■GERMANY
Referee suspended
The German football federation on Tuesday suspended an assistant referee during an investigation into whether he may have participated in match-fixing. Cetin Sevinc is being investigated by Bochum for possible game manipulations, the federation said. “We were informed of the charges against Cetin Sevinc and all of the relevant information from the Bochum prosecutor’s office has been made available to us,” Rainer Koch, the DFB vice president in charge of referees, said in a statement. “Of course, Mr Sevinc is innocent until proven guilty, but until the investigation is completed, we won’t be using him for both his personal protection and the protection of the current competition.” The 27-year-old Sevinc was unavailable for comment. German soccer authorities looked into the possibility of manipulation after an investigation disclosed 32 games that are believed to have been fixed by a gang of bettors, all in the second or lower divisions.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Donovan receives permit
Landon Donovan has been given the work permit he needs to play in Britain during his loan at Premier League club Everton. The Los Angeles Galaxy player easily met the criteria for the permit because he has played 120 times for the US and has captained his country. The permit was granted at a hearing on Tuesday and the midfielder is free to begin his two-month loan from Major League Soccer as planned on Jan. 2.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Former ManU player dies
Former Manchester United player Albert Scanlon, one of the survivors of the Munich air disaster, has died aged 74, the club said yesterday. Scanlon, who was one of the “Busby Babes” earning their nickname for being trained up through the youth system to playing for the first team under manager Matt Busby, made his debut for United in 1954 aged 19 and had reportedly been unwell for some time. Eight of his teammates and three officials were killed when their plane crashed in a blizzard at Munich airport in 1958 following a European Cup match. Scanlon suffered a broken leg and fractured skull in the crash, but recovered to play again in the 1958-1959 season, scoring 16 goals to help United finish runners-up in the league.
■SCOTLAND
SFA to recruit Levein
Craig Levein is to become the next Scotland manager, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) told BBC Scotland on Tuesday. The 45-year-old was to be unveiled yesterday, according to the SFA, conditional on contracts being signed and the bad weather, and comes despite furious protests from the former Scotland international’s club Dundee United. Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson was furious at the way the SFA had dealt with the club about Craig Levein becoming the new national manager. Thompson said the SFA had treated United “shabbily” and he had heard nothing from the governing body, whom he accused of acting “disgracefully.” It appeared the only potential stumbling block was the issue of a compensation payment from the SFA to United for Levein’s services. However, what seemed a standard part of negotiations is now threatening to derail Scotland’s move for Levein. “We have not received any offer of compensation by fax, e-mail, letter or anything else,” Thompson told BBC Scotland on Tuesday. “We are a member club and deserve to be treated with a bit more respect in this matter … We have been treated shabbily.”
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