Top int’l sporting events in 2011

1. Lionel Messi and his colleagues in Barcelona continued their domination of football to collect five out of a possible six titles, despite their unfortunate loss to Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey (Spainish Super Cup).

Their most recent triumph was winning the FIFA Club World Cup with a 4-0 victory over Santos FC from Brazil. Nine players in the club were listed among the top 50 players of the year and Messi and Xavi Hernandez are candidates for the Golden Ball awards in 2011.

2. The Japanese women's football team's victory at the FIFA Women’s World Cup was completely unexpected, but it was, a very convincing win, earning them the championship title and great respect from the fans for their admirable fighting spirit to overcome great difficulties.

It was also an extremely meaningful gift for their country, which suffered severe damage due to the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasters earlier in the year.

3. The scandal surrounding the selection of the FIFA president for 2011-2015 led to a great division within the organisation caused by two candidates: incumbent FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Mohammed bin Hammam, President of the Asian Football Federation (AFC).

Hamman was accused of bribing delegates at the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) conference with US$40,000 to buy their votes. The FIFA Ethics Committee conducted an investigation and banned the Qatari royal from football-related activities for life.

Blatter then collected 186 of the 203 votes to win the June 1 election, however, FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF President Jack Warner said Blatter had also bribed his federation US$1 million.

4. Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to become the ATP world No. 1. The Serbian tennis player defeated his two rivals to triumph in three out of four Grand Slam Tournaments, grabbing 10 titles and now holding the record for winning five ATPWorld Tour Masters 1,000. However, Djokovic was later beaten in the ATP World Tour Finals.

5. Some well known sports legends, including golfer Tiger Woods and sprinter Usain Bolt, could not maintain their performances this year. Woods had the biggest loss of his career, falling out in the first round of the Presidential Cup, while Bolt dropped his chance for a gold medal due to his false starts at the men’s 100m event at the World Championships.

6. A gloomy shadow was cast over motor racing fans when British driver Daniel Clive Wheldon died from his injuries shortly after a collision at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship and Italian motorcycle racer Marco Simoncelli died after an accident during the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.