F1 Ban on QPR Chairman Flavio Briatore Lifted

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- Death (Murder) of a QPR Fan

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Reuters - Motor racing-Briatore has life ban overturned by French court
- LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Flavio Briatore, the former boss of the Renault Formula One team, had a life ban imposed by the sport's governing body overturned by a French court on Tuesday.
Briatore was banned after his role in a plot to rig the outcome of the 2008Singapore Grand. Reuters


TEamtalk Briatore wins appeal
Flavio Briatore's position as QPR chairman and co-owner looks to be no longer under threat after his ban from motor sport was overturned.
The controversial Italian, 59, was the subject of the Football League's fit and proper person test having been banned by the FAI over his part in the Renault F1 'crashgate' scandal.
League rules state that an individual cannot be a director at a club if they are banned by another sport's governing body.
But now the former Renault boss has been successful in his appeal, the League have no grounds to attempt to disqualify him from his role at the west London club. Teamtalk


UPDATE: Reuters: *Court throws out FIA's ban *FIA ready to launch appeal after rigged Singapore race - By Bertrand Boucey
PARIS, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Flavio Briatore, former boss of the Renault Formula One team, had a life ban imposed by the sport's governing body overturned by a French court on Tuesday.
The Italian was banned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in September for his role in a plot to rig the outcome of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
"The court ruled the sanction was illegal," the judge told the Paris court. Briatore was awarded 15,000 euros ($21,680) in compensation.
The FIA's legal team said it would probably be launching an appeal.
Brazilian Nelson Piquet blew the lid off one of Formula One's biggest scandals after being dropped by Renault in July when he told the FIA that he had been ordered to crash deliberately at the 2008 race in Singapore.
He said he had done so to bring out the safety car and help his Spanish team mate Fernando Alonso win the race.
Former champions Renault were handed a suspended permanent ban while engineering head Pat Symonds was banned for five years.
Briatore launched his legal case in October, claiming his right to a free and fair defence to the charges was flouted.
(Editing by Miles Evans and Alan Baldwin

- AP: French court overturns former Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore's lifetime suspension
A French court has overturned former Renault Formula One team boss Flavio Briatore's lifetime suspension from motor sports.
- F1's governing body ruled last September that Briatore ordered Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash his car to help teammate Fernando Alonso win the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008.
- Briatore denied having a role in the scheme and took legal action to be reinstated and Tuesday a Paris court overturned his ban. Briatore has also asked for $1.5 million in damages. AP


- Two Year Flashback: QPR's FA Cup Game at Chelsea: QPR Team: Camp, Barker, Mahon, Stewart, Blackstock, Buzsaky (Lee 50), Ainsworth (Agyemang 46), Rowlands, Connolly, Ephraim (Balanta 66), Hall. Subs: Bolder, Walton. Reports/Comments: How Much Progress have QPR Made in the past Two Years?)

- Some of Flavio Briatore's Early QPR Statements

- List of QPR's Signings From Abroad in recent years

- Quashie (and others) to QPR?

- Video Snippet/Memory: Brian Little's Aston Villa Semi-Final Hatrick against QPR

- Another Financial Problem/Crisis for Notts County

- Current Championship Promotion (and Relegation) Odds


Two Axed Ex-QPR Managers Mentioned in the Press as Burnley Manager Possibilities

From The Times/Graham Chase: "....Burnley have also been impressed with the work of Paulo Sousa, the Swansea City manager, and Ian Holloway, of Blackpool, as they mull over their options." The Times

- From The Telegraph/Rory Smith "...Burnley are believed to be examining several candidates in the Championship, with Paulo Sousa, once at Queens Park Rangers and now at Swansea, believed to be among the front-runners to replace Coyle should he leave." Telegraph

- Lancashire Telegraph/Suzanne Geldard: "...Former Clarets captain and assistant manager Steve Davies, who was made first team coach under Coyle following Steve Cotterill’s departure in November 2007, was in the running before Coyle’s appointment and is now the bookies’ 4/1 joint-favourite with out-of-work former Charlton and West Ham boss Alan Curbishley. Darren Ferguson...would also be interested....Former Hibernian boss John Collins and ex-Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate are other names in the frame, as well as Swansea’s Paulo Sousa.." Lancashire Telegraph


Three Ex-QPR Birthdays Today:
- Ex-QPR Assistant Manager, Kenny Jackett Turns 58. Born January 5, 1952
- Ex-QPR Assistant Manager and Player, Vinny Jones 45 - January 5, 1965.
- Former QPR striker, Dean Neal, who turns 49 (born January 5, 1961). Neal was behind Clive Allen and Paul Goddard in Tommy Docherty's team of 1979 and 1980. When they left, Neal came in and scored a number of goals. Neal made his debut against Bristol Rovers in August 1979. Went to the USA, Tulsda Roughnecks in June 1981. Then moved on to Millwall.


Irish Independent - Briatore faces appeal fate
- FLAVIO BRIATORE is expected to learn this afternoon whether his lifetime ban for race-fixing will be overturned by the French courts.
- The former Renault team principal is suing motorsport's governing body, the FIA, after he was found guilty by its world council last September of ordering Nelson Piquet Jnr to crash deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help Fernando Alonso win the race.
-Pat Symonds, Renault's former director of engineering who received a five-year ban for his role in the scandal, has also appealed to the Tribunal de Grande Instance.
- Briatore, who is seeking a €1m in damages, claims the ruling was a "legal absurdity" and that the FIA was used by former president Max Mosley as "a tool to exact vengeance" following disagreements between the pair last summer that led the teams to threaten to start their own series.
- If the ban is upheld, Briatore could be forced to give up his co-ownership of QPR under the Football League's "fit-and-proper persons" rule. Independent/Ireland


SPORTING LIFE - BRIATORE TO DISCOVER FATE
- Former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore will discover today whether his appeal against a lifetime ban from motor racing imposed by the FIA is to be overturned.
-Briatore's lawyer Philippe Ouakrat has outlined his client's assertion the punishment handed down by motor sport's governing body in September was illegal. The 59-year-old Italian is also demanding damages of just over £900,000.
- Briatore was involved in a conspiracy which saw Nelson Piquet Jnr deliberately crash his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in order to help team-mate Fernando Alonso take the win.
- Briatore claimed former FIA president Max Mosley was "blinded by an excessive desire for personal revenge" in pursuing the case, and believes the FIA did not have legal grounds to issue him with a wholesale ban from motor sport.
- "The decisions to carry out an investigation and to submit it to the World Council were taken by the same person, Max Mosley, the FIA president," Briatore said in a statement in November.
- The statement added that Mosley "assumed the roles of complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge" in what Briatore claimed was a breach of the "most basic rules of procedure and the rights to a fair trial".
- Briatore's claim the FIA World Council chaired by Mosley was out for "personal revenge" stemmed from his involvement in plans for a breakaway series, an issue which rumbled on through much of last season before an agreement was reached for manufacturers to stay in Formula One.
- Renault's former executive director of engineering Pat Symonds also appealed against his five-year ban for involvement in the scandal. Sporting Life
- Also: Pitpass - "Briatore's £22m moneyspinner"


QPR/India

Indian Football - QPR scholarship
- PIFA student Hussain Vahanvaty has won the scholarship from English Championship side Queens Park Rangers FC.
- Premier India Football Academy student Hussain Vahanvaty was ranked first after a four day intensive QPR camp that ended yesterday at the Karnataka Football ground in Mumbai. Hussain has won a six to eight week all expense paid training at the QPR Academy in England.
- Hussain was amongst 20 boys and six girls selected from the South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenge 2009 tournament held at the Cooperage ground to attend the camp conducted by QPR coaches in Mumbai.
- Hussain Vahanvaty, has been the PIFA Skills Contest winner and had earlier won a 10 day camp to the PIFA International camp 2008 held in London, he has also played for the India Under-14 side. Indian Football


DNA - Mumbai lads off to Queens Park Rangers
- Billionaire Mittal is a part owner of first division English club Queens Park Rangers where these two Mumbai lads will go for six weeks of training.
In a pool of over 200 players from the city, Vahanvaty, for his impressive midfield skills and Fernandes, an athletically built defender, stood out from the lot.
Both 13-year-olds will get an opportunity to train with their counterparts at the QPR. “If they are good enough they may even get an opportunity to represent the club in the future,” academy coach Stephen Gallen said.
- Ishan Saksena, CEO of QPR academy, said the club’s intent is to unearth talent from places where it is least expected from.
Expectedly, both teenagers were excited about the opportunity. Fernandes and Vahanvaty are in eighth standard and study in St Paul’s HS and St Mary’s HS, respectively.
“I think the attention to details in their training will make a huge difference in my game,” said an articulate Vahanvaty. Shaun appeared overwhelmed and all he could say was that he wanted this stint to help him don Indian colours.
But this isn’t their first taste of international exposure. While Shaun had been to Barcelona for a youth programme by his club Kenkre FC, this will be Vahanvaty’s second trip to London. He had previously been there for a 10-day training programme with an academy through his club PIFA.
Both have represented Maharashtra for under-13 and will leave today for the Maharashtra U-14 cap. Vahanvaty has also donned national colours for U-13 category and Mahindra United have made an approach for the Lionel Messi fan. " DNA

- QPR/India continues: Stephen Gallen (in India for QPR) on Indian Football

- See also: QPR Involved in Indian Football Project and Bhatia and Saksena Both Play.


- BQPR Look to Offload Italian Pair (Pellicori and Alberti)

Flashback: Announcement of Pellicori and Alberti Signing for QPR

QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: R'S SIGN PELLICORI - Thu 30 Jul 2009
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Italian striker Alessandro Pellicori.
- The 28 year-old, who has been on trial with Jim Magilton's First Team squad for the majority of pre-season, has penned a three year deal.
- Speaking to www.qpr.co.uk, Magilton expressed his delight at bringing the former Avellino front-man to Loftus Road.
- "Alessandro has done well with us during his trial period," said Magilton.
- "He's a natural goalscorer and we're delighted to add him to the already healthy attacking options we have at our disposal.
- "He'll take time to settle over here, but we're really excited by his arrival."
- Pellicori began his professional career at Cosenza, before moving on to Lecce in 2000.
- He made his Serie A top-flight debut in January 2001, before spending time on loan at a variety of Serie C Clubs, before settling down at Grosseto.
- Twenty-two goals in 52 starts represented a very decent return, but he was soon on the move again, this time signing for Serie B outfit Piacenza.
- However, he made just nine starts for Piacenza and penned a deal with Serie B rivals Cesena in January 2007.
That summer he moved on to newly-promoted Avellino, scoring an impressive 18 goals in 38 starts.
Pellicori will wear squad number 12.
*You can see Pellicori's excellent goal against Kettering Town last night, exclusively on QPR Player on Friday.
*To sponsor the R's new striker for the 2009/10 campaign, contact our Sales Team now on 020 8740 2588. QPR

ALBERTI JOINS QPR
QPR Official Site EXCLUSIVE: ITALIAN AGREES DEAL
Queens Park Rangers Football Club have reached agreement with A.C Chievo Verona for the transfer of Matteo Alberti.
The 19 year-old will officially put pen to paper on a four-year contract on Tuesday 1st July, after the two Clubs agreed an undisclosed fee for his services.
Alberti is yet to make his full league debut for the Serie B side, but the Brescia-born midfielder is extremely highly-rated in Italy, and the R's have beaten off stiff competition from a number of top Serie A Clubs for his signature.
As part of the agreement, Alberti's former Club will travel to Loftus Road for a prestigious pre-season friendly on Saturday 2nd August 2008 - kick-off 3.00pm.

QPR Official Site - ITALIANS COMING TO W12
QPR will play runaway Serie B leaders A.C Chievo Verona in August, as part of their pre-season schedule ahead of the 2008/09 Championship campaign.
The 'Mussi Volanti', or 'flying donkeys' as it translates, will travel to Loftus Road on Saturday 2nd August 2008 - kick-off 3.00pm.
The Verona-based outfit currently top Serie B with 80 points from their 39 matches played and look sure-fire certainties to secure the title and return to the top tier of Italian football.