ENGLAND
Villa could lose Benteke
Tim Sherwood admitted Aston Villa cannot stop Christian Benteke leaving because the Belgium striker has a buyout clause in his contract. Benteke has been strongly linked with a transfer to Liverpool and Villa manager Sherwood confirmed for the first time on Thursday that he has a substantial release clause in his contract which would trigger a move if met. The 24-year-old has scored 12 goals in his past 12 games ahead of today’s FA Cup final with Arsenal after regaining form and fitness under Sherwood. He signed a four-year deal in 2013, after initially handing in a transfer request, and Sherwood admitted Villa face losing Benteke if the clause is met, although he believes his star striker should stay until after Euro 2016. “There’s a buyout clause in his contract, so it will be impossible for us to stop him if he wants to go,” Sherwood told reporters. “Everyone has it. Most players would have it when they sign new contracts. I don’t know what the figure is, but I believe it will be quite substantial. He’s made no indication that he wants to leave. I’ve not had a conversation with him. I’ve told you my view on it, I don’t think he should be moving clubs before a European Championship. By playing for Aston Villa it hasn’t hindered him being the first choice at Belgium.”
ENGLAND
Hernandez handed ban
Hull City forward Abel Hernandez has been suspended for three matches for punching Manchester United’s Phil Jones during their 0-0 Premier League draw on Sunday, the Football Association (FA) said. The fracas occurred in the 70th minute as the pair jostled ahead of a corner — though the incident was not seen by officials. Hull were relegated from the top flight after the stalemate. “Hernandez has been handed a three-match suspension, which must be served at the start of next season,” the FA said in a statement. “The forward admitted an act of violent conduct which was not seen by the match officials, but caught on video.” The Uruguayan forward joined Hull from Serie A side US Citta di Palermo for a club-record fee of £9.5 million (US$15.8 million) last year, but scored just four goals in 25 matches in all competitions.
WALES
Demetriou charged by FA
Swansea City striker James Demetriou has been charged with alleged multiple breaches of betting rules, the FA said on Thursday. “Swansea City’s James Demetriou has been charged for alleged multiple breaches of FA Rule E8 in relation to betting,” a statement on the FA’s Web site said. “The player has until 1 June 2015 to respond to the charge.” Swansea signed Demetriou from Nottingham Forest on a free transfer last year. The 19-year-old penned a two-year contract with the Premier League club, but is yet to play for the first team. Demetriou was born in Australia, but has represented Cyprus at under-21 level.
ROMANIA
Steaua Bucharest retain title
Steaua Bucharest won the Romanian league for a third season in a row on Thursday, clinching the title with an uninspiring 0-0 draw at CSMS Iasi. The 1985-1986 European Cup winners were comfortable leaders before the winter break, but they sold key players Lucian Sanmartean, Lukasz Szukala and Claudiu Keseruin in January. Promoted ASA Targu Mures climbed to the top of the table, but lost three of their past four matches to finish second with 68 points, three behind Steaua. Steaua owner George Becali announced that former Romania international Mirel Radoi would replace Constantin Galca as coach.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier