SOCCER
Laporta seeks Barca return
Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta on Tuesday said he would run for election to return to the post he held previously during a period of on-field success and financial turbulence. “I am running in the Barcelona club elections, so that Barcelona can once again belong to everyone,” he said in a video message posted online. “I feel more prepared than ever to be president of the club. I have more experience. I have my faults as most of you know, but I stay true to the same principles.” The election for a new president comes at a delicate time off the field for the club, who won a stunning treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League titles this season. Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has been called to stand trial over alleged tax fraud linked to the signing of star striker Neymar in 2013. Bartomeu is nevertheless expected to run again for the post, along with four other candidates.
SOCCER
Joselu joins Stoke City
Spanish striker Joselu has joined Stoke City from German club Hannover 96 for a fee of 8 million euros (US9.02 million), the English Premier League side announced on Tuesday. The 25-year-old German-born Spanish forward, who has previously played for RC Celta de Vigo, Real Madrid B and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, became the Potters’ third pre-season signing following defender Philipp Wollscheid and goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard. “Joselu has an excellent pedigree and is a player we have been tracking for some time,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes told the club’s Web site. Stoke have not made public how long Joselu, who scored eight goals in 30 appearances for Hannover in the Bundesliga last season, is set to stay at the Britannia Stadium.
SOCCER
Southampton sign Juanmi
Southampton have signed Spain striker Juanmi on a four-year deal, the English Premier League club announced on Tuesday. The 22-year-old, capped once by Spain, joins the south-coast side from La Liga club Malaga, for whom he scored eight league goals last season. No transfer fee was disclosed by Southampton, but reports in Spain have suggested a figure of about £5 million (US$8 million). “It’s a pleasure to be here and I am looking forward to being a part of this club,” Juanmi, who won the Under-19 European Championship with Spain in both 2011 and 2012, told Southampton’s Web site. “I am anxious and I want to start as soon as possible. This is a big club and it has shown a lot of trust in me. The training ground is magnificent and likewise the stadium.”
BOXING
AIBA names body for India
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has announced a five-member committee to found a new organizing body for the sport in India following administrative wrangling in the national federation. The AIBA appointed its India representative Kishen Narsi as the chairman of the committee to “manage the process of finding a group to organize and administrate the sport.” The other members are to be Boxing India secretary-general Jay Kowli, former tennis player Manisha Malhotra and Indian government official Injeti Srinivas, with a fifth member to be announced later. Boxing India was recognized by the AIBA last year after the Indian Boxing Federation was suspended in December 2012 for not following proper election procedures. However, top Indian boxing officials were removed last month in a no-confidence motion, pushing the sport’s administration toward another crisis.
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