The file photo shows Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam speaking at the AFC Champions League 2005 draw in Kuala Lumpur.

Signaling a new dawn for professionalism in Asian football, the AFC Pro-League Ad-Hoc Committee met and recommended to the AFC Executive Committee the first list of 11 countries eligible to field teams in the new AFC Champions League next year.
Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and India have been confirmed as participants, after a thorough assessment of their eligibility, in the 2009 AFC Champions League to be relaunched on completely professional lines, AFC reported.
AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam said, “I am very proud of the achievements of this committee and they are laying down the blueprint for the professionalisation of Asian football.
“Asian football needs a big reformation process to make it professional and successful, and I know radical changes might not please everybody. But we must have the courage of conviction.“
The AFC Pro-League Ad-Hoc Committee employed four grades ’A’ (meet all criteria), ’B’ (assured to meet criteria by October 1, 2008), ’C’ (not assured to meet criteria by October 1, 2008) and ’D’ (do not meet the criteria) to assess the suitability of 21 Member Associations for next year’s AFC Champions League.
Only Japan met all the criteria and bagged a straight ’A’ in all the fields. Ten member associations were rated as ’B’ which means the committee is confident of them meeting the criteria by October 1, 2008. Six member associations received a ’C’ which makes them doubtful of meeting the deadline, while four member associations were rated ’D’.
However, if the member associations short-listed above do not fulfil their commitment, which is to meet all criteria except for the commercial entity of the clubs by October 1, 2008, they cannot participate in the new AFC Champions League.
This also applies to the member associations who are participating in the playoff.
Following this, the final decision about the member associations will be taken by the AFC Pro-League Ad-Hoc Committee in its meeting on November 25, 2008 and forwarded to the AFC Executive Committee for its ratification the next day.
The deadline for member associations to prove that their clubs’ legal status has been changed to one of ’commercial entity’ is December 15, 2008 otherwise the concerned member association and its clubs will not be eligible for the new competition.
The new competition format will allow the champions and runners-up of the AFC Cup 2008 to participate in the AFC Champions League via a play-off, providing more opportunity than ever before for many countries and clubs to become the club champions of Asia.
The current competition format will be applied only to the AFC Champions League in 2009 and 2010, and following these two editions, there will be opportunities to participate for other member associations that have fulfilled the newly laid down criteria.

Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has tipped Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas to impress as much in this month’s European Championships as he has in the Premier League over the last few seasons.
The Frenchman has been amazed by how the slightly-built Fabregas manages to get the better of his more robust and muscular counterparts, according to AFP.
“His intention is always to play football, and that is fantastic to see at a young age,“ said Wenger.
“I see him every day, and he has a great understanding of the game.
“I like it that in a period where football is going more towards the athletes only, as long as you have the quality, you don’t have to run 100 meters in 10 seconds.
“Intelligence still means a lot and in the modern game where everyone is quick and strong, it’s good that players of average size can still play at the top level and be the best players.“
Aside from the 21-year-old Fabregas, Wenger expects Germany forward Mario Gomez, France striker Karim Benzema and Croatia playmaker Luka Modric to achieve breakthrough tournaments in Austria and Switzerland.
“What has changed in these major tournaments is that you don’t really discover players any more,“ added Wenger, who admits he has come to the Euros ’with my checkbook’.

Federer will try again for the only Grand Slam title to elude him, and again the opponent will be his nemesis, Rafael Nadal.
According to AP, it’s the fourth consecutive year the world’s best player has faced the world’s best clay-court player at Roland Garros, and Federer is 0-3. The defeats have prevented him from becoming the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam events.
He’ll try again, while Nadal attempts to become the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1981 to win his fourth consecutive French Open title. “I will try and face history,“ Nadal said.
“I’ve been hoping for this to happen a few weeks and months,“ Federer said. “I’m where I want to be and I’m playing well, so it’s a big, big thrill to play Rafa again in the final here.“
Nadal beat Federer in the semifinals in 2005, and in the final each of the past two years. Federer remains optimistic this time will be different.
“I feel better every year,“ he said. “It’s no joke. I really do feel well. I’m fitter than ever, how you want to feel on clay.
“Rafa has been sublime this tournament. He hasn’t had any problems whatsoever. It isn’t like he has not been improving, so I think it’s great what’s happening in the game. We have similar guys always at the very top, and we are testing each other over and over again.
“So I think it’s very entertaining. Of course I believe. I believe very strongly that this is my year.“
In the semifinals, Federer endured some worrisome moments before beating unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Nadal’s semifinal was close only by his standards: He nearly lost a set but beat No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3). Nadal had lost only three games in each of his previous two matches, and he has won all 18 sets in Paris this year. He graded his latest effort the best yet.

Floyd Mayweather Jr

American great Floyd Mayweather Jr has announced his retirement from boxing.
Widely considered boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Mayweather retires unbeaten with a record of 39-0.
The 31-year-old’s final bout was in Las Vegas last December when he knocked out Britain’s Ricky Hatton to retain his WBC welterweight crown, BBC reported.
Mayweather’s retirement is a blow for Manchester’s Hatton, who had been targeting a rematch with the five-weight world champion in 2009.
In May last year, Mayweather said that he would quit boxing after beating Oscar de la Hoya in Las Vegas to claim the WBC light-middleweight title.
He subsequently changed his mind and was expected to meet fellow American De la Hoya in a rematch on September 20.
“This decision was not an easy one for me to make, because boxing is all I have done since I was a child,“ Mayweather said in a statement.
“These past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport,“ he said.
“I am sorry I have to leave the sport at this time, knowing I still have my God-given abilities to succeed and future multi-million dollar paydays ahead, including the one right around the corner--the proposed De la Hoya fight.“