Sports

AMMAN — The U-23 national football team has a challenging battle in its agenda as it prepares for the West Asian Championship which kicks off on September 29.

The line-up’s agenda had been hampered with no training camps or serious friendlies and now another setback has seriously affected preparations for its participation in the four-nation friendly in Slovakia now cancelled after clubs did not release U-23 players to join training citing the local agenda. 

With a vital Asian and Olympic agenda ahead, coach Jamal Abu Abed was hopeful the tourney would have provided much needed competitive experience, underlining that the U-23 team squad did not have enough competitive level friendlies, while other squads in the region train all year long and are the main support for national teams. 

With the national team and clubs agendas making it difficult to release players as the local agenda starts in two weeks, Wihdat have now agreed to release the players after the August 21 Super Cup.

Incoming coach Imad Khankan said the Asian Football Association (AFC) Cup is Wihdat’s key aim this season in addition to retaining the local titles. The same sentiments were echoed by Ahli and Jazira officials, all gearing up for the local season.

U-23 coach Abu Abed said: “The team needs to be supported so that a full line-up of recalled players attends practice when regrouped, noting the importance of the AFC U-23 Championship which will be held in Qatar in January 12-30, 2016 as the 16-team competition also serves as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The AFC announced the qualifiers to the championship which include Group B champs Jordan in addition to winners of Groups A, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Syria, Australia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and China) as well five best second-placed teams from all groups — Thailand, Iran, Vietnam, Yemen, Uzbekistan — who will join the host at the AFC U-23 Championship.

Jordan topped Group B qualifiers in Amman as the team overcame adversity and the change of schedule three times which observers feared would undermine preparedness and competitive advantage. Jordan held Kuwait 3-3, beat Kyrgyzstan 4-0 and Pakistan 5-0 to advance. 

Over the past year, the U-23 team has impressed observers when it beat South Korea to take bronze at the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship) as Iraq beat Saudi Arabia to take the title. The same squad also represented Jordan at the Asian Games where it made it to the quarter-finals despite a bumpy preparation period amid the busy agenda of the national team and local clubs. Jordan beat the UAE 1-0, India 2-0 and Kyrgyzstan 2-0 in extra time before losing 2-0 to Thailand in the quarters.

PARIS — South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon said on Monday that his French rival for the presidency of FIFA, Michel Platini, was too close to outgoing chief Sepp Blatter to be right for the job as head of football’s scandal-hit governing body.

Launching his bid for the role in Paris, Chung told a news conference “Michel Platini was a great football player and he is my good friend. His problem is he does not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the corruption crisis at FIFA.”

Platini, the head of European governing body UEFA who joined the increasingly heated race for the top FIFA job last month, was not immediately available for comment.

The former French international has described Blatter as a friend, but has repeatedly called on him to quit since May when corruption allegations against FIFA came to a head and has said the scandal turned his stomach.

Former FIFA vice president Chung said Platini, who has been a FIFA executive committee member since 2002, should have done more to root out corruption.

“Recently, Platini said Blatter is his enemy, but we know the relationship was like mentor and protege, or father and son,” the 63-year-old billionaire scion of South Korea’s Hyundai industrial conglomerate said.

Fraud allegations

US prosecutors indicted nine football officials, most of whom had FIFA positions, and five marketing and broadcasting company executives, in May over a range of alleged offences, including fraud, money-laundering and racketeering.

Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as FIFA president on May 29, but four days later said he would lay down his mandate amid the worst crisis in the body’s history.

He is due to step down after an election in February for a replacement. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but his stewardship since 1998 of an organisation where he was technical director in 1975 and general secretary from 1981 has been heavily criticised.

“The real reason FIFA has become such a corrupt organisation is because the same person and his cronies have been running it for 40 years,” said Chung.

“If I’m elected I will serve only one term, four years. I can change FIFA in four years,” he added.

Chung also played up his Asian origins, saying it was time to boost the game in Asia and Africa after eight European FIFA presidents since its founding in 1904, and to put more money into the women’s game.

Ex-Brazil player Zico, former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder David Nakhid and Liberian FA Chairman Musa Bility have also said they are running in the election. HRH Prince Ali and South African Tokyo Sexwale are also considering taking part.

AMMAN — The Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) celebrated Olympic Day on Monday with the Kingdom’s national sporting federations welcoming hundreds of youngsters to a “sports open day” at Amman’s Al Hussein Youth City, according to a statement by the JOC News Service.

With a clear message to “Discover Sport” children had the opportunity to try out new sports and celebrate the Olympic values as well as the JOC’s own Living Sport programme which promotes the important role that sport and healthy living should play in the lives of all Jordanians.

The day started with a symbolic walk through Al Hussein Youth City before reaching the “Discover Sport Village” which was officially opened to the public by HRH Prince Feisal, JOC president, and hosted by the national federations. Olympic Day is held annually on June 23 and is celebrated by millions of people in more than 160 countries.

Due to the overlap with the Holy Month of Ramadan the JOC and its 32 national sporting federations promoted fitness, well-being, culture, education and the Olympic values, excellence, friendship and respect on August 17 instead.

MADRID — Barcelona have leaked eight goals in their opening two official games of the season and will need a drastic improvement in defence if they are to have any chance of denying Athletic Bilbao the Spanish Super Cup.

After edging Sevilla 5-4 to win the European Super Cup last Tuesday, Barca suffered a 4-0 drubbing at Bilbao in Friday’s first leg and host the Basque side for the return on Monday.

The defeat for the Spanish and European champions at the San Mames, when coach Luis Enrique fielded a weakened side, means their hopes of matching 2009’s feat of winning all six competitions they contested are hanging by a thread.

Luis Enrique has refused to throw in the towel and told a news conference on Sunday he and the players are “utterly convinced” they can turn the tie around.

If they manage it, they will prevent Bilbao lifting their first silverware since they won the Spanish Super Cup in 1984-85.

“It’s a challenge that a team of this quality is capable of meeting,” Luis Enrique told reporters.

“If we do things well we will have a chance,” said the former Barca and Spain midfielder, noting that his side regularly put four goals or more past opponents.

“We will be fresher than in the first leg and when Barca is playing anything can happen.”

Barca’s versatile Argentina international Javier Mascherano, who normally plays in central defence but was deployed in midfield for the first leg, said the team had not deserved to lose by such a wide margin.

“In these two key games our opponents have been very effective,” he told an earlier news conference.

“We have to improve and minimise the errors but we are not going to go crazy.

“Tomorrow it is vital that they don’t score. You are always learning in football and the match the other day gave us a lot to think about for the future.”

Barca have little time to set things right before they begin their quest for a sixth La Liga title in eight years at Bilbao on Sunday.

Luis Enrique will have only two of his formidable attacking trio available for Monday’s game at the Camp Nou as Neymar has contracted mumps and will again be unable to join Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez up front.

Enrique has his work cut out for him.

Last May, Barcelona beat Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey with Messi scoring a spectacular goal before adding a second strike for a 3-1 win.

That Barcelona squad was unrecognisable on Friday night and not just in its faces.

Apart from flashes by Messi, his players looked unfit, unfocused and uninspired for a second time game this week.

Luis Enrique shuffled his starting 11 from Tuesday’s European Super Cup, when Barcelona’s players tired and squandered a 4-1 lead before Pedro Rodriguez netted in extra time for a 5-4 victory over Sevilla.

That gave it four straight titles to go with the Champions League, Spanish league and Copa del Rey from last season.

AMMAN — The Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) will celebrate Olympic Day on Monday, according to a statement from the JOC News Service. Featuring National Sporting Federations, athletes and officials, the day will throw open the sporting movement to the public with a morning of activity encouraging Jordanians to “Move, Learn and Discover”, 

under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, JOC president. A Discover Sport Village, open from 11am to 1pm, will be set up in Prince Hamzeh Hall at Al Hussein Youth City which will provide members of the public with the opportunity to find out whatever information they need about sports.

All 32 sporting federations will be present to provide information to interested parties with a view to encouraging more people to participate in their sports.

There will also be demonstrations. The Royal Health Awareness Society and the Children’s Museum will also participate with areas designed to encourage healthy activities, particularly amongst the young.

AMMAN — The women’s national football team is facing an uphill task to best prepare for upcoming qualifiers and competitions. 

The squad has regrouped to play Morocco in two friendlies later this month as they prepare for the 2016 Summer Olympics Football tournament Round 2 qualifiers kicking off September 14. 

Jordan topped Asian Group B qualifiers when it beat Uzbekistan 2-0, Hong Kong 1-0 and Palestine 6-0 and qualified to Round 2 to join other group leaders Myanmar, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand following which only the top team will move to Round 3 to play the top five seeded teams — Japan, Australia, South Korea and North Korea and China — before the top two qualify to represent Asia at the Olympic Games.

The Jordanian squad has lately had only a series of local friendlies and playing 81st ranked Morocco is not seen as a big advantage by observers. Jordan went up one spot to 53rd in the latest FIFA World Rankings and leads all Arab teams at 11th in the Asian continent trailing Japan, North Korea, Australia, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Chinese Taiwan, Myanmar and Uzbekistan. 

It will be Jordan’s second time in qualifiers after the 2012 London Olympic qualifiers when it advanced to Round 2. In 2014, the senior women’s team exited Round 1 of the Asian Games and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 where it was also the only Arab team to have ever qualified. The squad is the reigning West Asian champ after winning the title with Iran, Lebanon and the UAE missing the event.

Meanwhile, as Jordan has started the countdown to host the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup, the U-16 team concluded a training camp in Germany as coach Maher Abu Hantash said the opportunity to represent Jordan would be open to all players, adding that the “best would be chosen to undertake the tough task”.

Women’s teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2014, the U-19 team was eliminated from Group A qualifiers for the 2015 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship. The squad was hoping to qualify for the second time after Jordan was the first Arab team to play in the 3rd finals in 2007. The U-16 girls team also failed to qualify to the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after qualifying in 2013. 

BILBAO, Spain — Athletic Bilbao roared to a stunning 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup after striker Aritz Aduriz picked apart the European champions with a second-half hat trick on Friday.

It was Barcelona’s biggest loss under coach Luis Enrique, whose decision to start several reserve players helped the Basque hosts keep Lionel Messi in check.

Before Aduriz turned it into a rout, Mikel San Jose set the tone in the 13th minute by lobbing Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s long clearance back over the goalkeeper’s head with a shot from inside the centre circle.

Barcelona will have to rebound on Monday at Camp Nou to keep alive its quest to repeat the six titles in one year won in former coach Pep Guardiola’s first season.

“If somebody is capable of turning this result around, it’s Barca,” Luis Enrique said. “I made rotations to my squad. I accept the responsibility for the loss without hesitation. Of course I am concerned about the goals we have conceded. We will try to correct that.”

Luis Enrique has his work cut out for him.

Last May, Barcelona beat Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey with Messi scoring a spectacular goal before adding a second strike for a 3-1 win.

That Barcelona squad was unrecognisable on Friday night and not just in its faces.

Apart from flashes by Messi, his players looked unfit, unfocused and uninspired for a second time game this week.

Luis Enrique shuffled his starting 11 from Tuesday’s European Super Cup, when Barcelona’s players tired and squandered a 4-1 lead before Pedro Rodriguez netted in extra time for a 5-4 victory over Sevilla.

That gave it four straight titles to go with the Champions League, Spanish league and Copa del Rey from last season.

Pedro started at San Mames for Neymar, out with the mumps, while the unproven Sergi Roberto played for Andres Iniesta and little-used Thomas Vermaelen and Marc Bartra anchored the defence.

Bilbao’s intense pressure quickly shattered the cool control that Barcelona wanted to impose, leading to San Jose’s great goal.

Ter Stegen left his area to head out a long ball, but the German keeper could only watch as San Jose controlled his long clearance and sent the ball sailing back into the net.

Messi didn’t muster Barcelona’s first shot on goal until first-half injury time when goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz did well to palm his free kick over the bar.

Barcelona briefly pushed for an equaliser after the restart, as Pedro poached a poor clearance and blasted the ball off the crossbar in the 50th minute. Messi then followed moments later with a low shot that was parried by Iraizoz.

But seconds after Iniesta came on for Rafina, youngster Sabin Merino dribbled past Dani Alves and placed a cross for striker Aduriz to rise over Mascherano and head the ball home in the 53rd minute.

“We know how difficult it is to beat Barcelona and scoring four goals is almost impossible,” Aduriz said. “But we cannot think four goals are enough against Barcelona at its stadium.”

The story repeated itself 10 minutes later, when Luis Enrique ditched his experiment and sent on Ivan Rakitic for Roberto, only for Aduriz to score after Barcelona’s defence again failed to clear the ball in the 62nd minute.

Aduriz brought up his hat trick from the spot six minutes later, after a senseless penalty committed by Dani Alves, who pushed Xabier Etxeita over during a corner kick.

After conceding eight goals in two games this week, Luis Enrique will have to rally his side not just for the second leg. Barcelona opens its Liga season back at Bilbao on August 23.

ZURICH — Former FIFA development officer Julio Rocha, among seven officials arrested in Zurich in May in a corruption scandal that has rocked the world football governing body, has agreed to be extradited to his native Nicaragua, Swiss authorities said.

The US, which has indicted Rocha and 13 other football officials and sports marketing executives on graft charges, has also requested his extradition. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FoJ) said it may have to decide which country gets priority.

Rocha, a former president of his country’s football association (Fenifut), agreed to be extradited at a hearing on Friday following a request from the Nicaraguan government.

“The Nicaraguan criminal prosecution authorities, like their US counterparts, suspect Rocha, a former president of his country’s football federation [Fenifut] of having abused his office for personal gain,” the FoJ said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Friday.

“The FoJ has already approved Rocha’s simplified extradition, albeit subject to the question of priority, which might also be accorded to the US request,” the statement said.

“It will then be for the US authorities to state whether or not they agree to Nicaragua being given priority. If the US authorities do not agree, the issue will be decided by the FoJ.”

Nicaragua’s ministry of foreign affairs said on Thursday that it wanted Rocha extradited “so that he can be tried on the basis of national laws”.

A spokeswomen for the US prosecutors at the attorney’s office of the Eastern District of New York said they had no comment on the Rocha case. Another US official said they were looking into the matter.

The allegations under investigation by US and Swiss authorities cover bribery, fraud and money laundering, including possible corruption in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

The other six arrested in Zurich included Jeffrey Webb, former president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), who has already been extradited to the US and released on bail.

Webb, a Cayman Islands national, pleaded not guilty last month to charges that he solicited bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for the commercial rights to football matches.

The May arrests took place two days before the FIFA congress where Sepp Blatter was re-elected for a fifth term as president. However, four days later the 79-year-old Swiss said he would step down. His replacement will be chosen at an extraordinary congress in Zurich on February 26.

The Swiss announcement on Friday came as prosecutors said US authorities were hopeful that more of those detained in Zurich could soon be extradited to New York.

“We are in discussion with counsel for a number of other defendants overseas and are hopeful we’ll see progress,” prosecutor Evan Norris said during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court in Webb’s case.

Only three of the 14 people indicted in the sweeping investigation of international football and its governing bodies are currently in the US.

Six are in Switzerland, two are in Argentina, one in Brazil, one in Paraguay and one in Trinidad.

The FoJ said it would consider “all relevant factors, including but not limited to the relative seriousness and place of commission of the offences, the respective dates of receipt of the requests, the nationality of the person claimed and the possibility of subsequent extradition to another state”.

LONDON — The destination of the Premier League trophy will not be decided when current champions Chelsea meet their immediate predecessors Manchester City on Sunday, but the winners will get a welcome psychological boost for the long campaign ahead.

The meeting between two of the main title contenders has come early in the season, but three points are three points whether they are won in August or May.

If Manchester City take them they will already be five clear of Chelsea whereas last season they never got their noses in front of Jose Mourinho's side.

City began their campaign with an easy 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday with Yaya Toure looking back to his imperious best, scoring the best goal of the season so far with City's second from the edge of the box.

Toure's excellent display and an equally emphatic statement of intent from City's captain Vincent Kompany were both in contrast to many of their performances last season.

"I know what I have to do and I don't care what people say about me. I'm not back — I've always been there," a defiant Toure said at the Hawthorns.

His manager Manuel Pellegrini, who has just signed a new deal with the club, did say Toure had had problems last season following the death of his brother Ibrahim, when Toure struggled in matches against the top sides.

So he will be under scrutiny when Chelsea visit on Sunday.

Indifferent start

Chelsea made an indifferent start with a 2-2 draw against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge, but much of the focus since has been on the curious aftermath of the match with Mourinho banning the club's first team doctor Eva Carneiro from the bench.

Mourinho was unhappy that Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn went on the pitch to treat Eden Hazard near the end.

Chelsea were down to 10 men following the dismissal of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and because the medics had come on to the pitch, Hazard had to go off before he could resume playing, leaving Chelsea with nine men on the field.

That incensed Mourinho and his banning order has made headlines since, but what should concern him more was the way his team played.

Courtois will miss Sunday's game with newly-arrived deputy Asmir Begovic taking his place.

Petr Cech, Chelsea's first choice goalie for much of the past decade, is now at Arsenal and he will be hoping to put his miserable debut for the Gunners to the back of his mind at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Cech was at fault for both goals as Arsenal were shocked 2-0 at home by West Ham United on Sunday.

Palace meanwhile go into the game after an impressive 3-1 win at promoted Norwich City.

Palace have only beaten Arsenal three times in 37 meetings since they first clashed over 80 years ago and Arsenal have not lost a league match at Palace since 1979.

Arsene Wenger's men, who won the FA Cup last season and started this season with a Community Shield victory over Chelsea, will be looking to bounce back immediately.

The weekend starts with the re-introduction of a televised Friday night match with Aston Villa meeting Manchester United at Villa Park.

Both teams won their opening matches last weekend so whoever wins on Friday will go top, at least until the rest catch up on Saturday and Sunday.

LONDON — After only one weekend of the English Premier League season, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is in familiar territory: Embroiled in an irrational dispute and his conduct being denounced.

The unexpected target of Mourinho's ire is the club doctor whose eagerness to race onto the field to treat an apparently injured Chelsea player incensed the Portuguese coach.

Although Mourinho's spats with referees and media outlets are commonplace, he is now being condemned by medical professionals for the "unjust" axing of Dr Eva Carneiro from her match-day role on the Chelsea bench and giving the impression of not prioritising players' welfare.

Carneiro's apparent job downgrading came after Mourinho publicly criticised the actions of his medical staff following the opening-day draw with Swansea.

In stoppage time, with Chelsea already down to 10 men after goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off, Eden Hazard was brought down at Stamford Bridge.

The immediate reaction from Carneiro and physiotherapist Jon Fearn was to leave the bench to treat Hazard. The protocol — designed to limit time-wasting by teams — required the winger to leave the field for a short time, temporarily leaving Chelsea with only nine players as the Premier League champions chased a winner.

"I was unhappy with my medical staff. They were impulsive and naive," Mourinho said after the game. "Whether you are a kit man, doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game.

"You have to know you have one player less and to assist a player you must be sure he has a serious problem."

Frustrated at dropping two points at the start of Chelsea's title defence, Mourinho concluded that Hazard "did not have a serious problem".

But the Premier League Doctors Group issued a strong defence on behalf of Carneiro on Wednesday, saying the medics were clearly summoned by the referees to attend to Hazard. Refusing to go onto the field would have breached the doctor's duty to a patient, said Mark Gillett, the group's chairman who is West Bromwich Albion's performance director.

"The Premier League Doctors' Group considers that removing Dr Eva Carneiro from the Chelsea team bench for their next match is unjust in the extreme," Gillett said in a statement. "It is a huge concern that Dr Carneiro has... a change in her professional role, merely because she adhered to her code of professional conduct and did her job properly."

Carneiro has remained silent in public on the specifics of the case, but she did issue a rare social media posting on Sunday as the storm over Mourinho's comments swelled.

"I would like to thank the general public for their overwhelming support," Carneiro, who previously worked for the British Olympic Medical Institute and UK Athletics, wrote on her verified Facebook account. "Really very much appreciated."

At a club which frowns on back-room staff beyond Mourinho and his assistant speaking publicly, such a comment will not have gone down well — particularly as it appeared to expose friction within the club.

Chelsea only said Wednesday "we don't comment on internal staffing matters" even as the club is being criticised for seeming to undermine player welfare.

"The precedent set by this incident demonstrates that the medical care of players appears to be secondary to the result of the game," said Gillett, speaking on behalf of the league's doctors.

Gillet said there is a "pressing need to further establish and highlight the explicit role of a Premier League doctor".

Mourinho is likely to be asked about it when he faces the media ahead of Sunday's match against Manchester City, the team Chelsea took the title from last season.

Mourinho finding a distraction or a scapegoat is nothing new. Usually, though, the targets to deflect from his team's shortcomings are referees or the media.

By picking a row with a Chelsea colleague, Mourinho has revived memories of the fall-out with owner Roman Abramovich which led to his first period in charge ending in 2007.

That came a month into his third season in charge — a milestone Mourinho is just weeks away from reaching in his second spell in the west London club's dugout.

Given Mourinho only signed a new four-year contract last week, his future seems secure. But the doctor dispute in the opening days of the season shows that the self-proclaimed "Special One" is doing little to live up to his pledge on returning to Chelsea in 2013 to be the "Happy One".