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Neymar imagines 'lifting World Cup'
5/2/2014 5:17:30 PM
- Neymar says his performances have not been affected by transfer saga
- The 22-year-old is saddened by how former club Santos has behaved
- The Brazil international is targeting a World Cup win on home soil
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(CNN) -- He came from Brazil to leading Spanish club Barcelona in a mega-bucks transfer touted as the new Lionel Messi.
A series of niggling injuries this season put paid to any hope of Neymar living up to those high expectations, while the tax issues surrounding his complicated transfer from Santos cast a shadow over his new career in Europe.
But the Brazilian, who has managed just nine league goals for Barcelona since touching down in Catalonia, is quick to rule out any correlation -- as some have done -- between those off-field issues and his form in a "Blaugrana" shirt this season.
Which will be a relief to Brazil given how important Neymar is to their team and its hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil.
"No, I don't think [it has affected my performances]. I'm used to leaving all those problems aside, I'm very relaxed when it comes to that," said Neymar, who was talking to CNN at a Castrol Footkhana event.
"It's unpleasant when everyone is talking about things that are not true, but on the pitch it doesn't get in the way."
True or not Neymar's club is being investigated over tax fraud regarding the transfer -- which Barcelona was forced to confirm actually totaled 86.2 million euros rather than the 57.1 million euros first announced -- while Sandro Rosell had to step down from his role as president as controversy over the deal intensified.
Neymar's former club Santos, meanwhile, is unhappy with how the transfer fee was divided up -- with a large chunk having been paid to a company controlled by the player's father, Neymar Snr -- and has been seeking a bigger cut than the 17.1 million euros it originally received.
Earlier this year Santos president Odilio Rodrigues reportedly criticized Neymar's father calling the deal he did with Barcelona "unacceptable."
"I was very sad by the way that Santos handled this problem," Neymar, who has previously defended his father's role in the deal, said. "We hadn't done anything wrong.
"The way that Santos handled this left me very sad, but what are you going to do? I can't answer for them, but I can speak for myself and my dad and say that we were truly saddened by how they wanted to resolve this."
Santos was the club that molded Neymar into the player he is today.
Making his debut in 2009 at the age of just 17 -- after coming through the youth ranks -- he helped lead the side to South American Copa Libertadores glory in 2011.
"What I lived at Santos will stay with me for the rest of my life, they were wonderful years where I made history. I think that won't be erased," he said.
"I'm sad with the board, I'm sad with who was in presidency -- with those I am upset. With the club, the fans, the players? No.
"I have a lot of love for Santos, because it was a club where I was for 10 years, so my love will always be great."
Like Neymar, Barcelona have had an up and down season, losing the Spanish Copa del Rey final to rivals Real Madrid and crashing out of the European Champions League at the quarterfinal stage, while a Spanish La Liga title looks unlikely.
Neymar, though, insists he is enjoying life at the Camp Nou, which brings with it the privilege of playing alongside one of the finest players in the world -- Messi.
"Everything is going really well, I'm very happy in this city," he said.
"[Messi and I] haven't played all the games together but I think that the affinity that we have, that we've been creating, is very good. The relationship that we have, it's been wonderful.
"Some people were saying we wouldn't get along, and that's been shown as being the opposite. He's a very relaxed guy, he's someone that I admire a lot."
Despite the difficulties he has faced at Barcelona, Neymar still has the chance to achieve what could ultimately be his career's crowning glory.
In six weeks' time, the 22-year-old and his Brazil teammates will step out onto the Arena de Sao Paulo field to open the 2014 World Cup against Croatia.
The world's most successful footballing nation will be attempting to land the sport's biggest prize in its own backyard for the first time, roared on by an expectant set of supporters.
"It's a dream that is about to happen and I hope that dream that I've always had, also happens with winning the title," said Neymar, who led Brazil to Confederations Cup glory in 2013 having been named player of the tournament in the process.
"It's a dream to put on the Brazil shirt, even more so at a World Cup in my own country. For me it's a great satisfaction."
Winning the World Cup in front of its own supporters would help banish the memories of the nation's darkest sporting hour -- letting slip a lead to allow Uruguay to become world champions in 1950, the last time the tournament was held in Brazil.
Neymar, the national team's poster boy, is well aware of the pressure being piled on the shoulders of him and his teammates, especially given that they won the Confederations Cup in front of their own supporters last year.
But the Barcelona man, who has represented his country on 48 occasions, says he and the rest of the Brazil squad are relishing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"I think that the responsibility that I have at the national team, like my teammates also have -- each of us has their responsibility. We are a group. One needs the help of the other and we are getting ready so that we can win the World Cup," he said.
"So close to the World Cup, every time you see a Brazilian flag or you see some action of the national team, you hear people talking about the World Cup. I can imagine myself lifting the trophy."
Read: Neymar backs 'peaceful' World Cup protests
Read: Neymar - Too cool for school?
Read: Life ban for fan who threw banana at Alves
Is football stuck in Dark Ages?
5/2/2014 5:19:06 PM
- Dani Alves targeted with banana 26 years after fruit hurled at John Barnes
- Ex-player Garth Crooks says progress has been made as players are now taking a stance
- Pele believes that the Alves incident is an isolated one
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(CNN) -- Two bananas thrown on a football pitch, separated by 26 years. One thrown at John Barnes in 1988 in an English soccer match and another at Dani Alves in 2014 during a Spanish league game.
Throwing fruit to racially taunt players in their place of work. Barnes kicked it away during the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, Barcelona star Alves picked it up and ate it in Sunday's match against Villarreal.
Does it show how ineffective sport's ongoing fight against racism has been, or as one leading ex-player argues, does the Brazilian's quick thinking demonstrates just how far football has come in 26 years.
"In the 1980s, players weren't taking a stance," former Tottenham Hotspur player and current trustee of anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out, Garth Crooks, told CNN. "They're doing it now.
Former Tottenham player Garth Crooks
"Barnes kicks it out of the way, Alves picks it up and eats it. In a show of defiance, it's his way of saying how stupid this is. This is a banana. That is all it signifies. You eat these things.
"There's a real message in there to the idiots, if they can see it. To the intelligent and educated, they will think we shouldn't have to endure that type of behavior in our football club. There's no place for it here."
Barcelona full-back Alves, who posted a clip of the incident on Instagram, is not the first player to ignore the taunts
Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off the pitch in 2013 after being abused by opposition fans during an AC Milan game in Italy, while other leading players like Manchester City's Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto'o of Chelsea and AC Milan's Mario Balotelli have all taken their own stances against racist abuse.
Social media reaction
But it was Alves' response that struck a chord on social media, with the Brazilian's Barca teammate Neymar's vociferous in support of his club and international colleague.
"They're all prepared to say, stop you better do something about this or I walk," added Crooks.
"It's challenging football to do something about a problem that it has found difficult to do something about in the past.
"It will focus the supporters' minds [by players making a stance] and make them ask questions of themselves."
These days anti-racism campaign groups -- such as Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card -- are around to pressurize the football authorities when players like Alves are abused.
And such has been the progress in the fight against racist abuse that, according to one of the legends of the game, what happened to Alves at the El Madrigal Stadium remains an isolated incident.
"I think if you mention that, it is ridiculous, as you have one case, and all over the world they play soccer, and you have one case," Brazil legend Pele told CNN.
"This is nothing. You have a lot of other problems, a lot of criminals. But in football, you have one crazy guy who says bad things."
Some might express surprise at Pele's comments -- given that both Liverpool's Suarez and Chelsea's John Terry have been found guilty by England's Football Association of racially abusing an opponent in recent high profile cases in England.
"I think Pele is right to say it is an isolated incident, but I think he is wrong to make that isolated incident any less important than it is," countered Crooks.
"It's embarrassed not just an international player, but a top Spanish club [Villarreal] and the entire Spanish Football Federation.
"It's all around the world, we're all taking about it. Top players are eating bananas and taking the mickey out of, not just the incident, but of Villarreal and the Spanish federation [Neymar's campaign]. They're mocking them, it's embarrassing."
Although Villarreal moved swiftly to hand a life ban to the fan responsible for throwing the banana at Alves, the Royal Spanish Football Federation has yet to make a decision on the case.
The NBA this week, in contrast, gave Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling a life ban over racist remarks he made just days earlier.
In the past neither world governing body FIFA or Europe's regulator UEFA have shown a willingness to act so decisively in dealing with racist abuse.
Given this is not the first time that Alves has been racially abused, the Brazilian argued Sunday's incident shone an unflattering spotlight on Spanish society.
"There is racism against foreigners. They sell the country as being first world but in certain things they are very backward," Alves told Brazil's Radio Globo. "If I could, I would put a photo of the fan on the internet so that he would be shamed."
Alves' suggestion that Spain is "backward" touches on the nub of the problem, according to Crooks.
"Football clubs are being left with the responsibility of educating their fans, and quite frankly that should have started years ago at school and in people's forms of employment," he said.
"How dare football fans, however isolated, come to someone's place of employment, whether it be entertainment or otherwise, and want to abuse other people's heroes."
To Pele, though, such abuse is only to be expected, given that some people in this world are always going to be less educated than others.
"I think it should be like that, as of course you have different people all over the world," he said.
"You must respect the people that don't have the intelligence, or the people who want to make confusion, or people who want to create problems. That, I think, is normal."
Not, however, in Crooks' eyes.
"Pele accepted the situation [of racial abuse] as a player, as I did. He didn't have to play, he chose to play. He accepted the terms and conditions of his employment," he said.
"But there are players today who are not, and I think it's really important that we all understand that."
Read: Fan who threw banana at Alves given ban
Storify: Stars show solidarity with Alves
Read: Neymar backs 'peaceful' World Cup protests
Meet horse racing's 'rock star'
5/2/2014 5:18:08 PM
- California Chrome cost just $10,000 and is shock favorite for Saturday's Kentucky Derby
- Trainer Art Sherman, who has been involved with classic since 1950s, calls him a "rock star"
- His owners recently turned down a $6m offer for a half-share in the horse
- California Chrome has been called a modern-day Seabiscuit and the "people's horse"
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(CNN) -- Welcome to the world of rock and roll racing.
"He loves the noise, he knows he's a star, he poses for the photographs," trainer Art Sherman --part of the team behind California Chrome, favorite for Saturday's Kentucky Derby -- tells CNN. "Pure and simple he's a rock star."
California Chrome's joint owner Steve Coburn is even more effusive.
"We've got one elderly gentleman who comes to the races who has a jackass tattoo on his shoulder," explains Coburn, a nod to the jackass on California Chrome's racing silks.
"Fans don't do that unless you're a rock star. People flock where he goes."
California Chrome co-owner Steve Coburn
The equine equivalent of a musical superstar is also the main protagonist in a fairytale on a par with the great Seabiscuit, the diminutive thoroughbred racehorse which defied the odds and delighted a depression-hit U.S. and whose story was turned into a movie 11 years ago.
California Chrome must surely have Hollywood executives salivating at the prospect of how events might unfold at at Churchill Downs' historic dirt track in Louisville this weekend.
The three-year-old colt's remarkable tale began in the womb of Love the Chase, a mare that Coburn and co-owner Perry Martin bought for $8,000 with a view to breeding.
They bred her to the stallion Lucky Pulpit for a reduced fee of $2,000, the first breeding the novice pair had ever undertaken.
It could have been a case of first time lucky as their offspring has earned Coburn and Perry more than $1 million in prize money and chalked up illustrious wins at the Santa Anita Derby, San Felipe Stakes and California Cup Derby.
His recent run of success -- four wins in his last four outings -- has marked California Chrome out as a pre-race favorite for the Kentucky Derby -- the first race in horse racing's coveted Triple Crown, which also includes the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes -- in the chase for a purse of $2m.
Understandably, the horse's value has rocketed, and is now estimated to be around $12m. Coburn and Martin were recently offered $6m for a controlling 51% stake in the horse, which they turned down.
The whole story is so fanciful that the horse-owning partnership goes under the name Dumb Ass Partnership or DAP Racing, hence the jackass on their colors.
"When Perry and I bought the filly, one of the barn hands said we must be dumb asses to get into this game and hence the name," Coburn explains to CNN.
But through every strand and sinew there is a heart-warming tale behind California Chrome.
For a start, he races in the purple and green, the favorite colors of the duo's respective wives.
Then there's the location where the horse has been stabled.
His neighbours at Los Alamitos racecourse in Orange County are predominantly quarter horses, named for the quarter mile horse races that are regularly held at the track where California Chrome is exercised at 7.30 am every morning.
If California Chrome wins the Derby he will also become the first California-trained horse to win since Decidedly's success in 1962.
Then there is the small matter of his 77-year-old trainer Sherman, who has just 15 horses in his yard but whose history with the Derby dates back to 1955.
Here are a few photos of California Chrome's April 26 workout. pic.twitter.com/5vcTX1bTwm
— Los Alamitos Racing (@losalracing) April 26, 2014 Back then, Sherman acted as the exercise rider for race winner Swaps, who also happens to feature in the distant bloodline of California Chrome.
Sherman, far younger and more energetic than his years would suggest, recalls: "I was barely 18 years old and my memories are a little bit different now. Back then I was so young, it didn't mean so much.
"I've put 60 years into this business and I thought my chance in the Kentucky Derby had gone. You never say never.
"Now I've got another chance. It's a fairytale and I do believe in fate. He'll be the horse to beat. He's been awesome these last four races, we just hope he has five in him. But it's a different ball game when 150,000 people are screaming at you. But he's a rock star isn't he? That shouldn't be a problem.
"He just loves to run, he'll run all day long. We just need some luck, that plays a big part in such a story. His story is just like that of Seabiscuit isn't it? It'd be a hell of a book or a movie if he pulls it off."
Sherman's first win as a jockey aptly came at Hollywood Park in 1957, where his current wonder horse first announced himself in the big time with victory in last year's King Glorious Stakes.
That he should have ever got here bred by Martin, who works for a consumer safety firm, and Coburn, whose company JCP Enterprises makes the magnetic strips on credit cards, is remarkable, bearing in mind this is the first horse that Coburn has ever raced.
"One of the things on mine and my wife's bucket list was to go to the Kentucky Derby," he says. "I'll board the plane this year but I never imagined I'd do it with a horse I own.
"This whole thing is a fairytale coming true, it's a dream. It's better than a movie script because it's coming true. People spend millions on horses each year and we've spent basically $10,000."
The horse's name was also literally picked out of a hat as the two owners and their spouses each put a name into a hat for a waitress at a Californian restaurant to select.
The Derby favorite could just as easily have been called Lucky at Love or Big Chapter but Coburn's pick, California Chrome -- a nod to the white markings that are called chrome by horse racing aficionados -- proved the selection.
Whatever the name, the owners more often than not just call him junior but Coburn believes if he succeeds at Churchill Downs Saturday the he could become known as the "people's horse" too.
"I do believe he's that, like Seabiscuit," Coburn adds. "He became the people's horse in the depression because he was the little guy kicking the big guy. We're doing that in the same kind of way.
"No one ever gave it any credence and we shouldn't be where we are now. This isn't a blue-blooded horse, he's a proper red-blooded colt.
"We're just two guys that worked hard and still have our days jobs. We get up at 4.30am every morning to go to work. Well, I can't retire as I'd be in my wife's way and I think she'd shoot me! But we still work hard. We're not guys who could buy whatever we want."
Dream ending
The unnamed purchaser who offered $6m, however, clearly was. Surely Coburn was tempted to give in?
"It felt like a slap in the face after all we'd done," he says. "You can have all the money in the world to buy every single grain of sand on a beach but you can't buy this story.
"We've worked hard for this, similarly Love the Chase, which someone offered $1.5m for. This isn't about the money, this is about the dream and we want to finish off that dream."
Whether that dream reaches fruition in Illinois this weekend is another matter. Some pre-race rain is a slight concern for Sherman and his team but Coburn has never once wavered in his expectation.
"If he gets a clean run, he'll win," he says. "I've said that before and I've been told I'm bold and arrogant. I'm not either of those. I'm just a man that loves this horse and believes in the fairytale."
Saturday also happens to be Coburn's 62nd birthday, could that be when his fairytale comes true?
Kentucky Derby - fast facts
Read: Orb wins 139th Kentucky Derby
'Swiss Miss' finds mom knows best
5/2/2014 5:21:12 PM
- Martina Hingis won five grand slam singles titles in a glittering early career
- Swiss star claimed first title in seven years at Miami Open doubles in March
- Hingis is now coaching at her new tennis center in Barcelona
- The 33-year-old says when a player improves "it's like a small victory"
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(CNN) -- Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis is still finding mother knows best at the age of 33.
Coached for much of her career by her mom Melanie Molitor -- said to have named her daughter after another tennis icon, Martina Navratilova -- the five-time grand slam champion is using her mother's advice both on and off the court.
Hingis conjured some of her old tennis nous to surprisingly win the Sony Open doubles title alongside German Sabine Lisicki in Miami last month.
But the doubles victory was just a diversion for Hingis, who is also borrowing some inspiration from her mom with a blossoming career as a tennis coach.
"I think a lot more about my mum now," Hingis tells CNN's Open Court with a flash of her trademark smile.
Martina Hingis
"It's never easy to coach anybody. She's the best. She really helps to coach and to mentor. She has so much more experience."
Hingis is presiding over a brood of young players on the clay courts of her new tennis center at Barcelona's Real Club de Polo.
As the juniors run drills round the red clay, her mom drops in to lend a hand and is soon on court with a pile of tennis balls heaped onto her racquet, ready for business.
"The goal is to grow slowly," says Hingis of the new project, which she started in collaboration with former top-10 player Felix Mantilla and Karim Perona, who coaches Tommy Robredo and Flavia Pennetta.
"It's a small, elite group of pros but in the future we want to work with kids, amateurs, veterans all the players. Anyone who wants to come here and learn is welcome."
Hingis' caliber as a coach is growing. She has worked with Russian world No.25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and is now coaching the 2013 Wimbledon finalist Lisicki.
In fact it was Lisicki's idea to get Hingis to double up her role as coach and playing partner.
"I was practicing with Sabine and coaching her when she asked about playing doubles," Hingis explained.
"I was like 'wow, that's a bit unexpected' but we talked about it last year at Wimbledon when she did so well. It's nice that I can be the coach and playing partner of Sabine, it's kind of killing two flies with the same thing!
Martina Hingis
"To win an event like this after a seven-year absence I didn't expect it! Standing there as a champion again was a really nice feeling. You feel invincible again when you win.
"I really enjoy the competition but I definitely wouldn't do it if I got knocked out in the first or second round again."
Young champ
Hingis is understandably wary about making a habit of a comeback on the court.
A glittering early career saw a 16-year-old Hingis set records as the youngest world No.1 and, when she won the 1997 Australian Open, as the youngest player to win a grand slam in the 20th Century.
After two more wins in Australia and the Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns -- as well as nine grand slam doubles titles -- the "Swiss Miss" retired from tennis in 2002, plagued with injuries at the age of 22.
Four years later, Hingis returned to win a first mixed doubles title at the Australian Open and six more singles titles, only to retire again at the end of 2007.
"Playing and winning was normal and natural," reflected Hingis, who returned to play doubles with Daniela Hantuchova for a brief spell last season.
Read: Hingis makes comeback
"You didn't have time to enjoy the moment because there was always the next tournament, the next challenge, the next opponent.
"I have more time now to enjoy it and look back at the memories. When they talk through my career I think 'oh yeah I wasn't so bad!'
"Everything I achieved as a 16, 17, and 18-year-old teenager, I was going through all these difficult times, rebellion and I still have all these unbelievable victories, so I don't have any regrets."
Even in the twilight of her career, Hingis' deft, tactical game may still be capable of winning trophies but she is also learning that there is success to savor with a seat in the players' box too.
"When a player improves, does the right thing that I'm asking for, it's like a small victory," Hingis said.
"It's a challenge to make the players better. Everything that I do now it's a lot more thought through.
"Now I try and learn as teacher, as a coach, it's like learning again."
Horse play
Tennis has not only brought Hingis full circle, and closer to her mother through coaching, it has also helped fuel her passion away from game.
"I got my first horse when I was 14 and I bought her with my first prize money," explained Hingis, an accomplished equestrian.
"It was something that I had for myself and didn't have to be perfect at! With tennis you have to put it in the white lines and you want to win matches but with horses I didn't have the same pressure.
"Tennis was my job, horses were my passion and I wanted to keep it that way."
Her current steed is now stabled at Barcelona's polo club alongside the 40 courts of her new tennis center.
Under Barcelona's brilliant blue skies, it seems Hingis has found the perfect balance between work and pleasure.
Is Belinda Bencic the next Martina Hingis?
Swiss big cheeses: Stanislas Wawrinka beats Roger Federer
Banning Sterling makes cents
5/2/2014 5:20:08 PM
- Basketball audiences are disproportionately black, TV surveys show
- Sponsors were already pulling away from the NBA after Don Sterling's racist remarks
- "Market-driven morality" can influence corporate behavior, professor argues
(CNN) -- Don Sterling's punishment for his racist remarks was swift and severe.
It may also be good for business, according to several experts.
The owner of the Los Angeles Clippers was slapped with a lifetime ban by the commissioner of the National Basketball Association on Tuesday.
The blow came after tapes were leaked of him telling his girlfriend he didn't approve of her posting pictures of herself online with black people, adding that he didn't want her bringing them to games.
Sterling admits that he made the comments, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in announcing that he planned to fine Sterling $2.5 million and force him to sell his team.
On the recording, Sterling's girlfriend V. Stiviano pushes back, asking Sterling if he realizes that his players are black. (Through her lawyer, she denied leaking the tape to the media, but said the recording was genuine.)
Stiviano has a point. More than three-quarters of pro basketball players are black, according to a 2013 report by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
Perhaps equally important, basketball fans are disproportionately black, research shows -- which means that racist remarks could hurt the sport's bottom line.
Some 45% of television audiences for basketball are black, according to 2013 Nielsen research.
That's much higher than for other major U.S. sports. About 15% of NFL fans, 9% of baseball fans and 3% of hockey fans are black, Nielsen research shows. The country as a whole is just over 13% black, the U.S. Census Bureau says.
"There is a significant market segment of African-Americans who identify with the NBA and NBA players," said Simon Chadwick, a professor of sports business strategy and marketing at Coventry University in England.
Simon Chadwick, professor of sports business, Coventry University
And it's not just about the fans turning their back on a sport, he said.
Sponsors were also beginning to distance themselves from the Clippers.
The auto company CarMax and the airline VirginAmerica both announced they were ending sponsorship of the team, as did State Farm Insurance, the second-largest NBA advertiser, according to Nielsen.
CarMax specifically took a stance against racism in its statement Monday cutting off its sponsorship.
"CarMax finds the statements attributed to the Clippers' owner completely unacceptable. These views directly conflict with CarMax's culture of respect for all individuals. While we have been a proud Clippers sponsor for nine years and support the team, fans and community, these statements necessitate that CarMax end its sponsorship," the company said.
And it could have gotten much worse, sports marketing expert Robert Tuchman said.
"It would have destroyed sponsorship not only with the Clippers, but with the NBA. There is no way any of these major brands would be associated with a league where this is one of the owners," said Tuchman, the president of Goviva.
That's what prompted the league to act, he said.
"The owners aren't going to do anything until it hits their bottom line, as much as they dislike" the kind of comments Sterling made.
Chadwick calls this "market-driven morality."
"It's not like reading the Bible," he said. "Essentially corporations are looking at markets, looking at their consumers, and if being associated with a racist, a sexist, a dog fighter is bad business, they increasingly are making commercial decisions on that basis."
"Commercial partners had already expressed their willingness to bail. Adam Silver did what he thought was right for the fans, for the customers, but also for the commercial partnerships that were in place," said Chadwick.
"Market-driven morality" is much more advanced in North America than elsewhere in the world, he argued, contrasting the reaction to Sterling's comments with European soccer's failure to stamp out racist abuse of players by fans.
The same weekend that Don Sterling's remarks became public, a banana was thrown at Barcelona soccer star Dani Alves. The racist insult is thought to compare black players to monkeys.
Simon Chadwick, professor of sports business, Coventry University
Alves made a joke of it, picking up the banana and eating it, and a Twitter campaign sprang up in his support, led by his teammate, Brazilian soccer star Neymar.
But there was no top-down response from Spain's La Liga or world football's governing body, FIFA.
FIFA's long-time head, Sepp Blatter, has been accused by critics of not taking racism seriously enough.
He suggested in 2011 that racist incidents should be resolved with a handshake, and last year argued against punishing teams for racist behavior by their fans.
"Can we bring an end to violence or racism by docking points or relegating a team? Or would such measures lead people to come to games to get the match abandoned," Blatter said in a speech in April 2013 at a meeting of the company Early Warning System, with which FIFA works to fight against match-fixing.
"We should do all we can but there's a risk that if we have matches replayed or if we punish clubs on the sporting front, it will open the door to hooligan groups who will come to deliberately cause trouble."
Blatter tweeted support for Adam Silver and the NBA on Wednesday.
But the NBA's response to Sterling could put pressure on him to act more decisively, Chadwick said.
"With the World Cup coming up, it really commits Blatter to taking action," he said of the global soccer tournament that starts in Brazil in June. "Sepp Blatter could do this. However, I don't think it's just a moral decision, it's a business decision too."
Fire deaths as Ukraine violence spreads
5/2/2014 7:40:23 PM
- Two Ukrainian soldiers are killed in an attack near Slavyansk
- At least 38 people are dead following a fire in Odessa
- Further sanctions would target specific sectors of Russian economy, Obama says
- May 12 meeting of European Union could determine sanctions, Merkel says
Slavyansk, Ukraine (CNN) -- Violence escalated Friday in southern Ukraine, with pro-Russian separatists reportedly shooting down two Ukrainian helicopters amid deadly clashes.
The deadly fighting came the same day that U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to seek harsher sanctions against Russia if Ukraine doesn't stabilize in time for elections this month.
More than a dozen people were killed and dozens more were wounded in street fighting that pitted pro-Russian separatists against Ukrainian forces and those who support the Kiev government.
At least four people were killed and 40 wounded in fighting in Odessa, and another nine died in and around Slavyansk, according to the regional police administration.
Police said another 31 people died during a fire at a trade union building in Odessa, the latest flashpoint in the crisis that has pitted those who support the new government in Kiev and those who want to break away from Ukraine. Authorities initially reported 38 people had died, but later revised it.
It was unclear how the fire began, but it comes amid growing violence that has rocked the region.
Obama criticized Russia over its actions in Ukraine and its response to international efforts to resolve the situation, saying, "there just has not been the kind of honesty and credibility about the situation there and the willingness to engage seriously" in finding a diplomatic solution.
He added that the United States and Germany are "united in our determination to impose costs on Russia for its actions," including sanctions, and also are united "in our outrage" over the treatment of German monitors held by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.
If Russia "continues on its current course" in Ukraine, the United States and its European allies "have a range of tools at our disposal, including sanctions targeted at certain sectors of the Russian economy," and will "move quickly" on taking additional steps, Obama said.
Merkel said that a May 12 meeting of European Union foreign ministers will "play a very important role" in determining the further response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, and that the release of German monitors being held by pro-Russian forces was "a very crucial step that needs to happen for us."
Ukrainian helicopters downed
Two Ukrainian government helicopters were brought down in the flashpoint city of Slavyansk on Friday, apparently by fire from pro-Russian separatists, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said.
The violence came as Ukrainian security forces launched their most intensive effort yet to try to dislodge pro-Russian separatists.
Five pro-Russian separatists and two civilians were killed in Slavyansk in a Ukrainian military operation aimed at dislodging the separatists, said the city's self-declared mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov.
Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed during an attack near Slavyansk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Friday. The attack targeted the 95th Detached Airborne Brigade in the village of Andriyivka, the ministry said.
The gunmen also blocked a bridge in the area, using local residents, including women, according to the ministry.
CNN could not independently confirm the casualties.
Residents of Slavyansk were warned to stay home and avoid windows as the latest phase of the authorities' "anti-terrorist operation" got under way.
The two Mi24 helicopters were downed with mobile air defense systems, killing two military officers and injuring others, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry website. Another army helicopter, an Mi8, was damaged but no one was hurt, it said.
Militants took one badly injured pilot hostage after his helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing, the ministry said, and efforts to free him are ongoing.
Ukraine's security service, the SBU, said one helicopter that came under attack was carrying medics, one of whom was injured.
"The terrorists opened fire at Ukrainian units with some heavy guns, including grenade launchers and portable air defense systems," Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a post on his official Facebook page.
Four separatists have been detained at a checkpoint on suspicion of involvement in bringing down the aircraft, the Defense Ministry said.
Clashes reported in Slavyansk
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti earlier reported that one Russian separatist was killed and another wounded in Slavyansk.
Ponomaryov said Slavyansk was under attack in a video statement published by local media and posted to YouTube.
"We are being stormed, we have got casualties. I'm asking children, women and the elderly not to leave their homes and I ask armed men to provide us all the assistance they can," he said. "I think we will be able to successfully stand up for our city. Thank you for your attention, thank you for your assistance, we will win."
The operation, also targeting the town of Kramatorsk, is aimed at pro-Russian militia groups that have taken effective control of swaths of eastern Ukraine.
What's not yet clear is whether the escalating violence may prompt a response by Russia, which has previously said it has the right to intervene in Ukraine to protect Russian speakers.
Russia has called for a session of the U.N. Security Council to be held Friday because of the situation in Ukraine and "actions by the Kiev powers," a spokesman for the Russian U.N. mission said.
A senior State Department official said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power would argue at the meeting that Russia has not taken any steps to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine since an international agreement was signed last month.
Russia slams 'punitive' operation
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier blamed ultranationalist Ukrainian groups for what it called a punitive military operation in Slavyansk. It called Kiev's use of its military criminal, and described calls by the government to launch a national dialogue as "hypocrisy."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also told CNN that Ukraine's military operation was "totally unacceptable."
He said it was "the last nail in the coffin" for the deal agreed to last month in Geneva, Switzerland, which called for illegal militia groups to disarm and vacate seized buildings.
Putin has been kept fully informed of unfolding events in eastern Ukraine by Russian intelligence agencies and regards the situation with "grave concern," Peskov said.
He added that Russia has been "deeply involved" in negotiations to secure the release of captured OSCE military observers and that the Ukrainian operation had made this "harder."
Pro-Russian activists have held the seven Western observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe captive in Slavyansk for the past week.
Going forward, Peskov said Russia was using its influence to prevent further casualties and expected Western countries to do the same. "The West is quick to blame Russia, but it is now high time they condemn Kiev's actions," he said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry raised concern about the safety of a special presidential envoy, Vladimir Lukin, sent to southeastern Ukraine to negotiate a possible release of the OSCE observers.
Its statement also cited "reports about English-speaking foreigners spotted among attackers," saying there should be no "external interference" in Ukraine's affairs.
While Russia has claimed that the United States is directing events in Ukraine, Kiev and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of fomenting unrest and supporting the separatist groups.
Meanwhile, Russian airline Aeroflot said it was canceling flights Friday to the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Donetsk because it didn't have permission to enter Ukrainian airspace.
Human shield allegation
In his Facebook post, Avakov, the Ukrainian interior minister, said nine checkpoints that were under control of pro-Russian separatists in Slavyansk have been taken back by Ukrainian forces, who now encircle the town.
The operation is being conducted by the Interior Ministry, the national guard and the army, the Interior Minister said.
What the Ukrainian authorities want from the separatists has not changed, he said -- release the hostages, turn in weapons, vacate seized administrative buildings and allow the normal functioning of the city.
Avakov urged residents not to go outside and to be careful at windows while the operation continues. The separatists "shoot from the windows of residential apartments," he said, aware that the Ukrainian forces have been told not to fire toward homes.
Ukraine's security service also accused separatist leaders of ordering activists to use residents as human shields in the city and at checkpoints.
The service said the downing of a military helicopter indicated that those shooting were "highly professional foreign military, rather than peaceful residents with hunting guns, as the Russian leadership says."
A CNN team north of Slavyansk saw Ukrainian armored personnel carriers on the road, and heard the sound of two explosions that may have been rocket-propelled grenades.
A contingent of Ukrainian forces at a bridge on the outskirts of the city encountered a hostile crowd of locals who vowed not to let them pass. They were angered that an armored personnel carrier had injured an elderly man.
The local population's antipathy toward the authorities in Kiev will probably make the Ukrainian security forces' task harder as they seek to regain control.
Previous phases of the "anti-terror operation" by the Ukrainian forces have not resulted in any significant gains, despite some official claims of success.
Donetsk clashes
On Thursday, pro-Russian activists and Ukrainian riot police clashed at the prosecutor's office in the eastern city of Donetsk as simmering tensions spiraled into violence.
At least one police officer was injured as the separatists seized control, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said. The regional health authority said 26 people were injured, four of them with gunshot wounds.
Earlier in the day, crowds marched through Donetsk, demanding greater autonomy for the restive eastern region.
Some view the interim government in Kiev as a "junta" that seized power thanks to backing from ultranationalist groups, and they are angered by its actions.
Separatist leaders want to hold a referendum on May 11 on Ukraine becoming a federal state.
Eastern Ukraine was a heartland of support for pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych, ousted in February after months of protests by people upset that he had turned away from Europe in favor of Moscow.
The interim government has said it'll look at constitutional reforms ahead of national elections due on May 25.
IMF approves $17.1 billion bailout
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov acknowledged this week that the central government has effectively lost control of the country's Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the pro-Russian separatists.
He signed a decree introducing military conscription Thursday in a bid to beef up Ukraine's military, citing "real and potential threats to Ukraine."
Besides the threat from pro-Russian separatists, NATO estimates that Russia has some 40,000 troops massed near Ukraine's border.
In a key sign of international support for the Kiev authorities, the International Monetary Fund approved a $17.1 billion bailout for Ukraine on Thursday.
Russia annexed Ukraine's southeastern Crimea region in March after a controversial referendum. Its actions have prompted fears that it may seek also to intervene directly in eastern Ukraine, which has a large Russian-speaking population.
Why NATO is such a thorn in Russia's side
Opinion: Putin's empire building is not a new Cold War
Amanpour blog: $17 billion Ukraine bailout approved
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from Slavyansk and Victoria Butenko from Kiev, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported from London and Michael Martinez from Los Angeles. CNN's Arwa Damon in Donetsk, Claudia Rebaza in Kiev, and Matthew Chance and Alla Eshchenko in Moscow contributed to this report. CNN's Elise Labott, Richard Roth, Boriana Milanova and Yon Pomrenze also contributed.
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