Sprinter Ben Johnson revisits scene of global disgrace

Disgraced drugs cheat Ben Johnson returned on Tuesday to Seoul's Olympic Stadium -- 25 years to the day of the steroid-assisted 100m final victory that destroyed his career and reputation.he Canadian sprinter revisited the site of his stunning triumph and downfall to bring an anti-doping message for a sport still struggling to rid itself of banned substance use.

Moyes confirms Van Persie out of Liverpool tie

Manchester United manager David Moyes expects to be without striker Robin van Persie for the League Cup third-round tie with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The Dutch international has been nursing a groin injury he suffered in training recently which forced him to miss United's shock 4-1 defeat by Manchester City in a dramatic derby encounter last weekend.

Moyes had hoped to have Van Persie, the leading scorer in England last season with 30 goals in all competitions, available for the visit of Liverpool.

Now Moyes has said the 30-year-old is poised to miss the match, and is doubtful for the defending champions' forthcoming Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion.

"I don't think he'll play," Moyes told a news conference on Tuesday. "But I think he has an outside chance for Saturday."

Moyes admitted the manner of his side's 4-1 thrashing by City, his first derby since succeeding Alex Ferguson as United manager, had left him stunned.

"It shocked me, but when you're a football manager for the length of time I've been you are always going to have shocks," Moyes said.

"But it's gone now so I can't do anything about it," the former Everton boss added. "You can't dwell too long on it. We're looking to get the next game started and trying to win.

"It's always a big game whenever you play any cup tie, but especially I think when you play Liverpool against Manchester United. It maybe takes on a bigger significance than people would expect.

In recent years the League Cup has been seen as a 'development' competition by managers of leading English clubs, who've often rested their first-choice players for more important Premier League or European assignments.

But the City result has given Wednesday's match a different context for many United fans and Moyes acknowledged the conflicting interests surrounding this particular clash with Liverpool.

"I think my idea was always to focus on every competition," Moyes explained.

"It's always been (the mentality) here to win. I do think the Capital One (League) Cup is a route to give as many young players an much opportunity as we can.

"The draw sometimes in the competition gives you reasons to do that. But obviously this is a really big tie that came out of the hat first.

"I'm still getting to know all the players here and how they react to situations. I'll get the chance to know a few more of them this week.

"Hopefully, they will show me what they can do." Liverpool have Luis Suarez available again now the Uruguay striker has served his 10-match ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic last season.

Suarez's previous matches against the 'Red Devils' include a racism row with United defender Patrice Evra in 2011.

But Moyes tried to play down the importance of Suarez's anticipated return on Wednesday by saying: "I think it means Liverpool have got a really good player back.

"Does it change the complexion? I don't know. I'm not looking at Liverpool too much except that the qualities of Luis Suarez are very good."

Meanwhile, Moyes refused to comment on claims made Tuesday by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez that United made a late bid to derail the Spanish giants' signing of Gareth Bale, for a reported world transfer fee, from Tottenham Hotspur.

"If I was I wouldn't tell you," said Moyes. "We don't talk about it. "We only talk about the players we think there is a reason to talk about and I wouldn't comment on that.

Dhoni new hairstyle for Champions League T20

MS Dhoni's new look inspired by World War II paratroupers; not Mario Balotelli, reveals his hair stylist Sapna Bhavnani

Lalit Modi banned for life by BCCI

CHENNAI: A pariah in Indian cricket for three years now, former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was on Wednesday slapped with a life ban by the BCCI after its disciplinary committee found him guilty on eight charges of "indiscipline and misconduct".

On a day of high drama, which was marked by legal tug of war between Modi and the BCCI, a special general meeting of the Board took less than half an hour to unanimously impose a life ban on the controversial 49-year-old administrator.

"The BCCI, at its special general meeting on Wednesday considered and discussed the report of the disciplinary committee of the BCCI on the show cause notices issued to Mr. Lalit Kumar Modi, in accordance with Clause 32 (iv) of the Memorandum of Rules and Regulations," the Board said in a statement.

"...Mr. Lalit Modi is guilty of committing acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline, and therefore, in exercise of powers as per Regulation 32 of the Memorandum and Rules and Regulations of the Board, Mr. Lalit Modi be and is hereby expelled from the BCCI.

"He shall forfeit all his rights and privileges as administrator. He shall not in future be entitled to hold any position or office, or be admitted in any committee or any member or associate member of the Board," he added.

Modi, the brain behind the highly successful IPL, made a last-ditch effort to avert the impending sanction by writing a letter to the BCCI members requesting them to refrain from any decision till the matter was sub-judice.

"Not a single member in the meeting supported Modi and the House took a unanimous decision to impose a life ban," a top BCCI official said.

The BCCI disciplinary committee, comprising Arun Jaitley, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, submitted a 134-page report in July in which it had found Modi guilty on eight charges, including financial irregularities, indiscipline and "actions detrimental to the interest of the BCCI."

Wednesday's meeting could take place only after the Delhi high court vacated a lower court stay order and it turned out to be a brief since all the members had already been submitted the disciplinary committee report.

The hearing into the charges against Modi, who is currently based in London claiming a threat to his life in India, started in July 2010 and the disciplinary committee conducted several hearings over a period of two years, none of which were attended by Modi in person.

Modi was suspended under Rule 32(iv) of the Board's constitution on April 25, 2010, seconds after the IPL final held in Mumbai. The Board then slapped three show cause notices on him. He replied to all of them.

Modi's decline started after the 2010 IPL bidding which saw the creation of two new teams -- Pune and Kochi. Modi revealed the ownership details of the Kochi franchise on twitter leading to the resignation of the then Minister of State for foreign affairs Shashi Tharoor.

Modi's act allegedly breached the confidentiality agreements between the Board and the IPL franchises.

Modi was suspended as chairman and commissioner of the IPL in April 2010. A suspension notice and a 34-page letter stating 22 charges of impropriety were served via email to Modi.

He claimed innocence all through, defending himself mostly on twitter and television channels but never appeared in person to face the BCCI committee.

Initially, the three-member disciplinary committee also included BCCI President N Srinivasan but he recused himself and erstwhile IPL chairman Chirayu Amin was made a member.

However, Amin also recused himself and it became a two-member committee.

Ronaldo Nazario da Lima visits Real Madrid City

Ronaldo Nazario da Lima visits Real Madrid City

Sebastian Vettel doesn't get blues from boos

Singapore:  Runaway Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel on Thursday said he'd had to "learn to deal" with booing after fans started to get tired of his incessant winning.

The 26-year-old German, who has won the last three world titles and is on course for a fourth, was greeted by the latest chorus of boos on the podium at this month's Italian Grand Prix.

But Vettel, speaking ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix -- where he has won the last two races -- said fans should remember that Red Bull work hard for their success.

"I think you learn to deal with a situation. Obviously if you look at the fan base we have it's much bigger than two or three years ago so there's plenty of positives as well," he said.

"For sure there's some people that are tired of Red Bull winning, but we're not and we know there's no guarantee. We arrive here, we know we have a strong package but we have to work hard to be at the front.

"From the outside or with hindsight you can say 'ah yeah, they finished on the podium so many times, they won so many races'. But every race was a new challenge, that's the most important bit, that you remember how hard work it was to get there in the first place."

Vettel has won three of the last four races to take this year's championship by the scruff of the neck. He could potentially claim the title as early as next month in Japan.

But his success, reminiscent of Michael Schumacher's five titles in a row from 2000 to 2004, has begun to chafe with some fans, with "Anyone but Vettel" accounts appearing on Facebook and Twitter.

Sourav Ganguly says, Yuvraj Singh has 200 per cent chance to make India return

Kolkata:  Delighted to see Yuvraj Singh get his silken touch back, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said the stylish left-handed batsman deserves a comeback into the national team.

"It's really great to see him bat in full flow once again. I'm not surprised that he's back again. He has 200 per cent chance to make a return," Ganguly said. (Read Blog: Yuvraj and the over that changed everything)

The national selectors are slated to meet on September 30 to pick India's squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia at home.

"The middle-order must have Yuvraj Singh. With due respect to Dinesh Karthik, I think Yuvraj is a more deserving No 4 batsman," Ganguly added.
Under Yuvraj's leadership, India A might have lost the three-match unofficial ODI series against West Indies A 2-1 on Thursday, but Yuvraj made a big statement by scoring a blistering 89-ball 123 in the opening match and then followed it up with 40 and 61 in the remaining games. (Read: Yuvraj Singh's India A concede series against West Indies A)