The Good, Bad and Ugly ft Reece Jamesâs good fight, Suresh Raina arrested and FIFAâs complaint against Sepp Blatter
Good, Bad and Ugly - December 27th edition
|Sportscafe
Another week goes by and the penultimate week of 2020 has left us a lot to talk about in this weekâs edition of âGood, Bad and Uglyâ. From Reece James delivering food to the homeless to more charges filed against Sepp Blatter to Suresh Raina flouting COVID rules but the world keeps spinning.
Good
Reece James helps Felix Project deliver meals on Christmas Eve
With Marcus Rashford paving the way this year for footballers to do charity work, Chelsea full-back Reece James has picked up the slack by helping the Felix Project deliver meals. The Englishman joined the organisation as they picked up food and ingredients to deliver to homeless shelters across London on Christmas Eve. This is not the first time the Chelsea man has done this with the 21-year-old working with the Felix Project this year to help put an end to the UKâs food poverty crisis. James has already donated a reported amount of ÂŁ10,000 with him looking to up that amount to ÂŁ100,000 before the end of December with him looking to help Marcus Rashford in their fight against food poverty.
Viv Anderson and Peter Reid demand review into football and dementia
Viv Anderson and Peter Reid have formed a group of former footballers with them looking to force the parliamentâs hand to review the link between heading and dementia. The group consists of a catalogue of former England internationals with this coming in light of the links between the two. This also comes just days after World Cup winner Nobby Stilesâ family revealed that the former Manchester United starâs head was severely damaged by heading the ball. The group sent a letter urging the Parliament to look into the link between neurological diseases and heading in order to protect the future generations going forward.
BadÂ
FIFA issues âcriminal mismanagementâ complaint against Sepp Blatter
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been subject to a âcriminal mismanagementâ complaint from world footballâs governing body with them reporting Blatter to the Zurich prosecutorâs office. The document released by FIFA stated that they became aware of âstrong suspicions of criminal misconduct on the part of various different officialsâ which includes Blatter and other former officials. The report further indicated that 500 million Swiss francs was wasted by the former president which was money that could have been âchannelled into the development of global football.â Blatter is already under criminal investigation over another matter and is currently serving an eight-year ban from football.
Suresh Raina arrested for flouting COVID-19 rules
Former India batsman Suresh Raina was arrested earlier this week with the 34-year-old found guilty of violating the social-distancing norms set by the Indian government. Raina was released on bail almost immediately after he, and 34 other people, were found flouting the rules in a club set in light of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The incident occurred hours after the Maharashtra government set a night-time curfew but a statement from the cricketer revealed that he was not aware of âthe local timings and protocols.â
Ugly
Sunil Gavaskar hints at a divide within the Indian team
In light of Virat Kohli taking maternity leave to be with his wife Anushka Sharma for the delivery of their first child, Sunil Gavaskar has hinted that there is a divide within the team. The former Indian skipper revealed that the âdifferent rules for different playersâ has caused problems within the Indian dressing room especially with Thangarasu Natarajan not allowed to do the same. Gavaskar also implied that there is a problem with Ravichandra Ashwin, as the bowler has suffered for being âforthrightness and speaking his mindâ. Gavaskar went onto imply that there is a clear divide inside the team but âthat's Indian cricket. Different rules for different people."
Bishan Singh Bedi quits DDCA membership amidst claims of nepotism and corruption
Spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi has quit the Delhi and District Cricket Associationâs (DDCA) after alleging that DDCA promotes nepotism in a letter addressed to DDCA President Rohan Jaitley. In it, Bedi has lashed out at the organisation and called out the corruption within the DDCA with his alleged claims of nepotism, and the fact that they put âadministrators ahead of cricketersâ. Bediâs letter further revealed that the planned statue of former DDCA president Arun Jaitley is unnecessary but instead âSporting arenas need sporting role modelsâ, who would propel the next-gen youngsters to take up the game more seriously unlike the current situation. Now that statement coming from a man well revered in Delhi Cricket came in as a shocker, given that Jaitley had just taken up the leadership role with the Delhi cricket association.Â