■ ENGLAND
No return for Shearer, yet
Kevin Keegan has revealed that Alan Shearer will not be returning to Newcastle as his No. 2 but insists there could still be a role at St James' Park for the club's greatest goalscorer. Shearer, 37, has had talks with Keegan about joining his staff but the two men have agreed that a managerial partnership would not be viable, Keegan said on Friday. More talks are planned tomorrow. Shearer has long been seen as a future Newcastle manager.
■ FRANCE
Baros in line for return
Czech striker Milan Baros has been lined up for a return to the English Premiership after Lyon confirmed on Friday that they were negotiating a loan deal with Portsmouth. A source said that the 26-year-old Baros will be loaned to the Fratton Park side with a view to making the move permanent. The former Liverpool player has scored seven times for league leaders Lyon during his stay but has struggled to hold down a permanent starting place due to the sensational form of Karim Benzema.
■ ENGLAND
US consortium eyes Rams
English Premier League basement club Derby County are set to become the latest top flight club to be taken over by a US consortium, it was reported on Friday. Derby are expected to formally announce the deal at a news conference tomorrow. But in a statement due to be published in yesterday's matchday program for the FA Cup fourth round clash with Preston, Derby chairman Adam Pearson confirmed that there will be new money coming into the Midlands club. "This new investment will establish the Derby County brand worldwide through successful alliances with sporting teams in the USA, the Far East and Africa," Pearson said.
■ SWITZERLAND
Hitzfeld reveals Swiss role
Ottmar Hitzfeld, who will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, confirmed on Friday that he was ready to take over the Swiss national team after Euro 2008. "Representing a country and preparing a team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup would be, for me, the best job to have before retiring," Hitzfeld told yesterday's edition of Suddeutsche Zeitung. "The pressure and expectations in Switzerland would be very important but can be coped with," he said. The Champions League-winning coach told Bayern last month that he did not want to remain with the Munich side once his contract runs out in June. He revealed in the autumn that he had been approached by the Swiss soccer federation to succeed Kobi Kuhn as national team coach after Euro 2008.
■ ENGLAND
King goes to Wigan
Wigan signed Watford striker Marlon King on Friday after the player's protracted move to Premiership strugglers Fulham broke down. King had looked set to move to Craven Cottage from the Championship club, only for reports to emerge claiming he failed a medical and Wigan boss Steve Bruce seized his chance. "I went down [to Fulham], had a long medical and for some reason there was a hitch," he told Sky Sports. "I think the two clubs were trying to renegotiate the fee, it had nothing to do with me, but when I picked up the newspapers I see I had failed a medical! I know my body is 110 percent. I didn't fail a medical. I've been playing for a season and a half now and scoring goals -- nothing has changed.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but