Pele did not attend Fridays opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics because of poor health, thereby denying Brazilians the chance to celebrate their greatest sports figure.The 75-year-old soccer great said this week that he had been invited to light the cauldron, but that was not confirmed by Rio organizers.Im not physically able to attend the opening of the Olympics, Pele said in a statement Friday.Pele had hip surgery recently and often walks with a cane. His absence was a huge disappointment to fans and organizers. He is easily Brazils most recognizable athlete -- or former athlete -- even though he stopped playing almost 40 years ago.Only God is more important than my health, he wrote. In my life, Ive had fractures, surgeries, pain, hospital stays, victories and defeats. And Ive always respected those who admire me.He said not attending was my own decision.He tweeted during the opening ceremony:Peles planned role in the opening ceremony was never clear. He said earlier that a commitment to a sponsor would force him to travel the day of the ceremony.If I manage to change [the travel plans], I would like to have the honor to light it, he said.Brazilian marathoner Vanderlei De Lima did the honors of lighting the cauldron, getting his golden moment 12 years later than he might have.De Lima was leading the 2004 race at the Athens Games when a protester attacked him and disrupted his run. De Lima wound up finishing third but has been lauded for how he handled the incident.Gustavo Kuerten carried the torch into the stadium, then handed it to Brazilian basketball legend Hortencia Marcari. She brought it to the stage, then De Lima brought it up the stairs and held it aloft for 60,000 to cheer.In his statement Friday, Pele apologized for disappointing Brazilians and said as a Brazilian, I ask God to bless all who participate in this event.He signed the statement Edson Arantes do Nascimento -- Pele.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mike Singletary Womens Jersey . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Tom Waddle Womens Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. http://www.bearsfootballpro.com/Authentic_Mike-Ditka_Bears_Jersey/ . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Akiem Hicks Bears Jersey . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Khalil Mack Youth Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from.Ref Watch is back to debate another selection of controversial decisions from some of the weekends football matches in England and Spain. Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher joined host Rob Wotton in the Sky Sports News HQ studio to analyse a number of contentious calls.From vital goals to offside goals, yellow cards not given to questionable penalty decisions, and even a red card for a manager through no fault of his own, we have it all covered in this weeks edition. MATCH: Liverpool v Newcastle United, Premier League, SaturdayINCIDENT: Daniel Sturridges second-minute goal is allowed to stand despite the player looking offside.SCENARIO: A long ball is played upfield to Sturridge, who is positioned between two defenders. When he comes into shot on television pictures, the striker appears to be in an offside position - although replays show him to have come from an onside position when the ball was played. Sturridge chests the ball down, takes a touch then turns and shoots low into the bottom corner to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead, with referee Andre Marriner and his assistant Stephen Child allowing the goal to stand. An alternative angle shows Daniel Sturridge was onside ahead of his goal against Newcastle GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: Its a top-drawer decision and you can see why these guys are in the Premier League. Its a close call and its their first decision of the game as well. Child has hit the ground running and its a class, class decision.MATCH: Liverpool v Newcastle United, Premier League, SaturdayINCIDENT: Roberto Firmino scores but has his goal disallowed for offside.SCENARIO: James Milner collects the ball on the right wing, cuts inside and crosses to Joe Allen, whose header is palmed away by Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow. Firmino is waiting at the back post and after the rebound falls to him, he takes a touch with his thigh before tapping in on the line. The goal is not allowed to stand, with assistant referee Harry Lennard flagging it off. Roberto Firmino stands in an offside position on the near side before putting the ball in the net against Newcastle GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: I think the interesting thing here is if it goes in during the first phase of play, Harry doesnt flag. What happens though is the keeper saves it and by then Firmino is in an offside position as he follows it up. It would have been a goal initially had Allens header gone in but once it was saved, Firmino was offside. Harry has kept his focus on the player who has gone forward and disallowed it correctly.MATCH: Liverpool v Newcastle United, Premier League, SaturdayINCIDENT: Papiss Cisse escapes a yellow card after colliding with Dejan Lovren and conceding a free kick.SCENARIO: A high ball drops with Cisse and Lovren jostling to win possession. The players come together with Cisses right arm outstretched. Lovren falls to the ground and lands on his knees with his face down and coughing, whereas Cisse goes on to contest the loose ball before play is stopped and Marriner gives a foul against him for his challenge on Lovren. No caution is issued. Dejan Lovren and Papiss Cisse come together during the first half of Liverpools game with Newcastle GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Wrong decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: I didnt think it was an elbow. It wasnt very nice because if you see it, Cisse has looked for it and has caught him with his forearm across the throat. Its reckless and I think he should have got a yellow card. The good thing about it is the lad looked very bad at the time and was a lot better afterwards. It didnt cause the damage it could have done.MATCH: Liverpool v Newcastle United, Premier League, SaturdayINCIDENT: Cheick Tiote trips Sturridge in the area but no penalty is given.SCENARIO: Sturridge cuts into the penalty area from the right and after a stepover, turns to his right away from Tiote and then right again before being brought down. Tiotes right knee appears to catch the England strikers right knee but referee Marriner waves play on and does not give the penalty. He also decides not to caution Sturridge for simulation. Gallagher feels Sturridge should have been given a penalty against Newcastle GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Wrong decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: I dont know why it wasnt given because I thought it was a penalty. Sometimes you cant win the ball and this is a classic example of that. Sturridge has hidden the ball from Tiote and hes got to go through him to get it but Sturridge moved the ball away and had his legs taken from him. Its just an incident the referee didnt see as I see it - but he doesnt have the luxury of being able to see replays from different angles. It should have been a penalty.MATCH: Liverpool v Newcastle United, Premier League, SaturdayINCIDENT: A fan watching the match blows a whistle during play.SCENARIO: With the half-time interval imminent, someone in the crowd blows a whistle in an attempt to make people believe it is signalling the end of the first half. Although the players on the pitch dont react and referee Marriner waves play on, many onlookers believe the whistle to have marked the end of play and begin applauding. After a couple of seconds, Marriner feels he has no choice but to stop play to end the confusion and restarts play with a drop ball to Newcastle, who play it back to Liverpool given they had been in possession at the time. Andre Marriner stopped play after a false half-time whistle from the crowd at Anfield GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: It has put the referee in an impossible position and he is forced to stop the game. The players are really good here - they accepted he had to stop the game and they let him drop the ball, which he had to, and they restarted as normal. Its a strange, strange incident and I dont know why people do it. Its not good. Maybe the guy wanted a half-time cup of tea a bit early but we dont want to see that.MATCH: Sunderland v Arsenal, Premier League, SundayINCIDENT: The ball strikes Per Mertesacker in the Arsenal penalty area but no penalty is given.SCENARIO: Sunderland are attacking when Jermain Defoe shoots only to have his attempt blocked by Mertesacker. The German defender turns his back on the attempt from close range and the ball hits his left arm, with Sunderlands players appealing for a foul. Referee Mike Dean dismisses their claims and no penalty is awarded. Per Mertesacker blocked Jermain Defoes shot but not illegally, according to Gallagher GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.ddddddddddddGALLAGHER SAYS: Mertesacker starts with his hands behind his back which is interesting. What you would say is Defoe has lashed his shot so hard and from so close by that Mertesacker has not got any chance of getting out of the way. Anybody who thought that was deliberate is very much mistaken. Why Mertesacker turns his back I dont know but the ball strikes him rather than him striking the ball. Watch the penalty shouts from both teams during Sunderlands 0-0 draw with Arsenal MATCH: Sunderland v Arsenal, Premier League, SundayINCIDENT: DeAndre Yedlin blocks Alex Iwobis shot in the penalty area with his arm but no foul is given.SCENARIO: Arsenal are attacking and Iwobi shoots from around 12 yards and although his attempt clears the first defender who is attempting to block it, Yedlin gets in the way and appears to make contact with the ball with his right hand before Sunderland clear. Arsenals players appeal for a penalty but again Dean chooses not to award one. DeAndre Yedlin gets in the way of Alex Iwobis shot during Sunderlands game with Arsenal GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: This is even more interesting because it cant be handball because when you look at the incident again, it actually strikes his leg first and then flies up to hit him on the arm. He has no chance of getting out of the way so again its a case of ball to hand rather than hand to ball.MATCH: Leicester City v Swansea City, Premier League, SundayINCIDENT: Riyad Mahrez scores the opening goal after an apparent handball in the build-up.SCENARIO: Swansea captain Ashley Williams attempted pass is intercepted by Mahrez, with the ball seeming to strike him on the arm. Mahrez gathers the ball and advances into the penalty area and shoots low past Lukasz Fabianski to put Leicester 1-0 ahead. Riyad Mahrez scored after the ball struck him when Ashley Williams failed to clear properly GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: Initially I thought this was handball because the ball has struck Mahrez from a reasonable distance but the thing thats convinced me it hasnt hit him on the arm but on the side instead is the fact Williams - the closest player to him who played the ball - reacts first by chasing the ball. Thats really the giveaway. It must have hit him on the side under the arm because Williams would have been the first one to stop but his movement after the ball is played and the fact it goes in the net with him just carrying on tells me I was initially wrong.MATCH: Manchester City v Stoke City, Premier League, SaturdayINCIDENT: Ryan Shawcross concedes a penalty against Manchester City but is not booked.SCENARIO: Kelechi Iheanacho attempts to play a one-two with Yaya Toure as Manchester City attack and play their way into Stokes penalty area but as Iheanacho attempts to receive the return ball, Shawcross intentionally body-checks the Nigerian and referee Bobby Madley awards a penalty kick but elects not to caution Shawcross. Ryan Shawcross conceded a penalty against Manchester City but wasnt booked for bringing down Kelechi Iheanacho GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Wrong decision not to book Shawcross.GALLAGHER SAYS: The referee didnt see it the way we have. Its definitely a penalty and theres no question about that but it could easily have been a yellow card for reckless play and pulling him back, as weve seen many, many times. Whether the referee thinks hes just pulled him back but has been going after the ball, I dont know. If Shawcross had got a yellow card, he couldnt have complained.MATCH: Atletico Madrid v Malaga, La Liga, SaturdayINCIDENT: A ball is thrown on to the pitch during play from the Atletico Madrid bench.SCENARIO: Malaga win a throw inside their own half and take it quickly to start a fast counter attack but as midfielder Ricardo Horta runs down the left wing with lots of space to exploit, a ball is thrown onto the pitch from Atleticos dug-out. Manager Diego Simeone is standing on the touchline shouting instructions as the second ball enters the field, but as the most senior ranking official in his sides technical area, the referee sends him to the stand for the rest of the match. Diego Simeone watched much of Atletico Madrids win over Malaga from the stand after he was sent off GALLAGHERS VERDICT: Correct decision.GALLAGHER SAYS: The law is quite clear. Its a case of whether what happens affects play and the referee, quite rightly, highlights that if he pulled that up, Malaga would be penalised as they are attacking. As it didnt interfere with a Malaga player, he quite rightly allowed play to continue until the move broke down before going back to deal with the issue. The interesting thing afterwards is the referee doesnt know who threw it on and the rule in Spain is if he goes to the bench to remove somebody and he doesnt know who, it has to be the most senior person there. In this case that was Simeone so he is now staring down the barrel of a three-match ban for something that he didnt do. If that ball had actually struck the match ball, it would have interfered with play completely and the Malaga attack would have broken down, with the referee forced to stop it. What was really good was the referee was aware it hadnt affected the Malaga player and he allowed him to continue until the move ended. Also See: Premier League video Fixtures Table Live on Sky Get Sky Sports Get a ￡10 free bet! ' ' '