Neymar agrees new five-year Barcelona deal

July 1, 2016

Sao Paulo, Jul 1: Brazilian striker Neymar will sign a new five-year contract with Barcelona this week, his agents said Thursday, ending speculation over his future at the Spanish champions.

NeymarThe international, 24, is widely regarded as one of the finest talents in world football and is part of the much-feared attacking trident alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Barcelona.

"The athlete, along with his family, has decided to stay with FC Barcelona and will renew his contract for five more years," said NN Consultoria, the agency representing the international forward, 24. "The contract will be formalised this week. The decision puts an end to speculation about the star's future." Neymar wrote on Twitter:"I am very happy to continue living this dream. Long live Barca and long live Catalonia!"

The Catalan club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu had earlier rejected rumours over Neymar's possible transfer to another club, with Manchester United among the teams supposedly chasing him.

The prolific Neymar was already under contract until 2018 with Barcelona, having transferred in 2013 from Brazil's Santos. That transfer deal has haunted the club because of alleged hidden payments that have sparked legal action.

Speculation had mounted around whether or not Neymar would extend his stay at the Camp Nou or make another lucrative move. Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, United and Manchester City had been named as possible suitors.

"I read that there are many clubs interested in Neymar. It's normal they are, but Neymar has never said he wants to leave Barca, just the opposite," Bartomeu said.

"Neymar wants to continue at Barca and Barca wants Neymar to continue with us." Neymar has been a huge success for Barca on the pitch but a judicial nightmare off it. He helped them win the Spanish league last season for the second year in a row, narrowly beating their fierce rivals Real Madrid.

But he has been investigated in Brazil and Spain over his transfer from Santos. Barcelona agreed on June 13 to pay a 5.5-million-euro ($6.2 million) fine over the transfer in a deal with prosecutors that sees the club avoid trial on tax evasion charges.

"It was better to accept this agreement than continue on with the uncertainty that has dragged on for a long time over the Neymar case," Bartomeu told reporters at the time.

Neymar was named on Wednesday as the star of a young Brazil Olympic football squad for next month's Games in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil are looking to bounce back from a humiliating group stage exit from the Copa America Centenario this month.

They are also hoping Olympic gold will help soothe the trauma of their devastating 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup on home soil. "Neymar is different. He is one of the best players in the world. Any national team would want to have a player of his profile," the Olympic squad's coach Rogerio Micale told a news conference. "He will mean a lot for the team. I hope he will be able to help the younger players."

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: Claiming to be saddled with faulty equipment from China, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) on Monday called for a boycott of sports apparatus made in that country after the violent face-off in eastern Ladakh killed 20 Army personnel last week.

The IWLF ordered four weightlifting sets, comprising barbells and weight plates, from Chinese company 'ZKC' last year. The body said that the equipment turned out to be faulty and the weightlifters are no longer using them.

"We should boycott all Chinese equipment. The Indian Weightlifting Federation has taken the decision that it will not use any equipment made in China," IWLF secretary general Sahdev Yadav said.

The IWLF, in a letter, has informed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) about its decision to stop using any equipment made in China.

"In a letter to SAI we have written that IWLF won't be using the Chinese equipment," he said.

"In future also we will not use made in china sets. We will use sets made by Indian origin companies or any other company but not from China," Yadav added.

National coach Vijay Sharma revealed that the plates were found to be sub-standard when the lifters started training again earlier this month following the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

"The sets were spoilt. We can't use them now," Sharma said.

"All the weightlifters in the camp are against China. They have stopped using Chinese apps like Tik Tok. Even while ordering things online, they check where the product has been manufactured," he added.

Asked why the sets were even ordered, Sharma said they had no option as the equipment from China is to be used in the Tokyo Olympics and lifters needed to be familiar with it.

"We had ordered four sets from China for Olympic training a year ago. Now, since we have resumed training post the lockdown we haven't used them. All the lifters are against the use of Chinese equipment," he said.

He said equipment was ordered from China for the first time.

"We don't order equipment from China as the quality is very bad. This was the first time we got it."

The weightlifters are currently training with equipment made in Sweden.

"Post the lockdown we started training on sets from Swedish company 'ELICKO'. SAI has issued 10 sets for us. The main training takes place with those. Maximum international competitions have sets from ELICKO," Sharma said.

Yadav also said that there are ready alternatives to Chinese equipment.

"We have a lot of alternatives. We already have good Indian sets and we also have equipment from Sweden. We will use that, why should we use Chinese?" Yadav said.

Calls to boycott China-made goods erupted across India after the Galwan valley clash last Monday. It was the most violent face-off between the troops from the two countries in more than four decades.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said it is open to boycotting Chinese products in the wake of the incident.

The BCCI will also review IPL's sponsorship deals, including the title deal with Chinese mobile manufacturing company Vivo later this week.

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