FIFA bans Blatter ally Warner for life over repeated bribery

Four years after stepping down in disgrace, former FIFA vice president Jack Warner was banned from soccer for life on Tuesday, accused of repeated acts of bribery related to World Cup bidding votes.

Warner, a long-time ally of President Sepp Blatter who was allowed to resign from FIFA in 2011 with his ''presumption of innocence'' maintained, is currently fighting extradition from Trinidad and Tobago on U.S. charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering.

The decision by the FIFA ethics committee on Tuesday shows that judge Hans-Joachim Eckert will pursue officials long after they have left their jobs.

A more pressing case for the ethics body is an investigation into Blatter, who was interrogated by Swiss prosecutors on Friday in part over allegations he undervalued the awarding of World Cup television rights to Warner. Blatter, who denies wrongdoing, is at risk of being suspended by his own organization.

Warner's lifetime FIFA ban stems from Eckert's report on the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

''I do not believe however that this will serve as the distraction to the FIFA's present problems as the FIFA wishes it to be,'' Warner said. ''Given what is happening in Zurich with Sepp Blatter I guess that there is no such thing as a coincidence.''

As leader of the CONCACAF region from 1990-2011, Warner gained considerable influence in World Cup votes by the FIFA executive committee and now the extent of his wrongdoing has been reinforced by Eckert.

''Mr. Warner was found to have committed many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly during his time as an official in different high-ranking and influential positions at FIFA and CONCACAF,'' the FIFA statement said.

''In his positions as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, as well as other money-making schemes.''

The case highlights how the specter of corruption has hung over FIFA under Blatter's 17-year presidency.

Former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon, who hopes to succeed Blatter in February's election, said Tuesday the leadership crisis is so severe that an emergency task force should be set up to run the game.

With Blatter under criminal investigation and general secretary Jerome Valcke suspended from work and being investigated by the ethics committee, Chung said FIFA is in ''total meltdown.''

''Under such circumstances, FIFA and regional confederations should consider convening extraordinary sessions of their respective executive committee(s) as well as congress to set-up an emergency task force that will enable FIFA secretariat to function without interruption,'' Chung, a former vice president under Blatter, said in a statement from South Korea.

Among Chung's potential rivals in the election is UEFA President Michel Platini, who has been questioned as a witness over a payment from FIFA - one of the reasons Blatter was interrogated on Friday by Swiss authorities. Blatter and Platini denied wrongdoing as they await news from the ethics committee, which is looking into the case.

Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber said Tuesday that Platini is being treated as ''between a witness and an accused person.''

Lauber said he would raid Platini's office if necessary to ''clear up what's the real truth.''

The payment under investigation is the 2 million Swiss francs (about $2 million) received by Platini in 2011 for work supposedly carried out in his job as a FIFA adviser between 1998 and 2002. FIFA's accounts for 1999-2002 show a revenue surplus of 115 million Swiss francs (about $83 million in 2002).

''Mr. Blatter informed me when I started my role as his adviser that it was not initially possible to pay the totality of my salary because of FIFA's financial situation at that time,'' Platini said in comments provided by UEFA.

With less than a month to go until he must pass integrity checks to stand in the FIFA presidential election in February, Platini insisted that he doesn't ''fear a (FIFA) suspension because I have done nothing wrong,''

FIFA is expected to hold an election on Feb. 26 to replace Blatter, who delivered his sudden resignation statement in June, four days after being re-elected for a fifth term.

The FIFA bribery scandal erupted in May when the United States indicted 14 officials, including seven who were arrested at a Zurich hotel two days before the presidential election.

Only one of the seven men - ousted FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb - has been extradited to the U.S.

A week after the American request to extradite Venezuelan official Rafael Esquivel was granted, the Swiss justice ministry agreed Tuesday to also send former Costa Rican soccer federation president Eduardo Li.

Li, accused of taking bribes in connection with the sale of marketing rights for World Cup qualifiers, was ousted from the FIFA executive committee two days before he could take his seat.

Extradition orders can be challenged at Switzerland's federal criminal court within 30 days.

Speaking after a lecture at Zurich University, Lauber described the ongoing FIFA case being run from the attorney general's office as a ''big investigation.''

''This is not a 90-minute game,'' Lauber said. ''It's like more or less not even at the half (time) break.''

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 29TH

1793 - Tennis is 1st mentioned in an English sporting magazine.
1880 - 1st pro baseball game at Polo Grounds, NY Metropolitans

beat Washington Nationals 4-2 in 5 innings.

1907 - Gene Autry, Tioga Tx, singer/actor/owner (California Angels) is born.
1914 - Boston Braves, who were in last place in mid-July, clinch NL pennant.
1915 - Philadelphia Phillies clinch their 1st pennant.
1941 - Joe Louis TKOs Lou Nova in 6 for Heavyweight boxing title.
1945 - Cubs clinch NL pennant.
1946 - 1st time NL pennant ends in a tie (Cards & Dodgers).
1946 - Los Angeles (previously Cleveland) Rams play 1st NFL game in LA.
1952 - Stan Musial makes his only major league pitching appearance.
1954 - Willie Mays famous over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz' 460' drive.
1957 - NY Giants play & lose their last game at Polo Grounds (9-1 to Pitts).
1963 - Cardinal's celebrate Stan Musial Day in St Louis, for Stan Musial's

final game, where he hits his 3,629th & 3,630th HRs.

1969 - Steve O'Neal of NY Jets, kicks longest NFL punt; 98 yards vs Denver.

1975 - Casey Stengel, NY Yankee manager (1949-60), dies in Glendale at 85.

1976 - SF Giant John Montefusco no-hits Atlanta Braves, 9-0.
1977 - Eva Shain is 1st woman to referee a Heavyweight championship.
1977 - Muhammad Ali beats Earnie Shavers in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1979 - Astros' J R Richard strikes out NL season righty record of 313.

1982 - Monty Stratton, baseball player (b. 1912) dies.
1983 - Oakland A's Mike Warren no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0.
1985 - Houston QB Warren Moon sacked NFL tying record 12 times (by Cowboys).
1986 - Cubs Greg Maddux defeats Phillies Mike Maddux (1st rookie brothers).
1986 - Indians Jay Bell is 10th to hit a HR on 1st major league pitch he sees.

1986 - Mary Lou Retton retires as a gymnast.

1988 - Kevin Durant, American basketball player is born.

1989 - A A Busch Jr, brewer/baseball owner (St Louis Cards), dies at 90.

1994 - Don Watson, race car driver, dies in an accident at 46.

1996 - Houston Astro's retire Nolan Ryan's #34.

2005 - Chicago White Sox clinch their first division title since 2000

and become just the 10th team in the history of baseball to be in

first place on every day of the season.

2013 - L. C. Greenwood, football player, dies from kidney failure at 67.

Nationals suspend Jonathan Papelbon for four games, ending his season

Washington Nationals closer Jonathan Papelbon will get to enjoy the offseason a week early. The Nationals have suspended the 34-year-old closer for four games, ending his season after Sunday's dugout altercation with outfielder Bryce Harper.

	Washington Nationals @Nationals
The Washington Nationals have suspended RHP Jonathan Papelbon: pic.twitter.com/KYKHvllsaw 10:34 AM - 28 Sep 2015

The Nationals technically have seven games remaining in the regular season, but Papelbon has dropped his appeal of a three-game suspension from MLB for intentionally throwing at Manny Machado's head last week. Because of this, Papelbon will miss all seven of the team's remaining games.

His suspension from the team is without pay and, according to Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal, this will cost Papelbon about $321,000.

During Sunday's blow-up Papelbon appeared to yell at Harper for not running out a fly ball. After Harper shouted back, Papelbon lunged at him, grabbing Harper's throat at one point during the argument.

Following the incident, Papelbon was allowed to pitch in the ninth inning. Long after the game had ended, manager Matt Williams claimed he had not seen the footage of the fight, and claimed he would not have sent Papelbon back out to the mound had he known the severity of the dustup. After Williams saw video of the argument, he said he was "livid."

On Monday, Williams' pre-game press conference was delayed for over an hour, adding another layer off drama to the situation. The Nats issued Papelbon's suspension and then Williams finally started his presser. The main headline there was the status of Harper, who was also not in Monday's lineup.

While Williams somewhat stood up for Harper, saying he ran to first base on the play in question as he's expected to, the 22-year-old likely NL MVP is still getting punished for his role in the fight.

"We have to govern ourselves the way we govern ourselves. Now we have to address it," Williams said. "From my view of the incident, he said something to Jonathan and he played a part in the incident. We reflect that with Bryce being out of the lineup today."

Williams said later of Harper: "Could he have run harder? Yes, but there are many instances where everybody could in the course of a season."

We've still yet to hear from Nats GM Mike Rizzo, aside from his statement in the team's press release. But as James Wagner of the Washington Post notes, Rizzo is likely to talk to reporters following Monday's game.

With that, we await the next development in As The Washington Nationals Turn, the best MLB drama of 2015.

Former player has a scathing takedown of Jonathan Papelbon's reason for fighting Bryce Harper

On Sunday, Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper got into a brawl in the dugout, a seemingly fitting end to the Washington Nationals' season.

Papelbon was suspended for the remainder of the regular season for his roll in the melee and Harper will sit out Monday's game. While the fight was ugly, one former player has a problem with what led to the fight in the first place.

The entire mess started when Papelbon confronted Harper about not running hard on a fly ball.

Mark DeRosa, who played in the big leagues for 16 years and is now a commentator for the MLB Network, has a problem with that.

On the MLB Network's "MLB Central," DeRosa ripped Papelbon for calling out another player for lack of hustle, via Jake Russell of The Washington Post:

Here's my problem with Jonathan Papelbon. You've played 63 innings this year. You've been in the clubhouse probably — every closer I've ever been with — through the fifth inning getting a rubdown, eatin' a sandwich, doing your Jobe exercises, takin' your time. You've earned that right. His pedigree — he's earned the right to do that. That's the way [John Smoltz] went about it. All the great closers I played with, they're not gonna get down there in the first inning. You're top-stepping a guy who's played in 1,262 innings, who's hitting .336 with 41 homers, is gonna be the National League MVP and you're questioning whether or not he goes to the post every day. That's tired, OK? No reliever should tell a position player anything about hustle. Go stand out there in the rain, sleet, and snow while you guys are giving up gap shots. That bothered me.

There are two sides to this. Yes, you want a player to hustle. Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who is going to win his third Manager of the Year Award this season, famously has one rule: Run hard to first base. It's a simple thing.

But at the same time, the Major League Baseball season is a long season where position players typically play six days a week for seven months. Most people know to look the other way if a guy occasionally gets frustrated and doesn't run out a pop-up, especially if that guy is producing for your team.

But the bigger issue here for DeRosa is a good one. Papelbon is the wrong guy to be calling out Harper. That's not to say Harper shouldn't be called out, but that it shouldn't be done by a guy who pitches one inning once every two to three games.

Both players dismissed the issue by comparing the incident to brothers fighting:

Papelbon: I grew up with brothers, he grew up with brothers, I view him as a brother, and sometimes in this game, there's a lot of testosterone and things spill over.

Harper: He apologized, so whatever. I really don't care. ... It's like brothers fighting. That's what happens.

Still, Papelbon has only been with the Nationals since the trade deadline — that's 23.2 innings of work in 57 games for Papelbon — so how much brotherhood could there really be? The Nationals are still on the hook with Papelbon, who is owed $11 million next season.

It will be interesting to see if he pitches for the Nationals again.

Big Ben to miss at least four weeks with knee injury

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down midway through the third quarter with a left knee injury in the Steelers' victory against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, an injury that is expected to keep the quarterback out for at least four weeks, ESPN reported.

CBS reported that MRI results confirmed that there was no ACL tear and that it was an MCL sprain.

Roethlisberger was carted off and didn't return to the game. He limped out of the stadium on crutches, which ESPN's Josina Anderson captured in this tweet:

	Josina Anderson @JosinaAnderson
Here is video of Ben Roethlisberger on crutches. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/h7aCKryhZx 1:21 PM - 27 Sep 2015

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted:

	Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter
MRI revealed Ben Roethlisberger did not tear his ACL, but he sprained his MCL and now is expected to miss "probably 6 weeks," per source. 6:59 PM - 27 Sep 2015

CBS' report was slightly more optimistic, timetable-wise:

	Jason La Canfora @JasonLaCanfora
MRI on Ben Roethlisberger confirms an MCL sprain. No damage to ACL. Expected to make a 4-week recovery 6:45 PM - 27 Sep 2015

The Steelers' next six games are as follows: vs. Baltimore Ravens (this coming Thursday); at San Diego Chargers; vs. Arizona Cardinals; at Kansas City Chiefs; vs. Cincinnati Bengals; and vs. Oakland Raiders. The Steelers' bye lands in Week 11.

Roethlisberger was sacked by safety Mark Barron, who came flying in on a blitz and hit Roethlisberger low and took him down for a 6-yard loss on third down with the Steelers leading 9-3. Roethlisberger remained down on the turf for a few minutes while being looked at by Steelers trainers before being carted off.

Barron was not penalized, but Fox's Mike Pereira said he believed it should have been called a personal foul for a low hit.

The hit was somewhat reminiscent of Carson Palmer being sacked years ago in a playoff game for the Cincinnati Bengals in a loss to the Steelers on which Palmer suffered a torn ACL. NFL rules have been changed since then to protect quarterbacks from dangerously low hits.

Michael Vick, the Steelers' backup quarterback, made his 2015 debut in replacing Roethlisberger. He went 5-for-6 for 38 yards and took two sacks.

Fire sale for Bears begins: Jared Alled traded to Panthers

The Chicago Bears have agreed to a trade that will send defensive end Jared Allen to the Carolina Panthers, according to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. For now, the compensation hasn't yet been announced, but is reportedly a conditional draft pick.

The Bears already paid Allen an $11.5 million roster bonus, and the Panthers receive a defensive end with no money due to him beyond the 2015 season and only $823,529 more headed his way for the remainder of the year. Overall, Allen made $14.62 million in 18 games with the Bears, roughly $2.66 million per sack, according to Albert Breer.
Allen, 33, is ninth all-time in sacks in NFL history with 134, but hadn't recorded one in the first three games of the season for the Bears. With a transition to a 3-4 defense, Allen was playing outside linebacker for the first time in his career after 11 seasons as a defensive end.
The Panthers are off to a 3-0 start and likely view Allen as a way to improve a pass rush that is already tied for seventh in the NFL with seven sacks through three games. Still, Greg Hardy is no longer on the defensive line and Charles Johnson has already been ruled out for Week 4 after suffering a hamstring injury in the team's Week 3 victory against the New Orleans Saints.
For Chicago, the trade makes sense for a team that is already 0-3 and hasn't received much value from Allen in 2015. With the defensive transition in place and plenty of struggles to overcome on offense, cashing in a 33-year-old pass rusher for a pick makes sense, regardless of the round.
The Panthers are currently tied with the Atlanta Falcons at the top of the NFC South with a pair of undefeated records. In Week 4, the Panthers travel to face the 1-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jordan Spieth gave the most humble response ever after winning $10 million

With his victory at the season-ending Tour Championship Jordan Spieth claimed the FedEx Cup and, in doing so, capped-off one of the most historically great seasons in golf history.

Of course, winning the race for the season-long FedEx Cup also carries with it a $10 million bonus prize, which means Spieth’s 2014-15 season doubled as the most financially lucrative in history. Asked after his round how he felt about the winning all that money, Spieth, true to form, said that he was going to share it with the people he cares about:

“What it allows me to do is, it allows me to now even more so, take care of the people that have given me this position and allowed this to happen. Like I always say, it is a team effort. A lot of behind the scenes work goes in when we’re at home, when we’re in the early stages and on course here.”

He continued:

“It’s fantastic. I have an opportunity now, with a year like this and a bonus like that, to celebrate and to share it with the people that have made it possible. And that’s kind of the plan. Our team did an unbelievable job this year. Everything was exactly how we needed it to be to peak at the right times. If we can continue to do that, then we’ll have more seasons like this.”