FRANCE
Tiny club tries to sign Messi
The president of an amateur French club who has been suspended for trying to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi thinks the French Football Federation (FFF) failed to see the funny side of his audacious bid. FC Borne president Cedric Enjolras was suspended on Monday for six months by the FFF after his club’s request to sign Messi was intercepted by the federation last month. Speaking by telephone, Enjolras — who is also the club’s goalkeeper — said he was only intending a bit of lighthearted humor when he decided to try and sign the prolific Argentina forward. “I don’t know the reason why I was suspended. I suppose my joke wasn’t appreciated. It pleases a lot of people except the French Football Federation,” Enjolras said on Friday. Enjolras is banned from soccer activities until June 7, with another three months as a suspended sentence. The club posted the decision on its Web site, with several reactions from fans, including: “suspended six months for having a sense of humor.” Asked if he would like to get Messi to play for his club on loan another time, he joked that it would be “with great pleasure.” FC Borne play in the second division of a regional league in the Auvergne region of France. “How many fans do we get? Oh, about 10 ... a bit less than the Camp Nou,” Enjolras said.
GREECE
Protect players, union says
The International Players’ Union has called on Greek authorities to protect players from fan violence, describing the situation as unacceptable and an infringement of EU rules on workplace safety. A planned strike by Greek players broke down on Thursday and the union said it would complain to FIFA and UEFA, the respective governing bodies for world and European soccer, about footballers’ exposure to violence. “The union fully supports the professional footballers in Greece who have suffered numerous serious violent spectator incidents,” the union said in a statement on Friday. “According to EU law, every worker is entitled to a safe and healthy workplace. An employer is obliged to secure the safety of all employees.”
SPAIN
Ronaldo expected to play
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho expects fellow Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo to play against Olympique Lyonnais in their crucial Champions League round-of-16 match on Wednesday, despite recently suffering a thigh injury. “I am pretty sure he will play, but I don’t like it when players are not 100 percent fit,” Mourinho told a press conference on Friday. “If Cristiano had to play tomorrow he wouldn’t because he is not fully fit, but I am sure he will play next Wednesday.” Ronaldo, 26, left the field in the 76th minute of Real’s league encounter with Malaga on March 3 after suffering a muscular injury in his left thigh. Lyon held Real to a 1-1 draw at the Stade Gerland last week.
ENGLAND
Balotelli allergic to grass
Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli was forced off the pitch in their 2-0 Europa League defeat to Dynamo Kiev with what British media said was a grass allergy. The Italian was rubbing his eyes when he came out late for the second half during Thursday’s defeat in Ukraine and he was substituted soon after. “Mario had an allergy — I don’t know what. His face was swollen — I don’t know why,” coach Roberto Mancini told reporters. “He wanted to play in the second half, but he had this problem 10 seconds before coming out.” British media reported the striker was sensitive to a certain type of grass.
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus’ four-year suspension for doping, ruling that her positive test for a banned substance was caused by kissing her then-boyfriend, American fencer Race Imboden. Thibus, a silver medalist in team foil at the Tokyo Games, had tested positive for ostarine, a prohibited muscle-building substance, during a competition in Paris in January last year. However, CAS concluded there was no intentional wrongdoing, finding it scientifically plausible that repeated kissing over several days with Olympic medalist Imboden — who was taking ostarine at the time — led to accidental contamination. The court
Chelsea scored the go-ahead goal on Malo Gusto’s 83rd-minute shot that went in after a pair of deflections, beating Palmeiras 2-1 on Friday night for a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals. Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead in the 16th minute, but Estevao, an 18-year-old who is to transfer to Chelsea this summer, tied the score against his future club with an angled shot in the 53rd. Gusto’s shot following a short corner kick appeared to deflect off defender Agustin Giay and goalkeeper Weverton and sent the Chelsea portion of 65,782 fans into a frenzy. FIFA credited Weverton with an
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