Sports

AMMAN — The fifth and last round of the Speed Test Championship kicks off on Friday with the participation of 62 drivers at the Sky Dive Racetrack in the Dead Sea area.

With 80 points under his bonnet, Mohammed Tayseer is guaranteed the title but will work on sealing the win with another victory.

Jad Nabas is in second place, with 56 points while Gaith Wraikat in third, with 52 points.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsports CEO, told The Jordan Times that it will be an epic ending.

“The focus will be on the second and third places as Tayseer has already guaranteed the title so the battle will be who takes the first place of the final Test,” he said.

“We can easily say that this Speed Test season was very challenging and competitive but we managed to increase the fans base and encourage more drivers to be a part of the championship,” he added.

The event will witness the return of Nasser Abu Touha, who has a long history in the Speed Test championship and will try to stop Tayseer from taking another first place.

Husam Salem, who turned to rallying with impressive results, is coming back for another Speed Test on Friday saying: “The Speed Test was my first attempt in auto sports and I cannot miss the chance to be part of it again and that is what I will do this weekend.”

The New Orleans Pelicans snapped a six-game losing start to the season with a 120-105 victory over Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, but celebrations for a first win of the campaign were muted in the wake of an injury to Andrew Davis.

Star forward Davis suffered a right hip contusion at the conclusion of the first half and did not return. He was not on the bench during the second half nor in the locker room after the game. X-rays came back negative.

“He got hit with a knee,” Pelican coach Alvin Gentry told reporters, adding he was not sure if Davis would make the trip to Atlanta for Wednesday’s game against Hawks.

“Such is life,” he added with a wry smile.

Ryan Anderson recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds off the bench to lead New Orleans.

Davis, Eric Gordon, Ish Smith and Toney Douglas scored 17 apiece for Pelicans, while Jrue Holiday added 10 points in a little more than 15 minutes.

“Obviously, when [Davis] goes out, guys have to step up,” Anderson said. “We did that. I mean you go down the line, guys really just played their hearts out.”

Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points to lead Mavericks, who have lost three of their past four games.

Charlie Villaneuva added 15 points, Zaza Pachulia 12, Justin Anderson 11 and Dwight Powell and J.J. Barea 10 apiece for Dallas, who trailed 58-40 after two quarters and by as many as 28 in the second half.

Nowitzki played a little more than five minutes in the second half, all coming early in the third quarter when he scored nine points, but Dallas was still unable to pose a threat.

“Overall, just not good enough tonight,” Nowitzki said. “We had some great looks. We finished the [first] half brutal. We had to put some stops together, and we did not do that.”

The Mavericks, who missed numerous uncontested shots throughout the game, were 5-of-20 in three-point attempts and shot 44 per cent from the field.

Testimony to their hustle and sense of urgency, Pelicans out-scored Dallas 23-9 in fast break points.

“We have to do a [heck] of a lot better,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We missed some open shots. Their level of force was higher without question.”

Dallas got off to perhaps it worst start of the season and never recovered and even with Davis sidelined, Pelicans out-scored Dallas 36-35 in the third quarter to enter the final period with a 19-point lead.

“That is very important in every game, to get that fast start and create that tempo,” Gordon said. “We wanted to play fast.”

AMSTERDAM — Netherlands and Belgium have sought legal advice over whether to seek compensation for the cost of their abortive World Cup bid after discovering the choice of Russia for the 2018 finals was pre-planned.

The Dutch and Belgian football associations  announced on Tuesday they have contacted a legal firm after suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter said two weeks ago that football’s world governing body agreed Russia would be hosts long before the completion of the bidding process.

Blatter made the disclosure in an interview with Russian reporters, sparking uproar from the joint Belgian-Dutch bid, and from England which also bid for the right to host the finals.

“An interview is not enough to take steps but we are preparing ourselves for the outcome of a continuing investigation,” said a Dutch FA spokesman.

Francois de Keersmaecker, president of the Belgian FA, added: “In agreement with our Dutch colleagues we have asked a legal firm to see if we can claim for compensation.

“It was unethical to allow us to incur unnecessary costs while the outcome of the bidding process had already been determined.

“On the basis of the advice we get, we’ll decide what steps to take next.”

The joint bid, which cost the Dutch and Belgians 10 million euros ($10.70 million), went up against another joint bid from Portugal and Spain, as well as individual bids from England and Russia in the vote to decide the hosts of the 2018 World Cup.

England was eliminated after the first round of voting and the Dutch-Belgian bid finished third in the second round, where Russia received the necessary majority to be declared winners.

The English FA is also seeking legal advice and has sent FIFA questions about the 2018 bid process.

Blatter told Russia’s TASS news agency about the bidding process last month.

“It was agreed that we go to Russia [for 2018]... and for 2022 we go back to America. And so we will have the World Cup in the two biggest political powers,” he said.

The 2022 tournament was awarded to Qatar.

Blatter has been suspended from FIFA which has been rocked by a US Department of Justice investigation into bribery, money-laundering and wire fraud at the sport’s governing body.

Blatter is serving a 90-day suspension imposed by FIFA’s Ethics Committee, which is looking into a 2 million Swiss franc ($2.03 million) payment Blatter made to Michel Platini in 2011 — a case that is part of a separate Swiss criminal investigation.

AMMAN — Jordan beat Malta 2-0 in a friendly on Wednesday as part of their final training camp ahead of their match against Kyrgyzstan on November 17 in the return leg Group B qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup, doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup.

The Kingdom went up 17 spots to 82nd in the latest FIFA World Rankings this week — its biggest leap in a year.

LONDON — Diego Costa has turned into a pale imitation of the player who took the Premier League by storm last year and Chelsea must get him firing on all cylinders again to have any hope of salvaging their wretched season.

The 27-year-old striker could scarcely have believed his luck when he discovered last week that he had been recalled to Spain’s squad for the friendlies with England in Alicante on Friday and Belgium in Brussels four days later.

He has scored only three times in 15 appearances for his club this season and the swashbuckling, battering ram of a centre forward who notched 20 league goals for the champions last term appears but a distant memory.

Chelsea fans, already mystified by their team’s dramatic loss of form, are now wondering what has happened to Diego Costa.

Although the Londoners slumped to their third straight league defeat at Stoke City on Saturday, they produced a much-improved performance that suggested some key players are beginning to find form after a torrid start to the campaign.

Eden Hazard, the 2014-15 Premier League Player of the Year, again showed the tricky, ball-playing skills that tormented defences last season but more often than not, Chelsea’s attacks petered out when the ball went to Costa.

Former Newcastle United target man Alan Shearer, a lethal international striker for England in his prime, said the temperamental Costa could learn a lot from Leicester City’s red-hot marksman Jamie Vardy.

Vardy has netted in each of his last nine league appearances and will equal the 2003 record of former Manchester United and Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy if he scores in Leicester’s next game at Newcastle on November 21.

“Right now one [Vardy] looks full of energy while the other (Costa) is barely mobile,” said Shearer.

Lack of movement

“I studied Chelsea’s performance on Saturday and actually thought they played as well as they have done for some time. What frustrated me about Costa was the lack of trouble he gave Stoke’s back four.”

Shearer, who scored 30 goals in 63 matches for England, bemoaned Costa’s lack of movement.

“Costa is constantly coming towards the ball now whereas you look at Vardy and he is always looking to run in behind the back four,” he said.

“If you have Costa’s ability there is only one place you should be, up front, facing defenders and running on to through balls.”

Costa looks to be spending more time winding up opposition defenders than getting into the penalty box and if his barren run in front of goal continues, Chelsea may have little option but to seek a replacement in the January transfer window.

Jose Mourinho has received constant criticism for a remarkable slump in form that has seen Chelsea slump to fifth from bottom with 11 points from 12 league matches.

For someone who has shown little patience with managers in the past, owner Roman Abramovich appears keen to give Stamford Bridge hero Mourinho every chance to pull his team round.

The Portuguese will now be keeping his fingers crossed that Costa can get back on the goal trail with Spain over the next few days.

LONDON — The World Cup could be expanded by eight teams to 40 if Gianni Infantino is elected FIFA president.

Infantino, the face of European competition draws as UEFA’s general secretary, discussed his first plans to transform FIFA in an interview with The Associated Press after making a surprising late decision to enter the election.

European football scrambled to find a candidate as a substitute for Infantino’s boss, Michel Platini, after the UEFA president was provisionally suspended by FIFA.

Platini is at risk of a long ban once the ethics probe into a 2011 payment from FIFA has been completed, which would make him ineligible for the February 26 election to replace suspended president Sepp Blatter.

Infantino has worked in Platini’s shadow, implementing the president’s vision from Financial Fair Play for clubs to expanding the European Championship from 16 to 24 teams starting with next year’s tournament. If Infantino gets his way, the World Cup also could have to find space for an additional eight teams.

“I believe in expanding the World Cup based on the experience we had in Europe with the Euros,” Infantino said by telephone from the campaign trail in South America. “Look at qualifiers now where some teams who have never qualified did and some teams which have always qualified didn’t make it.

“So it created a completely new dynamic in the qualification. It created new enthusiasm. If you are serious about developing football it must involve more associations in the best football event in the world: The World Cup.”

It would be too soon to swell to 40 teams in Russia in 2018 given that qualifying has already started and it could be problematic for Qatar since the plan is to squeeze the 64 games into 28 days to cope with staging the tournament in November-December 2022 rather than the traditional June-July slot.

But the proposal could help Infantino collect votes from some of the smaller FIFA members outside Europe.

“I don’t have a European vision,” he said. “I have a vision for football.”

The 45-year-old Infantino, a lawyer who has been UEFA’s general secretary since 2009, was endorsed by the organisation’s executive committee to stand for FIFA president only hours before the candidate deadline on October 26.

“We made a draw and my name came out,” he joked.

Infantino does not hide that he never previously publicly expressed any desire to run the global game as it recovers from a corruption crisis which had seen Blatter announce plans to quit even before he was suspended along with Platini last month.

Infantino’s candidacy gave the impression of UEFA being dissatisfied with the other options: Asian football leader Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, HRH Prince Ali, former South African politician Tokyo Sexwale, Liberian federation president Musa Bility and former FIFA official Jerome Champagne.

“It’s not a question about other candidates, it’s a question about Europe being present and making its voice heard,” Infantino said. “When you have a function in football like mine with responsibilities you have to assume responsibility when times are difficult, to put yourself forward in order to try to change this and bring messages forward.”

Those messages are not just Platini’s rehashed with a different name on the manifesto, Infantino maintained.

AMMAN — Jordan play Malta in a friendly on Wednesday as part of their final training camp ahead of their match against Kyrgyzstan on November 17 in the return leg Group B qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup, doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup.

The squad is a on a high note after they scored two consecutive wins and beat Asian champs Australia 2-0 and Tajikistan 3-0 in the last two qualifiers. 

“We aim to come back home with positive results. We already have four wins and one draw. We need to maintain our lead and secure qualification to the next round,” Jordan’s head coach Paul Put said as the team regrouped after arriving in Turkey for the training camp.

Jordan now leads the group after beating Tajikistan 3-1, Bangladesh 4-0 and a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan. 40 teams are playing home and away in a round-robin format in the current second qualifying round which runs until March 2016 

After the two wins and a 3-0 defeat of Iraq in a friendly, Jordan went up 17 spots to 82nd in the latest FIFA World Rankings this week — its biggest leap in a year.

Jordan had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when they lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time when they advanced to play then world’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. They lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in the qualifiers in 1985. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in qualifiers since 1986.

In the Asian Cup, Jordan reached the Championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004. In 2011 and 2015, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

PARIS — A long year has taken its toll on some of the world’s best tennis players but the relentless Novak Djokovic gives no indication that he is about to slacken the pace, as he heads to the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London.

The World No. 1 impressed in a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of second seed Andy Murray to clinch his fourth Paris Masters on Sunday, becoming the first man with four titles at Bercy and also the first to win six Masters titles in a season.

While Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal faltered in the third round and quarter-finals respectively a few days after playing the final in Basel, Djokovic cantered through the rounds on the banks of the River Seine, being tested only by Stan Wawrinka in the semis.

“I will continue to do what I’m doing so far. There is no reason for me to decrease the pace of the training, preparations and performances,” Djokovic told a news conference.

“It’s the last tournament of the year, a very big tournament where I have done very well in the past.”

Djokovic has won the last three editions of the season’s finale that features the year’s eight best players and Sunday’s performance suggested it will take an exceptional performance to topple him at the O2 Arena in London.

Yet the Serb insisted: “I try to take nothing for granted... the only way I’m managing to stay successful is by continuing to improve.

“I’m not trying to keep the status quo, because for me that’s a regression.”

Right now, all stars are aligned for Djokovic, a happy man and obviously a happy player who won three of the four Grand Slams, losing only in the French Open final.

“I’m a married man, and I’m a father, as well,” he said.

“I think I have a nice balance and serenity in private life that reflects on the professional life, and vice versa. I have this belief that the holistic approach will definitely get the best out of yourself.”

Djokovic’s relentless desire for tennis perfection is pushing him to a consistently brilliant level, one which proved far too high for Murray on Sunday.

With 10 titles in 2015, he is four ahead of Roger Federer. Djokovic now has won 26 Masters events altogether, two more than Federer and one behind leader Rafael Nadal.

“If you are going for the perfection, you might reach excellence,” the 10-time Grand Slam champion said after dispatching Murray in 1 hour, 33 minutes. “That’s the kind of mind set I have.”

The only major he did not win this year was the French Open, losing the final to Stan Wawrinka, and it remains the only big trophy missing in his fast-growing collection of 58 career titles.

Chasing success at Roland Garros, and the quest to win all four Grand Slams in one year — he has won three in a year twice — means his motivation level will remain undiminished in 2016.

“I take nothing for granted. I try to work on that all the time, because I know that is the only way I’m managing to stay successful,” said the 28-year-old Djokovic after playing in his 14th straight tournament final this year. “I’m not trying to keep the status quo, because for me then that’s a regression.”

In winning his third straight Paris Masters title, Djokovic clinched a fourth overall — surpassing his own coach Boris Becker’s tally to set another record — but wondered how much further he could go.

“I think in terms of physical and mental ability, I have reached my peak,” said Djokovic, who has reached finals in all but one tournament this year.

Djokovic extended his winning streak to 22 matches, and will be the favourite to win the season-ending ATP finals for the fourth straight time when that tournament starts in London on November 15.

“There is no reason for me to decrease the pace,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully I can finish off the season with another great win.”

Despite dropping only one set on the way to the final, the two-time Grand Slam champion Murray simply could not compete.

“It’s been an incredible year for him, well done,” Murray said. “I missed with my backhand a little bit today, left a few too many in the middle of the court and he was able to dictate a lot of the points from there.”

Serving for the match, Djokovic clenched his fist and yelled when Murray’s return landed out, giving him match point. When Murray’s aggressive two-handed backhand went wide, he turned and blew a kiss to Becker and other members of his team.

In their 30th career meeting, Djokovic improve to 21-9 against Murray, who beat the Serb in the 2013 Wimbledon final.

But since then, Djokovic has won 10 of their 11 encounters. His only loss during that spell was in August, when Murray beat him in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal.

“Since the beginning of last year my results against him and Roger [Federer] haven’t been good enough,” said Murray, who will attempt to lead Britain to the Davis Cup title against Belgium later this month. “I need to think about why that is and what I can do to turn it around.”

The second point of the match lasted 22 strokes, but Murray was rarely able to compete in the rallies after that.

Djokovic broke Murray at love in the third game, and the Briton had to save three break points in the fifth. Djokovic then held at love and broke again before serving out the set in 42 minutes.

Murray dropped his serve again to trail 2-1 in the second set but broke right back, only for Djokovic to get another break in the seventh game as he marched relentlessly toward another title.

NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points and New York Knicks spoiled what might have been Kobe Bryant’s last game at Madison Square Garden, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 99-95 on Sunday.

Bryant finished with 18 points, far off the 30.7 per game he had been averaging here and fewer than half the 40 or more he managed on three occasions during a series of highlights in the arena.

The 37-year-old superstar, who hasn’t said if he will retire after this season, missed two shots and twice fouled Anthony during New York’s 11-0 run that turned a three-point deficit into a 98-90 lead.

Jose Calderon, Robin Lopez and Langston Galloway all scored 14 points for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game losing streak with their first home victory of the season.

Cavaliers 101, Pacers 97

LeBron James scored 29 points playing with a bruised quadriceps, and Cavaliers beat Pacers for their sixth straight win.

James took a knee to the leg Friday and said he would get round-the-clock treatment so he could play against Pacers. The treatment paid off as James hit seven free throws down the stretch and found Kevin Love for two key baskets in the final 27 seconds.

Love scored 22 points and had 19 rebounds for Cavaliers, who haven’t lost since the season opener against Chicago.

Paul George scored 32 points for Indiana, which went scoreless for nearly four minutes after taking a 90-88 lead.

Pistons 120, Trail Blazers 103

Andre Drummond had 29 points and 27 rebounds, Reggie Jackson scored a career-high 40 points and Detroit rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Portland.

Jackson had 26 points in the fourth quarter alone and Pistons outscored Blazers 41-11 in the final period.

It was Pistons’ first win in Portland since 2007 and snapped a six-game overall losing streak to Blazers.

Damian Lillard had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Blazers’ modest three-game winning streak was snapped. C.J. McCollum added 18 points.

Blazers led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but Detroit’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer that closed the gap to 98-92 with 7:18 left.

Drummond’s layup pulled Pistons within 98-96 and Jackson’s floater with 5:21 left tied it at 98. Jackson hit another to put Piston’s in front with 4:46 left, and they never trailed again.

Heat 96, Raptors 76

Chris Bosh scored 23 points, Hassan Whiteside added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Heat rolled in the second half to beat Raptors.

Dwyane Wade scored 12 and Tyler Johnson added 10 for Miami, which outscored Raptors 30-16 in the third and then put the game away with an 18-3 run in the fourth.

Jonas Valanciunas scored 17 for Toronto.

Including play-offs, it was the 250th consecutive home sellout for Miami.

Thunder 124, Suns 103

Kevin Durant had 32 points and 11 rebounds, and Thunder beat Suns to snap a three-game losing streak.

Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 13 assists and six rebounds, and Enes Kanter had 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting for Thunder, who forced 23 turnovers and outrebounded Phoenix 52-33.

Eric Bledsoe had 28 points and 11 assists, Markieff Morris scored 19 points and T.J. Warren added 17 for Phoenix, which lost for the third time in four games.

SANTIAGO  — Electing a new president will not dig FIFA out of the worst crisis in its 111-year history, the head of South American football said on Saturday.

“I don’t think that any candidate or situation can change everything. This is about team work,” Juan Angel Napout, the president of CONMEBOL, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “I believe that all the confederations have to unite and work together for one football — that’s called FIFA.”

Seven men are running to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president in an election on February 26.

FIFA has been in turmoil since May, when American officials unsealed an indictment revealing decades of corruption linked to FIFA and its regional football bodies.

The indictments and arrests were followed days later by Blatter’s resignation. He has since been suspended from his post pending an investigation by FIFA’s Ethics Committee. Also suspended was Michel Platini, the president of UEFA, who was once seen as the favourite to succeed Blatter.

“The truth is that FIFA has no prestige,” Napout said, adding that he hoped its image could be changed by the confederations aiming for the common good.

“Recognising the mistakes made by all is very important. This is a key moment in the history of football.”

The seven candidates standing for FIFA president are: Platini, HRH Prince Ali, Gianni Infantino, Tokyo Sexwale, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne and Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

The reputation of CONMEBOL has been just as badly tarnished as that of FIFA.

Two former presidents — Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay and Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay — were among football and sports marketing officials charged by authorities in the United States. Leoz is under house arrest in Paraguay, and Figueredo is in jail in Switzerland awaiting extradition to the US.

Since the scandal broke, CONMEBOL has carried out audits and collaborated with the investigation by US and Swiss authorities.

CONMEBOL and the North and Central America and the Caribbean governing body CONCACAF, also recently ended their relationships with marketing company Datisa, which has been accused by US prosecutors of agreeing to pay $110 million in bribes to South American football officials. The end of that deal helped get the Copa America Centenario back on track. The tournament will be played in the US in 2016.

The 10-member CONMEBOL has been supporting Platini in his campaign to become FIFA president. But Napout said the body would have to wait to see the result of the ethics investigation centered on Platini and Blatter before committing to a candidate.

Napout has met with Gianni Infantino, the general secretary of UEFA. Infantino is generally viewed as a stand-in for Platini.