Sports and C.A

2010-03-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

Sevilla sack Jimenez after draw with Xerez

Sevilla have sacked coach Manolo Jimenez after the struggling La Liga club were held to a 1-1 draw at home by basement side Xerez on Tuesday.

King's Cup finalists Sevilla suffered a surprise Champions League exit to CSKA Moscow last week and Tuesday's draw with promoted Xerez meant they had failed to win in seven matches in all competitions.

Hands up for World T20

A lot has happened, especially in the past ten days, since the time the five wise men sat down last month to pick the initial list of 30 for the upcoming World Twenty20 championships, to be played in the Caribbean from April 30. And the breakneck nature of the game's shortest format suggests that more may happen by the time they eventually sit down, on March 26, to pick the final squad of 15.

The ICC rules stipulate the selectors can pick anyone from outside the initial list of 30 in the final squad, and if the IPL is deemed as the final form-guide, Murali Kartik and Saurabh Tiwary have made a strong case with the national selectors, even though they were not part of the original list.

"The rules suggest that any country can name any player even from outside the initial list of 30 until the final squad is announced. The objective of the ICC is to get the best 15 from each country. The first list is demanded purely for branding and merchandising requirements. Only if the team wants to replace a member of the final squad do they have to write for approval," an ICC spokesperson confirmed to The Indian Express.

Premier League

Team news from the four Premier League matches to be played on Wednesday. Portsmouth vs Chelsea

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech will return from injury against Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Cech has been sidelined with a calf injury sustained against Inter Milan in the Champions League last month.

Deputy goalkeeper Hilario misses out with a groin strain while Michael Essien (knee), Ashley Cole (ankle) and Jose Bosingwa (knee) are all sidelined along with Branislav Ivanovic (knee).

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant is without striker Aruna Dindane for his side's home clash.

The Ivorian has been declared unavailable by the club's administrators due to a clause in his loan deal from Lens, which states Pompey must pay the French side £4 million if he plays another game.

Tal Ben-Haim and John Utaka both have groin injuries and miss out, while Hassan Yebda and Kevin-Prince Boateng are away having treatment on knee and ankle injuries respectively.

Teams:

Portsmouth (from): James, Mullins, Piquionne, Wilson, Finnan, Webber, Ashdown, Belhadj, Owusu-Abeyie, O'Hara, Hreidarsson, Brown, Diop, Kanu, Basinas, Vanden Borre, Mokoena, Rocha, Smith.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Turnbull, Kalou, Alex, Drogba, Malouda, Terry, Carvalho, Borini, Lampard, Obi, Deco, Anelka, Zhirkov, J Cole, Belletti, Ballack, Kakuta, Sturridge, Ferreira.

Live-in relationship not an offence: SC

New Delhi: In an observation that will cheer votaries of pre-marital sex and live-in-partners, the Supreme Court today opined that a man and woman living together without marriage cannot be construed as an offence.

"When two adult people want to live together what is the offence. Does it amount to an offence? Living together is not an offence. It cannot be an offence," a three judge bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan observed.

The court said even Lord Krishna and Radha lived together according to mythology. The apex court said there was no law which prohibits live-in relationship or pre-marital sex.

The apex court made the observation while reserving its judgment on a special leave petition filed by noted south Indian actress Khusboo seeking to quash 22 criminal cases filed against her after she allegedly endorsed pre-maritial sex in interviews to various magazines in 2005.

The judges grilled the counsel for some of the complainants in the case and repeatedly stressed that the perceived immoral activities cannot be branded as offence.

The argument of the counsel was that her comments allegedly endorsing pre-marital sex would adversely affect the minds of young people leading to decay in moral values and country's ethos.

"Please tell us what is the offence and under which section. Living together is a right to life," the apex court said apparently referring to Article 21 which granted right to life and liberty as a Fundamental Right.

The apex court further said the views expressed by Khusboo were personal.

"How does it concern you. We are not bothered. At the most it is a personal view. How is it an offence? Under which provision of the law?" the bench asked the counsel.

The apex court further asked the complainants to produce evidence to show if any girls eloped from their homes after the said interview.

"How many homes have been affected can you tell us," the Bench asked while enquiring whether the complainants had daughters. When the response was in the negative, they shot back, "Then, how are you adversely affected?"

News : Zee

Sports News Today

2010-01-17T03:57:00.000-08:00

England footballers to give one-million-pounds for WAGs’ safety in S. Africa

After the Football Association (FA) told England stars that their WAGs and relatives would be their responsibility in unruly South Africa, the players are set to spend a staggering one-million-pound to ensure the protection of their loved ones.

Fabio Capello''s men can either fork out more than 43,000 pounds each on ex-military guards for their loved ones during the tournament or spend up to four weeks abroad on their own.

News of the World quoted a source as saying: "South Africa is heaving with ruthless and well-drilled criminals who are rubbing their hands at the prospect of having so many well-known multi-millionaires on their turf.

“The players themselves will be safe enough at the team hotel and training complex but their friends and family face a security risk. Kidnap for ransom, robbery and carjacking are the three key threats to players'' families,” he added.

Despite providing security for the players themselves, the FA is taking no responsibility for their partners and kids, who will be staying at least 50 miles from the team base near Rustenburg.

Each family unit will require at least two armed bodyguards - many former Special Forces soldiers - to cover them day and night, on top of security patrols.

John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Barry are now ready to put costly close protection teams on their loved ones.

"If the players want their WAGS and families with them in South Africa, then they shall have to pay their way. The cost of protection is very high. But any price would be small to ensure the safety of the families of such high-value targets,” the source said.

"Lots of footballers have been robbed and burgled at home. But the worst they are likely to face here is a machete, because criminals want to avoid more serious charges if they are caught with guns. InSouth Africa there will be no such qualms," he added. (ANI)

Panasonic becomes jersey sponsor for Indian football team

Indian football received a boost Saturday with Japanese electronics major Panasonic becoming the jersey sponsor of the senior national team.

All India football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel said it was a positive development not only for football but also for other sports. The deal is worth Rs. 47.5 million for a period of three years.

"Panasonic has a big presence in international football. Their association with the national team will boost the sport in the country. This is also a crucial juncture for Indian football as we are heading towards the Asian Cup in 2011," he said.

The national team will now have to play a minimum of six international matches every year and are likely to play Thailand, also sponsored by Panansonic, in an international friendly soon.

"From this year, we will play lot of international matches. This will help us to prepare not only for the Asian Cup but also move up the rankings ladder," Patel said.

AIFF secretary-general Alberto Colaco said that chief coach Bob Houghton will be in India next week and will chart out the team's final roadmap to Qatar for the Asian Cup in January, 2011.(IANS)

Becks'' dog does it like Beckham, flies £2k flight in posh pet jet to LA!

Don''t expect David Beckham''s dog to be anything less than a pet diva and especially not after the pooch reportedly flew an almost 2,000-pound flight with a posh pet transportation company.

Beckham was said to have shelled out the staggering amount for the British Bulldog pup to be transported from England to their family home in Los Angeles.

The canine, a Christmas gift for the ace footballer from wife Victoria, was purportedly flown first class for the 5,500-mile journey in PetAir after feasting on a meal prepared by the family''s celebrity chef pal Gordon Ramsay.

"In its very short life, David''s dog has already seen the kind of luxury it will be treated to. It''s been fed top-notch food by the UK''s leading star chef, and has now been flown in total comfort to LA," News of the World quoted a source close to the Beckhams as saying.

The source added: "It''s one lucky animal, but David only wants the best." (ANI)

Anand meets Karjakin in Corus Chess first round

Five-time champion Viswanathan Anand will take on young Sergey Karjakin in the first round of the 72nd Corus Grandmasters chess tournament. A record number of five Indian players feature in this year's tournament at the Dutch seaside town of Wijk Aan Zee.

All five Indians in the three Groups will open their first round with black pieces. In Group B, Pentala Harikrishna will meet Anish Giri, whose father is Nepali and mother Russian, while Parimarjan Negi takes on D. Howell.

In Group C, Sowmya Swaminathan faces Robby Robinson while Abhijeet Gupta meets R. Swinkels. While Anand, the reigning World Champion, and a five-time winner here, has been a regular feature in the highest category ?A Group', India has two participants - Harikrishna and Negi - in ?B' and two others - Abhijeet Gupta and Sowmya Swaminathan - in the ?C' category.

Apart from hosts, the Netherlands, no other country has more than three participants in all three categories put together while India has five. The Corus Grandmasters Chess tournament is considered one of the strongest and biggest classical chess events in the world. It will be held from Jan 15-31 at the traditional De Moriaan Community Centre.

The Corus Chess tournament has three main segments. They are played according to the 'round robin' system, whereby each competitor plays in turn against every other during the tournament. All three Grandmaster groups have 14 players and start January 16 after a formal opening a day earlier. All rounds begin at 13.30 hours, except for the last round January 31, which begins at 12.30 hours. The rest days are January 20, 25, and 28.

Learn more at the Wiki

First round pairings: Group A: Caruana, Fabiano - Ivanchuk, Vassily; Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Kramnik, Vladimir; Karjakin, Sergey - Anand, Viswanathan; Leko, Peter - Shirov, Alexei; Smeets, Jan - Nakamura, Hikaru; Tiviakov, Sergei - Carlsen, Magnus; Van Wely, Loek - Short, Nigel. (IANS)