SOCCER
Schweinsteiger set to return
Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to return from an ankle injury for Bayern Munich in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash at home to Hannover 96. The 29-year-old has been out since injuring his right ankle in Bayern’s 1-1 Bundesliga draw at Freiburg a fortnight ago. Having missed Bayern’s UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea in Prague, as well as Germany’s 3-0 win over Austria in Friday’s World Cup qualifier, Schweinsteiger trained with the Bayern squad under coach Pep Guardiola on Tuesday. Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who pulled out of Tuesday’s match against minnows Andorra with a slight knee injury, should also be fit to play Hannover.
SOCCER
Bale deal a ‘market issue’
Real Madrid’s jaw-dropping transfer fee for Gareth Bale is a market issue, not a matter of morals, and respects rules on soccer financing, European Club Association (ECA) boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Tuesday. Bale signed from Tottenham Hotspur on Sept. 1 on a six-year contract for a fee of about 94 million euros (US$124 million) and critics have questioned the symbolism of that astronomical sum as Spain wallows in economic crisis. “The pricing of a player always depends on the market. And this player was very requested on the market, and at the end he had that of course incredibly high price,” Rummenigge told reporters as the 214-club ECA wrapped up its general assembly in Geneva.
HOCKEY
Pakistanis threaten protest
Retired Pakistani stars on Tuesday threatened to burn their medals and protest publicly unless the government steps in to reverse a spectacular decline in the sport. Pakistan, four-time world champions with three Olympic golds, failed to win the Asia Cup earlier this month and so did not qualify for next year’s World Cup to be held in The Netherlands. This sparked a nationwide protest by fans and a group of Olympians demanded that the prime minister remove incumbent officials at the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). “Prime minister Nawaz Sharif is the patron of the PHF and he must take some time out of his busy schedule to address the serious and fatal slump in our national sport,” former captain and coach Islahuddin Siddiqui told a news conference.
SOCCER
N Korea bans cheating club
North Korea said yesterday that it had barred one of its top domestic clubs from all competition for six months, in a rare admission of cheating in sports. A report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the manner of Sonbong’s victory in the final of the domestic “Torch Cup” tournament two weeks ago had been “contrary to proper sporting spirit and morality.” The precise offense was unclear, but KCNA said Sonbong had fielded a “wrong player” in the final against the April 25 team. The team was also stripped of its cup title, with April 25 being declared the official winner.
TENNIS
Jovanovski advances
Top-seeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia advanced to the quarter-finals of the Tashkent Open by beating Misaki Doi of Japan 6-2, 7-5 yesterday. Third-seeded Yvonne Meusburger of Austria, fifth-seeded Alexandra Cadantu of Romania and seventh-seeded Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan also advanced. Sixth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania lost to Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-1, 7-5.
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