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Michel Platini facing “lifetime ban” from football, lawyer claims

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U.S. Sports Academy
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Michel Platini is facing a lifetime ban from football due to the probe into a payment made to him by departing FIFA President Sepp Blatter, according to his lawyer.

Formal proceedings were launched against the French UEFA President by the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee yesterday – after the investigatory chamber had requested sanctions following its deliberations.

Blatter is in an identical position but no details about the penalties requested against either official have been officially revealed.

The adjudicatory chamber, chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert, is expected to announce a ruling in December but Platini’s lawyer Thibaut d’Ales has alleged that a lifelong ban has been recommended.

He has also been quoted describing this potential punishment as “a scandal” and “excessive” while there has been no word on whether the same sanction is being sought against Blatter.

Both Platini, who still harbours slim hopes of becoming FIFA President, and Blatter are currently serving 90-days suspensions handed out by the Ethics Committee after the Swiss oversaw the payment of CHF 2 million (£1.3 million/$2.1 million/€1.8 million) to the 50-year-old in 2011.

The money was allegedly for work carried out by the ex-Juventus midfielder between 1999 and 2002 – raising suspicions about the nine-year-gap – although both men deny any wrongdoing.

They will each be able to submit their positions to Eckert’s panel, including any evidence they may have, with regards to the investigatory chamber’s findings.

FIFA threw out appeals against the suspensions from both men last week, with Platini responding by taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Seventy-nine-year-old Blatter, who is also being investigated for a contract he signed with the Caribbean Football Union, said yesterday that he was “close to death” after a short spell in hospital earlier this month.

He will step down as FIFA President in February following the corruption scandal which has engulfed the organisation.

Armour: Enough with losing teams in NFL playoffs

By
Nancy Armour
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Oh, there’s parity in the NFL, all right. Only this season, it’s spelled P-A-R-O-D-Y.

With apologies to the unbeaten New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers and the handful of other teams with respectable records, the NFL is a hot mess this year. Of the league’s 32 teams, 20 are below .500. That’s the most through Week 10 in NFL history, according to STATS LLC.

Six of those teams have managed just two wins. At 2-8, the Cleveland Browns would need to win out just to avoid yet another losing season. There are two divisions where nobody has a winning record.

The AFC South is so hapless you’d have to combine the Jacksonville Jaguars andTennessee Titans with either the Indianapolis Colts or Houston Texans just to match the number of wins New England and Carolina each have.

Over in the NFC East, Dallas has lost seven in a row, the longest losing streak in the NFL. It’s been so long since the Cowboys last won a game, Ben Roethlisberger was sidelined for a month with a knee injury, returned to the lineup, got knocked out with a sprained foot and returned to the lineup again.

The saddest thing about the NFL’s surplus of sad sacks? And no, I’m not referring to the New York Jets’ defense. Almost all of the NFL’s losing teams still have a mathematical chance of making the playoffs.

Sure, the Detroit Lions (2-7) would need the Minnesota Vikings (7-2) and Green Bay Packers (6-3) to play flag football for the rest of the season to have a shot at the NFC North. But down in Dallas, the NFC East title is still within reach for the 2-7 Cowboys.

The New York Giants lead the division at 5-5. Not a winning record, but not a losing one, either. Yay, Giants! Two of New York’s next three games are against Washington and Miami, but the Giants finish the season with the Panthers, Vikings and Eagles, a team that thumped them 27-7 last month.

So say New York holds steady at .500. If Dallas wins six of its last seven, it can catch the Giants. I know, I know. How is a team that hasn’t won a game in two months going to win six in the next seven weeks?

It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.

Of the Cowboys’ last seven games, two are against Washington. Another is against the Buffalo Bills, whose just-above-.500 record can’t disguise the fact they’ve been walking that fine line between trainwreck and mediocrity all season.

Yet another game is against the imploding Packers. And still another is against the Jets, whose season depends on Ryan Fitzpatrick not being slowed by the injury to his left (non-throwing) thumb.

Oh, and Tony Romo comes back this weekend.

“I want everyone to know we are not done yet,” Romo said Wednesday.

And therein lies the problem.

The playoffs should not be the equivalent of a participation trophy. It’s ridiculous that a team with a losing or even .500 record can make the playoffs over a better team just because they have the good fortune to play in a weaker division.

So long as division winners are guaranteed a playoff spot, however — with one of the top four seeds, no less — there exists the possibility of that happening.

Last year, a 7-8-1 Carolina team made the playoffs at the expense of 10-6 Philadelphia simply because somebody had to win the NFC South and the Panthers were the least-bad of an abysmal bunch. Four years earlier, it was NFC West “champion” Seattle (7-9) bumping out the Giants (10-6).

The NBA has recognized the unfairness of this in their league, announcing in September that its playoff field will be determined solely by record and division winners are no longer guaranteed one of the top four seeds. While it’s not likely to happen, that does leave open the possibility of a division winner missing out on the playoffs.

The NFL will balk at going that far, claiming there’s too much history and prestige attached to its divisions. Never mind that owners had no trouble trampling on nostalgia when they realigned in 2002, adding a division in each conference.

The playoffs are intended to be the pinnacle of the season, and the teams playing should reflect that. Otherwise, this season’s parity won’t be the only thing that’s a joke.

This article was republished with permission from the original author and 2015 Ronald Reagan Media Award recipient, Nancy Armour, and the original publisher, USA Today. Follow columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.

Combat Sports Bill Advances

By
U.S. Sports Academy
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A state Assembly committee unanimously approved a bipartisan bill Tuesday that would regulate all unarmed combat sports involving blows to the head.

The votes comes as a new study is released suggesting there are more injuries in kickboxing than other combat sports, including mixed martial arts.

The bill voted on Tuesday was introduced following the death of Dennis Munson Jr., who collapsed after his amateur debut in an unregulated kickboxing bout at the Eagles Club in Milwaukee in March 2014. Munson, 24, died of complications from head trauma, the medical examiner ruled.

The Committee on State Affairs and Government Operations voted 14-0 to approve the bill, which received a hearing this month. State Rep. Bob Kulp (R-Stratford), who was excused, was not present and didn’t vote.

Officials in charge of Munson’s three-round bout failed to stop the match despite what a dozen independent experts who reviewed the fight video at the request of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said were obvious signs of distress.

Wisconsin regulates boxing and mixed martial arts, which combines various disciplines including kickboxing, but does not regulate kickboxing as a stand-alone sport.

The bill’s author, Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), said Munson died under “circumstances that should have constituted negligence” and added that the lack of state oversight gave Munson’s family no legal remedy to seek justice.

“The circumstances surrounding his death are beyond heartbreaking. This legislation will put in place important, common sense protocols that I hope will prevent future tragedies in the ring.” Kleefisch said.

Rep. Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee), a co-sponsor, credited Kleefisch for his leadership on the bill. As a fan himself of martial arts, Brostoff added, “the safety of competitors is a top priority.”

State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), a co-sponsor along with state Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), said the vote shows legislators can act in a bipartisan way and called it “lifesaving legislation.”

“I’m hopeful this is a sign of votes to come and that soon the protections we put in place for mixed martial arts fighters will also protect those who compete in kickboxing and other unarmed combat sports,” Hansen said.

The bill still must go through the Assembly and through the Senate early next year before it would head to the governor’s desk.

In emotional testimony at a hearing on the bill this month, Munson’s sister, Brandy Gee, said, “I don’t want my brother to have died for nothing.”

The study, published late last week in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, is the largest done on kickboxing injuries. Author Reidar P. Lystad, of Central Queensland University in Sydney, Australia, examined 481 fighters in 57 events in Nevada. He found 380 injuries.

“It highlights and elucidates that there is substantial injury problem present in the sport of kickboxing,” the study says.

Lystad theorized that there is a greater rate of injuries in kickboxing because it has more striking than mixed martial arts, which also features a wrestling component. It noted the use of feet possibly increases injuries for kickboxers compared with boxers.

Lystad cautions his study has limits and called for better collection of data in studying combat sports.

“The scarcity of high-quality epidemiological data in kickboxing, especially pertaining to the severity of injuries, underscores the urgent need for further research, whereupon evidence-informed sport safety and injury prevention policies can be developed.”

 

by John Diedrich. This article was republished with permission from the original publisher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

“WADA will lead intelligence gathering funded by the IOC to make testing in the lead up to the Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro as efficient and independent as possible”

By
U.S. Sports Academy
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Excerpts from IOC President Thomas Bach’s speech at the opening session of the European Olympic Committees General Assembly in Prague:

“We are happy that the unanimously agreed initiative of the Olympic Summit of last October before all this happened has been taken up by WADA, an initiative to make the anti-doping system more independent of sports organisations. Therefore, following up on the broad discussions we had among the leaders of the Olympic Movement at the Olympic Summit I would like to give some food for thought to the WADA working group to consider the following three proposals for further discussion:

1. A Testing and Results management organisation within WADA should be set up independent from the monitoring and regulatory functions of WADA. Sports organisations would transfer their antidoping systems to this organisation and make the funding available initially at the level of their present investment in the fight against doping. This organisation should also coordinate the work of the National Anti-Doping Agencies to ensure a streamlined, efficient and worldwide harmonised anti-doping system. Governments – who are 50 per cent shareholders of WADA – should support this organisation alongside the sports movement, both logistically and financially.

2. Within this organisation a professional Intelligence Gathering Unit should be established. This would allow WADA to be proactive. The unit could address issues with regard to the compliance of National Anti-Doping Agencies and anti-doping laboratories accredited by WADA, at the earliest possible stage. This would help to make all such institutions compliant at all times and in such a way protect the clean athletes worldwide to the same level.

3. Sanctions could be pronounced only by CAS. In such a way also the system of sanctions would be centralised, be cost efficient and lead to harmonization among all sports and among all countries. The current right to appeal such sanctions to a different chamber of CAS would be fully upheld and guaranteed.

We are convinced that the adoption of these proposals in one or the other way would lead to a more efficient, more transparent, more streamlined, more cost efficient, more harmonized anti-doping system. It would better protect the clean athletes and enhance the credibility of sport.

The IOC, independent of this food-for-thought contribution, has already taking the first measures in this direction: WADA will lead intelligence gathering funded by the IOC to make testing in the lead up to the Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro as efficient and independent as possible. Out-of-competition testing during the Olympic Games will also be guided by this intelligence group from WADA to make it more targeted and more effective. As in previous Olympic Games, WADA observers will also supervise all aspects of the doping control programme at the Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro.”

This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at [email protected]. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.

2006 World Cup Finals Suspicions

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U.S. Sports Academy
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Nicknamed “The Kaiser” and long since elevated a shining lights, Franz Beckenbauer was hailed particularly enthusiastically after the 2006 World Cup Finals had turned into a summer fairy tale. He was President of the Organizing Committee after, as chief of the bid committee, he had brought the tournament to Germany. This good reputation was damaged when the news magazine Der Spiegel reported on 16 October about slush funds of the Bid Committee and expressed the suspicion that in 2000 the Germans had bribed members of the FIFA Executive Committee.

Initially it was only a matter of 6.7 million Euros, which the Adidas boss Robert Louis Dreyfus had made available, and their repayment via an account of FIFA. Then, in the course of investigations conducted by a law firm commissioned by the German DFB national football federation, a paper was discovered which raised suspicions of a strange deal, which Beckenbauer apparently wanted to conclude with the then FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner (in the meantime suspended from football for life on grounds of corruption).

The DFB was plunged into a deep crisis, finally President Wolfgang Niersbach was forced to resign from office, after he came into disrepute as a result of activities and statements and was faced with the accusation of repeatedly not having told the truth. Niersbach was spokesman for the DFB and VicePresident Communications of the World Cup 2006 Organizing Committee and subse-quently DFB Secretary General before he ascended to the Presidency of the German Football Federation, which likes to bask in the superlative of being the largest sports association in the world.

In the meantime, everyone has agreed that only Beckenbauer could really provide enlightenment – the Sports Committee of the German Federal Parliament as well as the Acting DFB leadership. Now Beckenbauer has chosen the path via a daily newspaper to convey what the truth might have been.

In an extensive interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which is published in the weekend edition, he initially sharply criticizes the current leadership of the DFB for their treatment of him. Talking to the SZ reporters, Beckenbauer also voices his opinion on the controversial agreement with Jack Warner, which was regarded by the DFB as a possible attempt at bribery, and the ominous 6.7 million Euros, the purpose of which the federation cannot explain, and the discovery of which ultimately triggered off the scandal. Beckenbauer also reports about two meetings with the former DFB President Theo Zwanziger, who is occasionally apostrophized as the chief prosecutor in the affair, in the interview with the German newspaper, which has reported in greater detail than any other about the affair.

A week ago, in a full-page Beckenbauer profile of the Süddeutsche it read: “Franz Beckenbauer, whose life was always based on perfect timing, should have been an unassailable authority to continue to cast light on the matter, right now would have been the right time. But he finds himself in the swamp, he is no longer a free man, they call him the key figure. And as long as he remains silent, he is reminiscent of Helmut Kohl (former German Chancellor, ed.). The one does not name the donor, the other not the donations.”

This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at [email protected]. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.

Live animal mascots

By
U.S. Sports Academy
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Last month the University of Texas mascot and longhorn steer Bevo XIV died at the age of 13 from leukemia. A popular animal, Bevo XIV travelled to the Rose Bowl twice and also attended the last inauguration of President G.W. Bush in Washington D.C.  He was the most recent mascot animal from a line of longhorn steers selected since 1916 at Texas, and the search for Bevo XV is underway for the 2016 season to continue the 100 year tradition.

Approximately thirty-three colleges maintain live animals as mascots (Steinbach, 2008). Like Bevo XIV, they have names and stories that are part of college tradition. One example is Ralphie V, the bison mascot of the University of Colorado Buffalos.  She was donated by Ted Turner and is run out onto the field by a group of five student handlers and can reach 25 miles per hour. In 2008 Ralphie V almost broke lose before a crowd of 17,800 at halftime but subsequently has remained under control. Two Universities maintain birds as mascots: Auburn has an eagle named Warbird VII and the Air Force Academy a falcon named Mach 1.  Several colleges have dogs as animal mascots, such as the University of Tennessee Bluetick Coonhound Smokey X. In 1955 Smokey II was dognapped by University of Kentucky students, and later Smokey IX was accused of biting a University of Alabama player in 2006. Another dog, Reveille IX, is mascot at Texas A&M. A gorgeous collie, Reveille IX is named like her predecessors for the bugle rally that made the original mascot bark in 1931. All the Reveilles are buried together just outside the stadium. Other dog mascots are Butler Blue III, an English Bulldog for Butler University, Uga, also a bulldog, at the University of Georgia, and Dubs, an Alaskan malamute, for the University of Washington.

Keeping live animals as mascots involves responsibilities and potential liability, particularly with exotic animals.  The animal mascot of LSU is a Bengal tiger called Mike who lives in a 15,000 square foot habitat that cost $3 million dollars to build. This was paid for by donations from fans and alumni after action was taken by the US Dept. of Agriculture (Baranko, 2011). Since the 1960s the University of Arkansas has kept wild hogs, or razorbacks, currently Tusk IV, and Baylor University has cared for live black bears nicknamed ‘Judge’.

A Humane Society official stated that domesticated animals can do well in mascot roles when trained and selected for the right temperament (Steinbach, 2008). Many of the animal mascots are selected by committees for temperament and other qualities. PETA opposes all animal mascots and suggests human mascots replace them (Baranko, 2011).

At the federal level all animal mascots are beneficiaries of the Animal Welfare Act, imposing guidelines and regulations for good animal husbandry. For example, trainers need to be licensed, and legal actions can be brought on behalf of animals. Additionally, almost all states have anti-cruelty statutes.

Baranko, J. (2011). Hear me roar: Should Universities use live animals as mascots? Marquette Sports Law Review, 21(2), 599-619.

Steinbach, P. (2008). Animal Attractions. Athletic Business, 32(6), 228-232.

Dr. Robert Hudson is the Library Director and Archivist at the United States Sports Academy. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has identified what it called systemic failures in the IAAF and in Russia

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U.S. Sports Academy
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Headed by former IOC Vice President Richard Pound, an independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has identified what it called systemic failures in the IAAF world athletics federation (IAAF) and in Russia “that prevent or diminish the possibility of an effective anti-doping program”. Presenting its lengthy report at a press conference in Geneva the commission recommended that the Russian Athletics Federation be banned from the sport over widespread doping offences, a move that may lead Russian athletes to be banned from taking part in the 2016 Olympics. “It’s worse than we thought,” said Richard W. Pound, a co-author of the report. “It’s residue of the old Soviet Union system.”

According to the report, athletes, coaches, trainers, doctors and various Russian institutions were involved in the system. It detailed payments to conceal doping tests and arrangements by which athletes were made aware of when they would be tested, in violation of code which dictates they be spontaneous, and also the destruction of samples. The report also said that members of Russian law enforcement agencies were present in the Moscow lab and involved in the efforts to interfere with the integrity of the samples, creating “an atmostphere of intimidation” on lab processes and staff members. “What made these allegations even more egregious was the knowledge that the government of the Russian Federation provides direct funding and oversight for the above institutions, thus suggesting that the federal government was not only complicit in the collusion, but that it was effectively a state-sponsored regime,” the report said. Richard Pound also said that the World Anti-Doping Agency had negotiated a cooperation agreement with Interpol and handed over extensive documents and evidence. “This is not he-said, she said,” Pound said. Interpol confirmed that cooperation with its own announcement on Monday.

This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at [email protected]. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.

“No” said IOC President Thomas Bach

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U.S. Sports Academy
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“No” said IOC President Thomas Bach when asked by the French sports daily L’Equipe whether Friday’s terrorist assaults that killed 129 people in Paris would influence the September 2017 IOC Session’s vote on the host of the 2024 Olympic Games. “The IOC members have a lot of experience. They know that nobody knows how the world will be in nine years and they know that terrorism is not French or a Parisian problem, that it is a global challenge. It does not only concern sports but all the big events and the whole society. You cannot concede victory to the terrorists. We must be united and firm, especially with the Olympic Games.” Dr. Bach also said he believes that the atrocity that struck Paris will not hurt the French capital’s chances of hosting the 2024 Games.

This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at [email protected]. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.

England captain Wayne Rooney and his players are organising a special tribute

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U.S. Sports Academy
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England captain Wayne Rooney and his players are organising a special tribute to the 129 people who died in the Paris atrocities ahead of the soccer friendly against France at Wembley on Tuesday. As the Daily Telegraph’s Chief Football Correspondent Jason Burt reports, he Football Association has confirmed that the words of the French national anthem La Marseillaise will be shown on the big screens inside the stadium with all the supporters, officials and players encouraged to sing. The French Football Federation confirmed that all 23 players in its squad would travel to London for the match following suggestions that some players might withdraw because of the horrific events of Friday night, when both France and Germany players stayed inside the stadium into the early hours of Saturday for fear of attack.

The squad includes Lassana Diarra, the former Portsmouth, Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder, whose cousin Asta Diakite was one of the victims in the terror attacks, and Antoine Griezmann, whose sister escaped from the Bataclan theatre where 89 people were killed when it was stormed by terrorists. Both Diarra and Griezmann played against Germany in the 2-0 friendly victory at Stade de France, which was also targeted.

This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at [email protected]. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.

With Two Games Remaining, HS Football Coaching Staff Quits

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U.S. Sports Academy
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First year head coach Nick D’Angelo along with his entire coaching staff at Coginchaug Regional High School in Connecticut quit earlier this week, with two games remaining on the team’s schedule.

According to FootballScoop, there are differing versions of the events that led to the staff walkout, but D’Angelo cited “a hostile environment and false accusations” by parents and players as his reason for resigning.

One version of events reported by the Middletown Press says that D’Angelo reprimanded a player after one of the team’s games, and that decision led to a group of senior players quitting the team. As a reaction, parents showed up to the athletic director’s office with complaints about how the program was being run.

A slightly different version from local TV station Fox61 says that a parent was shouting at D’Angelo from the sidelines. A nearby parent asked that the yelling parent refrain from using harsh language in front of his kids, and that led to a fight that wound up involving a player. That player was suspended for two games, and led to the chain of events reported by the Middletown Press.

The school had informed D’Angelo that he would be suspended while an investigation into the complaints was carried out, but D’Angelo told the administration that he’d rather resign. His whole staff followed suit.

Without any coaches, the team was forced to forfeit their next game.

The superintendent, athletic director and school administration scrambled and assembled a staff that would allow the student athletes a chance to play in their last game.

“The priority in moving forward is to have the athletes complete their season safely with a skilled coaching staff,” superintendent Kathryn Veronesi said in a statement.

A number of area coaches offered their help so that the players could play.

Interim head coach David DeRita, a former youth football coach, will lead the team in their final game.

by Jason Scott

“Reprinted with permission from Athletic Business,www.athleticbusiness.com“

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