Barcelona to take Arda issue to CAS
MADRID • Barcelona are prepared to take their bid to register Turkey playmaker Arda Turan to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Spanish football giants are unable to register Arda, whom they signed from Atletico Madrid in the close season, until January because of a ban imposed on them by Fifa for breaking rules on the transfer of minors.
But a serious knee injury to Rafinha last month prompted Barca to ask the Spanish football federation and Fifa if they could replace the midfielder in the squad with Arda.
REUTERS
Nepal captain among five players arrested
KATHMANDU • The captain of Nepal's football team was among five current and former international players who have been arrested over match-fixing allegations, including during qualifiers for the last World Cup in Brazil.
Skipper Sagar Thapa was detained on Wednesday as part of a coordinated series of arrests in the capital, which also saw four current or former team-mates taken into custody.
Detectives said the arrests came after investigations found significant sums of money had been deposited in the players' bank accounts from suspected match-fixers based in South-east Asia.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Three detained over Valbuena 'sex tape'
VERSAILLES • French prosecutors have provisionally detained three men arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of blackmailing Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape allegedly featuring Lyon's French football international.
One of the suspects was charged with "blackmail and being part of a conspiracy" by a court in Versailles on Wednesday evening and is being held in custody, a judicial source reported. Two other men detained by the same investigation in Marseille since Tuesday are waiting to appear before a judge. Former Liverpool and France striker Djibril Cisse was among those arrested on Tuesday.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Cram to speak at S'pore conference
Singapore will host the inaugural Mass Participation Asia Conference in December.
The Dec 3-4 event, organised by Spectrum Worldwide, will feature industry experts with retired middle distance runner Steve Cram, an Olympic silver medallist, the keynote speaker.
Tickets start from $680 and registration can be done at massparticipationasia.com
