Caribbean Sports Roundup

By NAN Sports Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Nov. 27, 2019: Here are the top headlines making news on the Caribbean sports scene this week.

Ukrainian Soccer Corruption Roots Lead To The BVI?

Ukrainian soccer’s governing body has called on law enforcement agencies to investigate its former president, Hryhoriy Surkis, who is now a lawmaker, on suspicion of embezzling up to 380 million euros.

A report in the Der Spiegel magazine claimed that UEFA discovered it had been paying the money to Newport Management Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2016.

In a Facebook post over the past weekend, the UAF said it had asked the State Bureau of Investigations, the Prosecutor-General’s Office, and the Interior Ministry to investigate whether any of the 380 million euros in payments that UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, earmarked for the UAF and certain soccer teams between 1999 and 2016 had been misappropriated.

Racism In Cricket

Caribbean-born, English cricketer Jofra Archer this week made global headlines by claiming he was racially abused by a member of the crowd as England lost the first Test to New Zealand by an innings and 65 runs.

Now authorities in New Zealand believe they may have identified the individual who is thought to have shouted racial abuse at Archer.

The Barbados-born Archer, the England fast bowler, said he heard the abuse after he was dismissed in England’s second innings at the Bay Oval. He reported the comments to stewards and team security at the time.

While authorities continue to scan CCTV footage and have appealed for other spectators to come forward with more information, it is understood by ESPN that someone believed to be the culprit later contacted Archer by direct message on Instagram. As a result, authorities are confident of being able to identify him.

Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, said that the team would rally round after what he described as a “serious incident” that had left their New Zealand hosts very concerned about spectator behavior.

England round off their tour of New Zealand with a second and final Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

Jamaican Swimmer Strikes Gold Again

Jamaican top swimmer, Alia Atkinson, has struck gold again. The Jamaican won the short course 50-m and 100-m breaststroke events at the London leg of the International Swimming League on the weekend.

Before a crowd of close to 18,000, at the London Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park, Atkinson won the 100m in 1:03.94 seconds.

Last Friday she emerged winner of the 50-m breaststroke in an impressive 29.32.

Ireland Is Coming To The West Indies

Cricket in the West Indies in 2020 starts a bang when the West Indies host Ireland for their first ever full white-ball series of three Colonial Medical Insurance One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20 Internationals (T20Is) starting on January 7, 2020 in Barbados, Grenada and St. Kitts.

This will be the first time Ireland will play the West Indies in a full three match series in both ODIs and T20Is. The Colonial Medical Insurance ODIs starts with two day/night games on Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th January at Kensington Oval, Barbados, before concluding with a day game at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada on Sunday 12 January.

Grenada hosts the first T20I on Wednesday January 12th before both teams fly to St. Kitts with back-to-back day/night T20Is to conclude the series on Saturday 18th and Sunday January 19th.

Shelly-Anne Photo A Winner

Spanish photographer’s Felix Sanchez Arrazola photo of a jubilant Jamaican Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, moments after winning her fourth world 100m title, was judged to be the winner from this year’s IAAF Athletics Photograph of the Year last weekend. Arrazola also won the award in 2019.