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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL 2017 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL OLYMPICS - ICE HOCKEY United's Shaw must respond to Mourinho criticism - Neville MANCHESTER United full back Luke Shaw's future at the club hinges on his response to manager Jose Mourinho's criti- cism, former United defender Gary Neville has said. Mourinho said Shaw was a long way behind his rivals for a starting spot at the club after he was omitted from the squad for their goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. "He has to respond," Neville told reporters. "If he doesn't, it will be a ref lection upon him as a character and a personality moving forward. "The reality of it is Shaw will be given a chance to play in a few weeks' time and it's his per- formance on the pitch that will count. " Shaw, who signed from South- ampton at the start of the 2014- 15 season, was criticised by for- mer manager Louis van Gaal for lacking fitness. The 21-year-old suffered a broken leg last season and has started only seven league games under Mourinho during the current campaign. Former England defender Dan- ny Mills backed the Portuguese manager's comments, saying Shaw had no excuse to be unfit. "Even if he has been injured, there is no excuse not to keep the weight off or to be as fit as you possibly can be and look like you are making the biggest ef- fort ever," Mills told BBC Radio 5 live. "I think Mourinho has had enough and thinks he can't let this attitude poison any young- sters or drip feed into others. "Would Sir Alex Ferguson have stood for this? No. Fergie would have just got rid of him." Several British media reports said Shaw had held talks with Mourinho on Monday and then joined up with the squad ahead of Tuesday's league game against Everton. Luke Shaw NHL will not participate in 2018 Pyeongchang Games THE National Hockey League will not take part in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, saying on Monday that it would finalise its 2017-18 season sched- ule without a Winter Games break. It declared negotiations "officially closed". The NHL statement brings an end to years of tense bargaining between the International Olym- pic Committee, International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the NHL over the league's continuing participation in the Winter Games. Unhappy about having to shut down for almost three weeks in the middle of their regular sea- son, the NHL had been seeking major concessions from the IOC, including recognition compa- rable to that of an Olympic Top Sponsor, for taking part in the South Korea games. The NHL had participated in every Winter Olympics since the 1998 Nagano Winter Games. The decision will impact al- most every major hockey playing nation with the Sweden, Finland, Russia, United States and Cana- dian teams almost entirely made up of NHL players. Some players, however, have already said they would play in Pyeongchang no matter what and the NHL's decision also earned a rebuke from the play- ers' union. "Players are extraordinar- ily disappointed and adamantly disagree with the NHL's short- sighted decision," the NHL Play- ers Association (NHLPA) said in a statement. "Any sort of inconvenience the Olympics may cause to next sea- son's schedule is a small price to pay compared to the opportu- nity to showcase our game and our greatest players on this enor- mous international stage." The NHL's absence will be a blow to the Olympics as the hockey competition was one of the Winter Games premier events and pulled in top ratings, particularly in North America. The decision, however, has meant the sport has lost a major opportunity to showcase itself in new markets, the NHLPA said. "A unique opportunity lies ahead with the 2018 and 2022 Olympics in Asia," the NHLPA said. "This impedes the growth of our great game by walking away from an opportunity to reach sports fans worldwide." No meaningful dialogue The NHL said they had become frustrated with months of inac- tion and "no meaningful dia- logue". "Instead, the IOC has now ex- pressed the position that the NHL's participation in Beijing in 2022 is conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018," the league said. "And the NHLPA has now pub- licly confirmed that it has no in- terest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more at- tractive to the clubs. "As a result, and in an effort to create clarity among conf licting reports and erroneous specula- tion, this will confirm our in- tention to proceed with finalis- ing our 2017-18 regular season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Win- ter Games. "We now consider the matter officially closed."