http://empower-sport.com/ bring sport to the forefront of social change Copyright © 2007 peta@euskalaretoa.com Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:17:23 +0100 20 Subdreamer RSS Syndicator As promised we'll remain unyielding in serving... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=271 Muritala Adebayo Olodan Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:23:24 +0100 The best African Cup of Nations tournament for many years took place in Ghana earlier this year. It showed that African football had come of age. Nevertheless, there were several examples of Africa's premier tournament being treated with disrespect. The worst example concerned the repeating African champions Egypt. Of the African Cup of Nations winning team only Middlesbrough's Mohamed Shawky and Hamburg's Mohamed Zidan played in a top European league. They could have been joined by his club colleague Mido and Feyenoord's Sharif Ekramy but injury kept both out of Hassan Shehata's final twenty-three man squad. Hosny Abd-Rabou - who went on to become the Player of the Tournament - had previous experience in Europe with an unsuccessful spell in France with Strasbourg. The majority of Shehata's squad played in Egypt, but because they play in an African league, they were treated as unproven and still are until and unless they succeed in Europe, but why should that be necessary? http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=270 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:46:35 +0100 Hassan Shehata is a national treasure. While many of the coaches that arrived in Ghana to contest this year's African Cup of Nations have either been sacked or resigned, Shehata's position as Egypt's coach is secure barring complete disaster in the second round of qualification for Africa's World Cup. Nevertheless, despite establishing his country as the class of Africa, the Pharaohs still do not receive the respect they deserve. Their achievements cannot be ignored in Africa – they retained the trophy having won in vastly different styles, yet Shehata and his players still fly under many radars and that is just how the mild-mannered tactician likes it. Were Shehata to turn up in London for example, hardly anyone would recognise him, but he is already the second most successful coach in African history - only the great Charles Kumi Gyamfi is ahead of him. They are the only coaches to have retained the African Cup of Nations. It took more than four decades for the feat to be repeated and on both occasions it was accomplished by Africans, who happened to be great players as well. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=269 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:45:54 +0100 Last year the current coach of Finland and former coach of South Africa, Stuart Baxter gave Empower-Sport Magazine a brief interview while he was coach of Swedish club Helsingborg. Baxter is an admirer of African football and appreciates the skills that African players bring to Europe. “I think they [European clubs] respect African footballers,” he said emphasising the last word. The question was whether European clubs had enough respect for African football. It was a telling response that suggests that African football itself still has some way to go to gain the respect of European football. The African Cup of Nations is older than the European Championship, but still is not treated as the equal of its European counterpart, often by Eurocentric fans who have not taken the trouble to watch it to the same extent as their own tournament. The European Championship in Austria and Switzerland was a fantastic tournament. It also had matches that fell below the desired quality. The African Cup of Nations in Ghana produced some exceptionally good football as well and it also had matches that let the standard down, but most observers were impressed with the quality of football on offer. We saw both and see no reason to denigrate one at the expense of the other. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=268 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:45:21 +0100 Tucked away in the high and remote regions of Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental mountains is an indigenous tribe of about fifty-thousand people - the Tarahumara. Civilization all but ignored them, partly because of their location and also because that is how they like it. They have few modern conveniences and usually travel barefoot for hours between villages, often kicking a ball along the way. In fact, their endurance in running barefoot for hours at a time is legendary throughout Mexico. They already have experience of the Olympic Games. In 1928, the Mexican Olympic Committee (MOC) decided to enter two Tarahumaras in the marathon race, the grueling race of over twenty-six miles which is the signature ending of the modern Olympics. Over the years, the best marathon runners are those with extraordinary stamina who can sustain the required pace for over two hours. It seemed like a match made in heaven for the MOC as the Tarahumara had stamina in abundance, so they could easily last the course. Two Tarahumaras were sent to Amsterdam for the 1928 Olympiad. On the final day of the games their moment arrived while their Mexican trainers crossed their fingers in anticipation, but things didn't exactly turn out the way the trainers had hoped. It seems that they forgot to tell the Tarahumaras that the race was only a mere jog of forty-two kilometers by their standards. When they finally appeared in the stadium and crossed the finish line in thirty-second and thirty-fifth place respectively they kept running - not realizing that the race was over. They complained that the race wasn't long enough, but nothing could be done for them http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=267 John Little Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:44:55 +0100 International team-mates Samuel Eto'o Fils and Idriss Carlos Kameni have a lot more in common than just the appreciation of Cameroun's septuagenarian coach Otto Pfister. The experienced German coach believes that the Indomitable Lions have a world class spine with Newcastle's Geremie Njitap sandwiched between the pair. Both Eto'o and Kameni play in Spain - in the same city in fact. While Eto'o has won La Liga and the Champion's League with Barcelona, Kameni plays for city rivals Espanyol. Both players have been subjected to shameful racist abuse that has included monkey-chanting: peanut-throwing and banana-throwing. While the abuse of Eto'o has gained international publicity the ordeal suffered by Kameni is arguably worse. Not only has he had to put up with vile abuse from opposition supporters, but unlike Eto'o he has had to endure outrageous racist abuse from so-called fans of his own team. Espanyol, to their credit, quickly denounced the abuse and investigated their own supporters. Kameni was linked with a move to the English Premier League after his impressive performances in the African Cup of Nations, especially Tottenham Hotspurs. He chose to remain at Espanyol. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=266 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:44:19 +0100 (Part Two) When Zhang Xiang Xiang finally stepped up to the podium with a bunch of flowers and was endowed with the jade-gold medal, the audience could not help but burst into tears as many other thousands of people throughout the whole country. Zhang won ,finally he did it. On the surface, the ill-informed people might take it for granted that Zhang was nothing more than a hardworking weightlifter who underwent a series of strict training from various schools. Yet Zhang was anything but ordinary. Born in 1983, Zhang’s parents lived a frugal life in order to improve their situation, Zhang was sent by his parents for the boys' table-tennis selection trials and was picked up by a local coach. Zhang was indeed dedicated to what he was asked to do and progressed really quickly in this field. Yet what they didn’t expect was that Zhang’s road ahead would be so different. All of these consequences were due to Lin Young Le, the coach and principal of Long Yan Sports School, who gave some pinches over young Zhang’s muscles and concluded that Zhang was going to excel in the weightlifting event. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=265 Zhu Qin Zhe Front Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:43:42 +0100 When Mohamed Ali claimed that "I am the great... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=264 peta ward Front Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:50:36 +0100 Life imitates Sport This appears to be an int... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=263 peta ward Front Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:01:50 +0100 Welcome to the Halloween issue of the magazine http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=262 staff Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:22:50 +0100 From Strength to Strength It isn't just Fabio Capello that has developed a winning mentality in England's footballers. Hope Powell has been doing it as well quietly - despite a successful World Cup in China recently - and without the recognition that she and her talented players deserve. Empower-Sport Magazine is determined to put that right.  An impressive fight back from 2-0 down to draw away in Spain means England's Women Football Team, by finishing top of their qualifying group, have a chance to capture the European Championship Trophy at the Finals next year in Finland. Three years ago England finished runners up to Sweden, losing by a single goal in a final held at Blackburn Rovers Ground, Ewood Park. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=261 Mark Metcalf Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:41:38 +0100 The face lifting of Long Yan the small town PartOneFor most cities in China, there are two things that might help them to get noticed - the special cultural relics of antiquity or locally-born youngsters who grow up to be among the best known celebrities in the country. My home-town is Long Yan - a small city in the southern part of China in Fu Jian Province to be more precise. It is an excellent example of both. The Hakka people, who moved from the central part of China, founded Long Yan many years ago. The historic city has been trying very hard to attract the attention of the outside world and it has witnessed a lot of significant changes. Nevertheless, it is still an undeveloped region in the massive land of China. Luckily for the diligent city, two dazzling events that took place some months ago have brushed away the stereotypes that people in and outside China hold towards the quaint town that is steeped in such an intriguing past. The thirteenth Fu JIan Provincial Sports Games advertised the town so well but nothing brought it to prominence quite as thoroughly as the three champions we boast of thanks to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The two major sporting events have raised the profile of Long Yan to such an overwhelming status that it is quickly becoming one of the most renowned cities in China. While being proud of our history and success in the Fu JIan Provincial Sports Games and 2008 Olympic Games respectively have given us a recognition on the map - at least in China, but while the whole world has heard of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, few outside China and even more so Long Yan had ever heard of our golden generation, so let me introduce them to a wider world, so you can share in our pride and joy.  http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=260 Zhu Qin Zhe Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:31:53 +0100 Rahamat Riga Mustapha hopes to follow in the footsteps of Quincy Owusu-Abeyie. Both players represented the Netherlands at youth level, but failed to gain full international recognition. Owusu-Abeyie was expelled from the Ajax Academy as a teenager. Nevertheless, he convinced Arsène Wenger to invest in his potential in 2003, but the young winger never made the grade at Arsenal.1 A promising start in the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 seemed to confirm that he would progress to becoming a stalwart in the Dutch team for many years to come, but the expected step up to the top of his profession failed to materialise. The Dutch coach who unleashed his undoubted talent on unsuspecting opponents in 2005, Foppe de Haan, gave up on him. Wenger also abandoned hope that he would become the much-sought after successor for Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=259 Satish Sekar Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:21:18 +0100 Quincy Owusu-Abeyie went to the African Cup of Nations and Ghanaian fans took him to their hearts. Celta de Vigo had an inkling that Owusu-Abeyie may become eligible for Ghana - that he wanted to, but when he joined in the summer of 2007 he was Dutch. It was a possibility that he would succeed in his application to become Ghanaian and they knew that, but there was no reason that this could not have been decided by FIFA in the summer or even earlier. While Africa has been treated badly historically, this is a special circumstance and a solution that was fair to Celta should have been found. Not having to pay Owusu-Abeyie's wages for that month does not rectify it. Celta had to do without their player at an important time for them. His absence could have made a difference in their bid for an immediate return to the Primera División. It didn't, but it could have done. Somebody should take responsibility and deliver a just solution to Celta de Vigo. Dr Danny Jordaan - the Chief Executive Officer of South Africa's Local Organising Committee for the forthcoming World Cup - still isn't entirely convinced. He outlines a scenario that could have benefited Celta. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=258 Satish Sekar Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:18:32 +0100 The first round of Africa's qualification process for 2010 has stimulated some interest and upsets already. Malawi shocked the Pharaohs, although Hassan Shehata's side only needed to avoid defeat against minnows Djibouti to be certain of progressing to the next stage of qualification in their last match on October 12th. They won 4-0. The elimination of Senegal was considered a shock and South Africa's poor showing does not bode well either, but both countries were frankly poor in Ghana earlier this year. Both changed coaches, but the results have yet to come. South Africa managed a paltry seven points from six matches - trailing group winners Nigeria by eleven points. The Bafana Bafana will only qualify for their World Cup by virtue of hosting it. They will not travel to Angola for the twenty-seventh African Cup of Nations. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=257 Satish Sekar & Remyspero Honsou Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:16:31 +0100 Target Further Success (Part One)The eyes of the international football world are on the continent as Africa prepares to celebrate their fiesta of football. Their qualification process is unique and simple, but this being Africa complications had to emerge. The fifty-three members were reduced to forty-eight in twelve groups of four teams each. Only group winners were assured of further progress, but the eight countries with the best second place records also qualify for the final stage of qualification. The final twenty nations are then divided into five groups with only the winners going to the World Cup. However, there is the consolation of those groups deciding who will join Angola in the next African Cup of Nations in 2010. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=256 Satish Sekar Front Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:14:47 +0100 These are exciting times for us and we hope for yo... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=255 Derek Miller Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:00:11 +0100 to African Football  UEFA’s Direct... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=248 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:59:11 +0100 In the seventh part of our ongoing series on Ghanaian football legend Nana Kumi Gyamfi the greatest coach in African history sees the end of the legacy of Ghana’s football revolution. The counter-revolution had been consolidated. An untested Brasilian fitness trainer - Carlos Alberto Parreira - who had just qualified as a coach came to Ghana and inherited the best team in Africa - the team that Charles Gyamfi built. As the team left for Ethiopia something was already broken. Gyamfi was relegated to being Parreira’s assistant. The team spirit had been broken. “At that time they said they would call me back,” says Gyamfi sadly, “but they never call me back.” The coup plotters were taking their revenge on a national icon. Ghanaian football suffered because of it. The football revolution and its achievements were destroyed. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=253 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:50:30 +0100 The Bafana Bafana in Crisis (Part One)The South African national football team - affectionately known as the Bafana Bafana - will not be going to Angola in 2010 to compete in the African Cup of Nations. They lost their all-important qualifier against the team that has their number - the Super-Eagles of Nigeria in Port Elizabeth 1-0. It is a bitter pill to swallow and a sad tale for the country that will host the next World Cup. It is also something that the whole country must learn from. Where did it all go wrong? We had a World Cup winning coach in Carlos Alberto Parreira - a man who had considerable experience of international football. Parreira has four decades worth of such experience - some in Africa. We had a plan to build on in 2006. Parreira was hired with expectations dampened down after the failure to qualify for the World Cup in Germany and a poor outing in the African Cup of Nations in Egypt, which cost the then Romanian citizen Ted Dumitru his job. Hopes remained high, especially as the lessons seemed to have been learned. There was planning for the future - a four year plan to lead us to a successful World Cup on the pitch. Now those plans are in disarray. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=252 Aboobaker Williams Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:48:52 +0100 The Protest GamesAvery Brundage’s controversial Presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was nearing its end as the athletes of the world prepared to honour the call to gather in Mexico City in 1968. He was completely out of step with times. The apologist for Hitler’s Olympiad had won his seat on the IOC at the expense of Ernst Jahncke - an outspoken opponent of allowing the Nazis to benefit from the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games - over three decades earlier. Jahncke was removed from the IOC for calling for a boycott, while Brundage denounced emerging reports of Nazi atrocities as a ‘Jewish-Communist’ conspiracy. Jahncke never got so much an acknowledgement that he had been wronged, let alone reinstatement. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=251 John Little Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:46:58 +0100 Soar to Greater HeightsThe disappointment of the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana left a bitter taste in the mouth of several football connoisseurs especially the defeat in the hands of arch-rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana. Such was the woeful outing of the team that fans deserted them to return home even before their quarter final match against the host country. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=250 Bayo Olodan Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:44:42 +0100 (Part One)Qualification for the historic World Cup of 2010 - Africa’s World Cup has begun in earnest in all confederations. England made the decision to dispense with the services of quarter-finals specialist Sven-Göran Eriksson before the last World Cup in Germany. A disastrous courtship of then Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari left the Football Association hugely embarrassed. Outgoing Chief Executive Brian Barwick not only flew to Portugal to negotiate with Scolari, but one the World Cup winning Brasilian declined he was associated with the decision to hire Eriksson’s assistant and then Middlesboro coach Steve McClaren. The ludicrous claim that McClaren was always their first choice convinced nobody and discredited both Barwick and the FA. Eriksson ended his tenure as England manager with defeat against Portugal in the quarter-final. Eriksson felt the need to apologise more than once at his final press conference and pleaded with the country to look after Wayne Rooney – sent off after stamping on a prone Ricardo Carvalho in an eye-watering part of the body. It turned Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo into a pantomime villain caricature in England. He answered his critics with his feet. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=249 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:41:54 +0100  Peoples Parliment 9-11am Thurs 2nd October http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=247 staff Front Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:07:56 +0100 We are delighted to bring you the latest issue of ... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=246 Derek Miller Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:59:25 +0100 The African Football In the sixth part of our series on Africa’s football legend Nana Kumi Gyamfi I the football revolution - led by Ghana’s charismatic first President Kwame Nkrumah - is over and Gyamfi enters the bleakest period of his football life - a time when his great talents were cruelly wasted. Nkrumah was in exile and the National Liberation Council (NLC) under Joseph Ankrah ruled Ghana. Ankrah justified the February 1966 coup by calling it a corrective to the faults of Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party (CPP). He accused Nkrumah’s government of: “Maladministration, mismanagement, the loss of individual freedom and economic chaos.” http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=245 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:57:58 +0100 The greatest coach in Ghanaian - or rather African - history, Charles Kumi Gyamfi ended his illustrious coaching career in Asante territory, having laid the foundations for a successful future. As a player he set notable firsts in Kumasi. Asante Kotoko built on the success that he brought - first with the legendary winger Baba Yara and subsequently. They are the most successful club in Ghana with twenty-one Premier League titles against Accra’s Hearts of Oak’s nineteen. The Jackson’s Park ground of the early 1950s was no longer suitable. Kumasi needed a stadium worthy of its status as a centre of sporting excellence and construction started in the 1950s. It also needed a new name that captured both the hopes for future. The new Kumasi Sports Stadium (KSS) became the centre of sporting achievement in Kumasi. Almost half a century and a few face-lifts later it became clear that a modern state of the art stadium was required, but before then a lot of sport graced the old stadium and Ghanaian legends including Tony Yeboah and the great Baba Yara himself had thrilled sports fans there. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=244 Franklin Anane Gyimah Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:44:14 +0100 Michael Vaughan surrendered the England captaincy of the test side meekly after struggling for runs and losing the series to South Africa. Durham’s Paul Collingwood struggled too, but answered his critics positively after losing his place with a typically gritty knock - a century on his return to the test match side. Collingwood - England’s captain of the one-day side was suspended because his team had bowled too slowly against New Zealand. Kevin Pietersen deputised for him. Collingwood decided to resign as one-day captain after his century because he felt that the captaincy was affecting both his form and enjoyment of the game. The selectors chose to unify the captaincy of both forms of the game under Pietersen - not bad for a South African born player who left his homeland allegedly in protest at that country’s racial quota system. Pietersen made his début for Kwa-Zulu Natal in 1997 before leaving the country of his birth over the lack of opportunities that he blamed firmly on the quota system. He qualified for England because his mother is English. He embraced playing for England as soon as he became eligible in 2004 - first in one-day internationals and then test matches. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=243 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:37:53 +0100 The modern Olympic Games were revived in 1896. Fittingly they took place in Athens. They made Spyridon Louis the most famous athlete in the world as he fulfilled the hopes of a nation. Greece won other gold medals, but this was the one that mattered, especially after failure in the discus. However, the success of the first international Olympiad obscured a lesser known fact. The age of Olympic boycotts did not begin eighty years later in Montreal; it began in Athens at these games. Turkey - then under the control of the Ottomans - had ruled Greece until earlier in the century. The Ottomans refused to allowed Turkish athletes to compete in Greece, so the first Olympic Games of the modern era also had the first boycott. The remaining Olympiads before the First World War suffered more from difficulties for nations to send athletes to the games, but controversy was not far away. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=242 John Little Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:35:38 +0100 Liu Xiang is not the only athlete to disappoint under the weight of a nation’s expectations. Beijing’s Olympics was supposed to be his coronation as China’s most famous and greatest athlete. He had already forced the world to sit up and take notice in Athens four years earlier. He is the only 110m hurdler to simultaneously hold the world record, Olympic title and world championship at the same time, although his friend and greatest rival Dayron Robles has a chance to match that feat at next year’s World Championship. Beijing’s Olympic Games was supposed to be Liu’s stage for the greatest achievement of his life - retaining the Olympic title in front of adoring fans that had paid a fortune for the privilege of witnessing history, but it didn’t happen. Liu lined up for his heat, but pulled up injured before reaching the first hurdle. It was a false start and Liu knew that his Olympic Games were over. He walked off the track, leaving spectators stunned and disappointed, but Liu’s failure to deliver is far from the first time that home-town expectations have been thwarted. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=241 Zhu Qin Zhe Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:32:33 +0100 Africa has a rich history in the Olympic Games. Many think that the first African Olympic champion was the late great Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, but the inspirational double Olympic champion wasn't first. He took Rome by storm in 1960 and amazingly won again in Tokyo at the next Olympiad shortly after having an appendectomy. After Rome Bikila became a national hero - an African hero in fact. he was forced to take part in a failed coup attempt against the Emperor Haile Selassie. The plotters were tracked down and most were executed. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=240 Bayo Olodan and Franklin Anane Gyimah Front Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:30:54 +0100 We have another diverse selection of articles that... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=239 Derek Miller Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:43:50 +0100 He was the poster-boy of Chinese athletics. In the build-up to Beijing’s ‘exceptional’ Olympic Games, former 110m hurdles world record holder and Olympic champion Liu Xiang’s face was everywhere. You couldn’t move in Beijing - China for that mater - without seeing the most famous athlete in Chinese history’s face looking down on you from posters everywhere. He carried the hopes of over a billion Chinese people on his shoulders. Failure was not an option, but there were early hints that all was not well with Liu Xiang. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=238 Zhu Qin Zhe Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:41:21 +0100 An Olympic Disgrace (Part Two) The ticker-tape parade proved to be the highlight of his Olympic career for Jim Thorpe. He was delighted that so many people came to cheer for him and pronounced himself delighted that he had so many friends. He didn’t know it then, but he also had a virulent and spiteful enemy who had masqueraded as a team-mate - Avery Brundage - a man whose spitefulness and racism was responsible for one of the most shameful chapters in Olympic history. Thorpe had competed against the best in the world at that time and beaten them convincingly.1 Briefly he was allowed to bask in the glory of his accomplishments, but it didn’t last long. Thorpe returned to his college and led them to the collegiate American football championship. He was also an accomplished tennis player: golfer, rower, bowler and gymnast, but athletics would make his name and baseball would cost him dear. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=237 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:38:19 +0100 The Bafana Bafana and Super-Eagles Africa has a model of efficient professionalism and long-term preparation that deserves close scrutiny. It should be adopted, or at the very least adapted to South Africa’s needs and possibly other African nations too. Egypt is blessed with talented players - better than those available to South Africa, but how important is their coach Hassan Shehata to their set up? He clearly is a gifted coach, but could Brazil’s World Cup winning coach and former South Africa gaffer Carlos Alberto Parreira have coached Egypt to success in Ghana? Possibly, but probably not and partly for the same reason that even coaches of Shehata’s ability could struggle in South Africa and it is not just because of the quality of players. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=236 Bayo Olodan and Aboobaker Williams Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:31:36 +0100 The new football season has already begun. Russia and Sweden even had to suspend their domestic competitions to accommodate the European Championship in June. There was no talk of moving the European Championship to January or February to accommodate the needs of their teams like many clubs think should happen to the African Cup of Nations. Although FIFA has provided a sympathetic ear for such views from Europe, they are adamant that their commitment to Africa and African football is wholehearted. “FIFA has always been at the forefront in fighting racism,” said Jérôme Champagne, the Special Advisor to the FIFA President last year. “For example FIFA expelled the racist white federation of South Africa in 1976. We were among the first ones to do so. We also honoured the prisoners of Robben Island who founded a football federation. These freedom fighters were fighting to kill apartheid - to disobey the rules of apartheid. On the island they started a federation to follow FIFA regulations.” FIFA recently gave that federation - the Makana FA - honorary membership of FIFA. Champagne had more to add. “Recently we decided to bring the world cup to Africa,” he said. “It is a strong statement against racism, because we are optimistic about Africa and the capacity of this continent, which has been marginalised by the rest of the world. We don’t consider it bad. It is the largest continent in the world, so our policy by definition is anti-racist.” http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=235 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:27:09 +0100 The Champions League qualifying stages has already produced a shock. Last season’s beaten UEFA Cup finalists Rangers are already out of Europe - humiliated by Lithuanian minnows Kaunas. This time last year UEFA was faced with its first concrete test of its commitment to eradicating racism from football since the principles of the amended version of Article 55 of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code were adopted by several federations. Scotland’s big firm were in Europe. Rangers had to qualify for the lucrative group stage. It was a journey that took them to Montenegro - the country that produced the silky skills of Dejan Savićević - to play against FK Zeta in the qualifying round of the Champions League. Rangers’ American international striker DaMarcus Beasley was no stranger to racist abuse. Four years go he played for Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven. He was monkey-chanted by supporters of Red Star Belgrade then. On August 7th 2007 it happened to Beasley again. His strike partner Jean-Claude Darcheville was also racially abused, but the climate had changed. UEFA was not prepared to tolerate racist conduct any longer. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=234 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:22:14 +0100 The great Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero was a lawyer before he became a Senator. As a young man he made his name with a very courageous defence of Sextus Roscius who was charged with parricide in 80BC. Cicero accused Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus of corruption and involvement in the murder of Sextus Roscius’ father. That was a very dangerous strategy as Chrysogonus was a freedman who rose to prominence by gaining the trust of Lucius Cornelius Sulla - then the Dictator of Rome. Cicero’s defence of Roscius was masterful. He attempted to prove that his client could not have committed the crime and then suggested that it had been committed by those who stood to gain - namely a relative who stood to inherit and Chrysogonus who wanted Roscius’ family estates cheaply. Cicero took a great risk, but had a good strategy that hinged on two words, qui bene - who benefits? Roscius was acquitted, but never got his inheritance. He died in obscurity. Cicero on the other hand became one of Rome’s greatest statesmen. The consequences for taking a dubious case were high for lawyers. If they brought a false case they were branded perjurers - literally. He also risked Sulla’s wrath by publicly accusing Chrysogonus. Nevertheless, two millennia qui bene remains apt in many fields including football. Who benefits from racism in football and who benefits from failing to tackle it adequately? http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=233 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:19:45 +0100 The vast majority of the supporters of UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg are nice people who braved horrendous conditions and ridiculous prices to follow their team. There were no traces of racism as they made their way to the Stade Louis II in the tiny Principality of Monaco. Their good behaviour continued throughout the match too. They applauded UEFA's announcement that racism would not be tolerated. They were helpful, but not very optimistic for the chances of their team. Like many watching the prestigious match throughout the world they were disappointed that they would not get to see the silky skills of Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite earlier reports that Andrei Arshavin would not play, they were hopeful that he would defy conventional wisdom and lead Zenit to victory. They still like him even though he had made it clear that he wants to go. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=232 Satish Sekar Monaco Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:16:33 +0100 AC Milan had long since relinquished their bid to the retain the UEFA Supercup. Manchester United had taken their crown last May in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Meanwhile, Zenit St. Petersburg, came, saw and conquered Rangers in the City of Manchester Stadium as well. This set up an intriguing clash in Monaco for the right to call themselves European champions on August 29th. The UEFA Cup final had been overshadowed by a racism storm surrounding veteran Dutch tactician Dick Advocaat - the first coach in recent times to take Zenit to the summit of Russian football. Advocaat had been quoted as saying that he wanted to sign black players, but would not do it if they would not be accepted by the supporters. Advocaat himself said that he didn't understand such attitudes. That was in an interview to Russian media, but it was not as clear cut as some thought. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=231 Satish Sekar Monaco Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:43:44 +0100 Satish Direct from MonacoEuropean football's stars were conspicuous by the absence on Friday afternoon as the draw for Europe's second competition was made. UEFA's General Secretary David Taylor assured those assembled that the UEFA Cup was not a second string tournament and would be revamped by the changes that will come into force in the season of 2009-10. The last three UEFA Supercups has resulted in two victories for the UEFA Cup winners and one for the Champions League winners and that came in a match that very nearly did not take place at all due to the tragic death of Sevilla and Spain defender Antonio Puerta at the early age of just twenty-two. Sevilla's players understandably had more important matters on their minds. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=230 Satish Sekar Monaco Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:20:51 +0100 Satish Sekar reports from Monaco The coaches of the last sixteen teams in last season's Europe's premier competition - the Champions League were invited to select the European Club Footballer of the Year: UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year, UEFA Club Defender of the Year, UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year and UEFA Club Forward of the Year. The awards were presented by Peter Schmeichel: Franco Baresi, Sir Bobby Charlton, Eusébio and Zinédine Zidane. In the end only fifteen cast their votes as Frank Rijkaard missed the deadline. There were some strange choices. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=229 Satish Sekar Monaco Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:16:51 +0100 Satish our man on the spot in Monaco To see t... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=228 Staff Front Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:53:00 +0100 Satish Sekar  -  direct from Monaco While the élite of European football gathered in the Principality of Monaco to crown Cristiano Ronaldo as Europe's best striker and also European football's best player of last season, there was also the small matter of the draw for this season's Champions League to decide. This season's final will be played in the Italian capital's Stadio Olympico. UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year, Chelsea and the Czech Republic's Petr Čech selected the top ceded teams and former Italian great Bruno Conti selected the groups that they would play in. Team-mates John Terry, UEFA Club Defender of the Year and Frank Lampard, UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year chose the second and third ceded teams, while it was left to the newly crowned Cristiano Ronaldo to choose the fourth ceded teams. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=227 Satish Sekar Monaco Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:47:01 +0100 Satish Sekar files direct from Monaco Manchester United's Portuguese winger put aside the controversy from his comparison of his condition to slavery to pay tribute to the team-mates who had made his wonder-season possible. Ronaldo was the only winner from his club. Somewhat strangely, he was the only winner from Manchester United as beaten finalists Chelsea scooped the rest of the awards. The twenty players nominated reflected the domination of English clubs at the top level. Only three players who do not play in the English Premier League made the list. One was an Argentinian Olympic Champion, Lionel Messi: another his European Championship winning team-mate Carles Puyol and the last was Schalke 04's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Germany's Under-21 international who is now pressing for full recognition from national coach Joachim Löw, yet the list was notable for other reasons too. Africans were represented in the nominations too. Didier Drogba and Michael Essien were nominated for African Footballer of the Year too. Bizarrely that gala event took place in the Togolese capital Lomé during the recent African Cup of Nations. Neither Essien nor Drogba won there either. Their Chelsea team-mates did rather better in Monaco. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=226 Satish Sekar Monaco Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:47:23 +0100 Satish reports direct from MonacoChelsea's Ivorian international striker, Didier Drogba, and Ghanaian midfielder, Michael Essien, earned the distinction of being nominated for both African Player of the Year and European Player of the Year Award in the same season - providing some recognition of the phenomenal contribution that African footballers bring to the European game. Neither came close to winning awards in Monte Carlo on Thursday night, but it was an impressive achievement nevertheless. Reigning African Footballer of the Year, Sevilla's Malian international striker Frédéric Kanouté was not nominated. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=21&p2_articleid=225 Satish Sekar Monaco Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:15:35 +0100 The twenty-sixth modern Olympic Games are over and... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=224 Derek Miller Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:16:57 +0100 Greece was the birthplace of European civilisation. It gave the world some of the greatest philosophers: scientists and dramatists the world has ever seen, such as Socrates: Plato, Pythagoras, Æschylus, Archimedes , Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes, but they gave the world something even more special - the Olympic Games. They lasted nearly twelve-hundred years and despite the dictates of the Sacred Truce that obliged city-states to observe periods of peace to allow competitors to travel to and from the games, wars for control of the site of the prestigious games were frequent, especially between the neighbours of Olympia, Elis and Pisa. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=223 Satish Sekar Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:13:53 +0100 Everyone knows that the modern Olympic Games were revived by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1896 don’t they? Well actually they weren’t and de Coubertin himself acknowledges the fact. In 394AD the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I abolished the ancient Olympic Games as a pagan ritual contrary to his Christian beliefs. They had lasted almost twelve centuries and would remain dormant until the nineteenth century when their spirit would be revived by an Englishman - . Baron Pierre de Coubertin would later develop Brookes’ idea into the modern Olympic Games. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=222 Satish Sekar Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:11:08 +0100 An Olympic Disgrace (Part One)“Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world,” Swedish King Gustav V told Jacobus Franciscus ‘Jim’ Thorpe - the star of the fifth modern Olympiad in Stockholm in 1912. The Swedish monarch then presented Thorpe - arguably one of the greatest ever athletes - with a silver chalice plated with gold and encrusted with jewels. It was shaped as a Viking ship. It was one of the highlights of Thorpe’s life - one that should have secured his future for life, but like much else the greatest sportsman of his era would not be allowed to keep his Olympic achievements and endorsements during his lifetime. Thorpe would be treated shamefully by his own Olympic Association and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), each of whom would break their own rules to rob him of his accomplishments. No Caucasian athlete had ever been treated so poorly. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=221 Satish Sekar Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:05:35 +0100 The Greatest Olympian (Part One)When the twenty-sixth modern Olympic Games ended in Beijing earlier this month - three were cancelled due to World Wars I and II - the twenty-three year-old American swimmer Michael Phelps staked a strong claim to be the greatest Olympian of all time at least in terms of his haul of medals, but who is the greatest of them all? Muhammad Ali only won a single gold medal in Rome in 1960. Denied the most basic courtesy of service at a restaurant in his home country he flung his medal in the nearby river in disgust. He went to become the greatest heavyweight boxer ever. Stripped of his title for refusing to be drafted into the American army for the war in Vietnam, Ali overcame the odds to win back his World Title twice. Ali eventually transcended sport. In later years Parkinson’s Disease robbed him of many of his legendary faculties. Nevertheless, he received a replacement gold medal at the centenary Olympic Games in Atlanta. Ali was also chosen to light the Olympic cauldron to open those games, but should he be thought of as the greatest Olympian ever? Should an athlete who has won only one Olympic title and is considered great for his achievements - phenomenal though they undoubtedly are - after winning his only Olympic title really be considered the greatest Olympian ever? http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=220 Satish Sekar Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:00:13 +0100 Longevity and Multiple TitlesWhile there have been several athletes who have posted exceptional performances in a single Olympiad, or even two, should they be considered the greatest ever Olympian? Michael Phelps is the most successful athlete in Olympic history with an incredible tally of fourteen gold medals and two silvers as well, but he has achieved that in just four years in a sport that offers the opportunity to do so. Mark Spitz achieved his haul of nine gold medals, a silver and a bronze in the same four year period. The great Paavo Nurmi’s athletic career spanned three Olympiads - it should have been four. Sigfrid Edström, the then President of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) and Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to allow Nurmi to run the marathon in Los Angeles in 1932 because he considered Nurmi’s travel expenses for a meeting in Germany to be too high. Nurmi was a national hero in Finland and had travelled to the USA to compete in the marathon. He trained in America for the event and fellow athletes wanted him to compete. Nevertheless, Edström refused to budge and Nurmi was denied the opportunity to emulate the achievement of his mentor and first Flying Finn Hannes Kolehmainen. Nurmi believed that despite illness he would have won the marathon easily. He may well have been denied the opportunity to prove that because of the Swede’s jealousy at Nurmi’s accomplishments. Finland retaliated by refusing to compete in a traditional athletics meeting between the two countries again until 1939. Meanwhile, Nurmi had to console himself with a then record tally of nine gold medals and three silvers. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=219 Satish Sekar Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:56:11 +0100 The Greatest Olympian (Part Three)Another great modern Olympian who is mentioned almost in passing in this debate is the Ukrainian gymnast Larissa Latynina. She had a ten year sporting career that spanned three Olympiads. She burst onto the Olympic scene in Australia at Melbourne’s games in 1956. Latynina also graced the Olympic Games of Rome and Tokyo as well. She won a total of eighteen Olympic medals - nine gold: five silver and four bronze. Unsurprisingly the Soviet Union - including Latynina - won the team competition at those three Olympiads. She did the same in the floor exercise. Latynina treated Australia’s first Olympiad to gold medal displays in the all round event, which she retained four years later and the vault as well. She finished her medal haul from Melbourne with silver in the uneven bars and bronze in the team portable apparatus. Latynina took six medals in her first Olympiad. Ville Ritola did slightly better in the 1924 Olympiad in track and field - taking two silvers as opposed to Latynina’s silver and bronze, along with the four gold medals each of them won. However, despite beating her rival for the title of best gymnast at the games to the all round title, Latynina had a slightly worse record than her rival - the Hungarian star Ágnes Keleti - in a rivalry that was spiced up by political events. Keleti matched Ritola’s achievement of four gold medals and two silver. The Soviet Union had invaded Hungary and crushed the Hungarian Revolution led by the reformist Prime Minister Imre Nagy, who was secretly tried and executed in 1958. In 1989 Nagy was rehabilitated. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=218 Satish Sekar Front Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:53:19 +0100 Empower-Sport Magazine congratulates the American ... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=217 Derek Miller Front Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:57:59 +0100 Number ten is an athlete......who embodies each and every aspect of the Olympic spririt, and the human spirit in general. At the age of fourteen, Natalie du Toit, competed for South Africa, in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth games. Less than two years later she just missed out on qualification in three events for Sydney 2000. She made Athens her next goal. Then in 2001, tragedy struck. She hopped on her scooter after a training session, heading back to school in her native Capetown, and was his hit by an erratic driver who struck directly at her exposed left leg. It would have been better if she had fainted, but she stayed conscious until surgery. And when she came to, her left leg had been amputated at her knee. Far from ending her career or her dreams, she returned with vigour, determined to keep her hopes of competition alive. To the delight of her family and her peers she qualified for the Manchester Commonwealth games in 2002, where she finished a creditable eighth in the able-bodied 800 metres freestyle. It was the first time in the modern era that an amputee had raced in the finals of an able-bodied swimming competition. In an historic double of competing as both an able-bodied athlete, and an athlete with a disability, she also took gold in the 50m and 100m lite athletes with disability events. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=216 Derek Miller Front Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:02:38 +0100 My picks for numbers eight and nineAs the title suggests are both runners. But that's where their similarity with the most of the field abruptly ends. Nader al Masri, twenty eight, is a 5000 metre specialist, who hails from Beit Hanoun, in the Gaza Strip. He's the only one from Gaza on the Palestinian team, and he just made the trip. The rattle of gunfire and threat of rocket attacks, form the backdrop for his training regime, and he was repeatedly refused requests to train outside the strip. Finally, after activists took up his cause he got his marching orders in April, and has been allowed to take flight from the Hamas controlled region to follow his Beijing dream. He faces stiff competition on the track too, but if he makes qualifying it will be personal triumph and there's no limits to what he might achieve. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=215 Derek Miller Front Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:38:25 +0100 My number seven pickIs an eighteen year old British boxer, named Billy Joe Saunders. He's says he's hoping to emulate the feats of Amir Khan, who boxed very well in Athens four years ago. And judging by his overwhelming points victory, 14-3, against Turkey's Adem Kilicci, who managed bronze at the world championships only last year, he could well be on his way.This young pugilist has no ordinary tale of the tape. He may well be the first Romany Gypsy to qualify for the Olympics in his chosen category. He's no stranger to being an outsider. He and his family live on a caravan site on the outskirts of London, and his rich lineage testifies that he has boxing in his blood. Tom, his father boxed, so does his brother, and so too do his cousins, grandad, and great grandfather. The difference is, they all boxed with their gloves off. This prospect, was born into the bare knuckle variety of the sometimes not so noble art. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=214 Derek Miller Front Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:17:50 +0100 My pick at number six  Controversial to some perhaps, my pick at number six is the American basketball team. Truth is there's nothing controversial about it at all, especially if they play as good as they talk. The official and unofficial team spokesman, in a team full of stars who talk and mostly deliver, is Cleveland Cavalier and global icon, LeBron James. 'For us it's now or never. It's the gold or it's failure', he says. Big words indeed, even for for a big man. Though the United States have won twelve of the fifteen Olympic basketball golds on offer, not counting Moscow, when America stayed at home, their standing in the game has slipped of late. Bronze in Athens, and defeat against Greece in the 2006 world championships, basically disgraced the entire domestic game, so often revered by adoring fans. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=213 Derek Miller Front Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:32:58 +0100 Pick of the bunch number five. The infamy surrounding certain former US champions of the track is not going to disappear any time soon. A victory for 200 metre specialist Allyson Felix, however could  help pave the way to dispelling the dark cloud of doping accusations that has hung over the team since the Marion Jones affair.As Jones, the former darling of the sprint team, languishes in prison, for lying to the authorities about steroid use, the defending 200 metre world champion knows that even the gold will not be enough to enough to silence the critics. Felix has never failed a drug test, but neither did Jones, say dissenters. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=212 Derek Miller Front Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:49:22 +0100 My numbers three and four pickThey look like certainties  to serve up a double dose of excitement and medals. They are the two top contenders for the showpiece 110 metres hurdles event. Dayron Robles, is the bookish twenty-one year old from the now infamous seaside town of Guantanamo Bay, (it's really quite scenic, I've been there and seen it, from the outside of course). He stormed to a new world record recently and just might have enough to topple China's other golden boy,  current Olympic champion Liu Xiang. (and yes, he's just as revered as the towering  Houston Rockets and China Basketball star Yao Ming.) http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=211 Derek Miller Front Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:55:31 +0100 The 26th Olympiad in Beijing is now over, we extend our congratulations to the competitors whose dreams have been fullfilled. Coming very soon our post Olympics special... watch this space!In this issue of the magazine we concentrate exclusively on the Olympic Games. We will include other articles on the Olympics in future issues. We thank John Little for the research that he contributed to this issue. We begin with the Path to Beijing (Part One) which shows that modern issues of performance enhancing substances: cheating, boycotts and bans are nothing new. It takes the Olympic story from the foundation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894 through to the Antwerp Games of 1920. It is followed by The Betrayal of Olympic Ideals that details the harsh treatment of Germany in particular after the First World War by the IOC. The IOC stands for peace and harmony, yet despite an illegal occupation of its territory following an invasion by France and Belgium, the victim of that aggression was punished. France hosted the 1924 Olympic Games despite invading and occupying an important part of Germany. The IOC rewarded this aggression by not only allowing France to keep the Olympic Games, but maintaining the Olympic ban on the victim. This was a shameful betrayal of Olympic principles by the IOC. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=208 Derek Miller Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:10:58 +0100 To take part in the Olympic games, is to embrace, at least in part, it's colourful ideals.This month, thousands of athletes, from around two hundred countries across the globe, congregate in China's capital in pursuit of their dreams.I have chosen to look at a few who embody the Olympic spirit, body and soul, not any more than their peers, but enough to have guided them towards their ultimate goal, and enough to stir the attentions and emotions of both the public at large and their fellow athletes.Some may be big stars, truly larger than life, who regard anything other than a gold medal at the end of the three weeks as nothing but failure. For others just making the team and boarding the plane to China, signified a triumph of breathtaking heights. In no particular order of fame, success, prospects, nationality or gender, empower sport will seek to follow the fortunes of this select few in pursuit of their dreams. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=209 Derek Miller Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:10:55 +0100  My second pick of the richly deserving bunch... ... who clearly cannot all get a mention, is Iraqi female sprinter, Dana Hussein. The 100 and 200 metre specialist, becomes only the third Iraqi woman to reach an Olympic games.And as if sniper fire, bombs, and sectarian fighting were not obstacles enough, the determined five person squad, only made it to Beijing after a last minute change of heart by the International Olympic Committee, who had previously banned Iraq from competing due to an infraction of IOC rules regarding their national olympic committee. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=210 Derek Miller Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:10:30 +0100 (Part One)The twenty-sixth modern Olympiad begins in the Chinese capital of Beijing on August 8th. The modern Olympic Games had experienced a long and often tortuous path to becoming the ‘Greatest Sporting Show on Earth.’ The Olympic movement lay dormant for almost a millennium-and-a-half. Pierre de Frédy - later Baron Coubertin -lit the Olympic torch in 1894. It had been a dream of William Penny Brooks to revive the Olympic Games as an international competition. Unfortunately he died a few months before his dream became reality. The mantle was inherited and carried forward by de Coubertin. The international Olympic movement was revived in Paris, following a meeting at the Sorbonne in June 1894. It resulted in the foundation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). There were some who argued forcefully that since France provided the impetus to revive the Olympic Games Paris should have the honour of hosting the first Olympiad of the new era. Others argued more persuasively in the end that it should be Athens - as the Olympic Games were a Greek tradition. Archaeological finds at  the ancient Geek site of Olympia stimulated the rush to revive the games and hold them in Greece. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=207 Satish Sekar Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:17 +0100 The Olympic Games were devised to bring the people of the world together through sport. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has laudable ideals, but it has occasionally been used and abused for political purposes. Germany had been due to host the sixth Olympiad in Berlin in 1916. Kaiser Wilhelm II never got the opportunity to exploit the games for such ends because Berlin’s Olympic Games were cancelled due to the First World War. The IOC decamped from France to Switzerland during that conflict, but France remained an important player in the Olympic movement. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=206 Satish Sekar Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:16 +0100 (Part Two)The Olympic Games returned to Paris in 1924. Most of the nations defeated in the First World War were allowed back into the Olympic fold. Germany was the only exception. The best-known story of Paris’ second Olympic Games thanks to the 1980 Oscar-winning film ‘Chariots of Fire’ was that of Harold Abrahams and Eric Lidell. Abrahams wasn’t Britain’s best sprinter, - Liddell was - but due to the race being scheduled to take place on the Sabbath Liddell refused to compete. Abrahams took advantage to win gold. Liddell won gold the 400m. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=205 Satish Sekar Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:15 +0100 The Axis Olympics (Part One)Pierre de Coubertin resigned as IOC President in 1925. Germany had been treated harshly - unjustly even. Paris hosted the 1924 Olympic Games despite having invaded the Ruhr Valley in 1923 and occupying it until 1925. France was not only rewarded for actions that breached the Olympic ideal of peace, but Germany remained banned despite being the victim of invasion and occupation. Their athletes suffered again. German athletes who were eighteen when the First World War began were thirty-two when they finally got the chance to realise their Olympic dreams and compete in an Olympiad. German athletes last graced the Olympic Games - the fifth Olympiad in Stockholm in 1912. They were not permitted to compete again until the eighth Olympiad in Amsterdam in 1928. The 800m runner Lina Radke announced the arrival of Germany’s female athletes by winning her country’s first gold medal in athletics. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=204 Satish Sekar Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:13 +0100 The Axis Olympics (Part Two)The Berlin games went down in history as the most controversial Olympics ever. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) could have acted earlier and avoided the embarrassment, but once again politics intervened. The Nazis contravened every principle the Olympic movement claimed to hold dear. The IOC had the evidence to move the games from Berlin until a government in keeping with Olympic ideals was in power in Germany. They failed to do so and deserve to be judged accordingly as do apologists for Hitler’s games such as Avery Brundage, but politics apart, Germany staged a very successful Olympic Games in Berlin. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=203 Satish Sekar Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:12 +0100 The Axis Olympics (Part Three)Controversial as the tenth Olympiad in Berlin undoubtedly was, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was fortunate that Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 plunged the world into war before the scheduled eleventh Olympiad could take place. Although it sounds ridiculous at first, if it hadn’t happened the Olympic movement may not have survived the scandal. Had the war been delayed by just a year the world’s athletes would have gathered in Tokyo to celebrate peace and harmony through sport as world prepared for war. The last two Olympic Games before the war would then have been hosted by evil militaristic governments who used and abused Olympic principles and benefited from the propaganda value of hosting a successful games http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=202 Satish Sekar Front Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0100 Empower-Sport Magazine congratulates Mark Rampraka... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=201 Derek Miller Front Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:50 +0100 We have a varied selection of articles for you as ... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=200 Derek Miller Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:20:25 +0100 FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter is sometimes a controversial figure in sport. His previous comments that women players should wear tighter shorts to attract greater interest rightly attracted criticism, but Blatter’s presidency of FIFA has coincided with an unprecedented growth of interest in women’s football. More and more women and girls are playing the sport and the standard is improving too. The recent Women’s World Cup attracted media interest and provided an opportunity to invest attention in the sport. Sadly media interest soon waned. Even Germany - a country that has performed highly in women’s competitions cannot secure media interest that will develop and sustain public interest. Germany won the World Cup in China last year, yet members of that squad struggle for the right to play in conditions that no top male player would tolerate. Germany’s women have won two thirds of the European Championships and that despite stiff competition from Scandinavia especially. Germany’s women’s leagues are not as well organised as Sweden’s for example. The best player in China - Brasil’s Marta - plays in Sweden. And at the start of this year Germany’s star goalkeeper Nadine Angerer - the only woman or man in history not to concede a single goal in the World Cup finals left the German league to play for Swedish club Djurgården IF. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=199 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:17:31 +0100 African Football's Organising PioneersKumasi has always had a great interest in sport, but the Asante had a long wait for top flight football. The Asante are a proud people whose empire was the pride of Ghana.1 Asante Kotoko was not the first team to be established in Ghana. That honour belongs to the all-European team Excelsior, which was based in the southern port of Cape Coast - site of the infamous castle that was once at the heart of the hated slave trade. Excelsior was established in 1905. Six years later Accra’s greatest team - Hearts of Oak was founded. The Asante still had no team and no sign of one either. Nearly a quarter of a century later Kumasi finally had a team to represent the Asante Kingdom - Kotoko, which was founded in 1935. Consequently the Asantehene - King of the Asante - remains the head of the club. Kotoko became one of Ghana’s most famous clubs, but in the two decades prior to independence football in the Gold Cost was badly organised. There was no national league. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=198 Franklin Anane Gyimah Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:15:28 +0100 The trans-Atlantic slave trade was abolished in Britain in 1807, although breaches of the law continued. After compensation for slave-owners was agreed slavery itself was abolished in 1833, although the law only became operational five years later. And that was the end of the abominable institution in Britain. It seems not. Nearly two centuries after slavery was consigned to history a shocking example of modern-day slavery was discovered in England by the FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter. Apparently a multi-millionaire footballer is being shackled by his club. Despite his wealth he cannot afford to buy his freedom - his buy-out clause is prohibitive. As soon as Empower-Sport Magazine heard of this outrage to humanity we had to investigate further. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=197 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:12:49 +0100 Rotterdam is an interesting city. It is a microcosm of the contradictions of Dutch society and its football is no different. As their press officer Yvette van Schie had predicted there were no problems with racism at Sparta - Rotterdam’s oldest club, which suggests that they are doing something right.1 There was only one match left on my trip before the Eredivisie took a short winter break. Despite the laughter that greeted our query about whether there was a problem with racism in Dutch football, it still required investigation. I had heard monkey-chanting directed at Urby Emanuelson when Excelsior played Ajax and there were weird sheep-related comments directed at Noordin Boukhari - Sparta’s captain - at the De Kuip Stadium on Boxing Day when Feyenoord hosted Sparta. It was a derby and Boukhari had also played for Feyenoord’s bitter rivals Ajax, which might explain the motivation for the insults that targeted his Moroccan origins. Boukhari was substituted in that match. The Moroccan striker’s form was wretched. It cost him the opportunity to go to Ghana for the African Cup of Nations. He eventually regained his form and became an important cog in Sparta’s successful drive to safety. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=196 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:11:37 +0100 Two years is quite a short time in international football, especially to make a team world class. Jürgen Klinsmann’s modern training methods may be revolutionary, but achieved a minor miracle of getting the team to play his style of football - an attacking style - with results when it mattered in just two years. Many feared total disgrace in 2006, but Klinsmann got the most from his young team, even though few believed in him when he took over as a young untested coach with new ideas. Even Franz Beckenbauer - the face of Germany’s successful bid for the World Cup - was sceptical. The results and performances took time to come. Even on the eve of the tournament there were few believers, but Klinsmann surpassed expectations and so did Germany. Third place was no disgrace. Klinsmann’s attacking philosophy won new admirers all over the world, but it required modern training methods to achieve the level of fitness to deliver his style of football. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=195 Satish Sekar and Ana Pane Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:09:48 +0100 It isn’t often that football contributes to the outbreak of wars, but it has happened and more than once. The former Yugoslavia disintegrated due to the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1991-95. Although it was far from the only reason for the demise of Yugoslavia, football played an important role in precipitating those events. On May 13th 1990 Dinamo Zagreb hosted Red Star Belgrade. The Delije - hooligan supporters of Red Star - were there in force. It was reported that Red Star thug and later war criminal Željko Ražnatović - Arkan - was there as well. Arkan recruited many of his hooligan followers into his paramilitary organisation - The Tigers. They went on to wreak havoc in the war that destroyed Yugoslavia. The Delije deliberately provoked Dinamo’s supporters, especially their hardcore supporters - The Bad Blue Boys. Chants such as ‘Zagreb is Serbian’ and ‘We’ll kill Tuđman,’ were designed to provoke a response. It did. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=194 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:06:48 +0100 First of all congratulations to Spain, both on the... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=193 Derek Miller Front Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:26:11 +0100 (Part One)Last year Empower-Sport Magazine published Satish Sekar’s exclusive interview with Villarreal’s dynamic midfielder Marcos Antonio Senna da Silva. Now we update the story and reflect on his subsequent exploits for club and country as well. Nicknamed el Tanque - the Tank - Senna has proved a revelation for Villarreal and Spain. His international career seemed over after Spanish coach Luis Aragonés failed to call him up during the qualification campaign for the European Championship. Since the dip in form that cost him his place in the talented Spanish side Senna has worked hard and regained his form to become indispensable. Last season Real Madrid, coached by former player Bernd Schuster, retained their La Liga title. Villarreal’s wily Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini quietly went about his business while all other challenges faded away. Villarreal emerged as the only team capable of challenging the Madrid giants and they did it without the creativity, but ultimately disruptive influence of Argentina’s play-maker Juan Román Riquelme - back in Argentina with former club Boca Juniors - or the goals of Uruguayan striker Diego Forlán who was sold to Atlético de Madrid last summer, ironically after a training ground bust-up with Senna. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=191 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:00:38 +0100  (Part Two)Marcos Senna da Silva has proved himself to be one of his country’s most important players on and off the pitch. He is part of a long tradition of foreign-born players to play for Spain that includes all time greats Alfredo di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás, but that was decades ago. More recently Mariano Pernía was called up by Spain despite his Argentinean heritage. Senna has continued his progress. He was the youngest black footballer to be capped for Spain. So how does he feel about being a black pioneer in Spanish football? http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=192 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:59:45 +0100 Fed up of being dubbed serial under-achievers, there was something different about Luis Aragonés’ team in the recent European Championship in Austria and Switzerland. Having controversially extended his contract after once again flattering to deceive in the World Cup in 2006, Aragonés stamped his authority on the team. He had loyally stuck with Real Madrid’s talisman Raúl González Blanco through a serious loss of form only to axe him as he began to regain it. Last season Real retained their La Liga title, but there was no reprieve for Raúl. The Real Madrid player’s public bust-up with Aragonés during the last World Cup didn’t help his cause either. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=190 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:49:34 +0100 On October 26th 1979 South Korea’s long-standing military strongman and President General Park Chung-hee was assassinated. He took power after a bloodless military coup d’état in 1961. South Korea’s first President Syngman Rhee was forced to resign in 1960 after blatant vote-rigging. Rhee died in exile in the USA. After his escape the extent of his corruption was exposed too. Chung-hee held elections two years later, which he won by a very narrow margin. Chung-hee had a honeymoon period when he seized power. At first he was hailed as the leader destined to bring order and prosperity to South Korea. In 1967 he won elections again, but the authoritarian nature of his government was already drawing criticism within South Korea. Over the next two decades he crushed dissent ruthlessly. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=189 John Little & Satish Sekar Front Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:37:42 +0100 The political use of Croatian football since the Second World War has been dominated by just two men - Josip Broz Tito and Franjo Tuđman. They began by sharing a lot, but quickly drifted apart. During the war Tito led Yugoslavia’s partisans in their heroic resistance against the fascist Ustaše led by Ante Pavelić and the Nazis. Tuđman joined the partisans. After the war the Yugoslav army was reorganised under partisan leaders. Tito consolidated power and became President of Yugoslavia. However, Tito and Tuđman were united by circumstances rather than ideology. Tito passionately believed in Yugoslavia’s national identity; Tuđman didn’t. The cracks took a while to show, but Tuđman was a Croatian nationalist and that meant a falling out was inevitable, but what shaped their opinions? http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=188 Satish Sekar Front Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:35:58 +0100 The European Championships are over. Spain deservedly won and will compete in the Confederations Cup next year in South Africa. The focus of the football world now returns to our World Cup - Africa’s that is. The former FIFA representative of Oceania’s federation Charles Dempsey and our country patched up their differences recently. Dempsey was mandated by his federation to vote for us to host the World Cup in 2006. He abstained and Germany won the vote 12-11. Had he voted for South Africa, as he was instructed to, FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s casting vote would have meant we would be discussing our World Cup already and looking to the future. Dempsey later claimed that he had been advised by his lawyers to abstain or he would have been accused of taking a bribe. He made it clear that South Africa had not tried to bribe him. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=187 Aboobaker Williams Front Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:18:24 +0100 Hello, We hope you enjoyed the insight provided by... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=186 Derek Miller Front Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:36:32 +0100 On June 15th 1954 the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) was founded in Basel. It is still based in Switzerland. The idea had first been suggested by the Secretary-General of the French Football Federation, Henri Delaunay, nearly thirty years earlier. He also proposed a tournament for European Nations. UEFA quickly organised the European Champions Cup - it later became the Champions League. The excellent Real Madrid team of the mid 1950s dominated the early years of that tournament, but a trophy for the European nations took longer to organise. It wasn’t until 1958 that the qualification process began. Seventeen member states began the search for Europe’s champions. Politics would interrupt progress as dictatorships of opposing political ideologies were among the seventeen states. The timing of this tournament is significant too. The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) was founded in Lisbon in 1956. Within a year the first African Cup of Nations had taken place by invitation in Sudan. South Africa’s invitation was withdrawn due to their refusal to send a multi-racial team. It affected the organisation of the tournament, but Egypt emerged victorious, thrashing Ethiopia 4-0 in the final. The hosts had to settle for third place. UEFA was stung into action. A second African Cup of Nations tournament took place in 1959. Egypt hosted it and retained their title 2-1 at Sudan’s expense. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=185 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:20:33 +0100 I live and work in Kumasi and was fortunate enough to see the African Cup of Nations come to my city again. Kumasi is in the heart of Asante territory. It is a unique and culturally rich land with a proud people and sporting heroes. One of Ghana's greatest strikers Tony Yeboah was born in Kumasi. The exceptional record-breaking coach and former captain of the Black Stars, Charles Gyamfi played for Asante Kotoko and started his team in our region too. We were delighted when Ghana won the right to host the recent African Cup of Nations, as we hoped and prayed that Kumasi would be selected to be one of the hosts and that would mean that vitally needed refurbishment would come to our best stadium - then known Kumasi Sports Stadium. That had happened when Ghana last hosted the African Cup of Nations on our own in 1978. We shared the tournament with Nigeria in 2000, but that only resulted in a face-lift for stadium. Our wish came true. The stadium got what it needed. It was brought up to date. The stadium in Accra was brought up to date too. New stadiums were built in Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale as well. "We have four beautiful new stadiums," said Ghana's coach Claude le Roy recently, when asked what was the legacy of the tournament. And one of them is in Kumasi. It is a state-of-the-art stadium that rivals any in Europe. There may be complaints about the quality of the pitch and other minor quibbles, but such complaints are not confined to Ghana, or even Africa. They are constantly heard in Europe too. The facilities are up to date. Kumasi is ready to host major events. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=184 Franklin Anane Gyimah Front Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:11:35 +0100 Yugoslavia never won a major tournament. After the break up of the country it competed more in name than reality. Slovenia: Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia all carved out separate identities. Yugoslavia consisted of just Serbia and Montenegro. None of the former Yugoslavian nations qualified for the World Cup in 1994. It could have been so different. A country that boasted phenomenally talented individual players such as Dragoslav Šekularac: Dragan Džajiæ, Dejan Saviæeviæ, Milan Galiæ, Dragan Stokjoviæ, Robert Prosineèki, Dražan Jerkoviæ, Davor Šuker and Darko Panèev, among others had never fulfilled their massive potential at international level. They had flair and artistry and even possessed it throughout the generations, but ultimately Yugoslavia failed to deliver as a nation. They lost in the final of the inaugural European Nation’s Cup in 1960. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=183 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:09:22 +0100   The escalating war in Bosnia and Croatia ensured that the 1987 champion generation never achieved their full potential. However, they were not the only Yugoslav team to be disbanded by the war. The other, at least, had trophies at senior level to show for their talent, including the most important prize for a European club. It was a multi-national team that boasted some members of the champion generation. Surprisingly, given the events at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb just a month before, it included the Croatian Robert Prosineèki. The team was Red Star Belgrade - rivals of Dinamo Zagreb Partisan Belgrade and Hajduk Split. The Bosnian Refik Šabanadžoviæ: Croatian-born Serbo-Croat Siniša Mihajloviæ, Serbian Vladimir Jugoviæ, Montenegrin Dejan Saviæeviæ, Macedonian Darko Panèev and even a Romanian Miodrag Belodedici among others played for them. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=182 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:04:37 +0100 The disintegration of Yugoslavia began decades before the events at the Maksimir Stadium provided the spark that ignited the wars. Josip Broz - Marshall Tito - led the communist partisans with distinction during the Second World War. Tito was determined to suppress nationalism and hold Yugoslavia together. It was a reaction to the land-grubbing and oppression that the country suffered from 1941 onwards. Territory had been annexed by Albania: Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Italy. Appalling puppet regimes such as the Ustaše in Croatia were established and atrocities that even caused hardened Nazis to blanch in horror were committed. Sabotage was greeted with savage reprisals. After the war Tito did not forgive collaboration. Although there is no evidence that Tito personally ordered reprisals, local partisans settled scores. Among those killed were innocent people caught up with the guilty trying to escape. The Chetniks - led by General Draža Mihailoviæ - supported King Peter II’s government in exile. In November 1945 the monarch was deposed. Mihailoviæ was captured and executed in 1946. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=181 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:00:55 +0100 We are delighted to be able to offer our readers access to the thoughts of two of the greatest players to grace the English Premier League in recent years - Ryan Giggs and Thierry Henry. We are able to do this courtesy of Show Racism The Red Card (SRTRC). Giggs and Henry are amongst a clutch of stars who appear in the recently released, and excellent, new magazine from SRTRC. [1] Due to pressure of space much of what they had to say had to be left out. Thankfully, SRTRC was good enough to allow Empower-Sport Magazine’s  Mark Metcalf  exclusive access to the interviews. He has compiled a fascinating insight into their opinions. We are very grateful to SRTRC for allowing us to bring you an extended version of what they said and to Mark for his hard work on this important article that we wanted to bring you without delay.Mark starts with  Ryan Giggs  and how he was forced to face down racist bullies when he was young. Then he details how Giggs and other black footballers have drawn inspiration from earlier professional footballers such as Viv Anderson, Paul Ince and John Barnes. Mark then moves onto the views of  Thierry Henry  on Islam, the power of the media to influence people and the 2010 South African World Cup. Empower-Sport Magazine intends to offer unrivalled coverage on African football over the next couple of years. We are proud to bring you the opinions of two of the finest footballers in the world over the last ten years.Derek Miller - Editor1. Among many other things, SRTRC’s magazine features articles on migration and travellers. A free copy can be requested by ringing  +44 (0)191 257 8519. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=179 Derek Miller Front Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:15:45 +0100 The fair skin of Manchester United and Wales’ footballing legend Ryan Giggs may well have helped him to escape the clutch of racist bullies as a youngster growing up in Salford in the 1980s. Well it might have done, if it hadn’t been for the fact that his father, Danny Wilson, was not only a black man, but was also a well known Rugby League player who played for Swinton Lions. So the young Giggs was subjected to racist abuse as a child. Although the taunts he suffered clearly failed to prevent him going on to a sparkling career in top-flight football he admits that he didn’t deal with it in the best way then. “I would have done things differently if I could go back in time,” says Giggs. “My grandfather was from Sierra Leone. When I was growing up everyone knew who my dad was and as a result I used to get a little bit of racist stick at school. I don’t want to go into exactly what happened but obviously it isn’t very nice and you know I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. I’d like to see it eradicated and for everyone to be treated as equal.” http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=180 Mark Metcalf Front Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:37:47 +0100 We have an interesting selection of articles in th... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=178 Derek Miller Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:06:00 +0100 In the fifth part of our series on Ghanaian football legend Nana Kumi Gyamfi I the jubilation of his second triumph in the African Cup of Nations proved short-lived. Political events in Ghana were about to take a very heavy toll on Gyamfi and the country as a whole. Kwame Nkrumah’s football revolution was about to be stopped in its tracks and with it his hopes of uniting Africa. These tumultuous events put the next phase of Gyamfi’s remarkable life into context. He had to remould the team in 1965. Having done so, Charles Kumi Gyamfi, as he then was, took them to Tunisia. They narrowly beat the hosts 3-2 in extra time to retain the African Cup of Nations. Nkrumah’s football revolution was ready for export to the rest of Africa. Kenya was the first to welcome Gyamfi’s African champions. Having set a national record of 13-0 against Kenya that gravely displeased President Nkrumah, the team gave their hosts a chance in a return match. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=176 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:05:00 +0100 For those who thought that South Africa had seen the last of its problems with racism the shameful attacks on immigrants proved otherwise, but what about football? It simply wasn't talked about - well not until now. "I have no idea why the coach hates me," said twenty-four year-old Brazilian striker Marcos de Jesus. "He has favorites and the dressing room is divided. White, black and mixed-race players are treated differently. He does not even greet me and ignores me completely and I have no idea why." These allegations were published last month in a local football journal - Soccer Laduma. In a country that will host the FIFA World Cup such complaints are very disturbing. They damage the image of football in the country and could not have come at a worse time. South Africa is preparing to host Africa's World Cup just two years from now. The focus of the world will be on African football and South Africa in particular sooner rather than later. De Jesus is contracted to play for Bid West Wits; in South Africa's Premier Soccer League PSL. He accused his Mozambican-born coach Roger de Sá of racist conduct at Wits.   http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=177 Aboobaker Williams Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:04:00 +0100 The new Croatia is a comparatively young country. It had been conquered by Celts and ancient Greeks, before the Romans subdued what was then known as Dalmatia and Pannonia in 168 BC. It was ruled by the Western Empire until the final collapse of the Roman Empire. It then passed into the hands of the Huns and Ostrogoths. The Byzantines replaced them before the ancestors of the Slavs settled the land in the seventh century. The Croats continued to settle the land which was organised into two duchies - Littoral Croatia and Pannonian Croatia. In the middle of the ninth century Duke Trpimir I, expanded his domain. His nineteen year rule ended in 864. Christianity became entrenched as the dominant religion to such an extent that Duke Branimir was given the title Dux Croatorum by Pope John VIII in 879. Croatia’s pre-history was almost at an end. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=175 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:03:00 +0100 The Croatian national team achieved a great deal on the pitch since it became an independent country again after the break-up of Yugoslavia - the highlight being an impressive third place in the World Cup in 1998. Sadly a minority of their fans are hardcore racists, posing as Croatian patriots. A human swastika was formed by Croatian fans at the Stadio Armando Picchi in Livorno and the U-symbol of the Ustaše at the Asim Ferhatoviæ Hase Stadium in Sarajevo respectively after the World Cup in Germany in 2006. The Croatian FA made it clear that such supporters are not wanted. The overwhelming majority of Croatian fans are a credit to their country, but they clearly have a problem with racist followers. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=174 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:02:00 +0100 The past two years have been like a roller-coaster ride for Trinidad and Tobago defender Brent Sancho - with more ups and downs that anyone would care to stomach. The former Gillingham and Dundee footballer has been blacklisted from the Trinidad and Tobago team, since October 2006, despite being one of the key performers at the 2006 World Cup in Germany - the islands’ first time at the tournament. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=173 Leon Mann Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:01:00 +0100 The European Championship in Austria and Switzerland is centre-stage and rightly so, but some have other priorities. Over forty European nations that failed to qualify are already focusing their attention firmly on the World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010. England played the USA at Wembley on May 28th and Trinidad and Tobago on June 1st as Fabio Capello continues to experiment ahead of the World Cup qualification campaign that will begin in earnest in September. It will offer England the opportunity to renew acquaintance with Croatia and possibly Slaven Biliæ too. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=172 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:00:00 +0100 Rio Ferdinand to visit Nigeria to promote the importance of educationEmpower Sport wish to express our whole hearted support for Rio Ferdinand, we commend his mission and personal dedication. We encourage and hope that other top players and athletes will soon follow his example.  England and Manchester United star, Rio Ferdinand, will travel to Nigeria next week to promote a message of education through football, while learning about the challenges facing young people in the country. The UEFA Champions League winner will visit Lagos in Nigeria to discuss opening an academy and to support a street soccer competition designed to encourage young people in Lagos to exercise more regularly. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=171 staff Front Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:21:18 +0100 Europe takes centre stage next month with the Euro... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=169 Derek Miller Front Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:37:03 +0100 Ghana was ecstatic. Just five years after joining CAF and winning the right to host the African Cup of Nations - the fourth tournament - to coincide with the meeting of African leaders at the meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Ghana, the newly independent country announced its arrival as a major football power in Africa by defeating Sudan 3-0 in the final in Accra. It was the first time that Egypt did not appear in the final of the African Cup of Nations. Few could have realised it then but the torch had been passed from Egypt - a centre of Pan-Arabic revolution - to Ghana, which would become the focal point of the Pan-African football revolution. Ghanaian striker Joseph Agyeman-Gyau summed up the mood of optimism and pride in the achievement last year to BBC Sport, but once the euphoria waned the successful coach Charles Gyamfi faced ridiculous calls for his job. Both the Minister of Sport Ohene Djan and President Kwame Nkrumah ignored the detractors. Gyamfi kept his job and got on with the next stage of the football revolution. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=168 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:50:00 +0100 Germany and South Africa's World Cup Finals Sometimes it is useful to step back and get a different perspective on something that you have been deeply involved in. Like many Germans I enjoyed the World Cup of 2006 and was pleasantly surprised by the achievement of my country. Germany had been in disarray just two years earlier. A football revolution was required and delivered in a comparatively short period of time. Aboobaker “Boebie” Williams - a former South African Youth Coach - has revealed his ideas on the state of affairs in South African football two years before FIFA World Cup 2010.1 His analysis is pertinent not only to South Africa as the country prepares to host Africa’s first World Cup finals, but Germany too. So how does South Africa’s preparation compare to that of Germany in 2004 - two years before we hosted the event in 2006. Williams argues that South Africa disappointed at the recent African Cup of Nations and details his opinions on what the underlying problems are. As he sees it, they are related to the number of players abroad: the number of foreign players in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the education of coaches and youth players as well as the question of whether foreign or local coaches are best suited for the country’s needs and of course there is the issue of whether the players have the required level of skills and whether they have the right attitude to succeed. Williams’ analysis is though-provoking, but in some ways it is reminiscent of the problems facing Germany at the same stage in our preparations to host the World Cup finals. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=164 Christoph Woltersdorf Front Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:40:00 +0100 For the first time in over a decade England will miss a major championship. The failure to avoid defeat against Croatia at Wembley Stadium on November 21st last year condemned the inventors of the game to a summer of inactivity. While Croatia and Guus Hiddink’s young Russia side make the trip to Austria and Switzerland, England, must concentrate on building for the historic World Cup of 2010. Steve McClaren’s reign - the shortest of an England manager - is over to the relief of many and Fabio Capello has been charged with steering England to success in South Africa, but where did it go wrong? The obvious answer is that rainy night in November, where the sight of Steve McClaren under his umbrella became the defining image of his disastrous tenure as England’s least successful manager, yet the signs were there earlier. At least six months previously another poor display indicated that there was still a lot to do, but it was a friendly and easily ignored as inconsequential. In retrospect it wasn’t. It showed serious flaws in England’s play and relieved the pressure on controversial Spanish coach Luis Aragonés, who went on to guide the Iberian giants to the finals of the European Championship, but Aragonés has had a far from easy time too. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=170 Satish Sekar Front Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:35:00 +0100 Spain’s coach Luis Aragonés has just announced his squad for the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland. Fifteen months ago Spain’s progress was anything but assured. Aragonés arrived at Old Trafford - a man under great pressure. It is to his credit that his team still came to play football. The then England manager Steve McClaren gave a début to Manchester United’s on-loan goalkeeper Ben Foster. He impressed, but injury and lack of opportunity blighted his progress. In the absence of Wayne Rooney England’s line was led by Peter Crouch. England started well, almost getting a dream start but Michael Carrick's early effort failed to beat Spain's captain Iker Casillas. Shaun Wright-Phillips - one of the main victims of the racist abuse in the Santiago Bernabéu when the two sides last met - was ineffective, especially in terms of the delivery of his crosses. No England player excelled on that February night in Manchester. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=165 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 31 May 2008 23:30:00 +0100 As with much of Europe the football season in the Netherlands ends shortly and Dutch people will briefly unite in hope behind the national team that is coached by former Ajax and AC Milan striker Marco van Basten, who was forced into early retirement through injury. He scored one the most sensational goals in the 1988 European Championships - helping the Dutch squad win their only major international trophy to date. His first task was to take over the national team. His Ajax and Netherlands team-mate Frank Rijkaard had recently guided the Netherlands to the semi-finals of the last European Championship in 2000. Despite the good showing Rijkaard stepped down minutes after going out to Italy on penalties. He had a very unsuccessful season at Sparta - guiding them to relegation - before moving to Spain and turning Barcelona around. Failure to win a trophy with the Catalan giants for two seasons, combined with the humiliation of applauding champions Real Madrid onto the pitch at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and enduring a 4-1 thrashing in the match cost Rijkaard his job. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=163 Satish Sekar Front Sat, 31 May 2008 23:20:00 +0100 South Korean footballer Ahn Jung-hwan shot to fame by earning the dubious distinction of being sacked by his club Perrugia after the World Cup of 2002 for performing well against Italy, but not for his Italian club. He scored the golden goal that sent Italy home in the second round of the World Cup finals. Back in Italy an embittered Perrugia chairman Luciano Gaucci said, “I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football.” Jung-hwan had been on loan to the Italian club. Perrugia later retracted and offered to buy his contract outright, but Jung-hwan never played for the club again. He briefly played in Europe again for FC Metz in France. He returned to Korea and is currently, his country’s top scorer in the World Cup finals. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=166 Oscar Poiesz Front Sat, 31 May 2008 23:10:00 +0100 Hello again,We have an important selection of new ... http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=162 Derek Miller Front Mon, 12 May 2008 09:57:26 +0100 The playing career of one of Ghana’s greatest players, Charles Kumi Gyamfi, was over. In the third part of our series on the impact of Nana Kumi Gyamfi I, as he is now known, we examine the revolutionary contribution he made to both African and German football and the role that the late football pioneer and revolutionary Ohene Djan had on his life as part of the plan of the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah to unite Africa through football. Gyamfi would become an essential component of the Ghanaian football revolution - one that would have a great impact on both the political and football development of the whole continent. Sadly the revolutionary experiment would end too soon with the overthrow of Nkrumah by the Ghanaian military in February 1966. Ironically it would be a counter-revolution that benefited first from Nkrumah’s fall, as the Ghanaian football revolution was halted in its tracks by a reactionary military government that cared little for football and even less for African unity. The revolution was over and it would spell dark times for Gyamfi as he found himself marginalised. He found himself relegated to being on the Ghanaian bench as assistant to Carlos Alberto Parreira in 1968 - denied the opportunity to coach the Black Stars to an unprecedented third consecutive triumph as coach, but before the tribulations there were the triumphs. http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=161 Satish Sekar Front Mon, 12 May 2008 09:52:13 +0100 The anc