Osaze Undecided Over Eagles Stay

Stoke City star also considers his Nigeria future

Osaze Peter Odemwingie considering his international future after the Super Eagles’ second round exit at the World Cup.

Odemwingie scored the only goal as Nigeria beat Bosnia-Hercegovina in a Group F game.
But the 32-year-old says after 67 caps that the loss to France on 30 June could be his final Nigeria appearance.

“Sometimes you just feel like you’ve come a circle and I don’t know whether I’ll play on for Nigeria,” he told BBC Sport.

“I am committed to the country’s cause. Right now I’m not too sure. It might be but it might not.
“You need to be honest with yourself and your country. There are few people I need to talk to because I can’t be selfish.

“Nigeria has always meant everything to me. Despite everything I’ve been through, wearing the national colours has definitely been one the highlights of my career.”

After a goal-scoring debut against Kenya in Lagos in 2002, he has been widely regarded as one of the most committed and dedicated players to have represented Nigeria.

As well as winning silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, he was part of the Nigeria squad that finished in third-place at the 2004, 2006 and 2010 African Cup of Nations.

However, he was omitted from the Super Eagles squad that won won the continental title in 2013.

His omission led to a public spat with coach Stephen Keshi, he was subsequently banished to the international wilderness, but was recalled to play at this year’s World Cup.

“One of those things [missing the team' successful campaign] you look back on and learn from without holding any regrets,” he added.

“I’m imperfect and I’ve learned so much playing international football,” he added.

“There are many young players coming through now and you can only pass on your experience.
“It’s not a decision I will rush into but then, you need to make an honest one.

Sport Update D-day For Nigeria As FIFA Ban Looms

–Adamu, Sports Minister off to Brazil to meet FIFA

FIFA will today decide whether to refer the case of the Nigeria Football Federation to one of its appropriate bodies for sanctions or respect Nigeria’s high court decision which restrained the Nigeria Football Federation Executive committee led by Aminu Maigari from administering over the affairs of the federation and by extension football in Nigeria.

FIFA had in a letter dated Friday,July 4 and addressed to the NFF expressed concern over the different actions taken by Nigerian public authorities that affect the NFF.

FIFA claimed it learnt from various sources that the NFF was served with court processes and that consequently an order restraining the President of the NFF, his Executive Committee members and the NFF Congress from running the affairs of Nigerian football was granted by a High Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

FIFA says it is also aware that the Minister of Sport has appointed an assistant director to take charge of the NFF.

The world governing body for football decried the development and reminded whoever cares to listen that all FIFA member associations have to manage their affairs independently and without influence of any third parties as clearly stipulated in articles 13, par. 1 and 17, par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes.,

FIFA has thus asked the NFF to disregard the ruling of a court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria and relay its position to the relevant authorities and inform them that if the aforementioned Maigari and members of his executive committee are not fully reinstated by Tuesday 8 July 2014 the case will be referred to the appropriate FIFA bodies for sanctions, including the potential suspension of the NFF.

Meanwhile Complete Sports gathered late Monday night that former FIFA executive committee member,Dr Amos Adamu and the Sports Minister,Dr Tammy Danagogo will fly out to Brazil tonight to meet FIFA.

Danagogo has vehemently denied government is interfering in the affairs of the NFF and will seize the opportunity of the visit to let FIFA know that the restraining order came from a court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria and must be respected.

Complete Sports also gathered that a second team of Nigerian officials are scheduled to also fly out at a later date to meet with Issa Hayatou,president of CAF to explain the Nigeria situation so that FIFA can properly understand its laws are not superior to the laws of Nigeria.

Crotone, Lanciano Want Oduamadi On Loan

Crotone, Lanciano Want Oduamadi On Loan

•  8 JUL 2014
 
•  NEWS UPDATE

By Johnny. Edward:

Serie B sides Crotone and Virtus Lanciano have joined the race to sign Nigerian winger Nnamdi Oduamadi on a season loan deal, Complete Sports has reliably gathered.

AC Milan recently completed the signing of French winger Jeremy Menez and are prepared to send the Super Eagles winger on another loan spell after he featured on loan at Brescia and Varese last season.

The 23 year old winger who will rejoin his parent club for pre-season next week is also on the radar of Championship side Leeds and Sivasspor.

The former Torino winger who was sensationally dropped from Nigeria’s squad for the World Cup in Brazil scored four goals in 12 games for Varese last term and four in 13 games for the national team.

World Cup 2014: Colombia squad welcomed home by thousands

Thousands of fans turned out in Bogota to welcome home Colombia's footballers after their best performance at a World Cup finals.

Coach Jose Pekerman guided his side to their first quarter-final appearance before they lost 2-1 to hosts Brazil.

James Rodriguez scored six goals at the finals, and remains the tournament's top scorer ahead of the semi-finals.

The Monaco midfielder's total included a spectacular volley in a 2-0 last-16 victory over Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro.

Rodriguez scored in all five of Colombia's matches in Brazil.

He struck in each of their Group C victories over Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan, added two more in the win over Uruguay and then converted a penalty as his side were eliminated by the hosts.

Colombia's president Juan Manuel Santos sent a message thanking the team "for so much joy and for teaching us how to dream".

World Cup 2014: Howard Webb retained for last four games

Howard Webb could be in contention to referee the World Cup final after he was one of 15 officials retained by Fifa for the last four matches.

The 42-year-old from Yorkshire, whose assistants Mike Mullarkey and Darren Cann are also retained, has taken charge of two games at the tournament.

He refereed Colombia's group-stage win against Ivory Coast and also Brazil's last-16 victory over Chile.

Webb officiated the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and Netherlands.

In that game, which Spain won 1-0, Webb made one of the most controversial decisions of his career by not sending off midfielder Nigel de Jong for a high-footed challenge. He has since admitted he should have shown the ex-Manchester City man a red card.

Brazilian Sandro Ricci is the only referee to be kept on from the four remaining countries - Argentina, Germany and Netherlands are the others - left in the tournament.

Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez has been assigned Brazil's semi-final against Germany on Tuesday.

Rodriguez was in charge of the group stage game between Uruguay and Italy, when Liverpool striker Luis Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.

Meanwhile, Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir will take charge of the second semi-final between the Netherlands and Argentina on Wednesday.

World Cup 2014: Brazil fail to have Thiago Silva booking rescinded

Defender Thiago Silva will miss Tuesday's World Cup semi-final against Germany after Brazil failed in their bid to have his yellow card overturned.

The Brazil captain, 29, was booked in Friday's win against Colombia.

It was Silva's second yellow of the tournament, meaning he is automatically suspended for one match.

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World Cup 2014: Brazil 2-1 Colombia highlights

The Brazilian football confederation wanted the second caution rescinded but Fifa said there is "no legal basis" to grant such a request.

Silva was booked for blocking Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina's attempt to take a kick.

He had scored the opener as Brazil won 2-1 to progress to the last four.

Silva's defensive partner, David Luiz, will captain the side in his absence.

The tournament hosts are already without their star forward Neymar for the rest of the World Cup after he fractured a vertebra in his spine against Colombia.

Willian is expected to replace Neymar, although the Chelsea attacker did give Brazil a scare when he suffered a back injury in training.

"I was hurt on my left side," the former Shakhtar Donetsk player said. "It bothers me a bit but it is not significant. I am available to play."

World Cup 2014: Faith and football as Brazil unites to pray for glory

It is hard to think of a country that combines sport and spirituality quite like Brazil.

Neymar may be out of the World Cup, but Brazil has kept the faith; Brazil still believes.

With coach Luiz Felipe Scolari not able to rely on an individual to drive the Selecao to the final in Rio on Sunday, the nation is looking to a higher power.

Brazil is embracing a blend of religion, emotion and superstition. And that is as true of the 200 million people of this vast, varied country, as it is of the national team.

During the run to Tuesday's semi-final against Germany, the players have used religious symbols, lucky charms, music and prayer.

It is often said that, in Brazil, football is a religion, but it is a much more complicated picture than that. Football is instead a platform for the country's religions to find a voice.

The Brazil team have been united by their combined belief throughout this World Cup.

Scolari has used it to bond and motivate the players. Before the victory over Colombia, he visited a chapel in the grounds of the team hotel in Fortaleza. In the dressing room before the match, the squad repeated the Lord's Prayer. And at the final whistle, defender David Luiz sank to his knees and prayed again.

World Cup 2014: Fifa will not take action over Neymar challenge

Colombia's Juan Zuniga will not face disciplinary action for the challenge that led to Neymar's World Cup exit.

The Brazil striker broke a vertebra in his spine during his side's 2-1 quarter-final win on Friday following a challenge from defender Zuniga, 28.

A Fifa statement said there could be no disciplinary action because the incident was spotted and dealt with by referee Velasco Carballo on the pitch.

"We wish Neymar a prompt and complete recovery," said a Fifa spokesman.

Fifa has also announced it will not overturn the yellow card shown to Brazil captain Thiago Silva during the Colombia game, saying "there is no legal basis entitling it to grant such request".

Brazil face Germany in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday (kick-off 21:00 BST).

World Cup 2014: Lawro's predictions - semi-finals

BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson is predicting the outcome of every game at the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

Lawro chose the corre

He picked the correct winner in each of the eight last-16 ties and enjoyed a 50% success record in the group stage, correctly guessing the outcome of 24 of the 48 games.

The only group he failed to get a single correct result in was Group D, which was surprisingly won by Costa Rica as England finished bottom.

Before the tournament, Lawro chose 11 out of the 16 teams that went through to the first knockout stage.

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.ct winner in three of the four quarter-finals, wrongly backing Belgium to knock out Argentina, who were his pre-tournament pick to win the final on 13 July.

Current News Barack Obama Got Destroyed At The Supreme Court

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AP

Two years ago, President Barack Obama stood in jubilation, hugging the White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler after finding out the Supreme Court had upheld his signature domestic achievement.
Two years later, amid the most significant challenge to the Affordable Care Act since that moment, Obama didn't have much to cheer about. The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision, split along the normal conservative-liberal judicial lines, found the law's contraception mandate violated certain companies' rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
" We disagree, and the constitutional lawyer in the Oval Office disagrees, with that conclusion from the Supreme Court," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday.
There's been little solace for Obama this Supreme Court term. In addition to Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the Obama administration and the causes it has supported have experienced a handful of high-profile setbacks before the high court. 
Also on Tuesday, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to public-sector unions, ruling that some employees couldn't be forced to pay dues. Last week, in a unanimous, 9-0 rebuke, the justices ruled Obama had overstepped his constitutional authority when he went around Congress and unilaterally appointed three members to the National Labor Relations Board.
Also last week, the high court unanimously struck down a law that had established 35-foot "buffer zones" at abortion clinics in Massachusetts. And earlier this term, the court dealt the most serious blow to campaign-finance laws since the landmark Citizens United decision in 2010.
Earnest was asked if Obama was concerned or frustrated about the way the term went for the administration.
" I'd hesitate to make a broad assessment like that from this podium," Earnest said.
But other legal experts and the president's political opponents have taken notice. Since January 2012, the Obama administration has suffered at least 13 unanimous defeats in cases it argued (not counting cases in which it filed an amicus brief), according to the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. 
Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, told Business Insider that while 5-4 decisions can be blamed on the conservative-liberal split of the court, unanimous decisions are " indicative of an administration that pushes and breaks through the envelope in its assertion of federal power."
Added a GOP Senate aide in an email to Business Insider: "Recent court decisions say as much about Democrat overreach as they do about anything else, and no data point underscores that more clearly than the dozen unanimous defeats they’ve handed to Obama."
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, the administration's chief constitutional attorney, argued and lost four high-profile cases — the NLRB, Hobby Lobby, campaign-finance, and abortion "buffer zone" decisions.

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REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Speaker of the House John Boehner (L) walks away as U.S. President Barack Obama waves upon his departure from the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, March 14, 2014.

Two of the rulings handed down over the past week — the NLRB decision and the Hobby Lobby decision — get to the core of the argument Republicans will push this election season. Since Obama announced his intention to make 2014 a "year of action" full of executive actions, Republicans have decried it as an abuse of power. House Speaker John Boehner intends to sue Obama over his prevalent use of executive actions.
That perceived overstep fits in with the Hobby Lobby decision, which Republicans argued was about "religious liberty."
" The decision affirms that Americans, contrary to what the Obama administration attempted to impose, have a right to live and work in accordance to their conscience and can’t be forced to surrender their religious freedom once they open a business," Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement.  
"This ruling is a repudiation of the Obama administration’s untenable position that people with sincerely held religious beliefs should be forced to comply with an unconstitutional mandate while a parade of waivers, exemptions, and delays are granted for purely commercial and political interests."
The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin predicted the two decisions, described as "narrow" by many legal experts, will be anything but — since they open the door to future legal challenges. Toobin considers it part of a classic "two-step" feature of the Chief Justice John Roberts court — hand down a "narrow" ruling now, and make sweeping decisions later. 
Both of the decisions — from the public-sector unions case (Harris v. Quinn) and the Hobby Lobby case — are examples of rulings that could lead to further, more sweeping rewrites of laws. One needs only to glance at the scathing dissent of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from the Hobby Lobby decision to see the angst of many liberals and Democrats after this term.
Ginsburg said the court established a new precedent in the Hobby Lobby case — one that "invites for-profit entities to seek religion-based exemptions from regulations they deem offensive to their faith."
"The court, I fear, has ventured into a minefield," she wrote.

EXPOSED: SEE WHO IS PROVIDING BOKO HARAM WITH MONEY AND WEAPONS

After many speculations on where the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, are getting the weapons they frequently use to unleash terror in the north-eastern states of Nigeria and Abuja, their main sources have been unveiled.
According to US network TV NBC, most of the Islamic terror group’s weapons are either stolen from Nigerian military stocks or purchased on the thriving Central African arms black market, say the experts, including current and former U.S. officials.
While many have often wondered where the insurgents source their weaponry from, given both the sophistication and the sheer number, ThisDay reports that the group blamed for last month’s kidnapping of nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls routinely raids police stations and military bases in search of weapons
It was also gathered that in some cases, Boko Haram sympathizers in the Nigerian military abet the theft.

“There are hints that sympathizers in the Nigerian army will deliberately leave doors of armouries unlocked for Boko Haram,” said John Campbell, U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007.

It could also be recalled that a top military officer was indicted several years ago in Kaduna, for supplying the weapons of the Nigerian army to Niger Delta militants, led by, now jailed, Henry Okah.
The terror group has been conducting its campaign of terror in the northern states of Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon on the cheap, making mayhem with a makeshift collection of small arms, automatic weapons, rifles, rocket- propelled grenades and mortars, experts on the turbulent region say.
The report also stated that apart from weapons, the rebels frequently seize non-lethal equipment that helps them carry out their terror attacks, quoting one U.S. official.

Apart from benefiting from sympathizers in the Nigerian military, the Islamic terror group is said to be able to purchase small arms and occasionally some larger weaponry in nearby conflict zones, “probably Libya, probably Chad.
These arms are believed to be acquired through “shady, black market” arrangements across barely marked borders, as the official put it.
The porousness of the Nigerian borders was also said to be encouraging the proliferation of the country with illegal arms, according to Michael Leiter, a former director of the National Counter Terrorism Center and now an NBC News analyst.

“The collapse of Libya has further flooded the market,” said Leiter. “Whether these came from Chad, Nigeria, or Libya is almost irrelevant, as such arms are widely available.”

Arms trade expert William M. Hartung agrees. “It’s one conflict after another,” he said. “Because of the nature of the conflict … the concentration of conflicts … the black market in Central Africa is more vibrant than other places.”
Campbell, the former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, says the array of small and automatic weapons, grenades, mortars, mines and perhaps car bombs “is all Boko Haram’s soldiers need to carry out their brand of terrorism.”
It could be recalled that officials in Cameroon on Tuesday showed a cache of weapons they said was seized near the Nigerian border last month following a rescue of some other kidnapped victims.
A Cameroon defense ministry spokesman, showing off a variety of weaponry including Russian-made AK-47s, said the cache represents what they are up against on a daily basis in trying to combat Boko Haram.

PRESS RELEASE: Troops Bust Terrorists

PRESS RELEASE: Troops Bust Terrorists'
Intelligence Network…Arrest A Key Actor
In Chibok Abduction
A terrorists’ intelligence cell headed by a
businessman who participated actively in
the abduction of School Girls in Chibok
has been busted by troops. The man,
Babuji Ya’ari who is also a member of
the Youth Vigilante Group popularly
known as Civilian JTF which he uses as
cover while remaining an active terrorist,
also spearheaded the murder of the
Emir of Gwoza. His main role in the
group is to spy and gather information
for the terrorists group.
Babuji has been coordinating several
deadly attacks in Maiduguri since 2011,
including the daring attacks on Customs
and military locations as well as the
planting of IEDs in several locations in
the town.

NEWS Afghanistan embarrass India's Gen Next by 28 runs in Singapore

In the context of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup currently being played in Singapore, Afghanistan's 28-run win over the India Under-23 team was insignificant. The Indians still topped the group to move into the semi-final, where they will take on United Arab Emirates on Friday. But for Afghanistan, despite the fact that the result didn't help them from exiting the event, the victory was perhaps their most important.
For the first time in their short cricketing history, Afghanistan had recorded a win over a Test-playing nation, albeit an age-group side of it, in any format.
The fact that Afghanistan was allowed to enter their main side for the tournament while the Indians obeyed the age restriction was a footnote in fine print that in no way took away the shine from this emerging Asian cricketing nation.
The hero of the day for the Afghanistan was their skipper Mohammad Nabi, who scored 25 runs with the bat and finished with figures of 3/32 in a low scoring game. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 184 with Samiullah Shenwari scoring 43 off 44 balls. In reply, the Indians succumbed to Nabi's off-spin. India were 156/9 at the end of 50 overs.
At the end of group games; India, Pakistan and Afghanistan all finished with four points. But Afghanistan's poor run rate got them eliminated.
Assessing potential
Speaking to The Indian Express after the win, Nabi said, "For us it is a big win, beating India can only be a moral booster." Though, there were no international players in the Indian side, Nabi and his men were in awe of their young rivals. With most of the India under-23 players playing in the Indian Premier League, the Afghanistan players had seen them on television and thus were keen to match their skills against them.

Sport News Fernando Alonso sets pace in weather-affected first practiceFerrari's Fernando Alonso lapped fastest in a weather-affected Belgian Grand Prix first practice session on Friday as Formula One drivers shrugged off the long August break and got back up to speed. The Spaniard, third in the championship after 10 of 19 races, lapped the longest circuit on the calendar with a best time of one minute 55.198 seconds in a familiar Spa mixture of wet and dry conditions. The two Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil were second and third on the timesheets, with the top three all setting their comparatively slow times in the final half hour of an incident-free session. Morning rain, and occasional drizzle interspersed with cloud and sunshine, dampened part of the fast and flowing Ardennes forest circuit while a dry line emerged through the middle sector. The McLarens of Briton Jenson Button and Mexican Sergio Perez showed encouraging signs of progress, despite the team backing away from earlier assertions that they could challenge for a victory this weekend. Perez was fourth fastest while Button, last year's winner from pole, ended up 14th. Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who has a 38 point lead over Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, was sixth fastest behind fellow-German Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Vettel, who returned from the break with his hair dyed bright blond, had the odd spin on the slippery surface without drama. Raikkonen, who cried off sick on from media engagements on Thursday after weeks of speculation about his future and talk of moves to Red Bull or Ferrari, and Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean propped up the timesheets. Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, dropped by Caterham at the end of last year, made an appearance for the team in place of regular race driver Charles Pic and was 16th quickest.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso lapped fastest in a weather-affected Belgian Grand Prix first practice session on Friday as Formula One drivers shrugged off the long August break and got back up to speed.
The Spaniard, third in the championship after 10 of 19 races, lapped the longest circuit on the calendar with a best time of one minute 55.198 seconds in a familiar Spa mixture of wet and dry conditions.
The two Force Indias of Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil were second and third on the timesheets, with the top three all setting their comparatively slow times in the final half hour of an incident-free session.
Morning rain, and occasional drizzle interspersed with cloud and sunshine, dampened part of the fast and flowing Ardennes forest circuit while a dry line emerged through the middle sector.
The McLarens of Briton Jenson Button and Mexican Sergio Perez showed encouraging signs of progress, despite the team backing away from earlier assertions that they could challenge for a victory this weekend.
Perez was fourth fastest while Button, last year's winner from pole, ended up 14th.
Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who has a 38 point lead over Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, was sixth fastest behind fellow-German Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.
Vettel, who returned from the break with his hair dyed bright blond, had the odd spin on the slippery surface without drama.
Raikkonen, who cried off sick on from media engagements on Thursday after weeks of speculation about his future and talk of moves to Red Bull or Ferrari, and Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean propped up the timesheets.
Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, dropped by Caterham at the end of last year, made an appearance for the team in place of regular race driver Charles Pic and was 16th quickest.

Sport News Nicolas Anelka wants to quit football: West Brom

West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke says Nicolas Anelka has told him he is contemplating quitting football in the wake of the death of his agent.
Anelka wrote on his Facebook page that he was feeling "immense sorrow" following the death of Eric Manasse, and has been granted compassionate leave by West Brom.
Asked if Anelka had talked about quitting, Clarke says "I'm not going to deny that he used that word in the conversations we had with him."
Clarke spoke briefly with the 34-year-old Anelka on Thursday before the striker left the training ground, adding Friday "he wasn't in a good place, so the club have decided just to give him a bit of time to go away and think about it."

Sport After Arjuna award, Gaganjeet Bhullar aims to win first event on European Tour

Elated at joining the small list of Indian golfers who have been conferred with the Arjuna award, Gaganjeet Bhullar said the honour will motivate him to perform better at the international events besides inspiring youngsters to take up the game.
Bhullar became the 17th golfer and the eighth Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) member to be conferred with the Arjuna Award, the nation's second highest sporting honour.
"It is a very proud moment for me and my family. I would like to thank the Government of India for acknowledging the fact that Indian golfers are making the country proud with their performances at the international level," Bhullar said.
"This is a result of the hard work I have put in over the years and the strong support I have received from my family. This award will not only motivate me to achieve greater things but will also encourage many other young golfers in the country to work harder and succeed at the highest level," he added.
PGTI members who have won the Arjuna Award in the past include Ali Sher (1991), Amit Luthra (1996), Harmeet Kahlon (1997), Jeev Milkha Singh (1999), Shiv Kapur (2002), Jyoti Randhawa (2004) and Arjun Atwal (2007).

News World cricket divided into haves and have-nots

Rahul Dravid's eloquent plea for test cricket, his words have the same grace as his shots, needs to be taken seriously, as does his thesis that T20 needs test cricket. And he makes an old-fashioned plea for not putting profits through television rights above the greater need to develop sport. It is interesting too that it comes at a time when the game's parents have been obsessing over whether a mark on a bat is good for the game. Also Read: Dravid wants an open approach towards day-night Tests
You would expect Dravid to say what he does and to be fair to him, the manner in which he thought about and played cricket is consistent with what he advocates. But I can see those that run the game tut-tutting about romantics not making good businessmen. Of those that earn money from the game, the ICC is doing fairly well so are India, England and Australia and there aren't alarm bells ringing in the accountants office in South Africa either. But of the others Sri Lanka is broke, so, by their admission, is Pakistan. New Zealand are very honest about the state of their finances and the West Indies aren't exactly rolling in wealth. And there is some debate on whether Zimbabwe cricket is broke or has been broken into. That means a majority of cricket's constituents are either struggling to stay afloat or are waiting for the next payout from the ICC which derives its own income from television rights and attendant benefits. Like with the world of economics that Dravid so charmingly alludes to, cricket is split between the haves and the have-nots.
The haves don't mind playing test cricket because their lucrative television deals cover that. But outside of the top four, there are virtually no television deals and so they must offer the market what it craves for. And what the market wants in these countries is fast food, not fine dining. These countries, to be able to afford to play home tests, must generate revenue from what the market demands. And while the market makes the right noises about test cricket, it does so much like people support social causes; it rarely extends beyond words and into actual support. So to that extent, test cricket, at least in these countries, needs T20 and not the other way around.

News

Spinner Akshar Patel did the star turn for India Under-23 as they fought their way back from a tough situation to set up a title clash with Pakistan after a 46-run win over United Arab Emirates in the semifinals of the ACC Emerging Teams Cup.
In what turned out to be another low-scoring match, the Indian colts defended a modest 208 as the opposition folded for 162 runs in 48.3 overs.
19-year-old left-arm spinner Patel snared three wickets for three runs in as many overs to trigger a collapse that saw UAE folding up for 162 after being comfortably placed at 97 for one at one stage.
Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers returning impressive figures of four for 29 in 8.3 overs at the Kallang Ground.
India had suffered a shock 28-run defeat to Afghanistan on Thursday.
Manpreet Juneja (76) top-scored with the bat for India. Juneja's was a labored knock that mostly comprised running between the wickets - his runs came in 121 balls with a solitary boundary in the form of a six.
After skipper Suryakumar Yadav elected to bat first, India U-23 were dealt an early blow in form of Unmukt Chand (0) in the first over.
However, a 94-run stand between opener Lokesh Rahul (43) and Manpreet Juneja (76) put the innings back on course.
The UAE bowlers came back into the match with regular wickets as the Indian middle-order batsmen failed to convert their starts. Juneja was the only Indian batsman to score a half-century as wickets tumbled around him.
UAE off-spinner, Nasir Aziz (9.5-0-51-5) was India U-23's tormentor-in-chief as after dismissing Ankit Bawne (23) and Ashok Menaria (30), he returned to clean up the tail quickly.
Aziz was wonderfully supported by Mohammad Naveed (10-1-37-3) who was both economical and among wickets.

Sport Barcelona sign Suarez from City

Denis Suarez © Gallo Images

Barcelona sign Suarez from City

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23 August 2013, 11:08

Barcelona says it has signed 19-year-old Spanish midfielder Denis Suarez to a four-year contract after securing his transfer from Manchester City.
Barcelona says Suarez will play with its second team in Spain's second division.
His contract includes a buy-out clause of ?12 million that will increase to ?35 million if he joins Barcelona's first team.
Suarez played for Spain at the under-20 world championships. He joined City from Spanish club Celta Vigo in 2011.

Some 38 Muslim Brotherhood supporters died in disputed circumstances at a prison on Sunday, as the leader of Egypt’s powerful army warned he would not tolerate violence, urging rebels to change course.

Latest government figures said at least 830 people had died since last Wednesday in clashes pitting followers of deposed President Mohamed Morsi against security forces in the worst political bloodletting to rock Egypt in recent history.
Three sources put the number of dead at 38.
Police have rounded up hundreds of Morsi’s Brotherhood backers in recent days, in an effort by the army-backed government to end weeks of protests and to stamp their authority on the deeply polarised nation. The government said 70 members of the security forces were among the dead.
The Interior Ministry said a group of detainees had tried to escape from a prison on the outskirts of Cairo, adding that an undisclosed number had been suffocated by tear gas when police moved in to free an officer who had been taken hostage.
Offering a very different version of events, a legal source said that men had died from asphyxiation in the back of a crammed police van while being drive to prison.
Vowing to take a firm stand against violence, army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi struck an apparently inclusive note in a speech broadcast on television, telling Morsi’s supporters: “There is room for everyone in Egypt.”
But, in his first public comments since the latest upsurge in violence, he urged them to “revise their national position and realise that legitimacy belongs to the people to give it to whoever they want and take it from them whenever they want.”
The Brotherhood, under huge pressure since police stormed its protest camps in Cairo and killed hundreds of its supporters on Wednesday, staged several more marches across the country to demand the reinstatement of Morsi, ousted by Sisi on July 3.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, risks lurching into anarchy just 30 months after President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow was hailed as heralding democratic change across a region ruled by autocrats.
Offering a glimpse at previously unreported violence, state news agency MENA said 79 people died on Saturday across Egypt and 549 were wounded. It was not immediately clear how the deaths had occurred. Previously only one person had been reported killed.
The clampdown has brought the military rulers criticism from Egypt’s major ally, the United States, and the European Union, but support from wealthy Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, which fear the spread of Brotherhood ideology to the Gulf monarchies.
Suppression
The interim cabinet met on Sunday to discuss the bloody confrontation, with liberal deputy prime minister, Ziad Bahaa el-Din, advocating an end to a state of emergency declared last week, political participation for all parties and guarantees of human rights, including the right to free assembly.
But his initiative seemed at odds with the stance of Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, who has suggested outlawing the 85-year-old Brotherhood, which would force it underground.
The cabinet meeting lasted about four hours, but ended with no immediate announcement of any major decision.
A middle-ranking security officer, who asked not to be named, said no political proposals or foreign condemnation would be allowed to deflect the suppression of the Brotherhood.
“We have the people’s support. Everybody is against them now as they see the group as an armed terrorist organisation with no future as a political power,” the officer said.
The capital’s frenetic streets, unusually empty in the past few days, were returning to normal, although the army kept several big squares closed and enforced a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
“As long as we have bloodshed on the streets, it takes away any reason for foreign and regional investors to buy in Egypt,” said Amer Khan, director at Shuaa Asset Management in Dubai.
Egypt’s new rulers blame the Muslim Brotherhood, which won five successive national polls held after Mubarak’s fall in 2011, but which drew charges that it was incompetent and bent on consolidating its own power during Morsi’s year in office.
Sisi said: “We will not stand idle in face of the destruction and torching of the country, the terrorising of the people and the sending of a wrong image to the Western media that there is fighting in the streets.”
Brotherhood leaders accuse the military and other state institutions of sabotaging their time in government.
Credibility
In calibrated rebukes to the army, the United States has delayed delivery of four F-16 fighters and scrapped a joint military exercise, but it has not halted its $1.55 billion a year in aid to Egypt, mostly to finance US-made arms supplies.
But on Sunday, a bipartisan series of US lawmakers – several of them reversing earlier stances from before the crackdown – said that Washington should suspend the aid.
“For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for,” said Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. “There are many areas where we could exercise influence over the generals, and we’re not doing any of it, and we’re not sticking with our values.”
The European Union says it will urgently review relations.
Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy sought to pre-empt any Western attempt to use aid flows as a lever by saying he would look at all such assistance to see “what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility”.
He told a news conference Egypt was not seeking to reshuffle its friendships, but would widen them to increase its options.
“The relationship between Egypt and the US has been there for a long time. It has been through ups and downs in the past.
We hope things will go back to normal promptly,” Fahmy said.
As part of a concerted push to drive home the state’s narrative of events, Fahmy’s aides distributed a pack of photos said to show Muslim Brotherhood members carrying firearms and wooden staves – and in one picture a black al Qaeda-type flag.
The Brotherhood denies links to the global militant network.
Officials have accused Western media of biased coverage of the unrest, saying they have ignored attacks on police and the destruction of churches blamed on militants.
The army crackdown has drawn wide support among Egyptians tired of political turmoil and hard-hit by its economic fallout.
“I tried to sympathise with the Brotherhood but could not,” said Hussein Ismail, 32, on holiday from his job in the Gulf, who took part in anti-Morsi protests late last year.

“They stormed our protests at the presidential palace, they hit our women protesters,” he said.