Javi Martinez to end 9-year stint with Bayern
Munich, May 4: Spanish veteran Javi Martinez will leave Bayern Munich after both sides mutually agreed to part ways, the Bundesliga champions said on Tuesday. Munich had signed the defender in 2012 for a then club record fee of 40 million euros from Athletic Bilbao. Now 33, Martinez was part of the Munich team that won the 2013 and 2020 trebles, and 23 titles overall during his term, reports DPA. “It was a difficult decision when we signed Javi Martinez in summer 2012 because the transfer fee of 40 million euros was a record amount for us at the time. The decision was spot on,” Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said. Bayern said that Martinez, along with David Alaba, Jermome Boateng, and coach Hansi Flick, would “be given a fitting farewell by FC Bayern in recognition of their great achievements for the club” at the end of the season. (IANS)
Indian footballer Nirmal Chhetri organises blood donation drive
New Delhi, May 5: Indian footballer Nirmal Chhetri organised a blood donation drive along with a local football club in his hometown of Melli in Sikkim. “Social work and giving back to my community as much as possible is something very close to my heart. With the number of cases rising across the country we received a call from the local blood bank about a shortage as the vaccination drive was all set to begin,” Chhetri was quoted as saying by the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) website. Last year, Chhetri, who has played for numerous clubs in the Indian Super League and I-League, had organised a sanitisation drive in Melli, covering key areas of the town. (IANS)
Jens Lehmann removed from Hertha’s board over racism claims
Berlin, May 5: Former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was removed from Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin’s supervisory board on Wednesday after sending a message to a Black former player that suggested he was only working as a TV commentator because of his race. Dennis Aogo published a screenshot of Lehmann’s WhatsApp message asking whether Aogo was “actually your quota Black person.” Aogo, a former Germany player, was working for broadcaster Sky covering the Champions League semifinal game between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. “WOW are you serious?” Aogo wrote on Instagram. “This message was probably not meant for me.” Lehmann said on Twitter that he apologized to Aogo for the “impression” given by the message. He claimed it was meant to refer to Aogo raising Sky’s share or “quota” of the TV ratings. Lehmann has also been a Sky commentator but will no longer appear on its coverage of games, Sky Germany executive vice president for sports Charly Classen said on Wednesday. (AP)
Kom, nine other women boxers to resume training
Pune, May 5: Six-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist boxer MC Mary Kom along with two other Olympic-bound pugilists – Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) – have been named in the elite women’s national camp. A total of 10 women boxers will resume training at the Army Sports Institute (ASI), following a decision to shift the camp from Patiala to a more secure environment in Pune following the COVID-19 pandemic. The camp will continue till July 31, after which the Olympic-bound boxers will leave for Tokyo. The ASI training camp will be conducted with a secure training module in which the players will be divided into three groups alongside their respective sparring partners and given different time slots. (IANS)
FC Goa goalkeeper Dheeraj earns AFC accolades
New Delhi, May 5: FC Goa’s young goalkeeper Moirangthem Dheeraj Singh emerged as the best goalkeeper of the group league round of the AFC Champions League even though his side failed to advance to the knockout stage in its maiden appearance. Dheeraj, who had excelled during the 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup at home, made a whopping 26 saves in five matches to top the goalkeeping chart of the West Zone group league stage. “Dheeraj Singh certainly made a name for himself on his continental debut, pulling off a tournament-leading 26 saves in just five games, among them a number of memorable efforts that earned high praise from impressed observers,” the AFC said on its website. Dheeraj had also won praise from opposition coaches for his stupendous contribution to FC Goa’s drawn games against Al Rayyan and Al Wahda. (PTI)
Former top-ranked doubles player Strycova announces retirement
Prague, May 5: Barbora Strycova, a former top-ranked doubles player and Wimbledon singles semifinalist, has announced her retirement. “Until now, tennis was the only world I knew,” Strycova said in a statement on Tuesday. “I have always had enormous love for this amazing sport. Even though all the pain, tears, renunciation and sweat, all the great moment(s) and victories were worth it.” The 35-year-old Czech player previously announced her pregnancy. She is due in September and doesn’t plan to return after giving birth. Strycova won two WTA singles titles and 31 in doubles. At the Wimbledon in 2019, she won the women’s doubles with Hsieh Su-wei to become No. 1 and reached the singles semifinals, losing to Serena Williams. Her career-high in singles was No. 16. (AP)
Indian rowers await Olympic qualifiers following postponement
New Delhi, May 5: Indian rowers were greeted with windy conditions at the Olympic regatta course in Tokyo’s Sea Forest Waterway which forced the cancellation of World Rowing Asia and Oceania Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta. “A nine-member Indian squad, including four in the women’s category, are participating in the Asian Olympic qualification event. The programme has been revised due to tricky local weather conditions. The competition will start on Thursday and conclude on Friday,” an official of the Rowing Federation of India (RFI) told IANS. The qualification regatta in Tokyo will be organised in the men’s and women’s single scull, lightweight double scull and para single scull. (IANS)