■ SOCCER
Milner signs for City
England midfielder James Milner completed his reported £26 million (US$40 million) transfer from Aston Villa to English Premier League rivals Manchester City on Wednesday. Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland moved in the other direction as part of the deal which saw Villa manager Martin O’Neill resign over a week ago as he was dissatisfied with the club selling their best players. City had bought another of their midfield stars, English international Gareth Barry, in the close season last year. City manager Roberto Mancini was delighted to have secured his sixth big money signing since the end of last season. “I am very happy to have James with us, everybody knows we have admired him for some time,” said Mancini, who replaced Mark Hughes last season and guided City to fifth in the league.
■ SOCCER
Anelka derides FFF ban
Nicolas Anelka has described the French Football Federation (FFF) as a “bunch of clowns” after they handed the striker an 18-game international ban for his role in the national team’s World Cup revolt in South Africa. The 31-year-old was handed the suspension by an FFF disciplinary commission on Tuesday, a decision derided by Anelka, who said he never intended to play for France again anyway. “For me, that commission thing is absolute nonsense, an aberration, a farce, an attempt not to lose face,” Anelka was quoted as saying by daily France Soir on Wednesday.
■ SOCCER
Boateng loaned to AC Milan
Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng joined Genoa from Championship (second division) club Portsmouth on Wednesday, before immediately signing for AC Milan on loan. The German-born midfielder, whose impressive displays helped Ghana reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, will spend the season at Milan, who have already agreed a deal with Serie A rivals Genoa to make the move permanent. “Kevin-Prince Boateng is from today a Milan player, arriving on loan from Genoa, but with a buy-out clause in favor of Milan,” read a statement on the club’s Web site. The 23-year-old has been training with Genoa in recent days.
■ SOCCER
Tourney may be rescheduled
The next East Asian Championship may be pushed back a year to 2013 to prevent it from becoming a warm-up for the 2012 London Olympics, Japan’s soccer chief said yesterday. “If we stage it in the summer of 2013, a year before the World Cup, it will help each country prepare for the World Cup,” Japan Football Association president Junji Ogura told reporters. Ogura said there were fears that the tournament, currently scheduled for 2012 in South Korea, would become a warm-up event for Olympic squads. The delay will be discussed at meetings of the East Asian Football Federation on Tuesday.
■ TENNIS
Henin out for season
Former world No. 1 Justine Henin has ruled herself out for the rest of the season with an elbow ligament injury. The 28-year-old Belgian has been out of action since hurting her right elbow at Wimbledon, but had initially hoped to be back in September. However, yesterday, Henin wrote on her official Web site that she would not even begin practice until October. “I took several medical examinations in recent days and [things] are going in the right direction, it is encouraging news. It is still a slow recovery, so I need to be patient again until the end of 2010.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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