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Italy pip Sweden to golf World Cup crown

Italy's Molinari brothers overcame Sweden and Ireland to win the World Cup at China's Mission Hills on Sunday after a thrilling final round tussle - the first time the nation has lifted the trophy.

Published: 29 November 2009 09:45 CET

Italy pip Sweden to golf World Cup crown

Henrik Stenson of Sweden reacts after losing the Omega Mission Hills World Cup

Italy started the final round foursomes just one stroke behind leaders Ireland and powered into the lead with three consecutive birdies on the back nine, finishing on a total of 29 under, winning by a single stroke.

A monster 30-foot putt at the par-four 12th took Francesco and Edoardo Molinari a shot clear at the top of the leaderboard and they followed that with another birdie at the par-three 13th, finishing with a final round 68.

Consistent Sweden, who did not drop a shot in the entire tournament until the eighth hole Sunday, birdied the par-five 15th to close the gap to just one shot and keep the pressure on.

Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, who won the trophy last year and started the final round in joint second place, ended with a 69 and a total score of 28 under par.

Ireland’s powerful pairing of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, who had set a blistering pace with a 58 in the first-found fourballs, started shakily, with a bogey on the par-five third after McIlroy found the trees with his tee shot.

Although they hit back with a run of four birdies, a dropped shot at the par-three eighth and a missed two-footer from McIlroy for par at the 10th proved costly.

England, teaming Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, started the day eight strokes adrift of the leaders but powered up the leaderboard with eight birdies in a final round 64.

Japan ended a further four shots back on a total of 22 under, one clear of Australia.

Last year’s runners-up Spain, led by world number eight Sergio Garcia, finished on seven under after a miserable tournament, despite starting as one of the favourites.

The 5.5-million-dollar Omega Mission Hills World Cup, near Shenzhen, is a 72-hole event with 28 teams each comprising two players.

The first and third days were fourball, in which four balls are used and the player with the fewest shots takes the hole for their team. The second and final days involved foursomes play, where the teams compete using only one ball per pair.

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Norway's football clubs to vote on Qatar World Cup boycott

Norway's forward Erling Haaland (L) and teammates wear jerseys reading "Fair play for migrant workers" before the international friendly football match between Norway and Greece at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga in preperation for the UEFA European Championships, on June 6, 2021. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Under pressure from grassroots activists the Norwegian Football Federation(NFF) has decided to hold an extraordinary congress to decide on whether to pass up football’s showpiece event all together.

The games on the pitches in the Middle Eastern emirate will “unfortunately be like playing on a cemetery,” according to Ole Kristian Sandvik, spokesman of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA), invoking a commonly used metaphor among opponents of Norway’s participation.

Norway, which has not qualified for a major international competition since Euro 2000, is currently fourth in its World Cup qualifying group behind Turkey, the Netherlands and Montenegro.

So while qualification seems an uphill task, the result of the vote could have an impact on whether Norway and its young star Haaland — one of the rising stars of world football — continue to play qualifying matches.

The movement calling for a boycott began north of the Arctic Circle when football club Tromso IL spoke out against turning a blind eye to alleged human rights abuses at the end of February.

“We can no longer sit and watch people die in the name of football,” the first division club proclaimed.

Qatar has faced criticism for its treatment of migrant workers, many of whom are involved in the construction of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, with campaigners accusing employers of exploitation and forcing labourers to work in dangerous conditions.

Qatari authorities meanwhile insist they have done more than any country in the region to improve worker welfare.

“There is no doubt that this World Cup should never have been awarded to Qatar,” Tom Hogli, a former professional footballer turned public relations officer for Tromso IL, told AFP.

“The conditions there are abominable and many have lost their lives,” he added.

In March, a spokesman for the Qatari organisers put the number of deaths on the construction sites at “three” since 2014, with another 35 having died away from their workplaces, challenging the heavy toll reported by some rights groups.

Push from fans
The Tromso call began gathering pace in Norway, where clubs operate under a democratic structure, and under pressure from fans, many teams now say “nei” (no).

According to Sandvik, the fans feel that the deaths on the World Cup sites would have been avoided “if they had not had to build hotels, railways and stadiums”.

Nearly half of Norwegians, 49 percent, now say they are in favour of a boycott, while only 29 percent are against it, according to a poll published by newspaper VG on Wednesday.

The Nordic country’s national squad has already protested conditions in Qatar, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Before recent Norway games, Borussia Dortmund superstar Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and the rest of the team have worn t-shirts with slogans like “Human rights on and off the pitch.”

Other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have also followed suit.

FIFA, on the other hand, argue that awarding the hosting of the World Cup in Qatar has opened the door to social progress.

“We know there is still work to be done, but we need to recognise the significant progress achieved in a very short time,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in May.

‘Few successes’
While the executive committee of the NFF have said they regret Qatar being awarded the World Cup, they oppose a boycott.

President Terje Svendsen said he thought it was “not the right tool to improve the human rights situation or the working conditions in Qatar,” when speaking at the federation’s ordinary annual congress in March.

According to the NFF, a boycott could end up costing Norway 205 million Norwegian kroner ($24 million, 20 million euros) in fines and compensation as well as lost revenue.

Feeling the pressure from grassroots campaigns, the NFF referred the matter to an extraordinary congress which on Sunday will bring together the eight members of its executive committee, representatives of 18 districts and of hundreds of professional and amateur clubs.

The discussions will be revolve around the findings of an expert committee which, with the exception of two members representing fans, has also come out against a boycott.

“For a boycott to succeed, you need a critical mass behind it, an opposition that calls for it in the country, the UN to put pressure on the
authorities, the business world, the trade unions and civil society to put pressure on it in the long term,” committee chairman Sven Mollekleiv said in a debate hosted by broadcaster TV2.

“Historically, there are few successes,” he said.

Rather than a boycott, the committee recommended 26 measures to consolidate and further the gains made in Qatar but also to ensure that FIFA doesn’t become complicit in so called “sportswashing” — the polishing of a country’s public image through a major sporting event.

Some initial supporters of a boycott, like Tromso’s Hogli, have since sided with these conclusions, although calls for a complete boycott remain.

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