Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 10 - 16 May 2001 Issue No.533
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Elwani elected
AMR ELWANI, head of the Egyptian Volleyball Federation, has been elected president of the African Volleyball Federation. The win marks the end of the tenure of Côte d'Ivoire. Elwani collected 27 votes compared to only three for his Moroccan opponent Al-Hadi Al-Ghazali. The voting took place in Cairo during the African General Assembly meetings attended by 33 African countries. Elwani will remain senior vice president of the International Volleyball Federation.
Iran stadium collapse
AROUND 250 people were injured when metal awnings collapsed on top of spectators at a sports stadium in the northern Iranian city of Sari on Sunday, the official Iranian media reported.
After the accident, angry fans clashed with police trying to make their way into Mottaqi Stadium, said Ali Ansarian, a player with Persepolis, one of the teams in the match.
State-run Tehran television showed fans wielding metal poles locked in battle with anti-riot forces trying to control the crowds at the stadium in the city of Sari, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tehran. About 20,000 people were at the game at the time of the collapse, about double the capacity of the stadium.
Team manager Mahmoud Khordbin said one of the players had been badly injured when a rock hit him on the head.
A doctor at one of the hospitals where the injured had been rushed said that security forces had opened fire with live ammunition on the crowds, and that several people with bullet wounds had been brought in. He said 82 of the injured had been admitted to the hospital.
Another doctor at the Imam Khomeini hospital said that 105 wounded had been brought to that hospital. Both doctors said they had not seen any dead, probably because they had been taken elsewhere by security forces.
The riot appeared to have been triggered by panic and by police trying to beat their way into the stadium, according to witnesses and hospital officials. Tehran television, which was showing the game live, suddenly cut off transmission after the accident.
Persepolis was playing another local team, Shemooshak of Nowshahr, when the accident happened during the second half.
Wembley funding
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FA) chief Adam Crozier asked the British government for a secret deal to help fund the stalled redevelopment of Wembley Stadium, according to a newspaper report. The Mail on Sunday said the revelations could lead to calls for Crozier to resign.
It said Crozier had asked the government to underwrite the £660 million ($943.2 million) project with taxpayers' money while concealing the details until after the forthcoming election. The article included a response from the FA denying that it had proposed a "subterfuge" to mislead the public. The government has not responded to the claims.
The plan for a new national stadium could now be abandoned, scaled down or a new venue found after the FA failed to win government funding or enough support from financial institutions.
The project was originally estimated at £240 million but costs escalated during two years of delays, with Wembley now losing £2 million a month. The pitch has already been dug up and auctioned off to soccer fans.
Tops on the table
ASIAN table tennis powerhouse China is unbeatable these days. It swept all seven golds at the 46th World Table Tennis Championships, the last two on Sunday in the women's doubles and the men's singles.
The five other golds, contested among 350 players from 121 nations and regions in the two-week championships, were for the women's singles, men's and women's team events, mixed doubles and men's doubles.
In addition to its gold medalists, second-tier players from China also put in an impressive performance, winning five of the seven silvers. North Korea won a sixth, in the women's team event, and Belgium another, in the men's team competition.
Two bronze medals were offered in each of the seven categories, with South Korea winning four, Taiwan and China three each, Japan two, and Sweden and North Korea one each.
China has been dominant in table tennis in recent years, sweeping gold medals in the 43rd world championships in 1995 and in the last two Olympics.
The ping pong ball has been increased from 38 to 40 millimetres (1.5 to 1.6 inches) to reduce the speed of the game and increase the length of rallies.
Second straight
AMERICAN teenager Andy Roddick captured his second title in as many weeks with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over South Korean Hyung-taik lee at the US Clay Court Championships.
"It feels great," said the 18-year-old Floridian after collecting $46,000 one week after earning $54,000 for his Atlanta title.

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