ENGLAND
Jenkinson loaned to Irons
West Ham United have bolstered their defensive options with the signing of England fullback Carl Jenkinson from Arsenal on a season-long loan, the Premier League club said on Thursday. The 22-year-old joined Arsenal from Charlton Athletic in 2011, making 57 appearances as backup to first-choice rightback Bacary Sagna. After Sagna joined Manchester City in June, Arsenal replaced him with Newcastle United’s Mathieu Debuchy and Southampton’s Calum Chambers has also joined the club, so Jenkinson was allowed to seek a loan move by Gunners manager Arsene Wenger. “I was flattered to have a lot of options, but deep down, if I was being honest with myself, West Ham was always the place I wanted to go to,” Jenkinson told the east London club’s Web site. He becomes West Ham’s sixth signing of the close-season following the arrival of forwards Mauro Zarate and Enner Valencia, midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, defender Aaron Cresswell and midfielder Diego Poyet. The Irons begin their campaign at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Aug. 16.
VIETNAM
Match-fixing ban extended
Asian soccer’s governing body has extended the domestic ban for nine Vietnamese players to conference level for their role in a match-fixing scandal following a request from the nation’s association. The Vietnamese Football Federation had provisionally banned the Vissai Ninh Binh players in May from taking part in any kind of soccer-related activities after they reportedly admitted to taking money to fix a match. Ninh Binh were withdrawn from the Vietnamese top flight amid fears domestic games could also have been fixed, while police opened criminal proceedings against the players for violating the nation’s gambling laws.
IRELAND
Dunne quits internationals
Queens Park Rangers defender Richard Dunne has retired from international soccer, the former Republic of Ireland player announced in a statement issued by the Premier League club on Thursday. The 34-year-old Dunne made his debut against Greece in 2000 and won 80 caps, scoring eight goals. “Retiring from international football has been an extremely difficult decision for me to make,” Dunne told the west London club’s Web site. “I have represented Ireland since I was 15 years of age, and have thoroughly enjoyed all the highs and lows that have come with playing for my country.” Ireland are now coached by Martin O’Neill, Dunne’s former manager at Aston Villa, while the QPR defender also played with current assistant coach Roy Keane, who was national team captain. “Richard has been a remarkable player for both club and country,” O’Neill said. “He has consistently given 100 percent every time he has been called on by his country.”
FRANCE
L’OM sign stadium deal
Olympique de Marseille have signed a deal with local authorities that will allow the club to remain in the southern city, both parties said in a statement on Thursday. The club had threatened to leave the Stade Velodrome and play their first home game of the season at Montpellier Herault — about 170km to the west — after the council increased the rent in June. The three-year agreement reached calls for Marseille to pay an annual rent of 4 million euros (US$5.4 million) — reduced to 3 million euros for this season — plus a proportion of ticket sales. That will bring the overall payments to about 7.4 million euros per year, Marseille Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said.
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