Ben Arfa: Newcastle signed France winger Hatem Ben Arfa from Marseille on a season-long loan yesterday. Magpies’ boss Chris Hughton had been keen to land Ben Arfa for several months and has finally managed to persuade the French champions to let him leave on loan with a view to a permanent transfer next year.
Trezeguet: French forward David Trezeguet has left Juventus, the club said yesterday, after a decade in Serie A. The 32-year-old arrived in Turin 10 years ago and is the highest scoring foreigner in the club’s history. According to Italian and Spanish media, the striker is on the brink of joining Spanish La Liga newboys Hercules Alicante.
PSG: Paris Saint-Germain coach Antoine Kombouare says he is hoping majority shareholders Colony Capital give him the funds to buy a new centre-back before the transfer window closes on August 31. “I’m waiting for a gesture from the shareholders,” Kombouare said yesterday. “Today it’s imperative to recruit at least one defender.”
England: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will miss England’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland next month while he recovers from hernia surgery. And Tottenham striker Peter Crouch is a doubt after suffering a rib injury in his club’s 1-0 defeat against Wigan yesterday. Lampard will undergo an operation on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
Caceres: Sevilla have reached a deal to sign Barcelona’s Uruguayan defender Martin Caceres on a season-long loan, the club confirmed yesterday. The 23-year-old spent last season on loan at Juventus and Barcelona have deemed the player surplus to requirements once again allowing him to join Sevilla with a view to a permanent transfer.
Judo: Dutch judo great Anton Geesink, a gold medal winner at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and a three-time world champion, has died aged 76, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced yesterday. Geesink, an IOC member and honorary life member of the International Judo Federation, also collected 21 European titles and multiple national titles in a long and decorated sporting career. A 10th-dan judoka he became a member of the Dutch National Olympic Committee in 1987 and acted as advisor to the Dutch Minister of Sport and was honorary life president of the European Judo Union.
Golf: Royal Bank of Scotland has ended its nine-year sponsorship of the British Open golf tournament, a spokeswoman said yesterday. RBS is 83 per cent owned by the British taxpayer after being rescued during the financial crisis, and has been under pressure to cut costs. Sponsoring the Open, the world’s oldest golf tournament, reportedly cost more than one million pounds a year (1.55 million dollars, 1.2 million euros).
Cycling: China is preparing to host a major cycling event next month that will pass through seven cities, in the hope that it will eventually be on a par with the Tour de France, organisers said. The Tour of China will begin on September 10 in the ancient capital of Xian, home to the Terracotta Warriors, and end in the northern port city of Tianjin on September 20, covering 2,000 kilometres the China Daily said. “It took us three years to prepare for this event,” said Pang Zhichen, the head of the Chinese Cycling Association.
Basketball: The NBA suspended Indiana’s Brandon Rush for five games on Friday for violating the league’s drug agreement, while Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans and Miami’s Kenny Hasbrouck drew bans for driving offenses. Rush was suspended without pay for five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBA Players’ Association Anti-Drug Program. He started 64 games for the Pacers last season and averaged 9.4 points.