A Norwegian football team who arranged a pre-season tour to Stockport but without organising any games has a full fixture schedule after help from the Stockport Express. Die-hard Stockport County fan Thomas Johnsen will bring his Rolvsøy IF to the borough in March. He had booked flights and hotels but until last week had no opponents. After featuring in the paper his team were inundated with offers and will play Cale Green FC, Stockport Sports and Hazel Grove FC.
The Norwegian season starts in April and manager Thomas, 31, wanted his pre-season preparations to take place in the home of his beloved Hatters.
He said: “I am extremely pleased that within 48 hours we had so many teams interested in playing against us.

“I am a bit sad that we can’t play them all to be honest, maybe next time.

“I am thrilled about the enormous positive response that we have got. I think there even was a team from Liverpool that wanted to play us.
“Thank you to the Stockport Express for helping make this a great trip.”

Thomas has supported County since his teens after former team-mate and Finland international Jarkko Wiss signed to play at Edgeley Park.

He first saw them play at Wembley in 2008 when they beat Rochdale 3-2 in the promotion play-offs.

Since then Thomas has regularly travelled over from Norway to watch, at the cost of £1,000 a time.

His team, who play in the fifth tier of Norwegian football, will visit Edgeley Park as part of a trip to watch the Hatters take on Chorley in the Vanarama Conference North.

He said: “I really hope that everyone living in Stockport will show up at Edgeley Park to support County. I’m sure my team will fall in love with the atmosphere.”

(manchestereveningnews)

Professional boxers can step back into the ring in Norway after a three-decade ban on the sport was this week repealed in a vote in Parliament in Oslo. The governing coalition of conservatives and right-wing populists pushed the policy through with the support of the social liberals in a 54-48 vote. Professional boxing had been illegal since January 1, 1982.Norwegian professional boxer Cecilia Braekhus had been unable to fight in her own country under the old “knockout law,” which banned any sport where victory or points could be scored by knockout.
The Colombian-born welterweight, whose ring nickname is “First Lady,” holds welterweight world titles from the WBC, WBA and WBO sanctioning bodies.

“I believe this might be one of the greatest moments of my life,” Braekhus told broadcaster NRK after the legislation passed.

“I am very glad that we’ve achieved this together. It’s hard to describe all the emotions. In any case, I’m not a criminal in Norway any more.”

The first newly legal professional match in Norway could be held as soon as February.

Under the ban, professional boxers could be punished by three months in prison, the combat sports news website Sherdog.com reported.

(timeslive)

World chess champion Norway’s Magnus Carlsen retained his title, defeating Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand in the 11th round of their title match at Russia on Sunday. The reigning world champion called off the exchange/sacrifice blunder or bluff of Anand on move 24 and wrapped up the 12th game in 45 moves. Interestingly, Anand went for the misadventure of exchange/sacrifice — giving up his rook for Carlsen’s bishop when he was enjoying a slight positional advantage.Carlsen scored 6.5 points first to retain the title that he wrested from Anand last year.
As predicted earlier Anand played it safe in the initial phase of the game as he was trailing a point behind Carlsen.

Playing white, Carlsen opened by pushing his king pawn two squares forward. The game soon transposed into Ruy Lopez-Berlin defence.

And as it happened in the earlier games, Carlsen went in for exchange of queens.

On move 9, Anand moved his white bishop to d7 square which was considered as a fighting move.

Both the players blitzed their moves consuming around five minutes for the first 12 moves.

“Again Berlin defence-third time by Anand. It is unclear whether they played the prepared moves. Seems Carlsen did not expect Berlin defence,” World number 26 and Indian Grandmaster P. Harikrishna said.

At the end of 13th move, Carlsen’s minor pieces were ready to come into play but the same could not be said so for Anand as his rooks and black bishop were rooted to their original squares.

“The Berlin defence is like that. Initially black pieces would seem to be inactive but they play an active role in a passive manner,” Harikrishna said.

Two moves later, Anand opened up his king side by pushing his g file pawn two squares. Carlsen had castled on the king side.

The game taxied along with Carlsen moving his knight to control space as well as constrict Anand’s pieces to the back rank.

On move 23, Anand offered a pawn sacrifice playing b5. However Carlsen declined the sacrifice to avoid any complications.

Computer engines showed Anand could end up with a passed pawn on the c file.

On move 24, Anand went for exchange sacrifice giving up his rook for Carlsen’s black bishop.

But the game plan backfired as Anand did not have sufficient counter play. All Carlsen had to do was to bide his time.

“It was a bluff,” termed Harikrishna about Anand’s exchange sacrifice.

On move 31, Carlsen simplified his position by going in for knight exchange.

And the end for Anand came soon.

(gulfnews)

The first UEFA Study Group Fitness for Football seminar following a series of pilot events has been held in Oslo, featuring a mix of presentations, discussions and practical sessions. Following a successful pilot phase, the first Fitness for Football seminar as part of the UEFA Study Group Scheme has taken place this week in Oslo involving coaches, coach educators, fitness experts and medical staff from six UEFA member associations.Along with participants from host nation Norway, delegations ranging from four to six people from the associations of Moldova, Hungary, Belgium, Belarus and Georgia were in attendance for a busy four-day programme featuring a mix of presentations, discussion groups and practical training sessions on subjects including the demands of modern-day football, keeping players fit to play and fitness in football from a long-term player perspective.
The first of three pilot seminars had also been held in Oslo in March 2013, prior to subsequent sessions in Istanbul and Baku, and Dr Paul Balsom, one of a four-man working group for the Fitness for Football programme, has noticed the seminars evolve since then.

“I think at the first conference in Oslo it was more of a one-way communication where there were lectures and the audience listened. The biggest change is that the people in the audience now have a bigger say, are able to express their ideas, able to speak themselves, so it’s far more integrated, there’s far more interaction,” said Balsom, who is performance manager of the Sweden national team and Leicester City FC.

Each of the five visiting associations was given the chance to present its own approach to fitness and football, followed by a question and answer session. Heading the delegation from the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) was technical director László Szalai: “We can learn from each other, so we can talk about football, about fitness, about physical preparation.

“We are always finding small details and these details build up in our education programme. So I think it is very important to exchange experiences in this area so we can use them, and it is very useful if we have a picture from other associations’ education programmes as well.”

Another key aspect of the week were practical sessions overseen by guest speakers from the host Football Association of Norway (NFF). Physiotherapist for the Norwegian men’s Under-21 and U23 teams, Bård Homstøl, offered an insight into football-specific movement efficiency while the senior side’s fitness coach Jordi González Aznar led a demonstration on endurance which centred on high-intensity drills with explosive actions.

In 2015, five more Fitness for Football seminars are planned as part of the UEFA Study Group Scheme, to be staged by Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Bouncing back from a painful loss in Game 2, Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand defeated defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in just 34 moves in Tuesday’s Game 3 to even their scheduled 12-game match at 1 1/2 points apiece. The victory was the first for the 44-year-old Indian challenger in two world title matches with Carlsen. The Norwegian won the crown from Anand a year ago without dropping a single game.Deviating from his Grunfeld Defense in Game 1, Carlsen as Black adopted the Queen’s Gambit against White’s 1. d4. Anand adopted a well-known theoretical idea to push his c-pawn aggressively down the board using a pawn sacrifice: 12. b5 cxb5 13. c6 Qc8 14. c7.
Much of the middle-game play revolved around whether the advanced pawn would prove a strength or weakness. Black managed to get an advanced passed pawn of his own on a3, but the champ appeared to misplay the defense as the 40-move time control neared.

Black’s 28. Ra1 Ba5? appears to have been the decisive mistake, with commentators and chess computers saying Black still had a difficult but defensible game after 29…h5, trying to evict the powerful White bishop on g3. After 29. Qa6 Bxc7 30. Qxc4, White establishes a devastating pin on the bishop that Black can’t break.

The challenger’s 33. e6! opened up fresh holes in the Black defense, and after 33…Kf8 34. Rc1, Black resigns in a hopeless position as his bishop is lost.

(washingtontimes)

A well-prepared Viswanathan Anand managed the easiest of draws with black pieces in his ninth round match against Magnus Carlsen on Thursday but the Norwegian inched closer towards retaining his World Championship crown as he leads the Indian ace by a full point. The scoreboard reads 5-4 in favour of defending champion Carlsen, who may just seal it with another win in the next three rounds.For Anand, he desperately needs a win to remain in contention. Anand, expectedly, did not go for any risky venture with black pieces. While many had expected Carlsen to press for a victory, he was simply taken aback by the Indian’s preparation in the Berlin defence.
The shortest game of the match thus far was over in just over an hour, lasting a mere 20 moves and the last five of those moves were just repetition.

The players again blitzed out the opening moves and Anand was on top during the initial phase of the game. Especially after he uncorked his 12th move that forced Carlsen ponder a lot over his next move.

The position was not a new one but Carlsen was not happy when it was played on the board. As it turned out, Carlsen played his next move after thinking for more than 13 minutes and after the next move by Anand – which was a new idea – again sank in to his chair for 26 minutes.
The ‘new idea’ was in fact a brilliant find by Anand and his team that probably changed the evaluation of the position at that time. “It is something I would rather not discuss about,” he said in the post-game conference.

Carlsen, on his part, quickly conceded that playing for a win from this point was futile. Just made a routine pawn move, and then quickly gave repeated checks to the black king to sign the peace treaty.

With three games still to come, Anand will play with white pieces in the 10th game on Friday. Carlsen, on his part, was not disappointed as he still maintained the lead.
“If there’s any disappointment with a short draw with whites, it’s easy to swallow if you’re up in the match,” he said after the game.

Anand also noted that he was satisfied with the outcome. “You just got to play the positions you get,” he said.
The moves (Game 9):
Anand-Carlsen: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Ne2 b6 12. Rd1 Ba6 13. Nf4 Bb7 14. e6 Bd6 15. exf7+ Kxf7 16. Ng5+ Kf6 17. Ne4+ Kf7 18. Ng5+ Kf6 19. Ne4+ Kf7 20. Ng5+ 1/2-1/2.

The Indian chess maestro lost rather tamely to Norway’s Carlsen, in game two of the World Chess Championship.The initial strategy has backfired, and it’s time for Viswanathan Anand, to reconcile and come out with fresh ideas, to recover lost ground in the World Chess Championship, against holder Magnus Carlsen. In what turned out to be a pretty bad day in office, five-time world champion Anand, went down rather tamely, in the second game on Sunday, and now trails 0.5-1.5 in the 12-game match.Anand’s body language also suggested that the king is currently down, especially in light of the fact, that the opening had gone quite well for the Indian ace in both the games.
However, as was the case in the last world championship match, Carlsen tuned the position of both games to his liking after some time, and while Anand salvaged a half point in the first game, in the second he never got a chance.

Anand looked more tentative than Carlsen, and it was hesitation that cost him dearly in the second game.

“I didn’t quite look at it that way, in terms of the hour, I kept hesitating between the queen and Bishop move.

“Even then it’s not catastrophic there are many moments after that but may be the slip up had started already,” Anand mentioned candidly in the post-game conference when asked about a possible slip-up in the third hour.

To his credit, Carlsen was at his best and did what he has mastered against top class opponents.

An innocuous opening reached a level middle game, and then the complexities stared to burden Anand, to the extent that he fumbled and produced a rare blunder. This was clearly caused by sustained pressure by the Norwegian.

(dnaindia)

What former world champion Viswanathan Anand could not attain, young Grandmaster from Vijayawada M.R. Lalith Babu achieved at Tromso, Norway by becoming part of the medal winning Indian team at the prestigious Chess Olympiad. India defeated Uzbekistan to clinch the bronze medal, the first-ever medal in the format and the achievement was possible owing to the on-board exploits of Adhibhan, Sethuraman, Parimarjan Negi, Lalith Babu and Sasikiran Krishnan.India just lost two games in the 44 games played, which showed the consistency exhibited by the team members.
Lalith played three rounds – against Syria, Cuba and Moldova – and later he was rested by the team management to give a chance for others to perform.

Says Grandmaster B. Ramesh, Indian team’s coach in his blog: “I must apologise to Lalith Babu for not letting him play more than he did. It was just that no one lost any games and I didn’t want to spoil the momentum with frequent changes. Lalith is a great team player and he supported our decisions wholeheartedly. He was helping other players in their preparations.”

Mr. Ramesh in his blog praised Lalith Babu and said he was always positive and affirmative. “He is like liquid. He will take the shape of the role which you put him into. Lalith did not only sit outside but also helped his friends in their preparation. He is truly a team player.”

“India finishing third among 171 countries is a sparkling achievement. The medal is all the more important as we won it for the first time without star players – Anand and Hari,” said Sk. Khasim, chairman of Global Chess Academy.

The medal is crucial for Lalith, who is keen on settling down with a job and his efforts are already on to join one of the oil companies. “Andhra Cricket Association has always been every supportive of Lalith. He needs a job to take care of his chess expenses. This victory will give him the necessary fillip to achieve more laurels,” said Lalith’s mother Padma.

Lalith will come down to Vijayawada on August 17 and would leave for Abu Dhabi to take part in a tough Grandmaster tournament beginning from August 18.

(thehindu)

FIFA President Blatter visited the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway to promote and share the successful implementation of the Handshake for Peace during the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. The visit began with a tour of the Nobel Peace Center, including a short presentation and viewing of the exhibition space. Following the tour, FIFA President Blatter joined the Director of the Nobel Peace Center Bente Erichsen and the Norwegian Football Association (Norges Fotballforbund, NFF) President Yngve Hallen for a press conference, where they shared thoughts about the continued success of the Handshake for Peace.”The Handshake for Peace is more than just to speak about peace,” FIFA President Blatter said. “It is to bring people together, to connect people. In our statutes, we are not working directly for peace, but we have to work for a better future and a better future for our youths.
“Our cooperation that we have with you and your organisation here, Handshake for Peace, it is a confirmation of what we are doing together.”

NFF President Ynge Hallen said: “Handshake for Peace started in Norway and it has spread all around the world, and it has been a fantastic journey together with FIFA and the Nobel Peace Center.”

The press conference was followed by a visit to the headquarters of the Norges Fotballforbund, including a tour and a meeting with NFF executive committee members and various guests.

FIFA President Blatter concluded his visit by attending Norway’s UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.

The Handshake for Peace supports the third pillar of FIFA’s mission – to build a better future through football, and will feature at all future FIFA tournaments.

The joint initiative came to life after a promise made between the two organisations at the 2012 FIFA Congress in Budapest.

(fifa)

Five-time world champion Viswanthan Anand kept himself in contention by notching up 3.5 points on the penultimate day of the World Rapid Chess Championship here. With seven points from 10 games, Anand stands joint third in the strongest ever rapid chess tournament and the Indian ace will have to make a superb finish to find himself on the podium. World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway came up with an inspired performance on the second day of the meet to snatch sole lead on 8 points out of a possible 10 games.Carlsen is followed by Levon Aronian of Armenia who has made a grand comeback in the event to be on 7.5 points.
While Carlsen made four points out of five games on day two, Aronian decimated opposition to score a whopping 4.5 points from his five games.

With just five games remaining Carlsen emerges as the firm favourite for the crown but Anand, known as a great exponent of the faster version of the game, would like to give the Norwegian a run for his money.

Anand meets Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in the next round and the fact that the Indian is set to get three whites in the remaining five games might just prove crucial in the final stages of the championship.

Carlsen on the other hand will have to tackle Aronian as black in the next round and the last few will be tougher games for the Norwegian as well.

While he announced that he would like to be the number one player in rapid as well, there are many obstacles that face the Classical world champion in his quest when it comes to the faster version of the game.

The other Indians in the fray continued to have mediocre results apart from P Harikrishna who has kept himself in contention.

The Andhra based Grandmaster, who is also the second highest rated Indian currently, lost only to Anand on the second day of the three-day event and is on six points.

Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly and M Shyam Sundar are the next best performing Indians on 4.5 points apiece while Sandipan Chanda and Debashish Das have four points in their kitty from ten games thus far.

Indian Rapid champion Sriram Jha is on three points after a difficult second day in the event.

(PTI)

This week, the World Association of Chefs Societies hosts its global competition in Stavanger, Norway. Held every two years, the contest brings together seven finalists – one from each region in the world – to compete in three categories: Global Chef, Junior Chef and Global Pastry Chef. The finalists had to win several preliminary rounds in their cities, countries and regions during the previous two years. This year, two of the finalists representing the Middle East/Africa region are from Dubai.Achala Weerasinghe, the Sri Lankan resort pastry chef at Madinat Jumeirah, will compete in the Global Pastry Chef category on Friday, and Rahil Rathod, a young Indian chef from the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, will compete in the Junior Chef category on Saturday.
Rahil Rathod

Rahil Rathod wasn’t born with a love of cooking. He grew up in Gujarat, India, in a family that sticks to tradition: his mother and aunts did the cooking while the men went to work. His father wanted him to join the family business or go to school to earn a degree, but Rathod admits he didn’t want to work hard. Friends convinced him if he studied hospitality, he wouldn’t have to.

“I thought, I won’t have to study. I’ll get a degree and that’s it. My dad will be happy,” says Rathod. But within two years, his love of food and cooking had grown into a passion he wanted to pursue. At the age of 21, he left India behind and made his way to Dubai to start his culinary career. Within six months of arriving, he was working as a chef at Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek.

Now nearly 24, Rathod has worked in most of the restaurants at the hotel. His hours are long and the work is hard – not the easy life he thought he would have.

“It is very busy. It is a lot of work. But it will take something to get something. I’ll not get anything without hard work.”

After work, he spends a few hours every night at home reading, watching and learning more about food. His speciality is North Indian cuisine, but he says there is a lot of European influence in his cooking.

Rathod has set his goals high: “People say I’m living in a fantasy world, but I want to be the youngest Indian Michelin star chef in the world. That’s my goal.”

It doesn’t seem so far-fetched when you look at what he’s accomplished. He’s already graced the cover of the respected chef’s magazine Gulf Gourmet and he’s won several cookery competitions throughout the region. He knows that winning Global Junior Chef in Norway would be a huge stepping stone.

“It’s a world stage. There’s nothing bigger than that. If I screw it up …” He pauses and lets out a nervous laugh. “It doesn’t come every time on your doorstep and say, ‘Rahil, come on, I’m waiting for you.’ It’s a lifetime opportunity I cannot play around with.”

Achala Weerasinghe

Achala Weerasinghe has been honing his skills as a pastry chef for 14 years. He grew up in Badulla, Sri Lanka and wanted a career that would bring respect and prestige. He loved the idea of being a chef, but when he came to Dubai in 2004, he didn’t tell anyone about his goal of becoming a pastry chef.

“I thought, other people can do it, why can’t I? I have a brain. I have hands,” he says. “I learned. I worked hard. If you do that, you can do anything.” For the past decade, Weerasinghe has worked his way around prestigious hotels in the city. His latest position, which he landed just one month ago, is the resort pastry chef at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. He oversees the pastries in 14 restaurants across three hotels.

“I like working with chocolate and sugar. I do a lot of stuff by hand,” he says. And that’s what helps set him apart. Where others use moulds when making chocolate desserts, Weerasinghe handcrafts his creations.

Now 36, he has already won many regional competitions and medals, including Salon Culinaire’s Pastry Chef of the Year four years in a row. His goals for the future involve sharing his passion for pastries with others. Alhough he’s excited about his new role of resort pastry chef at Madinat Jumeirah, he says he eventually wants to teach young students just starting out in the culinary world.

For now, he’s focused on Norway and hopes to learn some new ideas from the six chefs he’s competing with, but he also intends to win.

“This is a big accomplishment. There were 140 countries. Now there are only seven people going to the final. There’s a lot of talent. But no problem, I will face the challenge.”

(thenational)

Viswanathan Anand has displayed excellent form to lead the ongoing Candidates Chess tournament. The winner of this event, which features eight of the world’s leading grandmasters, will challenge the reigning world champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the next world title match. The Indian grandmaster, who lost the world title to Carlsen in October 2013, is now the odds-on favourite to become the next challenger.
If Anand does indeed qualify here and goes on to reclaim the title he so recently lost, it would be the first such occurrence since 1961. It would be another huge achievement for the former world champion, who already holds many records. He is the only man to have won the title in three different formats and he successfully defended it thrice before Carlsen wrested it from him.
This tournament has been a great comeback for Anand, who lost 0-3 to Carlsen. He was not expected to recover so quickly from the crushing defeat inflicted by the 23-year-old Norwegian genius, and age was also not on his side. Studies show most chess players peak in their 30s when skill and experience are still allied to high levels of physical fitness. The average age of the top ten chess players is 30. At 44, Anand is, by far, the oldest player in that category. He was widely reckoned to be over-the-hill and his form has been uncertain for several years. Any serious sportsperson has a sell-by-date in competitive terms. As age catches up, the mind and body both cease to function optimally. Although chess is played sitting down, tournament chess is deceptively demanding in physical and mental terms. Preparation for a tournament requires disciplined physical training, as well as many hours of study and research. Otherwise, staying mentally alert and finding new ideas during play are simply not possible.

Each playing session can last seven hours, or even longer, and this requires an enormous reserve of energy. Stringent time controls mean that games are often played out with both players having to make a long series of moves with only a few seconds available. Telemetry studies show that players often have pulse rates running in the 140-150 a minute range for hours at a time. Apart from good physical conditioning, strong theoretical preparation and the sheer skills required, there is also the issue of nerves. Tournament chess causes enormous stress and tension since every player is aware that a single fleeting error could cost huge sums of money. Top players spend a lot of time trying to work out how to throw their rivals mentally off-balance by executing surprising moves or unusual strategic plans.

It is possible that Anand’s form has recovered partly because he relinquished the burden of expectations along with the world title. He wasn’t the favourite at the Candidates and he now has nothing to prove and no title to defend. A rematch for the world championship would be a bonus. Indeed, Anand has looked relaxed at the mandatory press conferences and played freely at the Candidates. Experts have also pointed out that Anand did an enormous amount of research for the world title match and some of those ideas are now being unleashed at this event. However he may have accomplished this rejuvenation and recovered his equanimity, it remains a remarkable feat. The grandmaster from Chennai would be the underdog if he does become the challenger again. But he would be playing without pressure and he might just pull off an extraordinary feat.

(business-standard)

‘Developing the game’ was the key phrase at the FIFA Seminar for General Secretaries from Europe which took place in Oslo on Thursday, 10 April. The event was attended by representatives of FIFA’s 53 Member Associations in Europe as part of 11 special development seminars which will have taken place across the globe between September 2013 and summer 2014. This was the first of its kind in Europe, as world football’s governing body seeks to engage all of its members in a far-reaching consultation process.The meetings are a key platform for FIFA and its associations to continue dialogue on football governance reforms and discuss potential challenges in football development.
“FIFA is in the middle of one year of seminars to introduce and explain the changes happening on the development programmes as well as changes coming from FIFA reforms,” explained FIFA’s Director of Member Associations and Development Thierry Regenass. “It is important for FIFA not only to inform the Member Associations about it, but to exchange ideas directly; FIFA wants to always have an open dialogue with its Member Associations.”

“Football is played by hundreds of millions of players, but only around 60,000 are professionals, which means that only 0.02 per cent are professionals. It means that, even if we constantly are watching these 0.02 per cent, especially those involved in continental competitions and national teams, we must always remember that our responsibility as football institutions is much larger than that, it’s towards all the players at all levels.”

Following a packed schedule the General Secretaries learned more about the Handshake for Peace initiative during a visit to the Nobel Peace Centre, Match Manipulation, FIFA TMS as well as FIFA’s Reform Process and its subsequent impact on new regulations regarding its development programmes.

The seminar concluded with three guest speakers: Dr. Dirk Steinbach (SPIN Sport Innovation), Kelly Simmons (Director of the National Game and Women’s Football at the FA) and Alex Miescher (General Secretary of the Swiss FA). They all stressed the need for the Member Associations to recognise the vital role of volunteers in grassroots football and to plan for their recruitment, development and retainment.

It was a productive period for all involved and Theodore Theodoridis, UEFA’s Deputy General Secretary, voiced his thanks to FIFA on the seminar’s conclusion. “I’d like to thank FIFA for the organisation of the seminar and for good cooperation between FIFA and UEFA for the good of the game in the region,” he said.

(FIFA)

Written off by critics and experts, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has come back with a big bang and is the most likely contender to challenge Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the next world championship match to be held later this year. Leading by a full point with five rounds still to come in the candidates, Anand’s lead is effectively 1.5 points if one considers the tiebreak according to which the individual encounter comes on top.With six points in his bag, Anand is followed by Aronian, whom he has beaten 1.5-0.5 in personal encounter, while the rest of the field is at least 1.5 points away.
In the remaining five rounds, the Indian ace has to play three white games as well which could well mean curtains for opposition barring a debacle for Anand or an unlikely huge upswing for opponents.
As things stand, Russians Sergey Karjakin and Vladimir Kramnik share the third spot on 4.5 points and both have white pieces against Anand in the coming rounds. The other player on same points is Shakhriayar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan who has been having a topsy-turvy tournament.

Given the history, Anand has been coping well with both Russians comfortably and is likely to squeeze through this time also. The Indian has white against Mamedyarov in the next round itself.

If Anand wins, this will be the biggest ever comeback in recent times for anyone as the Idnian ace had been struggling for a long time before this tournament.

(dnaindia)

The Norwegian FA (NFF) has become the first national football federation to have an equal split of genders on their board after four women were elected to its Executive Committee. After recent elections, the eight member panel that runs football in Norway now has an equal split of four men and four women. Mina Gerhardsen and Turid Storhaug have been added to the committee alongside previous members Mette Christiansen, Vice-President, and Eli Arnstad to achieve equal representation on the board. Speaking after the panel was announced, Yngve Hallen, NFF president, stated the significance of the equal board of Norwegian football: “We now have a board with 50% women.”“That is fantastic news, and it reflects how highly we place women’s football, both at the top level and among the masses.”

The NFF has previously included women in high-profile roles within the association. Karen Espelund, former NFF general secretary, became the first woman to serve as a full member of the UEFA Executive Committee.