Sacked England manager Sam Allardyce has tendered a “wholehearted apology” to the Football Association (FA) for embarrassing the governing body and is “deeply disappointed” at his shock exit following a newspaper sting.
The 61-year-old was sacked on Tuesday for seeking a lucrative sideline role while talking to undercover reporters from Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
The paper said it had hundreds of pages of transcripts from the meeting in which Allardyce was negotiating a deal worth £400,000 (US$520,840) to represent a Far East firm seeking advice on the transfer market.
Photo: AFP
“It was a great honor for me to be appointed back in July and I am deeply disappointed at this outcome,” Allardyce, who replaced Roy Hodgson after England’s dismal Euro 2016 campaign, said in a statement on the FA Web site.
The former player who built his managerial reputation by getting the best out of unfashionable or struggling clubs met FA chairman Greg Clarke and chief executive Martin Glenn and offered a “sincere and wholehearted apology” for his actions.
“Although it was made clear during the recorded conversations that any proposed arrangements would need the FA’s full approval, I recognize I made some comments which have caused embarrassment,” he said.
“I was asked to clarify what I said and the context in which the conversations took place,” he said. “I have cooperated fully in this regard. I also regret my comments with regard to other individuals.”
Allardyce won his only game in charge of England, a 1-0 World Cup qualifier triumph in Slovakia earlier this month, and he will be replaced by under-21 coach Gareth Southgate for the next four matches as the FA searches for a successor.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but