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Some of the headlines you can expect in the City Press Sport section this week:
Fifa offers to help SA probe graft claims against refs
World football governing body Fifa has undertaken to help Safa get to the bottom of the latest allegations of corruption involving local match officials.
This follows a huge outcry from NFD clubs across various provinces.
They have been complaining about the standard of refereeing in the GladAfrica Championship.
In a response to Safa on Friday, which City Press has seen, Fifa acknowledged receiving Safa’s letter, and the international football federation indicated it was ready to support the local association with its investigations.
‘Blue-blooded’ Ronza fired up
SuperSport United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams declared this week that his “blood is blue” as he celebrated signing a four-and-a-half-year contract extension with Matsatsantsa a Pitori.
Reflecting on his journey at the club, the Bafana Bafana goalie, known among his fans as Ronza, said the only piece of silverware missing from his collection was the league winner’s medal.
NFD’s old horse Bhele still full of energy
Age-defying striker Siyabonga “Bhele” Nomvethe insists his return from retirement had nothing to do with the money – instead, his love for football prompted his unexpected comeback.
Nomvethe tells Daniel Mothowagae that the GladAfrica Championship promotion hopefuls approached him as he was contemplating venturing into coaching.
Scrum guru Human the only surprise in ‘new’ Bok coaching group
Cheetahs and Bulls scrum coach Daan Human should be the only surprise when SA Rugby announces Jacques Nienaber as Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ successor this week, City Press has been reliably informed.
With Bok defence coach Nienaber set to be promoted to head coach in place of director of rugby Erasmus – and former Southern Kings head coach Deon Davids to replace England-bound forwards coach Matt Proudfoot – Human is the nearest thing to an unexpected name in the world champions’ revised coaching staff, writes Simnikiwe Xabanisa.
Liverpool have a score to settle with Man United
Liverpool have a virtually unblemished record in the Premier League so far this season.
Their record makes for astonishing reading – 21 games played, 20 games won and one game drawn.
They have scored 50 goals and conceded only 14.
Sunday’s late game against Manchester United sees Jürgen Klopp’s side welcome the only club that has so far managed to avoid defeat against them this season, having held the champions-to-be to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in October.
Hanging Judge column: The technical area must be policed
I had the privilege of visiting the new Tottenham Hotspur grounds in London last week.
I was there to watch the home team take on current Premier League leaders Liverpool with my son, who is a huge fan of the Reds.
From where we were seated, we could clearly see Spurs manager José Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp of Liverpool.
Referee Martin Atkinson had an excellent game, as did his assistants.
However, his fourth official, Andre Marriner, was not doing his job, writes former referee Errol Sweeney.
Barcelona make billions as Arsenal, Man United sink
Football’s elite clubs in Deloitte’s annual money league report raked in a combined €9.3 billion (R149.3 billion) in revenue during the 2018/19 season.
All the 20 sides are from Europe’s top five leagues – Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), Ligue 1 (France) and Serie A (Italy).
La Liga powerhouse Barcelona topped the list for the first time in 23 editions, becoming the first team to break the €800 million mark, toppling perennial giants and eternal rivals Real Madrid, who have not fallen below third place so far.
Lyon (€220.8 million) and Napoli (€207.4 million) made the top 20 list at the expense of AC Milan and Newcastle United, while Tottenham Hotspur (€521.1 million) became London’s highest-earning club due to its miracle run in the Uefa Champions League.
Unfortunately, Spurs still brought in less than Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
The report noted that, with Uefa’s new rights revenue distribution cycle, the financial impact “appears more notable than ever and with a strong overall correlation between money league ranking and on-pitch performance”.
Kings in talks with ex-Boks World Cup winning coach
Former Springbok coach Jake White is in talks with the Southern Kings bosses to take over as head coach, a post left vacant by Deon Davids during the Pro 14 off season, City Press has learnt.
White, who coached the Springboks to Rugby World Cup victory in 2007, met with Kings chairperson Loyiso Dotwana and his deputy Rory Stear on day one of the ongoing third cricket test match between the Proteas and England at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth this week.
Mongalo hopeful of getting Lions job back
Former Lions Super Rugby defence coach Joey Mongalo’s successful appeal of his indecent assault conviction in Australia has opened a window for his sensational return to the franchise, just months after his contract was not renewed.
Mongalo, who was told his contract would not be renewed late last year because he was found guilty of sexual assault by an Australian magistrate’s court in April, entered into talks with the Lions last week to discuss a coaching role within the union.
Australian Open starts as bushfires rage on
The year’s first tennis grand slam starts on Monday against the backdrop of the devastating blazes that have ravaged Australia for months.
The catastrophic fires, which have claimed at least 28 lives, caused billions of rands of damage and the death of millions of animals, will certainly affect the Australian Open, which is played at Melbourne Park.
Last week, play in the qualifying rounds was temporarily halted when the air became so badly polluted that the match could not continue.
From Monday, players will try to put all that behind them as they work to win the prestigious tournament.
The winner of the men’s and women’s singles titles will receive a cheque for 4.1 million Australian dollars (R41 million).
Thimba, Thanda invade SA golf space
Over the past two weeks on the Sunshine Tour, there has been a spark of what could turn into something special for South African golf.
In last week’s SA Open, hosted by the City of Joburg, Toto Thimba Jr came through the first round of the second-oldest national Open in golf just three shots off the lead.
This past week, Thanda Mavundla opened with a 66 and was one shot off the first-round lead in the Eye of Africa PGA Championship.
Both failed to maintain their challenge and missed the respective halfway cuts, but they have charted new territory for the Sunshine Tour’s Gary Player Class of professionals.
Young Proteas fall, but it’s just the start
The hopes of their nations don’t depend on them, but their cricketing career hopes – an unfair tag – lie in this tournament.
The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup is the perfect feeder tournament for young cricketers to professionalise and advance into the senior squad, where – again, an unfair tag – the hopes of their countries will lie on their shoulders.
Over the 23 days from this past Friday, 240 teenagers split into 16 teams will take part in 48 matches to ultimately decide who is good enough to graduate into respective first teams.
On Friday, that’s exactly what hosts South Africa planned to do against Afghanistan.
Instead, it was Shafiqullah Ghafari who scooped all the praise for his demolition of the young Proteas, writes Muhammad Hussain.
