Iranian Paralympic cyclist dies in race accident

September 18, 2016

Rio De Janeiro, Sept 18: An Iranian Paralympic cyclist died after an accident in the road race on the penultimate day of the Rio Games, officials said.iran

Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48, fell during the event and died of his injuries despite an attempt to take him to the hospital for treatment, officials said yesterday. "He unfortunately passed away," International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence told AFP.

Golbarnezhad's accident occurred during the more than two-hour C4-5 road race for athletes with varying disabilities but still able to bicycle. He was in the first section of a mountainous descent when he fell.

"The athlete received treatment at the scene and was in the process of being taken to the athlete hospital when he suffered a cardiac arrest," the IPC said in a statement.

"The ambulance then diverted to the nearby Unimed Rio Hospital in Barra where he passed away soon after arrival."

Paralympic officials said Golbarnezhad's family in Iran had been informed and the Iranian team was also told the news during a meeting at the Athletes' Village. The cyclist, who wore a prosthesis on his left leg, took up the sport in 2002 and competed at the London 2012 Paralympics.

"This is truly heart-breaking news," IPC president Philip Craven said. "The Paralympic Family is united in grief at this horrendous tragedy, which casts a shadow over what have been great Paralympic Games here in Rio."

Brazil's top official for the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, Carlos Nuzman, called it "very sad news for sport and for the Paralympic movement. Our hearts and prayers are with Bahman's family, his teammates and all the people of Iran."

The Iranian flag was lowered to half-mast in the Paralympic Village, while the Paralympic flag was to be at half mast during Sunday's sitting volleyball gold-medal match between Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A minute of silence will be held during Sunday's closing ceremony.

Iranian Paralympic officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The British Paralympic team tweeted: "We are devastated by the news of Bahman Golbarnezhad's passing. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues from NPC Iran."

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Islamabad, Jun 13: Pakistan cricket team’s former captain Shahid Afridi, who has tested positive for coronavirus,  appears to have contracted the virus during his recent visit to Muzaffarabad city of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) where Pakistan has been sending its corona positive patients.

The former Pakistan cricketer was seen attending gatherings in Muzaffarabad last month without wearing a mask and not maintaining social distancing. He spewed venom against India during his rallies. 

Afridi visited PoK to also express his solidarity with the people there who have been left to fend for themselves in combating COVID-19 as Pakistan has refused to provide any COVID fighting equipment like PPE kits and ventilators to the area’s handful of hospitals. 

In fact, Pakistan has been using the PoK as a “dumping ground” for COVID-19 affected persons from all across the country as authorities want to keep Punjab province free of corona positive persons. 

The locals held massive protests against Pakistan for setting up quarantine centres and shifting patients from parts of Pakistan to PoK. 

People are immensely suffering in Pakistan occupied Kashmir due to spread of coronavirus as the region lacks proper medical facilities and has a handful of COVID-19 testing labs. There is also lack of expert medical staff to conduct COVID-19 tests. 

A large number of people here are presumed asymptomatic and they are fast spreading the virus because of lack of medical care. 

Pakistan has reported over 1,25,000 coronavirus cases and 2,463 casualties. In Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the COVID-19 cases have increased to 534, whereas in Gilgit-Baltistan 1,030 have been  reported. 

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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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