Ajax directors resign over dispute with Johan Cruyff

Ajax's board of directors have quit over a disagreement with club legend Johan Cruyff over how it should be run.



Cruyff returned in February to advise on a range of issues.
According to reports in the Netherlands, chief executive Rik van den Boog is unwilling to implement all of the changes Cruyff has suggested.
The directors resigned en masse on Wednesday, citing the "ongoing turmoil surrounding the club".


Ajax currently lie in third place in the Eredivisie table and were knocked out in the last 16 of the Europa League by Spartak Moscow.
The Amsterdam giants have not won the Dutch title since 2004, while their last European success came in the Champions League in 1995.
Cruyff, who helped the club to three European Cup triumphs between 1971 and 1973, has called for head coach Frank de Boer to be given more responsibility and wants former player such as Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk to be offered roles.
The directors, including chairman Uri Coronel, announced their decision to quit at a meeting of the club's council members.
However, they are set to remain in their positions until successors are appointed.
"It is about the importance of Ajax," said Coronel. "We have taken this decision in the interests of the club. Johan Cruyff is not just anyone. He's a demi-god here, or maybe a whole god."
Cruyff was quoted as telling television station AT5: "It's never good for a club when the board resign."
The 63-year-old managed Ajax for three years between 1985 and 1988, before an eight-year stint in charge at Barcelona.




                

Victoria Azarenka defeats Kim Clijsters in Miami

<-----  World number two Kim Clijsters said she lacked "fighting spirit" after she lost to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka in the last eight of the Sony Ericsson Open.



The defending champion, who saved five match points in the previous round against Ana Ivanovic, lost 6-3 6-3.
Azarenka goes on to face Russian Vera Zvonareva in the semi-finals in Miami.
In the men's event, Novak Djokovic improved his 2011 record to 22-0 with a 6-4 6-2 win over Kevin Anderson to set up a semi-final against Mardy Fish.
Djokovic, 23, remains the man to beat after saving five break points and holding serve throughout the match against South African Anderson.
"It was anything but easy," said Serbia's world number two. "The result doesn't show what we had on the court, definitely. I kind of expected him to be aggressive, but he was really going for the shots."

Fish, currently ranked 15th in the world, will overtake Andy Roddick as the number one American after a 7-5 6-2 win over Spain's David Ferrer.
"I don't think I will ever feel I am the top-ranked American," said the 29-year-old Fish. "Andy has had a pretty good career and he has always been top dog in my generation."
Zvonareva reached the last four with a 7-5 6-3 win over Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Radwanska earned herself a set point in the first set but Zvonareva saved it with a timely ace, before the Russian recovered to clinch the set.
The world number three will next face Azarenka after the Belarusian brought an end to Clijsters' campaign, the Belgian running out of steam in her first tournament since suffering a shoulder injury in Indian Wells.

"I think tonight was going to be very tough, obviously, but I just didn't feel good out there," said Clijsters. "Just mentally, physically, I didn't feel right.
"It has been a tough few last days but not in a way that I should not be ready for that. I train hard enough to physically be capable of doing that.
"Mentally I just kind of feel like I didn't have any fighting spirit. It's obviously tough against someone like her.
"Against some lower-ranked players maybe it's possible to get through matches, but against somebody like her, not."
Azarenka said: "Kim had a very tough match yesterday, but with Kim you never know. She's such a good player and such a good fighter, I knew she would fight for it, which you could see at 6-3 5-1, 40-15.
"She went for her shots and stayed in the match until the end. I knew it would be tough and I was ready."




 

Sir Alex Ferguson defends right to 'fair comment'

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says managers should be free to discuss performances of officials, providing any criticism is justifiable.



Ferguson was given a five-match touchline ban and £30,000 fine by the Football Association in March for criticising referee Martin Atkinson.
The Scot told ESPN: "If you speak your mind it's a problem in the game. The FA are very strong in supporting referees.
"In a way I totally agree with that, but there's got to be fair comment."
Ferguson was found guilty of improper conduct after he expressed his anger at Atkinson's display in the 2-1 Premier League defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 1 March.
"You want a fair referee - or a strong referee, anyway - and we didn't get that," he said immediately after the match.

The 69-year-old was furious that defender David Luiz was not sent off for fouls on Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney after the Brazilian defender had already been booked. He was also angry about the decision to award Chelsea a penalty when Yuri Zhirkov fell under Chris Smalling's challenge.
Craig Moore, chairman of the FA commission that punished the Manchester United manager, wrote that Ferguson had "undermined the FA's Respect campaign" and added: "Respect for referees' integrity is essential for the integrity of football."
Despite his punishment, Ferguson has again risked the wrath of the FA by bemoaning the performance of officials in recent fixtures.

"I think the last few games we've had terrible decisions against us and you've just got to be careful you don't have paranoia about it," said Ferguson, who opted not to contest the FA's ruling.
The five-match touchline ban began with United's 1-0 win over Bolton at Old Trafford on 19 March.
Ferguson will also have to watch from the stands for the games against West Ham, Fulham and Everton, as well as the FA Cup semi-final meeting with Manchester City at Wembley on 16 April.




    

BOA eager to resolve Olympic 2012 money row with Locog

British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan said a financial dispute with 2012 organisers Locog needs to be resolved quickly for the good of sport.


The two organisations are at loggerheads over the allocation of profits from the London Olympics.
Moynihan hoped the disagreement could be "concluded as soon as possible" but insisted the BOA would not back down.
"[The money] is important because everything the BOA does is for sport, athletes and legacy," he stated.
The disagreement, which BOA vice-chairman David Hemery likened to "a marriage dispute", centres on the size of any surplus the BOA will get and at what point the expected loss from staging the Paralympics will be taken into account.

The BOA is currently entitled to 20% of any surplus and want its cut to be paid before the Paralympics costs are included.
Locog said in a statement earlier in March that it believed both events must be treated as one financially and the International Olympic Council subsequently ruled in its favour.
The IOC decision prompted the BOA, which currently faces a funding shortfall, to take the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in Lausanne.
Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said after meeting Lord Moynihan on Tuesday: "The government is not and cannot be a mediator in a dispute.
"I reiterated there was no additional government money available to help.

"I have encouraged the BOA to resolve the matter as quickly as possible in order to allow everyone to get back to making preparations to ensure 2012 is a great success."
There has been no sign so far that either the BOA or Locog is prepared to back down and unless a settlement can be reached the issue will remain until the case goes to Cas in the summer.
Lord Coe, chairman of Locog, added that he felt the situation had been correctly ruled upon by the IOC.

 

"This dispute is narrow and technical. The right organisation to resolve that dispute has resolved it. The IOC has made a judgement, that judgement is full and binding," Lord Coe commented.
"This really does not impact on the delivery of Team GB or Paralympics GB. The Government has funding in place for the athletes.

"It does not impact on the staging of the Games and that is what we do. The Government have made it very clear they are not mediating in this and there is no public money."
Moynihan insisted the BOA was not seeking government money and said that he hoped for a "satisfactory solution" as the disagreement was "not good for sport".
"I emphasise it is not about more government money, it is a commercial issue between two private organisations," Moynihan stressed.
Lord Moynihan and BOA chief executive Andy Hunt were both excluded from Locog meetings after the appeal to Cas was launched.
Lord Moynihan has faced questions about his future at the head of the BOA, with some suggesting the episode has brought embarrassment to the organisation so close to the 2012 Olympics.
The BOA's financial position has been extremely weak in recent years, and earlier this month the organisation admitted it still did not have sufficient funds to support Team GB during the Games.
Meanwhile, London 2012's chief financial officer Neil Wood has issued a statement in response to Moynihan's claim that the Games will make a £400m profit.
"With reference to a claims by the BOA of a meeting last July between Locog and the BOA in which statements allegedly were made by me to the effect that the Olympics would make a profit of about £400m with the Paralympics making a corresponding loss and at a subsequent meeting I allegedly revised this figure down to £300m - I have never made such statements, which are in fact untrue."

Lucas Leiva signs long-term Liverpool contract

         

Liverpool's Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva has signed a new long-term deal at the club.


The 24-year-old, signed from Gremio for £5m in 2007, has been rewarded for his impressive displays this season.
Lucas has taken on more responsibility since the departures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano and played his 100th league game for the Reds in February.
Boss Kenny Dalglish said: "Since I came in he has been a great asset to the team and has done tremendously well."
Much-maligned by fans in the early part of his career on Merseyside, Lucas has become Liverpool's first choice holding midfielder, sitting in front of the back four and allowing the likes of Steven Gerrard and Raul Meireles to burst forward.
He has played 40 times for the club this season and started for Brazil against Scotland at the Emirates on Sunday.

"He is a smashing lad to have around the football club but he hasn't been signed for that, he has been signed because of what he does on the pitch," added Dalglish.
"He's happy to be here and play for the club and he's getting everything that he deserves at the moment - including being a fixture in the Brazilian team - because of what he's done on the pitch."
Director of football Damien Comolli conducted the contract negotiations, revealing holding on to Lucas was a priority for him when he joined the club in November.
"One of the first things I did after I arrived was to look at the contract situation and to see where Lucas was at," said the Frenchman.
"I knew we had to do something quickly because we couldn't afford to lose him and didn't want to lose him.
"He could have gone to many clubs because he is highly rated around Europe, but he always said he wanted to play for Liverpool."

Steve Parrish's MotoGP column

 

This weekend feels like the real start of the season for me.
We may have had one race in Qatar, won by Casey Stoner, but out in the middle of the desert under lights it never feels like a real race - it's more like an extended testing session.
There were only about 4,000 spectators there and one grandstand, so an afternoon racing in front of 150,000 pumped-up fans in Jerez will be completely different.
Qatar didn't tell us much that we didn't already know. Honda appear to have the best bike, while world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who we expect to be solid all season, was solid. The only thing we really learnt from it was that Dani Pedrosa is not fully fit.
He says his arm problem - the blood-flow entering the arm is greater than the amount flowing out - might be career-threatening, but I think a lot of it is down to the fact he's not fully fit following shoulder injury at the end of last season.
Stoner looked relaxed and happy in Qatar as he has every reason to be - he knows Honda have the best bike - and from the start of the weekend it looked like they could be set for a clean sweep. That's why Lorenzo was so excited to take second place.
He had probably resigned himself to not even being on the podium, so second was more than he could have expected, but Yamaha do need to pick up their game.
The same could be said of Ducati - Valentino Rossi coming seventh wasn't a great start - but talk of crisis is premature.
The big question, which only he can answer, is how fit he is, and how much the lack of pace is down to that.
I still think that bike is definitely a race winner. He says he should be fit about a third of the way through the season - which would tie in with the sixth race at Silverstone on 12 July - so judge him and them then. But if he's not on the podium by that stage, Ducati are in trouble.
And let's give a mention to Cal Crutchlow's debut performance in Qatar. He would like to have been in the top 10, but considering he'd lost a fingertip a few days earlier , his 11th-place finish was a good solid job, and he can have few complaints.
I don't expect too much to be different this time out in Jerez. The cream rose to the top in Qatar, and I think the three main protagonists will be the same this time around.





                       

Newcastle football club losses increase

The loss, for the end of the 2008/9 season, compared to a £15.2m deficit in the season before that.
Turnover reduced 39% to £52.4m, according to accounts filed with Companies House.
The accounts also show that owner Mike Ashley put a further £42m into the club despite an increase in gate receipts.
The latest figures do not reflect Newcastle's return to the Premier League at the end of last season, with promotion worth anything up to £60m to successful clubs.
Nor do the accounts include Andy Carroll's £35m sale to Liverpool in January.
Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias said: "Our overriding aim in 2009-10 was to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
"Relegation presented a considerable challenge for us financially.
"With such a marked reduction in turnover, largely due to reduced TV and media revenue, we needed to cut our operating costs accordingly without jeopardising our ability to return to top flight football straight away.


"It has been a significant achievement to keep our overall loss at a level similar to the year before despite the impact of relegation, and our ability to do this has been helped immeasurably by the continued financial support of Mike Ashley, who injected a further £42m into the club last year interest-free," Mr Llambias said.


Revenue from television and other media fell 57% to £16m, although new sponsorship deals were struck with Puma and Northern Rock.
Newcastle's determination to retain the services of enough Premier League-class players to launch a credible bid for promotion meant the wage bill still amounted £47.5m despite a 33% drop from £71.1m.
As a result, the wages-to-turnover ratio increased to 90.6% from 82.6% earlier.
Club debt was stable at £150m, although bank borrowings fell by £25m and were replaced by a loan of the same amount from Mr Ashley, taking the total he has loaned the club to £139.8m, all of it interest-free.





    

Michael Clarke to replace Ponting as Australia captain

Batsman Michael Clarke has been named as Australia's new Test and one-day international captain following Ricky Ponting's decision to stand down.

Cameron White will continue as Twenty20 captain, with Shane Watson as vice-captain in all forms of the game.
Clarke, who was Ponting's regular deputy, recently led Australia in their 6-1 one-day series win against England.
He said: "It's a great honour but at the same time a great surprise as I wasn't expecting Ricky to stand down."
Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke said the 29-year-old had shown himself an able skipper when standing in for Ponting in the past, having already led the team in 24 one-day internationals.
"Michael has shown himself to be excellent with his on field tactics when heading the national side," he said.
Clarke, who plays for New South Wales, made his highest Test score in January 2010 when he hit 168 against New Zealand.

He was Australia's player of the 2009 Ashes series and is his country's 43rd Test captain after leading them in the final Test against England in January after Ponting was sidelined with a finger injury.

"I have always respected those who have come before me in this role and humbled to think of my name being mentioned alongside theirs," Clarke said.
"I am grateful to Ricky Ponting for what I have learned from him, to the selectors and Cricket Australia for this opportunity, and am looking forward to the challenges ahead."
Vice-captain Watson, 29, said he was looking forward to working closely with Clarke and Twenty20 skipper White.
"Playing cricket for Australia has been a great honour for me and to now be appointed vice-captain is really exciting," the all-rounder said.
"I look forward to doing what I can to help and support Michael Clarke in the Test and ODI teams, and Cameron White with the Twenty20 group.
"There are challenges ahead but also opportunity and I look forward to being part of the leadership group as we work together to grasp that opportunity."
Despite stepping down from the captaincy, 36-year-old Ponting has been named in the 14-man Australia squad to play Bangladesh in three one-dayers in Mirpur in April.
Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty is also included after recovering from the back injury that kept him out of the World Cup, while there is also a place for uncapped seamer James Pattinson.
Australia begin the tour with a warm-up match on 7 April ahead of three ODIs on 9, 11 and 13 April.









       

The new Formula1 tires represent a disaster

Description Dietrich Matihits team owner Red Bull, who is challenging the world championship of Formula One racing cars, new tires used in the current year's tournament as a "disaster. "


In an interview with the Austrian news agency confirmed Matihits billionaire, who won the Red Bull team championship at the level of drivers and teams (manufacturers) in the last season, it is not at all an admirer of tires supplied by the company "Pirelli" this season.


Matihits said: "We should not talk about a revolution in the tire industry, it's like a disaster. "

And consume the new tires much more quickly for tires, "Bridgestone", which was used in the past year, prompting Matihits to say: "It seems that many things are left to chance. "


He expected the world champion German Sebastian Vettel replaced at least two frames to four frames in a single race, but Paul Himbri manager motorsport in the "Pirelli" rejected the criticism addressed to the windows of his company.


Himbri told the German news agency, saying: "I did not ask us to produce fixed frames or frames are not replaced only once in the race for the single. "



The Himbri that all teams will use the same tires which recognized Matihits before the Australian Grand Prix, the inaugural 2011 season on Sunday.

A wealthy Austrian: "It is true that all the teams will go through the same circumstances and I hope that this helps to eliminate the effectiveness of a coincidence. "

Morocco wants to run for the Olympics

The Minister of Youth and Sports Moroccan fair Belkhayat Monday that his country intends to run for hosting the Summer Olympic Games in 2024 or 2028 and build a large stadium in Casablanca between 2012 and 2015, will help them to do so.

 
 Belkhayat told  AFP: "Building this big stadium with a capacity of 80 thousand spectators and equipped modern sports infrastructure makes the city of Casablanca, a strong candidate to host the Olympic Games for the first time on African soil. "


And the minister had not yet taken a decision on the subject of running, and that the cost of building the stadium will reach $ 250 million.

He pointed out that his country's policy has been developed for the construction of sports infrastructure, including construction of playgrounds in Marrakech, Agadir and Tangier.

Libya to host the Comoros in Bamako

Chose the Union of African Football's financial capital, Bamako, to be the scene of a match to Libya and Comoros Saturday qualifying to the finals of Africa Cup of Nations established in 2012 in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, because of the grave situation taking place in Libya.


The African Union has set the Ghanaian capital Accra to host the match Ivory Coast and Benin within the same qualifying next Saturday because of the political situation in Ivory Coast.

And the transfer of the African Union's Olympic team match against Liberia and Ivory Coast in the qualifiers to the 2012 London Olympics to Accra as well.



South Africa and meets with Libya on Sunday in the Olympic qualifiers Djevion However, officials in South Africa confirmed that they come into contact with their counterparts in Libya to confirm a match, though without receiving any answer so far.



Libya lead the third group with Mozambique with 4 points from the draw with Mozambique zero - zero win over Zambia 1 - zero. Ivory Coast leads the Group H standings with 6 points from two wins on the Rwanda 3 - zero, Burundi 1 - zero.

Wozniacki crowned by Indian Wells championship

Culminated in the Danish top seed Caroline Wozniacki her second title in 2011 after defeating France's Marion Bartoli, the fifth session (6-1, 2-6, 6-3) on Sunday in the final of the U.S. Indian Wells Tennis Tournament, the first Masters courses for this season with prize money of $ 3.645 Million for men and women.


 
And raised Wozniacki, who lost the final last season before the Serbian Jelena Jankovic, its total to 14 titles, emerged victorious after the final of the twenty-third in her career, which still lacks a major title so far.


And renewed Danish only victory over Bartoli, ranked 17 in the world after they beat them in the semi-final of the Doha Round in the early season, recording a win a fifth French player, 26 years out of seven encounters between them, to deprive them of winning the title the first in 2011 and sixth in her career Professional so far.



Wozniacki eliminated in the semi-finals of the Russian Maria Sharapova, while the beat Bartoli on the Belgian Yanina Wickmayer to become the first Frenchwoman to qualify to the final of this session and the second representative to France after Guy Forget in 1991 when he lost to American Jim Courier, as it is the first final to Bartoli since winning at the Stanford 2009.

Four goals to Haras El Hedod in the African Confederation Cup

Haras El Hedod made ​​a big win at home to Dededet Ethiopian (4 - zero) on Sunday in Alexandria in the first leg second round of the Cup competition, the Union of African Football.


Scored both goals from Ahmed Hassan Makki, captain Mohammed Halim, Abdel-Rahman and Ahmed Farouk Abdul Ghani in 7 minutes and 57 and 78 and 87, respectively.

 
He was able Tariq El Ashry coach of El Hedod club to read the meeting brilliantly despite the lack of numerical who suffers from the absence of Ahmed Eid Abdel Malek striker to injury as well as strike duo Ahmed Salama and ether is Ndiaye of Senegal.



Second leg matches will be held two weeks later.

Rassef N.5 translation into English

Amr Diab sing Rassef N.5 ... You must listen to it

Rassef nemra 5 we el share zeham we saket kalamna ma laa kalam .......

Nadal reach final at Indian Wells U.S.

Rafael Nadal was seeded first final session of the Indian Wells, U.S. first sessions of the Masters, beating Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 Saturday in thethe semifinals .
 

Nadal will meet in the final with Roger Federer the second or third seed Novak Djokovic.

Good results for the Arabs in the African Champions League

Defeated ES Setif at home Ininga Burundi 2 - zero today, Saturday in Setif in the first leg second round (32) of the African Champions League football.

Register and Nabil Heimani (8) and blossom Haj Issa (47) goals.



In turn, Esperance won at home to Benin Aspak 5 - zero in Rades. And recorded five goals in the first half of the match which was held without the public, by Joseph Almsakni (8, 15) and financial Dramane Traore (12) and Maxim Zingbo (25 og) and Osama Darraji (32 pen).

 
In the third match, he won the Mars Sudanese at home to Inter Club of Angola 2 - zero in Omdurman. Hno Osman scored (16) and Faisal wonder (86) goals.


On the other hand, lost to Raja Casablanca of Morocco host financial pitch 1-2 in Bamako. Register and Bouchaib Mubaraki (7) target please, Mamadou Coulibaly (45 and 51) the financial goals of the stadium.