Germany football chief resigns after bribery allegation

November 10, 2015

Berlin, Nov 10: Wolfgang Niersbach has stepped down as president of German Football Federation (DFB) over allegations that the country had won the right to host the football World Cup in 2006 by bribing the executive committee members of the International Football Federation (FIFA).

GermanyAnnouncing his resignation after an emergency meting of the DFB's standing committee in Frankfurt, Niersbach denied any involvement in an alleged transfer of 6.7 million euros to the FIFA from a secret account of the DFB in early 2005.

As a member of the World Cup 2006 organising committee in charge of marketing, media accreditation and events organising, he had worked correctly and responsibly and he has nothing to hide, he said in a statement.

However, he is resigning to take the "political responsibility" for the charges made against Germany's apex football body and to limit the damage to its president's office, the statement said.

Niersbach, who took over as the DFB president in March 2012, said it was painful for him to be confronted with a past issue in which "I was not involved at that time and leaves many questions unanswered also for myself".

He reiterated his position that he had "absolutely no knowledge of the background of the flow of funds" that are currently being investigated.

DFB announced that Niersbach will be succeeded by current vice-presidents Reinhard Rauball and Rainer Koch.

Niersbach has been under pressure to step down since the allegations of "vote buying" from the FIFA executive committee members for Germany's candidacy emerged in October.

The bribery allegations centred around a payment of 6.7 million euros made by former Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus to the FIFA for its World Cup organising committee.

German organisers of the World Cup 2006 reportedly paid back this amount to Louis-Dreyfus in 2005 under a false declaration.

Even after his resignation, it is still unclear what was the purpose of this dubious payment to the FIFA and when Niersbach knew about it.

A document published recently by news weekly Der Spiegel showed that he was informed about the payment much earlier than he admits and this view is shared also by his predecessor Theo Zwanziger.

Niersbach is also facing an investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of tax evasion linked to the awarding of 2006 World Cup venue.

Earlier this month, police raided the residences of Niersbach and Zwanziger as well as the DFB headquarters in Frankfurt.

In their opening statement after taking office, Rauball and Koch pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into the bribery scandal and to establish whether Germany won its 2006 World Cup bid against South Africa through vote buying.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

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Agencies
January 24,2020

Mumbai, Jan 24: Former Indian cricket captain and former MP Mohammad Azharuddin on Thursday denied allegations of cheating levelled by a travel agency in Maharashtra and threatened to file defamation suit of ₹100 crore.

"Those who filed the FIR have done it only to be in the limelight. There is no truth in it. The allegations are baseless," Azharuddin said in a video message on Twitter.

Azahruddin, who is now president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, said he would soon seek advice from his lawyer and will file Rs 100 crore defamation case against those who lodged the FIR.

A case was filed in Aurangabad on Wednesday against Azharuddin and two others for allegedly cheating a local travel agent of around ₹21 lakh.

The complaint was lodged by Shahab Y. Mohammed, 49, proprietor of Danish Tours & Travels here, a former executive with the defunct Jet Airways.

"We have lodged a first information report against Mujeeb Khan (Aurangabad), Sudheesh Avikkal (Kerala), Mohammed Azharuddin (Hyderabad). No arrests have been made and further investigations are underway," Investigating Officer A.D. Nagre, of the City Chowk police station, told IANS.

According to the complainant, between November 9 and 12, 2019, Avikkal booked several international airline tickets and Azharuddin's personal secretary Mujeeb Khan promised to pay the ticket charges. He said since no payment was made, he was compelled to lodge the police complaint.

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