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The Star Online: Sports

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• Rugby: English players could pose problems
• WADA chief Fahey highlights China crisis
• Young Amir makes his mark

Rugby: English players could pose problems Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:34 PM PST LONDON: British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland admitted to the London Evening Standard on Tuesday that he is wary of picking too many English players for this year's tour of Australia despite their fine form in the Six Nations. The 49-year-old New Zealander - who guided Wales to the Six Nations Grand Slam last year but has taken a leave of absence to coach the Lions - said the bad behaviour of some of the England players at the 2011 World Cup could be a bad omen. That is despite a radical overhaul of the players since then by no-nonsense coach Stuart Lancaster, who replaced Martin Johnson after the World Cup debacle, and who has also been strict with players who have strayed since then. "We all know what happened with England at the World Cup and the circus that was created," said Gatland. "There are other pressures that come with selecting a lot of English players. "At the moment England are playing well. They did well in the autumn, particularly the outstanding victory against the All Blacks. "And, if they do well in the Six Nations, there will be a reasonable contingent of English players. "But it becomes a much greater media focus from the English papers and potentially a negative focus from the Australian papers. And English players are targeted by other countries. "They are not always the most popular with other countries because of the history. People like having a pop at them. Gatland's comments were greeted with disbelief by several former England internationals including former skipper Bill Beaumont. "I was lucky enough to be captain in 1980, Martin Johnson skippered the team to the famous 1997 series win, as well as leading the side for a historic second time, when going down to Australia," said Beaumont, who was capped 34 times by England from 1975-1982 and earned seven caps for the Lions. "Wearing the Lions shirt, whether captain or player, is something that all English players take very seriously. "This will undoubtedly continue for those that get picked this time. "It is well documented the strong culture and sense of responsibility on and off the pitch that this England team possesses. "Those fortunate enough to get picked will of course take those attributes Down Under." - AFP

WADA chief Fahey highlights China crisis Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:34 PM PST LONDON: China remains the "major source of supply" for illegal performance-enhancing drugs, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president John Fahey told AFP in an interview here on Tuesday. His comments came after WADA director-general David Howman told a news conference at a London hotel on Tuesday that "99 percent of illegal substances come from China". Howman added the "same bad guys" were involved in both match-fixing and the supply of illegal drugs because of the huge sums of money involved in each case. Fahey said progress had been made with Chinese authorities but that more needed to be done. "On numerous occasions we've made representations to CHINADA (the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency)," Fahey told AFP. "I've had discussions with the (Chinese) sports minister and I'm conscious of certain action being taken," the 68-year-old Australian added. "We've certainly asked for their co-operation and we are conscious of many suppliers being shut down as a result of our representations in the past. "That's not to say it still isn't the major source of supply - we know it is," Fahey insisted. WADA's effectiveness was was called into question Tuesday, by Swiss-based UNI Sport PRO, an umbrella group of national and international sporting associations, who slammed its handling of the Lance Armstrong scandal. The disgraced American cyclist, who recently admitted to being a serial drugs cheat, was banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France victories following an investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Last week, meanwhile, the Australian Crime Commission report said use of prohibited products was commonplace across multiple sporting codes, sending shockwaves through Australia - a country where sport has a central role in national life. "Regrettably, the World Anti-Doping Agency and its stakeholders are failing in their mission to protect clean athletes," said a UNI Sport PRO statement. But Fahey insisted there was more to catching drugs cheats than dope tests and that there was no substitute for government action. "We (WADA) have made some significant progress since our inception (in 1999). We now have a methodology that's far smarter. "Once upon a time it was test, test, test and if you do enough tests you'll pick up enough cheats. It's a waste of time just testing anybody. You need to test the likely cheats. "We've got to use other methods (than testing) to bring them under the (WADA) code. Possession or admissions and so on. "All of that's happening because we are seeing many countries working with law-enforcement agencies and my own country (Australia) demonstrated that again last week. We can't see enough of that. "But is the problem still as big as it ever was? There's no doubt it's still a massive problem." Fahey's mandatory maximum six-year term as WADA president ends this year. However Fahey, a former premier of New South Wales and for the past two years chairman of an inspectorate supervising the rebuilding of flood-damaged roads and bridges in Queensland, said he'd no intention of returning to front-line Australian politics. "I learnt long ago that you never go backwards," said Fahey, who also played a key role in Sydney's successful bid for the 2000 Olympic Games. "I gave 18 years to politics and whilst I can say I enjoyed it, it's not something I wish to put my time into in the future, apart from the fact that if I even thought about it my wife would shoot me." - AFP

Young Amir makes his mark Posted: 12 Feb 2013 04:55 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Youngster Amir Farid Ahmad Fuzi (pic) has made quite an impression in the two hockey Test matches against Ireland that he stands a good chance of featuring in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh next month. National assistant coach S. Arul Selvaraj said that the forward showed maturity in his performances. "I'm impressed with his game. He has good ball control and didn't lose the ball in the two friendlies," said Arul, who took charge of the team in the second friendly as national coach Paul Revington was down with the flu. "Amir has shown that he can blend into the national squad ... he has a good chance of earning a spot in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup squad." The 22-year-old Perak-born Amir featured in the Junior Asia Cup which Malaysia won in Malacca last May. The Tenaga Nasional player, who has been with the national training squad since last year, failed to earn a place in the Champions Challenge I in Argentina and the Asian Champions Trophy in Doha last November and December respectively. Malaysia won the first two of the three-Test series 4-2 and 3-0 respectively. The third Test will be held at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today (7pm). And Arul is expecting another good performance from his men. "They must be more aware tactically and the defenders must not get caught off guard by the Irish counter attacks," said the former international. "Our players must also make full use of their chances." All the 21 players, except for goalkeeper Khairulnizam Ibrahim, have played in the two friendlies. There are 30 players in the national training squad and the final 18 for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, scheduled for March 9-17, will be named after the two friendlies against New Zealand early next month.

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