelona
player—not Lionel Messi, Xavi
Hernández, Andrés Iniesta or
any of them—reached their
level or was allowed to in Milan’s
San Siro stadium on Wednesday.
When it was over, with the
Italian squad in shock at leading
2-0 against the best club side on
earth, Milan Coach Massimo
Allegri lauded his employer, the
team president Silvio
Berlusconi.
Some diplomat is Allegri.
“We dedicate this to the
president,” he said, “because
he has given me a team I can
work with.”
They are a team divested of
their previously talismanic
striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and
their top defender, Thiago Silva,
who both joined Paris Saint-
Germain before the season got
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, FEB 21
LANCE Armstrong won’t interview
under oath with the US Anti-
Doping Agency to reveal all he
knows about doping in cycling, his
attorney said on Wednesday.
USADA officials told Armstrong
he must speak with them if he
wanted to reduce his lifetime ban
from sports. Under their offer,
Wednesday was the deadline for
him to agree to the interview.
Armstrong attorney Tim
Herman said that, after two months
of negotiations, the disgraced
cyclist refused to participate in a
process designed “only to demonize
selected individuals.”
Armstrong said previously he
under way. At the same time,
Milan removed a lot of big
names from their payroll:
Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence
Seedorf, Pippo Inzaghi and
Alessandro Nesta. Maybe that is
the key to what Allegri was
talking about, a clearing out of
ageing players, and, in
Ibrahimovic’s case, of a self-centred
leader, that allowed the
coach to restructure the team to
his own ideals.
Allegri had claimed, before
the Wednesday match, that he
frequently discusses tactics with
the owner. And Berlusconi,
taking his case through the
media as ever, had given the
coach the solution to beating
Barcelona: Mark Lionel Messi
tightly at all times, and don’t
give Barcelona’s finest
was willing to participate in an
international effort to clean up a
sport that was based mostly in
Europe. USADA chief executive
Travis Tygart said it had expected
Armstrong would agree to talk and
would be “moving on” without him.
“Over the last few weeks he has
led us to believe that he wanted to
come in and assist USADA, but was
worried of potential criminal and
civil liability if he did so,” Tygart
said. “Today we learned from the
media that Mr. Armstrong is choosing
not to come in and be truthful
and that he will not take the opportunity
to work toward righting his
wrongs in sport.”
For more than a decade,
Armstrong denied using performance-enhancing
drugs. But last
year, the USADA released a report
that detailed extensive doping on
his seven Tour de France-winning
teams and stripped him of those
titles. Armstrong admitted last
month that he doped. He still faces
several legal challenges.
Armstrong was the subject of a
two-year federal grand jury investigation
that was dropped a year ago
without an indictment, but the
Department of Justice is still
considering whether to join a
federal whistle-blower lawsuit filed
by former Armstrong teammate
Floyd Landis.
individual an inch of freedom.
Messi, it is true, had one of
his very rare off nights. He
seldom got into the Milan
penalty box, and he never got in
a shot, much less threaten to
score a goal.
For that, and for the
suppression of Xavi’s creative
passing and for the minimization
of Iniesta’s great dribbling
skills, we must thank the
president? For unleashing good,
strong, hungry talents, like
Stephan El Shaarawy, who was
tireless in his running, and even
an older one, Giampaolo
Pazzini, who was brave and
smart as he stood in for Mario
Balotelli, who cannot suit up for
Milan because he previously
played in the tournament for
Manchester City?
Should we thank Berlusconi
for the team discipline that was
led by Massimo Ambrosini and
followed through by every
man in Milan’s black and red
striped shirts?
“We played in a certain way
tonight, but against Barcelona
you have to play like that,” said
Ambrosini, the captain. “Maybe
it’s not aesthetically beautiful,
it’s not very nice to watch,” he
added. “They force you to play
like that, and history teaches us
that Barcelona were eliminated
KATHMANDU, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013 | WWW.EKANTIPUR.COM
Pistorius contract
suspended by Nike
US sportswear giant Nike has suspended
its contract with Oscar Pistorius, who is
accused of murdering his girlfriend.
“We believe Oscar Pistorius should be
afforded due process and we will continue
to monitor the situation closely,” a
Nike spokesman said. It recently pulled
ads that featured Mr Pistorius and the
line, “I am the bullet in the chamber”.
POST REPORT
KATHMANDU, FEB 21
in this competition only by
teams who faced them in a
certain way.”
He spoke of the Italian way,
the solidarity of keeping the
defense and the midfield so
tightly together that there is no
space for Barça’s renowned
passing and moving to go anywhere.
Ambrosini also spoke of the
luck that contributed to the first
goal, and then the “very nice”
second one.
The luck was misjudged by
Barcelona players, and by most
of the audience. It had seemed,
after a Milan free kick ricocheted
first off the Barcelona
defender Jordi Alba and then off
Milan’s Cristian Zapata, that the
ball struck Zapata’s hand.
In fact, as seen in slowmotion
replay, Zapata had taken
the full force of the shot in his
face. From there, it fell to
Boateng, who drove it handsomely
into the net.
In shock and losing rhythm,
Barcelona could get little help
from thier bench. It has been
said, even from within their
DEEPAK Thapa Magar won the title
of the CMS Open golf tournament at
the par-67 Royal Nepal Golf Club
on Thursday.
Thapa Magar carded one-under 66
for a total score of two-under 199 to
register two-stroke win over defending
champion and Nepal No 1 pro Shiva
Ram Shrestha in the eighth event under
the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2012-13.
This is Thapa Magar’s 10th career
title and equalled Deepak Acharya’s tally
to share the second position. Shiva Ram
is atop with 20 career titles.
Shiva Ram shot three-under 64 for a
total of even-par 201 to finish second,
while fellow RNGC pros Rabi Khadka
(66) and Sanjay Lama (66) shared the
third position with the score of two-over
203. Thapa Magar won the cheque of
Rs 100,000, while Shiva Ram earned
72,000. Rabi and Sanjay received
Rs 48,000 each.
The tournament—sponsored by
International Society for Medical
Education (ISME) Pvt Ltd—is the largest
among the locally organised events in
terms of cash purse, which amounts to
Rs 500,000. The tournament will come
to its end on Saturday following the twoday
amateur event at the RNGC. Junior
Tournament was held on Monday.
Three others, Surya Prasad Sharma
(68), Toran Bikram Shahi (67) and Ram
Thapa (67) finished tied fifth at 207.
They got Rs 25,000 each.
Ramesh Nagarkoti produced the
camp, that Barca have such an
intelligent group of players that
they can think for and manage
themselves, regardless whether
their coach, Tito Vilanova, is in
New York for cancer treatment.
Wednesday, perhaps, was
when the coach might have
made adjustments to help his
men out of an impasse.
But, in pursuing the equaliser,
Barcelona left themselves
short in defense and exposed to
the crucial second goal. Milan
hit the Catalans with the perfect
counterattack.
M’Baye Niang had come on
with the freshness of youth to
put pressure on Barcelona’s
Carles Puyol on the right.
Having won the ball, Niang fluently
passed it to El Shaarawy,
whose own touch was brief but
sublime. The Italian simply
helped the ball on its way, with
the deftest of flicks, into the
path of Muntari.
And then the Ghanaian—
who had spent some time at a
financially doomed English
club, Portsmouth, and spent
months this season battling a
Wenger’s job safe
despite CL defeat
ARSENE Wenger will attend Arsenal’s
monthly board meeting on Thursday but
his future is not on the agenda. It is
understood the club have no intention of
sacking Wenger, even if they fail to qualify
for next season’s Champions League.
The manager retains the unequivocal
support of majority shareholder Stan
Kroenke and his fellow directors.
Milan bring Barca down to the ground
In fact, as seen in
slow-motion replay,
Milan’s Cristian
Zapata had taken
the full force of the
shot in his face, not
on his hand
AC Milan’s Riccardo Montolivo (centre) walks next to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (left) and Daniel
Alves as they lie on the pitch following a tackle, at the San Siro stadium on Wednesday. REUTERS
Armstrong denies an
interview with USADA
AC Milan’s goal scorers Kevin Prince Boateng (left) and Sulley Muntari celebrate after winning
their Champions League round of 16 first leg match against Barcelona. AP/RSS
knee injury—applied the final
hammer blow to Barça. Muntari
met the ball with a volley, with
his left foot almost as high as his
knee, and struck it inside the far
post at a ferocious, but sweetly
timed, speed. It was all over, bar
the talking.
Barcelona’s players
admitted they thought they had
control of the match, and they
can blame neither the field conditions
nor the Scottish referee.
And they acknowledge that
they are staring at elimination
from a tournament they were
favourites to win (again).
Barça require three goals,
and since their defense is never
airtight, possibly four, to come
through in the second leg on
March 12.
And Milan? “We played as a
team, and we listened to our
coach,” concluded Muntari.
— © 2013 The New York Times
CL RESULTS
Galatasaray 1 - 1 Schalke 04
AC Milan 2 - 0 Barcelona
Deepak wins CMS Open Golf title
Winner of CMS Open golf tournament
Deepak Thapa Magar plays a
shot during the third and final day of
the tournament at RNGC on
Thursday. POST PHOTO
card of three-under 64 to finish eighth at
210, while Yelamber Singh Adhikari and
CB Bhandari shared the ninth position
at 211.
Thapa Magar began the day with
two-shot cushion over amateur Dinesh
Prajapati and four ahead of Shiva Ram,
Rabi and Sanjay along with amateur
Tashi Tshiring.
He came under pressure from the
beginning when he suffered double
bogey on the first hole but hung on to
win the title. After suffering a bogey on
the eight, Thapa Magar carded a birdie
on the ninth to take the turn at two-over
35. On the back nine, Thapa Magar carded
a birdie on the 10th and sank an eagle
on the 13th to finish the last nine holes
at three-under 31.
Shiva Ram, who at one stage had
taken one-stroke lead, failed to keep
the momentum going. He took the turn
at three-under 30 with the help of
birdies on the second, fourth and sixth
holes. On the even-par back nine, he
suffered a double bogey on the 11th
against birdies on the 10th and 18th
holes.
Dhana Thapa and Mani Rai shared
the 11th position at 213, whereas
Deepak Acharya came 13th with the
score of 214. Umesh Nagarkoti was 14th
at 215, while Jaya Ram Shrestha and
Ramesh Adhikari shared the 15th
position at 217.
In Amateur section, Dinesh
Prajapati won the title with the total
score of seven-over 208. Dinesh carded
six-over 73 on the final day to register
one-shot victory over Michael Rai.
Matchfixing
suspect
detained
in Milan
REUTERS
MILAN, FEB 21
ITALIAN police arrested a fugitive
Slovenian associate of alleged
football matchfixing kingpin Tan
Seet Eng on Thursday after he flew
in from Singapore to hand himself
over, they said in a statement.
The man, identified as 31-yearold
Admir Suljic, arrived at Milan’s
Malpensa airport in the early hours
to find police waiting for him after a
tip-off by Singapore authorities.
Police said in a statement that
Suljic, who is accused of “criminal
association aimed at sporting fraud”,
had bought a one-way ticket with
the intention of surrendering to the
authorities.
He had been on the run since
December 2011 and is considered a
“key element” in Italy’s ‘Last Bet’
probe into match-fixing between
2009 and 2011. Police said Suljic
would be taken to a prison in the city
of Cremona.
Police said in a
statement that Suljic,
who is accused of
‘criminal association
aimed at sporting
fraud’, had bought a
one-way ticket with
the intention of
surrendering to the
authorities
“His direct involvement in the
international criminal group, made
of Singapore nationals and people
from the Balkans, has emerged from
the investigation,” the police statement
said.
Italian prosecutors have accused
Tan, also known as Dan Tan, of
heading an organisation to fix football
matches worldwide and Italian
police have issued an arrest warrant
for him.
A joint inquiry by Europol, the
European anti-crime agency, and
national prosecutors identified
about 680 suspicious matches
including qualifying games for the
World Cup and European
Championships, and for Europe’s
Champions League.
MATCH-FIXING CONFERENCE
INTERPOL chief Ronald Noble,
speaking at a conference in Kuala
Lumpur on combating match-fixing,
said Suljic was part of Singapore
national Tan’s network.
The international police body
has declined to say if it has declared
Tan an internationally wanted person,
but an Italian judicial source
said INTERPOL had pooled together
investigations launched by authorities
in countries including Italy,
Germany, Spain and Turkey.
Singapore says he is not wanted
there, but that it is working with
European authorities investigating
the syndicate.
Singapore police said on
Thursday a team of four officers
would be sent to INTERPOL within
the next two weeks to assist in
matchfixing investigations and that
the city-state remained “committed”
in the fight against matchfixing.
Singapore allows suspects to be
sent only to countries with which it
has an extradition treaty. Germany
has such a treaty with Singapore but
Italy, which made the original complaint
about matchfixers manipulating
Italian games, does not.