Sir: I watched the Manchester United v Internazionale match last Wednesday night and was shocked by the extremely poor “diving” technique exhibited by the Italian team when seeking a penalty or free-kick. The timing of the falls was just non-existent and no one seemed capable of rolling around on the ground, feigning injury, with any degree of conviction.
I would suggest that Internazionale need to employ a theatrical coach who can bring their players up to the international acting standard required of today’s top football teams.BRUCE STEVENSEltham, London. Sir: Sorry, but didn’t Hope Powell beat Chris Ramsey to it? She became the first black, the first female and the youngest international football coach in England when she became coach to the England women’s squad in 1998

SHARON COLWELL
address supplied. Sir: Is it not cruelly ironic that with his lifestyle of all-night parties, drinking and drugs, Justin Fashanu would have been Robbie Fowler’s idea of a “real” footballer whereas Graeme Le Saux, for all his evident heterosexuality, is not?

CHRISTOPHER ANTON
Winson Green, Birmingham. PAUL SUPPLE, a former British weightlifting champion, has been cleared of a doping offence in a case which appears to raise awkward questions about the testing procedure employed. Supple, national champion at the 94kg weight in 1994 and 1995, has now resumed training for next year’s Olympics, seven months after being suspended following an adverse finding for illegal testosterone levels.
His suspension, which was confirmed by a disciplinary hearing of the British Amateur Weight Lifting Association on 21 November, was revoked on appeal.

The appeal committee which met on 13 March concluded that the standard procedure for verifying testosterone findings had not been carried out by either BAWLA or the UK Sports Council, the body responsible for the testing programme.According to the International Olympic Committee doping rules under which BAWLA operates, any sample where the testosterone to epitestosterone ratio is greater than 6:1, the legal maximum, a further investigation and/or examination has to be carried out before findings can be declared a result.A statement issued yesterday by Supple’s legal representatives said the BAWLA appeal committee “decided that they were not satisfied that further examination had taken place and had therefore lifted the suspension.” “We are considering whether any action should now be taken on Paul’s behalf,” said Fraser Reed, Supple’s legal representative. “He has had to endure seven months of anxiety before his name has been cleared. It meant he had to miss last September’s Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, where he would have been a potential medal winner.”This case has shown up a lot of irregularities in the test procedure. It isn’t clear whether the responsibility lies with the UKSC or BAWLA.” A spokesman for the UKSC said he was unable to comment as the Council was still awaiting official notification of the appeal findings from BAWLA.Three years ago, the most widely known case of an adverse testosterone finding concluded with a judgment which cleared athlete Diane Modahl of a four-year ban. Her defence also succeeded on procedural grounds, although in her case the irregularities centred on the incorrect storage of her sample by the organisation responsible, the International Amateur Athletic Federation.Doug Walker, who produced an adverse finding indicating illegal steroid levels in December, is expected to find out today whether he has a case to answer. The evidence was weighed yesterday by a UK Athletics committee comprising Michael Beloff QC, former British athlete and team manager, Joan Allison, and medical experts Professor Hugh Makin and Professor Vivian James.The Scot, who won the European 200m title last summer, has not competed since the test was announced, even though he is legally able to He has denied knowingly taking any banned substance.. JODY SCHECKTER was never renowned for reticence.

He’s remembered almost as readily – in this country, at any rate – for the pile-up he triggered at the start of the 1973 British Grand Prix as for delivering Ferrari their last driver’s world championship, 20 years ago. On and off the track, he was the quintessential South African: self-assured, forthright, uncompromising. The passing years have scarcely blunted his sharp edge, although those close to him maintain he has mellowed.
But circumspect? Palpably not. Invited to comment yesterday on the state of play at Ferrari, he suggested his former employers ought to find a new team-mate for Michael Schumacher, someone capable of pushing the German to greater heights. Since Schumacher’s present partner is Northern Ireland’s Eddie Irvine, who won the opening round of the championship in Australia, earlier this month, that represents a contentious statement.Ferrari, like the reputation for causing mayhem, are permanent baggage for Scheckter. He carried it with him to London, where he appeared in a less familiar guise, that of the caring father.