SYDNEY: Australia batsman Usman Khawaja has revealed he was racially abused so much growing up that he refused to support the national side, and claimed “racism” once played a role in selections for the team.
The 30-year-old, who immigrated as a child, battled the odds to become Australia’s first Pakistan-born national player and is now established as one of the country’s leading Test batsmen.
But it wasn’t an easy journey, and Khawaja wrote on the playersvoice.com.au website that he was vilified over his race from a young age, making him resent Australian sporting teams.
“Getting sledged by opposition players and their parents was the norm. Some of them said it just quietly enough for only me to hear,” he wrote on the website, where sportspeople can air their views.
“It still hurt, but I would never show it. Most of the time it was when I scored runs.
“It is for this reason why so many of my friends, most of whom were born outside Australia, didn’t support Australia in sporting contests. I didn’t either.”
The abuse ultimately made him stronger, but Khawaja said it was an intimidating environment to play the game he loved.
He said he was brought up to be humble and polite “but when I watched the Aussie team, I saw men who were hard-nosed, confident, almost brutish.”
“The same type of men who would sledge me about my heritage growing up,” he added.
As he got older, he said Australia also grew up and “I started to understand that the minority of Australians who did treat me this way were just that, a minority.”
“By high school I was a diehard Australian team supporter. But, from a pathways perspective, the damage had been done.
“Not to me, but to some of the other immigrant kids who potentially could have gone on to play for Australia. They chose not to pursue a dream because of the negative experiences they had endured.”
At one point Khawaja was the only Asian first-class player in Australia, something he attributed to his strong-willed family.
“It’s no surprise it has taken Australia cricket so long for colored players to come through the system,” he said.
“There is no doubt racism and politics played a large role in selections in the past.
“I’ve heard a few stories from past Anglo-Saxon players where this seems to be the case. It would just be the times that they lived in.”
Khawaja said Australian cricket and society has come a long way and it is now easier for cricketers from all backgrounds to come through the system.
But he is reluctant to take any credit for opening doors.
“Maybe it was inevitable with the growing multicultural community in Australia. Maybe it was a few friendly faces at the highest level. We will never know,” he said.
Cricket: Pakistan-born Aussie batsman Khawaja reveals racial abuse
Cricket: Pakistan-born Aussie batsman Khawaja reveals racial abuse
8 watches owned by F1 great Michael Schumacher fetch more than $4m at auction in Geneva
Remi Guillemin, head of watches for Europe and the Americas for auction house Christie’s, declined to identify the buyer
GENEVA: Eight watches belonging to auto racing icon Michael Schumacher sold Tuesday for nearly 4 million Swiss francs ($4.4 million) at a Geneva auction.
The top piece in the sale, organized by Schumacher’s family, was a watch given to the German racing superstar by former Ferrari CEO Jean Todt as a Christmas present in 2004. The hammer came down at a price of 1.2 million francs, or 1.5 million including the buyer’s commission.
That was well within the pre-sale estimate range of 1-2 million francs.
The custom-made platinum timepiece from F.P. Journe, the Vagabondage 1, features 18-carat white gold, a red watch face and images of a Ferrari logo, Schumacher’s racing helmet and a “7” — to honor his seven World Championship victories.
Remi Guillemin, head of watches for Europe and the Americas for auction house Christie’s, declined to identify the buyer, but said that five watches in the Ruthenium collection — a boxed set — were purchased by the same buyer.
While most of the eight watches sold within the pre-sale estimates, an Audemars Piguet featuring a Ferrari prancing horse emblem, sold for a hammer price of 330,000 francs — well above the top of the expected range at 250,000.
The sale of Schumacher watches, which garnered a total of more than 3.1 million francs at the hammer price, was timed for the 30th anniversary of his first Formula One Drivers Championship win in 1994.
The watches, which were taken to New York and Taipei for showings before the sale, were part of a larger auction of luxury timepieces to go under the hammer on Tuesday at Christie’s in Geneva.
Schumacher, who retired from F1 in 2012, shares the record for most F1 titles with British driver Lewis Hamilton.
In December the following year, Schumacher fell while skiing in the French Alpine resort of Meribel and suffered a near-fatal brain injury.
Since being transferred from hospital in September 2014, he continues to be cared for privately at a family home in Switzerland.
Abu Dhabi owners of Man City and Girona given options to meet Champions League entry rules
- The teams have severely tested UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership that guard against collusion in games
- Failing to comply with UEFA’s rules with a proposal by June 3 should see one of the two teams, likely Girona, demoted to the second-tier Europa League
GENEVA: The Abu Dhabi investors in Manchester City and Girona have been offered divestment options by UEFA to let both compete in the Champions League next season by complying with integrity rules for teams that share owners.
Girona have made a stunning run to a guaranteed top-four finish in Spain’s La Liga, with three key players either loaned or sold via Man City’s influence including Brazilian star Sávio.
On merit, Girona will join Man City, the 2023 Champions League winner which will finish in the top two of the English Premier League.
But the teams have severely tested UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership that guard against collusion in games.
Failing to comply with UEFA’s rules with a proposal by June 3 should see one of the two teams, likely Girona, demoted to the second-tier Europa League. The team finishing higher in their domestic league take priority.
According to a UEFA document seen on Tuesday by The Associated Press, two options are open to City Football Group (CFG), the Abu Dhabi-created operation with stakes in 13 clubs worldwide including 100 percent of Man City and 47 percent of Girona.
CFG could solve the problem by selling shares to an independent third party that reduces one ownership stake to below 30 percent, or transfer all shares in one club to a blind trust overseen by a panel appointed by UEFA.
The trustee could be picked by CFG in a UEFA-approved model that applied this season in a compliance deal for AC Milan, Toulouse and their United States investor Red Bird Capital.
The multi-club ownership issue for UEFA and CFG has loomed since Girona’s league-leading fast start in September.
UEFA declined comment all season pending Girona’s confirmed qualification in the Champions League this month.
On Tuesday, UEFA’s club finance monitoring panel wrote to soccer stakeholders to clarify updates to its multi-club rules for entry to European club competitions that were first drafted in the 1998-99 season.
Man City and Girona drew scrutiny for CFG having “decisive influence” over both because the Abu Dhabi operation holds at least 30 percent of the shares in both, and because of the clubs’ transfer dealings this season.
Girona seemed to meet the UEFA panel’s criteria for clubs that “transferred, permanently or temporarily, three or more players with the other club, directly or indirectly via related parties, during the season.”
Girona have two players on their squad who belong to other CFG clubs: Right back Yan Couto, on loan from Man City, and winger Sávio, on loan from French club Troyes.
Sávio is the revelation of the season in Spain. His dribbling and speed on the left flank has caused mayhem in opposing defenses. The 20-year-old has scored 10 times and is one of the league’s top assist-makers with nine passes for goals.
Couto has excelled in joining in the attack from his position of right back, delivering eight assists. Both are in Brazil’s squad for the end-of-season Copa America in the US
After completing a loan at Girona, City also then sold Venezuela midfielder Yangel Herrera to their sibling club last July.
Man City was bought in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
The CFG was formed five years later, with Man City — by now a Premier League champion for the first time — acting as the flagship club in a worldwide portfolio that soon contained teams across multiple continents.
First came New York City in 2013, then Melbourne City in Australia’s A-League, Girona in Spain, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay and Mumbai City in India joined the group, which also had a “collaboration agreement” with Venezuelan team Atletico Venezuela.
In recent years, the CFG has acquired stakes in European clubs Lommel in Belgium, Palermo in Italy and Troyes.
What’s on the line in Fury v. Usyk ‘Ring of Fire’ heavyweight boxing clash?
- Fury-Usyk one of the most hotly anticipated boxing matches of the century
RIYADH: One of the most hotly anticipated boxing matches of the century takes place in Riyadh on Saturday, as heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk battle it out in the “Ring of Fire” clash at the Kingdom Arena.
But what exactly is at stake?
Ukrainian Usyk holds the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization belts, while Briton Fury is World Boxing Council champion. The victor on Saturday will hold all four major championship belts and become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
The winner will also maintain an undefeated record, further solidifying their legendary status in the sport.
There has not been an undisputed boxing heavyweight champion for a quarter of a century, not since British-Canadian Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield in 1999.
For Usyk or Fury, the added incentive on Saturday is the chance to become an undisputed champion in the era of the four major belts for the first time, as the WBO belt has been added since Lewis’s triumph.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of fight organizers the General Entertainment Authority, said in September this was the “fight that everyone has wanted to see for some time,” adding: “It is the biggest fight in boxing, the world will be watching, and we are so proud to be the hosts for this spectacle.”
PSG star Mbappe will join Madrid: La Liga chief
- “He’s Madrid’s next season, yes,” Tebas told Argentine daily sports newspaper Ole
- Mbappe is set to join a star-studded Madrid team led by Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and England international Jude Bellingham
BUENOS AIRES: La Liga president Javier Tebas says Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe will join Real Madrid next season.
The 25-year-old France captain announced last week he is leaving PSG at the end of his contract this summer, without specifying his destination, and Madrid are poised to sign him after years of failed attempts.
“He’s Madrid’s next season, yes,” Tebas told Argentine daily sports newspaper Ole on Monday.
“If they’ve signed a five-year deal, he has five seasons of opportunity (to win the Champions League).”
Mbappe is set to join a star-studded Madrid team led by Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and England international Jude Bellingham.
Los Blancos strolled to the Spanish title and are in the Champions League final at Wembley against Borussia Dortmund on June 1.
“(Mbappe) is one of the best players in the world, but Vinicius and Bellingham are there too, Madrid will have a great squad,” continued Tebas. “But that does not guarantee you will win leagues.”
Mbappe is PSG’s all-time record scorer with 256 goals, having joined the club from Monaco in 2017 for 180 million euros ($194 million).
With PSG he won six French league titles but failed to earn Champions League glory, finishing as runners-up to Bayern Munich in 2020.
By joining record 14-time winners Real Madrid, Mbappe would increase his chances of finally earning club football’s most prestigious trophy.
European football a ‘driving force’ for Newcastle, says Howe
- Howe’s men are sixth in the table, two places and three points better off than their hosts with two games to go for each team
- “Massive fixture for both teams,” Howe said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday
LONDON: Eddie Howe said qualifying for Europe was a “driving force” for Newcastle as he prepares for Wednesday’s pivotal Premier League match against Manchester United.
Howe’s men are sixth in the table, two places and three points better off than their hosts with two games to go for each team.
Chelsea are in seventh place on 57 points — the same as Newcastle.
As it stands, the team in sixth place at the end of the season will earn a spot in the UEFA Conference League, the third-tier European competition.
But if Manchester City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final, the sixth-placed team would qualify for the Europa League and the side in seventh would enter the Conference League.
“Massive fixture for both teams,” Howe said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“It’s coming to the end of a long season for both clubs. We’re desperate to do well in the game, we’re desperate to finish as high as we can.
“We know European competition is there but it can also be a long way away if we don’t get the results we need.”
The Newcastle boss said his team were embracing the pressure after recovering from a poor start to the season and a damaging run of losses in December and January.
Howe, whose team flopped in this season’s Champions League, said it was vital for Saudi-backed Newcastle to be in Europe.
“We need to be there as a football club,” he said. “That’s a driving force for us. We’ll embrace the extra games, the travel, the experience, everything about the competition. We feel we’re in a position to do it.”
Howe said he was anxious not to underestimate misfiring United despite their poor form as Newcastle seek their first league double against the 20-time English champions since the 1930/31 season.
“We can’t underestimate the challenge in front of us,” he added. “That would be foolish. That would counteract everything that we need to be in this game.
“I think we don’t underestimate Manchester United’s qualities, we don’t underestimate the magnitude of the game.
“We are preparing for a really tough match. We know it will be and we expect a good atmosphere.”
Forwards Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson are doubts for the match at Old Trafford after suffering from illness and neither trained on Monday.
Howe said it was “fingers crossed” Isak would train on Tuesday.
On Wilson, he added: “We’ll see. We haven’t seen Callum yet, so we’ll see if he’s available to train today. If not, then I’m sure he’ll be fit for Brentford.”
Newcastle have confirmed they will travel to Japan for a pre-season tour to face Urawa Red Diamonds on July 31 and Yokohama F. Marinos at the Japan National Stadium three days later.
