International Football
ENGLAND FOOTBALL TEAM’S DOCTOR RESIGNS
Doctor Rob Chakraverty – the former UK Athletics chief medical officer who administered controversial injections to Sir Mo Farah in 2014 – has resigned as the lead doctor for the England men’s football team.
Chakraverty has been under scrutiny since it was revealed in April 2017 that he had failed to properly record a series of L-carnitine injections given to Sir Mo before the London Marathon in 2014.
Having told this to a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee inquiry, Chakraverty blamed the large number of athletes in his care for the oversight, and confirmed it had been included on his UK Athletics employment record.
A BBC Panorama documentary, aired last month, then put Chakraverty under more pressure.
The documentary revealed emails between senior UK Athletics figures, which debated whether giving Sir Mo injections of L-carnitine two days before he ran the 2014 London Marathon was ethical, with concerns expressed over whether it was in the “spirit of the sport”.
Some research has suggested L-carnitine, a legal supplement, could help to boost performance.
UK Athletics head of endurance running Barry Fudge, former UK Athletics performance director Neil Black and now-disgraced American distance running coach Alberto Salazar were also present when Chakraverty gave Sir Mo the injections, according to BBC Panorama.
Fudge had reportedly collected a package of injectable L-carnitine in Switzerland from a Salazar contact, which was then brought back to London.
The email exchange between the UK Athletics officials had revealed Salazar had been “keen” for the supplement to be used.
The volume was reportedly 13.5 millilitres, which was well within the allowed limit.
BBC Panorama alleges Sir Mo initially denied he had received an injection of the supplement, citing transcripts of an interview between Sir Mo and United States Anti-Doping Agency investigators, which took place in July 2015.
The four-time Olympic champion reportedly met Fudge minutes after the interview with the investigators, before returning to the interview room as the investigators were packing up to give a different account of his L-carnitine use.
Chakraverty has now resigned from his role with the Football Association (FA), as reported by The Times.
“It has been a privilege to work as the lead doctor to the England men’s senior team since joining The FA in 2016,” he said.
“The team and players have been wonderful to work with and the memories of what we achieved together at the World Cup two years ago will stay with me forever.
“The time is now right to step away from this role and seek new challenges enabling my successor to establish themselves into the team before the next tournament.
“I would like to thank my colleagues and the players for their support and wish them every success in achieving their goals in the tournaments to come.”
The FA have also confirmed the news.
“We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Rob, not just for his part in the team’s progress since 2016 but also in sharing his expertise across the wider medical department,” an FA statement said.
“We wish him every success for the future.”
The announcement comes on the same day as an independent report on UK Athletic’s relationship with Salazar, who is now serving a four-year ban for doping violations.
Salazar ran the Nike Oregon Project, which was home to Farah between 2011 and 2017.
The report found UK Athletics made “reasonable” decisions given the circumstances but its handling of the scandal “could have been better”.
Insidethegames
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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