An investigation into former FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s World Cup broadcasting deals with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) will be dropped by Switzerland’s federal prosecutor, according to Reuters.
The 84-year-old was accused of selling TV rights for the 2010 and 2014 editions of the World Cup to the CFU for $600,000, a sum that was apparently well below market value at the time. However, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has revealed its intention to end the corruption probe.
In a statement, the OAG said it “considers the criminal investigation into the partial facts and allegations concerning the contractual relationship with the CFU to be complete and ready for conclusion.”
The OAG added it “intends to discontinue the proceedings” but offered no explanation for its decision.
Blatter, who is serving a six-year ban from football-related activities due to ethics violations, could be convicted in a separate case involving his $2.06-million payment to then-UEFA chief Michel Platini if the OAG determines it was unlawful.
Platini claimed the fee was for unpaid salary, backing up Blatter’s claims that it was merely a “gentleman’s agreement” between the pair following some advisory work conducted by Platini nine years earlier.
LeSean McCoy said he isn’t ready to retire despite his decline in production the past two seasons. In fact, he believes he has multiple seasons left in the NFL.
“I really just want to play two more years,” McCoy said Friday in an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I talk to Frank [Gore] about this. He always tells me, ‘Never put a ceiling on your career. Hey, if you feel good and you do well, do another one year and vice versa. If it doesn’t go well, just let your body talk to you.’ My body feels fine.”
The 31-year-old free-agent running back, who completed his 11th NFL season in 2019, added: “My body feels good. So I will let my body speak for when I want to be done.”
McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, said he has “a couple teams that I’m looking at.”
LeSean McCoy is ranked third among active players with 11,071 career rushing yards, behind only Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
“I’m just waiting for the right moment,” he said. “This stuff is tricky now, because there’s no visits. There’s no real activities with the teams as much as it used to be. The thing I can control is just making the right choice, going to an offense that fits. I want to go to a team that’s a winning franchise that have all the right pieces that’s waiting for me. That veteran running back to help the room out. To add a spark. The teams I’m looking at right now are those teams. I won’t discuss who they are. I look forward to probably after the draft or right before the draft, signing on with a team.”
Paris Saint-Germain star Marquinhos has lifted the lid on the club’s Erling Haaland-inspired celebration during the Champions League round-of-16 clash, saying it was Neymar’s idea to mock the young Borussia Dortmund striker.
PSG advanced to the quarterfinal stage courtesy of the 2-0 victory over the German side at the Parc des Princes on March 11. Neymar scored the opener, then mocked Haaland’s “Zen” celebration.
According to Marquinhos, Neymar’s club teammate and fellow Brazilian international, the derisive celebration aimed at the 19-year-old Norwegian goal machine was premeditated.
“He likes that,” Marquinhos told YouTube channel Desimpedidos, per ESPN UK. “Neymar is not just a football player, he is not afraid and always responds to provocations.
“After his goal, I asked him if he had taken everything out. He warned me, I told him to wait until the end of the match, but he told me to leave it and not to stop it,” Marquinhos added.
Following the victory, several PSG players replicated Haaland’s trademark celebration on the pitch before doing so again in the locker room.
It is understood that mocking the celebration of the teenage star stemmed from a social media post featuring Haaland that tagged the French capital and read “My city, not yours.” It was later determined that Haaland was not responsible for the Snapchat post and that the caption was fake.
Haaland recorded both goals in the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, celebrating the second marker with his meditative pose. Post-match, the former Red Bull Salzburg standout attributed the exhibition to his love of meditation.
UEFA warned PSG after the victory for “unsportsmanlike conduct,” though it’s not clear if that was a result of the on-pitch melee following Emre Can’s sending off or the Haaland-inspired celebrations.
The New York Jets didn’t plan to make NFL draft history in 2000. Ironically, it started with a hostile divorce. And then another.
After three seasons of relative prosperity under Bill Parcells, who had stepped down as coach after the 1999 season, the Jets reverted to their past reputation with the shocking departures of coach Bill Belichick and star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. They were cast as an organization in chaos, unable to keep their best employees happy.
It took guts to trade Johnson, a dynamic wide receiver, but Parcells shipped him off because of “the economics,” he said. Parcells knew he was going to leave the organization in a year, which he did, and he wanted to leave the franchise in a good place.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Parcells downplayed those intentions, insisting his objective was simply to find good players for the coach. As it turned out, four coaches benefited — Groh, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan, all of whom coached at least one of the four players.
“When you’re picking four in the first 27, you figure you better do something,” Parcells said. “You’d be disappointed if that didn’t turn out OK. I’d like to have that every year.”
Parcells credited personnel director Dick Haley for playing an instrumental role. A holdover from the previous regime, Haley made his bones as the personnel chief for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their 1970s dynasty. Despite their different personalities — Parcells was fire, Haley calm and cool — they hit it off.
“He was one of the best personnel guys in the history of the league,” Parcells said. “He was the best guy I could’ve had next to me at the Jets. There just wasn’t a better guy.”
The Jets moved up four spots to No. 12 to select defensive end Shaun Ellis in 2000. Kathy Willens/AP Photo
Shaun Ellis, DE, No. 12 pick
Career highlights: He played 12 seasons, his final year with the Patriots in 2011. He played in 184 out of 192 games, recorded 73.5 sacks and made two Pro Bowls.
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“I was kind of depressed,” Becht recalled. “I’m thinking, ‘I can’t believe Coach Parcells lied to me. This is crazy.'”
Becht found out when everybody else did, when it was announced on TV. In a way, the moment symbolized his career because he always was an under-the-radar player, tasked with performing the dirty work. In 2004, his perimeter blocking helped Jets star Curtis Martin win the NFL rushing crown.
Although he never attained star status, Becht is proud of his pro career because he was able to adapt quickly to different systems over a long period of time.
Like Pennington, Becht has stayed involved in the sport — as a college football analyst for ESPN. He’s also grooming his son, Rocco, a promising high school quarterback in the Tampa, Florida, area. One day recently, he was out of breath when he answered a reporter’s call. He had been running routes for his son. His days as a blocking tight end are over.
Looking back on the 2000 draft, which included a terrific third-round pick in wide receiver Laveranues Coles, Becht said, “From top to bottom, I don’t think you’ll ever see that again — five guys out of one draft class. I know I’m biased, but that’s hard to fathom.”
Mike Tannenbaum, director of pro player development
Relatively new to the business in 2000, Tannenbaum managed the Jets’ salary cap and negotiated the contracts, which means it was his job to sign the draft picks. In those days, a first-round contract was heavy lifting because this was before the rookie slotting system. The directive from Parcells was to get them done by the start of training camp.
With camp approaching, Tannenbaum flew to Chicago to meet with agent Tom Condon, who represented Pennington, the last unsigned pick. They reached an agreement on the eve of training camp, resulting in a spicy reward from Parcells:
A bucket of 100 chicken wings from the local Hooters restaurant.
“When he got nervous, he would eat,” said Parcells, laughing at the memory. “I was a little like that myself in my younger years.”
Tannenbaum enjoyed the wings, but the biggest satisfaction was knowing he did his part. The scouts scouted, Parcells made the decisions and Tannenbaum got all four first-round picks signed on time for camp.
“I didn’t want to let anyone down,” said Tannenbaum, who is also an ESPN analyst. “It was a feeling of comfort, but it lasted only 10 or 15 minutes. Coach Parcells never let you rest.”
