LIGUE 1
Bastia face relegation threat
French club SC Bastia could be relegated from the country’s top flight over a 1.3 million euro (US$1.44 million) budget deficit after it failed to provide the necessary financial guarantees. The National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), which monitors the accounts of professional clubs in France, ruled that Bastia would be denied their spot in Ligue 1 for the upcoming season over the issue. However, the Corsican club said it expected to resolve the matter following the sale of Ryan Boudebouz to Montpellier Herault for 1.7 million euros. Bastia said in a statement it would provide the DNCG appeals commission “in the coming hours with the bank details that prove Boudebouz was transferred.” Bastia finished 12th in Ligue 1 last season.
LIGUE 1
Marseille to sign Rekik
Olympique de Marseille have reached a deal with Manchester City that will see Netherlands defender Karim Rekik move to the Stade Velodrome, the Ligue 1 side said on Tuesday. Marseille said the clubs had “found an agreement in principle for the permanent transfer of the Dutch international this Tuesday evening, pending a medical.” Rekik, 20, joined City in 2011, but has hardly played for the English club and spent last season on loan to Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. His arrival will provide a boost to Marseille, who have seen Andre-Pierre Gignac, Andre Ayew, Jeremy Morel and Dimitri Payet all leave the club so far this summer. He will be the third new signing at the Velodrome, following the recruits of winger Georges-Kevin Nkoudou from Nantes and goalkeeper Yohann Pele from Sochaux-Montbeliard.
LIGUE 1
Bahlouli to move to Monaco
AS Monaco have signed France under-20 international Fares Bahlouli from Ligue 1 rivals Olympique Lyonnais on a five-year deal, the principality club announced on Tuesday. The attacking midfielder, considered one of the brightest talents to come out of Lyon’s productive academy, moved for a fee of 3.5 million euros, according to sources close to the deal. Bahlouli has made just nine top-flight appearances for Lyon, but was part of the France under-20 side who won the Toulon Tournament.
UNITED STATES
Injured Davis misses squad
Brad Davis, a midfielder who helped the US capture the 2005 Gold Cup, will miss this year’s tournament with a knee injury, the nation’s soccer federation said on Tuesday. The 33-year-old Houston Dynamo player is a six-time Major League Soccer All-Star and was part of the US squad at last year’s World Cup. He also helped Houston take the MLS crown in 2006 and 2007. Greg Garza, a 23-year-old defender for Mexican side Atlas, has been drafted in to replace Davis for tomorrow’s friendly against Guatemala in Nashville, the final warm-up for both sides before the CONCACAF Gold Cup starts next week. US Soccer is in the process of submitting paperwork to CONCACAF to allow for a squad replacement for the Gold Cup. With the approval of the regional governing body, the US can add an injury replacement from a 35-man preliminary squad up until 24 hours before the team’s opening match. Juergen Klinsmann’s side, who are the holders, are to begin their bid to retain the trophy against Honduras in suburban Dallas on Tuesday next week. If the US successfully defend the trophy, they will qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
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