Australia’s greatest soccer export, Harry Kewell, returned home to join A-League side Melbourne Victory yesterday, ending a protracted transfer saga that cost him a place in the Socceroos squad.
The 32-year-old former Liverpool forward had been without a club since leaving Turkish side Galatasaray at the end of last season and had been negotiating a move for more than two months.
“Harry is an Australian sporting icon and will bring not only incredible talent to Melbourne Victory, but will attract more fans to football and boost greater interest and participation in the sport in Australia,” the club’s chairman Anthony Di Pietro said in a statement. “Our discussions with Harry have been progressing for some time and we are delighted to have completed what is the most significant signing in Australian football and ... A-League history.”
The move for Kewell, who has scored 16 goals in 54 appearances for his country and played in two World Cups, ends a European-based career which, although successful, could have been more fruitful if it was not for continued injury problems.
Although his signing is a major coup for the struggling domestic league, which has seen clubs struggle with finances and one club close, Kewell and his agent have been pilloried in the Australian media for lavish demands, which included a cut of ticket sales.
“I am proud to be Australian and want to give something back to the game there,” Kewell told the Melbourne Victory Web site. “It has always been my ambition to play in my home country and I am very pleased to have that opportunity by playing for Melbourne Victory.”
Twice A-League champions, Melbourne Victory, who kick off their season on Oct. 8 against Sydney FC, have signed a three-year deal with Kewell, local media said.
Football Federation Australia (FFA) also hailed Kewell’s homecoming.
“This is a red-letter day for the ... A-League and Australian football,” FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said in a statement.
“The signing of Harry Kewell tells the story of ambition, credibility and growth for the game in Australia,” Buckley said. “Harry is rightly acclaimed as Australia’s most gifted footballer with a celebrated record of achievement. His homecoming will be hugely popular.”
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