India's great loss

All India Football Federation condoles the demise of former India Captain Sailendra Nath Manna. Manna who Captained India to the inaugural Asian Games Football Gold in Delhi in 1951 passed away on Monday (February 27) morning. He was 87 and is survived by his wife and daughter.

Manna made his debut against France in the London Olympics in 1948. Four years later, he Captained India in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Besides being conferred the Padma Shri in 1971, he was also declared the AIFF Player of the Millennium in 2000. He stays the sole Asian to be named among the 10 best Captains in the World by the English FA in 1953. He represented India in 14 International Matches and was the first Indian footballer to Captain India in two back-to-back Asian Games.

He also Coached the Indian National Team in the 1961 and the 1968 Merdeka Cup.
Mr. Praful Patel, the President of the All India Football Federation in his message said: “It’s sad to hear that Sailen Manna, one of the Greatest Footballers is no more. His contribution to Indian Football will never be forgotten. I share the grief.”

Mr. Kushal Das, the General Secretary of the All India Football Federation said: “Sailen Manna will be alive in his achievements. He was a legendary footballer and someone who has been the inspiration of so many generations. May he rest in Peace.”

As a mark of respect, the AIFF Flag flies at half mast at the AIFF Headquarters -- the Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi. The Indian National Football Team will also be wearing black armbands in their International Friendly against Ajerbaijan.

At the domestic level, Manna won the Calcutta Football League, the Durand Cup, the IFA Shield and the Rovers Cup with Mohun Bagan. He stays the most successful Captain for Bengal in the Santosh Trophy.

CAREER:
SAILENDRA NATH MANNA (DOB : 01.09.1924).
International Debut: July 31 vs France (London Olympics).

International Caps: Represented India in 14 International Matches.

International Tournaments: 
Olympics -- 1948, 1952 (Captain).

Asian Games -- 1951(Captain), 1954 (Captain).

Quadrangular (Colombo Cup): 1952 (Captain), 1953 (Captain), 1954 (Captain).

International Laurels: 
Gold Medal (1951-Asian Games)

Champion in Quadrangular Cup -- 1952, 1953, 1954.

State-level: 
Represented Bengal from 1944 to 1954 (There was no tournament in 1948).

Was Captain of Bengal from 1949 to 1954.

Won the Santosh Trophy  in 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953.

Club-level: 
Played for Mohun Bagan from 1942 to 1960.

Captained Mohun Bagan from 1950 to 1955.

Trophies Won:

Calcutta Football League: 1943, 1944, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960.

IFA Shield: 1947, 1954, 1956, 1960.

Durand Cup: 1953.

Rovers Cup: 1955.

AWARDS: 
Padma Shri: 1971

AIFF Player-of-the-Milennium: 2000.

Congrats, Haresh

This is what the Best Sportswriter of the 2011 has to say: (Taken from his blog- Foul - of course, without consent)


...I would have shaved my face!

In the past, I was informed via SMS that I was a nominee for a couple of categories (2009 and 2010 Awards) but not this year.

There were no hints this time around and I genuinely believed I was not shortlisted.

Nevertheless, I was surprised - pleasantly surprised - that my front page article 'Deplorable' (published on July 22, 2011) on the pathetic state of the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil bagged the Best Special Report (Print & Electronic) en route to me being named the Best Sportswriter of the Year (2011).

Thank you to the sports desk for allowing me the freedom to hunt and develop MY own stories.

And thank you to the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia for the recognition. It means a lot to me and the timing couldn't have been better.

SAM-100PLUS Awards 2011

LIST OF WINNERS

Athlete Of The year: Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi (Shooting)

Young Athlete Of The Year: Zulfadli Zulkifli (Badminton)

Out-Do Yourself: National Under-23 team (Football)

Comeback Athlete Of The Year: Sam Chong (Snooker)

Most Dynamic Sports Association: Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress

Best Sports Journalist: Haresh Deol (The Malay Mail)

Best Sports Report (Print): Aziman Rosdi (Harian Metro)

Best Sports Report (Electronic): Wan Norbazly Wan Azmi (Astro Arena)

Best Sports Commentary: Muhammad Dayne Azmin Ghazali (Utusan Malaysia)

Best Sports Commentary: Mohd Fadzrie Hazis (Astro Awani)

Best Special Report (Print & Electronic): Haresh Deol (The Malay Mail)

Best Sports Photographer: S.S. Kanesan (The Star)

Pic: Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek handing the Best Sports Journalist award to Haresh. .

More women in leadership

Participants in the 5th IOC World Conference on Women and Sport called on sports leaders to take a more proactive role in advancing the cause of women in and through sport as the event came to a close in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday.

The three-day conference, whose theme was “Together Stronger: the Future of Sport,” ended with over 800 delegates from 135 countries unanimously approving “The Los Angeles Declaration”, a series of recommendations aimed at promoting gender equality in sport and using sport as a tool to improve the lives of women around the world.

The declaration focused on two main themes: - The need to bring more women into management and leadership roles - The need to increase collaboration and partnerships, especially with UN organisations, to promote gender equality.

IOC President Jacques Rogge assured the conference delegates that the Olympic Movement would act on the recommendations.

“I can pledge and I can promise that we will do what is needed”, he said in his closing remarks.

The conference declaration acknowledged that the Olympic Movement’s steady progress towards gender equality on the field of play had not been matched in sports leadership positions. It called for more resources to support women in sports leadership roles and urged sports organisations to follow the IOC’s lead by adopting policies to advance gender equality.

On the issue of collaboration, conference delegates urged the IOC to build on its work with the United Nations by establishing closer partnerships with UN Women and the UN Committee on the Status of Women. UN Women was established in 2010 to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

"The potential for sport to contribute to the social, economic and political empowerment of women and girls is clear and has been recognised by governments, the United Nations system, civil society, the sports movement and others. Now is the time to act on this recognition and bring the benefits of sport to women and girls”, Lakshmi Puri, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, told the conference delegates.

Organised jointly by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, the event covered a range of subjects associated with the efforts to strengthen women’s representation both on the sports field and in leadership positions. The record number of delegates at this year’s conference included well-known figures from the world of sport, as well as representatives of civil society, government and academia.

Other high-profile speakers at the conference included IOC Women and Sport Commission Chairperson Anita DeFrantz; Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Sebastian Coe; HE Marjon V. Kamara, Chair of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women; and Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actress and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

The 2012 Women and Sport Awards were presented on the opening day of the conference, with India’s Manisha Malhotra winning the World Trophy for her commitment to helping disadvantaged girls progress through sport. The five continental winners were Peninnah Aligawesa Kabenge (Africa), the Bradesco Sports and Education Progamme and Centre (Americas), Zaiton Othman (Asia), Aikaterini Nafplioti-Panagopoulos (Europe), and Roseline Blake (Oceania).

Held every four years, the aim of the World Conference on Women and Sport is to assess the progress made in advancing the cause of gender equality within the Olympic Movement and to define future priority actions to improve and increase the involvement of girls and women in this framework.

More women in leadership

Participants in the 5th IOC World Conference on Women and Sport called on sports leaders to take a more proactive role in advancing the cause of women in and through sport as the event came to a close in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday.

The three-day conference, whose theme was “Together Stronger: the Future of Sport,” ended with over 800 delegates from 135 countries unanimously approving “The Los Angeles Declaration”, a series of recommendations aimed at promoting gender equality in sport and using sport as a tool to improve the lives of women around the world.

The declaration focused on two main themes: - The need to bring more women into management and leadership roles - The need to increase collaboration and partnerships, especially with UN organisations, to promote gender equality.

IOC President Jacques Rogge assured the conference delegates that the Olympic Movement would act on the recommendations.

“I can pledge and I can promise that we will do what is needed”, he said in his closing remarks.

The conference declaration acknowledged that the Olympic Movement’s steady progress towards gender equality on the field of play had not been matched in sports leadership positions. It called for more resources to support women in sports leadership roles and urged sports organisations to follow the IOC’s lead by adopting policies to advance gender equality.

On the issue of collaboration, conference delegates urged the IOC to build on its work with the United Nations by establishing closer partnerships with UN Women and the UN Committee on the Status of Women. UN Women was established in 2010 to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

"The potential for sport to contribute to the social, economic and political empowerment of women and girls is clear and has been recognised by governments, the United Nations system, civil society, the sports movement and others. Now is the time to act on this recognition and bring the benefits of sport to women and girls”, Lakshmi Puri, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, told the conference delegates.

Organised jointly by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, the event covered a range of subjects associated with the efforts to strengthen women’s representation both on the sports field and in leadership positions. The record number of delegates at this year’s conference included well-known figures from the world of sport, as well as representatives of civil society, government and academia.

Other high-profile speakers at the conference included IOC Women and Sport Commission Chairperson Anita DeFrantz; Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Sebastian Coe; HE Marjon V. Kamara, Chair of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women; and Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actress and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

The 2012 Women and Sport Awards were presented on the opening day of the conference, with India’s Manisha Malhotra winning the World Trophy for her commitment to helping disadvantaged girls progress through sport. The five continental winners were Peninnah Aligawesa Kabenge (Africa), the Bradesco Sports and Education Progamme and Centre (Americas), Zaiton Othman (Asia), Aikaterini Nafplioti-Panagopoulos (Europe), and Roseline Blake (Oceania).

Held every four years, the aim of the World Conference on Women and Sport is to assess the progress made in advancing the cause of gender equality within the Olympic Movement and to define future priority actions to improve and increase the involvement of girls and women in this framework.

Historic draw

The draw for the qualifying stage of the inaugural AFC U-22 Asian Cup took place at AFC House on Tuesday with 41 continental countries being drawn in seven groups.

All the qualifying matches will be organized from June 23rd to July 3rd 2012 and the finals will be played in 2013 while the next edition of the biennial competition (2015) will serve as qualifiers for the 2016 Olympics.

Addressing the media during the opening of the draw, AFC Executive Director of Competitions Windsor John said:

"This is the latest tournament we have introduced, so this draw in itself is a histori event. The AFC is views this competition as the second biggest national team competition, giving prominence and importance to the development of competitions for both the AFC and member associations."

"This competition will serve as a qualifier for the Olympics, beginning with Rio in 2016, so we hope there will be greater attention from the fans as well as the member associations to reflect this competition's stature as the second biggest tournament of AFC for national teams.

"With the introduction of this competition we have now laid the foundation for a very structured development path for the footballers in Asia with the AFC already having competitions for under 16s and under 19s."

A total of 23 countries will feature in the qualifying rounds for the West Zone while 18 nations will compete in the East Zone featuring seven groups of either six or five teams. The top two teams of the one-round league (14 in total) will qualify for next year's finals while a berth is also available for one best third-placed team and the AFC U-22 Asian Cup 2013 hosts.

Group A: UAE, Iraq, Oman, India, Turkmenistan, Lebanon
Group B: Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka
Group C: Bahrain, IR Iran, Tajikistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives
Group D: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nepal
Group E: Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau, Timor-Leste
Group F: DPR Korea, China PR, Thailand, Hong Kong, Laos, Cambodia
Group G: Korea Republic, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Chinese Taipei, Philippines

Toughmeasures

Drastic measures by the FA Malaysia's Vetting Committee to combat match-fixing in M-League:
1. Three teams from "senior" league competition under investigation for alleged match fixing activities. Drastic action has been proposed for the Disciplinary Board to consider.
2. As the first step, suspected bookies will be prevented from travelling abroad, and known foreign bookies not allowed entry into Malaysia. They will be charged when investigations are completed.
3. An ex-senior Police will be appointed to the full time post of Head of Coordination and Integrity Unit.
4. The Vetting committee will meet every second Tuesday of the month.
5. A network is being worked out among neighbouring countries.

Draw on 14 Feb

The draw for the qualifying round of the AFC Under-22 Asian Cup will be held on 14 February at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur. With the exception of Brunei, the other ten teams from ASEAN will also be taking part in the qualifiers.

In total, 41 teams throughout Asia will be battling it out in the qualifiers vying for the only 16 available spots expected to be held in June 2013.

AFC U-22 ASIAN CUP QUALIFIERS
Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh,Cambodia, China PR, Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, Hong Kong, India,Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives,Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.