Rio Ferdinand backs down in suspension row

Manchester United have backed down in their clash with the Football Association over Rio Ferdinand after it emerged the new England captain has withdrawn his appeal against his four-match suspension.

Ferdinand had decided to challenge the ban after FA bosses added an extra game to his original punishment for being found guilty of violent conduct against Hull City's Craig Fagan.

His subsequent appeal put him at risk of seeing the suspension increased to five games, which would have seen the defender miss the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa at the end of this month, meaning his first game back in competitive action would have been England's international friendly with Egypt at Wembley on March 3.

Ferdinand, however, did not want to jeopardise being out for so long before making his first game as the new England captain and has changed his mind as a gesture of goodwill to spare further embarrassment over the issueHis hearing was due to take place in London on Friday but has been cancelled after Ferdinand told Manchester United officials to withdraw his appeal.

Ferdinand pleaded not guilty to the original charge despite video evidence showing him clearly striking Fagan across the face.

FA officials decided his plea was "frivolous" and angered both the player and Sir Alex Ferguson by adding an extra game to the standard three-match ban.

Ferdinand, who succeeded John Terry as Fabio Capello's new captain of the national side last week after the disgraced Chelsea defender was stripped of the armband, is desperate to avoid any clashes with his Wembley employers as he settles into his new role.

Source:The times

Portsmouth deny impending administration after talks with Revenue

Portsmouth have denied that they are staring into the abyss of administration after it was reported that confidential talks with HM Revenue & Customs had stalled this afternoon.

The club still hope to delay the hearing of the Revenue’s winding-up petition, which is due to be heard in the Companies Court on Wednesday, by offering £1.8 million on their outstanding tax bill of £7.5 million.

However, if they are unsuccessful, they face becoming the first team since the formation of the Premier League in 1992 to fall into administration. The result will be a nine-point penalty, which will almost certainly confirm their relegation.

Peter Storrie, the chief executive, has argued for more time, saying that he is on the point of bringing in new owners, but the Revenue – like the club’s long-suffering supporters – will feel that they have heard it all beforeThe winding-up petition is listed to be heard at 11.30am on Wednesday, along with one against Cardiff City, who owe the Revenue £2.7 million. Not many people at Wembley on the sunny day in 2008 when the two clubs contested the FA Cup Final would have foreseen this outcome.

But it was the overspending on transfer fees and wages that built the winning Portsmouth team that has led the club here, and it should act as a warning, as should the petitions also due to be heard the same day against Southend United of Coca-Cola League One and Hinckley United of the non-League.

Southend paid a bill of £2.1million in November after taking out a loan, but were handed another bill of £205,000 on Christmas Eve. However, the club disputes the amount and claims it overpaid the original bill.

Hinckley’s name remains on the Companies Court Winding Up List despite the fact that the club claims to have paid a bill of £191,000.

Source:The times

Gianfranco Zola hits out at new West Ham owners

Gianfranco Zola has been angered by David Sullivan's announcement in the national press that the entire West Ham staff would have to take a pay cut in the summer.

It is thought the manager and players, along with other club staff, will be asked by co-owners Sullivan and David Gold to take a 25 per cent cut to slash the club's £60-million wage bill.

Zola, the West Ham manager, criticised the timing of the revelation 24 hours before West Ham take on Birmingham City in the Premier League at St Andrew's tomorrow.

"The article should have been done at another time, not just before a match like tomorrow," Zola said. "It would have been better to say that at another time and maybe talk to us before talking to a newspaper. That is my feeling.Zola, who earns £1.9 million a year, revealed he had not spoken to the owners, nor had he been consulted about the issue.

"I am not here for the money," he said. "Last year when I signed a contract I didn't even know how much I was going to earn.

"I had a plan and a project and I liked what I was going to do. I didn't know what I was going to earn and then after a while the club called me in about a new contract.

"It's not about money. It is about working for something positive. I aways enjoy working for this club. The money was something that came after."

Zola wants to concentrate on getting West Ham out of relegation trouble, but asked if the owners speak to the press too much, he said: "The match is all that matters to me and the players."

Sullivan, who saw the Hammers lose 2-1 against Burnley on Saturday, said it would be "Armageddon" if West Ham were relegated, but Zola is remaining positive. "Since I have been here it has been a repetition of speculation and problems," he said. "To be honest I'm fed up with that. I just want to carry on with football.

"The players are committed to what we are doing. They believe in it and are determined. The defeat against Burnley was unexpected and a big blow. But the fighting spirit is there and we will never give up."

Source:The Times

Martin Kaymer throws caution to desert winds to foil Ian Poulter in Abu Dhabi

Martin Kaymer, seemingly the master of all he surveys in this part of the world, took everything that Ian Poulter could throw at him before emerging victorious after a brilliant final day at the Abu Dhabi Championship yesterday.
Kaymer, winner here in 2008 and runner-up a year later, had a round of 66 for a 21-under-par total of 267 and victory by one shot over Poulter, who also went round in 66, and two over Rory McIlroy, who lost touch with the pair midway through the outward nine but fought back to finish with a 67.
When the world rankings are released later today, Kaymer, who started the week at No 14, is expected to have moved up eight places to No 6, with Poulter at No 10, his highest ranking, and McIlroy at No 11. That would be just reward after a day in which Poulter and Kaymer, in particular, traded blow for blow, birdie for birdie, with golf of the highest order.
One stroke behind at the start of the day, Poulter opened with three birdies on the trot, drawing level at the 3rd, and took the lead for the first time with his sixth birdie, at the 12th. Six under par after 12 holes would normally be regarded as championship winning form, except that Kaymer was equal to the task. Both players reached the turn in 32, McIlroy taking three shots more.
Kaymer, a 25-year-old German, drew level once more with a huge birdie putt at the 14th and then, after chipping past the hole, held his nerve to sink one of about 15 feet at the 17th to save par when it looked as if he would go to the last trailing by a shot. In fact, Poulter was most disappointed with his own birdie attempt at that hole. He hit it perfectly on line from 20 feet, but it came up agonisingly short. It was a telling moment.
At the par-five 18th, Kaymer finished well past the Englishman with his drive and was able to reach the green with his three-wood approach from 275 yards. Poulter and McIlroy had been forced to lay up and were unable to exert any pressure on Kaymer with their approach shots.
And when the German ran his first putt from 60 feet to within three feet of the hole, he was able to start mentally celebrating his fifth victory on the European Tour in two years. It brought him a first prize of €250,000 (about £220,000) and gave an early boost to his bid to make the Europe Ryder Cup team later this year.
Asked if he had considered laying up at the 18th, Kaymer was bemused. “No way,” he said. “I’m an aggressive player and I wanted a birdie on the last. I knew if I got that, I knew I would at least be in a sudden-death play-off. We were all playing so well. It was all about birdies, birdies, birdies. We were going for the flags, going for the putts. We just went for everything, which was great.”
Between them, the group were 17 under par for the day, which is exceptional scoring in anybody’s book. And that is probably why Poulter accepted his fate with such good grace. “I’m pretty frustrated that I have walked away shooting that score and I haven’t won,” he said. “But Martin played very well. And what more can you want? When other parts of the world are suffering right now, you just realise how fortunate you are to be playing golf for a living.”
In three years playing the pristine National Course, Kaymer is a barely credible 56 under par. He, for one, will hope the tournament remains at the same venue next year, although the chances are that it will be moved to one of the new courses taking shape on the nearby multibillion-dollar development of Saadiyat Island.
Back to his best after a 2009 season that was curtailed when he broke his right foot in a go-karting accident last August — the metal plates have still to be removed — Kaymer has improved beyond all recognition from the player whose first victory on the European Tour was here in 2008. He led from start to finish that year but struggled to get across the finishing line.
Now, the barriers have come down. “My self-confidence is much higher than two years ago,” he said. “It comes from winning and playing around the world. You feel really comfortable when you know you can beat these guys.” McIlroy is another player closing in on another victory. At 20, his only victory so far was at the Dubai Desert Classic last year. But this was his seventh top-five finish in nine events, which is highly impressive. Soon, he will take some stopping.
Source:The times

Michael Schumacher aims his Mercedes silver arrow towards more golden moments

It is going to feel like he was never away. Oozing confidence and the swagger of a champion, looking fit as a fiddle at 41 and giving as good as he got from those prepared to remind him of his days in Formula One that were less than glorious, Michael Schumacher returned to the biggest stage in motor sport yesterday.
After his long reign at Ferrari and a three-year retirement, this time the seven-times world champion was not decked out in the bright red livery of the Prancing Horse but the silver of Mercedes, a company positively purring with delight at having persuaded Formula One’s most successful driver to return at the wheel of one of its “Silver Arrows”.
Presented at the company’s Stuttgart headquarters alongside Nico Rosberg, his German compatriot and new team-mate, Schumacher made it clear that he has no qualms about what his hotly awaited comeback is all about. There was only “one target”, he said at a stage-managed event in front of 600 guests, and that is more championships. And he admitted he is champing at the bit to get going.
“I’m hot,” he said, when asked if he was sure he was up to it, with the first pre-season official Formula One test now only a few days away. “It’s just taking far too long to get going and we can’t wait for next week.”
There was always an edginess and a coldness about Schumacher, who never gave an inch on the track or off it and he was back to his best on that score when confronted with the legacy of a career punctuated by some of the sport’s worst episodes of gamesmanship.
It was put to him that Rosberg’s father, Keke, the former world champion, remarked after Schumacher stopped his car on purpose at the Rascasse corner during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix in 2006 that Formula One would be better off without him. So how did he feel now about driving alongside Rosberg’s son? “Good,” came Schumacher’s monosyllabic reply.
And the German responded acerbically when it was put to him that his return to the grid was really a way for him to atone for his past misjudgments and show the motor sport world that he can win the right way. Schumacher was having none of that.
“Yeah,” he replied, “I’m sure 91 wins and seven titles, you only win them in the bad way, absolutely, you are right.”
The moments of tension were few on a day when Schumacher celebrated a new beginning that he hopes will bring more titles. “The main reason I am doing this is because I am thrilled about it,” he said. “I feel big excitement to just drive and compete at the highest level of motor sport. I have been doing it for two or three years in go-karts, and other categories, which was great, but now I say, ‘Why not do something at a higher level?’ ”
While it was a great day for Schumacher and Mercedes, which bought the team that Ross Brawn steered to the constructors’ and drivers’ championships last year, it was another painful one for Honda. The “Silver Arrow” presented by Mercedes was in fact last year’s “Brawn GP” car, built by Honda in 2008 at a cost of hundreds of millions. Having sold the team to Brawn, the Japanese have since watched their racing machine capture two championships and now the signature of the sport’s most successful driver.
It emerged yesterday that a tweak to the new Formula One points system is likely. A meeting of the Formula One Sporting Working Group decided on Friday to reward race winners with 25 points, while awarding points down to tenth place. The latest points system, which has yet to be formally approved by the FIA, is: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1.
Source:The Times

Troubled Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu fails drugs test

Adrian Mutu, the Fiorentina and Romania striker, tested positive for a banned stimulant following a Serie A match earlier this month, the Italian Olympic Committee has announced.
A statement said traces of sibutramine, an anti-obesity drug, were found in a sample given after the 2-1 victory over Bari on January 10 in which the Romanian scored.
This is Mutu's second failed drug test after he was sacked by Chelsea after testing positive for cocaine and was given a seven-month worldwide football ban.
Following his ban, Mutu joined Juventus in January 2005 before moving to Fiorentina at the end of the following season.
Chelsea sued Mutu for breach of contract, and the player is still in the process of making a third appeal against a fine of more than €17million (£14.75million).
Mutu, who faces a ban of between one and four years, is under contract at Fiorentina until June 2012 and has scored four goals in 11 league appearances this season.
Source:The Times

FA adds extra game to Rio Ferdinand's ban

Rio Ferdinand has had his ban for violent conducted extended to four matches after the Football Association ruled that he made a frivolous appeal against the charge. The Manchester United defender was initially banned for three games.
Ferdinand will miss the Premier League match away to Arsenal on Sunday, as well as games against Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Everton next month. However, he will be available for the first leg of the Champions League tie against AC Milan in the San Siro on February 16 and the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley on February 28.
An FA statement said: "The Independent Commission felt that the player's claim against the charge was frivolous and on that basis have awarded an additional one match ban upon the statutory three match ban awarded for violent conduct."
It seemed United took a calculated risk when Ferdinand appealed against the charge yesterday, thus making himself available to play last night's Carling Cup semi-final, second leg victory over Manchester City.
However, in his programme notes, Sir Alex Ferguson said Ferdinand would not have been considered for Sunday as it would be unfair to ask him to play three games in a week so soon after his recovery from a back problem. The manager also said Ferdinand had a good case to appeal the charge, which related to an incident in the match against Hull City last weekend.
Ferdinand appeared to catch Craig Fagan in the face with his arm but his manager felt he was provoked. "If he gets a fair hearing Rio has a good chance," said Ferguson. "He was getting wrestled and punched. There were all sorts of things happening. He was trying to get himself free of it and unfortunately caught the lad on the back of the neck."
Source:The Times