Friday, 29 April 2016
From sex-tape to tickertape
A sex-tape of a racially charged orgy in a Bangkok hotel was a public relations catastrophe for Thai-owned Leicester City -- but it proved an unlikely turning point in their journey to the top of the English Premier League.
The offending video featured three young players including James Pearson, son of then manager Nigel Pearson, engaging in explicit acts with group of Thai women in a Bangkok hotel.
Filmed by the players, the footage of the sniggering men was soon revealed by the British tabloid press, shocking the public with the players' crude remarks including calling one of the Thai women a "slit-eye".
But while the sex-tape caused outrage, it also ushered in a new era for Leicester as it paved the way for the arrival of manager Claudio Ranieri, who has taken the club to the brink of the Premier League title.
After the scandal last May, the players were promptly sacked and pressure mounted on Pearson -- a manager who already had a bruising relationship with the British press.
At the start of July, Pearson also exited due to what the club simply described as "fundamental differences in perspective".
Critics lined up to condemn the owners, billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his son Aiyawatt or 'Top', for a decision that came after Pearson had steered the team from the bottom of the table to 14th.
The offending video featured three young players including James Pearson, son of then manager Nigel Pearson, engaging in explicit acts with group of Thai women in a Bangkok hotel.
Filmed by the players, the footage of the sniggering men was soon revealed by the British tabloid press, shocking the public with the players' crude remarks including calling one of the Thai women a "slit-eye".
But while the sex-tape caused outrage, it also ushered in a new era for Leicester as it paved the way for the arrival of manager Claudio Ranieri, who has taken the club to the brink of the Premier League title.
After the scandal last May, the players were promptly sacked and pressure mounted on Pearson -- a manager who already had a bruising relationship with the British press.
At the start of July, Pearson also exited due to what the club simply described as "fundamental differences in perspective".
Critics lined up to condemn the owners, billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his son Aiyawatt or 'Top', for a decision that came after Pearson had steered the team from the bottom of the table to 14th.
Pearson's sacking, said former star striker Gary Lineker at the time, showed that the Thai owners "clearly don't know what they're doing".
But a fortnight later the experienced Italian Ranieri arrived, to little fanfare, and quietly set to work on what would become a stunning season.
"The hotel incident brought the hero," Satit 'Bigjah' Krikul, Thailand's best known television football pundit, told AFP, referring to Ranieri's appointment.
"Of course the incident damaged the reputation of the Leicester team and affected Thailand a bit... but it's Thai style that this kind of news blows over."
The owners have stayed silent on the sex scandal and even Bangkok's police, who had threatened to prosecute the women involved for indecency,
now say they have no record of the incident.
Despite Thailand's raunchy nightlife and reputation, sex is a taboo subject in what remains a largely conservative country.
When asked by AFP recently in Bangkok if the club will return for a triumphant Thai tour this year, Top replied with a terse, "No".
The genial Ranieri immediately presented a calmer, kinder face to the public and brought a wealth of top-level footballing experience.
He inherited a team on a good run, bolstered the squad with some shrewd signings and embarked on the unlikeliest of title charges.
At the start of this season the Foxes were widely tipped for relegation, with British bookmakers offering 5,000-1 odds against a league victory.
One of Ranieri's first tasks was to issue a heavy fine to striker Jamie Vardy, who was caught on camera calling an Asian man a "Jap" three times at a casino.
Vardy's "mistake" was forgiven by Ranieri, and he went on to power this year's title bid with 22 league goals.
Villarreal dent Liverpool Europa hopes
Adrian Lopez’s stoppage-time winner put Villarreal on the verge of reaching their first ever Cup final with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
A game of few chances was decided by a brilliant goal at the death as Denis Suarez unselfishly squared for substitute Lopez to tap home from close range.
Roberto Firmino fired Liverpool’s best chance against the post in the second-half as Jurgen Klopp’s men now need another famous European comeback at Anfield to reach the final in Basel on May 18.
Sevilla are well-placed to reach a third consecutive Europa League final as they drew 2-2 away at Shakhtar Donetsk in the other semi-final.
Klopp was left frustrated at the manner at which Liverpool conceded late on having been seconds away from a creditable draw that would have given them the upper hand heading into the return leg.
“Of course I’m not too happy with the goal we conceded in the last second,” Klopp told BT Sport.
“A counter-attack in the 92nd minute doesn’t make too much sense to be honest, but it’s only the first leg. We had no luck today and they know how strong we are at Anfield.”
However, Villarreal boss Marcelino claimed his side were more than deserving winners.
“I am tremendously proud of this squad and we are closer to the final, still far away, but closer than we were in the 88th minute,” he told BeIN Sports Spain.
“It is very important to beat a team like Liverpool and, moreover, deservedly so.”
The 96 Liverpool fans who died at the Hillsborough tragedy 27 years ago were remembered before kick-off days after the biggest inquest in English legal history found they had been unlawfully killed.
Villarreal fans held aloft a banner reading “96 You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Once the action got underway, Liverpool had the first chance when Joe Allen’s low shot from Adam Lallana’s deflected cross was placed too close to Sergio Asenjo.
Villarreal went onto enjoy the better of an intense first-half short on goalmouth action.
Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Roberto Soldado pulled the best chance of the half wide on 10 minutes.
Thomas Pina forced Simon Mignolet into a smart save low to his left before a curling effort from Soldado hit the side-netting.
Liverpool suffered a blow at half-time when Coutinho was forced off to be replaced by Jordan Ibe.
Villarreal were inches away from opening the scoring a minute into the second period when Cedric Bakambu’s header came off the post.
However, Liverpool also hit the woodwork at the other end with their best chance of the game 25 minutes from time when Firmino’s low shot was brilliantly turned onto the post by Asenjo.
The game suddenly opened up in the final 10 minutes as Mignolet producing a stunning save to prevent Bakambu adding to his nine Europa League goals this season.
Yet, from the resulting corner Liverpool pounced on an error from Suarez and Alberto Moreno bore down on goal before firing wildly off target.
Suarez atoned in fine fashion deep into stoppage time as he trapped Bruno’s pass to burst through the Liverpool defence before picking out the unmarked Lopez for an easy finish.
In the other semi-final Vitolo got Sevilla off to a perfect start when he fired between Andrey Pyatov’s legs early on.
The Ukrainians turned the game around before half-time through Marlos and Taras Stepanenko.
However, Kevin Gameiro’s penalty eight minutes from time gives Sevilla a huge advantage ahead of the return at the Sanchez Pizjuan in a week’s time.
Sevilla’s joy was diminished, though, by a serious knee injury suffered by Danish midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli.
Blatter 'happy' to testify at Platini appeal
FIFA's disgraced former president Sepp Blatter arrived at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday to testify at Michel Platini's appeal against his six-year ban from football over ethics violations.
"I was asked to be a witness today in the case concerning Mr. Platini and I accepted," Blatter told reporters as exited his car outside the court in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He added that he is "happy to be witness in this matter."
Blatter is a key figure in the saga that saw Platini, the suspended head of European governing body UEFA, ousted from football.
In December, FIFA judges banned both men for eight years over a now infamous 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) payment that Blatter sent to Platini in 2011.
Blatter and Platini have claimed the funds were part of a legitimate oral contract in connection with consulting work that Platini did for FIFA between 1999 and 2002.
FIFA's judges deemed that explanation unconvincing, but an appeals body at world football's governing body reduced their bans to six years in February, citing mitigating circumstances.
Platini's appeal at CAS, the world's top body for disputes in sport, marks his final chance to overturn his suspension.
UEFA has said it will not replace Platini until all his appeals have been exhausted.
If successful at CAS, Platini could immediately reclaim his UEFA post and preside over the Euro 2016 tournament which opens in June and is being hosted in his native France.
"It will be nice to see Michel Platini again," Blatter said before entering the court at roughly 10:40 am (0840 GMT). "It has been a while since I've seen him."
UEFA vice president Angel Maria Villar, who will testify on Platini's behalf, also entered the courthouse, without speaking to journalists.
The head of the Euro 2016 organising committee, Jacques Lambert, was also on hand to support Platini's case.
Shahadat seeks comeback
Banned paceman Shahadat Hossain after he was charged with torturing an 11-year-old girl he employed as a maid apologised Thursday and appealed to be allowed to return to the game.
Shahadat, who has denied abusing the girl in the past, apologised for what he called his “misdeed” and said he had made a mistake.
“I regret the unwarranted incident I was involved in and apologise to the whole nation,” he said in a statement in Bangla.
“For the sake of cricket and my livelihood, I want to return to cricket.
“I appeal to the nation, the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board), to allow me to return to cricket and correct my mistake. I apologise for my misdeed,” he said.
The 29-year-old pace bowler played 38 Tests and 51 one-day internationals before he was suspended from all forms of the game.
Shahadat, who has denied abusing the girl in the past, apologised for what he called his “misdeed” and said he had made a mistake.
“I regret the unwarranted incident I was involved in and apologise to the whole nation,” he said in a statement in Bangla.
“For the sake of cricket and my livelihood, I want to return to cricket.
“I appeal to the nation, the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board), to allow me to return to cricket and correct my mistake. I apologise for my misdeed,” he said.
The 29-year-old pace bowler played 38 Tests and 51 one-day internationals before he was suspended from all forms of the game.
Bangladeshi police charged him and his wife, Nritto Shahadat, with assault and torture in December after the young girl was found crying on a roadside, her eyes bruised and swollen.
The couple went into hiding after police raided their house in September when the girl alleged they had beaten and tortured her.
Television footage showed her looking frail and thin and police said one of her hands had been burnt with a hot cooking implement.
He spent two months in custody after he handed himself in to police on October 5 and has since been released on bail, as has his wife.
A judge has ordered that the couple face trial, and if convicted they face up to 14 years in jail.
But a source said the couple and the girl’s family may come to a financial settlement that would see her withdraw the allegations.
Shahadat told AFP in an interview in December that the allegations were false and had ruined his career.
7.0-magnitude earthquake hits Vanuatu
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific nation of Vanuatu early Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, with a tsunami warning issued.
The quake, which occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) was originally measured at 7.3-magnitude by the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC).
The United States Geological Survey said the 7.0-magnitude quake-originally reported as 7.3 -- struck at a relatively shallow depth of 35 kilometres (21 miles) some 209 kilometres from the capital Port Vila.
The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) initially warned the quake, which hit at 1933 Thursday GMT, could generate waves of up to three metres (10 feet) on parts of the Vanuatu coast.
Within two hours it had cancelled the alert, saying “there is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake”.
Port Vila journalist Moses Stevens said he was not aware of any damage in the capital, while tourist resort manager Dave Cross said it was felt strongly on the island of Espiritu Santo.
“We really felt the shake because it was so shallow, but all we lost was a vase and some flowers,” he told AFP.
“I’m told there was a small wave, but that was the extent of it.”
He added: “Earthquakes are just part of life here.”
Vanuatu is part of the “Ring of Fire”, a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
A series of tremors have been recorded in the region this month, including a 6.9 magnitude one, also close to Espiritu Santo island. No damage was reported from any of them.
Source : http://en.prothom-alo.com/international/news/103043/7.0-magnitude-earthquake-hits-Vanuatu
The quake, which occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) was originally measured at 7.3-magnitude by the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC).
The United States Geological Survey said the 7.0-magnitude quake-originally reported as 7.3 -- struck at a relatively shallow depth of 35 kilometres (21 miles) some 209 kilometres from the capital Port Vila.
The National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) initially warned the quake, which hit at 1933 Thursday GMT, could generate waves of up to three metres (10 feet) on parts of the Vanuatu coast.
Within two hours it had cancelled the alert, saying “there is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake”.
Port Vila journalist Moses Stevens said he was not aware of any damage in the capital, while tourist resort manager Dave Cross said it was felt strongly on the island of Espiritu Santo.
“We really felt the shake because it was so shallow, but all we lost was a vase and some flowers,” he told AFP.
“I’m told there was a small wave, but that was the extent of it.”
He added: “Earthquakes are just part of life here.”
Vanuatu is part of the “Ring of Fire”, a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
A series of tremors have been recorded in the region this month, including a 6.9 magnitude one, also close to Espiritu Santo island. No damage was reported from any of them.
Source : http://en.prothom-alo.com/international/news/103043/7.0-magnitude-earthquake-hits-Vanuatu
US, UN condemn Syria hospital bombing
The United States and the United Nations Thursday condemned an air strike on a hospital in Syria’s Aleppo, with Washington demanding that Russia restrain its Syrian ally.
UN officials also voiced alarm at the “catastrophic deterioration” of the situation in Syria and appealed on world powers to salvage a February 27 truce.
But in Aleppo on Thursday, fighting between rebels and regime forces killed 53 civilians-the highest toll for a single day in a week of violence that has cost more than 200 lives, according to a monitor.
The Syrian army was meanwhile poised to launch an offensive against rebels who control part of the northern city.
Secretary of State John Kerry expressed “outrage” over Wednesday’s air strike that hit Al-Quds hospital in Aleppo’s rebel-held Sukkari neighbourhood.
He said it appeared to be “a deliberate strike on a known medical facility” and said Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, must restrain the Damascus regime.
“Russia has an urgent responsibility to press the regime to fulfil its commitments under UNSCR 2254, including in particular to stop attacking civilians, medical facilities, and first responders, and to abide fully by the cessation of hostilities.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said attacks that target civilians are “inexcusable” violations of humanitarian law.
“There must be accountability for these crimes,” he said.
The city’s last remaining paediatrician and three children were among the 20 people killed in the air strike overnight on the Al-Quds hospital, which was supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
A civil defence group known as the White Helmets told AFP 30 people were killed in the strike on the hospital and a nearby block of flats.
Truce ‘barely alive’
The Aleppo violence has raised fears for the ceasefire in other areas of Syria and called into question the future of UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva that have now gone into recess.
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura warned that the hard-won February 27 ceasefire was now “barely alive” and could collapse “any time”.
Speaking late Wednesday after a third round of Syria peace talks fizzled out, De Mistura also urged its co-sponsors Russia and the United States to take action to rescue it.
He said the United States, which supports some rebel groups, and regime ally Russia needed to act, calling on them to organise a high-level Syria meeting before negotiations resume.
UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien further raised the alarm on Thursday in remarks made at the UN Security Council.
“We must all be ashamed this is happening on our watch,” said O’Brien, urging world powers to salvage the truce.
“You must not squander the opportunity presented by talks in Geneva and by the cessation of hostilities to put an end to the massive human suffering in Syria,” he said.
And the UN’s Jan Egeland, who heads an international humanitarian taskforce for war-ravaged Syria, spoke of a “catastrophic deterioration” of the situation in the country.
“The stakes are so incredibly high,” Egeland told reporters in Geneva, and warned that “the lifeline to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people... may be broken.”
‘Humanitarian disaster’
Rebel rocket and artillery fire on government-held neighbourhoods on Thursday killed 22 civilians, including two children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Regime air strikes on rebel-held districts, including Bustan al-Qasr, killed 31 civilians, including three children, said the British-based monitor.
An AFP correspondent said every building in sight in the Bustan al-Qasr district had had its windows blown out.
“It is the worst day in Aleppo in five years. The regime did not spare a single neighbourhood,” said one resident.
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that Aleppo city was “on the brink of humanitarian disaster”.
The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper and a Syrian regime source meanwhile said the army was preparing to take the whole of Aleppo.
“Now is the time to launch the battle for the complete liberation of Aleppo,” the paper said, adding that it “will not take long to begin, nor to finish”.
A regime source told AFP that “the army is preparing a huge operation in the coming days to push the rebels away from the city by encircling it and creating a security zone”.
Rebels have controlled eastern districts of Aleppo city since 2012, while western neighbourhoods are held by the regime.
Control of the surrounding province is divided between a myriad of armed groups-jihadists of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, Kurdish militia and various rebel factions as well as the army.
Further north in the province, rebels including the powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group and Kurdish forces fought fierce battles Wednesday and early Thursday that left 64 fighters dead, a monitor said.
More than 270,000 people have been killed in Syria and millions forced from their homes since the conflict erupted in 2011.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)