~~**GÄSTEBEREICH**~~ » players vulnerable to abuse, non-paymen

MANCHESTER, England - Radamel Falcao scored only his fourth goal for Manchester United in a 3-1 victory over Leicester in the English Premier League on Saturday.The striker, who is on loan until the end of the season from Monaco, scored between Robin van Persies first goal since last month and Wes Morgans own goal.Marcin Wasilewski scored in the second half, but the Foxes were unable to pull off another great comeback like they did in the reverse fixture last September, which they won 5-3.While Leicester remained bottom, United provisionally rose to third in the league above Southampton, which hosts Swansea on Sunday.For the first 20 minutes at Old Trafford, United looked just as flat as the team did in its last home match — a 1-0 loss to Southampton.But then Van Persie looked more like the striker who scored 30 goals in his debut season at the club in 2012-13, giving United the lead in the 27th minute.The Netherlands striker watched Daley Blinds chip pass over his left shoulder before expertly stabbing the ball past Mark Schwarzer with his right boot.Falcao rounded off a move which Van Persie started five minutes later and the three points were in the bag at halftime after Morgan turned Wayne Rooneys corner into his own netThe win — and the fact that they scored three goals — will give confidence to Van Gaals team, who had scored just five goals in their previous six matches. Clyde Drexler Jersey . The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics finished their recent trek at 3-1 on Monday in Salt Lake City when Rajon Rondo made a key jumper with 24.1 seconds remaining, as Boston held off the Utah Jazz, 107-102, at EnergySolutions Arena. Cheap Blazers Jerseys China . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. http://www.cheapblazersjerseys.com/?tag=...mccollum-jersey. MacArthur scored two goals, and the Senators outlasted Detroit in a testy third period to beat the Red Wings 4-2 on Saturday night. Wade Baldwin Jersey . After Andrew Romine served up two monster home runs in the inning, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he thought Romine was one of the bright spots on the night, showing just how bad the series opener against the last-place Minnesota Twins went for the Tigers. Terry Porter Jersey .com) - The New York Islanders will try to solve their issues against Central Division opponents when they visit the Minnesota Wild for Tuesdays battle at Xcel Energy Center.MANILA, Philippines - While 2014 wont be considered a vintage year for Asian football, continental organizers still have plenty to celebrate this weekend when they reflect on how far the game has come since 1954.As always, however, politics and controversy will not be too far away.In Manila six decades ago, 12 nations came together to form the Asian Football Confederation. Now 46 member associations, hundreds of delegates, players, officials and Sepp Blatter, head of the games world governing body, will attend the party in the Philippines.The fact Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iran went winless at the World Cup in June has not dampened the mood, with AFC president Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa vowing to improve standards.We had a disappointing World Cup in terms of performances but Asia, I think, does tend to surprise, he said recently. Were looking at ways in which we improve the overall level of football in the continent ... there will be better results for Asia in future.In the 60 years since the AFC was formed, professional leagues have been established all over the continent and started producing players who can be seen in the big leagues of Europe. Asias growing financial muscle increasingly attracts famous world stars to join clubs from the Gulf to China, India, Japan and Australia.Despite the poor showing in Brazil, Asian powerhouses Japan, South Korea and Australia have reached the latter stages of previous World Cups. Japan and South Korea hosted the 2002 tournament, when the South Koreans made the semifinals, and the World Cup is due to return to the continent in 2022 in Qatar.The AFC has only been getting (serious) recognition in the world of football and business in the last decade, Lou Sticca, managing director of Tribal Sports, a Sports Marketing company based in China and Australia, told The Associated Press. By 2022, the AFC will have had two World Cups and given the growing importance of China and others, there will likely be more. That exemplifies the financial power that Asia is now wielding globally.There could be more political power to come if, as has been reported in the British media, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, a FIFA Vice-president, decides to challenge Blatter for the top job in football administration. Al Hussein is also expected to run in the AFC elections in May to preserve his seat on the world governing bodys powerfuul executive committee.ddddddddddddThere are expected to be at least five other candidates vying for the three seats up for grabs and election campaigns, formal or otherwise, will step up a gear in Manila.As well as the battles for power and influence and the constant drive for development around the continent, there are long-standing issues that need to be addressed. Asia is regarded as one of the worlds hotspots for match-fixing. The most recent scandal has been in Vietnam, but even continental heavyweight South Korea endured a high-profile episode in 2011.Declan Hill, a noted expert on match-fixing, said the problem was deep-rooted and widespread.Hill said the AFC and national federations had been ignorant to the problem in the past but needed now to be proactive: It has to stop, otherwise all of football is at risk.The treatment of players in parts of the region is another issue. Players in Japan and Australia, and other leading leagues, are usually treated well but standards are inconsistent. In 2012, Diego Mendieta, a Paraguayan player in Indonesia, died reportedly after his clubs failure to pay his salary meant he could not afford medical bills.There are so many more opportunities for players in Asia than ever before, said Brendan Schwab, chairman of FIFPro Asia, an organization that represents thousands of players worldwide. However, in too many countries, a lack of good governance means that the games commercial opportunities are not being fully realized.This also leaves players vulnerable to abuse, non-payment, unilateral contract terminations and poor medical treatment. Threats to the integrity of sport such as match manipulation are also disproportionately present in parts of Asia, added Schwab, who has called for the development of independent players associations at national level.The players at the top level of Asia have other things on their mind in Manila. The Asian Player of 2014 will be named on Sunday. On the final shortlist of three are Nasser Al Shamrani of Saudi Arabia, Qatars Khalfan Ibrahim and Ismail Ahmed of the UAE. There was some surprise in Australia at the omission from the shortlist of Ante Covic, the goalkeeper who starred as Western Sydney Wanderers won the continental club title and was voted most valuable player of Asian Champions League. Wanderers boss Tony Popovic is, however, in the running for Coach of the Year. ' ' '