down to John Tortorella, no

LONDON -- FIFAs decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar came under further scrutiny as a British newspaper published new allegations that Mohamed Bin Hammam used his wealth and top level contacts to buy support for the oil-rich countrys successful bid. The Sunday Times, which last week claimed that the former FIFA Executive Committee member made payments totalling $5 million to senior football officials to seal support for Qatar, also accused Bin Hammam of using $1.7million to secure key Asian votes. It alleged that Bin Hammam arranged government level talks for Thailands FIFA executive Worawi Makudi to discuss a gas sale "potentially worth tens of millions of dollars to Thailand" and that he was invited to visit Vladimir Putin before Russia and Qatars victories in the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Under a front-page headline of "Gas deal turns heat on World Cup," the newspaper alleged that Bin Hammam arranged meeting and favours for voters in the months leading to the ballots. The 2010 vote, which awarded footballs biggest tournament to the tiny desert state, is under investigation by FIFAs independent ethics prosecutor. Qatar organizers deny any wrongdoing. In a statement released on Saturday following its Executive Committees second meeting of the year in Sao Paulo, FIFA said "the executive reaffirmed its position of letting the ethics committee complete its work before making any comment." According to the newspaper, which says it had access to millions of secret documents during its investigation, Bin Hammam brokered two secret meetings with Qatari royals to discuss a major gas deal with a senior aide to Makudi. "The exact nature of the deal on the table is unclear, but it came as Thailand sought to save tens of millions of pounds by renegotiating an arrangement with Qatar to purchase 1 million tons of liquefied natural gas each year at a contractual price it considered too high," the newspaper said. The Sunday Times said that Makudi denied that he had received a personal "concession" from his involvement but did not elaborate. Bin Hammam is no longer a committee member of world footballs governing body after being caught up in a corruption scandal surrounding his failed campaign for its presidency in 2011. The Sunday Times claimed that the $1.7 million Bin Hammam paid to Asian officials from funds controlled by his private company Kemco were used as he was campaigning for both the Qatar World Cup bid and for his own re-election to the post of president of the Asian Football Confederation. The newspaper said he was invited to a meeting by Russia to discuss "bilateral relations" in sport between Qatar and Russia on October 30, 2010, a month before the vote on the bids. "Two days later, Qatars ruling emir also flew to Moscow for talks about joint gas production deals between the two countries," the Sunday Times said. Deatrich Wise Jr. Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins (3) - Surrendered a tough first goal against on a deflection through the body short side. Alan Branch Jersey .ca. Hi Mr. Fraser, When I was watching the Heritage Classic in Vancouver there was a play midway through the third where Ottawa crashed the Canucks net and it came off its moorings. http://www.patriotsjerseysauthentic.com/Trey-Flowers-Super-Bowl-Jersey/ . Dane Dobbie and Shawn Evans each had two goals and two assists for the Roughnecks (8-5), who outscored Minnesota 6-2 in the fourth quarter after being tied through 45 minutes. Curtis Dickson scored once and set up three more for Calgary and Dan MacRae, Geoff Snider, Tor Reinholdt, Karsen Leung and Matthew Dinsdale. Kyle Van Noy Jersey . - A mixed martial arts fighter who changed his name to War Machine was ordered Friday to stand trial in Nevada state court on 34 felony charges including attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping that could get him life in prison for allegedly attacking his porn star ex-girlfriend and her friend. Dion Lewis Jersey . "Opinion: Womens World Cup is the best Soccer of the year," Hanks tweeted to his 8.73 million followers on Friday. "Hey FIFA, they deserve real grass. Put in sod.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. Bruce Arthur, National Post My thumb is down to Russias national mens hockey program, which is still making reverberations a week after Sochi. After falling in the quarter-finals for the second straight Olympics, Russias NHL stars came back angry. As Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin were unhappy for many reasons, but most of all resented the programs bias towards KHL players, which greatly distorted playing time, pairings, strategy, and felt like a punishment to Russian stars who dont play at home. Russia was one of the worlds great hockey powers, and a worthy rival to Canada; now its a mess, riven by petty rivalries. Its a shame, really. The Russians havent won a best-on-best tournament since the 1981 Canada Cup, and somehow they feel further away than ever. Steve Simmons, SUN Media My thumb is down to the International Olympic Committee for the mess it made of the Nicklas Backstrom gold medal game allergy pill fiasco. As a member of Swedens hockey delegation said, the IOC destroyed one of the greatest days in Olympic hockey history for the country. Backstrom, who did test positive for pseudo-ephedrine, didnt disagree with that assessment. The IOC first tested Backstrom last Wednesday. In the three days that followed, they never did do a second test. The Swedish team was not informed of Backstroms status until two hours before game time. Now dont get me wrong, the Swedes could have had Nicklas Baackstrom, Ralph Backstrom, and all the Backstroms you can name available for the gold medal game and the result wouldnt have been different.dddddddddddd What they didnt need was an unnecessary disruption, born of IOC ineptitude. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is down to John Tortorella, not for his most recent apology but for the continual need to apologize. This time, the Canucks coach launched into a mea culpa after saying he favored Sweden in the Sochi final because he wanted his Swedish Olympians - Daniel Sedin and Alex Edler - to return with smiles on their faces. Tortorella wears blinders. Professionally, he sees the small picture, nothing beyond his team. Belatedly, of course, he grasped context - Vancouver … Canada. So four weeks after apologizing for losing his mind between periods against Calgary, he again was at a microphone wearing a hair shirt and a tight expression. Thats Tortorella, the never-ending sorry. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to the excellence shown by Canadas Gold-medalists in curling - Jennifer Jones and her rink from Winnipeg and Brad Jacobs and his rink from Sault Ste. Marie. We used to take for granted Canadas worldwide dominance in curling, and then we didnt, because as good as the Canadians continued to be, several other countries showed they were capable of winning world titles. Not that Jones and Jacobs allow Canada to rest on its laurels, but the Sochi results were very impressive, and hows this for proof of Canadas wealth of curling talent - the Brier is underway in Kamloops and the field is strong with Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Koe, John Morris, and Brad Gushue. And imagine talking about a strong field that doesnt include Jacobs, Glenn Howard and Kevin Martin. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '