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The NRLs head of football Graham Annesley has put the leagues coaches on notice, saying that criticism of NRL match officials has become out of control in recent weeks.

Speaking at his weekly briefing on Monday, Annesley said it was rubbish to blame referees for defeats and suggested that teams who lost games should focus on improving their own performance rather than taking aim at match officials.

The level of criticism thats been coming about match officials after games I think is over the top. I think its unjustified, Annesley told reporters.

Although there are decisions that clubs dont like, and that they may think should have gone the other way, they are not necessarily wrong decisions.

If you ask the fans and the supporters of the opposition team, theyd be saying the decision is 100% right.

Were getting these marginal decisions and theres a lot of them in our game.

I just think (the criticism) has got a little bit out of control recently. Well see one incident in a game and then the whole post-match discussion is about that incident.

We focus in on one or two decisions that a referee might make and say, We lost the game because of that.

Frankly, its just rubbish.

Annesleys comments came after Dragons coach Anthony Griffin, Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett and Sharks coach Josh Hannay all lashed specific refereeing calls in their sides losses this weekend.

Coaching against his former club for the first time, Griffin bemoaned a couple of dodgy calls in Penriths defeat of his side.

He was particularly scathing of a tackle made by Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary, which he believed was a shoulder-charge.

It was a clear cut shoulder charge; thats the one they brought the rule in for where you dont use your arms, Griffin claimed after the 34-16 loss.

Barrett was left frustrated on Sunday when the Bulldogs had a try disallowed after Sione Katoa was ruled to have hit Warriors player Edward Kosi high and late in the lead-up to the would-be four-pointer.

The coach said the Bulldogs had the try that got us back in the game got taken off us for reasons I still dont know.

It wasnt a high tackle, it wasnt late and we get a try taken off us. I still cant work out why and Ive had a look at it again.

Hannay said the Sharks were shattered to have lost against Newcastle in the last game of the round 22 and lamented the referees tough decision to penalise Cronulla for dragging Bradman Best into the Knights in-goal after held had been called.

Every week, every game you see people driven back into the in-goal, thats part of the game, Hannay said.

For that to be a penalty they march up the other end and then kick the winning goal from that.

Annesley said the referees made the right call on all three occasions and questioned the logic of blaming individual decisions for losses.

Annesley added that referees very rarely cost a team the game and that match officials were not to blame for defeats recorded in round 22.

Many of these incidents happen at different stages of games where teams have got every opportunity to go on and win the game if theyre good enough, he said.

But what Ive seen over recent weeks, while some of these criticisms have been going on, is that teams have lost games because they havent been good enough to win them. Thats why theyve lost games.

Frankly, its time other people accepted responsibility for the outcomes of some games.

Annesley said that teams unforced errors and missed tackles had a far greater impact on the outcome of a game than one or two refereeing decisions that might be arguable about whether they were right or they were wrong.

Annesley said the increased competition for spots in the NRLs top eight may be responsible for the spike in criticism levelled at match officials.

Both Hannay and Griffins teams had been well and truly in the fight for top eight spots prior to round 22, but their losses over the weekend now put them one win behind the teams sitting in eighth and ninth on the ladder.

Weve a scramble for positions in the eight and for making the eight. The eights still far from settled, Annesley said

I get the pressure everyones under. Were all under pressure.

Annesley said not just coaches, but media personalities and other pundits within the game, should rethink their criticism of match officials

Theyre entitled to opinion, Im not trying to stop them from having an opinion, but its the intensity of the criticism, he said.

Annesley said it was not for him to determine whether coaches would be fined for their comments over the weekend.

My role is about what happens on the field. There are other people at the NRL in other roles that determine whether our rules have been breached in relation to post-match comment, he said.

Originally posted here:
Out of control: NRL lashes rubbish trend among whinging coaches - Fox Sports

I wasnt born when India won Independence. I was just one of those privileged Indians who took freedom for granted, and I expected to die in a free country too. I was, however, aware that there was an organisation made up of fat old sickos who worshipped the Nazis, wept into their hankies when the British were kicked out of India, spread rumours and lies like gossipy old aunties, and thought communal riots were a lovely way to pass the day.

My father had warned me about these ghouls when I was little. You see, these fat old sickos used to lurk around kiddy parks when Dad was a teenager in pre-independence India. Such a shame that British plods on duty didnt holler Hoy! and drag the fat old sickos to police stations on the grounds of evil intent.

My father was approached by a couple of fat old sickos when he was playing cricket one evening. They tried to recruit him to their bigoted cause, but he firmly turned them down. I am so proud that he could tell right from wrong when he was in his early teens, unlike so many old editor uncles & aunties, public intellectuals, and businessmen who brought these fat old sickos and their party, the BJP, into power in 2014 and kept them there.

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Reality Bites: I want to live in a free nation again - National Herald

LAW AND JUSTICE (PiS), the party that rules Poland, dislikes critics. Soon after coming to power in 2015, it took control of TVP, the public television broadcaster, and purged its management. Since then, Poland has slipped from 18th place in a World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit group, to 64th, its lowest-ever ranking. Now PiS has turned its attention to TVN, a television station owned by Discovery, an American media giant. A bill limiting foreign ownership of media companies adopted on August 11th by the Sejm, the lower chamber of parliament, could force Discovery to sell. Liberals fear that Polands independent media are in jeopardy.

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The Polish media should be Polish, says Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the ruling partys chairman and the countrys de facto leader. Repolonisation has become a buzzword in all sorts of industries. In March PKN Orlen, a state-owned oil refiner, bought Polska Press, the countrys leading newspaper publisher, from its German owner. Senior editors were subsequently replaced.

Law and Justices latest target is TVN24, a news channel. Unlike TVP, it is critical of the government. It is also influential: its evening news was the most-watched news programme in Poland in the first half of 2021, with an audience share of almost 22%, just ahead of TVPs rival offering.

The amendment to the broadcasting law proposes to bar entities from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) from owning more than a 49% stake in any Polish media firm. The party is defending Polish interests, says Marek Suski, the Law and Justice MP behind the proposed amendment. Critics warn that it is aimed at TVN24, whose licence expires in September and has not yet been renewed. If the amendment is adopted, Discovery may have to divest the channel.

The TVN law could spell trouble for the ruling party, though. American officials, who have leapt to TVNs defence in the past, are concerned. Unfettered press is crucial for democracy, tweeted Bix Aliu, Americas charg daffaires in Warsaw, in response to the draft legislation. It also added to the tensions that brought down the ruling coalition this week. Jaroslaw Gowin, a deputy prime minister and leader of Agreement, a pro-business party that was one of Law and Justices two junior coalition partners, was ejected from the government on August 10th. He had wanted an amendment to the media law that would allow ownership by companies in the OECD, a group of rich countries including America. He also opposed government-backed tax reforms.

The media-nobbling law must still pass the Senate, where Law and Justice lacks a majority. With the next parliamentary elections due in 2023, the party continues to lead in the polls, ahead of the centrist opposition. It has shrugged off criticism, including from the European Commission, which also complains about its subversion of the judiciary. Making Discovery sell TVN will harm relations with America. But Mr Kaczynski clearly values control over Polish media more.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Unwelcome Discovery"

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Poland's proposed media rules threaten press freedom - The Economist

The CEO of Discovery International vowed Friday to keep ownership of a Polish network aslawmakers in Polandpassed a bill in the lower house earlier this week that would reduce media ownership for non-European companies in the country.

The legislation targets Discovery-owned TVN. The bill, which still requires several other legislative steps before going to the president for signature, would mean that non-European companies in Poland could only retain up to 49 percent of their ownership of a media entity, The Associated Press reported.

In an interview with the wire service, CEO and President of Discovery International Jean-Briac Perrette said the network is worth about $3 billion.

We have no intent to sell or leave, Perrette told the news agency.

Polands government has said the legislation is necessary for sovereignty and security reasons, but opponents, including Secretary of State Antony BlinkenAntony BlinkenTaliban's advance picks up speed, intensifying Afghanistan crisis Biden sending 3K troops to Afghanistan to help draw down embassy staff Poland passes controversial bills, straining ties with EU, US and Israel MORE, say it would hurt the most watched independent news station in the country.

Blinken said in a statement Wednesday that he was deeply troubled by draft legislation passed today by the lower house of the Polish parliament that targets the most watched independent news station, which is also one of the largest U.S. investments in the country.

Poland has worked for decades to foster a vibrant and free media. This draft legislation would significantly weaken the media environment the Polish people have worked so long to build, he continued.

Perrette said during his interview that he has called for intervention efforts from countries in Europe, the European Union and the U.S., but he worries it might not be enough to stop a possible passage of the bill in Poland.

Were seeing great support from the U.S. government and great support from the EU, he told the AP. The problem is, I fear, this (Polish) government is so ideologically dead set.

Discovery has already filed a lawsuit after theTV regulator in Polandsignaled it would not be renewing the license for TVN24, which is the news channel owned by parent company TVN, according to Reuters

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Discovery exec says network will fight to keep control of Polish media company | TheHill - The Hill

Aug 13 (Reuters) - In early July, as Taliban insurgents were seizing territory from government forces across Afghanistan, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave.

The gunmen escorted them to their homes and told them not to return to their jobs. Instead, they explained that male relatives could take their place, according to three of the women involved and the bank's manager.

"It's really strange to not be allowed to get to work, but now this is what it is," Noor Khatera, a 43-year-old woman who had worked in the accounts department of the bank told Reuters.

"I taught myself English and even learned how to operate a computer, but now I will have to look for a place where I can just work with more women around."

The incident is an early sign that some of the rights won by Afghan women over the 20 years since the hardline Islamist militant movement was toppled could be reversed if it returns to power.

The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, have overrun many of Afghanistan's biggest cities in recent days and are closing in on the capital Kabul. read more

Under the group's strict interpretation of Islamic law, women could not work, girls were not allowed to attend school and women had to cover their face and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to venture out of their homes.

Women who broke the rules sometimes suffered humiliation and public beatings by the Taliban's religious police.

During hitherto fruitless talks over a political settlement in recent years, Taliban leaders made assurances to the West that women would enjoy equal rights in accordance with what was granted by Islam, including the ability to work and be educated.

'THE WORLD SHOULD HELP US'

Two days after the episode at Azizi Bank, a similar scene played out at a branch of another Afghan lender, Bank Milli, in the western city of Herat, according to two female cashiers who witnessed it.

Three Taliban fighters carrying guns entered the branch, admonishing female employees for showing their faces in public. Women there quit, sending male relatives in their place.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to a request for comment about the two incidents. Spokespeople for the two banks did not respond to requests for comment.

On the broader question of whether women would be allowed to work in banks in areas it controls, Mujahid added that no decision had yet been made.

"After the establishment of the Islamic system, it will be decided according to the law, and God willing, there will be no problems," he said.

The United States and others Western powers fear that the Taliban will roll back many of the freedoms won by women.

Gains made in women's right have been touted as one of the biggest accomplishments during the 20 years that U.S.-led forces have been deployed in Afghanistan, although they have mostly been made in urban centres. read more

Afghan women working in fields including journalism, healthcare and law enforcement have been killed in a wave of attacks since peace talks began last year between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The government blames most targeted killings on the Taliban, who deny carrying out assassinations. read more

"The Taliban will regress freedom at all levels and that is what we are fighting against," an Afghan government spokesperson said.

"Women and children are suffering the most and our forces are trying to save democracy. The world should understand and help us."

Scores of educated Afghan women took to social media to appeal for help and express their frustration.

"With every city collapsing, human bodies collapse, dreams collapse, history and future collapse, art and culture collapse, life and beauty collapse, our world collapse," Rada Akbar wrote on Twitter. "Someone please stop this."

Reporting by Rupam Jain in Mumbai; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Mike Collett-White

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Afghan women forced from banking jobs as Taliban take control - Reuters