Ferrari have hit out

Ferrari have hit out at the FIA’s decision not to punish McLaren after the British team were found in breach of the International Sporting Code for possessing confidential documents belonging to their Italian rivals.

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council opted not to impose a penalty as it could find no evidence that McLaren had made use of the data, which was found in the hands of the team’s chief designer, Mike Coughlan.

Ferrari, however, said they found it “incomprehensible that violating the fundamental principle of sporting honesty does not have, as a logical and inevitable consequence, the application of a sanction,” and added that they believe the decision “legitimises dishonest behaviour in Formula One and sets a very serious precedent.”

In a statement issued after Thursday’s hearing, Ferrari continued: “The decision of the World Council signifies that possession, knowledge at the very highest level and use of highly confidential information acquired in an illicit manner and the acquiring of confidential information over the course of several months, represent violations that do not carry any punishment.

“The fact that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of such information was discovered totally by accident and, but for this, the team would continue to have it. This is all the more serious as it has occurred in a sport like Formula One in which small details make all the difference. Ferrari feels this is highly prejudicial to the credibility of the sport.”

Ferrari added that they will continue with the legal action already under way within the Italian criminal justice system. The team are understood to be pursuing cases against both Coughlan and sacked Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney, who is alleged to have provided the material in question. Both men have also been summoned to appear before the FIA.

A Giant problem

Hitting No. 756 outside S.F. will be disaster for Bonds

SAN FRANCISCO -- A 3-and-0 pitch from Florida righthander Sergio Mitre told you everything you needed to know about how important it is for Barry Bonds to keep history contained to his one safe house, AT&T Park.

The Giants trailed, 1-0, in the second inning Sunday and Bonds, on the last day of a Giants homestand, was looking at four plate appearances to hit the two home runs necessary to become the all-time home run champion. He was not about to let one of those plate appearances go by without one more big, loopy, pull-conscious swing in the only place in America where he is not booed and ridiculed.

And so Bonds did something he hadn't done in 48 such 3-and-0 counts all year: he swung at it and put it in play. It was a fastball running away, not a cripple pitch, and an anxious Bonds rolled over on it, grounding routinely to second base. It was the first time since Aug. 8, 2006 that Bonds put a 3-and-0 pitch into play. His other three plate appearances dissolved into similarly fruitless efforts: a broken-bat flyball to rightfield on another outside pitch he tried to pull, another rollover grounder to second base, and a high pop-up that landed on the mound for a charitable and harmless single.
Gee, what's the hurry? Only this: six games this week in Los Angeles and San Diego, where the home run chase degenerates into an unpleasant, even ugly spectacle starting Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. Bonds probably will play in four of those games.

And privately, Giants people know the atmosphere on the road is so toxic for Bonds that he may do whatever he can to save 756 for the home folks................

TransAtlantic Triumph

TransAtlantic Triumph
Jim Furyk jetted into the Canadian Open from Carnoustie, then played all week like he was an Ontario native. Furyk carded an ace early in his final round on Sunday, then held off a spirited charge from Vijay Singh to win his second straight Canadian Open. The win was Furyk's first since the 2006 Canadian Open.

Jim Furyk became the first back-to-back winner of the Canadian Open since Jim Ferrier in 1950-'51. (Adrian Wyld/AP)

Tursunov Takes Home Indianapolis Title

Dmitry Tursunov won his second career ATP singles title with a 6-4, 7-5 win in one hour and 17 minutes over Frank Dancevic in the Indianapolis Tennis Championships final. He broke serve once in each set, including in the penultimate game of the match before serving it out quickly, and never faced a single break point in 11 of his own service games.

Tursunov won his first career ATP singles title on hardcourts at Mumbai last year. He is now 2-1 lifetime in ATP singles finals, having also finished runner-up at Los Angeles last year. He improves to 7-2 lifetime at Indianapolis, going 1-1 in reaching the second round in 2005 (falling to Andy Roddick), 1-1 in reaching the third round last year (falling to Xavier Malisse) and 5-0 in winning the title this past week, as the tournament's No. 3 seed. The Russian is now 19-13 this season, which includes winning 14 of his last 18 matches.

Dancevic was playing his first ATP final, having never even won consecutive main draw matches on the ATP circuit previously. Dancevic was the first Canadian to advance to an ATP quarterfinal (or better) since Sebastien Lareau reached the Memphis semifinals on February 24, 2001, and was the first Canadian citizen to advance to an ATP final since Greg Rudedski captured the Seoul title on April 30, 1995.

The 22-year-old, who was unseeded, upset No. 8 seed Benjamin Becker in the first round and then notched his first career Top 10 win (in four tries) over top-seeded World No. 5 Roddick in the semifinals.

come and join me @ jeffayn.com .. ..

Inspired Iraq win Asian Cup

Iraq completed one of sport's great fairytales by beating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the Asian Cup final on Sunday to provide a rare moment for celebration in their war-torn homeland. The Saudis had been bidding to become the first four-times winners of the tournament but Iraq, riding a wave of global sentiment, upset the hot-favourites

Blessing from above.... good work

World No.1 Nicol stays on top of her game

PETALING JAYA: The vintage performances from reigning world champion Nicol David in the CIMB Malaysian Open squash tournament has set the right tone for another round of success stories for the second half of the year. Nicol has now won four titles thus far this year. She had emerged as the champion in the KL Open (March), Kuwait Open and Qatar Classic (April). She also reached the final of the Seoul City Open in April.

Nicol is expected to pace herself in upcoming tournaments in the next few months to gear up for the defence of the World Open title in Madrid from Oct 23-27. Her next tournament is the inaugural Singapore Masters, beginning on Wednesday.

After a three-month break, Nicol was expected to be rusty in the Malaysian Open but she proved otherwise. All her matches were rather one-sided affairs except for the semi-final against Australia's Rachael Grinham on Friday. She fought back from a first set drubbing to tame the third-seeded Rachael 0-9, 9-2, 9-5, 4-9, 9-4 in 72 minutes.

The fireworks expected in the final against the younger Grinham, Natalie, failed to materialise.
England’s Tania Bailey ousted Natalie, the world number two, in the semi-finals.
Natalie was affected by an Achilles injury sustained during the quarter-final match against England’s Jenny Duncalf on Thursday. Bailey, the fourth seed, was no match for Nicol in the final. The Malaysian ace romped to a 9-4, 9-3, 9-2 win on Saturday. Nicol's coach Liz Irving said: “We have been working on a few things over the past few months. From my observations, Nicol has been able to integrate it into her game.

“The tough semi-final match against Rachael is what she needed most. I was not overly concerned about her losing 0-9 in the first set. Mentally, Nicol is very strong.

“Her focus was on and off during the match but it was a good win.

“Among Nicol's main tournaments for the rest of the year will be the British Open (Sept 21-24) and the World Open. All her other tournaments will be used to gear up for them.”

Meanwhile, Mohd Azlan Iskandar has given himself a boost in his bid to reach the top 10 of the world rankings by the end of the year after clinching the Malaysia Open title for the second time.
Azlan, the world number 19 and seeded fifth, knocked out three higher ranked players. He eliminated England's Adrian Grant, the third seed and defending champion, in the quarter-finals.
Azlan, a winner in 2004 later upstaged second seed Lee Beachill of England in the semi-finals and shocked top seed Australian Stewart Boswell in the final.

Proud to be Malaysia because of you two ! Bravo !

Malaysia Boleh !!!

MALAYSIA’S Lee Chong Wei secured his second title of the year when he beat China’s Chen Hong in the men’s singles final in Manila on Sunday. China, who sent their “B team”, however, returned home empty-handed.

Lee Chong Wei was at his best at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City . Chong Wei, who had been feeling down just 6 months ago is alive and kicking again as he proved in Manila. The BAM shuttler had been crowned for the first time in a year in Jakarta when he won the Indonesian Open and showed his form once again in this Grand Prix Gold event, of which he was seeded 2nd behind Chen Hong.

And it was Chen Hong whom he met in the final of the event for an expected clash after the other two main rivals – Bao Chunlai and Taufik Hidayat fell earlier in the week. Bao was ousted by giant killer Ronald Susilo while Taufik Hidayat – an even bigger surprise – was beaten by Vietnam’s Nguyen in the second round.

With two of his stronger opponents – along with Kenneth Jonassen beaten by Korea’s Park Sung Hwan, Chong Wei entered the final with confidence against Chen Hong, the Thailand Open winner.

But it was obvious that a visibly tired Chen Hong couldn’t cope with Chong Wei’s pace especially in the first game, which was won by the Malaysian 21/9. In the second game, Chen Hong gave a better fight but not good enough to trouble his opponent who strolled to a 21/15 win to take the title.

“ I was expecting a closer match but I noticed that he was tired. On my end, I was able to rest for one day as I didn’t play my semi-final which helped me a lot to prepare for my game,” said the Malaysian, who got a free ride after his semi-final opponent Sony Dwi Kuncoro withdrew for injury.

In the men’s doubles, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong made it two up for Malaysia when they beat China’s Guo and Xie 21/5, 26/24.

China, on the other hand, left Manila empty handed despite having 3 players/Pairs in the finals, none of them won their match. If the main disappointment was the loss of Bao, Chen Jin and Chen Hong in the men’s singles, all hopes relied on new comer Zhu Jing Jing.

Ferrari focused on solving reliability issues

Ferrari team principal Jean Todt has admitted the Italian squad must keep working to solve reliability problems with the F2007 after Kimi Raikkonen retired midway through Sundays’ European Grand Prix. Todt insisted, however, that the Finn is still very much in the title hunt.

Raikkonen started the Nurburgring race from pole position, but things started to go wrong for him almost immediately when he slid wide at the pit entry at the end of lap one. It meant he had to do an extra tour on dry tyres in wet conditions, dropping him to sixth place by the time the race was resumed behind the safety car.

He fought his way back up to third, and was pressuring eventual winner Ferrnando Alonso for second place at one point, before his car began to intermittently lose power, forcing him out on lap 35.

"We definitely had a reliability problem today,” said Todt. “As I said before, we have to analyse what has happened. It was a hydraulic problem on Kimi's car and it stopped the car. It's definitely unfortunate but it's our responsibility. We think that we had this kind of problem during free practice in Magny-Cours."

The result means Raikkonen lies fourth in the driver standings on 52 points, 18 adrift of championship leader, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. The consolation was that Hamilton also failed to score and Todt is convinced that Raikkonen still has everything to play for.

"There are seven races to go and we have the potential to win every race, so if we are able to do a good job, it's still possible," he added.

Second place for Raikkonen’s team mate Felipe Massa at least meant that Ferrari dropped only two points to McLaren in the fight for the constructors’ championship. The Brazilian had looked set for victory until a late shower allowed Alonso to muscle his way past in the tricky conditions.

That led to the rather ironic situation of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher presenting the winning constructor’s trophy to McLaren boss Ron Dennis on the Nurburgring podium. Todt, however, said he was simply sad to have lost the race.

"Honestly, I would have preferred that he (Schumacher) gave it to a Ferrari team member, but he was asked by the organisers to give the trophy so he did so,” said the Frenchman. “But my heart had more pain when Kimi stopped because of a hydraulic problem and when Felipe lost the lead after a fantastic race a few laps before the end."

Ferrari’s next confrontation with McLaren will be in this week’s much-anticipated FIA hearing. Todt confirmed that Ferrari will be represented, but did not reveal whether the team will be giving evidence against McLaren, who are charged with being in possession of technical data belonging to the Italian team.

Stern denies NBA knew ref maybe was betting

NEW YORK - Calling the current gambling scandal involving one of its former referees, NBA commissioner David Stern called it the worst crisis he has had to deal with but denied a report that the league knew Tim Donaghy was gambling and continued to let him work games.

Stern held a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss Donaghy, at the center of an alleged point-shaving scandal. The first question Stern must answer is what, and when, the league knew of the former referee’s gambling habits.

Donaghy is expected to surrender to authorities late this week or early next.

Donaghy officiated the last game of his 13-year NBA career during the San Antonio-Phoenix second-round series. Stern surely will be asked if the league could have — or should have — known of Donaghy’s problems by then.

The FBI is investigating Donaghy for allegedly betting on games he officiated during the last two seasons. He will eventually turn himself in at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Stern won’t be allowed to discuss many specifics of the case against Donaghy, but will likely try to clear up some of the conflicting reports relating to the NBA that are circulating. For example, the league said Monday that Donaghy ranked in the lower half of technical fouls called in each of the last two seasons, refuting reports he led the NBA.

Also, a person with knowledge of the FBI investigation into Donaghy told The Associated Press the league was unaware of the inquiry until after the NBA finals. But The Denver Post reported Sunday that the NBA was made aware of the probe in January

Bonds' ex-mistress to pose in Playboy

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds’ former mistress, at the center of the government’s perjury investigation of the slugger, said Monday she will discuss the couple’s relationship in the November issue of Playboy magazine.

The Playboy article, accompanied by a nude pictorial of Kimberly Bell, is scheduled to hit newsstands Oct. 1. The 37-year-old Bell said the article will cover details of her relationship with Bonds that she told a grand jury investigating the perjury allegations in 2005.

“The opportunity was there, and I took it,” she told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday. The photo shoot “was one of the most liberating experiences of my life.”

Bell’s decision to pose for Playboy was first reported by The New York Times on its Web site Monday night.

Bell testified before the grand jury that Bonds once told her of his steroid use in 2000 and that he implied he started taking the performance enhancing drugs in response to Mark McGwire’s pursuit of the single season home run record in 1998.

“He was very envious of Mark McGwire,” she said from her San Jose home. “He never said that was the reason, but I know it was.”

Bell testified about that conversation as well her relationship with Bonds, which lasted from 1993 to 2003. She also said Bonds gave her $80,000 in cash to buy a house, the proceeds of which allegedly came from a paid autograph session that authorities also are investigating as going unreported to the Internal Revenue Service.

Bonds’ lawyer, Michael Rains, could not be reached for comment late Monday.

The term of the grand jury investigating Bonds’ steroids testimony appears to have been extended because the San Francisco Giants left fielder’s personal trainer remains jailed. Greg Anderson was to be released last Thursday, the end of the grand jury’s term, unless the term was extended.

The U.S Attorney’s office has declined to discuss the grand jury proceedings. But one of Anderson’s lawyers, Paula Canny, believes the term was extended.

Tiger who?

Who needs Tiger Woods? Certainly not the British Open, which showed that you can have must-watch golf even without the greatest player in the world at the top of the leaderboard.

All you need is the original major championship played on a great golf course with one of the world’s nastiest finishing holes and three or four golfers charging down the stretch alternating between miracles and catastrophes.

Then boil that down to two men, one, Sergio Garcia, a popular and charismatic Spaniard with a history of choking these things away, and the other, Padraig Harringnton, a much-beloved Irishman who’s arrived at the age of 35 without winning a major. Throw them in a playoff — four holes for the Claret Jug — and, voila! Great golf is yours.

Terrific competition is what makes any sport worth watching, and that’s what this was. When Tiger goes into the final round with the lead, tournaments turn into five-hour victory laps, more coronation than contest. Fans love watching Tiger, but where’s the fun in that?

The 136th British Open had what Tiger has a hard time providing — genuine, nail-biting tension. Harrington had it won, choked it away, saved it, won it again.

Garcia had it won, choked it away, got a second life and finally succumbed in overtime.

Not having Tiger is like not having the Yankees in the World Series — always a surprise, but not a disaster if there’s an equally good plot. And Garcia provided that plot line, playing the part of the Boston Red Sox — the 1986 version in this case — the popular guy trying to break a schneid.

National shuttler to improve game with arrival of Dutch player

PETALING JAYA: National number one women's singles player Wong Mew Choo is expected to improve her game with the arrival of Holland's Yao Jie ahead of the World Championships to be held in Kuala Lumpur next month.

Yao Jie formerly represented the Chinese national team but now plays for Holland and is their top ranked women's singles player.

Yao Jie, ranked eighth in the world, got down to training at Gymnasium 2 of the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday and will remain here until the world meet to be held at nearby Putra Stadium from Aug 13-19.

The lanky shuttler is looking forward to the opportunity to spar with Mew Choo, who is still recovering from a recent ankle injury.

Yao Jie is the second former Chinese-born shuttler to spar here with Mew Choo.

Former top Chinese singles player Zhou Mi was in Malaysia last year in the run-up to the world meet and she is now playing for Hong Kong.

Mew Choo, ranked 11th in the world, will benefit in her preparations for the world meet with a quality sparring partner in Yao Jie.

At her peak, Yao Jie had beaten China’s current top three players Zhang Ning, Xie Xingfang and Zhu Lin.

Badminton: Lin Dan thrashes Choong Hann

PETALING JAYA: Veteran men's singles shuttler Wong Choong Hann's losing streak against world number one Lin Dan of China continued at the China Masters in Chengdu yesterday.

After giving a determined fight in the first game, the 30-year-old Choong Hann found the Chinese too hot to handle and went down to a 19-21, 9-21 defeat in a 32-minute final. Although Choong Hann crashed to a seventh defeat by Lin Dan, the Malaysian southpaw has put himself back on track in a bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics next year.

After reaching his first final in a major tournament in four years, Choong Hann, who is now ranked 25th in the world, is set to break into the top 16 bracket. Choong Hann was disappointed that he could not keep up with the pace set by Lin Dan.

“He was just too good. I had a chance in the first game but I did not capitalise on it,” said Choong Hann in a telephone interview from Chengdu yesterday.

“The difficult condition (draught) in the stadium did not help me in the second game. Lin Dan played quite tight at the net and I made too many mistakes.”

Choong Hann believed that he was back in the game to challenge for a place in the Olympics after having beaten higher ranked players – Chen Hong of China, Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark and Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland – en route to the final.

“Overall, I am happy with my performances here. It's a good start for me during this early stage of the Olympic qualifying period. I have to thank my coach (Wong Tat Meng) for it. It will be great to get back among the top 16,” he said.

“But it will continue to be a challenging journey for me. But the outing here has given me the confidence that I still have a shot out there.”

On his assessment of the players expected to shine at the World Championships, which will be held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Aug 13-19, based on their outing in China Masters, Choong Hann said: “Lin Dan is in very good shape.

“And both (Lee) Chong Wei and Taufik (Hidayat of Indonesia) are also in good form. They will be the top three contenders.”

National number one Chong Wei had pulled off a stunning win over Taufik – his first win in two years – in the quarter-finals on Friday. Meanwhile, China failed in their bid to make a clean sweep of the five titles on home soil.

For the first time in many years, they faltered in the women's doubles with Zhao Tingting-Yang Wei suffering a 21-12, 15-21, 16-21 defeat by Indonesians Lilyana Natsir-Vita Marissa

I will not to use the words THRASH but Dissapointing will do just fine. Choong Hann good work and great improvement!

Fergie to show off new Devils

TOKYO: Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to unleash almost £40mil of new talent when Manchester United begin their pre-season tour of Asia in Tokyo today. Two years after their last visit to the region, United return as English Premiership champions for a four-game tour that will see them play to full houses in Tokyo, Seoul, Macau and Guangzhou over the next two weeks.

And the club’s huge army of fans in Asia will be the first to glimpse new arrivals Owen Hargreaves and Nani in a United shirt. But there is no match in Kuala Lumpur after United bowed to pressure from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and called it off as it clashed with the ongoing Asian Cup.

While United will show off Hargreaves and Nani, Brazilian midfielder Anderson, a £19mil buy from Porto, will miss the tour due to his involvement in the Copa America. United are also without Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez as they attempt to finalise his transfer from West Ham early this week.

But England midfielder Hargreaves, who cost £17mil from Bayern Munich, and £17.3mil Portuguese winger Nani join the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs in a star-studded squad. Hargreaves ended a 12-month wait to sign for United when he arrived from Bayern last month.

The 26-year-old Canada-born midfielder has been likened to Roy Keane for his all-action style and Ferguson admits that he will be a crucial addition to the Old Trafford squad.

“I don’t think we were looking to have a Roy Keane-type player, but certainly some of the qualities that Owen has are different to the ones we have at the moment,” he said.

“The question is always there about how do you replace great players? We said the same when Bryan Robson left and we got Paul Ince and then Roy Keane.

“Although they were different types of players there were some similarities and Owen has some of those as well.”

United kick-off their tour when they face Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama on Tuesday evening before jetting to Seoul to face FC Seoul on Friday night. From Korea, United move on to Macau for a clash against Shenzhen FC on July 23 before wrapping up the tour with a game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical four days later

Tengku Abdullah quits as FAM deputy president

KUALA LUMPUR: The Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, has resigned as deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) with immediate effect.

“It is with deep regret that I would like to inform you that I have decided to resign from all my positions in the FAM effective today,” he said yesterday in a letter signed by his personal secretary, Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Bakar.





A copy of the letter, which was addressed to FAM secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad that was dated yesterday, was faxed to Bernama. In the three-paragraph letter, bearing the letterhead of Shahzan House (Property Management) Sdn Bhd, Tengku Abdullah thanked Ibrahim and FAM staff for supporting him during his tenure as deputy president.

Although Tengku Abdullah did not give any reason for his resignation, his decision to quit from all posts in FAM is seen as move to fulfil the requests of football fans that the present FAM leadership make way for new blood, which could bring changes to the local football scene.
Malaysia has had a dismal outing in the ongoing Asian Cup, which the country is co-hosting.

The national squad was trounced 1-5 by China in the Group C opening match on Tuesday. On Saturday, it was whipped 0-5 by Uzbekistan. Tengku Abdullah had on Wednesday apologised to Malaysian soccer fans for the team’s dismal showing.

“If possible, I would want to personally apologise and shake hands with every spectator who was at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil during the matches,” he had said.

Tengku Abdullah, who was first appointed FAM deputy president in February 1992, resigned from the post a year later on March 12, 1993. He also quit as FAM technical committee chairman.

He was, however, re-elected to the FAM deputy presidency in February 1994.
Dr Ibrahim could not be contacted because he is abroad. Reacting to Tengku Abdullah's resignation, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman said he alone was not responsible for the state the game is in and Malaysia’s defeats in the Asian Cup.

“It is a collective responsibility.

“We are losing a capable sports leader but I believe that he has made the decision after a great deal of thought. I hope something positive will come out of it

A person that cause Malaysia stay no where near the soccer world and you are telling me its a collective responsibility? Why dont you just blame on the Malaysia government instead !

Murali captures 700th Test wicket

Muttiah Muralitharan claimed his 700th Test wicket as Sri Lanka completed an innings and 193-run win over Bangladesh to seal a 3-0 Test series triumph. The off-spinner (6-54) reached the mark with the final wicket, which took him to within eight victims of retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Sri Lanka declared on their overnight 500-4 and the Tigers made a good start to reach lunch at 106-2 on day four. But Muralitharan ran through them as they went from 123-2 to 176 all out.
The 35-year-old was mobbed by his team-mates and cheered wildly by the crowd in his home town Kandy after finishing with match figures of 12-82 to close in on his great friend and rival Warne.
Bangladesh, who were outclassed in the previous two games and on the first three days here, began the fourth morning hoping to regain some pride.

And Shahriar Nafees (64) got them off to a decent start by putting on 47 with Javed Omar (22) before the latter fended a short Lasith Malinga delivery to first slip

World Series winner will come from deep American League

SAN FRANCISCO - Last year’s World Series winner played below-.500 baseball for the entire second half, so we now know how little that can mean as a postseason indicator.

So we sit at the mid-season break -- three weeks away from knowing where Mark Teixeira, Jose Contreras and Adam Dunn will finish the season -- and wonder which team we will be watching in late October.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland has reason to smile -- Tony DeMarco picks his team to win the World Series this year.

F1 won’t return to Indianapolis in 2008

U.S. Grand Prix had been held for eight years, but contract not renewed

INDIANAPOLIS - Formula One’s U.S. Grand Prix won’t return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next year. The race will not be held at Indy in 2008 after eight years at the track, spokesman Ron Green said Thursday. He declined to give other details, but said speedway CEO Tony George would speak later in the day.

George had set Thursday as the deadline for reaching an agreement to extend the contract with F1. George, who met with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone last month during U.S. Grand Prix weekend in Indianapolis, had said he was confident a new deal would be reached.But Ecclestone had repeatedly said F1 did not need to race in the United States. He mention the possibility of moving the U.S. Grand Prix to New York or Las Vegas.

Indianapolis, the only American race on the F1 schedule, draws one of the biggest crowds on the circuit. Attendance figures are not released at Indianapolis, but estimates have been around 125,000 each of the past six years. The inaugural race in 2000 drew more than 200,000

Argentina to meet Brazil

PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela, July 11 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi scored a breathtaking goal, arguably the best of the tournament, as Argentina beat Mexico 3-0 in the Copa America semi-final on Wednesday.

Collecting a pass from Carlos Tevez, Messi spotted goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez off his line and chipped the ball into the net to score Argentina's second as they set up a final against old rivals Brazil. The 61st-minute goal, which came as Mexico were pressing for an equaliser, turned the game and Juan Riquelme Roman added a third from a controversial penalty, his fifth goal of the tournament.

Defender Gabriel Heinze had put Argentina ahead on the stroke of halftime with his second international goal as the favourites kept up an average of over three goals per game.

Mexico, with coach Hugo Sanchez celebrating his 49th birthday, made a fight of it and twice hit the woodwork in an enthralling game. Mexico, 6-0 conquerers of Paraguay in their quarter-final, made a lively start and nearly went ahead in the 18th minute when Andres Guardado, free on the left, cut inside his marker and hit the outside of the post. Argentina, meanwhile, looked dangerous whenever Riquelme got the ball.

The elegant number 10 floated over a free kick which eluded goalkeeper Sanchez and found Roberto Ayala, whose shot was blocked. Then he sent Tevez clear but his effort was again saved.

Argentina broke through in the 45th minute when another Riquelme freekick found Heinze, who hooked the ball past Sanchez with his left foot.

Mexico were again unlucky in the 55th minute when Fernando Arce split the Argentina defence and found Nery Castillo, whose shot hit the crossbar. Argentina struck the killer blow six minutes later when Heinze opened up Mexico's defence with a crossfield pass to Tevez, who laid it off to Messi who scored his gem. Five minutes later, Tevez went down in the area and, although replays showed he fell before any contact was made, a penalty was awarded. Riquelme nonchalantly chipped the ball in for his fifth goal of the tournament.

Messi nearly scored again when he forced his way past two defenders but curled his shot wide in injury-time

Mexico 0 - 3 Argentina
Gabriel Heinze (45)
Lionel Andrés Messi (61)
Juan Riquelme (pen 65)

Argentina has improved a lot, I think the next world cup should be theirs...

McLaren summoned by the FIA

2007.07.12

Representatives of McLaren have been called to appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council later this month. They will answer a charge that the British team breached sporting regulations by having unauthorised possession of information belonging to Ferrari.

The announcement follows an FIA investigation, which was launched in connection with the alleged theft of confidential technical information from Ferrari and the subsequent suspension of McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan.

The statement, released by the FIA on Thursday, said that: “Team representatives have been called to answer a charge that between March and July 2007, in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes had unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, including information that could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car.”

The World Council meeting will take place in Paris on Thursday, July 26

2007 FORMULA 1™ Santander British Grand Prix

2007 FORMULA 1™ Santander British Grand Prix results

1.Kimi Räikkönen
2.Fernando Alonso
3.Lewis Hamilton
4.Robert Kubica
5.Felipe Massa
6.Nick Heidfeld
7.Heikki Kovalainen
8.Giancarlo Fisichella

Reyes set to join Real permanently

Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes' agent has confirmed negotiations are continuing in a bid to secure a permanent move to Real Madrid.

The Spain international spent last season on-loan at Madrid, helping them win the Primera Liga title, and is eager to remain at the Bernabeu.

His agent Jesus Rodriguez de Moya said: 'Reyes doesn't want to return to London.

'If the logical steps are taken, Reyes will be a Madrid player next year.

'Arsenal are not asking for 20 million euros (£13.6million) but they are asking for a reasonable fee in accordance with what they paid to Sevilla. The negotiations are on the table.'

The 23-year-old, who joined Arsenal from Sevilla for £9million in January 2004, scored twice as Madrid clinched the league title with a final-day 3-1 defeat of Real Zaragoza.

2007 FORMULA 1™ Santander British Grand Prix Qualifier

Qualifying time.....
No.1 Lewis Hamilton
No.2 Kimi Räikkönen
No.3 Fernando Alonso
No.4 Felipe Massa

I have strong faith with Ice man and Massa... you guys are my best bet !!!!

visit my store at www.gpd.com.my ... ..

Materazzi to sue papers over Zidane incident

2007.07.07

ROME: Italy defender Marco Materazzi is taking legal action against three British newspapers over their reporting of the incident in last July’s World Cup final when he clashed with Zinedine Zidane, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Zidane responded to verbal provocation by Materazzi by headbutting him to the ground, earning a red card in his last game before retiring from football.

Materazzi has decided to seek damages against the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star over claims about what he said to the Frenchman, said the Italian’s lawyer Steven Heffer.

“He is taking legal action to clear his name,” Heffer was quoted as saying on the BBC’s website (www.bbc.co.uk).

Materazzi received a two-match ban from FIFA over the incident. Zidane has never revealed exactly what he said to him, only that the insult related to his mother and sister.

Its just another bad day... I think Mate should let it all the way out......no one is blaming you from the Italian Team supporter...

Kaka not leaving Milan for Real Madrid, Galliani says

MILAN, Italy (AP): Kaka will not be leaving AC Milan for Real Madrid, according to Milan vice president Adriano Galliani.

"Kaka is staying in Milan with absolute certainty,'' Galliani said Tuesday. "He has a contract and it seems to me that he is happy to be at Milan.''

Madrid president Ramon Calderon reportedly said the 25-year-old Brazil playmaker wanted to move to the Spanish capital next season.

"I want to guarantee to Real Madrid chief Ramon Calderon that Kaka will be in Milanello on July 23 as per schedule, to start preseason training with his teammates,'' Galliani said. "I also want him to know that on Aug. 31 he will play the European Super Cup Final in Monaco against Sevilla as a European champion and he will take part in the World Club Championship in Japan in December as well.''

Kaka set up Filippo Inzaghi's second goal as Milan beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Champions League final in May. Kaka also scored a tournament-high 10 goals during the competition.

Calderon pledged to sign the midfielder as part of his campaign for the presidency last year, but Milan repeatedly said it had no intention of releasing him.

Kaka joined the Rossoneri in 2003 and is contracted until 2011.

I think Kaka is worry about the uncertainty medal that Real can really give him.....

Foul! A-Rod’s wife sports F-bomb shirt at park

NEW YORK - The wife of Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez wore a white tank top with foul language on the back when she attended a game against the Oakland Athletics.

A common two-word obscenity ending with “you” was clearly visible when Cynthia Rodriguez, her 2-year-old daughter and an unidentified older woman took their seats Sunday in the players’ family section at Yankee Stadium.

A front-page photograph Monday in the New York Post shows the back of the tank top with the obscenity printed in Old English lettering between the shoulder blades. The first letter of the first word is visible; the three other letters are intentionally blurred. The second word is ‘You.’ The paper’s headline read: “F-Rod.”

The Yankees had no immediate comment, team spokesman Jason Zillo said Monday.

The team’s policy prohibits banners or signs that are not in “good taste” and also warns that security guards will eject any guests “using foul language” or “making obscene gestures,” the Post reported. Zillo would not address whether the message on the shirt violated the policy.

In late May, A-Rod’s marriage was front-page news when the Post published a photograph of him and a woman — later reported to be a Las Vegas stripper — at a Toronto hotel. The Post said the pair entered an elevator in the hotel and later went to a strip club

FORMULA 1™ Grand Prix de France 2007

FORMULA 1™ Grand Prix de France 2007
Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari-10
Felipe Massa, Ferrari-8
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes-6
Robert Kubica, BMW-5
Nick Heidfeld, BMW-4
Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault-3
Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes-2
Jenson Button, Honda-1

Bravo my scuderians...its time to show who got the color.....

Hargreaves signs four-year United deal

Manchester United have finally completed the signing of England midfielder Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich.

The 26-year-old has signed a four-year contract with the Red Devils after a lengthy pursuit by the Barclays Premier League champions.

Hargreaves told the club's official website:'It's been a long time coming.

'It was probably the worst-kept secret in football, but it's great to be here.'

Canada-born Hargreaves' transfer free was reported last month as £17million. He joined Bayern from the Calgary Foothills in 1997 and won four Bundesliga titles with Bayern as well as the 2001 Champions League and Intercontinental Cup (World Club Championship).

'I think it's great to finally reach a positive conclusion,' he said.

'Especially after all the time and energy that's been put in from everyone involved!'

Hargreaves was a surprise star of England's largely disappointing 2006 World Cup and United tracked his progress closely from that point. However, Bayern had insisted the player was not for sale, before finally giving way and allowing the deal to go ahead.

That all changed on May 20 when club president Franz Beckenbauer confirmed the player was leaving.

'Owen Hargreaves will go,' Beckenbauer told the DFB-Doppelpass programme on German TV.

'It's also the wish of the player.

'Everything is right and it is also financially right.'

Asked if reports about the £17million fee were true, he said: 'It will be around that size.' Hargreaves had been contracted to Bayern until 2010.

Well done Sir, you have gathered another fine tuned player...... Wish you the best of all in next season...

Henry exit means two-horse race - Drogba

Thierry Henry's Arsenal exit will ensure a two-horse race for the Premier League title between Manchester United and Chelsea, according to Blues striker Didier Drogba.

Henry, the Gunners' main source of goals in recent years and former club captain, has joined Barcelona in a £16million deal.

Drogba, whose goals kept Chelsea in the hunt for last season's title and who scored the matchwinner in a disappointing FA Cup final against United, told the News of the World: 'The exit of Henry to Barcelona is good news for us - it means that there is one less rival in Chelsea's way.

'And Arsenal have a serious problem because Henry's absence is a very complicated issue to resolve

Drogba, you are little too confident, you may need to pay more respect for other players and team in the English League....

Beckham facing US 'hell'

Life in the United States will be 'hell' for David Beckham, according to Rodney Marsh.

Beckham is set to embark on a new stage in his career after agreeing a five-year contract with Major League Soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy.

Marsh moved to the States in the 1970s to play for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the North American Soccer League, a fore-runner of MLS, and believes the huge amounts of travelling involved in playing away matches in the US will be nothing like what Beckham has been used to in England and in Spain.

'David's life is going to be hell in America,' Marsh told the Mail on Sunday.

'He won't know what's hit him. Every other week, you have to make a road trip for away games. That does not mean a 200-mile trip up the motorway in England or Spain. It requires travelling 4,000 miles to play the New England Revolution, and there tends to be a second away game on the road.

'Over a four-day period, you can fly almost 9,000 miles and play twice. Do that four or five times, factoring in time changes, training and media engagements, and it becomes very wearing.

'Other aspects he won't understand until he gets here is the fact that the referees are next to useless and offer little protection from young men who will be looking to make a name for themselves at David's expense.'

I do not like Beckham to move to US but at the very end of my side, I do still wish him a happy move and happy football, we need not worry too much for him as things will turn out fine for him...