FIFA World Cup 2018: Fans Boo Japan After Asian Giants Become First Side to Progress Due to 'Fair Play' Rule

Agencies
June 29, 2018

Jun 29: Japanese salarymen dashing to work Friday exchanged high fives with bleary-eyed football fans celebrating after the country reached the last 16 of the World Cup -- most blissfully unaware of a backlash against their team.

Japan lost 1-0 to Poland in Russia on Thursday in a match that ended in farce as the Samurai Blue ran down the clock knowing unless they picked up a pair of yellow cards or Senegal equalised against Colombia in the other Group H game, they would go through.

"It was definitely a little bit fishy and it's not nice to hear a crowd booing like that but, well, we reached the knockout stage -- so 'banzai!'... I guess," advertising copywriter Ken Yazawa told AFP.

"It's only the third time we've got this far," added the 44-year-old. "Hopefully we can go even further, although now we have to beat Belgium to reach the quarter-finals -- nightmare!"

Jeered off the pitch, Japan's tactics in Russia were slammed on social media, with some Japanese Twitter users also putting the boot into coach Akira Nishino for ordering his team to play keep-ball in their own half.

One disgruntled fan noted the irony of Japan becoming the first team to advance under the "fair play" rule after collecting fewer bookings than Senegal, posting: "It's funny how Japan went through playing anti-football but we live to fight another day."

Another blamed football's governing body for introducing the rule.

"I doubt FIFA expected to see their fair play rule being used so unfairly," he tweeted a little after the final whistle sounded at around 1am local time.

Under fire

Others sought to defuse the row as Japan came under fire from television commentators and pundits around the world who likened the fiasco to the infamous 1982 World Cup match between West Germany and Austria, when both teams played out a mutually beneficial 1-0 win for the Germans.

"Let's continue picking up the rubbish and collecting fair play points," joked one wag, making reference to Japanese fans who dutifully help clean the stadium after matches.

Most commuters pouring off the iconic scramble crossing and into the railway station in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district knew or cared little about the stir Japan's negative tactics had caused.

"I don't really care how Japan got through," said 28-year-old salesman Takkyu Watari.

"I watched the game in a bar and no foreigners came up to congratulate us this time, that's true. But I don't think Japan did anything wrong."

Many salarymen, the identikit corporate samurai who formed the backbone of Japan's post-war economic miracle, were more concerned about facing a sweaty commute with a sore head after only a few hours sleep.

"I've got a thumping headache," winced Kenji Kurematsu, a 52-year-old travel agent, clutching an energy drink.

"I wish I had skipped the second half. It was boring, and I have a client meeting this morning."

One female commuter did not mince words.

"It's completely embarrassing," fumed 41-year-old account executive Kumiko Chida. "I've no doubt Japan will lose millions of fans around the world."

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.

Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.

It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition. 

BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.

Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.

"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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