Players should boycott social media to combat racist abuse, says Phil Neville

Agencies
August 21, 2019

Aug 21: England women`s coach Phil Neville has urged the football community to boycott social media for six months and 'send a powerful message' in response to a significant rise in online racist abuse of players.

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba became the latest high-profile player to be a target of online abuse after he missed a penalty in Monday`s 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"I`ve lost total faith in whoever runs these social media departments, so I just wonder whether now as a football community, in terms of really sending a powerful message, is: come off social media," Neville told reporters on Tuesday.

"Six months - let`s come off social media. Let`s see the effect that it has on these social media companies, whether they`re really going to do something about it."

Last week, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard urged social media companies to take stricter action after 21-year-old striker Tammy Abraham was the target of racist abuse after his missed penalty in the UEFA Super Cup loss to Liverpool.

A study released by equality and inclusion organisation Kick It Out said it received 159 reports of discrimination via social media in the English professional game last season.

On Tuesday, Pogba`s United teammate Harry Maguire urged social media companies to verify user accounts to prevent supporters from abusing players anonymously. It is a view which was echoed by Neville.

"It`s a problem not just in football - it’s a problem in society, but football now is at the forefront of everybody’s minds in terms of, we’ve got the power to do something about it," Neville added.

"Maguire said this morning about being verified, giving passport details and addresses to be held accountable for posting such disgusting things. You can be an egg on Twitter and no one knows who you are."

Neville was speaking after announcing his 24-player squad for England women`s upcoming friendlies against Belgium and Norway, handing call-ups to four debutants.

Chelsea`s Bethany England and Manchester City`s Aoife Mannion will join the senior team for the first time, alongside two members of the bronze medal-winning Under-20 World Cup squad, 21-year-old Sandy MacIver and 20-year-old Anna Patten.

Neville has included 19 players who featured in the recent women`s World Cup in France, where the team finished fourth.

England face Belgium in Leuven on Aug. 29, before travelling to Berben to take on Norway on Sept. 3.

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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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News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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