Sports

ROME –– Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has warned against possible technical “trickery” as Formula One enters a new and uncertain era.

In a letter to Ferrari fans ahead of Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Montezemolo also expressed concern that the rule changes could turn the likes of Fernando Alonso into “taxi drivers” rather than racers on the limit.

Formula One has swapped the old 2.4 litre V8 engines for 1.6 litre V6 turbo power units with complicated energy recovery systems and an emphasis on fuel economy.

“Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption,” wrote Montezemolo.

“In these I am fully expecting the governing International Automobile Federation [FIA] to be vigilant — as I’m sure they will be — to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport.”

Teams are allowed just 100kg of fuel to last the race this season, compared to 150-160kg last year, and the FIA is responsible for policing that and fuel flow rates.

Formula One has had numerous scandals and controversies over the years, with champions Red Bull last year hitting out at accusations they were using some form of banned traction control.

Montezemolo, who has been involved in Formula One since the 1970s, said the new season had more unknowns and uncertainties than in the past.

“In essence it’s a complicated car that will also require a different driving style,” he said. “It will also be a difficult championship for the spectators to follow.

“The drivers will have to take care that they do not wear out the tyres and save fuel... I hope they don’t turn into taxi drivers and I say that with the greatest respect to taxi drivers, but they obviously do a different job.”

Montezemolo said Ferrari had the best driver pairing in  Spaniard Alonso and returning Finn Kimi Raikkonen, both world champions and a strong team.

“We’re also putting into practice an intense plan of development, which can count on the fact that the data from the wind tunnel have been confirmed by the track comparisons, something that has not happened in recent years,” he added.

Ferrari, the oldest and most successful team in Formula One, finished third overall behind Red Bull and Mercedes in 2013.      

AMMAN –– Jordan Motorsport (JMS) has appointed former speed test champion Othman Nassif as its new CEO with the aim of taking auto sports in the Kingdom to a higher level.

In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, Nassif said that heading sporting authority for all motorsport events in the Kingdom would not be an easy mission.

“Definitely, it will not be a smooth ride at all as there are a lot of things that need to be done,” he said, expressing his appreciation for the confidence of HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of the Executive Motor Sports Council. 

“I am really honoured with the confidence given to me by HRH Prince Feisal and the council and I am really looking forward to the challenge in the coming seasons,” he added. 

A new activity will crown the 2014 season, Nassif said in reference to a decision to include drifting in this season’s agenda.

“There will be four drifting events with the first event to be held March 14, the second June 13, the third July 11 and the fourth September 26,” Nassif explained. 

“This sport has a lot of followers and fans and we need them to enjoy it in a safe and secure place that is why we will have the event at SOFEX and it will be organised to the highest level,” he added.

Jordan Rally, the third round of the Middle East Rally Championship, will be held May 1-3, he indicated, noting that Al Hussein Rumman Hill Climb is scheduled to be held on August 22.

These two international events contribute to the reputation of auto sports in the Kingdom and the Federation of International Automobiles has always highlighted the positive impact of Jordan Rally, Nassif said.  

Regarding the national rallies, Nassif stated that there would be five series, with the first one to hit the track on April 11. 

“We would like to see more drivers especially women drivers participating in these events,” he said. 

Karting will also have a strong presence with five races, according to the JMS head.

Nassif, who completed the Train the Trainer Programme and the Officials Safety Training Programme certified by the Motor Sports Association in the UK, is planning to involve schools and universities in an attempt to explain to them that auto sports is not all about speed.

“We want students and youths to understand that safety issues are really important and not speed,” he said.

Agreeing that the number of drivers taking part in the motorsport events has been on the decline, Nassif said that auto sport in Jordan is a costly activity, adding that a lot of drivers lack the financial support to “continue their passion”.

“We need to find a way to convince local companies to sponsor drivers as this is really crucial for this sport,” he said.

JMS is doing its part by trying to get customs exemptions on cars and spare parts but still local companies should help too, he added.

AMMAN — Leg 2 of the 62nd Jordan Professional League kicks off on Thursday following less than a week’s break during which Jordan beat Syria 2-1 in their final Asian Cup qualifier as Shabab Urdun and That Ras played AFC Cup matches. 

Faisali lead the standings with 22 points ahead of Wihdat on goal difference. Faisali were midway through the standings throughout much of the competition but gradually climbed up after playing three postponed matches — beating Wihdat 1-0, holding Ramtha 0-0 and Shabab Urdun 2-2. Meanwhile, Wihdat lost momentum after going down 2-0 to That Ras. 

Ramtha are now third after a 2-1 win over Arabi while Baqaa dropped to fourth after losing 2-0 to Faisali. That Ras, who beat Oman’s Suweiq in the AFC Cup Tuesday, held Hussein 1-1 to remain fifth.

Jazira beat Sheikh Hussein 1-0 and are now sixth while titleholders Shabab Urdun are seventh after they managed a 1-1 draw with Sarih. Hussein beat Shabab Urdun 2-1 and are now 9th.

Manshieh, Sarih and Sheikh Hussein are in the bottom half and need to pick up some points to move away from the last two spots which will be relegated.

The season was disrupted due to many reasons and halted in December after a huge snowstorm brought life to a standstill. That was followed by the national team’s participation in 8th West Asian Championship, the U-22 team’s participation at the Asian Football Confederation U-22 Championship and Asian Cup Group A qualifiers.  

The Jordan Football Association competitions committee has now set the season’s agenda to end May 31. 

The season’s first title — the 31st Cup Winners’ Cup –– went to Shabab Urdun after they beat That Ras in the first of the three major local events on the 2013/14 calendar. 

MUNICH –– Bayern Munich have been almost untouchable in the Bundesliga but their edgy performance against Arsenal suggested that the lack of competition at domestic level could hinder their European ambitions.

Bayern again found the Champions League a different proposition as they struggled to break down a surprisingly cautious Arsenal in the first half of Tuesday’s game and showed vulnerabilities in defence when the visitors came at them in the final half hour.

The last time Bayern failed to win a competitive game was also in the Champions League last December, when they squandered a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 at home to Manchester City.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also faced Bayern last season in the round of 16 and was able to make a brief comparison between last year’s Champions League-winning side, coached by Jupp Heynckes, and Pep Guardiola’s version this year.

“Bayern are a good side but they were more vulnerable this season than last year,” he told a news conference after the game.

“I thought Bayern were very vulnerable defensively, we didn’t take advantage of that,” he added. “I felt the situations were there where we could have made more of it.”

Bayern, leading 2-0 from the first leg, went ahead 10 minutes into the second half with a Bastian Schweinsteiger goal but Lukas Podolski stunned the Allianz Arena when he levelled two minutes later.

Guardiola’s team immediately lost their swagger as the confidence drained out of them and Arsenal threatened a second.

“Bayern have weaknesses, like every other team,” Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain told ITV. “If you score a goal, it’s going to put anyone under pressure and they might get a bit nervous.

“They’re definitely up there [with the best teams in Europe] but there are lots of other good teams. They’ve got some great players, some world class players and I wish them luck.”

Those weaknesses, however, have not been apparent in the Bundesliga where Bayern’s statistics reflect an almost embarrassing dominance.

Last season’s treble winners have won 22 and drawn two of 24 league games this season and scored 72 goals, including 15 in their last three games alone. Their last defeat in the league was against Bayer Leverkusen in October 2012.

SAO PAULO — FIFA will open a new phase of ticket sales for the World Cup on Wednesday, with entrances available online on a first-come, first-serve basis. About 160,000 tickets will be available for all matches except the opener, the final and five others, including two group matches in Manaus, England vs. Italy and United States vs. Portugal. Tickets for two second-round matches and the semifinal in Belo Horizonte also will not be available because of high demand in previous sales phases. This phase will remain open until April 1, but FIFA said “tickets are expected to sell out fast”. Of the 3.3 million tickets available for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950, more than 2.3 million have already been allocated. The last-minute sales phase is expected to start on April 15.

BARCELONA — Barcelona have the same hunger that has brought them so much success in recent years, Javier Mascherano said on Tuesday ahead of the Champions League last-16 clash with Manchester City.

The Spanish champions notched up a 2-0 win in the first leg and although they have dropped four points behind leaders Real Madrid in La Liga, Mascherano feels that no one should doubt their winning mentality.

“We have shown over the past five or six years that we have not lost our appetite and we have continued to win trophies. So far this season we have won the [domestic] Super Cup and we are still fighting in three competitions,” the Argentine defender said.

“We now have an advantage but what we need to do is to make the most of that and continue to play our own style which is what we’ve shown over the years. We have faith in ourselves and need to be true to our style.

“Manchester City normally play an attacking style and I expect them to go out with a lot of forwards now. I know [Sergio] Aguero, I would say he is one of the top five forwards in the world,” he added.

“Given the space, he can destroy you, so we will try and make sure that he has as little space as possible. If you do that then you can make it uncomfortable even for the best players.”

Barca have reached at least the Champions League semifinals in the last six seasons and it is likely to take something special from City to turn around the tie at the Nou Camp.

Pressure on

Still the pressure is on Gerardo Martino’s side whose defeat by lowly Valladolid in La Liga at the weekend was their second in three games.

“I personally have played football in different countries and we have been in worse situations. I know that here the expectations are very high but we are used to dealing with situations like this and we just need to react the right way as we have done before,” said Mascherano.

“We are worried mainly about playing well and qualifying for the quarter-finals. We have not been consistent recently. Since January we have done well against top side and also there have been some poor games.”

Martino played down the significance of Barca’s recent defeats.

“The losses have all come from different reasons and I don’t think it is down to a lack of motivation,” he said.

“The players know what they are playing for but what can happen is like the other day they have a bad match. We made a lot of errors in our build-up play,” he added.

Martino also looked to take the pressure off his biggest names, Lionel Messi and Neymar.

“They have not been able to play together that much due to injuries for both of them. At the start of the season they did well together and at the moment there hasn’t been a great connection between them but it’s not a case of adaption,” he said.

“Just because they are maybe two of the best players in the world doesn’t automatically mean that they are always going to work in harmony together.”

AMMAN — Jordan’s two representatives in the 11th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2014 are busy this week as That Ras host Oman’s Suweiq on Tuesday while Shabab Urdun play Bahrain’s Rifaa’   on Wednesday.

Both teams need to get back into the competition and come out with positive results in this week’s matches after Shabab Urdun went down 3-1 to Iraq’s Erbil in their first match and That Ras also lost to Lebanon’s Safaa 1-0.

Suweiq lead Group A after a 3-1 win over Tajikistan’s Ravshan, while Safaa are second and That Ras third and next play Ravshan on March 18.

Erbil lead Group D while Kyrgyzstan’s Alay Osh and Rifaa’  are tied on points after the latter’s opening 0-0 draw with Shabab Urdun who are last in the group and next play Alay Osh. 

Shabab Urdun’s coach Ghanem Hamarsheh underlined that his team, who won the second-tier Asian club competition in 2007, would spare no effort to get back into the competition after their opening defeat.  “We know we have a national duty and are keen to come back with a win despite the difficult task.” 

The former AFC Cup champs were held with Sarih 1-1 in the league this week and seem to lack the form to retain the title this year.  On the other hand, That Ras, who won the Jordan Cup last year, beat Wihdat 1-0 and are now fifth in the league. Team officials were apprehensive of AFC Cup results acknowledging they lacked “competitive experience” in their first Asian experience. 

Last year, Shabab Urdun won the 61st Jordan Professional League for their second time repeating their feat in 2005/06 when they won the title in their first season in the league. So far this season, Shabab Urdun were eliminated by Bahrain’s Al Hidd in the preliminary round of the AFC Asian Champions League. They also lost to Al Hidd in Round 1 of the Arab Football Association Clubs Cup.

The AFC Cup includes 32 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two in each group going on to the Round of 16.

LONDON –– Arsenal and Manchester City face monumental tasks when they visit European powerhouses Bayern Munich and Barcelona looking to overturn 2-0 deficits in the second legs of their Champions League last-16 ties.

Arsenal must overcome Pep Guardiola and his red-hot Bayern side at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday after goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller condemned them to defeat in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium last month.

City, meanwhile, travel to the Nou Camp on Wednesday with their own mountain to climb after goals from Lionel Messi and Dani Alves gave Barcelona a commanding advantage midway through the tie.

In the week’s other last-16 ties, Atletico Madrid face AC Milan at the Vicente Calderon with a 1-0 lead on Tuesday before Paris St. Germain host Bayer Leverkusen at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday with a 4-0 advantage after the first leg.

Arsenal, third in the Premier League, have the unenviable task of trying to become only the second team to beat the runaway Bundesliga leaders at home this season.

The Gunners can take heart from last season’s visit to the same venue where they won 2-0 and only failed to make it through to the quarter-finals by virtue of an away goal after Bayern had won the first leg 3-1 in London.

Arsene Wenger will be buoyed by his team’s 4-1 win over Everton in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, which represents their most realistic chance of a trophy this season.

“Psychologically, it puts us in a good mind for Munich,” said Wenger. “We can be inspired by our focus and our desire.

“It was a high-quality performance from the first minute to the last minute and we can go to Bayern in the same spirit.

“The statistics are against us, but let’s make sure that the performance goes for us, and then we have a chance.”

Wenger was pleased by the display of Mesut Ozil who scored the opening goal, provided the assist for Arsenal’s fourth and put in a vastly improved performance ahead of the must-win second leg.

“I think the goal was important for him,” said Wenger. “You sometimes want him to take more of a chance because he always looks for the good pass.”

Manchester City’s task against Barcelona is every bit as difficult and they will have to do it without manager Manuel Pellegrini who will be serving the first game of a two-match touchline ban at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.

The Chilean was punished after remarks he made about Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson, claiming some of the official’s decisions in the first leg were “not impartial”.

His comments related to Eriksson’s decision to award a penalty and send off City’s Martin Demichelis despite his challenge on Messi appearing to take place outside the box.

The 60-year-old reluctantly accepted the ban and turned his attention to Wednesday where “revenge” is on the agenda for Pellegrini and City.

“We will try to make a good match against Barcelona to try to have our revenge and continue in the Champions League,” he said.

In Wednesday’s other game Paris St. Germain, top of Ligue 1, host Bayer Leverkusen, third in the Bundesliga, comfortable in the knowledge that only a monumental turnaround will prevent them reaching their second successive quarter-final.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been in imperious form in the competition so far scoring 10 goals, including two in the first leg, to trail only Cristiano Ronaldo in the competition’s goalscoring charts this season.

La Liga title contenders Atletico Madrid will be confident of progressing after a late Diego Costa header gave them a priceless away goal to take back to Madrid on Tuesday.

MILAN — Juventus remained firmly on course for a third straight Serie A title after beating Fiorentina 1-0 on Sunday to provisionally extend their lead at the top of the standings to 14 points. Second-placed Roma have played two games less and travel later to Napoli, which trail their opponent by six points. Kwadwo Asamoah scored a brilliant goal three minutes from halftime to give Juventus the lead. Inter Milan are only a point behind fourth-placed Fiorentina after beating Torino 1-0. Parma, which have a game in hand, are a point further back following their 2-0 victory over Hellas Verona. Lazio lost 1-0 at home to Atalanta in a match which saw Antonio Candreva sent off for two bookings. At the other end of the table, Livorno wasted a two-goal lead to lose a relegation battle 4-2 at Sampdoria. Elsewhere, Chievo Verona secured a 2-1 win over Genoa, while Bologna and Sassuolo played out a goalless draw.

MADRID –– Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino needs to find a quick fix for whatever is ailing his team or his first season in charge at the Nou Camp is likely to end without major silverware.

Barca turned in one of their worst performances since the Argentine took over on Saturday and the shock 1-0 La Liga defeat at lowly Real Valladolid opened the way for Real Madrid to stretch their lead at the top.

Although the Catalan giants dominated possession as usual, they squandered what few genuine chances they managed to create against ultra-defensive opponents, with Lionel Messi and Neymar the main culprits.

There was more urgency in the Barca ranks in the second half but far too many passes went astray and Valladolid were comfortably able to hang on to their lead.

Barca were a shadow of the team that blazed a trail in Spain and Europe under Pep Guardiola and the club’s fans will be casting envious glances towards Germany where Guardiola’s new club Bayern Munich swept to another impressive win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

“We lacked what makes us Barca,” Martino said at a news conference.

“Good elaboration in our build-up, finding spaces, breaking through on the wings and having depth,” the 51-year-old added.

“We had very few chances of actually running at goal and we almost always had to fight against 10 defenders. A good solution would have been creating more space.”

In-form Real, who are undefeated in 28 matches in all competitions since they lost to Barca in La Liga at the end of October, can open a four-point lead over Martino’s side with a win at home to Levante later on Sunday.

Victory at the Bernabeu would put them three ahead of Atletico Madrid, who climbed above Spain’s big two to the top of the table thanks to Saturday’s 2-0 win at Celta Vigo.

Despite Saturday’s performance, variously labelled “pitiful”, “shameless” and “suicidal” in the Spanish media, Barca, who are chasing a fifth La Liga title in six years, are still alive on three fronts.

They have a 2-0 lead over Manchester City ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last 16, second leg at the Nou Camp and play at Real’s Bernabeu Stadium in the La Liga “Clasico” in two weeks.

They will also meet their bitter rivals in the King’s Cup final on April 16, when they will be seeking revenge for their defeat in the showpiece match in 2011 at the same Mestalla Stadium in Valencia.

“We had to win at the Bernabeu [in La Liga] regardless,” Martino said.

“Currently we aren’t at our best and we have to find our best form in order to play against teams like Real Madrid. We have 15 days to do it.”

Barca fullback Dani Alves acknowledged that Saturday’s result was “very negative” but insisted he and his teammates would “fight until the end”.

“It’s hard to win the league if you don’t take the three points week in and week out,” the Brazil international told reporters.

“Now we don’t depend on ourselves and that complicates things,” he added.

“We will never give up, we will fight until the end like we’ve always done. There isn’t time for complaints, we have to keep on fighting.”