Today's other stories in brief
Henriques out
CRICKET: Australia's injury-ravaged side has been dealt another blow after all-rounder Moises Henriques withdrew from the fifth one-day international against India.
Having already lost Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, all-rounder James Hopes and wicketkeeper Tim Paine and with vice-captain Michael Clarke not in the touring party, Australia are likely to go into today’s match in Hyderabad with just 13 players fit.
Henriques, who joined the tour as a replacement for Hopes, suffered a hamstring strain while fielding in the fourth match of the series, which is poised at 2-2.
Storrie on tax charge
SOCCER: Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has been charged with tax evasion over a 2003 transfer deal, Britain's Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) said yesterday.
Storrie is accused of concealing the payment of a signing-on fee made to midfielder Amdy Faye when he joined from French club Auxerre.
The full charge said he “cheated the public revenue” by arranging for the fee to Faye to be paid via bank accounts of an agent, William McKay, to evade payment of tax and national insurance contributions.
Storrie is to appear at London’s City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Novemver 16th.
In a statement, Storrie said he was astonished at the decision to charge him and that he had not played a direct role in the deal to sign Faye. “At the time negotiations to acquire this player were concluded, Mr Storrie was on honeymoon,” the statement said.
Newcastle rename stadium
SOCCER:NEWCASTLE United want to interest big-hitting sponsors in buying the naming rights for their ground by quietly, if controversially, re-naming their ground sportsdirect.com@St James' Park Stadium until the end of the season.
The idea is that a well-known brand, possibly in the electronics field, would purchase a broad rights package including sponsorship of not just the stadium but also a new big screen providing replays, information and advertising.
The club hope they could then exploit further marketing and merchandising opportunities. The money generated would be re-invested in the team although the fans, somewhat predictably, have reacted with incredulity.
Mark Jensen, the editor of The Mag fanzine said: “The people at the club have shown they have absolutely no class.”
Mixed fortunes for Verdasco, Tsonga
TENNIS:There were mixed fortunes for ATP World Tour Finals contenders Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Valencia Open today.
Verdasco is currently occupying the last of the eight qualifying places for the prestigious end-of-season tournament in London later this month, which features the top players from 2009.
And the Spaniard had an easy time of things in his first-round match against Oscar Hernandez, losing only two games before his opponent retired with Verdasco leading 6-1, 0-1.
It was a different story for Frenchman Tsonga, though, who faces a race to be fit for next week’s Paris Masters, the final points-scoring event, after retiring in the third set of his match against Mikhail Youzhny with a left wrist injury. Youzhny was leading 6-7 (3/7) 6-0 3-0.
Macklin gets title fight in Dublin
BOXING:Matthew Macklin's quest to become a middleweight world champion continues in Dublin next month with a December 5th bout against Uruguayan Rafael Sosa Pintos at the National Boxing Stadium, writes Carl O'Malley.
Macklin’s stock has risen rapidly in the last year with quickfire wins over Birmingham rival Wayne Elcock for the British title and then Finn Amin Asikainen for the continental crown.
Those two fights combined lasted under 10 minutes, the former having been won in the third round, the latter in the first.
Sosa Pintos, the Uruguayan champion, has 34 wins from 38 bouts, but the last year has not been anywhere near as good to him as it has been to Macklin.
Two of his four career defeats have come in five fights since last November. The first was a unanimous decision after 10 rounds in favour of former Australian rugby league player Anthony Mundine in New South Wales, while the second was a third round stoppage in front of his home crowd at the hands of Argentine Marcos Hector Vergara.Macklin, a Birmingham fighter with Irish parents, last fought in Dublin in March 2008 when he beat Yory Boy Campos on points at the National Stadium.
“Hopefully I can go on to win a world title for Ireland. I was born and raised in Birmingham but I’ve never lost touch with my routes and I definitely consider myself an Irishman first and foremost.”
Ronaldo to miss Madrid derby
SOCCER:Real Madrid must continue to do without Cristiano Ronaldo after the latest tests on the Portugal international's injured ankle revealed no improvement.
Ronaldo first sustained the problem during the Champions League match against Marseille in September and then aggravated it while playing for Portugal against Hungary, forcing him to miss Madrid’s last seven matches – of which the Spanish giants have won just two.
Madrid were hoping he made enough progress in his recovery to be available for this weekend’s derby at Atletico Madrid, but after undergoing another test on the ankle yesterday, it was determined there had been no improvement.
That means the 24-year-old, who scored nine goals in helping Madrid win each of their opening seven competitive matches this season, cannot return to training and will continue undergoing treatment until another test is carried out.
