Buhlertal: The Football Association (FA) has decided to approach Fifa after it emerged that match officials in England’s Group B opener against Paraguay prevented players getting all the water they needed during the match. Despite sweltering temperatures of up to 29 degrees Celsius on Saturday, England players were at times denied access to water by officials at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt.
“We’re certainly going to make some kind of communication with Fifa ? not any kind of complaint ? but I know the medical staff were concerned,” FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said on Sunday. “I think we went through 70 litres of water during the course of the game on Saturday. We normally go through somewhere in the region of 20,” he said.
20 England fans arrested
Frankfurt: Twenty England fans were arrested in Germany on Saturday, a British police spokeswoman said on Sunday. About 70,000 England fans were thought to have been in Frankfurt for the match, she said. “We understand there were 70,000 English people in Frankfurt on Saturday so we see a figure of 12 arrests as quite positive,” the spokeswoman said. Twelve of the arrests were made in Frankfurt and eight in Cologne. Two were for alleged assault and criminal damage outside the ground and the pair will appear in court in Frankfurt later on Sunday, she said.
No dope cases so far: Fifa doctor
Berlin: Fifa’s chief medical official is not expecting any doping cases at the World Cup. Soccer’s governing body conducted more than 125 tests in 24 international friendlies and all 32 training camps before the tournament started, and tested two players from each team in the opening matches. So far there were no positives, Dr Jiri Dvorak said Sunday, confirming that some of the sport’s biggest stars had been tested. Dvorak demonstrated Fifa’s doping test procedures in detail, saying he wanted to show the system was thorough..
Raul misses training
Kamen: Spain striker Raul dropped out of training on Sunday after picking up two knocks from heavy challenges during a practice match.
Team doctor Genaro Borras said that the knocks were not serious and that Raul’s availability for Spain’s opening Group H match against Ukraine in Leipzig on Wednesday was not in jeopardy.
$160000 bait for Saudis
Bad Nauheim: Saudi Arabia’s players could earn up to 600,000 riyal ($160,000) each if they reach the last 16 of the World Cup, a team spokesman confirmed on Sunday. The players were told of the incentives by the Prince Sultan, head of the Saudi Soccer Federation, at a meeting in the team hotel on Saturday. “The players will earn 100,000 riyals for each victory in the group phase, and a 300,000 riyals payment if they get through the group,” team media officer Ibrahim Al-Goba said on Sunday.
outh Korea relays to North
Seoul: South Korea has begun providing North Korea with television broadcasts of the World Cup soccer finals in Germany. “We started relaying World Cup TV broadcasts through satellite,” Yang Chang-seok, a South Korea unification ministry spokesman said on Sunday. “But I don’t think the North started airing them yet.”
The move follows the North’s request that South Korea relay World Cup broadcasts so that its people can watch the global soccer tournament.
Alex’s woe
Bonn: A World Cup pep-talk given by Japan’s soccer chief to the Japanese squad was completely lost on the team’s Brazilian-born defender Alex. Japan Football Association (JFA) chief Saburo Kawabuchi dropped in on the squad during training on Saturday to rally the troops for Monday’s World Cup opener against Australia.
But it was lost on Alex. “I was wondering what he was talking about,” smiled the 28-year-old, who speaks intermediate Japanese.
Streller hurt
Bad Bertrich: Switzerland striker Marco Streller twisted his knee in practice and was taken to a hospital for a body scan. Team doctor Rudolf Roder called it a “moment of horror” when Streller hurt his knee, but tests showed no sign of injury.
Closed roofs?
Berlin: World Cup organisers want to play some matches under roofs to reduce the amount of shadow in TV broadcasts, as long as it does not get too steamy for players. “If you have watched the matches on Saturday on television, you saw that for the matches in the afternoon ? when the sun is shining ? it’s not the best TV picture,” Fifa spokesman Markus Siegler said on Sunday.
“We’re currently assessing the situation,” he said. “We must understand, millions and millions of people are watching the match and there’s not a nice picture with all those shadows.”
