Inter chief: No contact with Hernandez or Torres

Though confirming his admiration for the Manchester United forward, Erick Thohir denies that an approach has been made for either striker to join the Nerazzurri this summer

Inter owner Erick Thohir has denied that his team have been in talks with Javier Hernandez and Fernando Torres about luring the Premier League strikers to San Siro.

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Goal understands that Valencia and Atletico Madrid are one of several clubs interested in signing the Manchester United forward, with the Red Devils willing to sell, and theNerazzurri have been linked with the Mexico international as well.

Torres, who has often struggled since his £50 million move from Liverpool to Stamford Bridge, is also expected to leave in the summer but Thohir is adamant that neither men have been approached.

"At the end of the season we will evaluate everything, both the young players and the more experienced ones, because we want to build a strong squad for the future with a view not just to next season but to the next three," he told the press.

"I think Hernandez is a good player but we haven't spoken to either him or Fernando Torres."

Inter have already secured the signature of veteran centre-back Nemanja Vidic from United, with the Serbian heading to Serie A upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the season.

I am happy here' - Eto'o hints at Chelsea stay

The Cameroonian, who is out of contract with the Blues in the summer, says he is loving life at Stamford Bridge and is convinced his experience could prove invaluable to the club

Samuel Eto'o has no intention of hanging up his boots just yet and has hinted he may extend his stay atChelsea beyond this season.

The 33-year-old netted his ninth goal of the season in Chelsea's 4-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday, with the striker, whose deal with the club expires in the summer, evidently enjoying life at Stamford Bridge.

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His effort on 56 minutes came after a mistake from Jan Vertonghen in the Spurs defence and was the 300th club goal of Eto'o's distinguished career.

It also made the Cameroon international the highest scoring frontman in Jose Mourinho's squad this season, and he insists his experience can be crucial in their quest for the Premier League title.

"I am happy here," he is quoted as saying in The Evening Standard. "My age is not important.

"I work the same as Oscar or Eden Hazard. I have more experience and this is good for the team.

"It is an amazing thing (to score 300 club goals) but I have maybe two or three years more (in my career).  I think I am going to score more goals."

Eto'o signed a one-year contract at Chelsea in August having left Anzhi Makhachkala, and has been linked with a move to the United States and former club Real Mallorca if he departs England.

Revealed: Van Persie has exit trigger clause in Manchester United contract

The Dutchman has a clause in his contract allowing him to speak to other clubs and quit Old Trafford if the Premier League champions finish outside the top four this season

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Robin van Persie has a clause in his contract allowing him to speak to other clubs should Manchester United miss out out on a top-four Premier League finish, Goal understands.

This could pave the way for Van Persie to move this summer, with the player expected to push for a transfer overseas should the league champions fail to reduce the nine-point deficit to fourth position by the end of the season.

Any potential move would still have to be sanctioned by the United board, and a fee would have to be agreed with the buyer, but the get-out option increases the likelihood that the Dutchman will not be at Old Trafford next season.

The striker was a picture of frustration during United's 3-0 weekend win at West Brom before being substituted by manager David Moyes.

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After shooting United to the title last season, Van Persie's second season at Old Trafford has been disrupted by injury, mixed form and a series of behind-the-scenes clashes with Moyes.

The forward's concerns about the training methods and tactics of Moyes and his staff were revealed by Goal last October, and he went public with some of his misgivings following United's calamitous recent defeat to Olympiakos by citing the positional play of his team-mates as a reason for his own dip in form.

Van Persie will turn 31 in August and is now willing to explore the possibility of one final pay day abroad.

Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus and Monaco are among the Continental clubs closely monitoring the potential availability of the prolific Dutchman.

At this stage, it is considered unlikely that he would remain in England if he leaves United. 

Arsene Wenger has no desire to take the former Arsenal star back to Emirates Stadium, while his age and wages would put off Liverpool's owners. The only realistic English avenues would appear to be Chelsea or Manchester City.

Any suitor would have to match the salary of Van Persie, who has two years remaining on a £250,000-a-week contract that runs until June 2016.

In turn, Moyes might believe that it is an appropriate time to cash in on the No.9, who was a £24 million signing from Arsenal in 2012, and grant him a swift exit.

The United boss has already begun the process of sourcing a new front man as he prepares to spend a summer transfer kitty worth at least £120m.

United intermediaries met with Edinson Cavani's camp in January, although Paris Saint-Germain are ready to resist any bids for the Uruguay international in the next window.

Reed holds on to win WGC event

Reed finished at four under 284 to beat runner-ups Welshman Jamie Donaldson and American Bubba Watson. PHOTO: REUTERS

MIAMI: Patrick Reed says beating a star-studded field to capture the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Sunday shows he is among the top five players in the world.

The 23-year-old American said his impressive amateur resume combined with his three wins on the PGA Tour in seven months puts him in elite company.

“I’ve worked so hard,” said Reed. “I won a lot in junior career, did great things in amateur career, was 6-0 in match play at NCAA’s, won NCAA’s two years in a row … and now I have three wins out here on the PGA Tour.”

While Reed basks in the glow of his latest victory, Woods is left to pick up the pieces after one of the worst Sundays of his career.

Woods stumbled to the finish with six-over 78. He played through the pain of a nagging bad back.

Reed finished at four under 284 to beat runner-ups Welshman Jamie Donaldson and American Bubba Watson.

Donaldson shot a two-under 70 to grab a share of second along with Watson, who had a four-under 68 in the $9 million tournament.

South Africa’s Richard Sterne (71) and American Dustin Johnson (72) tied for fourth at even-par 288. Stephen Gallacher (69), Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (68) and Bill Haas (71) were one stroke back at plus-one.

Woods and Jim Furyk were the only two players without a birdie in the final round

YouTube ban: LHC summons IT minister on March 13

Remarking against the ban, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said one should no see or read any thing (on internet) which is not appealing to him. CREATIVE COMMONS

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench, which is hearing a petition against YouTube ban, asked the state minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rahman to appear before the court on March 13, 2014 after she failed to appear before the court on Tuesday.

The bench had issued summons to the minister on the previous hearing to appear before the court. Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Naseer Bhutta submitted before the court that Rahman could not appear before the court on Tuesday due to security reasons.

Secretary IT Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar appeared before the court on behalf of the minister and filed a reply on the matter. While the court allowed the reply to be included in the record, it maintained that it could not be consider as a policy statement.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of LHC said after 18th constitutional amendment, policy matters are not in domain of secretaries but that of ministers. Therefore, the minister should file the policy statement, the judge said.

The court adjourned the hearing till March 13, and directed the IT minister to submit the reply before the court on next hearing.

Remarking about the ban, Justice Shah said if something does not appeal to one’s taste, they should not see or read such things (on Internet).

Justice Shah observed that not a single Muslim country in the world had banned YouTube because of an sacrilegious film, and Pakistan was the only exception.

When the bench asked the secretary IT  on whose orders YouTube was blocked, the DAG replied on the behalf of secretary that on September 17, 2012 the website was banned on the orders of the Supreme Court. As per the operational part of the order, DAG Bhutta said Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had been asked to block the objectionable material from the site.

On this, Justice Shah remarked that apex court had asked for the removal or blockage of the objectionable material but PTA had blocked the whole website. The judge asked him that if there was any direction from the apex court for blockage of YouTube, to which the DAG replied in the negative.

The secretary submitted that PTA  does not have any technology to block specific material from a website.

The court was hearing the petition filed by Bytes for All, an NGO. The petitioner submitted that any filtering and blocking on internet is counter productive and predatory.

The petitioner had sought directions for the Ministry of Information Technology and the PTA to reopen the functioning of YouTube and prayed to the court to order for restoring access to YouTube in Pakistan.

The petitioner in the case at the LHC had argued that the ban is counter-productive as it limits access to a vital educational and research tool.

The website was blocked by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on September 17, 2012. Since then various segments of the society have demanded the restoration of access to the website.

Big Three’ monopoly: India offered PCB quid pro quo

India had offered a minimum of three home and three away tours between 2015 and 2023. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: 

The Big Three’s takeover of the International Cricket Council (ICC) took place despite strong opposition from some boards – including Pakistan’s. But it has transpired that the row had briefly opened up a window of opportunity for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

India – which is now known as the biggest of ‘Big Three’ – had offered the PCB quite an attractive quid pro quo.

The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) had offered the PCB three home and three away tours between 2015 and 2023 in return for support at the ICC. The deal would have fetched PCB around $100 million.

The deal, however, broke down when the then PCB chairman, Zaka Ashraf, asked for guarantees which the BCCI was reluctant to commit. Details of the collapsed deal were shared with members of the PCB governing board at a meeting held on January 18.

Ashraf had chaired the meeting at the National Cricket Academy which also discussed a position paper about the distribution of ICC revenues in the years to come, according to minutes of the meeting, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.

“India had offered a minimum of three home and three away tours between 2015 and 2023,” a senior PCB official told The Express Tribune. “The estimated income from these tours was to the tune of $100 million. But it was conditional upon the PCB agreeing to the terms of the position paper presented by the Big Three.”

In addition to this, a short tour to the UAE was also offered by India while in an initial discussion before the ICC meetings on new changes, Pakistan was told that they could become a fourth permanent member of the group led by India, Australia and England.

Ashraf wanted the BCCI to include clauses in the contracts that if the promise was not kept then the case would be heard in Switzerland – where all ICC-related cases are decided.

At the January 18 meeting, Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed suggested that the proposal be looked at pragmatically and negotiation with India, England and Australia be done to extract the best bargain for Pakistan.

The whole saga led to the sacking of Ashraf by PM Nawaz Sharif, who is now also the patron of PCB.

History will hold judges responsible if anything happens to Musharraf: Kasuri

Former president Pervez Musharraf. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: Advocate Ahmed Raza Kasuri told the special court that former president Pervez Musharraf could not make it to court as his life was still under threat, Express News reported on Tuesday.

During the hearing of the treason case against Musharraf, Kasuri stated that the interior ministry had said that there was a threat to Musharraf’s life.

The interior ministry, which happens to be his prosecutor, had warned that there is a serious threat to his life from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al Qaeda.

Kasuri further stated that if something happens to the retired general, history would hold the three judges of the special court – Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar and Justice Yawar Ali - responsible.

Prosecutor Akram Sheikh told the court that security was increased as 2,200 officers – compared to earlier 1,100 – were deployed to ensure Musharraf’s safety.

Kasuri said proper screening of security officers was necessary to ensure safety.

Rana Ijaz Ahmed Khan, a member of Musharraf’s legal team was escorted out of the courtroom for exchanging harsh words with the judges.

Escorted out

Khan claimed that the judges were “killers for hire” to which the court responded that he committed contempt of court and a notice would be issued to him in this regard.

Speaking to the media, Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Saif said that the judges asked security to escort Khan out of the court, claiming that this action by the judges was proof that they were biased against Musharraf.

Musharraf was ordered to appear before the court on March 14.

Background

The former president faces treason charges under Article 6 for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.

The 70-year-old had fallen ill and taken to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi over three months ago where he is still under treatment.