SOCCER
Messi rakes it in
Lionel Messi and Jose Mourinho are the highest paid player and manager in soccer, according to France Football magazine. Messi’s income from his salary and publicity deals last year amounted to 31 million euros (US$44.1 million), while Real Madrid boss Mourinho topped the manager’s rich list with an income of 13.5 million euros. Messi’s income, while making him the top paid soccer player in the world, still falls a long way short of Tiger Woods, who, with a revenue of 53 million euros, is the highest paid sportsman of them all. Messi’s nearest rival in the soccer player income stakes is Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo with 27.5 million euros and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney in third with 20.7 million euros. The English Premier League is the most lucrative league of all, with seven representatives in the top 20 list of the highest paid players. Two former Premier League stars, David Beckham and Thierry Henry, now playing in the MLS in the US, are ranked fifth and 11 with salaries of 19 million euros and 13.6 million euros respectively.
RUGBY
Ireland on top in north
Ireland may not have won the Six Nations, which finished on Saturday, but nevertheless on Monday they were the top-ranked northern hemisphere country in the IRB world rankings. The Irish are ranked fourth, largely thanks to their victory over the Six Nations champions England, who were denied a Grand Slam because of Saturday’s loss. In the international standings, the English slide from fourth to fifth place, while France drop a place to sixth. The other three Six Nation sides, Wales, Scotland and Italy, fill seventh, ninth and 12th places respectively. The top three places are occupied by southern hemisphere giants New Zealand, Australia and world champions South Africa.
GOLF
Infection ousts Oosthuizen
Louis Oosthuizen has withdrawn from this week’s Andalucian Open in Spain after suffering an eye infection. “It’s disappointing because not only were we looking forward to seeing Louis return to defend, but it was our chance to also congratulate him on then going on to win the British Open,” a tournament official said on Monday. The South African’s withdrawal reduces the number of major champions teeing-up on the Parador Malaga course tomorrow to three; Jose Maria Olazabal, Paul Lawrie and Michael Campbell. Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who won last month’s Qatar Masters, has also pulled out for unspecified reasons.
SOCCER
Ribery says sorry
France playmaker Franck Ribery, back in the national team for the first time since the World Cup fiasco, apologized on Monday for his behavior in the run-up to and during last year’s disastrous season. Before his first press conference since the World Cup, Ribery read a statement in which he explained how he “got it wrong in his behavior as a footballer [during] a horrible 2010 from all points of view … I took the wrong roads, I lost myself,” Ribery said. The 28-year-old had a season to forget in 2009-2010 as he struggled with injury, is under investigation for his involvement in an alleged under-age call-girl scandal and was banned for the Champions League final defeat to Inter Milan after being sent-off in the first leg of the semi-final against Lyon. “I hurt people, people who are very dear to me, I disappointed even shocked many others: I blame myself and I apologize,” the Bayern Munich player said.
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