Santos president Marcelo Teixeira refuses to accept that Robinho is leaving despite Real Madrid having bought the Brazilian club's share of the player, news reports said Friday.
Madrid said Thursday it had paid US$30 million (24.65 million euros) for Santos' 60 percent stake of the Brazilian international's buyout clause.
Robinho and his agent Wagner Ribeiro, who together own the remainder of the 21-year-old forward's playing rights, have waived their part of the fee in order to facilitate the deal.
However, Teixeira says Madrid must pay Robinho's buyout clause in full.
"The situation hasn't changed, things remain exactly the same as before," Teixeira was quoted as saying by sports daily Marca on Friday. "If Madrid pay the US$50 million [41.1 million euros] Robinho will go, if not he will stay with Santos."
FIFA may intervene if Teixeira's stance remains the same, Marca said.
Madrid vice president Emilio Butragueno said on the Spanish club's Web site that the transfer of Robinho "had yet to be completed," but added: "We are very near."
Butragueno said the Brazilian confederation had received a document guaranteeing Madrid's 60-percent payment. He said when Santos receives notification from the confederation the deal will be virtually sealed.
Teixeira is trying to retain Robinho for at least one more season.
Robinho, whose contract with Santos runs until 2008, has refused to train with the Brazilian club since the Confederations Cup ended in late June, and has missed three league games.
He has been fined an undisclosed amount by Santos for every day he has failed to appear.
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson said yesterday his team's two Asian recruits -- South Korea's Park Ji-Sung and China's Dong Fangzhou -- are a sign of the increasing influence of the region's soccer players.
"The future is very bright for them," Ferguson said of the new crop of South Korean, Japanese and Chinese players on the eve of United's friendly against the Hong Kong national team.
"You'll see more and more of them in the next decade," he said of the Asian players, who he added were ready to expand their presence in European football leagues.
Ferguson said Park would play in Saturday's match but Dong probably wouldn't spend much time on the pitch. The veteran Premier League manager said the Chinese forward had potential that would develop in the next three years and that Dong would have more game time in a July 26 match at Beijing.
"He's very strong, quick and athletic," Ferguson said of Dong.
Ferguson said that midfielder Park's poor English has hampered his game, but he was optimistic the language barrier would come down soon.
"In a few months time we'll see improvement in his English," Ferguson said. "I think he'll do very well for us."
Ferguson said Manchester United was ready for a tough match today.
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I