Brazil's brightest current football star Neymar has said he hopes to help his country win its first men's Olympic football gold medal at South America's first Olympic Games next year in Rio de Janeiro.
Interviewed by rio2016.com, the Barcelona striker said: "I hope to be part of this group and win the title for the Brazilian people, especially since we are playing at home.
"Winning at the Maracanã would be incredible, unforgettable, and you can be sure we'll give our best on the pitch to make this happen."
Neymar's World Cup last summer ended in particularly bitter disappointment, after an injury inflicted by a Colombian defender forced him to miss Brazil's semi-final against eventual winners Germany - a match that ended with a scarcely credible 7-1 scoreline in favour of the European team.
The tournament marked the second occasion on which the five-times world champions have failed to lift the World Cup on home turf.
The Olympic men's football competition is an under-23 tournament, with three over-age players per squad permitted.
Neymar turns 23 early next month, but Alexandre Gallo, who will take charge of Brazil's Olympic squad, has indicated that he wants the player to fill one of those over-age slots.
Neymar, who was in the Brazil squad that claimed the silver medals at London 2012 after defeat by Mexico in the final, said:
"Wearing the Brazilian shirt is indescribable and every time I wear our colours it is a memorable occasion for me.
"This was especially so in London, where I first competed in the Games.
"It was something that really made a big impression on me and that I'll remember for the rest of my life.
"I already imagine myself playing in the Olympic Games in my own country - it will be a dream come true.
"I have had the opportunity to play in the Confederations Cup and the World Cup in Brazil, so now the Olympic Games is all that is missing.
"It will bring me a lot of joy."
In spite of winning five World Cups, Brazil has yet to claim gold in either the men's or the women's Olympic football competitions.
Five times, Brazilian teams of one gender or another have had to settle for silver after losing Olympic finals; on two further occasions, Brazil's men have come away with bronze medals.
Arch-rivals Argentina, by contrast, already have two Olympic football titles under their belts, as have Luís Suárez's Uruguay.
As for other Olympic sports, Neymar said he was keen to see Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in action, adding: "I am a big fan of his."
He went on: "I also want to see Brazil compete in volleyball, basketball, swimming and judo.
"But what I am most looking forward to is the feel of the Games at the Olympic Village.
"In London we didn't stay with the other athletes and I think the atmosphere must be very different.
"I admire many Brazilian athletes and it will be marvellous to share this experience with them."
It is customary for Olympic football matches to be played in a variety of cities around the host country.
In addition to Rio, games at Rio 2016 will be played in Salvador, Brasília, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte.
Dwayne Bravo retires from Test cricket
TRINIDAD AND Tobago Red Force all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has called it quits from Test cricket, less than two months after he was controversially removed as captain of the West Indies One Day International team, as well as dropped from the team for the recent ODI series against South Africa and the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
In a message which he sent to former national and West Indies leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine yesterday, and which was subsequently posted on Ramnarine’s Twitter page, Bravo noted, “(yesterday) I (announced) my retirement from Test cricket. I have already informed the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) of this decision and also indicated my desire to continue to represent West Indies in the shorter version of the game.
“I recognise that this is a difficult time for all of us,” Bravo added. “Our people of the region have seen and enjoyed great cricketing days but we will not return to glory until we agree to go forward with our love for the game and the respect of the administrators, players and the public.”
The 31-year-old continued, “I have experienced the exhilarating joy of victory and the devastating pain of defeat. The joyous memories will remind me of what we are capable of achieving. I want to be part of that mission.”
He ended, “I thank the cricketing fraternity for their support and look forward to serving you with determination and the pride of being a West Indian.”
Bravo made his Test debut at Lord’s, London on July 22 2004, during the ill-fated tour of England, which saw the Brian Lara-led Windies suffer a 4-0 whitewash to the hands of the Michael Vaughan-led England.
He played 40 Tests, scoring 2,200 runs at an average of 31.42 with a topscore of 113 (against Australia in Hobart in 2005). With his medium pace, he captured 86 wickets at an average of 39.83 with best figures of 6/55 (against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in 2004).
His last Test was the third and final match against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in December 2010, where he scored a duck in a rain-ruined affair.
Bravo was also renowned for his smile, his ebullience and his fielding, especially in limited-overs cricket, and he has become one of the game’s most recognisable players, particularly on the T20 circuit with the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel (Caribbean Premier League), the Chennai Super Kings (Indian Premier League) and Melbourne Renegades (Big Bash League, Australia).
However, Bravo has been the centre of controversy, based in fact to his role as the captain of the West Indies team who pulled out of the ODI series, and subsequent series away to India last October, due to problems with the payment structure in the players’ revised tour contracts.
He was removed as ODI captain in December - replaced by Barbadian Jason Holder.
Earlier yesterday, as he has been doing in recent times, Ramnarine hinted at another major development in West Indies cricket, arising from the dispute between the players, the West Indies Players Association (headed by Wavell Hinds) and the WICB (led by Dave Cameron).
“Another day in which we should be expecting some major announcements in WI cricket,” Ramnarine blogged yesterday morning. “Our aim (should) be (to) encourage players (to) stay in (the) game.”
Ramnarine broke the news of that Bravo and Kieron Pollard were not going to be selected to the West Indies World Cup squad (48 hours before the 15-man team was announced by the WICB), and also on Monday, he highlighted the fact that off-spinner Sunil Narine was pulling out of the World Cup squad due to his desire to continue remedial work on his bowling action. Narine made his decision official on Tuesday.
Club Sando to join Pro League
NEWLY CROWNED 2014-2015 Super League champions Club Sando have been accepted as the newest TT Pro League club and will compete at the 2015-2016 season, which is set to begin in September.
Meanwhile Club Sando’s youth teams at the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 levels will have their taste at the 2015 Youth Pro League, which will run from March to July.
TT Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene unveiled Club Sando, represented by owner Edison “Eddie” Dean and technical director Muhammad Isa, during a press conference at the Pro League’s office in St Augustine yesterday.
Skeene said that the TT Pro League’s board of directors had reviewed the application of Club Sando, who have been campaigning in the Super League for a number of years and had been successful, and saw it fit to accept the San Fernando club into the TT Pro League fold.
Buoyed by an ambitious owner/CEO Dean, a board of directors that includes Isa, Steve Goopeesingh, Marlon Zoe and Derek Lange, and dedicated players and fans, Club Sando’s arrival at the Pro League is now a reality.
Isa, who said it is a very proud moment, explained that while Club Sando are very thankful for acceptance into the TT Pro League, it was something the club had worked very hard to achieve.
“Our organisation has worked very hard to achieve this,” Isa said. “Three years ago Dean called a meeting with two of the key stakeholders, which were Derek Lange and myself. Our club was approaching 25 years (of existence in 2015), and we decided that at 25 years we want to play at the highest level in the country, which is the TT Pro League.
“We started to work on it two years ago. We didn’t just want to pay our way into the TT Pro League. We wanted to come into the TT Pro League as Super League champions. The management and staff worked very hard to win the Super League and today we are very much honoured to be in the TT Pro League as the Super League champions.”
Club Sando enjoyed their best years at the Super League in the last two seasons since the arrival of former St Ann’s Rangers coach Anthony Streete. In 2013-2014 Club Sando finished runners-up in the both the league and knockout competitions behind Guaya United – another Super League outfit ambitious of entering the Pro League.
One season later Club Sando celebrates the 2014-2015 Super League title in the year of celebrating their 25th anniversary, and to top it off, the club are now preparing for the highest tier of football in Trinidad and Tobago—the TT Pro League.
Club Sando, who also fields a team in the Southern FA, will have the next eight months to prepare for life in professional football.
“We will continue to play the high brand of football that we played in the Super League and I will assure you that we will be competitive in the TT Pro League,” Isa assured. “Our coach (Anthony Streete) cares about the style of football that we play.
“He always emphasised that he wants people to follow the team, so he always emphasised a quality standard from the players. He wants to bring back the fans to football and that’s why we have a (huge fan support) right now because of the style of football that we produce.”
In 2013 Club Sando, who boast of a number of former Pro League players, etched themselves into history, becoming the first second tier team of the Trinidad and Tobago football system to reach the Toyota Classic Final but went under 2-0 against W Connection in the title match.
“We hope that Club Sando’s journey and their stay in professional football is long and fruitful,” Skeene said. “They have a dynamic organisation and now a vibrant brand, which is the TT Pro League. And I want to tell them that they are joining a group of like-minded individuals who have the growth of professional football at heart and who continue to work daily to ensure the sustainability and viability of professional football in Trinidad and Tobago.”
BACK ON TRACK
Baptiste free to compete after doping ban lifted.
Sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste is eligible to compete again.
Baptiste had been banned after testing positive for a prohibited substance. The sample was collected in April 2013.
Like her training partner, American Tyson Gay, Baptiste cooperated with a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation. But while Gay served a one-year ban, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) appealed an August 12, 2014 decision by the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) disciplinary panel to lift the ban on Baptiste. At that point, Trinidad and Tobago’s Florida-based sprint queen had already served a 16-month period of ineligibility.
NAAA president Ephraim Serrette told the Express, yesterday, that the IAAF’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was ruled on earlier this month. However, in a press release from public relations officer Peter Samuel, the NAAA said details of the CAS settlement will not be made public.
“The National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) can confirm that the Kelly-Ann Baptiste case has been resolved before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”), based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“Further to the confidentiality provisions applicable to the proceedings, the Award of the CAS will not be made public. However, the NAAA can confirm that Ms Baptiste is free to return to competition with immediate effect.”
Serrette said that his interpretation of the CAS ruling is that the earlier decision of the NAAA disciplinary panel to lift the ban on Baptiste was “a correct decision”.
“We acted in accordance with precedent set, and we would have been correct. It’s very unfair to Kelly-Ann.”
However, chairman of the NAAA disciplinary panel, sports lawyer J Tyrone Marcus told the Express “it might be a bit too premature to say” Baptiste was unjustly treated, based on the one-year ban handed to Gay.
“It’s still early days. More time has to pass, and more substantial assistance cases heard, so that a trend can be recognised.”
Baptiste is expected to be stripped of the two national records she had established at the 2013 National Championships. She clocked 10.83 seconds in the 100m final and 22.36 in the 200m championship race. If those two marks are annulled, Baptiste’s next best 100m clocking, 10.84 seconds would return to the record books, while Semoy Hackett’s 22.55 run from May 26, 2012 would be recognised as the national 200m record.
Hackett is currently serving a doping ban, and will be eligible to compete again on May 1.
IOC unveil new guidelines to improve global physical education standards
In a continuation of its partnership with UNESCO and other organisations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has today announced new guidelines urging improved standards of worldwide physical education.
The Quality Physical Education (QPE) Guidelines, aimed at Governments and educational planners, are in line with the IOC's mission to include sport in school curricula worldwide and to promote Olympic values-based education.
"Physical education in schools is crucial if we are to get the couch potatoes off the couch," said IOC President Thomas Bach today during a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
"Sport has a central role to play in the education system, not just to fight against obesity and sedentary behaviour, but studies have shown time and again the positive effects physical activity has on the social and intellectual development of young people.
"Collaborating closely with UNESCO, we will ensure physical education is an integral part of school curricula to promote a healthy mind in a healthy body."
The Guidelines are a tool to help Governments reverse the decline in investment in physical education in schools, a trend seen recently in many countries, providing a framework to help policy-makers reshape policy as well as providing practical advice for implementation.
The IOC will specifically provide support to five pilot countries, through their National Olympic Committees from March 2015 to April 2016, although the identity of these five nations are still to be released.
Today's announcement has been billed as a continuation of the IOC's effort to use sport as a tool for education, demonstrating that Olympic values-based education can inspire young people to adopt healthy lifestyles built on the values of friendship, excellence and respect.
Strengthening its partnership with UNESCO to roll out physical education was also among the 40 recommendations approved at last month's Extraordinary IOC Session as part of the IOC Agenda 2020 reform process, with today's announcement a good early step.
Corporate TTO Rally around #golds24
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee(TTOC) #10golds24 Athlete Preparation and Welfare Fund continues to attract financial support from Corporate Trinidad and Tobago
Following on from the Guardian Group contribution of $250, 000 towards the fund .
four other corporate companies presented cheques on Wednesday at the Olympic House to the Honorary Secretary General of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) Mrs. Annette Knott.
Representing their respective organisations were Sean Shaffie - Toyota’s Marketing Manager, Julio Dallacosta - VP Finance Columbus Company, Rawlins C. Boodoo - Southern Sales Group Marketing Manager and Hazel Mootoo - HR Manager Deloitte.
Before the handing over of cheques, TTOC president Brian Lewis thanked the companies for answering the call to support the athletes of Trinidad and Tobago.
“This is a first for the Olympic Committee not only because of the roll out of the #10 gold24 and the establishment of the athletes’ preparation and welfare fund but in terms of signaling to the national community the strategic transformation and modernisation of the TTOC marketing approach.”
Lewis added “ in terms of transparency and accountability . We have to be scrupulously transparent. We would love to see at some point this relationship evolve and that you find the experience such a fantastic one that you want to take it to the platinum partner level . It is really about the athletes and no one stake holder can do it alone because it is not an inexpensive proposition.”