Neal and Pray

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Rampant corruption, 11 foreigners and $1m bonuses: Why nobody should support Equatorial Guinea on Saturday

WHEN Equatorial Guinea take the field for their CAF quarter-final on Saturday in their capital Malabo, look carefully at the names on offer. And the money on offer.

You may find that NOT ONE of the co-host's players was born in the country they are representing. That their vice-president’s $1m bonus for every win is going out of the country as fast as the rest of Equatorial Guinea’s oil revenue.

On Supersport, we’ve twice seen Benni McCarthy offering glib approval of Equatorial Guinea’s ridiculous bonuses. The Orlando Pirates veteran told Robert Marawa: “It’s great, anybody will perform for that kind of money!” But hold on Benni, what’s really going on here?

Just how does Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangu, the son of the president, manage to find the cash to pay $1m for a win and $20,000 per goal to his lowly-ranked players from every nation except his own?

And exactly how did his tiny nation manage to produce a squad of players which features six Spaniards, an Ivorian, a Cameroonian, two Brazilians and only a smattering of actual so-called Equatoguineans? On January 18, barely a week before the big kick-off in Bata, former coach Henri Michel reportedly resigned over Teodoro interfering with his squad, with Brazilian Gilson Paulo taking over. I guess he speaks the language – he has already had his lucrative contract extended by the kindly vice-president.

Perhaps we should be asking too, how a nation smaller than Swaziland managed to see off Nigeria in the bidding for the competition, given that they had never qualified for the finals before. Bit like 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar I guess.

But no, we must ask no questions. When the hosts (ranked 150^th in the world by FIFA) take on Ivory Coast (16^th) in their surprise quarter-final on Saturday, we shall take the line FIFA took: It’s nothing to do with us, CAF look after the African Nations Cup.

So we must simply accept that Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Co will be playing a mercenary army on Saturday. When they upset highly-fancied Senegal last Wednesday, their winner was scored by a Spanish Fourth Division striker called Kily.

They also boasted a Brazilian goalkeeper, a Liberian defender, an Ivorian midfielder and a Cameroonian forward, as well as a host of Spanish players.

Go through the names in their 23-man squad and you’ll find only third choice goalkeeper Felipe Ovono and reserve defender Jose Bokung were born in Equatorial Guinea.

They call their team “National Lightning” but by thunder, they haven’t struck twice in the same place since 2004 when a Brazilian called Antonio Dumas took over as national team coach.

Dumas was the guy who used to run the equally dodgy Togo national side. He introduced several “foreigners” there, many from Latin America and claims he was encouraged by the Equatorial Guinea government to do the same with his new side after disappointing performances in CAF and the World Cup.

A former Spanish colony, the trend was set. Passports and work permits were granted to virtually any footballer who was willing to gain citizenship and play for the oil-rich nation.

Take journeyman defender Lawrence Doe. A veteran of a dozen professional clubs all over the world, he never managed to break into the Liberia side.

He insists: "I feel very happy and very proud because even though I was born Liberian I am now a Guinean. Equatorial Guinea is my home, I have my wife and son here now.

"I am a Guinean, they take care of me, the government take care of me here.”

But nobody seems to care what the locals think, the president and his son have made sure of that over the last 32 years of dictatorship – the longest in the world since the departure of Colonel Ghadaffi in Liya.

Teodorin, the popular name given the son of president Teodoro Nguema Obian Mangue (like North Korean dictarors, they like to keep the naming convention simple) is an expert at cleaning oil soaked millions.

Though he claims to be paid a mere $7,000 a month for his role as minister of agriculture and forestry in the tiny oil-rich enclave, Teodorin is watched carefully by an organisation called Human Rights Watch. On October 6 last year, the US Justice Department filed an official notice in California of a pending claim for the forfeiture of more than $70 million in assets, including a mansion, jet, and Michael Jackson memorabilia belonging to the younger Mr. Obiang.

Though living standards are low in Equatorial Guinea, Teodorin likes to live the highlife on his meagre salary. And pay his football team huge bonuses. But Arvind Ganesan, a director at Human Rights Watch says: “US authorities have turned up stark evidence of corruption by President Obiang and several of his family members in multiple investigations since 2003. The move to go after his son’s US assets, though belated, is a good step.”

And it’s not just in the US that Teodorin makes hay. He is also being investigated in France and Spain, along with his dad, Obian family members and close friends.

The Justice Department initiated the investigation in 2007, following a US Senate investigation from 2003 to 2004. The Justice Department’s legal action names Sweetwater Malibu LLC, a company belonging to Teodorín Obiang, and seeks the forfeiture of a variety of valuable assets, including a $30 million Malibu mansion, a $38.5 million jet, seven luxury cars worth almost $3 million and valuable Michael Jackson memorabilia, such as “one white crystal-covered ‘Bad Tour’ glove.”

The US investigation centres on the “Riggs Bank Report” which was reported by Senate to have “turned a blind eye to evidence suggesting it was handling the proceeds of corruption”.

Essentially, millions of dollars of Equatorial Guinea’s national oil revenues were transferred to a private offshore account that Senate investigators concluded was controlled by President Obiang.

Now the Immigration and Customs department have declared they will “identify, trace, freeze and recover assets within the United States illicitly acquired through kleptocracy by Teodoro Nguema Obiang and/or his associates.”

They believe Teodorín Obiang laundered more than $110 million in suspect funds through US bank accounts between 2004 and 2008. They also claim he transported 22 vehicles out of the US to Equatorial Guinea via France in 2009, according to a Le Monde report, citing customs records. Oh, and there was a party with a tiger in California which cost untold millions too.

Neither the government of Equatorial Guinea nor Teodorín have responded publicly to the news of the pending asset forfeiture action, though in 2010 Obiang’s government released a statement saying the allegations are clearly “clearly RACIST, XENOPHOBIC, ARROGANT and SEGREGATIONIST” (their capital letters) while expressing “complete support, confidence and backing” for Teodorín.

The French are worried too. According to Le Monde last year, French police have catalogued Teodorin’s recent purchase of nearly $26 million on antiquities and other goods at auction.

And then there’s Swaziland. Police there opened an investigation into the theft in late August of a suitcase belonging to the younger Mr Obiang that reportedly contained some $400,000 in cash ($300,000 in dollars and 75,000 euros) and two expensive wristwatches. He reported the suitcase stolen from the five-star villa where he was staying during a visit.

BREAK OUT ON EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Equatorial Guinea, with high oil revenues and a tiny population, has one of the highest per capita gross domestic product ratios in the world.

. But the government has failed to make improvements in socio-economic conditions commensurate with available resources.

The per capita GDP is equivalent to that of some of the worlds’ top-tier economies yet many of the people of Equatorial Guinea lack access to basic social services. The country is 19th worst in the world for child mortality, according to 2010 UN and World Bank statistics. Education spending as a percentage of GDP is lower in Equatorial Guinea than in neighboring countries. The government has invested huge sums in high-profile projects, such as ultra-modern hospitals, luxury conference centers, and a lavish $830 million resort complex built to host the June 2011 African Union summit meeting that have little benefit for the poor.

After Human Rights Watch published a 2009 report on oil, corruption and human rights in Equatorial Guinea that detailed government abuses and the lack of transparency, the Obiang government responded by accusing the group of “blackmail” and “pulling from their sleeves information that lacks all transparency and objectivity.”

The US State Department’s human rights report for 2010 describes an array of serious abuses, including unlawful killings, systematic torture, and official impunity and denounces “official corruption at all levels of government” in Equatorial Guinea, specifying that “[t]he president and members of his inner circle continued to amass personal profits from the oil windfall.”

The legal proceedings involving Teodorín Obiang come as speculation mounts that he is being positioned to succeed his father in power. On October 14, the Obiang government set a November 13 date for a referendum on proposed changes to the constitution. The centerpiece of the announced reform is the introduction of term limits that would allow the 69-year-old President Obiang, who has been president for the past 32 years, to serve for two more terms of 7 years each.

President Obiang was re-elected in 2009 with 95.4 percent of the vote in an election with weak international monitoring, raising “the suspicion of systematic voting fraud” according to the US State Department.

While the government has not yet published a text of the constitutional changes that will go to a vote, they are understood to create a new post for a vice-president that observers expect will be filled by Teodorín Obiang.

In 2010, Teodorín Obiang was elected to head the ruling party’s youth wing, which automatically conferred on him the vice-presidency of the ruling party. The US public relations firm that represents the government of Equatorial Guinea and also has a separate contract with the younger Mr. Obiang, hailed his selection as “part of a broader effort by the government to improve the democratic election process for its citizens.”

Along with declaring the date of the national referendum, Equatorial Guinea also announced that Teodorín would be its deputy permanent delegate to the Paris-based United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). President Obiang has unsuccessfully sought to reinstate a controversial UNESCO prize financed by and named after him. The senior Obiang’s most recent effort to force UNESCO to issue the award, in September, was scuttled in part because news of the seizure of Teodorín’s assets in Paris, a short distance from UNESCO’s headquarters, highlighted the risk of associating the organization with the reputations of the Obiangs.

“The people of Equatorial Guinea should be able to choose their government in free and fair elections, hold it accountable, and apply the country’s wealth to fulfill their basic needs,” Ganesan said. “Unfortunately, President Obiang does not provide leadership that respects such basic rights, and his son seems to be following his father’s path.”

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Wenger lives to fight another day. But it's lucky, lucky Arsenal

Will we look back one day and talk about the winter’s evening Arsene Wenger was 45 minutes from resigning his post as manager of quadruple European Champions Arsenal?

In five years, when Wenger is 67 (still three years younger than Sir Alex Ferguson is now), will we look back at the three highly fortunate goals, and sigh "Lucky, lucky Arsenal" like they used to in the 1930s when titles were ten-a-penny at Highbury.

I hope so. He’ll have been there 20 years by then. But some will remember.

That day in late January, 2012 when they were 2-0 down against Aston Villa at half-time? Not 48 hours after telling fans he was intent on winning the grand old FA Cup, the Frenchman from German-speaking Strasbourg found himself all at sea and sinking faster than a cruise ship captained by an Italian with wet socks.

Villa just did what Wolves, Fulham, Swansea and Manchester United have done in recent weeks. Exploited a flat-footed Arsenal defence. After a neat-interchange down the left, Robbie Keane’s teasing cross set up an aerial one-on-one between Laurent Koscielny (there are far better centrebacks in the local Sunday League than this particular Frenchman) and the old warhorse Richard Dunne. Only one winner. 1-0.

Then, with Arsenal pressing and the half-time pie beckoning, Villa did it again. Stephen Ireland set up Darren Bent, who timed his run to perfection before unleashing. Arsenal’s deputy Pole-in-goal Lucasz Fabianski blocked but Bent was there to finish the rebound. He generally has been throughout his career.

At half-time, former England manager Graham Taylor witnessed Wenger being roundly booed by the Gooners and said: " You see your side in total control but you don't see the opposition goalkeeper worked, that is what is frustrating people."

That, and a six-year trophy drought. And that record-breaking three-match losing streak which has put Arsenal in danger of missing out on the four Champions League places.

But after the break, God smiled. Even Wenger smiled.

First Dunne, the opening goal scorer already booked, slides through Aaron Ramsey. Stupid challenge. He’d already lost the ball. Penalty but no sending off. Robin van Persie (who else?) slots it.

Minutes later, Walcott breaks down the right, beats one, cuts in and tries a stupid shot from a ridiculous angle. Given gets a touch, then Alan Hutton – yes, a former Spurs fullback – clears straight in to the unknowing Walcott and the ball bounces in, 2-2. How lucky was that?

And they were ahead on the hour when Koscielny of all people charged forward, perhaps fired-up by his half-time roasting for that first Villa goal. In slides Bent with a strikers tackle and it’s another penalty. Van Persie goes the other way. 3-2. A miracle.

Though there was a slight feeling that they may just have scored those three goals too soon, Arsenal held on.

Lucky? Oh yes. But a win’s a win. Wenger lives to fight another day. Specifically against Middlesbrough or Sunderland in round five towards the end of February.

On a weekend where we had witnessed the embarrassment of England's cricketers being skittled for 72 by Pakistan and Novak Djokovic winning the longest-ever Grand Slam final against Rafa Nadal in Melbourne, the Emirates was able to match the drama.

Friday, 27 January 2012

Amazing Grace comes crashing back to earth in the desert

BRANDEN GRACE came back to earth with a bump in the desert yesterday, finishing day one of the first big tournament of the season a distant eight shots behind joint leaders Robert Karlsson of Sweden and world No3 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.

After winning twice on the European Tour on home soil in South Africa, the 23-year-old sensation could only manage a 75 in the first round of the Abu Dhabi champions.

With the big guns back in action, Grace was hoping to match the late, great Seve Ballesteros with a third successive victory in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when the fourth round draws to a conclusion on Sunday night.

Grace won the year’s second tournament – the Johannesburg Open – and last week held off his heroes Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a play-off to win the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt Links near his home town, George. He became the first professional since Fred Couples to win immediately after his debut tour triumph.

Before teeing off against world No1 Luke Donald (71), reviving superstar Tiger Woods (70) and the irrepressible US Open champion McIlroy (67), Grace said: "I just hope my game stays the way it is and my energy levels stay up.

"I've just been running with emotion. I'll keep playing and keep playing until I'm exhausted and until I find it's time to take a break."

But the Buffelsbaai pro struggled on the lush green oasis of the Abu Dhabi golf club, and is unlikely to feature among the leaders on Sunday night.

A third successive win was achieved by German Martin Kaymer two years ago – but his victories were not in consecutive weeks. The last to win three times in successive weeks on the European Tour was super Spaniard Ballesteros in 1986 at the Irish, Monte Carlo and French Opens.

Just a month after coming through the Tour qualifying school in Spain, Pretoria-born Grace has those two victories under his belt and after climbing 166 positions in the world rankings, he said: “Getting into the top 50, I think that is every player's goal. That would put me in the US Masters and to get into a Major would be an unbelievable year.

“If I could achieve that to get into the Masters, it would just be a highlight, indescribable.”

“I know for a fact I'll definitely take it easy the next couple of days, go out and play the Pro-Am in Abu Dhabi and take it from there.”

Grace, after three events of the 2012 season, still leads the Race to Dubai moneylist with R5.8 million in earnings, a fairy-tale start to the season.

“I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. I've always looked forward to playing in big tournaments. So I'm going back and making new goals and taking it from there.”

That round of 75 left him in joint 102nd place in a field of 129. He double bogeyed the par four fifth and turned in 38 and came through the second nine just one over regulation. But the man now ranked 92 in the world was two shots clear of Kaymer, the world No4 who also suffered a horrific opening day in the desert.

And he was doing slightly better than the home favourites. Ahmed Al Musharrekh, the only Emirati in the field, carded a nine over par 81 while Stuart Fee, the top local professional qualifier, produced an awful 15-over 87. The pair fill the 128th and 129th positions on the leaderboard going in to the second round.

Keep track of Grace's progress in the desert... and all the rest of the sport with me in South Africa's new tabloid Scoop! on Sunday... available at all reputable street corners and outlets in Gauteng and KZN. See also www.scoopnews.co.za

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Harry Redknapp: The full incredible story of his trial...and his dog's bank account at Barklays

What you probably don’t know about Harry Redknapp, the famous Spurs manager currently in court for tax evasion in London, is just how popular the bloke is.

Father of the talented Jamie, now a television presenter after a successful career with Liverpool and England, Our ‘Arry is beloved of journalists and would be a popular choice to take over the England job if Fabio Capello resigns after Euro 2012 later this year.

Badly injured in a car crash which killed his close mate and Bournemouth FC owner Brian Tiler at the World Cup in 1990, ‘Arry is not your typical frosty football boss.

As he approaches what used to be a pensionable age – he’ll be 65 on March 2 – ‘Arry has manipulated Spurs into a position of title contention after taking over from the clueless Juande Ramos three years ago with the club languishing at the bottom of the Premier League.

Conviction for tax fraud for one of Britain’s great sporting icons, who took a break from his beloved bench to undergo heart surgery last year, is simply unthinkable.

Through a long, largely successful career in management (West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Portsmouth again and now Tottenham) after a modest stint as a player mostly at West Ham and Bournemouth, he has always been good for a quote, a larf, a sound-bite.

I say always. There was the time he said he’d "sue the b*******" off one my old mate Rob Beasley, the News of the World football reporter who asked too many questions about his tax dealings. Still, at least he’s outlasted the newspaper.

Harry’s problem revolves around a bank account set up in his dog’s name – Rosie47 (the dog and the year of his birth) was allegedly the Monaco-based off-shore home for his ill-gotten gains.

Now, after all those years of entertainment, we are told by the court in Southwark that he has been "feigning ignorance" about his illegal dealings “for six years before his arrest” despite telling police “I’m not on the fiddle” as he and his former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric were questioned over two payments amounting to £189,000.

Redknapp insists his dog’s account – soon to be moved to Hounduras, Barklays Bank, apparently, using a pawpal transfer according to the wags – was built up through transfer profit bonuses. Mandaric, unfortunately, insists the money was “an investment fund” set up outside of football.

John Black QC, prosecuting in the tax evasion trial at Southwark Crown Court this week, recounted a conversation between Beasley and Redknapp. ‘Arry told the reporter: “I’ve got the best accountants in England, the Inland Revenue know about Monaco.”

But Beasley then mentioned Mandaric's explanation and ‘Arry said: "He don't know what he is f***ing talking about. What is he talking about? It is a bonus."

Redknapp insisted the cash came from profits made on the sale of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Aston Villa – he was later to sign the gangly striker again at Spurs.

He added: "If it was something dodgy I would have gone over there and brought it back in a briefcase."

When Beasley asked him whether he had paid any tax in the UK on it, Redknapp replied: "Haven't been asked to, Rob."

Redknapp said "there ain't nothing crooked in it" and told Beasley: "Don't say bung. It's nothing to do with a bung. It's paid by the chairman.

"How can it be a bung when the chairman of the football club paid me? What's a bung? It's a f****** sick word."

It’s the idea of ‘Arry being paid the money in to an account in his dog’s name that has really captured the imagination though. Redknapp declared the account to tax inspectors just before he left Portsmouth for Spurs in 2008 and told police he thought the “Rosie account” was dormant and that he didn’t know Mandaric, now 73 and chairman of Sheffield Wednesday, had put any money in it.

Redknapp told the police: “Milan's probably lost it. I could show you people who I have lent money to in investments.

"It would blow your brains away, the money I have squandered but then I do trust people, that's the way I live my life.

"I was told I wasn't liable for income tax on so many occasions. For the sake of that amount of money or any amount of money, I don't fiddle. I pay my tax since I have been in football my entire life. I pay every penny."

But the prosecution says ‘Arry only mentioned the Monaco account after he was questioned during the Premier League-led Quest investigation in 2006.

Mr Black said: "The existence of the bank account was not registered to Revenue and Customs for a period of six years, two months... after Mr Redknapp was first arrested and questioned in the course of this investigation.

“It's clear that it was only at this time that Mr Redknapp brought to the attention the existence of the Monaco bank account, feigning almost total ignorance of its existence, its operation and its contents."

Redknapp and Mandaric deny two counts of cheating the taxman. The trial continues...

Read Scoop!, South Africa's new Sunday tabloid for more from me on this story - available at Gauteng and KZN outlets. See also www.scoopnews.co.za

Monday, 23 January 2012

Tragic truth behind sport's fallen stars: suicide lurks says Dean Windass

Dean Windass is a bit of a character. Talented, effective, funny. As a professional footballer he never played for the glamour clubs in Manchester or London, but he did okay. He earned R5 million a year, bought high-fashion R2 000 T-shirts and “every new car” on the market.

A month ago, he attempted to kill himself. Twice. He’s not ashamed to admit: “I felt I had no purpose any more, I had nothing to get up for.”

Like Gary Speed, the former Wales manager who hanged himself in his garage in November, Windass is 42. He retired from football two years ago. And he simply can’t handle it.

Though South Africa has no detailed history of former sports stars attempting suicide, the British are awash with them. Frank Bruno, the former world heavyweight champion, tried it. So did Paul Gascoigne, perhaps the greatest footballer of his time. Two of England’s most popular sportsmen – yet nothing was done.

Windass admitted to the Sunday People’s Katie Hind (who kindly gave me her permission to reprint the quotes): “Just over a week ago I hit rock-bottom and decided to end it all. I took an overdose first – and when that didn’t work tried to hang myself.

“I have cried every day for the last two years since retiring. People outside football think we have it all. I felt so alone and believed I had nothing to live for. I was in a hole that I didn’t know how to get out of.

“I need to sort myself out which is why I’m speaking out now.”

This week Windass attempted to seek counselling at the Sporting Chance Clinic, run by former Arsenal and England star Tony Adams, who also suffers from depression.

But Windass was told he cannot check in until next month for therapy sessions because the centre in London is fully booked with other former sportsmen and women who desperately need help for a range of problems.

In a statement which may resonate with former sports stars in South Africa, he says: “I hope by speaking out it may help anyone else who is feeling as desperate as I was and that the PFA or FA can help. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me, it is my fault, but hopefully it will help some people like me who are out there.”

Windass admits he had it all after his Wembley play-off winning goal in May 2008 against Bristol City which sent his hometown club Hull City into the Premier League for the first time in their 104-year history.

That goal alone was estimated to be worth £60 million (R720 million) in TV revenue. He played at the top for 19 years with Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Bradford City and Aberdeen as well as Hull.

He admits: “I wasn’t in the superstar bracket but I was pulling in well over half a million pounds a year, so money was no object. Harvey Nichols was my middle name. I would buy £200 shirts, I’d live in D&G and Prada. Every time a new car came out, Audi or BMW, I would buy it. Top-of-the-range cars were my thing.

“I had a big family house in Leeds worth over a million. I was treated like a superstar wherever I went. Now I am living off what little savings I have but they are running out. I did some work for Sky Sports which I loved but that came to an end.

“I’ve tried really hard to get a job. I did all of my coaching qualifications while I was playing. I put my CV into loads of clubs for a coaching job but you don’t hear anything back.”

Windass, a rugged, no-nonsense player with a nose for goals and entertainment, shrugs: “People have this image of me as this big strong man who can take anything life throws at him. But I’m not ashamed to say I wanted to end it.”

After his retirement as a player at Hull two years ago, Dean turned to booze, often downing 10 to 15 pints of lager and lime. His 18-year marriage to Helen, a 45-year-old police officer, fell apart. He was estranged from his sons Josh, 18, and Jordan, 12.

He admits: “I was aggressive, I’d smash glasses and Helen had had enough which was understandable.

“There were arguments and arguments and then I went off with someone else. I met her in Hull in a pub. I moved into her house. I split up with her last week.”

And that was when he hit his lowest point. He explained: “Just days ago, alone and drunk at my home in Hull, I swallowed a load of tablets – I think they were painkillers.

“Luckily a friend turned up and made me throw up. I knew I’d been a fool but I couldn’t shake off the depression.

“The next day another dark cloud emerged so I drowned my sorrows with half a bottle of amaretto liqueur.

“I was just over an hour’s drive away from my wife and family in Leeds but it felt like the other side of the world. I thought ‘I don’t want to be in this world any more’.

“I tried to use a bedsheet to hang myself and tied it to a handrail at the top of the stairs but it was too long.

“I was quite drunk and couldn’t get it to work so I got a belt instead. At that point another friend came round so I couldn’t go through with it. Now I’m trying to get better, get back on track. I don’t want to be miserable every day.”

Windass admits the death of Speed, a rival on the pitch, had impact. He said: “He must have been feeling in a similar way to me. When I heard the news I thought that could be me and I continued down that dark corridor of depression.”

“People outside football think we have it all, but we don’t. Look at Stan Collymore (a former England striker, now a radio presenter) and what he’s been through with depression. There’s this assumption ‘he’s a footballer, he’s all right’.

“Everyone thinks that Dean Windass is a laugh and a joke and a kid blah blah blah, and got loads of money and his wife and kids are lovely. But that’s all a mask. I was in pieces, I couldn’t stop drinking or crying. I’ve cried every day for the last two years.

“With no job I’d get up, go for a run and hit the pub. I could still play the big guy because everyone knew me and wanted to buy me a drink.

“But after necking pint after pint I’d take my frustrations out on the family. The following day I’d repeat the same pattern and tell my wife I was popping out to buy a paper. I couldn’t get work anywhere and blew nearly all my savings. I couldn’t even afford to pay for my son’s motor insurance.

“I scored the winning goal at Wembley to get Hull into the Premiership and foolishly thought I was made for life.

“After I finished playing for Hull I got an assistant manager job at non-league Darlington with Colin Todd which was my dream but we got sacked. It wasn’t a lot of money but it wasn’t about that. I wanted to coach – I wanted to manage.

“That ended and I became increasingly depressed.”

Now Windass is appealing to football’s governing body: “The Professional Footballers’ Association or FA need to help us.”

With great candour, he confesses: “Footballers? We’re not the brightest but you play football all your life.”

This story ran in South Africa's new Sunday tabloid Scoop! last Sunday, along with a long list of sporting suicides and a contact number for local sportsmen who have been where Dean was. For further information see www.scoopnews.co.za.

Sunday, 22 January 2012

Why always me? Here's why Mario, we just don't know what to make of your particular talents

"The boy should have been off. Balotelli has kicked Scott Parker in the head . He's back-heeled him in the head. He does it a lot, I've seen it. What does Scottie think? He thinks he kicked him in the head. I don't know why you would do that on a football pitch. Have a look at it on your machines. It's there for everybody to see."
With those words from Harry Redknapp, Mario Balotelli's place right at the forefront of our footballing headlines were assured.
By then, the experts in the Premier League's international studio had already assured us that the Ghanian-born Italian's graceless stomping on the prone Parker were deliberate.
Andy Townsend insisted "the FA should take another look at that" while Alan Curbishley had "no doubts about it". The first stagger, where a foot cracked Parker as Balotelli came down from an attempted shot, looked like an accident. But the second, a wicked stab of the heel, looked pretty damning.
But of course, the reason Balotelli stays at the forefront of our minds is that he doesn't stop at petulance and nastiness. He also throws in a dose of good football. And in this case, that meant going down in injury time for the vital Manchester City winner.
And then getting up to stick the penalty past Brad Friedel, the oldest and best in the Premier League, though you wouldn't think so if he passed you in the street dressed in a suit.
While the travelling Spurs fans and Redknapp vented their fury at the injustice of it all, they might have considered the greatest unfairness of all. That Jermain Defoe is only 5ft 6ins high. I've stood next to him. Knee high to the proverbial Zurich Grasshopper.
When Gareth Bale, scorer of an excellent leveller to make it 2-2 after nine frantic second half minutes featuring four goals, crossed the ball shortly before the Balotelli penalty, Defoe looked nailed on to score.
But his little legs just weren't long enough, the toe cap put the ball wide and City went up the other end to finish the challenge of the cheeky North Londonders forever.
Harry, after adding a few more choice Balotelli comments (unless I'm mistaken, he accused him of serial stomping), said: ''We had a great chance when Gareth laid it across to Jermain, we were all up on our seats thinking it was 3-2. It proves we're as good as anyone, they weren't better than us today but they nicked it in the 94th minute.
''We had a bad two or three minutes and conceded the two goals but we showed great character to come back and I could see us winning from there.'
Harry might consider the fate of Ledley King after this. Spurs had never lost with their perpectually injured centreback in the team. He barely trains due to an ongoing battle of the wounded knees. But he looked knackered for that last-gasp City foray into Tottenham's box. The foul on Balotelli was a nailed on penalty. The King is due for usurping with the pipe and slippers.
With Arsenal being completely outplayed by chasing Manchester United, it was another bad day for North London against the Mancunians. Back in August, when Arsenal lost 8-2 to United and Spurs were done 5-1 by City, it amounted to 13-3 in favour of the northerners.
It won't be as bad this time - Arsenal went down 2-1 despite yet another Robin van Persie goal - but the result is the same. Capital punishment. This title will be decided in Manchester.
For Arsenal, with two wins in seven games, the more worrying aspect of their defeat against United came with the crowd's response to the subsitution of the excellent young Southampton signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. With the out-of-sorts Andrei Arshavin coming on and a bumbling Theo Walcott looking embarrassed not to be replaced, the boos rang around the Emirates.
A few minutes later Danny Wellbeck won the game with Arshavin - featuring prominently on the box - failing to make a tackle.
Can Arsene Wenger survive another long-term assault from the critics?

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

The face of the man who could bring cricket to its knees: England's first convicted match fixer faces jail

This is the little-known face of the cheat who could bring cricket to its knees. Essex paceman Mervyn Westfield faces jail after becoming the first Englishman convicted of match-fixing.

He will be sentenced on 10 February but – with three Pakistani cricketers jailed in England last year over similar charges – the 23-year-old is expected to name further fixers in the game as he bids to get his sentence reduced.

Westfield was warned by Judge Anthony Morris: “Mr Westfield, I hold out no promises but it is open to the court to pass an immediate custodial sentence.”

Morris also promised to name the “well-known” cricketing character who paid Westfield. The ECB announced an amnesty on match-fixers last Friday in an attempt to get further corruption out in the open – but Cricket South Africa refused to accept the need for something similar in this country despite the shadow of the late Hansie Cronjé’s match-fixing, exposed in 2000.

One CSA spokesman told Scoop! last Friday: “Nobody in South Africa is under suspicion.” But Herschelle Gibbs, who admitted to trying to fix an innings in India in 2000 and still plays for the Cobras, received only a six-month ban from cricket.

Westfield, once considered a Test contender, effectively threw his career away for £6 000 (R72 000) when he promised to allow 12 runs to be scored off the first over of a Pro40 match against Durham in September 2009.

Though he bowled a wide, only 10 runs were conceded. Westfield’s legal team argued their client had not gone through with the fix, but the judge said he found it “difficult to accept”that he would not have been paid.

The game was broadcast live on Sky across India and Pakistan, making it eminently fixable. Westfield conceded 60 runs from his seven overs but Essex went on to win by seven wickets.

Born in Romford near London, Westfield boasted about his ill-gotten earnings to col¬leagues, who blew the whistle.

Westfield’s conviction is a huge embarrassment for English cricket, coming three months after Pakistan stars Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed for spot-fixing.

This story first appeared in Scoop! South Africa's new Sunday tabloid. See www.scoopnews.co.za