2011/LMD WEEK 25.pdfright flank with the ball, Juan Agudelo put an impressive cross into the box, through the legs of his defender and in towards Dempsey. The attacking midfielder

Chicago, IL JUNE 2011www.lamaquinadeportiva.com www.lamaquinadeportiva.com

2

TIME FOR BANKRUPTCY?CALL A PROFESSIONALALBERT E. XIQUES, P.C.773.774.0007

also available for real estate and short sales

5045 NORTH HARLEM AVENUECHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60656

FAX: 773.774.5045

www.lamaquinadeportiva.com www.lamaquinadeportiva.comChicago, IL JUNE 2011

3

AD SPACE [email protected]

USA Vs. Jamaica, USMNT Wins 2-0

After a couple of lackluster performances, the United States finally resembled the team that everyone thought they would be, convincingly defeating Jamaica 2-0 in the Gold Cup quarterfinals to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals, where they will take on the winner of the game between Panama and El Salvador. Jermaine Jones scored the opening goal, which would also be the eventual winner, while Clint Dempsey added an insurance goal late in the match.

The first half was more or less dominated by the United States, who were allowed to keep possession without being contested very much. Jamaica created a couple of great chances on the counter-attack, but both of their best scoring opportunities were completely squandered by Luton Shelton, who had a very poor game. From the run of play, Jamaica did almost nothing.

Jozy Altidore had to come out of the game in the 9th minute due to a hamstring injury, which has been tentatively diagnosed as a hamstring strain, seemingly leaving the USMNT with some problems. Juan Agudelo, a different kind of striker, was the man who entered the game, but the team saw no drop-off with him playing instead of Altidore.

The United States took the lead early in the second half, thanks to a shot by Jermaine Jones. The Reggae Boyz left him a considerable amount of space in midfield and Jones took advantage by ripping a shot from the outside of the box. His shot deflected off a defender before going in, giving Donovan Ricketts no chance to make a save, and the United States went up 1-0.

Jamaica’s hopes at coming back ended with two separate events between the 65th and 70th minutes. In that five minute period, the USMNT brought Landon Donovan off the bench and Jamaica’s Jermaine Taylor was sent off for denying Jermaine Jones a clear goal scoring opportunity, despite the fact that he did not contact Jones, who took a very obvious dive. With the Reggae Boyz down to 10 men and Landon Donovan on the field, the game was as good as over.

Clint Dempsey sealed Jamaica’s fate in the 85th minute, scoring a skillful close-range goal. After surging down the right flank with the ball, Juan Agudelo put an impressive cross into the box, through the legs of his defender and in towards Dempsey. The attacking midfielder took a great touch to beat Ricketts, then tapped the ball into the back of the net, putting the United States ahead by 2-0.

Their opponent has not yet been determined, but the USMNT is probably licking their chops at the prospect of getting a revenge game against Panama, who defeated them earlier in the tournament. The other semifinal will be contested by Mexico and Honduras.

Chicago, IL JUNE 2011 Chicago, IL JUNE 2011

River Plate facing relegation in Argentinawww.lamaquinadeportiva.com www.lamaquinadeportiva.com

4

River Plate, the most successful team in Argentine football, is facing possible relegation to the second division.River wraps up the Clausura season on Saturday at home against Lanus. Even a victory may not be enough to save River from a playoff to stay in the topflight of Argentine football.If River Plate stays up, it is still being humiliated. The club has won 33 league titles - 10 more than Boca Juniors - and is nicknamed the “Mil-lionaires,’’ which reflects the lofty status it once held; Argentina’s ver-sion of Manchester United or Real Madrid.River is among six clubs threatened with relegation, but the others are little-followed outside the country - Tigre, Olimpo, Huracan, Gimnasia and Quilmes.Argentina has a complex league system, and the relegation format is even tougher to understand.Argentina divides its football year into two 19-game seasons - the Ap-

ertura from September until Decem-ber, and the Clausura from February to June. At the end of both seasons, two teams are automatically rel-egated. Relegation is based on results over three years - or six seasons.River is not in danger of going down automatically. It will finish just above that zone, but it is apt to be among two first-division teams facing a two-game playoff against second-division opposition with the survivors playing in the first division. The losers go down.River has been so-so this season, lodged in the top half of the table with 26 points - 10 behind Velez. But its previous seasons have been awful, which has placed it in danger.The club also has debts reported at $19 million, forcing it to sell top players to European clubs, further weakening itself on the pitch.The intrigue has been building.Referees for this weekend’s matches have been hand-picked by Julio Grondona, the powerful president of

the Argentine Football Association and the No. 2 man at FIFA to presi-dent Sepp Blatter.Grondona has already weighed in, saying this week that River “is one of the teams with the best chance of avoiding a relegation playoff.’’That immediately angered Olimpo president Alfredo Dagna, who hinted Grondona may have been express-ing a preference that a giant club like River should stay in the first division.“I don’t like this,’’ Dagna said.Argentine newspapers are filled with conspiracy theories, involving sug-gestions that River will stay up and may get help to do it.“I think this is all more smoke than reality,’’ Dagna said. “One is not naive, but all we can do is to play football.’’

Former UAE player gets death penalty

Malaysia charges Singaporean with match-fixing

A former United Arab Emirates football player has been sentenced to death in the stabbing death of an-other man during a 2008 brawl.The Gulf News reports that the Abu Dhabi Supreme Court handed down the sentence Tuesday against Fayez Juma, who played for Sharjah and for the national team for four years. A second player for Sharjah, Mo-

hammed Najib, and Juma’s brother, Moses, were also sentenced to death.The court overturned a ruling from Sharjah Appeals Court that sentenced Juma to a year in jail for being in-volved in the stabbing that took place following a scuffle in a parking lot. The Supreme Court ruled that Juma and the others planned the attack and had swords in their possession.

Malaysian prosecutors have charged a Singaporean man with match-fixing at a youth football tournament.R.K. Rajendran faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine if convicted. He is the second suspect to face the charge in Malaysia this month amid intensified efforts to combat corrup-

tion. Malaysia’s national news agency, Bernama, reported that Rajendran was charged in a district court Thursday with giving bribes totaling 1,200 ring-git ($400) to four players in northeast-ern Terengganu state while they were competing last year in Malaysia’s President’s Cup.The court scheduled a preliminary

hearing for June 30.Earlier this month, a coach pleaded not guilty to hand-ing nearly 25,000 ringgit ($8,000) to 11 of his Presi-dent’s Cup players.

WWW.CHICAGOSOCCER.NET


Longtime captain Michael Bal-lack’s Germany career is over, the German football federation said Thursday, ending months of specu-lation about his future.The 34-year-old midfielder has 98 caps but has not played for Germa-ny in more than a year and missed seven months with an ankle injury, including last year’s World Cup in South Africa, where Germany finished third.Ballack, who had 42 goals in a Germany career that began in April 1999, never won a major title with the national team. He was Germa-ny’s captain in 55 games.There was no immediate reaction from the former Chelsea midfielder, and no quotes from the player in the federation’s statement.Coach Joachim Loew had retained Ballack nominally in place as cap-tain, but left him out of the Germany squad recently despite a strong end to the season.On Thursday, however, the federa-tion said Ballack won’t be part of the squad in future - though it would like him to play one last game as captain in a friendly against Brazil on Aug. 10.Loew said recent months have brought many young players to the

fore who have “good prospects.’’“In our talks, I had the impression that Michael definitely understands our point of view,’’ Loew said. “So in the interest of everyone, an honest and clear decision is now appropri-ate.’’The coach lauded Ballack’s achieve-ments over nearly a decade with the national team, saying that “he has an enormous share in the team’s great successes since the 2002 World Cup’’ - where Ballack helped power Germany to the final.He missed the 2-0 loss to Brazil in the final because of a yellow card in the semifinal, when he prevented a threatening South Korean coun-terattack with a deliberate foul. Four years later at home, Germany finished third.“He marked an era and, as captain, always put himself at the service of the team,’’ Loew said.Loew’s young team has all but quali-fied already for next year’s Euro-pean Championship in Poland and Ukraine. It has seven wins in seven qualifying matches.Ballack played in the 2008 European Championship final, when Germany lost 1-0 to Spain.His last game for Germany was in March 2010, a 1-0 loss to Argentina

in a friendly.Ballack’s club career included stints with Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkus-en, Bayer Munich and Chelsea.When his contract at Chelsea was not extended, Ballack returned to Leverkusen and struggled to make the starting lineup after coming back from the ankle injury. But he finished the season strongly.The tackle that effectively ended his Germany career came in the FA Cup final and was committed by former Bundesliga player Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Ballack’s Germany career over

5

www.lamaquinadeportiva.com www.lamaquinadeportiva.com

European football’s governing body urged FIFA on Friday to implement “concrete’’ changes within three months to deal with world football’s worst cor-ruption crisis.Allegations of bribery during the presi-dential election led to FIFA executive committee members Mohamed bin Hammam and Jack Warner being sus-pended pending a full investigation.Earlier this month, Sepp Blatter began his fourth term as FIFA president unop-posed after bin Hammam’s withdrawal

by pledging a “zero-tolerance’’ approach to corruption.UEFA, under President Michel Platini, wants Blatter’s promised chang-es to FIFA to be carried out promptly.“The executive committee takes good note of the will of FIFA to take concrete and efficient measures with regards to good governance, expects to see results within the next three months and is following the situation closely,’’ the committee of top UEFA officials said in a state-ment after a two-day meeting.The hard line taken by UEFA in its statement was later underlined by its executive committee member Jim Boyce, who is also a FIFA vice president.“All of the UEFA executive committee are absolutely adamant that FIFA has to do something and has to be seen to be doing something,’’ Boyce told The Associated Press.“We have given three months to see if appropriate action is taken by FIFA. Obviously we will discuss that again at the next meeting (in Sep-tember).’’As he was re-elected, Blatter immediately sought to prove that his promise of reform was genuine with a major policy shift on how the World Cup venues are announced.Future World Cup hosts will be decided in a vote of all 208 federations instead of FIFA’s 24 executive committee mem-bers. Corruption claims during last year’s contest to decide the 2018 and 2022 hosts led to executive committee members Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii receiving bans.Blatter’s toughest critics are at the English Football Association, which tried to get the June 1 presidential election sus-pended after bin Hammam’s withdrawal. While the FA failed to gain enough support for the motion at the FIFA Con-gress, its leadership claims that demands for reform led directly to Blatter changing the World Cup voting system.The FA is now waiting for more details on Blatter’s reforms during his final four-year term.“We have exchanged correspondence with Blatter now,’’ FA general secretary Alex Horne said. “We intend to meet him in the not-too distant future to understand his proposals for reform, to understand his independent committees for reform, what exactly he is trying to achieve to improve transparency and the things we really stood up for in congress.’’The FA is yet to be convinced about the merits of Blatter appointing opera great Placido Domingo and former U.S. secre-tary of state Henry Kissinger to a committee of “wise men’’ to help clean up FIFA.Meanwhile, the ethics commission of the International Olympic Committee is looking into corruption allegations leveled at former FIFA President Joao Havelange, who now serves as an honorary president of the footballing authority.Though FIFA is not investigating a BBC report that Havelange received a $1 million kickback in 1997 when he was still president of world football, the matter has been taken up by the IOC - where the Brazilian is the committee’s longest-serving member with 47 years’ service. The ethics commission asked the BBC for any evidence of wrongdoing last year and is assessing what it has received since.“The commission has received supporting documents from the BBC and is now in the process of verifying the authentic-ity of the material that has been gathered so far,’’ the IOC said Friday.UEFA’s two-day session also saw Norway’s Karen Espelund, the head of its women’s football committee, join the tradi-tionally male-dominated executive committee. The appointment, by invitation, followed a pledge to that effect by Platini on his re-election as president in March. At the time, Platini said: “This is but a first, symbolic step, but symbols are sometimes key to changing the way we think. Women have a lot to offer to the development of the game and it is a first step towards a better representation in decision-making bodies.’’


UEFA wants FIFA reforms in 3 months after crisis

6



Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs has become the latest celebrity to take legal action against the News of the World newspaper over alleged phone hacking.Giggs’ lawyers at the law firm Schillings said Wednesday that “proceedings have been issued’’ by the footballer against the Sunday paper, but did not provide further details.Three News of the World journalists have been arrested after a number of celebrities and public figures have said they were victims of phone hacking by the tabloid. Giggs’ United teammate Wayne Rooney said in April he had been contacted by police after his phone was apparently hacked into. The newspaper has recently published several articles with allegations relating to Giggs’ private life.

Former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi and two others have been banned for life from Italian football for their role in a 2006 match-fixing scandal.The ban was decided on Wednesday by the Italian football federation’s national disciplinary commission, and also applies to fellow former Juventus executive Antonio Giraudo and Inno-cenzo Mazzini, a former official at the federation. The three had previously been banned for five years.In separate criminal proceedings, Moggi is facing trial in Naples on charges of criminal associa-tion aimed at committing sports fraud. Fellow former Juve executive Giraudo already received a three-year-sentence from the Naples court.

The scandal saw Juventus stripped of the 2004-2005 and 2005-06 Serie A titles.

The Chicago Fire have agreed on a transfer fee with Club Atlas for the transfer of Uruguayan forward Gaston Puerari. The 25-year-old striker will join the Primera Division Mexico side immediately. Per team and MLS policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Club Atlas was very keen on Gaston and we made the decision to accept the offer based on the best interest of building our club,” said Fire Technical Director and Interim Head Coach Frank Klopas. “This move provides us with additional flexibility to find a player who will help us achieve our goal of making the MLS Cup Playoffs. We wish Gaston nothing but the best with his new club.”

Puerari joined the Fire prior to the start of the 2011 MLS season from Uguguayan team Montevideo Wanderers. He made 14 appearances for the Fire, starting ten games, and scored one goal and added two assists.

The move opens up salary cap room, as well as an international player spot for the Men in Red.


Giggs takes legal action against News of the World

3 Italians banned for life by football body

Chicago Fire sell forward Gaston Puerari toMexican side Club Atlas

7


Coach Reinaldo Rueda has named Ecuador’s 23-man squad for the Copa America, picking midfielder Antonio Valencia of Manchester United and Christian Benitez, the top scorer in the Mexican league, to lead the side.The squad is based primarily on

players in the Ecuador league, but features four playing in Mexico and three in Europe.Ecuador, which has never won the Copa America, plays in Group B with Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela.The tournament in Argentina opens on July 1.

Brazil coach Mano Me-nezes says Kaka called him and asked to be left out of the Copa America squad so he could have more time to regain his form following knee surgery.Menezes says Kaka told him that he would rather rest and focus on properly preparing himself for next season with Real Madrid so he can try to play at a high level again after undergoing left knee surgery last year.In an interview with the SporTV channel Monday night, Menezes also hinted that Real Ma-drid defender Marcelo was left out because he recently asked to be released from the squad citing an injury he had not actually sustained. The coach said he found out that Marcelo told club officials that he was able to avoid the call-up to the national team.

Cristiano Ronaldo says he will not leave Real Madrid amid rumors of Manchester City trying to lure the Portu-gal forward back to England with a huge contract.Ronaldo told Spanish radio Cadena Cope on Tuesday that “I am not going. I give you my word. Today I would sign for 10 more years with Real Madrid.’’He didn’t, however, rule out a future move from the Spanish giants: “Could I

think differently tomorrow? Yes. No one knows the future of a player.’’The 26-year old forward even left open the possibility of joining Madrid’s rival Barce-lona.He said “play for Barca? Never is a strong word.’’Last season, Ronaldo set a Spanish league record with 40 goals as Madrid finished sec-ond to Barcelona for the third straight year.

Former Lazio captain Giuseppe Signori has been freed after 13 days of house arrest, but is still under inves-tigation in the latest Italian match-fixing scandal.The judge handling the initial

inquiry tells the ANSA news agency that Signori was freed because enough testimony has been gathered to advance the case and there was no risk of him tampering with evi-dence or committing more match-fixing.Signori, who retired in 2006, al-legedly led a group of bettors in Bologna that had a direct impact on match-fixing. He denied involve-ment when he was questioned by prosecutors last week.Signori was one of 16 people ar-rested June 1 as part of an inquiry focused on 18 matches mostly in Se-rie B and C. However, key suspects in the case have reportedly divulged information about top-division games that were fixed.


8


Ecuador names squadfor Copa America

Ronaldo says he’s staying at Real Madrid

Signori freed from house

arrest in Italy

Menezes says Kaka didn’t want

to play Copa America

The Egyptian Football Association has called another emergency meeting after more crowd unrest at a football game in the politically troubled country.About 100 fans invaded the pitch at an Egyptian Premier League game in northern city Alex-andria on Wednesday and were involved in scuffles with players from home team Al Ittihad, visitors Wadi Degla and police. The game was called off with three minutes of injury time to go.The trouble began when Degla scored a 92nd-minute goal to go 2-1 ahead. Supporters in the 5,000-strong crowd threw plastic bottles at Degla players and team officials and fans then ran onto the pitch.The EFA said it would meet on Thursday. Two months ago it considered suspending all foot-ball in Egypt because of a violent riot at a game in Cairo.

Midfielder Jorge Claros of Honduran first-division team Motagua is being treated for gun-shot wounds after being attacked in an apparent robbery attempt.Dr. Oscar Benitez, who is treating Claros, said Wednesday that the player’s wounds are not life-threatening. Benitez said Claros sustained a grazing wound to the head and could recover within three weeks.The gunmen attacked Claros’ vehicle in an apparent failed robbery attempt Wednesday at a petrol station near Honduras’ Atlantic coast.Police said Claros’ wife and her unnamed friend, who were also in the vehicle, were unin-jured. Claros was able to drive himself to a hospital.Claros, 25, represented Honduras in its three first-round matches at the 2008 Olympics.

The Japan Football Association says FIFA will donate about $6 million in aid to J-League clubs affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.Several clubs, whose stadiums were damaged by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsu-nami, will receive $4.5 million for repairs, JFA president Junji Ogura said Thursday.The remaining $1.5 million will go toward building new football training centers in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures.FIFA President Sepp Blatter had promised to provide aid when he came to Japan in May to meet with JFA officials and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.


Former Brazil striker Edmundo arrested in Brazil

Egypt FA to meet after more crowd trouble

Thieves shoot midfielder for Honduras’ Motagua

FIFA to provide financial aid to Japanese football

9


Former Brazil striker Edmundo has been arrested for his role in a car crash that killed three people in 1995. Police said they found Edmundo in a Sao Paulo flat after receiving an anonymous tip early Thursday. A judge issued a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday.The 40-year-old television commentator was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 1999 for causing the car crash four years earlier. He lost an appeal, but legal procedures kept the conviction from officially taking effect until the judge’s decision on Tuesday.Edmundo’s lawyers will appeal, saying the time limit for the conviction had expired. Ed-mundo, who played in the 1998 World Cup, was initially sentenced to more than four years in partial confinement.

$34M prize available for Euro 2012 winner

Barca says Fabregas is worth less than 40 million

Benzema fined for reckless driving Spanish police say Karim Benzema has been fined for reckless driving after the Real Madrid striker was caught racing his luxury car through Ibiza’s city center late Wednesday night.A police official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the France international and two other drivers were charged with the infraction after they had raced a Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini in the capital of the Mediterranean island.Police said Benzema paid the ?250 ($350) fine in cash on the spot.Police said Benzema was judged not to have been drinking and was therefore not given an alcohol test.Last season, Benzema scored 26 goals in all competitions for Madrid.

The winner of the 2012 European Championship will receive up to $34 million.UEFA agreed at its executive committee meeting to put aside $280 million to split between the 16 finalists, an increase of $17 million from Euro 2008.Each team will receive $11.4 million for qualifying. In the group stage, UEFA will give teams $1.4 million for each of three wins and $715,000 for draws, while the third-place team picks up a $1.4 million bonus.The quarterfinalists will receive $2.9 million, the semifinalists $4.3 million, the runners-up $6.4 million and the winner $10.7 million.The European soccer body’s executive committee also announced Friday it will extend the ban for players who deliberately incur yellow cards in UEFA competitions to two matches.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said on that Arsenal can expect a bid of less than 40 million if the Catalan club decides to pursue Cesc Fabregas.Barcelona tried to bring back its former youth player during the offseason last year, but Ar-senal refused to sell. “If last summer we offered ?40 million ($56.55 million) for Cesc, and since then there has been wear and tear, now he’s worth less,’’ Rosell said.“In the case that we were interested, our offer would be reasonable. We would not go over-board.’’Spain midfielder Fabregas said Wednesday he has left any decision on his future to Arsenal, while adding that “Barca is the best team in the world and going there guarantees titles.’’ The Spanish champions have also been linked to Villarreal’s Giuseppe Rossi and Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez.Barcelona had previously announced it had a transfer budget of about ?45 million. Rosell said, if necessary, this could be increased by using funds allocated for the 2012 summer transfer market. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Rosell also said that Barcelona will end relations with fierce rival Real Madrid if coach Jose Mourinho continues his verbal attacks on the Catalan club. “If the limits of sportsmanship are crossed again, we will be obliged to break institutional relations,’’ he said. Last season, Mourinho accused Barcelona of receiving help from UEFA referees in winning the Champions League.UEFA handed the Portuguese manager a five-match Champions League ban for his statements. Madrid will challenge the ruling before UEFA’s appeals body on June 30.

10

Chicago, IL JUNE 2011 Chicago, IL JUNE 2011 www.lamaquinadeportiva.com www.lamaquinadeportiva.com

Chicago Soccer(Melrose Park)

3415 W. North AvenueMelrose Park, IL. 60160

708-410-2255Monday-Friday 2:00pm - 9:00pm

Saturday 10:00am - 7:00pm Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm


11



Villa hires McLeish as manager despite fan anger

Aston Villa ignored fan protests and hired Alex McLeish as manager on Friday, five days after he quit archrival Birmingham.

The rare switch across managerial jobs between neighboring clubs enraged Birmingham, which demanded compensation to cover the final two years

of McLeish’s contract. It has also angered many Villa fans, who dislike McLeish because of his connection to their main rival.

But Villa’s American owner Randy Lerner pressed ahead with ap-pointing the 52-year-old Scot as his third manager in less than a

year.“I am honored to have this opportunity to manage a club with

such a fantastic history as Aston Villa’s,’’ McLeish said. “I know that some of our fans have voiced concerns and I can

understand why.“It will be up to me to convince you that I am the right

man to drive the club forward and I intend to give abso-lutely everything to prove that I can be a success at the

club.’’McLeish, whose contract details have not been

announced, is replacing Gerard Houllier, who left Villa last week because of heart problems after

just nine months in charge.“Unquestionably, Alex meets the criteria we

set out at the beginning of our search which was based on proven Premier League ex-

perience, leadership, a hardworking ethic and, most importantly, a shared vision

for Aston Villa,’’ chief executive Paul Faulkner said. “Alex’s vast experi-

ence and proven abilities demon-strate clearly that he is a strong

leader and an ambitious man.’’McLeish began his manage-

rial career with Motherwell and Hibernian before

winning two Scottish Premier League titles

with Rangers and then taking over the Scot-

tish national side.

Timbers coach fined, suspended for commentsPortland Timbers coach John Spencer has been fined $2,500 and suspended for a game for comments he made about officiating following a loss last Saturday night.Spencer will miss Portland’s match at home Sunday night against the New York Red Bulls.Spencer was ejected in the final minutes of the Timbers’ 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids at Jeld-Wen Field. His total fine includes an automatic $500 penalty for the ejection.After the match, Spencer lashed out at the officials, suggesting the game referee called innocuous fouls because he was tired and couldn’t keep close enough to the action to see clearly. He also made other com-ments.“Poor, poor performance by the referee,” said Spencer, a former player who is known for his fiery personality.Major League Soccer announced the disciplinary action on Friday.“John Spencer’s recent public criticism of MLS officials was not constructive and will not be tolerated,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “We recognize that referee’s decisions can be debated, but public comments cannot impugn the credibility of the officials or the league. MLS requires that its players, coaches, and club leadership maintain proper respect for the officials at all times.”MLS rules state that any player or coach who is ejected must sit out at least the next game.

www.lamaquinadeportiva.com

Palestinian football seeks points for statehoodFor years, Palestinian football was disorganized, underfunded and hindered so much by Israeli travel restrictions that

games were often forfeited because players couldn’t arrive for the kickoff.But the sport is now growing, with new stadiums rising across the West Bank, the local football federation hosting international competitions, and the Palestinians set to host their first ever World Cup qualifying match next month. Players say boosting the game is about more than sports: It’s a mission to build an indepen-dent nation.

“When teams come play on our land, it’s a way of recognizing the Palestinian state,’’ said player Murad Ismael, 26. “That benefits the Palestinian cause, not just Palestinian sports.’’The Palestinian Olympic team plays Bahrain on Sunday and on June 23 in the second preliminary round of Asian qualifi-ers for the 2012 London Games. And in the biggest match in Palestinian history, the main national team faces Afghanistan on June 29 and July 3 in first-round Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.The improved football program jibes with the plans of political leaders, who have been trying to build the foundations of statehood outside the moribund peace process with Israel.Leading the charge is an unlikely man, Jibril Rajoub, a gruff former West Bank security chief who spent 17 years in Israeli prisons. Rajoub left politics in 2006 and was appointed head of the Palestinian Football Federation and Olympic Commit-tee two years later.Sitting in his Ramallah office, where players greet him with kisses and he summons aides with a wireless buzzer, 58-year-old Rajoub said he uses sports “to send a national message’’ to the world.“We are like any people,’’ he said. “Sports for us are a part of achieving our national goals.’’Since Rajoub took over, the federation’s annual budget has swelled from $870,000 in 2008 to more than $6 million in 2010, said finance manager Jihad Qura. It once had three full-time employees. Now it has 30.Rajoub said the development is thanks to the Palestinian Authority, the federation’s main funder, which decided in 2008 to invest in sports.Since then, five new stadiums have been built and refurbished throughout the West Bank. The most recent was inaugurat-ed in the southern town of Dura on June 12 with a friendly between the Palestinian and Italian Olympic teams. Thousands watched.In March, the Palestinian Olympic team played its first home game in the West Bank city of Ram, just outside Jerusalem, a powerful symbol for a people seeking independence. The Palestinians lost in a penalty shootout to Thailand, but advanced to Sunday’s qualifying round because Thailand fielded an ineligible player.The national team played its first home game in the same stadium in 2008, with FIFA President Sepp Blatter in the stands. They previously played “home’’ games in Jordan or Qatar.In May, Blatter returned for the Palestinians’ first international club tournament, scheduled around the commemoration of Israel’s founding - which Palestinians call “the catastrophe.’’ Sixteen teams from Senegal, Hungary, Jordan and elsewhere participated.Blatter promised to help Palestinian players and coaches with their most common complaint: Israeli travel restrictions. International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is also working with both sides to improve the travel situation.Palestinian athletes need Israeli permits for most travel, either to cross Israel from Gaza or to enter or leave the West Bank - a hurdle that has often kept players from key matches.In 2007, FIFA forced the Palestinians to forfeit a World Cup qualifier to Singapore because they failed to field a full team after Israel denied permits to 18 players and officials from Gaza.Rajoub said the restrictions persist.“To this moment, no is the rule, yes is the exception,’’ he said.But a number of players said the situation has improved from when it was common for players to get stranded abroad for months or stuck in Gaza with no way out.Efraim Zinger, head of the Israel Olympic Committee, said he has tried to facilitate movement for Palestinian athletes, and military spokesman Guy Inbar said Israeli authorities decided in late 2010 to ease restrictions on athletes as a “gesture’’ to the Palestinian Authority.

Documents

2011/LMD WEEK 25.pdfright flank with the ball, Juan Agudelo put an impressive cross into the box, through the legs of his defender and in towards Dempsey. The attacking midfielder