UNITED STATES
Takkas pleads not guilty
Costas Takkas, former secretary-general of the Cayman Islands Football Association, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to US charges that he participated in bribery schemes under investigation at world soccer’s governing body, FIFA. Takkas, who was extradited from Switzerland, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to charges that include engaging in conspiracies to commit racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. He was released on a US$1 million bond, Nellin McIntosh, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, said in an e-mail. Takkas will be under house arrest in Miami, she said. A lawyer for Takkas did not respond to a request for comment. Takkas, a British citizen, is among 42 individuals and entities charged as part of a US investigation into more than US$200 million in bribes and kickbacks sought by soccer officials for marketing and broadcast rights to tournaments and matches. He was arrested in Zurich along with six other soccer officials in May last year as the US Department of Justice unveiled the blockbuster case.
URUGUAY
Suarez returns from bite ban
Striker Luis Suarez said he will not change the way he plays, but will come back to international soccer with “moderation” when he makes an expected return tomorrow from a nine-match ban for biting. Suarez is set to face Brazil in a 2018 World Cup qualifier after sitting out nine competitive international fixtures for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the last World Cup in Brazil almost two years ago. The Barcelona player has managed to keep out of trouble for his club since the incident, but said he will not change his aggressive style that has helped to make him one of the world’s deadliest strikers. “I am going to have the same attitude, I will still run, still pressure, still argue because no one is going to change the way I play,” he told reporters ahead of tomorrow’s match in Recife. “But with moderation, like I am doing now at Barcelona, being more intelligent about a lot of things, trying to take advantage of the situations life is putting in front of me... The only thing I want to do is play with the national side again and enjoy the warmth of the fans.” Uruguay have enjoyed a good start to their qualifying campaign, winning three out of their four games to sit in second place in the 10-team table, behind Ecuador, the only side to win all of their games so far. After facing Brazil, Uruguay return home to play Peru on Tuesday next week.
ENGLAND
West Ham sign Lanzini
West Ham United have agreed a permanent deal to sign Argentine attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini from Al Jazira, according to the London club’s co-chairman David Sullivan. The 23-year-old, who joined West Ham in July, has netted five goals in the league and will complete the deal when the transfer window reopens. Lanzini was brought in on a season-long loan from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) club in July last year, with an option to make the move permanent. Sullivan confirmed that the club has signed Lanzini on a permanent deal. His son Jack Sullivan also tweeted that the player would sign a four-year contract. “Lanzini is a WHU player for the next 4 seasons, with a further 2 year option,” he tweeted. Lanzini has scored six goals in 22 appearances in all competitions for West Ham. The Buenos Aires-born midfielder made his professional debut for River Plate as a 17-year-old and spent the 2011-2012 season with Brazilian club Fluminense before moving to the UAE in 2014.
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