A Singapore court jailed a Lebanese referee for six months yesterday for accepting sexual favours to fix a game, a day after two fellow countrymen were jailed for the same offence.
Ali Sabbagh, a FIFA-accredited referee, had admitted having sex with a woman hired by accused Singapore match-fixer Ding Si Yang, who has denied wrongdoing.
Ali Sabbagh and two Lebanese assistant referees were convicted of accepting sexual bribes to fix a future match, but no specific game was identified by the prosecution.
Argentine fan dies in clashes
A fan was killed and another badly injured during fighting between hooligan barrabravas and riot police before an Argentine first division match in La Plata on Monday.
Estudiantes’s game with title challengers Lanus was aban-doned at half-time after news of the death reached officials at the Ciudad de La Plata stadium in the capital of Buenos Aires province.
It was the second match abandoned in three days after Saturday’s game at Velez Sarsfield was marred by trouble from fans of visiting side All Boys.
Casemiro secures Real Madrid move
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro has signed a four-year contract with Real Madrid with the Spanish club saying it had exercised an option to buy the youngster who had been on loan from Sao Paulo.
The 21-year-old played on loan for Real’s B team Castilla in the second division for the second half of last season but also debuted with the senior squad under Jose Mourinho.
Local media reported the deal was worth €6 million.
Real also said on their website that their France striker Karim Benzema had undergone minor surgery to remove a cyst from his right knee on Monday.
The 25-year-old is expected to be fit for the start of pre-season training at Real on July 15.
Benfica sign Serbia forward Markovic
Benfica have signed 19-year-old Serbia forward Lazar Markovic from Partizan Belgrade on a five-year contract.
The Lisbon club said in a statement on its website it had reached a deal with the coveted winger, who had also been linked in the media with Chelsea.
“Serbian winger Markovic signed with Benfica for five seasons,” the club said.
“Benfica play very attacking football that fits nicely with my characteristics,” said Markovic, who is known for his excellent technical ability and pace.
“I come from a winning team and this style of play, always looking for goals and victories, fits me.”
No Fiorentina deal for Gomez
The agent of Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez has denied suggestions his client is heading to Fiorentina.
Fiorentina are one club understood to be interested in Gomez’s services to replace Stevan Jovetic, who has expressed a desire to leave Florence this summer, but they face competition from Serie A rivals Juventus and Napoli.
Reports claimed Fiorentina had won the race for Gomez but his agent Uli Ferber said: “That’s not true.”
Nevertheless, Gomez’s days as a Bayern striker appear to be numbered with Ferber expecting to reveal the identity of his new employers within 10 days.
Sunderland role for Italian agent
Sunderland have appointed Italian Roberto De Fanti to a new director of football role in a restructuring of their player recruitment operation, the Premier League club said.
The changes under manager Paolo Di Canio, who joined the struggling north-east team at the end of March and steered them to top-flight safety, include another fellow Italian, Valentino Angeloni, joining from Inter as chief scout.
De Fanti, an agent who helped with Di Canio’s appointment, worked with Angeloni to recruit players at Udinese and Inter.
Angeloni, who signed Bar-celona’s Alexis Sanchez as a 17-year-old at Udinese, worked as a scout at Torino after making over 350 appearances as a player having started at Sampdoria.
Gazidis ready for ‘big summer’
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis accepts it will be a “big summer” for the club in the transfer market and reiterated significant funds were available should manager Arsene Wenger wish to spend them.
Last week Gazidis maintained improved commercial deals would see an “escalation in our financial firepower”, with an additional £70 million understood to have been set aside should Wenger wish to land a marquee signing.
“It is a big summer. We have been working very, very hard to gain the kind of financial capability we need as a football club to be at the very top end of the game,” Gazidis said.