■ENGLAND
Beckham reigns supreme
David Beckham, even in the twilight of his playing career, still reigns supreme in the world of soccer as the highest-earning player in the world, according to Forbes magazine. Beckham earns US440 million a year. Portugal midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the Forbes list, earning US$30 million a year. Brazil playmaker Kaka, Ronaldo’s teammate at Madrid, is third on the list, earning US$25 million annually. Ronaldinho is fourth on Forbes’ list, also earning US$25 million a year. Rounding out the top five is France striker Thierry Henry, who makes US$24 million a year. Lionel Messi, the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, is sixth on the list with earnings of US$20 million annually. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is seventh, earning US$17 million, with teammate John Terry in eighth, earning US$16 million. Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ninth, also earning US$16 million, while Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard earns US$15 million in 10th place.
■ITALY
Maldini under investigation
AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini and his wife are being investigated over corruption and illegal access to tax records, ANSA news agency reported on Thursday. The former international defender is accused of bribing an incomes official to avoid tax controls, but his lawyer, Danilo Buongiorno, insisted that his client’s role in the investigation was merely minor. “He’s calm and serene. In contesting the accusations, which are without a doubt baseless, he’s certain that he will be able to demonstrate that he and his wife had absolutely nothing to do with this and that they must be injured parties and certainly not those being investigated,” he said. The former AC Milan star is being investigated following a separate probe into an incomes official who has since been imprisoned.
■FRANCE
Davies comeback ruled out
Charlie Davies’ chances of making the US World Cup squad have taken a significant blow after the president of French club Sochaux ruled out any chance that he would play again this season. Davies nearly died in October last year in a car accident that killed another passenger and left the 23-year-old striker with career-threatening injuries. After making an incredible recovery, Davies returned to training with Sochaux last month in a bid to win his place back in the team before the end of the season — but there are now only five games left. “He will not play again in Ligue 1 this season,” Sochaux president Alexandre Lacombe told the online version of daily newspaper L’Est Republicain on Thursday. Davies suffered two broken bones in his right leg, a broken and dislocated left elbow, a broken nose, forehead and eye socket, a ruptured bladder and bleeding on the brain in the crash.
■SPAIN
Dragutinovic ruled out
Sevilla’s Serbia defender Ivica Dragutinovic will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup after he tore his Achilles tendon during training on Thursday, the Spanish club said. “The Serb tore his left Achilles tendon and in this way says goodbye to a campaign where be was performing superbly,” the club said in a statement. Dragutinovic, 34, will travel to Finland to be examined by Sakari Orava, the specialist who operated on David Beckham, who also suffered a torn Achilles tendon. “If there is a person who does not deserve an injury, although nobody deserves one, it was Drago, for everything he has done and what he means to the dressing room,” Sevilla captain Andres Palop said.
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with