FIFA
Two under house arrest
Two Argentine businessmen arrested last week in a sweeping probe of alleged corruption at FIFA were placed under house arrest on Wednesday pending a decision on extraditing them to the US. Father and son sports marketing executives Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, the owners of the company Full Play, are among the 14 people indicted by the US in its investigation into graft at the heart of world soccer’s governing body. Judge Claudio Bonadio rejected their request to be released and granted them house arrest with bail payments of 4 million pesos (US$440,000) for Hugo Jinkis and 8 million pesos for Mariano. The duo handed themselves in to authorities in Buenos Aires on Thursday last week. An Argentine-Italian businessman indicted in the case, Alejandro Burzaco, turned himself in two days earlier in Italy and is also under house arrest outside Milan. All three executives are accused of bribing top soccer officials to win the rights to lucrative broadcast deals.
TURKEY
Eto’o to sign for Antalyspor
Former Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto’o is set to join newly promoted Turkish side Antalyaspor from UC Sampdoria of Italy, the Turkish club said on Wednesday. Antalyaspor finished fifth in the Turkish first division, but won promotion to the Super Lig after winning the playoffs. Clearly intent on making an impact in the Super Lig, Antalyaspor sent a private jet to Italy with executives to negotiate with Eto’o and then fly him back to Turkey. “An agreement has been reached in principle with the footballer Samuel Eto’o,” Antalyaspor said in a statement, adding that the plane flying him to Turkey would land in Istanbul on Wednesday evening. Financial details have not yet been disclosed. Turkey is the latest stop in Eto’o’s eclectic career, which has seen him perform for the likes of Barcelona, Inter and Chelsea. He also played between 2011 and 2013 for Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala, before the owner pulled the plug on its ambitions. He had signed for Sampdoria earlier this year. Antalyaspor coach Yusuf Simsek described the transfer of Eto’o as “very good and very useful.”
RUSSIA
Coach stays ‘for the moment’
Under fire national team coach Fabio Capello will remain in his job “for the moment,” his bosses said on Wednesday, although his fate could be sealed within the next two weeks. The former England, Real Madrid and AC Milan coach took over the national team in July 2012, but he has come under pressure after a series of poor results left their qualification for Euro 2016 in trouble. “Fabio Capello has not been sacked. For the moment, he remains in charge,” Russia Football Union (RFU) president Nikita Simonian said. “We are going to talk to Mr Capello to see whether he leaves or stays in charge of the team.” Those talks are expected to take place within the next two weeks. RFU executive committee member Sergey Anokhin said it was vital that a less expensive compensation package be negotiated with Capello, who is believed to be entitled to 21.4 million euros (US$23.96 million) if his contract is canceled. “Very soon, this farce is going to end. We will find an agreement with Mr Capello for a reduction in the amount,” Anokhin said. “I am convinced that even he no longer wants to work with the team.” On Monday, billionaire Alisher Usmanov announced that he had lent the RFU 300 million rubles (US$5.49 million) to pay Capello’s salary. With just eight points, Russia trail second-placed Sweden by four points with only the top two going to Euro 2016 automatically.
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