A PHILIPPINE MEDIA union today demanded that Manny Pacquiao punish two members of his camp after they allegedly assaulted a photographer moments after his brutal knock-out in Las Vegas.
Widely circulated photographs showed a man in a training suit lashing out with a leg from inside the ropes at a man with a camera below as a mob of people swarmed onto the ring.
Captions accompanying the photograph identified the man in the training suit as Pacquiao’s Filipino assistant coach Buboy Fernandez and the photographer as Al Bello of Getty Images. A second man in a grey suit shown grabbing the back of the cameraman was identified as Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz.
The assault occurred at the Las Vegas ring shortly after Pacquiao was knocked out there in a non-title bout by Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said.
The staff objected to their fighter being photographed while face down and apparently unconscious on the floor, some reports have suggested.
“It is clear that Bello was merely performing his obligations as a photojournalist and, besides, had every right to take pictures of the fallen Pacquiao,” the Filipino union said in a statement.
The two aides “had absolutely no reason to attack and their doing so was actually in the nature of a criminal act”, the union said.
Pacquiao “should take action against these two, whose boorish and unsportsmanlike reaction to the loss can only tarnish the reputation for sportsmanship that has endeared him to millions of fans”.
Yahoo! Sports has released photos showing Koncz and Fernandez apparently confronting Bello, a veteran sports photographer.
“Had I not gotten off the ring, I have no doubt the two of them would have beaten the (expletive) out of me and I might have been seriously hurt,” Bello was quoted as saying. Calls by AFP to the Pacquiao camp went unanswered today.
The sixth-round knockout loss shocked the boxing-crazy Philippines, where Pacquiao is considered a national icon and a possible presidential candidate in the future.
He apologised to his fans for the loss and vowed to “rise again” even as calls for him to retire mounted.
When The42 starts doing liveblogs of a Chinese football match i’ll start getting worried.
I’d say Spurs weren’t too worried when they saw the Chinese coming with a wheelbarrow of cash for Paulinho.
Probably could have held out for more considering the prices paid last month.
Howe can rest easy. For the time being it will be just the pure mercenaries or past their prime veterans who’ll move to China. Those players who wish for a successful rewarding career playing challenging football will remain in Europe.
It could be a blessing in disguise for the English national side. Their players might actually get a game. From a wider European perspective, it wouldn’t be great for the not-quite-top-class national teams like Sweden or Croatia to have players scattered all over the globe. I can’t imagine South American teams benefit from having most of their players based in European leagues half the world away.
It’s all fantasy at the moment anyway. The Chinese economy could go t*ts up yet.
I think his Bournemouth players are safe for now
Nothing to see here. It’s only going to ever attract a certain type of player (i.e. not very good and offered crazy money or coming to the end of their career and looking for one big pay day). I don’t think the best players in the world would ever turn down an opportunity to play for Barcelona, Real, etc to play in China
Does nobody realize there is a cap of four non AFC players per team? It’s literally impossible for the CSL to raid the premiership
Unlikely in the short to medium term I would say. There are millions of kids all over the world with the talent and/or potential to make it at the highest level. Those that do have a drive and ambition (and luck) that put them ahead of the rest.
That ambition can’t be to chase the money playing football at an inferior standard while also living in China. The elite will want to play in the top leagues until something drastic happens. Journey-man pros, those failing to reach the heights in top leagues they thought they would, or the “one last job” group will always be exceptions.
There will need to be a massive culture change in world football for this to ever change, which would require some sort of real global league or Champions League played across a season. That is not even a prospect as of now.
Anyone remember the J-league?