Singaporean businessman Eric Ding Si Yang was sentenced to three years in jail yesterday after being found guilty of bribing three Lebanese referees with prostitutes to fix an Asian Football Cup match in April 2013.
Last year, FIFA referee Ali Sabbagh was sentenced to six months in a Singapore jail while assistant referees Ali Eid and Abdallah Taleb were each sentenced to three months in prison.
All three were replaced for the fixture.
FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation handed Sabbagh a lifetime ban from officiating and banned him from entering any stadium in the world after the conviction, while Eid and Taleb were given 10-year global suspensions.
Roma beat Lazio to defender Astori
Roma have signed Cagliari defender Davide Astori on a season-long loan with the option to buy, the Serie A clubs said yesterday.
Roma’s bitter local rivals Lazio had been strongly linked with a move for the centre-back.
Roma announced that they will pay the Sardinian club two million euros for the loan, after which they will be able to buy the 27-year-old for a further five million euros at the end of next season.
Astori, who spent six years at Cagliari and has been a consistent performer at the back, looked set to sign for Lazio in a deal worth between five and six million euros.
Dunga hands jobs to former team-mates
New Brazil coach Dunga has named Andrey Lopes as his assistant manager and given former World Cup winners Taffarel and Mauro Silva places on his backroom team, the Brazilian Football Confederation said.
The little-known Lopes was Dunga’s assistant when he coached Internacional last year.
Taffarel, who will be goalkeeping coach, played alongside Dunga when they won the World Cup in 1994, as did Mauro Silva, the former midfielder, who Dunga said would help him where and when needed.
Zidane signs ‘mystery man’ for Real B team
Famed for his grace and elegance as a player, Zinedine Zidane apparently has other priorities as a coach, as this week he made brawny, bustling Finnish striker Eero Markkanen his first signing for Real Madrid’s B team.
Now boss of the Champions League winners’ ‘Castilla’ reserve side, Zidane sought out the relatively unknown Finn and bought him from Swedish club AIK Stockholm, where he scored six goals in 14 appearances.
“Coming to AIK was a dream come true,” Markkanen said in a statement issued by AIK.
“Thanks to hard work, my team-mates, (AIK coach) Mr Alm and his coaching staff, another dream is now coming true.”
I’m going nowhere, says Juve’s Tevez
Carlos Tevez insists he never thought about following Antonio Conte out of Juventus even if his old foe Roberto Mancini had been appointed as their new head coach.
Massimiliano Allegri was handed the Juve job but Tevez stressed he was fully committed to pursue a fourth straight Scudetto with the club regardless.
“I never spoke to (director of sport Beppe) Marotta,” Tevez told juventus.com.
“I’m just a player and (the board) don’t need to ask for my point of view on these matters.
“I think the papers should show greater respect when they write these things. Those who do so only want to harm Juventus.
“Leaving the club has never entered my head. I’ve got a three-year contract and I want to see it out here.”
Vorm and Davies join Spurs in swap deal
Tottenham Hotspur signed Dutch goalkeeper Michel Vorm and Wales defender Ben Davies from Swansea City with midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson moving the other way.
Vorm, 30, joins first-choice France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who signed a new five-year deal with Spurs after the World Cup, and US veteran Brad Friedel, 43, at the club.
Davies has been training with his new team-mates in Toronto while the paperwork on his deal was completed.
Sigurdsson, 24, returns to Swansea having scored seven goals in 18 games during a successful loan spell from Hoffenheim in 2011-12.
Paris SG take Aurier on loan
Paris St Germain have signed right-back Serge Aurier on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 rivals Toulouse.
The Ivory Coast international will spend the entire 2014-15 campaign at the Parc des Princes with the defending champions having the option to make the deal permanent.
“Serge Aurier, one of the most promising young players in world football, courted by the biggest clubs, has chosen Paris St Germain to continue to shine on the European stage,” PSG presi-dent Nasser Al-Khelaifi said.
“We are delighted to welcome this young player into our team.”