Sania Mirza however, refrained herself from adding anything on the furor which the news of her marriage has caused. “We are getting married. We are not also making any political statement or anything on (Indo-Pak) relations. It’s a simple matter. We are getting married. We are very, very happy and our families are very happy,” she said.
On the question about since when was she dating Shoaib, Sania said the matter was personal. “I’m not going to answer nor will Shoaib be comfortable answering personal questions,” she said.
She further informed that after marriage, she would settle in Dubai. “Shoaib is a resident if Dubai which I will also become. I will continue to have the passport of India, though. I will continue playing for India and Shoaib will play for Pakistan,” she said.
Sania said though she will miss her friends & family, since Dubai has ‘so many Pakistanis and Indians living there, I would feel better.’ Asked who she would support in case of an India-Pakistan cricket match, she said, “I will obviously support India but I will also support my husband.”
To a question, she said she would continue to hold Indian passport and was looking to play for India in the 2012 Olympics.

The police and the Football Association are both looking at the incident.

Asked if the club would take any action against Bellamy, City’s assistant boss Mark Bowen told BBC Radio 5 live: “No. I don’t think there is any need to.

“My take is that he thought the fella might spit in his face or something,” added Bowen.

“He came very close and moved towards him. Craig, with an open hand, just pushed the fella away.”

City manager Mark Hughes has also defended Bellamy’s actions, saying: “I did not see it but the guy should not have been on the pitch. That is not acceptable.”

Greater Manchester Police have charged the supporter for entering the playing area “without lawful authority”.

In a hotly-contested derby battle, the Blues came from behind on three occasions with Bellamy scoring two magnificent goals, including an equaliser to make it 3-3 in the 90th minute.

“Brian Clough clipped someone’s ear,” added Hughes. “He was lauded a national hero. Maybe it’ll be the same with Craig but I doubt it.”

Earlier, an FA spokesman said: “We are investigating the incident and we will be looking at the referee’s match report.”

Disciplinary officials have already seen TV footage of the incident and the FA is likely to make a decision on whether to charge Bellamy later this week.

Former Manchester United defender David May believes the emotions of the situation had an influence on Bellamy’s reaction to the fan.

He told BBC Radio 5 live: “It was silly but I suppose to a certain extent it was understandable.

“When anyone comes on to the pitch it’s worrying but maybe he shouldn’t have slapped the fan, he should have walked away and let the steward get on with it.

“Players have to be professional but I think the whole occasion got to him – he had got City back into it at 3-3 and his emotions were running high.

“But you can’t go round slapping fans. It’s the wrong thing to do.”

City boss Hughes also confirmed substitute Javier Garrido was struck by a coin thrown from the home section of the stadium at half-time.

It is likely that former United hero Carlos Tevez had been the target as he was standing near Garrido when the coin was thrown.

The Argentine, who moved across to Eastlands in the summer, was booed throughout the match by some of the home supporters.

Garrido was not hurt, but the Football Association could be called upon to pass judgement on the two incidents.

“Something came from the crowd but he is OK,” Hughes added.

FOOTBALL BLOG Ferguson wanted victory so badly to remind City where the power lies in Manchester BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty

City striker Emmanuel Adebayor is already facing an FA improper conduct charge after running the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Arsenal supporters after scoring against his former team.

The Manchester United fan who came on to the pitch after Michael Owen’s late goal is set to appear in court later this month.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: “A man has been charged following an incident at the end of the match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford.

“Jake Joseph Clarke, 21, is charged with going onto a playing area without lawful authority or excuse and will appear before Trafford Magistrates’ Court on September 30.”

He said that a performance-based system should be implemented in Pakistan for selection of the team.

Talking with media after giving tips to players of under-16 camp and Test cricketer Salman Butt here at the National Cricket Academy, Miandad said that he is very happy for the responsibility assigned to him and he would perform his duties together with all coaches. He would come forward where his services would be needed.

He said that there is no team favourite in the Champions Trophy.

Miandad said that he considers Pakistan as the best team and they need only some tuning and confidence.

He further said that no player including Shoaib Akhtar was stopped from playing. The player who performs well in ground should be in the team.

Javed Miandad said that if the senior players are not performing well then they should get away from cricket and come back in the team after taking rest so that they can give good performance. ]]> http://pakishnews.com/senior-players-with-poor-form-should-take-rest-miandad/feed/ 0 http://pakishnews.com/three-f1-teams-deny-schumacher-test-drive/ http://pakishnews.com/three-f1-teams-deny-schumacher-test-drive/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:31:15 +0000 admin http://pakishnews.com/?p=632 BUDAPEST: Three Formula One Teams, led by the Williams team, have denied Ferrari it’s request to allow retired former World Champion Michael Schumacher time to test drive a 2009 race car in preparation for his return to F1 racing.

The Ferrari team had written a letter to the other Formula One teams, asking for an exception to the 2009 rule, which prohibits all in-season testing. Schumacher, who has been retired since 2006, is seeking one day of test driving in the 2009 Ferrari F-60. Michael will be the replacement driver for the injured Felipe Massa in the European Grand Prix in Valencia August 23.

Five of the FOTA teams, McLaren Mercedes, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber and Brawn GP, had agreed to allow the Ferrari team the exception to the testing ban, considering the special circumstances surrounding the accident and injuries to Felipe Massa, which after all is the reason for Schumacher’s return.

But the Williams team, along with Red Bull and Toro Rosso, have blocked the Schumacher testing.

Talking to Atiqur Rehman during a television program Captain’s Corner, Younis Khan said players must enhance their performance.

It is worth mentioning that the batting line-up of Pakistan cricket team totally failed in second one day international match against Sri Lanka as Lankans made it look very easy to achieve target of 169 runs, taking lead 2-0 in the series. ]]> http://pakishnews.com/vice-captain-should-be-dropped-from-team-younis/feed/ 0 http://pakishnews.com/chairman-pcb-admits-out-of-court-wc-settlement/ http://pakishnews.com/chairman-pcb-admits-out-of-court-wc-settlement/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:12:27 +0000 admin http://pakishnews.com/?p=590
Updated at: 2041 PST,  Thursday, July 30, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt said that the matters of World Cup 2011 hosting would be settled next month.

Ijaz Butt told at the meeting of the Standing Committee for Sports in Islamabad that the matters with the International Cricket Council (ICC) are being settled out of the court but the case has not been withdrawn.

He said that the PCB has suggested the ICC to hold the Pakistan’s share of matches at neutral venue.

Replying to a question, he said that it was not the responsibility of the PCB to provide security to Sri Lankan team. ]]> http://pakishnews.com/chairman-pcb-admits-out-of-court-wc-settlement/feed/ 0 http://pakishnews.com/shoaib-served-notice-for-violating-contract/ http://pakishnews.com/shoaib-served-notice-for-violating-contract/#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:46:18 +0000 admin http://pakishnews.com/?p=461

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director Cricket Operations Zakir Khan has served a notice on Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for violating central contract.

The notice says that Shoaib Akhtar has criticized the team management in a TV interview.

In a TV interview, some time ago, the Rawalpindi Express had termed the decision of dropping him out of the Twenty20 World Cup team as flawed. He also said that he reserved a right to file a case of defamation against the Team Manager and Coach, who, he said, made his disease public.

In the notice, Zakir Khan stated that the speed super star had committed violation of three clauses of the central contract. The notice directed Shoaib Akhtar to explain his position by July 31.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Qasim Zia announced the decision after the Executive Board meeting in what he claimed was unanimous decision.

‘The Executive Board has decided to impose a life ban on Naveed Alam and Mansoor Ahmad for wrongly accusing secretary of human trafficking. They have maligned the PHF because of which they have been barred,’ the PHF president told a news conference.

He said Naveed had been involved in financial irregularities and owed Rs2.5 million to the PHF besides providing ‘forged receipts and invoices’ for the European tour when he was the Pakistan coach.

‘The receipts he (Naveed) has submitted are forged. When we checked with the hotel and other people in Europe, we found the difference of amount. We are also consulting lawyers in this regard,’ he said.

Naveed rubbished the allegations, saying Asif had been trying to hoodwink the nation and the media by providing ‘photocopied and tampered’ documents.

‘I will again say that it is PHF which owes me Rs6.4million and about 9,000 euros. The amount in Pak rupee is what I had spent on activity when I was Punjab Hockey Association secretary and didn’t receive it from the PHF. I want my 9,000 euros back since the 64,000 euros for European tour were not enough and I had spent 72,000 euros because of various extra expenditures.

‘The amount which I submitted to the PHF on my return was approved by the then PHF president (Zafarullah) Jamali. I must say that Bajwa should come with original documents, not tampered copies. I have not been given an explanation and there is no proof. It was decision by Executive Board having Bajwa’s cronies. I will now take the PHF and Bajwa to court,’ Naveed told Pakishnews.com

Naveed claimed since he had not received the outstanding dues from the PHF, he had become a bank defaulter. The Olympian said he wanted an independent probe committee to grill him and that his innocence will be proved.

Naveed had accused Asif of sending people to Italy, while Mansoor charged the secretary with misusing his authority by applying for German visas for his family and an unknown person posing him as a media person.

According to May 2, 2009 Dawn.com report, Asif applied for German visas for his wife Sana Asif and son Asad Ullah Bajwa along with three other persons. The visas were sought for four-nation Hamburg Masters hockey tournament from Oct 3 to 5 in 2008.

Identity of one of the three persons, Malik Ahtisham Zahid, could not be established as a journalist.

The documents submitted by Asif were either ambiguous or contradictory. The three persons were mentioned as ‘children’, journalists and ‘PHF officials’ by Asif in different documents or communication.

‘Taking wife and children along on foreign tours is not wrong and I don’t think anybody would leave his wife while on a foreign tour,’ Qasim said but didn’t elaborate if it is ethical to use PHF letterhead to seek visas for family.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports has been investigating the human trafficking charges.

Asked why Mansoor was hired as a PHF academy coordinator despite his past plagued by a jail conviction for stealing silver and other controversies, the PHF president conceded ‘we hired him on humanitarian grounds as didn’t have a job, but it was our mistake as some people never learn.’

About the reason why Islahuddin Siddiqui had been retained as Executive Board member, although he was not thought to be good enough to be nominated for International Hockey Federation (FIH) Rules Board by the PHF, Asif said he had quit as chief selector on his own.

‘We would have taken our own decision then. The situation would have been different,’ Qasim said when asked what would have happened had Islah opted to continue. However, the fact is that after Beijing Olympics PHF president Jamali had already mentioned he would install new selection committee a day before Islah ‘resigned’.

‘Kamran was not sacked. In fact, his contract was only till Asia Cup. He would be given some other assignment,’ Asif said when asked Kamran Ashraf was removed as assistant coach after Pakistan finished second at Asia Cup earlier this year while Shahid Ali Khan was retained although he was also hired till the cup.

Kamran was removed after he went to at the launching ceremony of the academy in Gojra established by former Pakistan coach Tahir Zaman – a rival of Asif.

Meanwhile, Pakistan player Waqas Akbar had been banned for a month besides Rs25,000 fine for playing in the French league without PHF’s clearance, a probe committee has been formed to investigate the allegations of changing the date of birth by Pakistan women’s team player Ayesha Bashir.

PHF President Qasim Zia with Secretary Asif Bajwa —ONLINE/File photo

Aashir, resident of Mir Upperpind in Lahore, participated in the CNS Golf Championship being held in Karachi.

He achieved a the feat in Hole-in-One of the professional event and won the car of Rs1.9 million.

Aashir is performing his duties to meet economic challenges being faced by his family and also playing the game of golf.

He has no regular job but he trains youth in the game of golf as a part-time job.

His father retired from Railways and all his family’s responsibilities are on his shoulders.

Flintoff made the announcement at Lord’s on Wednesday, 24 hours ahead of the second Teat against Australia at the home of cricket..

The 31-year-old aggravated a knee injury in the drawn first Test in Cardiff and it proved the final straw.

“My body has told me it’s time to stop,” the former England captain said in a statement released to CNN by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“For the next four Test matches I’ll do everything I need to do to get on a cricket field and I’m desperate to make my mark.

“I want to finish playing for England on a high and if you look at the fixtures going forward, the way my body is suggests I won’t be able to get through that.”

Flintoff, who had cortisone injections in his knee, is still hopeful of taking his place in the England team on Thursday and will continue to play one-day international and Twenty20 cricket.

He has a lucrative $1.55 million two-year deal in the Indian Premier League, but had to cut short his campaign in this year’s competition because of a knee injury.

Flintoff’s injury woes started after his heroic performances in the 2005 Ashes series won by England.

“I’ve been through four ankle operations, I had knee surgery just a couple of months ago and had three jabs in my knee on Monday just to get me right for this Test so I took that as my body telling me that I can’t cope with the rigors of test cricket,” he said.

Flintoff has played 76 Tests for England in an 11-year career, taking 219 wickets at 32.5 and hitting 3708 runs at an average of 31.69.

Durham paceman Steve Harmison has been called up as cover for Flintoff at Lord’s should he fail to recover from his current knee problem.

England captain Andrew Strauss said that his team had been aware for some time that Flintoff was considering his future in Test cricket.

“We are obviously very disappointed and feel for him, because he is still a pretty young guy. But he knows his own body better than anyone.

Flintoff bowls in the nets at Lord's ahead of his decision to quit Test cricket.