Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro will return to Juventus from Real Madrid on July 1 despite widespread supporter anger over the move.
The Serie A club, who are also interested in signing Werder Bremen playmaker Diego, said in a statement on Tuesday that 35-year-old center back Cannavaro, soon out of contract at Real, had signed a one-year deal.
Juve fans were upset by Cannavaro leaving for Real in 2006 when they were demoted for match-fixing, while other top players such as Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon stuck with the club for their season in the second tier.
A small group of fans have protested at recent matches against Cannavaro’s return after club bosses admitted they were in talks with the 2006 European and World Player of the Year.
PASSION
“I am sure I will be able to convince even the most skeptical fans thanks to my hard work, professionalism and passion with which I will approach this new adventure,” the World Cup winner said.
Cannavaro won two league titles in his two years at Juve, but they were both revoked in the match-fixing affair.
“Fabio is a world champion, a Ballon d’Or winner and a great man in the dressing room,” Juve sporting director Alessio Secco said in a bid to calm supporter unrest. “During the summer of 2006 the club had to sell him for urgent economic reasons.”
The Turin team, who sacked coach Claudio Ranieri on Monday and are at risk of slipping out of the automatic Champions League spots with two Serie A games left, are also hoping to sign Brazilian playmaker Diego from Werder Bremen.
IN THE AIR
German media said the deal was worth around 29 million euros (US$39.5 million) but the transfer was still up in the air despite weeks of talks, Werder’s general manager Klaus Allofs said.
“There are still open questions that must be discussed thoroughly,” Allofs told reporters in Istanbul ahead of yesterday’s UEFA Cup final against Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
Allofs ruled out any decision before the final, for which the 24-year-old was suspended.
Diego has steered Werder to the UEFA and German Cup finals with some exhilarating performances, which also attracted interest from Bayern Munich before they pulled out of talks last week.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
RSS