By NAN Sports Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 5, 2017: Here are the stories making headlines in sports from the Caribbean and its Diaspora for this week ending May 5, 2017.
West Indies Cricket
They did it! The West Indies Cricket team scored a decisive win for diehard fans Thursday at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, silencing many critics and stunning many fans. The Windies men, led largely by fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, whipped the Pakistanis by a whopping 106 runs to win the second test match and tie the series. The Pakistan side was restricted to 81 all out on the final day of the second test as Gabriel bagged 5 wickets for a spectacular 11 runs. Windies Captain Jason Holder chipped in with three wickets, while Alzarri Joseph picked up the other two to give the Windies men the well-deserved victory. The third and final match is set for Dominica, starting on Wednesday, May 10th.
The Trinidad-born Gabriel, 29, made his Test match debut for West Indies in May 2012, against England at Lord’s. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut on 21 June 2016 against Australia
Soccer
Team USA, which leads the CU17 series in Group C, will play Cuba today, May 5 as the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup continues. The first-place team in the group of three will also play the winner of the other group in the Classification Stage – which contains Mexico, Costa Rica and hosts Panama – for the CONCACAF title on May 7th.
FIFA Versus Caribbean Football Union
Soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, has announced that its ethics committee had opened a formal case against Caribbean Football Union President Gordon Derrick over corruption allegations. Derrick, also the general secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association, had been investigated by FIFA’s ethics committee over “alleged conflicts of interest, offering and accepting gifts and other benefits, mismanagement of funds, abuse of position, and disloyalty”, and could now face a ban of up to four years and a fine of US$15000. The CFU’s top official will be afforded the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations and can also request a hearing, as per FIFA Code of Ethics regulations.
Derrick was one of several Caribbean officials reprimanded and fined over “apparent violations” of FIFA’s ethics code, following the infamous cash-for-votes scandal six years ago which crippled regional football. He replaced Jack Warner as head of CFU after the resignation of the high profile Trinidadian at the height of the controversy. Last July, Derrick was re-elected for a second term.
USA Cricket
The International Cricket Council says it will consider expelling the U.S.A. Cricket Association (USACA) at a meeting in June. The reason – a failed two-year process to unify the running of the game in the United States of America. The USACA is a second-tier Associate member of the ICC but has been under suspension since 2015, its third suspension in 12 years. On its website, the USACA says it has 32,066 players participating in senior and junior cricket at 1,100 clubs and with 488 cricket grounds.
