Genoa: Genoa paid seven million euros yesterday for Parma defender Luca Antonelli and striker Alberto Paloschi with Raffaele Palladino and Francesco Modesto heading in the opposite direction, the ANSA news agency reported. The transfers will become official on January 3, the opening day of the winter transfer window.
Afellay: Dutch international Ibrahim Afellay arrived yesterday at Spanish league leaders Barcelona to finalise the details of his signing for the Spanish champions. The 24-year-old PSV Eindhoven midfielder, who has 29 caps for his country and was a member of their World Cup finals squad which reached the final, will undergo medical tests today, Barcelona said in a statement.
Forlan: Uruguay’s Diego Forlan injured ligaments in his right ankle on Wednesday and will be out for an unspecified amount of time. The 31-year-old striker, who had an outstanding World Cup scoring five goals as Uruguay finished fourth for their best performance since the 1970 finals, had to go off in the 14th minute of Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 Spanish Cup Last 16 first leg victory over Espanyol.
Hosogai: Japanese international Hajime Hosogai yesterday said he has agreed to move to German side Bayer Leverkusen and hopes his game will improve by playing in the Bundesliga. The midfielder was offered a four-and-a-half year contract, but will be immediately loaned to FC Augsburg in the German second division, he wrote on his blog.
Freiburg: Moroccan international midfielder Yacine Abdessadki extended his contract with highflying Bundesliga outfit Freiburg yesterday only months after he announced he wanted to leave. The 29-year-old French-born attacking midfielder had said in June he wished for a move away from the club he joined from French side Strasbourg – with whom he won the 2005 League Cup – in 2008 but changed his mind and signed a season long contract at the end of August.
Maccarone: Palermo have put Massimo Maccarone on the transfer list, the striker’s agent has confirmed yesterday. “I received a phone call yesterday from the club in which I was told that they didn’t want the player anymore,” Paolo Fabbri noted. “I want to make it clear that Palermo have made this decision and it was not because of a request from my client.”
Kenya: FIFA yesterday named an eight-member independent board to organise the national elections for Kenyan football set for early next year, officials said. The world football federation also appointed Leodegar Tenga, a member of its Associations Committee, who is also the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president, to monitor and ensure the election process is done in a fully transparent manner.
Boxing: Hugo Cazares, of Mexico, retained his WBA super flyweight title yesterday by beating Japan’s Hiroyuki Hisataka in a unanimous decision. Three judges scored it 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111, all in favour of Cazares, marking his third successful defence of the title he won in May. Cazares consistenly kept heavy pressure on the sixth-ranked challenger, who fought bravely early on in the bout but lost steam towards the end. The champion extended his record to 34 wins, including 24 knockouts, six losses and two draws.
Horse Racing: Champion jockey Tony McCoy has been handed the coveted ride on Paul Nicholl’s history-making Kauto Star in Sunday’s King George VI Chase at Kempton. Ruby Walsh rode Kauto Star to a record breaking fourth consecutive win in the Boxing Day feature 12 months ago, but the Irish rider was ruled out of attempting a five-timer after breaking his leg in November. Nicholls then called up Noel Fehily, but he in turn has had to rule himself out of contention after a recurrence of a wrist injury. Fehily’s misfortune has led to McCoy getting the leg up on the Nicholls-trained superstar.
Basketball: Argentina’s Manu Ginobili scored 22 points and Gary Neal came off the bench to add 22 more on Wednesday as the San Antonio Spurs stretched their win streak to 10 games by beating Denver 109-103. The Nuggets lost while playing without star playmaker Carmelo Anthony, who was absent due to a death in his family. His return timetable is uncertain. Denver’s next game is on Christmas Day at Oklahoma City.