Miracles do happen

Its been a long time since I updated this pages. Some of you may know what happen, some may not know but let me give a brief summary of the miracles I received from God. In August this year I began to feel something was not right. I was having difficulty talking,  my right hand could not  work well.

My wife took me for a check-up and the doctors said I had a tumour outside the brains that was pressing against the nerves and that why is happening and they asked that surgery be done. 

The surgery its self was a miracle, with all the Professors, including their boss were present. I was on the table for six hours but the doctors operate for two hours only.

One hour after I woke up I saw the surgeons coming into my room and I said: "Thank you doctor, I am well." The surgeons panicked, "hey you are supposed to be asleep and can only speak after two days." Well, sorry doc, that's not God's plans for me.

I asked for food. The nurses panicked.  "Can you eat now?" , they asked. Why not. And they gave me some drinks and soft food while telling me to be careful.

After five days I wanted to go back and they were looking for excuses not to allow me to go, but finally the good professor said, "you are doing very well, home and recover." and on 12 September 2012, I came back to work.

I have been following the happenings in Sports and once I settle all that follow-up treatments, I plan to update this blog regularly.

I thank God for, for the recovery and the miracles. I know that this happened because the Lord wants me to take a break and refresh and receive fresh anointing to do the things I have to do. I said break because there was no pain in the whole procedure, I did not even have to finish the pain killers they gave. 

I wish to say thank you to my friends who visited me, prayed for me and stood by me. I appreciate all that you have done.
Thank you again. Remember, God is above al things, including hospitals.

IFAB makes three unanimous historic decisions

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) convened at the Home of FIFA in Zurich today, 5 July 2012, for a Special Meeting under the chairmanship of FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.

The first item on the agenda was goal-line technology (GLT). Following the conclusion of a nine-month test process that began in August 2011, led by EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), the IFAB unanimously decided to approve in principle both companies that took part in Test Phase 2: GoalRef and Hawk-Eye. This approval is subject to a final installation test at each stadium before the systems can be used in “real” football matches, in accordance with the FIFA Quality Programme for GLT.

The IFAB was keen to stress that technology will only be utilised for the goal line and for no other areas of the game.

Revisions to the wording of specific Laws of the Game will now consequently be made, relating to: Law 1 (The Field of Play); Law 2 (The Ball); Law 5 (The Referee); and Law 10 (The Method of Scoring).

The second decision of the IFAB concerned additional assistant referees (AAR) following a two-year experiment in the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and EURO 2012, as well as the AFC President’s Cup and competitions in Brazil, France, Morocco and Qatar.

Following a presentation by the AAR Experiment Coordinator, Donald McVicar, the IFAB again unanimously agreed that the use of two additional assistant referees be approved, acknowledging the support they can provide in officiating football matches.

As a result of this decision, an amendment will be made to the Laws of the Game, with a separate section concerning additional assistant referees. It was also approved that communication equipment be permitted between match officials in the Laws of the Game.

The third main topic for discussion concerned Law 4 – The Players’ Equipment, and specifically the “headscarf”.

The IFAB agreed to unanimously approve – temporarily during a trial period – the wearing of headscarves. The design, colour and material permitted will be defined and confirmed following the IFAB Annual Business Meeting in Glasgow in October.

Currently there is no medical literature concerning injuries as a result of wearing a headscarf, and therefore the decision taken today will be reviewed at the IFAB Annual General Meeting in 2014.

In other matters, the IFAB confirmed that the Annual Business Meeting will further discuss the issue of “triple punishment”, currently detailed in Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct; Sending-off Offences), and also agreed to discuss further how the IFAB can improve consultation with the game.

The decisions concerning the Laws of the Game taken today regarding GLT and AAR by the IFAB will come into effect immediately.

The 127^th Annual General Meeting will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland on 1-2 March 2013.

We have been impressed.

Tuesday, 03 July 2012 17:47

AFC Club and Futsal Director Stuart Ramalingam congratulated Chinese Football Association (CFA) and China Super League (CSL) for the improvement in the clubs not only in the local game but also at the continental level. Speaking at the end of a Special Mission Team’s inspection visit to China on Sunday, Ramalingam highlighted the progress which had gone beyond the clubs in China. “We have been impressed by the direction of the CFA and CSL to guide club competitions in China. “The re-assessment of the Chinese clubs has assured us on the positive growth in the different areas relating to the AFC Champions League criteria.” The SMT’s work in China concluded with a meeting with the CFA and CSL delegations in CFA’s headquarters in Beijing Sunday morning after travelling to Dalian, Qindao and Shanghai for the inspections. CFA Vice President and CSL Chairman Yu Hongchen, CFA General Secretary Wei Di and CFA Deputy General Secretary Liu Dianqiu were present during the meeting. Liu Dianqiu said: “The AFC team showed their support during the inspection. They demonstrated that they did not come here to disqualify but to assist our clubs to meet the criteria.” During the closing press conference, Ramalingam, Head of the SMT, informed the media of the purpose of the inspection and the process of making decisions afterwards. “We noticed positive growth,” he said. “Obviously, the CFA has put lots of efforts to attend to their previously weak areas and shown tremendous progress to achieve higher valuation in the ACL slot allocations.” In 2012, Beijing Guoan, Tianjin Teda and Guangzhou Evergrande were the Chinese representatives in the group stage in the continent's premier club championship with Guangzhou Evergrande advancing to the two-legged quarterfinal matches against Al Itthihad of Saudi Arabia which will start on September 19, the first Chinese club to reach the quarterfinal since 2006.

Syrian hope

Thursday, 14 June 2012 17:07

President of Syrian club Al Shorta Hatem Alghayeb believes his club have been placed in the most difficult quarter-final encounter when they were pitted against Chonburi of Thailand during the AFC Cup 2012 Knockout Stage draw at AFC House on Thursday. The leaders of Group E with 15 points from six matches had gone on to beat Home United of Singapore 3-1 in their Round of 16 match in May at the Amman International Stadium in Jordan to win a ticket to the last eight. However, the club’s President feels that he would rather see his club up against more familiar teams from the West Asian region. AFC Competitions Executive Director Windsor John (pic) as well as special guests, Saudi Arabian goalkeeping legend Mohammed Al Deaya and Chinese superstar Sun Jihai conducted the draws. “These are very good draws but unfortunately not for us as we have been put against an unfamiliar team, Chonburi from Thailand,” he told the-afc.com after the draw. “In fact, I think our draw is the toughest, tougher than all the other three quarter-final draws. “I’d rather that we faced any of the other West Asian clubs, Kuwait SC, Arbil of Iraq or Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq, whose style of play we know quite well. “Come what may, our coach will make sure the club will be prepared for the match. It is a very good experience for us and we feel privileged to have arrived at this stage of the competition.” “We’ll do our best and who knows we may just go to the final match and have a chance to host it." The Syrians will travel to Thailand to meet Chonburi at the Chonburi Stadium for the first leg of their quarter-final matches on September 18 and on September 25, they will entertain the Shark for the second-leg tie at the Amman International Stadium, Jordan.

Kompany will be in town

 Manchester City’s captain Vincent Kompany will be in town for the newly-crowned English Premier League champion’s ticket launch.

The defender, who led City to their first English Premiership title in 44 year, will be the star attraction when ProEvents announces the ticket prices for the highly-anticipated Malaysian XI vs Manchester City match at the National Stadium Bukit Jalil on July 30.

Kompany will be officiating at the ticket launch which is scheduled to take place at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) headquarters in Kelana Jaya here on June 6.

It will be Kompany’s first time to Malaysia, and the Belgian is looking forward to it.

“I have heard many good things about the country from some of my teammates who have been there before. They always rave about the warm and welcoming Malaysians and I’m looking forward to meeting our fans out here,” he said.

The 26-year-old Kompany has become one of the best centrebacks in the world since pulling on the blue kit of City four years ago. Ever since then, he has gone on to make 127 appearances for the club. The City skipper was an integral part of the team which won the FA Cup last year and the English Premier League last season.

Charged in court

Two Malaysians were charged in court on Thursday with abetting in a conspiracy to fix the LionsXII and Sarawak Malaysian Super League (MSL) soccer match played on Tuesday evening.

Thana Segar S. Sinnaiah, 38, a businessman and a former football player, and referee Shokri Nor, 47, are said to have schemed with each other in a hotel room in Penang to corruptly agree to receive a bribe of RM15,000 (S$6,090) to fix the result of the match which ended in a 3-0 win for LionsXII.

During the match, held at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Shokri was replaced as referee at the last minute.

Three others have since been called up by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for questioning.

Well done, Nicol

LONDON: World No.1 Nicol David easily defeated Nour El Sherbini of Egypt 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 to win the British Open title at the O2 Arena here on Sunday (20.5/12).

It was the Malaysian squash queen's fourth British Open crown.

“I was so fired up to play Sherbini. She’s an amazing player. The score was three-love but it wasn’t easy, she played some amazing strokes.

“She’s only 16-years-old and she’s on the way up. I have to go home and work on my game because she’s coming up,” said Nicol after her victory.