ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

β€œOne of the biggest blasts of hot air, which I’ve been hearing ever since I was an adolescent, is the idea that top level sport is a good place to learn and develop ethical and moral values.

"It never was. Ambition, the desire to be a hero and to make lots of money are usually much stronger.”

So wrote great Tostao in Sunday’s version of his always interesting column, a twice weekly space where football is analysed by someone of great knowledge and intelligence who loves the game but is even more fascinated by the subtleties and contradictions of the human being.

β€œThere are exceptions,” he continues, before plunging into depressing accounts of athletes doping themselves to gain an illegal advantage.

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All's fair in love, war and relegation battles - or Palmeiras seem to think so.

The Sao Paulo giants, the team of the city's Italian community, are in trouble. Back in July they won the Brazilian Cup, guaranteeing a place in next year's Copa Libertadores, South America's Champions League.

However, results have since suffered in the domestic league and they now need to make up a seven-point gap with just four rounds of the season left.

Their hopes could perhaps rest on the outcome of a hearing to be held in the next couple of days. The focus of their appeal is a disallowed goal from Argentine centre-forward Hernan Barcos against InternacionalΒ on October 27.

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