■SOCCER
Denilson to play in Vietnam
Former Brazilian international Denilson, once the world’s most expensive player, has agreed to play for a mid-table Vietnamese side, newspapers reported yesterday. A member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning team, Denilson, 31, will join Hai Phong Cement for the second half of the professional V-League season that begins this month, Thanh Nien newspaper said. It said Denilson had his first practice session with the team on Monday. Denilson was capped 68 times and became the world’s most expensive player when he moved to Spanish side Real Betis from Sao Paulo in 1998 for US$35 million. “I don’t know anything about Vietnamese football,” Denilson told Thanh Nien, adding that the game is the same everywhere. He said a Brazilian friend introduced him to the country. “I come to Vietnamese football with my passion,” he said, expressing a hope to play in the communist country for a long time. Earlier this year he was on trial with English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers, after being without a club since his release from Brazilian team Palmeiras. Denilson’s European club career never really flourished despite spending seven seasons in Spain, followed by a spell at French side Bordeaux, Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nasr and US team FC Dallas.
■BADMINTON
Taiwan to host tournament
Taiwan will hold the World Junior Championships in 2011, the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association said yesterday. Association vice president Wu Jun-yan (吳俊彥) said that the championships are one of the sport’s most important tournaments. Wu said the association originally applied to host the World Badminton Championships and Sudirman Cup. However, Wu said Badminton World Federation president Kang Young-joong suggested that Taiwan gain experience by hosting the Junior Championships first. Wu also said Taiwan should work on raising the competitiveness of its players. “If none of our players succeed at the championships, we will be ridiculed by the public,” he said.
■SOCCER
Daum returning to Turkey
German coach Christoph Daum has left FC Cologne after being given an opportunity to return to Turkish side Fenerbahce, the Bundesliga club said yesterday. “We are sad that Christoph Daum is leaving,” Cologne chairman Wolfgang Overath said in a statement. “Christoph thanked us for the collaboration and said he could not refuse the offer because of its very good sports and financial framework. We wish him all the best in his new job.” Daum will join a side who sacked former Spain coach Luis Aragones on Monday after a fourth-place finish. As well as his previous three-year stint at Fenerbahce from 2003, Daum also had two spells at Besiktas, winning a total of three championships and one cup before signing a four-year contract with Cologne in 2006.
■SOCCER
Skipper in dancing spat
India captain Bhaichung Bhutia remains focused on continuing his soccer career despite leaving his club amid controversy over his appearance in a televised celebrity dance competition. “Football remains my first love and I don’t have any plans to even try dancing after this,” Bhutia told the Hindustan Times yesterday. The striker sought immediate release from Mohun Bagan last month after he accused the club of humiliating him after they claimed he appeared keener to participate in the dance show than play in the I-League.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later