Bale plans to return to Real Madrid following Tottenham loan
Cardiff, March 23: Gareth Bale plans to end his Tottenham stay at the end of the season and return to Real Madrid. The Wales captain returned to Tottenham on loan in September after seven years away and has had a mixed season with form and fitness issues dominating his second spell in north London. The 31-year-old forward’s contract runs until the end of the 2021-22 season at Madrid, where he had fallen out of favor and struggled for game time. “The original plan was to do a season at Spurs and after the Euros still have a year left at Real Madrid,” Bale said. “My plan is to go back, that’s as far as I have planned.” Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said earlier this month that Bale’s future beyond the end of the season was a matter for Real. Mourinho appeared to question Bale’s attitude after the FA Cup loss to Everton in February. But the player then enjoyed a resurgence, scoring six goals in six games before the season took a turn for the worse with a derby loss to Arsenal and a Europa League exit against Dinamo Zagreb. (AP)
Three former France U-21 players cleared to represent Senegal
Zurich, March 23: Three former France Under-21 players had their international eligibility switched to Senegal by FIFA on Tuesday. Paris Saint-Germain defender Abdou Diallo, Monaco defender Fodé Ballo-Touré and Leicester midfielder Nampalys Mendy can transfer the use of family ties because they never played for France’s senior team. All three are now able to represent Senegal in the African Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup qualifying games. All three new recruits were selected last week in the squad to play at Republic of Congo on Friday and next Tuesday at home to Eswatini, the former Swaziland. Senegal starts its World Cup qualifying program in May, in a group with Republic of Congo, Namibia and Togo. The group winner advances to a playoff round. At the 2018 World Cup, Senegal was eliminated from the group stage on a disciplinary record tiebreaker that sent Japan through. (AP)
AIFF revokes two-window transfer ban on SC East Bengal
Kolkata, March 23: The appeals committee of the All India Football Federation on Tuesday revoked the two-window transfer ban imposed on SC East Bengal, an official said. “We can sign players now. We had appealed against the two-window transfer ban which has been overturned by the appeals committee today,” an SCEB official said. The AIFF had imposed a two-window transfer ban on the club for non-payment of salaries to footballers signed by erstwhile investor Quess Corp. Trouble began after the club’s former investors Quess Corp unilaterally terminated the contracts of four players in April last year, citing ‘Force Majeure’ clause in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Following this, the players — Pintu Mahata, Gurwinder Singh, Abhas Thapa and Rakshit Dagar — appealed to the AIFF to look into the matter. (PTI)
Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz fired following weak show
Berlin, March 23: Bayer Leverkusen fired coach Peter Bosz on Tuesday following a decline in the team’s form over the past few months. The Bundesliga club said 39-year-old Hannes Wolf, who had been in charge of the Germany under-18 team, will take over until the end of the season. Leverkusen was one of the strongest teams in the league until a late 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich on Dec. 19 in the last game before the winter break. Since then, Leverkusen has only four victories from 17 games with 10 losses, including getting knocked out of the Europa League and German Cup. “We came to the conclusion that the parting with Peter Bosz can no longer be avoided in view of the developments of the last weeks,” Leverkusen managing director Rudi Völler said. “The 3-0 loss at Hertha on Sunday was characteristic, unfortunately. Our team has fallen into the same pattern over and over again. We didn’t manage to put an end to the constant mistakes and get back on the road to success.” (AP)
Former US Open champ Del Potro to undergo knee surgery
Buenos Aires, March 23: Former U.S Open champion Juan Martín del Potro will undergo another operation on his right knee this week, but said he still hopes to play at the Tokyo Olympics. The Argentine has been sidelined since hurting his knee in the first round at Queen’s Club in June 2019 and has already had three surgeries on the injury. He posted a message on Instagram saying he will have surgery again on Tuesday in Chicago. “We’ve tried conservative therapy but the pain is still there,” Del Potro wrote. The 32-year-old Del Potro beat Roger Federer in the 2009 U.S. Open final for his only Grand Slam title but his career has been blighted by a number of long-term injuries since. (AP)