Author Archives: Aaron McAllorum

Dundalk FC writes:

The draw for the UEFA Europa League group stages was made on Thursday morning.

Dundalk were drawn in group D with Russian side and 2008 winners Zenit St. Petersburg, Eredivisie’s AZ Alkmaar and Israeli runners up Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The matches will take place on September 15th and 29th, October 20th, November 3rd and 24th with the final group stage match being played on December 8th.

The dates, times and venues for each game will be confirmed later this afternoon so keep an eye on uefa.com and dundalkfc.com for those.

Dundalk drawn in group D (Dundalk FC)

Pic: FC Zenit in English

robbie

Robbie Keane

Today, I am announcing my decision to retire from International football following the upcoming game with Oman on 31st August in the Aviva Stadium [Lansdowne Road Nua[

It has been a wonderful journey for me to have played with the Irish national team for over eighteen years since I made my senior international debut back in 1998. I have enjoyed it all.

It has also been a great honour, for both me and my family, to have been given the opportunity to captain my country for over ten years.

As a young boy growing up in Dublin playing football on the street I could never have imagined the path my life would take – it has exceeded my wildest expectations.

Republic of Ireland’s record goalscorer Robbie Keane today

Mmf.

Robbie Keane Retires From International Football With A Wonderful Farewell Statement (Gavan Casey, Balls.ie)

Pic: Press Association

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The United States Olympic Committee’s ticketing policy

olive

Tweet from Olive Loughnane, Irish race walker who competed at the games of 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.

Good times.

Via Paul Reynolds

USOC

Meanwhile…

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From top: Independent Alliance Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross with Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O Donovan outside the Department of Transport this afternoon; Retired Justice Carroll Moran

Retired High Court Judge Carroll Moran has been appointed to chair the inquiry into the OCI’s allocation of Olympic tickets going back to the 2012 Games.

‘No limits’ on former judge’s inquiry into Olympic tickets controversy (RTÉ)

Rollingnews

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Paul Carroll, a Cork-based photographer and (full disclosure) a pal of ‘sheet cartoonist Mick Flavin, has spent the last seven years capturing “the action of Gaelic club games in unique surroundings around Ireland”.

Now he wants put the images together in one big buke.

Paul sez:

Gaelic Fields will  features the beauty of games played on the fields of Aran and Inisturk Islands, South Kerry and the Glens of Antrim to the urban landscapes of Cork, Dublin and Belfast and scores of locations in between…

Of his odyssey he adds:

…99 times out of 100 people were very nice, but wanted to know why a photographer had travelled from Cork to a Junior A football game in Dring, Co. Longford on a Thursday evening…”

A modest Kickstarter campaign [target: ten big ones] is currently active [see below] to ensure Gaelic Fields becomes a coffee table-topping reality.

Gaelic Fields (Kickstarter)

tallent

WRONG: Crafty shrimp-lover JOGS like no one’s watching.

rob

CORRECT: Classic Walking and heel action by Heffo (right)

This afternoon.

Men’s 50km walk eventual silver winner (cruelly beating Ireland’s Rob Heffernan into sixth).

Daniel McMahon fumes:

I thought this was a walking race, doesn’t one foot need to be on the ground?]

Anyone?

Meanwhile….

Race walker Evan Dunfee collected Canada’s 12th bronze medal at the Rio Olympics and 19th overall following a protest in the men’s 50-kilometre race Friday morning.

In the final two kilometres, Dunfee lost stride after Hirooki Arai bumped him during a collision and the Japanese athlete went on to cross the finish line third in a time of three hours 41 minutes 24 seconds, 14 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Dunfee…

Evan Dunfee awarded bronze after protest in 50km race walk (CBC)

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Irish boxer Michael Conlan

Ognian Georgiev writes:

After numerous controversial decisions at Rio Olympics, the AIBA has apperently benched seven of their most established referees/judges.

Mik Basi (Gbr), Kheira Sidi Yakoub (Alg), Michael Gallagher (Ire), Mariusz Gorny (Pol), Vladislav Malyshev (Rus), Gerardo Poggi (Arg) and Rakhymzhan Rysbayev (Kaz) were leading the clique that Fightnews dubbed The Magnificent Seven.

The Magnificent Seven were appointed on a full contract basis. They receive a monthly salary of $5000. The 5-stars referees received additional benefits, working around the world in WSB and APB fight nights…

Thump.

AIBA benches top officials after Rio scandals (FightNews.com)