ROME: Former World Player of the Year Ronaldo has admitted for the first time that retirement is a possibility if his knee fails to improve. The 32 year-old underwent surgery on his knee in February 2008 and has been without a club since that injury negated his contract with AC Milan. Ronaldo did receive a pay-as-you-score offer from Siena, but the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid striker turned it down as he was weighing up his future. He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "I''m thankful to him (Siena president Giovanni Lombardi Stronati), but I''m not sure what the future holds. I don''t know if I''ll continue to play or retire. I haven''t yet made that decision." For the moment the Brazilian is concentrating on finishing his recovery, a process not helped by his fluctuating weight levels, but only once he has some idea of how well the recovery has gone will he make a decision. "I don''t know, I''m not in a hurry. I want to finish my recovery work and then you will know. I could decide tomorrow or in a few months. I really don''t know. "After an operation on a ruptured knee tendon you need to work for some months. The recovery is exhausting," he added....more

KANPUR: England captain Kevin Pietersen won the toss and elected to bat in the third one-day international against India at the Green Park stadium here on Thursday. The match was shortened to 49 overs-a-side after the start was delayed by 45 minutes due to morning haze. The hosts made one change to the team that won the second one-dayer in Indore, bringing in paceman Ishant Sharma in place of Rudra Pratap Singh. England brought in off-spinner Graeme Swann for fast bowler Stephen Harmison. India lead the seven-match series 2-0 after winning in Rajkot and Indore. England: Kevin Pietersen (capt), Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Samit Patel. India: Mahendra Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma....more

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board said on Wednesday that revelation of its former chief operating officer Shafqat Hussain Naghmi about fast bowler Muhammad Asif, is a crude attempt to malign a Test cricketer and cast aspersions on the current management of the Board. “Naghmi was removed from PCB by a unanimous decision of the governing board, a fact to which he has not yet reconciled”, said a spokesman of PCB while reacting on the statement given by former COO that the committee he headed recommended a fine of Rs. 7 million and ban of seven matches while finding Asif guilty of possessing opium for his arrest at Duabi airport. “Naghmi’s revelation about Muhammad Asif is a gross violation of government service rules as well as PCB rules and are highly unethical and irresponsible and unbecoming of his part”. “Naghmi should have realized the dignity and responsibility of his official status before talking to a foreign news agency. Naghmi’s visit to Australia for the purchase of a bio-mechanic lab cost National Cricket Academy of Rs. 50 million despite the fact that there is not a single qualified person to run it”. An inquiry into the Asif’s incident has revealed that the investigating committee headed by Naghmi, Zakir Khan and Nadeem Akram as members-only met for 15 minutes duration during which Asif’s statement was recorded. It was not his place as a former PCB official to issue any statement against Muhammad Asif and allege negligence to the present management of the PCB for not asking him about the said report on the fast bowler....more

KARACHI: Tenth International Veterans Tennis Championship would kick off from November 24 in Karachi featuring probably five foreign players. President Pakistan Veterans Tennis Association Khwaja Saeed said a press conference at Karachi club here that players from India, Indonesia, Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Italy have confirmed their participation while last date of entry is November 22. Players aged over 35 would partake the championship....more

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket captain, Shoaib Malik has dismissed claims of his senior colleague Muhammad Yousaf that his attitude was one of the factors which forced (Yousuf) to join Indian Cricket League (ICL). “ It is not a fair judgment on part of Yousuf as he is the senior most player of the team and I always respected him and had his opinion on cricketing matters related to team “, he told media on Tuesday after arrival of the team from Abu Dhabi where it won 3-0 a one day series against West Indies. Shoaib said he always consulted senior players on team matters and valued their opinion and suggestions. “ I think Yousuf has given this statement without a fair and thorough analysis of the circumstances and it is his wrong thought and claim that he joined the ICL because of my attitude “, he added. He said every cricketer is free to decide his fate or playing career and he is surprised to read Yousuf’s statement of joining ICL because of his attitude. “ I think it is smart way to make an excuse and I do not agree what he has said.” Pakistan captain said under his leadership the team has showed good results in the past two years. “ I am satisfied the way I have done as a captain and I am not bothered if I am not retained as a captain because I am enjoying playing cricket and I will do the same even as an ordinary member of the team”, he said. “ I am very much satisfied that we have made some progress in our ranking, from sixth to fourth place in ODIs, and we must have this point under consideration that we had lesser opportunities to play international cricket in the past one year which led to cancellations of some events at home “, he said. He said despite all these adverse circumstances he endeavored to justify in the role of a captain and gave his best as an all-rounder. “ If captaincy is a pride it also brings heavy responsibility and challenge and so far I have done my best to rise to the expectations”, he added....more

LAHORE: Cricket legend and former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad has been appointed director-general of the Pakistan Cricket Board here on Wednesday. Talking with Geo News, Javed Miandad said that he thanked chairman PCB for assigning him this responsibility. He said that he would make his best efforts to help the Pakistan cricket team to regain its lost place. Miandad said that as director-general PCB, he would look after all local and international cricket affairs. Javed Miandad was one of the best batsmen in the world of cricket. He appeared in 124 Test matches and scored 8,832 runs. He also captained the national team in 34 Tests....more

LAHORE: Cricket legend and former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad has been appointed director-general of the Pakistan Cricket Board here on Wednesday....more

KUALA LUMPUR: Draws have been announced for the sixth Junior Women Asia Cup Hockey Tournament, to be played here in the capital of Malaysia next month. Pakistan women junior hockey team will play its first match against Thailand on December 13. The tournament will be played from December 13 to 21 in Kuala Lumpur where nine teams are participating. The teams have been divided into two groups. Pool ‘A’ includes Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia, China and Thailand where as Pool ‘B’ consists of Korea, India, Singapore and Chinesetaipe. Pakistan women junior hockey team will play against Thailand on December 13, Japan on Dec 14, Malaysia on Dec 17 and China on Dec 18. The semi-finals of the event will be played on December 20 while the final will be played on December 21....more

SUKKUR: Forty-four national and international cyclists participating in the 14th Tour de Pakistan Cycle Race left for Rahimyar Khan from Sukkur in the fourth stage of the competition on Wednesday. The cyclists will cover a distance of 178 kilometers to reach Rahimyar Khan where they are scheduled to take rest for one day. On Friday, they will leave for Bahawalpur. It may be recalled here that Sri Lanka’s Perera won the third stage on Tuesday while Rehmat Ali of Sui Gas and Wapda’a Haroon secured second and third positions respectively....more

LAHORE: Shafqat Naghmi, former Chief Operating Officer PCB, has once again jumped into controversies by stating that they had found fast bowler Muhammad Asif guilty in Dubai detention case and recommended a ban and fine for the bowler. But PCB has denied any such report available in the board adding that Naghmi might had taken the report with him if it had been finalised. Asif was detained for 19 days in Dubai after authorities allegedly found a substance (opium) in his wallet at the airport in June last and was finally repatriated. While talking to this scribe, fast bowler Muhammad Asif has also denied to have received any such report. He said that he had checked with the former director Nadeem Akram who had also denied signing any report regarding Asif''s hearing. One will have to note that if civil service rules allowed a public servant to make statements to the media that could disturbed a national organisation patronised by the President of the country. The then PCB chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf had appointed PCB disciplinary committee headed by the then COO Shafqat Naghmi with Director HR Nadeem Akram and Director Cricket Operations International Zakir Khan as its members. The committee had recorded Asif''s statement while went through the report compiled by Dubai''s authorities and was bound to submit a report to the Chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf but this could not be done while new Chairman PCB Ijaz Butt terminated the services of Shafqat Naghmi and Nadeem Akram last month. Naghmi has also said that the other two members of the committee, former PCB Director of Human Resources Nadeem Akram and present Director of Cricket Operations (International) Zakir Khan, have recommended a ban of several international matches and financial penalty on Asif. The report has also quoted Naghmi to have said that the draft was with him. Naghmi''s services were terminated by the PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt who alleged that Naghmi was found involved in stealing some files from the PCB secretariat. Naghmi had denied the allegations but his current disclosure reveals that he might have taken some other important documents form the PCB headquarters with him. Shafqat Naghmi is one of the senior bureaucrats and must be conversant with the prescribed rules of the service but reportedly he never gave his charge while leaving PCB offices to any of the PCB official. He just handed over the keys of the vehicles he had been using during his deputation at the PCB, to the acting Director HR. He would have submitted any such report or any other document to the PCB offices but he did not do the same which seems to be the violation of prescribed rules of any organisation. Naghmi could not be available on phone to this scribe for his version. The funny part of the story is that one of the members of the PCB disciplinary committee Zakir Khan has denied signing any such report....more