SOCCER
FIFA clear Man United
FIFA have cleared Manchester United of any wrongdoing in the transfer of midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus, but said on Tuesday that it had opened disciplinary proceedings against the Italy-based side. World soccer’s governing body had asked United for information about Pogba’s world-record £89 million (US$112 million) transfer from Juventus following leaks that claimed to give details about the huge deal. A book titled The Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football alleged that Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, had made more than 40 million euros (US$44.5 million) from the deal, 27 million euros of which was paid by Juventus. “We can confirm disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Juventus. We cannot comment further as proceedings are ongoing,” a FIFA spokesman told ESPN. “We can confirm no disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Manchester United.”
FOOTBALL
Brady backs China game
China will stage a regular-season NFL game “down the road” as the sport targets a more global fanbase, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said yesterday during a visit to Beijing and Shanghai this week. Brady said that it was his “dream” to play a game in China before he retires. Richard Young, managing director of NFL China, said that despite several challenges: “We really believe that a regular-season game is the right way to go, because you want to see the real thing [and not an exhibition game], and China demands the real thing and we want to respect that growing fanbase.” Last year, reports said that the NFL was working to stage a game in China next year. “To get a real game over here, you have to understand that teams only have eight home games, so one team is going to have to give up one-eighth of their home-team schedule, which is a difficult thing,” Young said. The logistics are difficult, but “not impossible,” he said. “They’ve got to fly a long, long way and then go back [to the US] and compete the next week in a very physical sport. So do I think it is going to happen in the future? Yes, I do, but it’s down the road and we need a lot of things to sort out before we’re going to have the game.” Young said that before China hosts a game, the sport needed to become “relevant” in China, adding: “We need to make the sport less foreign.”
RUGBY UNION
NZ captain to return
All Blacks captain Kieran Read has overcome a thumb injury and is to face the British and Irish Lions in the first Test in Auckland on Saturday, teammate Sam Whitelock said. Read was sidelined with a broken thumb in April, but he is now “ready to go,” Whitelock said. “He’ll hopefully bring that Kieran Read way of playing, he’ll lead from the front,” Whitelock told reporters. “It’s awesome when he does that, and he plays great rugby when he’s being himself and taking the lead.” While throwing a player straight into a Test series after an injury could be considered risky, Whitelock said Read had prepared meticulously to meet the Lions at Eden Park. “He’s always targeted this game to get back. He’s had time to get his head around it,” the second-rower said. “He’s been working really hard with the trainer and physios to get right for this game. When he gets that opportunity, he’ll take it with both hands.”
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