Ronaldinho, Robinho for Olympics

Out of form Ronaldinho has been included in Brazil’s squad for the Olympic Games as an overage player.

Real Madrid striker Robinho, another player over the 23 age limit, was also named in the squad by coach Dunga, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said on its Web site cbf on Monday.

Players under the age limit included Liverpool midfielder Lucas, Manchester United midfielder Anderson, Werder Bremen’s Diego, AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato and Manchester City’s new signing Jo.

Brazil, five-times world champions, have never won the Olympic gold in soccer and regard it as the one major title missing from their collection.

Ronaldinho, troubled by injury and fitness problems, has not played for Brazil this year and has made only sporadic appearances for Barcelona.

Barcelona’s new coach Pep Guardiola has already said that Ronaldinho does not figure in his plans for next season and AC Milan are reported to be interested in signing him.

Brazil, silver medallists in 1984 and 1988, will face China, Belgium and New Zealand in their first round group.

Dunga, who is also in charge of the senior side, is under increasing pressure after recent poor results and his future in the job is seen as hinging on a good performance in China.

The Olympic tournament, taken more seriously in South America than in Europe, is restricted to under-23 teams with three overage players allowed per team.

The presence of the over-age players depends on the goodwill of their clubs, who are not obliged to release them.

Brazil had hoped to include World Player of the Year Kaka in their squad but AC Milan said they would not let him go.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves (Almeria), Renan (Internacional)

Defenders: Marcelo (Real Madrid), Ilsinho (Shakhtar Donetsk), Rafinha (Schalke 04), Thiago Silva (Fluminense), Alex Silva (Sao Paulo), Breno (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders: Lucas (Liverpool), Anderson (Manchester United), Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Diego (Werder Bremen), Thiago Neves (Fluminense)

Forwards: Robinho (Real Madrid), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Rafael Sobis (Real Betis), Jo (Manchester City)

End of an era, Pepsi drops Tendulkar

Completing a phase-out of its aging cricket brand ambassadors, soft drinks major has dropped master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, whose long-standing contract with the company expired in May. The dropping of Tendulkar comes on the backdrop of Pepsi axing the other two members of the Indian batting trioka, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, earlier this year.

Industry sources said Pepsi did not renew the contract with Tendulkar, who has been their brand ambassador since the 90s, following its decision to focus on younger cricketers. “The decision was also influenced in a big way by a premium demanded by the batting maestro,” the sources added.

As per market estimates, Tendulkar with a fee ranging between Rs 3-4 crore for endorsement per brand annually has been the most highly paid cricketer of his generation. When contacted Pepsi officials refused to comment or clarify if the company has not renewed the contract.

Tendulkar’s manager, the World Sport Group, was not available for comments despite repeated attempts. Pepsi had made clear intention to go with youngsters as part of a new campaign for 2008, ‘Yeh hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan’ and roped in Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma while dropping Dravid and Ganguly.

Hinting the company was having second thoughts over Tendulkar’s contract, in an earlier interview in April, PepsiCo India Executive Director Punita Lal had said: “Its about how much you (as a company) can afford and how many new faces you want to introduce”.

Over the years Tendulkar has partnered other celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan in ads for the brand with ‘Dil Maange More’ being one of the most memorable series. According to sources with Tendulkar hampered more often by injuries and questions on his future surfacing time and again, brands like Pepsi would prefer to invest on young guns, led by charismatic captain MS Dhoni.

The same logic was applied while not renewing contracts with Dravid and Ganguly, who were not considered for the Indian ODI team, the sources added. The company had roped in Ishant and Rohit, after their impressive performance in the Commonwealth Bank One-day tri-series played in Australia earlier this year. The two have followed it up with superlative performances in the IPL.

IPL has put in place anti-corruption measures: BCCI

The Indian Premier League authorities are taking sufficient measures to prevent corrupt practices from creeping into the multi-million dollar Twenty20 League which has taken the cricket world by storm, according to Cricket Board secretary Niranjan Shah.

 

“The Indian Premier League is a huge event with lots of money involved. We are keen to ensure that it remains corruption-free and have taken and will be taking measures to this effect,” Shah told PTI on Monday on arrival in Mumbai from Karachi after witnessing the Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Shah was reacting to International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit chief Paul Condon’s warning that IPL, which has been floated by BCCI, posed the biggest threat to cricket’s integrity since the 1990s’ match-fixing scandal.

Condon feels the IPL may go the Sharjah way, where several matches were suspected to have been fixed by a network of bookies in the 1990’s in collusion with players, according to a report on a website — cricketnirvana.Com.

“…The IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah,” Condon told the ICC’s Executive Committee during the governing body’s annual conference.

Since the IPL is a domestic tournament, the ICC does not send its anti-corruption officials to keep an eye on the players and Condon feels this is precisely what makes it vulnerable to being hijacked by the bookies, Australian newspaper ‘The Age’ reported on Monday.