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London
Cristiano Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid this summer, after reportedly being miffed over club president Florentino Perez’s growing closeness with teammate Gareth Bale. Spanish publication Don Balón has claimed that Carlo Ancelotti’s exit, the cooling relations between Ronaldo and Perez, the hiring of Rafa Benitez as manager and Perez’s unrelenting support for Bale have been the major issues which have unsettled the two-time FIFA Baloon D’Or winner. The superstar was unhappy with Ancelotti’s departure and his post on Instagram stating that he hoped to work with the Italian next season made it quite visible.
Dhaka
Joshi finishes tied second at Bangladesh Open
Khalin Joshi achieved his best result ever in an Asian Tour event, but still left the Bangladesh Open with a twinge of disappointment, having come so close and miss out on his maiden title. With his putter just not doing his bidding, Joshi, 22, ended with a final round of three-under 68 and finished in a tie for second. Finishing ahead of him was veteran Mardan Mamat, who at 47, is more than twice his age. Joshi, whose previous best was tied-11th at SAIL-SBI Open in his rookie year 2013, finished with four birdies and two bogeys.
North Sound (Antigua)
Australia’s playing XI to be decided later: Lehmann
Australia cricket head coach Darren Lehmann said the selectors will wait until early next week to make up their minds about Australia’s playing XI for the first Test against the West Indies in Dominica. The Aussies completed their only warm-up match of the tour here on Friday, a three-day game against a West Indies President’s XI that ended in a draw. “It’s going to have to be a late call. I’d love to give you the side earlier but it’s going to have to be a late call because this pitch here changed quite a lot in the 24 hours leading up to the tour game. So it’s going to be a really tight call either way we go,” Lehmann said.
Singapore
Indian-origin Singaporean faces fixing bribe charge
A 55-year-old Indian-origin Singaporean was among four men charged in a court here over his alleged role in conspiring to fix a football match at the South East Asia Games which begins next week. Rajendran R Kurusamy was accused of corruptly agreeing to give 15,000 Singapore dollars to Orlando Marques Henriques Mendes — the Technical Director of the Football Federation of Timor Leste — as a reward, in exchange for arranging for his football team to lose their SEA Games match against Malaysia. — Agencies
London
Ex-England and United defender Ferdinand retires
Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand announced his retirement from football on Saturday after being released by Queens Park Rangers. The 36-year-old centre back earned 81 caps and won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, two League Cups and the Club World Cup during a 12-year spell with Manchester United where he made more than 400 appearances. Ferdinand, whose wife Rebecca died from cancer this month, made 12 appearances for QPR last season after joining on a free transfer from United but was released following QPR’s relegation from the Premier League. “After 18 years as a professional footballer, I now feel it’s the right time for me to retire from the game that I love,” he said.
Sao Paulo
Brazil’s Santos sues Neymar, Barca over transfer deal
Brazilian soccer club Santos said on Friday it filed a suit with FIFA seeking compensation for a breach of contract in the transfer of forward Neymar to FC Barcelona, adding to the controversy that led to the resignation of the president of the Spanish champions. Modesto Roma, the president of Santos, said the team filed the suit against Barcelona, Neymar, his father and marketing firm Neymar Sports e Marketing. The suit comes as Brazilian authorities began to investigate allegations of corruption in its soccer industry following a US probe that led to the arrests this week of top officials at FIFA. Barcelona have been accused of tax fraud by Spanish authorities after it came to light the striker’s transfer fee, initially disclosed as 57.1 million euros, was in fact closer to 100 million euros. — Agencies
Mohali
Dhindsa is POA prez
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has been unanimously elected as the president of Punjab Olympic Asociation. Dhindsa, a Rajya Sabha MP and SAD secretary general has tenaciously held on to the position since 1978. The Annual General Body Meeting of office bearers was held at the Punjab Olympic Bhawan, Phase IX.
Guwahati
Assam to host SAF Games
Assam will host the next edition of South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. Assam has been selected along with Meghalaya. — TNS/Agencies
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