Month: December 2021

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Chelsea chief Granovskaia talks ‘tough decisions’ (VIDEO)

Roman Abramovich’s chief negotiator at Chelsea, Marina Granovskaia, has spoken of a “difficult year” after being named the Best Club Director in European football.

The Russian-Canadian was handed the prestigious gong at the Golden Boy awards in Turin, where Barcelona midfielder Pedri won the top prize and Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski was named Golden Player.

Granovskaia was recognized after Chelsea won their second Champions League title by beating Manchester City in Porto in May. The famously savvy businesswoman has been credited with overseeing the signings of stars such as $95 million Germany midfielder Kai Havertz, who scored the only goal in the final, as well as having a hand in the astute appointment of manager Thomas Tuchel the previous January following the sacking of club legend Frank Lampard.

On the podium collecting her trophy, though, she dedicated the win to everyone at Stamford Bridge in tough times amid the pandemic.

“It was a season we will not forget in a hurry,” Granovskaia said of a campaign in which Chelsea played behind closed doors for months as a result of the pandemic, even opening the doors of their Stamford Bridge home to UK National Health Service staff under the guidance of billionaire Russian chairman Abramovich.

“It was a difficult year with some tough decisions we had to make, but we won the Champions League for the second time, then the Super Cup – and the Women’s team were very successful too, also getting to the Champions League final, winning the Super League and the FA Cup. We are very pleased with how the year went.”

Granovskaia alluded to her strong partnership with Abramovich and the significant changes made to Chelsea’s squad and coaching staff.

“It is a team sport and, in the boardroom, it is just as much of a team sport as on the pitch,” she explained.

“None of this success would be possible without the right players, the right coaches, but also the right support staff, both at the stadium and at the training ground, and the environment they create for success.

“All of this was achieved under difficult circumstances for both the club and our supporters during the pandemic. A great season but we are, of course, already looking towards the next challenges.”

After Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-0 at Wembley to win the Women’s FA Cup earlier this month, boss Emma Hayes revealed the keen interest Granovskaia and her boss show in the team.

“She said it was the best she has ever seen us play,” Hayes said after the victory at Wembley Stadium.

“She can see the team improving and Roman Abramovich has sent his congratulations. I know he is an avid fan and I know he really enjoyed the performance.”

Abramovich, who made a long-awaited return to the UK last month, has hosted the women’s team on a trip they made to Israel, where he has dual nationality.

Granovskaia is said to have told awards organizers Tuttosport that there “isn’t a secret to Chelsea’s successes”. 

“Or at least, I don’t know it,” she admitted. “Otherwise, it would be easier to win year by year.

“But I know that there is daily teamwork and communication behind every success. Chelsea are a great team on and off the pitch.”

Agent Federico Pastorello, who guided Romelu Lukaku’s $129.5 million move from Inter Milan to Chelsea at the end of last season, told the outlet that Granovskaia “deserves the best”.

“She is very serious – she never bluffs,” he added, predicting that the feared Belgium striker will one day return to Italian top flight Serie A.

German website Transfermarkt reported that Granovskaia has played a key role in player sales worth $1.13 billion since 2011, giving Chelsea a transfer income that is only slightly behind established selling clubs Atletico Madrid and Benfica.

Currently third in the Premier League table and five points behind leaders Manchester City, Chelsea are fighting for their first English top flight win in four years.

Tuchel’s side have advanced to the knockout phase in their Champions League title defense, which will continue with a Round of 16 tie against French club Lille in February.

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Sickened wife of ‘robbed’ Hamilton’s boss rages at F1 – and ex-champ could quit sport

The wife of Lewis Hamilton’s boss, Toto Wolff, has accused F1 chiefs of lacking integrity and robbing the Brit of the World Championship – issuing a rant hours before the Mercedes chief hinted Hamilton could leave the sport.

Former Formula One participant Susie Wolff, who is the CEO of the Venturi Formula E team, has become one of the first figures closely associated with Mercedes to speak up about the dramatic final Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi.

FIA race director Michael Masi has been roundly criticized for his decisions around the use of the Safety Car, with many questioning F1 authorities while arguing that a baffling interpretation of the rules allowed Max Verstappen to overtake Lewis Hamilton on the final lap to win his first crown.

Hours before Wolff seemed devastated at a press conference and said he could not give any assurances Hamilton will return to Formula One next season, his wife, who made history as the first woman to participate in an F1 weekend at the British Grand Prix in 2014 under the Williams banner, addressed the scandal.

“Going into this final weekend, I believed both teams and drivers deserved to win,” she said, accompanying her words with a photo of herself embracing Hamilton.

“It was going to be a spectacle, a historic race that we all hoped would end without controversy. That wasn’t to be.

“What happened is still hard to comprehend and leaves me with a sick feeling… the way in which Lewis was robbed has left me in utter disbelief.

“The decision of one person within the governing body who applied a rule in a way which has never been done before in F1 single-handedly decided the F1 drivers’ world championship.

“Rules are rules, they can’t be changed on a whim or by one individual at the end of the race.”

Wolff said that her gripe was not to do with being a sore loser or aimed at Verstappen or Red Bull, who she called “deserving winners”, adding that “we always knew it was a strong possibility we may not win”.

She then spoke of seven-time champion Hamilton, praising her compatriot for showing “incredible integrity and dignity in the face of injustice”.

“You are the greatest there has ever been,” she said of the man who was knighted in England on Wednesday.

“The outcome of the last laps on Sunday? Those who know, they know – even those who can’t quite bring themselves to admit it.”

When asked about Hamilton’s future, Toto Wolff said: “I think as a racer, his heart will say ‘I need to continue’. But we have to overcome the pain.”

Wolff also revealed that he nor his star driver will not be attending the FIA Awards Ceremony on Thursday night.

Wolff’s wife hoped that by March 2022 “there is a governing body with sporting integrity and fairness at its core so I can fall back in love with F1”.

She earned admiration from some fans who hailed her bravery in calling the fiasco as she saw it.

“Like she said, don’t be mad at the drivers or teams,” remarked one. “They were just following orders. Blame the FIA entirely and maybe Mercedes for not taking the risk and boxing Lewis.”

“Max was the more deserving champion over the whole year,” argued another. “But this will always be marked down as a fixed race. It’s so unfair on both drivers.”

“We need more bravery like Susie’s, to have the guts to say it as the whole world says it,” came another appraisal.

“I just can’t believe how quiet Mercedes have been since the weekend. They haven’t even celebrated their eighth manufacturer’s championship.”

Those on the other side of the argument, however, called it “tactical PR” in a bid to get Masi fired by the FIA, amid Verstappen saying he “doesn’t care” if an investigation sees him stripped of the title.

“I’m fine; I don’t even think about it too much, because I do feel like the world champion, and it doesn’t matter what they try to do,” Verstappen said on Wednesday.

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The deployment of the safety car caused controversy at the Saudi Arabia F1 Grand Prix © Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
F1 chief accused of breaking his own rules as fuming fans make his words haunt him

“We won it on track, we won it when there was a green light and we passed them on track, and they will never be able to take that away from me anyway.

“About the possible appeal – I’m not busy with that. As a team, of course, it might be disturbing, but for us we have been really enjoying the last few days.”

Regarding his relationship with Toto Wolff, Verstappen said: “I think I can be a forgiving person but at the moment it’s still all so new… that it’s better not to talk about it too much.

“But I saw Toto in Monaco before Saudi, I had a dinner and he was sitting on the table next to me and we had a chat.

“He, of course, goes flat out for his team and I know mine also does everything they can.

“But besides that, I do think you should be accepting a loss – it doesn’t matter how much it hurts. I do think there that there’s a bit of a difference between the teams.”

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Exactly how famous is Hasbulla, the viral sensation Khabib says will be a ‘billionaire’?

Makhachkala native and TikTok star Hasbulla Magomedov has become one of 2021’s biggest viral sensations, earning a devoted online following and drawing attention from some of the fight game’s biggest names – but how famous is he?

One would imagine that it would take a certain level of celebrity to be fawned over by the likes of Dana White, Joe Rogan, Logan Paul, Shaquille O’Neal, as well as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.

The Rock? No. Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger? Try again. Conor McGregor? Definitely not.

Instead, the man who unites those names in fandom is a social media giant, even if his actual frame is considerably smaller.

Hasbulla – or Hasbik – has captivated audiences since his online videos first began picking up steam online around a year ago, when he posted a series of clips making fun of McGregor, or aping a Khabib press conference.

Today, just a year later, he has gathered a social media following in the millions and can legitimately call Nurmagomedov – himself one of the fight game’s biggest superstars – a true friend.

But how exactly did the pint-size Hasbulla become such a revered figure within MMA?

At first, Hasbulla’s ascent into social media stardom was a slow but steady one. Then a supposed beef with the similarly-sized Abdu Rozik catapulted Hasbulla to infamy.

The clip, which was a mock press conference allegedly promoting a ‘fight’ between the two, saw Hasbulla and Rozik trade insults before squaring off and going forehead-to-forehead, with the video quickly descending into the absurd when the pair began throwing punches and kicks at each other (all of which wildly missed their targets).

Most who viewed the clip took it how it was intended: a bit of light-hearted humor. Russia’s Dwarf Athletic Association, however, didn’t look on it quite so kindly and moaned that the clip was “unethical”.

While some looked down their nose at the video, others were enthralled.

UFC fighter Darren Till declared online that he would “pay good money to watch this”, while Russian star Petr Yan also noted that he found the clip incredibly entertaining. 

His fame didn’t stop there. Dana White has also jumped on the Hasbulla Express and recently revealed that a video the UFC president posted of him was the most successful clip he has uploaded to Instagram.

“You know I posted that video of him saying, ‘Dana, I’m coming to UFC Abu Dhabi,’ and then I said, ‘I’m on the plane, can’t wait to meet you in Abu Dhabi?’

“On Instagram, I have 6.7 million followers, right? 6.4 million people watched that video on Instagram. It’s the biggest thing that I’ve ever posted. It’s insane,” said White after inviting Hasbulla to be guest of honor at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi.

White flatly refused to deny that he would host the Hasbulla vs. Rozik fight inside the UFC octagon. 

“I love the kid. Is there more than a zero percent chance [that he fights in the UFC]? Yes,” White teased. 

Like any famous figure in the fight game, Hasbulla hasn’t always managed to stay clear of controversy. 

Earlier this month, rumors emerged that he has been blocked by Instagram for allegedly making death threats against a woman on the social media platform after an unnamed woman was said to have posted images of his sister.

“I will not leave this girl alive until she apologizes to the whole of Instagram, because she filmed a video of my sister and posted it for the entire Instagram,” Hasbulla allegedly wrote.

Scandals aside, Hasbulla’s great pal Khabib predicts nothing but success in his his future – even saying that he could go on to earn a great fortune as a result of his social media clout.

But the former UFC champ says that he isn’t keen to see him follow in his footsteps in the cage.

“Honestly, I don’t want to make this fight,” Khabib told Red Corner MMA of the potential showdown with Rozik.

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Hasbulla spoke about the chances of a bout with Abdu Rozik. © YouTube Red Corner MMA
On or off? Mini viral sensation reacts to claims UFC made $1.5mn offer (VIDEO)

“I don’t support this idea. I don’t think this is a good idea. They’re both big names, they can create some good things if they become friends. If I had a choice, I’m going to make them friends.

“Maybe do some good charity things [together], they can become ambassadors for charity funds… but I don’t want to see this fight. We have enough fighting around the world. Peace is better than war.

“He has to go to the US; all the big sports stars know him there, he’s very popular,” Khabib added.

“He has to move for a couple of years to the US and become, maybe, a billionaire. Minimum, he can become a millionaire.” 

“The WWE, wrestling, also wants him to come to them somehow,” said the former UFC champion, according to Championat. “They want to pay him some big money to get him into the ring. He’s immensely popular abroad.”

Hasbulla has gone from social media to obscurity to superstardom in just a year. In 12 months’ time we might just be looking at global domination. 

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Biden sends surprise vaccine message to NFL superstar

US president Joe Biden has used a trip to a tornado-ravaged area to wade into the controversy over Aaron Rodgers’ Covid status, advising the NFL player who attempted to avoid a vaccine row with the “woke mob”.

President Biden was paying a visit to the Midwest, where at least 100 people have been killed by winds of up to 100mph in five states this week, when he made his surprising remark about vaccines.

Surveying scenes where the freak conditions had torn off roofs, toppled trees, overturned vehicles and caused power outages in Mayfield, Kentucky, the head of state stopped to talk to two women.

When he was that one of the women was donning a Green Bay Packers cap and shirt – the team Rodgers plays for – Biden warned: “Tell that quarterback he’s gotta get the vaccine” while the cameras were rolling.

Video footage of the incident showed the two women laughed in response. And while Rodgers is yet to address this latest episode in the saga, he may well do if he appears again on the Pat McAfee Show, which has provided the stage for the controversy. 

In early November, Rodgers appeared on the popular program to address accusations that he had lied about having the vaccine because he claimed he was “immunized” and went on to contract Covid.

“I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now, so before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I’d like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself right now,” he told the show.

“I didn’t lie in the initial press conference. During that time there was a very…  a ‘witch hunt’ that was going on across the league where everybody in the media was so concerned about who was vaccinated and who wasn’t, and what that meant and who was being selfish and who would talk about it.

“[It was about] what they meant when they said it was a ‘personal decision’, [and that] they shouldn’t have to disclose their own medical information… and at the time, my plan was to say that I had been immunized. It wasn’t some sort of ruse or lie – it was the truth,” he clarified.

Days later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki publicly criticized Rodgers for spreading “misinformation”.

“I’m not an anti-vaxx flat-earther,” the 38-year-old insisted, saying he had consulted popular UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan over alternative treatments.

“I have an allergy to an ingredient that’s in the mRNA vaccines. I found a long-term immunization protocol to protect myself and I’m very proud of the research that went into that.”

As Rodgers faced widespread backlash and lost sponsors, those close to him told People that he was “very unhappy with the response”.

Rodgers returned to the program and apologized, acknowledging that he is “a role model to a lot of people”.

“I made some comments that people might have felt were misleading. To anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility,” he accepted.

Many of the Biden administration’s rules and regulations aimed at increasing vaccination in the US have been held up or quashed by courts recently.

Republican state attorneys general, businesses and religious groups have claimed that the administration has gone beyond its authority in a country where Covid is thought to have killed around 800,000 people.

Biden’s legislation moves have included an executive order in September requiring federal contracts to include clauses mandating contractors to make employees take jabs.

An order in the same month effectively required almost 97 percent of federal employees to get vaccinated by mid-November.

Rodgers missed a defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 due to Covid but has since helped the Packers to a 10-3 record with four games of the regular season remaining.

On Sunday, he provided four touchdowns and 341 passing yards in an outstanding performance as part of 45-30 win over the Chicago Bears, and he is set to feature against the Baltimore Ravens on the road next time out.

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National football coach accused of ‘raping so many boys’

Union bosses have warned that football is rife with grooming, assault and “horrific abuse” after disturbing accusations of repeated rape emerged against a long-serving coach and former Gabon national youth team boss.

Patrick Assoumou Eyi, who is said to be known locally as ‘Capello’, allegedly abused boys while leading Gabon’s under-17 team and serving in his current role as the country’s top-flight technical director. 

He is accused of luring them to his home, which he dubbed the ‘Garden of Eden’. Some victims have reportedly claimed that boys were provided for other leading figures in Gabonese football to abuse. 

The alleged victims say they have not contacted police because they lack faith in the justice system, according to the Guardian.

But Fifa’s international players’ union, Fifpro, has received a complaint and said that its preliminary inquiries unearthed “consistent evidence from credible witnesses” who unanimously say young players have long been forced into sexual relationships as a “pre-condition for footballing opportunities”.

“If these allegations are indeed true, it is yet further evidence that football is being consistently exploited, across leagues and continents, as a forum for abusers to access, groom, extort and assault players,” the union added.

“More must be done to prevent this horrific abuse and we call on football’s governing bodies to act as a matter of urgency.”

Eyi stepped down from working with the under-17s squad in 2017 but the outlet said that he continues to work with young people at the La Ligue de l’Estuaire despite a former official in Gabon’s football federation, Fegafoot, reportedly claiming that he attempted to raise concerns of sexual abuse allegations at a 2019 board meeting which were brushed off.

The official is said to have been fired as a result, though Fegafoot denied that claim to the newspaper.

“He forced me to have sexual relations with him,” one player who represented the under-17s side from 2015 to 2017 was quoted as saying. “That was the condition to stay in the national team.

“At the time, I left my village in order to help my family. I was living in the capital [Libreville] and becoming a professional footballer was the only way to get out of misery. So I did what I had to do to help them.”

“Capello raped so many boys,” the player was quoted as alleging. “He sometimes went to the countryside to find new ones.

“He took advantage of poverty and also gave some boys to other officials. In our national team, the majority had to give sex.

“That’s the reality of Gabonese football for decades but no-one can shut down the system. Predators are too numerous… we suffered hell.”

Two other alleged victims say Eyi abused them when they were under 18 while they attended an academy in a Libreville suburb between 2017 and 2019.

“Sometimes, he took some kids to his house, ‘Le Jardin d’Eden’,” one is said to have explained. “He was very nice to me but every time I saw him he told me I was beautiful.

“One day, he told me that some of the players gave masturbation… he left his office with a smile. It was like he was sending me a message.”

“I had some sexual experiences with Capello, I was obligated to,” the other player is quoted as saying.

“I quit football, you know. I tried my best for my family and now I live out of the country. I can’t go back.

“Capello bought kids from remote provinces or villages with a poor background in the majority.

“He brainwashed them and made them believe they had to give sexual favours to him. One other coach told us one day: ‘If you want to play with the under-17 national team, you know what you have to do.’”

Eyi, who was a winger but went into coaching at a young age with a noted eye for spotting footballing talent, is said to have posted a series of messages on his WhatsApp statuses where he seemed to make reference to the allegations and wrote: “Those who use lies as a weapon don’t know the reverse on the spiritual side.”

Fegafoot’s media officer, Pablo Moussodji Ngoma, was quoted by the Guardian to have referenced the allegations on Facebook, criticizing them for a “weakness of evidence”.

“The testimonies of the actor victims, with their names, can dissuade the perpetrators of these abominable acts but we must also allow the judicial bodies and even the courts to punish them,” he reportedly wrote.

“The rest will be taken as one more communication operation for those who are committed to tarnishing Gabon’s image internationally.”

In a reported statement, Fegafoot said it had “never registered any complaints relating to any act of this nature”.

“To our knowledge, [Eyi] does not have a team and is not appointed to lead any national team,” it is said to have added.

“The players you have met should consider also contacting us in order to diligently investigate because we confirm that such facts must be denounced in court and to the competent judicial bodies.”

This scandal is just the latest to rock Gabonese football, which in November saw ex-Rennes star Stephane Nguema and four fellow ex-internationals arrested for protesting against continued cancelations of the domestic leagues.

As a consequence, Nguema has had to leave his role as the players’ union secretary-general, with members claiming they haven’t been paid in almost two years.