■ ENGLAND
Ashley denies Binladin link
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley admits he is desperate for new investors to pump cash into his Premier League club, but even he draws the line at suggestions of a deal with the family of terrorist Osama bin Laden. Ashley wants to bring in a partner who can help share the burden of supplying the substantial funds needed to turn Newcastle into Premier League title contenders. But the billionaire businessman was shocked to hear reports that the Saudi Binladin Group had been approached to invest in Newcastle. Although the group, run by Osama’s half-brother Bakr bin Laden, distanced themselves from the al-Qaeda founder some years ago, Ashley was sufficiently outraged to issue a firm denial. “I would say that I am keen to have partners in Newcastle. That’s a very expensive seat I sit in,” he told the Evening Standard. “But I think I’ll start with people from Newcastle, not in some cave in Afghanistan.” Ashley spoke out as his Sports Direct empire, which was floated in March last year, reported that profits for the year to April had halved after a drop in sales, fueling talk he may cash in on Newcastle. But he is confident of getting the ship back on course in the coming months. “I think last year, we were on the Titanic and still dancing with the band. This year will be different,” he said.
■ GERMANY
Clubs told to release players
FIFA closed the door on Thursday on two German clubs’ hopes of stopping their Brazilian players going to the Olympics. After the Brazil squad for Beijing was announced on Tuesday, Werder Bremen said they would not release 23-year-old midfielder Diego, and Schalke 04 resisted giving up 22-year-old defender Rafinha. World soccer’s governing body responded by restating its rule obliging clubs to release players aged 23 or under. “The release of players younger than 23 has always been mandatory for all clubs,” FIFA said in a statement.
■ HONG KONG
Many arrests for gambling
Police in Hong Kong said yesterday that 87 people had been arrested as part of an Asian-wide crackdown on illegal soccer gambling on the Euro 2008 tournament led by Interpol. Betting slips worth nearly US$13 million were seized in a series of raids across the city of 6.9 million in May and last month during the Euro 2008 tournament, as well as during final games of major international leagues. The arrests were part of an Interpol-led operation that saw a total of 1,300 people arrested and 1,088 gambling dens busted in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau, Vietnam and China, police said.
■ BOSNIA
Blazevic appointed coach
Miroslav Blazevic, who took Croatia to third place at the 1998 World Cup, was on Thursday named as Bosnia’s new national coach. “Miroslav ‘Ciro’ Blazevic was elected new coach” for the next two-year period, Bosnia soccer association spokeswoman Slavica Pecikoza told journalists. The 73-year-old Blazevic is replacing Meho Kodro who was sacked in May after he had refused to lead the national team for a friendly with Iran.
■ ITALY
Mancini heading to Inter
Roma’s Brazilian midfielder Mancini is expected to switch to Italian champions Inter in a deal reported to be worth around 13 million euros (US$20.5 million). “The two parties are satisfied,” Inter official Gabriele Oriali told Sky television. Italian media claimed that the 27-year-old would be paid around 3.5 million euros a season.
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
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
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
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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