Madrid – Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed he had to overcome media “campaigns” against him to win FIFA’s inaugural “The Best” prize for the world’s best player in 2016.
Ronaldo lifted the award at a star-studded ceremony in Zurich on Monday after a glittering year on the pitch saw him lead Madrid to Champions League glory and captain Portugal to the country’s first ever major international triumph at Euro 2016.
However, Ronaldo’s year was blighted by reports from an international consortium of media organisations in December that claimed a huge data leak involving 18 million documents showed the Portuguese hid €150 million from image rights in the British Virgin Islands.
Ronaldo, 31, has strongly denied all claims of wrongdoing.
“There were many doubts, many campaigns against me from inside and outside football,” Ronaldo told Spanish radio station COPE.
“They wanted to hit me from all sides and the truth is The Best was The Best and that is me, so I am very happy.
“They wanted me to feel bad, but as I have said ‘he who owes nothing, fears nothing in life’. As always, I have shut up a few mouths once again.”
The Spanish tax authorities have committed to investigating the allegations against Ronaldo and a series of other Spanish-based sports stars named in the “Football Leaks” investigation.
However, the four-time World Player of the Year insists he is calm and believes justice will be done in his favour.
“It bothers me because when you do things well, when you help a lot of people and I am going to mention the award for charity work, which is one of the best awards I have in my museum.
“I have helped so many people and you do so many good things, but people want to hit you to camouflage the bad things that others do.
“It bothered me and it continues to bother me, but justice is always done in the end and so we are going to wait and see what happens.”
For the second straight year, the New England Patriots are the most disliked team in the NFL.
This according to a new poll taken last week and released Monday by Public Policy Polling.
In the poll, taken of 378 NFL fans representative of the US population, 21 percent of people disliked the Patriots — once again edging the Dallas Cowboys (19 percent).
Of those polled, 42 percent said they feel negatively about the Patriots, compared to only 19 percent who said they think of their Super Bowl LI opponent Atlanta Falcons negatively. As far as who those polled are rooting for to win the Super Bowl, 53 percent are pulling for the Falcons, 27 percent for the Patriots.
Patriots QB Tom Brady is both the most popular QB among fans, and the least popular, and coach Bill Belichick is also seen negatively by 34 percent of those polled by Public Policy Polling. Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports
Tom Brady is the most popular quarterback among fans (22 percent), but he’s also the least popular (24 percent). Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was the seventh-most-liked quarterback behind Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Dak Prescott, Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick is also viewed negatively by 34 percent of those polled, while only 8 percent of those polled said they didn’t like Falcons coach Dan Quinn.
Belichick isn’t as disliked as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, as 37 percent said they thought of him unfavorably and 42 percent disapproved of the job he was doing.
The football governing body has elected to change the format of the 2026 World Cup from 32 teams to 48 teams for the first time.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his ruling council agreed that the format will be expanded to include 48 different nations playing in 16 groups of three teams.
This format will replace the current 32-team structure which calls for eight groups of four teams.
This expansion would offer an additional 16 places up for grabs and although the continental allocation has not been confirmed, recent reports suggest a merged qualification for the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL regions.
Instead of 16 teams progressing to the knockout phase, the new format is expected to see 32 teams battle it out.
Here’s how it will look:
(Courtesy: @RobHarris)
According to Rob Harris of the Associated Press this increase in size will generate an additional $975 million ($640 million after cost increases) for FIFA.
Former Detroit Lions running back Mel Farr, who once also headed the nation’s largest black-owned business, had Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at the time of his death in 2015, Outside The Lines has learned.
Farr died suddenly on Aug. 3, 2015, at his home in Detroit from a massive heart attack due to undiagnosed hypertension. He was 70.
After his death, Farr’s family donated his brain and spinal cord to Boston University School of Medicine where, since 2008, researchers have been testing the brains of deceased athletes for the presence of CTE, the progressive degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head.
CTE can only be confirmed with certainty after someone dies. Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression and, eventually, progressive dementia.
“Mr. Farr had Stage 3 CTE, which is consistent with other football players of similar age and exposure,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the director of Boston University’s CTE Center. “At Stage 3, the disease is widespread, but most severe in the frontal lobes as well as the medial temporal lobes, specifically the hippocampus, which plays a critical role in forming new memories, and the amygdala, which governs emotion.
“Mr. Farr had symptoms consistent with other Stage 3 cases, including memory problems, significant personality change, and behavioral symptoms,” added Dr. McKee, who is also a professor of neurology and pathology at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Chief of Neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System. “His family noted that Mr. Farr was aware of, and frustrated by, his decline.”
Said Farr’s daughter, Monet Bartell: “My dad for some time had been suffering. He was losing his memory. Things he should remember, he couldn’t remember.”
Farr, who was a 1967 first-round draft pick and NFL rookie of the year, played for the Lions from 1967 to 1973. He played college football at UCLA and high school football in his hometown of Beaumont, Texas. In total, he played the game for 18 years. His family’s story will be part of an Outside The Lines special, “Football Forever” (Saturday, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN).
According to Dr. McKee, the latest research from Boston University finds that “CTE risk, both the presence and severity, is associated with number of years playing football.”
Before his death, Farr suspected he had CTE. He, along with his brother, Miller Farr, his cousin Jerry LeVias and two sons, Mel Farr Jr. and Mike Farr — all former NFL players — joined a still pending class-action lawsuit against the league claiming the NFL hid known concussion risks from players.
“We were never told the lifelong effects of the multiple jarring and hits in the NFL,” Mike Farr said.
“What we called it back then was ‘getting your bell rung’. What they may call it now may be a mild concussion,” Mel Farr Jr. said. “If you took a hard hit, you got up, you were a little woozy, ‘Oh, he just got his bell rung’ — you were able to go back to the huddle.”
While his family was not surprised by the CTE diagnosis, they were surprised that Farr had Stage 3, which is usually marked with aggressive behavior and more cognitive impairment than what Farr seemed to display. At Stage 4, there’s usually a clinical diagnosis of dementia.
Bartell said a doctor told her that perhaps because her father “had such a great mind, he was able to mask it a lot better than some [others].”
After retiring from the NFL in 1973, Farr owned about a dozen car dealerships in several states. He starred in memorable TV commercials wearing a red cape, like Superman, pretending to fly around fighting high car prices. His persona was “Mel Farr Superstar.”
With revenue topping $568.4 million, according to a 2002 report by Automotive News, at one point, Farr had the largest black-owned company in the country.
“He was an amazing man with a larger-than-life personality,” said his wife, Jasmine Farr, whom he married in 2013. “He was a great athlete, a great businessman, a great family man and a great person. One of a kind. He would light up a room with his presence.”
Bartell told Outside The Lines she is thankful Farr’s symptoms weren’t worse.
“We didn’t have to see his health deteriorate to a point where the Mel Farr that everyone knew and loved was unrecognizable,” she said.
“Football allowed us to live out the American dream, and it’s so crazy that the game that we love so much can also contribute to the death of my dad,” she added. “That’s a tough pill to swallow.”
Now his widow is working to keep his legacy alive recently starting the “Mel Farr Superstar Scholars program” at a Cornerstone charter school in Detroit.
Four months after he died, Jasmine Farr gave birth two weeks early to a baby girl named Melia who, incredibly, was born on Farr’s birthday, November 3. Melia is now 1.
“It’s divine intervention. She is a blessing and a gift from him,” Jasmine Farr said. “We will now celebrate both of them on that day.”
