LA LIGA
‘Phantom’ match denounced
The Professional Football League (LFP) association that governs Spanish soccer’s first and second divisions has identified a suspected betting fraud involving a “phantom” match between second-tier side SD Ponferradina and Portuguese third-tier club Sport Clube Freamunde which never took place. The friendly was supposed to have been played on Monday at 10am, despite Freamunde having played a Portuguese League Cup match the previous evening, the LFP said. Anomalies were detected by Federbet, a non-profit organization tracking illegal practices in sports betting, and brought to the association’s attention. “The LFP’s integrity unit contacted Ponferradina officials who confirmed that the supposed match never took place and that, therefore, it was a fraudulent manipulation of those who placed bets and the sports betting firms,” it said. The association, which has sought to show it is taking a tough stance against match-fixing, will be informing soccer’s European and world governing bodies, UEFA and FIFA respectively, and the police of the apparent fraud. “This is not a case of ‘match-fixing’ as such, but is one of financial fraud and the LFP’s commitment to legal betting and the protection of clubs makes it obligatory to denounce this case publicly,” it said.
ASIAN CUP
Bahrain pick new coach
Former Iraq and Jordan coach Adnan Hamad is to lead Bahrain to next year’s Asian Cup in Australia after being named as the replacement for Englishman Anthony Hudson. Hudson’s abrupt resignation last week to take over New Zealand threw Bahrain’s preparations for January’s continental championship into disarray. The Bahrain Football Association initially said they would pursue Hudson in the courts for leaving a few months into a two-year contract, but ultimately decided to focus their efforts on securing a replacement. Hamad, Asia’s coach of the year in 2004 in one of several spells in charge of his native Iraq, led Jordan to the 2011 Asian Cup quarter-finals in Qatar. He also oversaw an impressive qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup, in which Jordan beat Australia and Asian champions Japan, but turned down a contract extension before they bowed out to Uruguay in a playoff. The 53-year-old Hamad, who most recently coached Emirati club Baniyas, signed a two-year deal on Tuesday. Bahrain, whose best result at an Asian Cup was a semi-final appearance in 2004, face Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Group C.
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern to acquire Reina
Bayern Munich are poised to sign Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina from English Premier League club Liverpool, the Bundesliga champions said on Tuesday. “The player is due to come to Munich in the next few days for a medical and to sign his contract,” Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on the team Web site. An agreement has been struck with both Liverpool and Reina. The 31-year-old goalie, who has made 33 appearances for Spain and joined Liverpool from Villarreal in 2005, spent last season on loan at Serie A side SSC Napoli. A product of the Barcelona academy, he would join up with former Barca coach Pep Guardiola at Bayern and provide cover for first-choice ’keeper and Germany international Manuel Neuer. The Spaniard lost his place at Liverpool after manager Brendan Rodgers signed Simon Mignolet last year.
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