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Christiano Ronaldo the Diver:Bo Larsen Champions League - Top ref reveals most annoying player

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on December 10, 2010 at 2:51am

Real Madrid's Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo is the player Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen nominated.

Larsen blew the final whistle on a distinguished career after he took charge of AC Milan's Champions League clash against Ajax at the San Siro earlier this week...

And with no fear of future on-pitch reprisals, the 45-year-old was free to blast the former Manchester United forward for his habit of diving to win free-kicks and land opponents in trouble.

"He is always out to get a cheap free-kick, especially at home," Larsen told the Daily Mirror.

"We tended to talk in the referee's room about how he would go down easily. We know not to be biased - but we have to be prepared."

Ronaldo famously badgered the referee into sending off Wayne Rooney during the 2006 World Cup quarter-final between Portugal and England, an act which he followed by winking shamelessly towards the bench to confirm his subterfuge.

But Larsen claimed that he was wise to the wily ways of the former Manchester United star - and that Ronaldo knew it.

"When he would lie down after failing to win a free-kick, he would smile at me because he knew I didn't fall for his stunts," added the Dane.

Referee Larsen added that he has plenty of positive memories from his 14 years as a referee, during which he took charge of dozens of Champions League matches - including the 2009 semi-final between Arsenal and Manchester United - as well as 97 international clashes, including England's international against France last month.

And while the relationship between referees and clubs is often portrayed as frosty at best, Larsen insists that he enjoyed a good relationship with one of the trickiest men in the game - Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson.

"I have a good relationship with Ferguson, even though he is always screaming and shouting at referees," said Larsen.

"I'll never forget him coming to hammer on my dressing-room door after a Champions League game at Old Trafford. He simply said: 'That was the best refereeing performance in many years.' It was great."
Eurosport

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Obafemi Martins 3Trillion Naira Jamboree Extravaganza Lifestyle

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on November 21, 2009 at 6:00am
It has been revealed how Super Eagles striker, Obafemi Martins, extranvagantly squandered about N3.1 trillions while a player of Newcastle.MartinsadvertisementHis former management company, NVA Management Limited who has dragged the player to court over breach of contarct, told the jury how the player’s account almost went red because of his lifestyle.Obafemi Martins was paid £75,000, but allegedly squandered the earnings on an extravagant lifestyleA former Premiership footballer routinely blew his £75,000 a week wages in a matter of days and was constantly overdrawn, a court was told yesterday.Obafemi, ex-Newcastle striker 25, was paid the handsome salary after he joined the club for a £10million fee in August 2006.But despite his extraordinary earnings, his former management team yesterday claimed they repeatedly bailed him out after his bank account continually slipped into the red.The High Court heard that the Nigerian international player would withdraw £40,000 in cash from his bank account at the end of the week.But that would only last him two days, the court heard, as he topped up with a further £25,000 on the Monday morning.He was always overdrawn and repeatedly relied upon NVA Management Limited to ‘manage his life’, the High Court was told.Martins, who owned several fast cars including a top of the range Porsche 4X4, spent the money funding an extravagant lifestyle of luxurious penthouse homes and fine dining.He is now being sued by his former management company which claims that he still owes them 300,000 for sorting out his finances.He told the court that Martins would withdraw £40,000 for the weekend, followed by another £25,000 on the Monday.‘Despite earning these vast sums of money he was constantly overdrawn,’ added Mr Tennink.He said the firm, which looks after the affairs of several footballers, film and music stars, said that Martins had agreed to pay them for simply managing his life.It was under their stewardship that Martins agreed a £2million image rights deal ‘simply for being Mr Martins’.It’s claimed Martins was constantly overdrawn despite earning £75,000-a-weekHe also had lucrative sponsorship deals with various companies including Pepsi and Nike but had not been paid.When the company stepped in to run his affairs they sorted the unpaid contracts, bringing in thousands of pounds.They also organised visas when he travelled to Italy, where he once played for Inter Milan, and sorted out his passport, his mortgage and property valuations.They even arranged critical illness cover and were constantly running up and down the motorway from their London offices to Newcastle in a bid to do all that he required.‘But surely these were things a secretary could do?’ asked Judge Richard Seymour QC, referring to the size of fees charged.‘It was a Jeeves-type of role that they performed.’Mr Tennink protested that managing every aspect of his life was just part of what they did, and asked the judge to bear in mind the sort of figures these players earned.He said Martins had come to them in July 2007 and had agreed a fee of around £300,000 plus 20 per cent of any sponsorship monies they managed to acquire on his behalf.“He asked for these services to be carried out,” Mr Tennink told the court.Before they managed his affairs, Martins had not been paid a penny for his image rights for the use of his name on Newcastle shirts and mugs and had received nothing from his sponsorship deals.He could not even find the contracts he had originally signed, Mr Tennink added.Martins paid the company £67,500 in January last year and another £25,000 in April last year.But the question for the court to decide, said Mr Tennink, was whether there was a ‘binding obligation’ for him to pay the outstanding bill of over £300,000.After Newcastle were relegated from the Premiership last summer Martins was sold for £9million to German Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg.Martins, who once owned a penthouse apartment overlooking Newcastle’s exclusive Quayside, is fighting the claim.The hearing is scheduled to last for three days.
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Sudan:Naija football player to get 40 lashes for drunk driving

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on November 14, 2009 at 1:21am
A Nigerian football star on Thursday said he had been sentenced to 40 lashes in Sudan after being wrongly convicted of drunk driving in Khartoum.advertisement
NEWSBLOGSTODAY..NAIJA POLITICS TODAY
lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu
Stephen Worgu, who signed a reported multi-million dollar contract with Omdurman Club, Al Merreikh, last year, said he was innocent and determined to win an appeal against the sentence."I am not guilty of this crime...I can't imagine myself being flogged," he told reporters in his Khartoum flat.It was the latest in a series of high-profile cases where Sudan's brand of Islamic law has come under the spotlight. A British teacher was jailed after letting her class name a teddy bear Mohammad in 2007 and a Sudanese journalist was imprisoned in September after being convicted of indecency for wearing trousers. Both women had faced a maximum sentence of flogging.Drinking alcohol is banned under the sharia law enforced in Muslim north Sudan. Men found guilty are routinely beaten in public outside court rooms, while women are generally punished in private.Worgu, 20, said he was stopped by police driving home late from dinner at a friend's house in August.He said he was taken to a police station and briefly questioned, then later told to attend court this week."I was trying to make myself heard to the judge ... saying he (the policeman) didn't make any medical test. He didn't find me with any drink."He said the officers told the court they had smelled the home-brewed spirit aragi on his breath, but insisted he had never heard of the drink. "My lawyer was saying, 'This guy, he makes good money. How can he drink aragi? Aragi is sold for one pound."
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