Oscar Pistorius, Track Star Turned Convicted Murderer, Set To Leave Jail –

Published

9 months ago

January 4, 2024

Oscar Pistorius, Track Star Turned Convicted Murderer, Set To Leave Jail -

Oscar Pistorius’ life story from before and after Valentine’s Day 2013 reads like the script to two markedly different films – the first an inspirational sporting biopic and the second a grim tale of murder.

In the first he was the “Blade Runner”, the multiple Paralympic gold medallist with carbon-fibre prosthetic legs who became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics when he took part in the 2012 London games.

In the second he was the man convicted of murdering his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp – a model and promising law graduate – by shooting her through the door of a bathroom in his Pretoria home.

On Friday, he will be back in the spotlight when he will be released from prison nearly 11 years after the killing. He was granted parole on Nov. 24, to take effect on Jan. 5.

Pistorius, who was born without fibulas and had both legs amputated below the knees before his first birthday, was once seen as the embodiment of human triumph over adversity.

The Johannesburg-born athlete gained global fame in the early 2000s, when he won Paralympic gold in the 200 metres at the Games in Athens.

Pistorius then set his sights on running against able-bodied athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but was barred from competing in the event by World Athletics – then called the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The ban was eventually overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but Pistorius failed to qualify for the Olympics, coming within 0.70 seconds of the qualifying standard for the 400 metres in Beijing.

Undeterred, he swept that year’s Paralympics, taking home the 100, 200 and 400 metre gold medals, before launching a bid to qualify for 2012 Olympics in London.

This time he was successful, and reached the 400m semi-finals and competed for South Africa in the 4x400m relay.

He also won another three Paralympic medals that year but then, on Feb. 14, 2013, he shot and killed Steenkamp.

A gun enthusiast, he told the trial he had believed Steenkamp was an intruder when he shot her several times with ammunition designed to inflict maximum damage to the human body. It was an account he repeated over the years.

He was initially jailed for five years in 2014 for culpable homicide by a high court. But the Supreme Court of Appeal in late 2015 found him guilty of the more serious charge of murder after an appeal by prosecutors.

He was jailed in 2016, initially for six years which was later increased to more than 13 after an appeal by prosecutors who argued the initial sentence was too lenient.

In 2022, Pistorius met Steenkamp’s father Barry during a process known as victim-offender dialogue – part of South Africa’s restorative justice programme that brings parties affected by a crime together in a bid to achieve closure.

Few details were made public about the meeting and Steenkamp’s father died in 2023.

Her mother June said in a statement before the parole hearing for Pistorius, now 37 years old, that she was not convinced he had been rehabilitated.

But she added that she had forgiven him “long ago as I knew most certainly that I would not be able to survive if I had to cling to my anger”.

-Reuters

Governing Bodies

Storm in CAF over proposed statutes amendments

Published

9 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Kunle Solaja

There is currently insinuations that proposed certain elements may have smuggled modifications to amend the Statutes of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) when the body holds its General Assembly next month in Kinshasa, Congo next month.

The confederation will be having its 46^th General Assembly on 10^th October. It is at such gatherings that amendments are made to existing rules.

According to an article authored by Mansour Loum, the editor of Sports News Africa, some national football federations have denied being party to proposed amendments which were linked to them.

One of such is coming from the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation which has denied signing proposals being circulated relating to amendments to CAF Statutes.

It is claimed that a circular dated 8 September has been sent to CAF member associations. Signed by CAF General Secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, it is titled: “Proposals for amendments to the CAF statutes and regulations for the application of the statutes, as well as the rules of procedure of the CAF General Assembly, presented by the national associations.”

Seven member associations were quoted as sponsoring the amendments. They are: Botswana, Comoros, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania and Niger.

But Equatorial Guinea has denied being party to the proposed amendment which seek to remove age barrier for candidates seeking to be CAF Presidents and also removing zonal considerations in election into FIFA Council.

The current Statute stipulates that a presidential candidate must not be older than 70 as at the date of election.

Most of the national federation members are already approaching that age. In the estimation of the author of the article, Mansour Loum, the current CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, is 62 years old. With the age limit, he could, for example, only run for two more terms.

Continuing, Loum wrote that regarding the elections to the FIFA Council, each zone has a representative on the FIFA Council and candidates for these positions can only be elected by the presidents of the member associations of their group zone.

Thus, the presidents of French-speaking federations can only vote for a French-speaking representative, the English-speakers for the English-speaking group, and so on.

The distribution of seats on the FIFA Council is currently as follows:

Francophone Group – Two members

Anglophone Group – Two members

Arabophone/Lusophone/Hispanophone Group – Two members

One female member elected from among the female candidates, regardless of language groups

The modification of the grouping by zonal unions would mean that all presidents could vote for candidates outside their group, or that the candidates would also no longer be limited to a group.

Several candidates from the same group could be elected to the FIFA Council, while at the same time some groups could no longer be represented.

Equatorial Guinea disputes any request for modification. The football federation president, Venancio Tomas Ndong Micha has reportedly denied being party to the proposed amendments.

“I am writing to you to present the disagreement of the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation with part of the content of the document sent to the CAF Executive Council on September 8, 2024 signed by you (…)

“In this document, there are amendments presented by the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation (…) By this letter, we confirm that the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation has not submitted any amendments to the CAF administration for the 46th CAF Ordinary General Assembly to be held on Thursday, October 10, 2024 in Kinshasa,” he denounces.

Enough to cast doubt on this document sent by the CAF secretary general and the objective targeted. Contacted, a federation president, whose body is not mentioned in the letter, is surprised by these two requests for amendments and wonders about their intentions.

The press release from the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation has sown doubt and now he is questioning the originality of the attachments included in this document which is likely to be talked about between now and the CAF General Assembly.

– Mansour Loum

Governing Bodies

UEFA threatens to ban England

Published

9 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Euro 2028 & Euro 2032 Hosts Announcement - Nyon, Switzerland - October 10, 2023 The UEFA logo is pictured at the headquarters ahead of the announcement REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

UEFA has warned the UK government that England risk a ban from the Euro 2028 tournament they are co-hosting if Prime Minister Keir Starmer goes ahead with existing plans for a men’s football regulator, British media reported on Saturday.

In a letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, obtained by The Times and the BBC, European soccer governing body UEFA’s General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis said there should be “no government interference in the running of football”.

According to the letter, Theodoridis cautioned against plans outlined in the King’s Speech to give the new regulator the power to oversee clubs in England’s top five leagues, saying the game’s independence was a “fundamental requirement”.

“One particular area of concern stems from one of UEFA’s fundamental requirements, which is that there should be no government interference in the running of football,” Theodoridis wrote.

“We have specific rules that guard against this in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from UEFA and teams from competition.”

The previous government had announced plans to appoint a regulator last year, saying it was necessary to protect clubs from financial mismanagement and to stop wealthy teams from joining breakaway leagues.

Starmer’s government committed to the regulator in the Labour Party manifesto after being elected in July.

Theodoridis told Nandy that UEFA is “concerned about the potential for scope creep within the IFR (Independent Football Regulator).”

UEFA did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

“The Football Governance Bill will establish a new Independent Football Regulator that will put fans back at the heart of the game, and tackle fundamental governance problems to ensure that English football is sustainable for the benefit of the clubs’ communities going forward,” a Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport spokesperson said in a statement.

England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are co-hosting the 2028 European Championship.

-Reuters

CAF Champions League

CAF Champions League: Travelling teams secure victories on the road

Published

9 hours ago

September 15, 2024

Kunle Solaja

CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.

It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.

Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.

The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.

Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.

Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.

Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.

It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.

Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.

Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.

The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.

TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:

Friday, 13 September

Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca

Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger

Saturday, 14 September

CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans

Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe

Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR

Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC

Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda

Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO

Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad