Of Wakeham the Rent-A-Nob who manages to find time for numerous directorships in addition to his duties at
Posted in General on 16. Aug, 2010
Of Wakeham, the Rent-A-Nob who manages to find time for numerous directorships in addition to his duties at the BHB, we can perhaps expect nothing more, but Ricketts, an intelligent man who is employed to act in the industry’s best interests, really should know better.For there is not a shred of worthwhile evidence to suggest that the abolition of fox- hunting would have the slightest effect on racing. What is particularly disturbing this time around, though, is that the sport’s most senior administrators appear to have swallowed it.
Lord Wakeham, the chairman of the British Horseracing Board, and Tristram Ricketts, its chief executive, will both attend the “Countryside Rally” in Hyde Park on Thursday, part of the concerted campaign being mounted by the hunters now that it seems likely that Parliament will finally put an end to their “sport”. As ever when the subject is discussed, the hunting lobby is trying to embroil racing in its argument, claiming that a ban on one would be to the detriment of the other. Admit this fact, however, and their argument is lost, since hunting is exposed as just another relic of more brutal times, which has as much place in the modern world as cock-fighting or badger-baiting. As a result, the hunters take refuge behind whatever scraps of cover they can find, and it is for this reason that the growing debate over Michael Foster’s Wild Mammals (Hunting With Dogs) Bill should be of interest to anyone who follows racing. There is a fundamental truth about fox hunting which its supporters are desperate to obscure.
Strip away all the blather about tradition and pest control, ignorant townsfolk and respect for their quarry, and there it is: people go fox-hunting for the simple reason that it gives them great pleasure to pursue a wild animal to its death. That puts the Brazilian’s move on hold while Fifa study documents from both clubs, and consider their response to the European Union, whose intervention has further complicated the transfer.. The Australians had nominated Terry Venables, their national coach.Fifa, world football’s governing body, might not make a decision on the legality of Ronaldo’s transfer from Barcelona to Internazionale until the end of this month. He caught a later plane.The Football Association has said that Australia will no longer have a place on its council after Sir David Hill-Wood, their current representative whose family have strong links with Australia, stands down. The Italian, who refused to join the team’s pre-season training in the Netherlands, had been linked with Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday.Tomas Brolin missed the start of pre-season training at Leeds after a bird hit the windscreen of his car and caused him to miss his flight from Sweden to England. The 30-year-old played in South Africa’s recent 2-1 defeat by England.Paolo Di Canio has been told by Celtic that he has no chance of moving to an English Premiership club. Hearts are also giving a trial to Nicky Banger, the former Southampton midfielder.Southampton’s captain, Barry Venison, has been ruled out of the first two months of the new season through injury.
Venison, 32, has been out of the game for the last 10 months with a long-term back problem, which restricted him to just two appearances last season.Fulham have signed Andre Arendse, the South African international goalkeeper, on a three-year contract. Their manager, Jim Jefferies, is lining up a trial deal for the 34-year-old midfielder, who was given a free transfer by Rangers in May. Bates had hoped to unveil Mark Stein as his third recruit, but the former Stoke striker has signed a one-year contract to stay with Chelsea.Blackpool last night appointed Nigel Worthington, the Stoke and Northern Ireland defender, as player-manager in succession to Gary Megson, who has taken over at Stockport.Bolton’s manager, Colin Todd, is hoping to sign a Norwegian striker, Stig Johansen, having watched him play for Bodo Glimt at the weekend.Temuri Ketsbaia, a 29-year-old Georgian international, has completed his free transfer to Newcastle from AEK Athens, agreeing a three-year contract.Hearts have offered the former England player Trevor Steven a one-month contract. The former England international will be allowed to sign Glenn Roeder as his assistant, and is also keen to buy John Sheridan from Bolton.Chic Bates, confirmed as Stoke City’s manager yesterday in succession to Lou Macari, has signed Sunderland’s former England striker Paul Stewart on a free transfer and a Dutch midfielder, Dick Schreuder, from RKC Waalwijk under the Bosman ruling. He will be out of contract next summer and Coventry have decided to cash in on a player who missed a large chunk of last season through injury.David Burrows, who has failed so far to agree a new contract at Highfield Road, has attracted interest from two Italian clubs. But he still hopes to settle terms with Coventry, who last night signed the Swedish goalkeeper Magnus Hedman from the Stockholm club, AIK Solna.Chris Waddle will be named Burnley’s new manager today and given the go-ahead to make some signings. The 25-year-old Zimbabwean international striker cost Coventry only pounds 20,000 when he joined them from Bulawayo Highlanders.