Injury sidelines Vinicius Jr; will miss Brazil World Cup qualifiers
Madrid, Aug 29: Vinicius Júnior has a right hamstring injury which could sideline him for about a month, Real Madrid said. Vinicius fell and clutched his thigh on Friday early in the 1-0 victory at Celta de Vigo in the Spanish league. A Madrid statement did not offer a timeline for the Brazil wing’s return. He was expected to play for Brazil in the first two matches of South American World Cup qualifying against Bolivia on September 8 and Peru four days later. Madrid has suffered a rash of injuries, notably to left knee ACLs by defender Éder Militão in the first match of the season and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in training. (AP)
Onana named in Cameroon squad to end WC dispute with coach
Yaounde (Cameroon), Aug 29: Despite being sent home from last year’s FIFA World Cup, Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has come out of international retirement to be in the Cameroon squad named Tuesday by coach Rigobert Song. Onana was selected in a 24-player squad for an African Cup qualifying game against Burundi on September 12. Cameroon needs only to draw the home game to advance to the tournament, which starts on January 13 in Ivory Coast. Onana said he was ending his international career last December at the age of 26. He was dropped after starting Cameroon’s first game at the World Cup in Qatar – a 0-1 loss to Switzerland – in a disagreement over team tactics with Song, who said players needed to “show discipline and respect.” Cameroon then drew 3-3 with Serbia and beat Brazil 1-0, but did not advance to the pre-quarters. Onana, however, said last year: “Cameroon remains eternal and so does my love for the national team.” (AP)
Ex-Juventus prez has ban reduced from 16 to 10 months on appeal
Rome, Aug 29: Former Juventus president Andrea Agnelli had one of his football bans reduced from 16 to 10 months after appealing to the Italian soccer federation in the salaries investigation. Agnelli was charged with fraud for the way he handled player salary cuts during the coronavirus pandemic. Also, a fine of 60,000 euros was reduced to 40,000 euros. No reasons were given for the reductions. Agnelli is also serving a two-year ban for a false accounting case. Juventus and seven other former Juventus directors agreed to a plea bargain with the federation in May over the salary case, while Agnelli was the only figure in the case who decided to be judged. At the start of the pandemic, Juventus said 23 players agreed to reduce their salary for four months to help the club through the crisis. But prosecutors claim the players gave up only one month’s salary. Agnelli and Juventus have denied wrongdoing. He and the entire Juventus board resigned last November following the investigation by Turin prosecutors into false accounting, which led to the team being deducted 10 points last season. The false accounting case also led to Juventus being excluded by UEFA from the third-tier Europa Conference League for this season. Agnelli has also appealed his two-year ban to a regional appeals court. (AP)
Prannoy achieves career-high world ranking of No. 6
New Delhi, Aug 29: On a high after his maiden World Championship bronze medal, Indian shuttler HS Prannoy soared to career-high world ranking of No 6 in the latest BWF rankings published on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Kerala shuttler rose three spots with 72437 points in his kitty. He is also the only Indian shuttler, who has maintained a top-10 rank since December last year. (PTI)