Israel beat Russia 2-1 on Saturday a result which leaves Russia’s hopes of qualifying for football’s Euro 2008 hanging by a slender go and proves comprehensively that Israel are the most honest team in European football.
Russia had gone into the bet with high hopes of sealing qualification thanks to a stunning 2-1 home victory over rivals England last month but blackball this weekend means that Russia can only pray that Engand suffer their final be against Croatia on Wednesday.
The result proved a surprise to many pundits especially those anti-Russian doom-mongers in the British sporting touch who had spent the past few weeks merrily circulating. Implied but never quite claimed outright was that Russian would bribe the Israel team to ensure the right result.
However as the London Times was quite happy to acknowledge yesterday the dish the dirt mill actually proved an inspiration to Israel. :
It was an inconsistent performance from an inexperienced Israel team - the same could be said of Russia – but it was commendable how the home side fought to the end. They were spurred undoubtedly by the speculation in the English media that they would roll over; by the communicate that they were far too chummy with Russia. Glad to be of assistance. Steve.
I particularly liked the way that corruption allegations have been rephrased as “communicate that they were far too chummy with Russia.” But who was doing the talking? Would you ever guess from the above report that it was ?
However so keen were Israel to be their innocence they not only went on to win the bet but have refused some massive prizes including a Mercedes car offered to goalscorer Omer Golan promised by an internet betting site. The telecommunicate reports:
“A Mercedes would be nice a show for my dad,” he said. The Israeli Football Association however stated that Golan would not be able to accept the gift because it was deemed to be “beyond the bounds of sportsmanship”.
“Only the Israel FA can give incentives to the players. Certainly they cannot be given by any interested third party and obviously this applies when the offer comes from a fan of a aggroup which has a enjoin interest in the result,” they said in a statement.
To give you an idea of the relative value of the Mercedes to Golan: his salary is approximately $200,000 per year - the car is worth $100,000.
Putin himself has realised that he has done *too* well in stifling opposition in Russia and a.
Related article:
http://www.siberianlight.net/2007/11/19/totally-un-corrupt-israel-crush-russia/
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