SOCCER
Schweinsteiger set to return
Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to return from an ankle injury for Bayern Munich in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash at home to Hannover 96. The 29-year-old has been out since injuring his right ankle in Bayern’s 1-1 Bundesliga draw at Freiburg a fortnight ago. Having missed Bayern’s UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea in Prague, as well as Germany’s 3-0 win over Austria in Friday’s World Cup qualifier, Schweinsteiger trained with the Bayern squad under coach Pep Guardiola on Tuesday. Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who pulled out of Tuesday’s match against minnows Andorra with a slight knee injury, should also be fit to play Hannover.
SOCCER
Bale deal a ‘market issue’
Real Madrid’s jaw-dropping transfer fee for Gareth Bale is a market issue, not a matter of morals, and respects rules on soccer financing, European Club Association (ECA) boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Tuesday. Bale signed from Tottenham Hotspur on Sept. 1 on a six-year contract for a fee of about 94 million euros (US$124 million) and critics have questioned the symbolism of that astronomical sum as Spain wallows in economic crisis. “The pricing of a player always depends on the market. And this player was very requested on the market, and at the end he had that of course incredibly high price,” Rummenigge told reporters as the 214-club ECA wrapped up its general assembly in Geneva.
HOCKEY
Pakistanis threaten protest
Retired Pakistani stars on Tuesday threatened to burn their medals and protest publicly unless the government steps in to reverse a spectacular decline in the sport. Pakistan, four-time world champions with three Olympic golds, failed to win the Asia Cup earlier this month and so did not qualify for next year’s World Cup to be held in The Netherlands. This sparked a nationwide protest by fans and a group of Olympians demanded that the prime minister remove incumbent officials at the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). “Prime minister Nawaz Sharif is the patron of the PHF and he must take some time out of his busy schedule to address the serious and fatal slump in our national sport,” former captain and coach Islahuddin Siddiqui told a news conference.
SOCCER
N Korea bans cheating club
North Korea said yesterday that it had barred one of its top domestic clubs from all competition for six months, in a rare admission of cheating in sports. A report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the manner of Sonbong’s victory in the final of the domestic “Torch Cup” tournament two weeks ago had been “contrary to proper sporting spirit and morality.” The precise offense was unclear, but KCNA said Sonbong had fielded a “wrong player” in the final against the April 25 team. The team was also stripped of its cup title, with April 25 being declared the official winner.
TENNIS
Jovanovski advances
Top-seeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia advanced to the quarter-finals of the Tashkent Open by beating Misaki Doi of Japan 6-2, 7-5 yesterday. Third-seeded Yvonne Meusburger of Austria, fifth-seeded Alexandra Cadantu of Romania and seventh-seeded Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan also advanced. Sixth-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania lost to Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-1, 7-5.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
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