Journalism of Courage
* Tottenham Hotspur,who have splurged over 65 million pounds ($100 million) on new talent,were on Friday drawn in the same Europa League group as Anzhi Makhachkala,the Russian club who have been selling off their players. Anzhi put their entire first team squad up for sale after their billionaire owner cut the clubs budget,triggering an exodus of expensively acquired players,including Willian and Samuel Etoo.
Group K opponents Spurs have brought in several new faces. Tottenham have already broken their transfer record twice with the signings of Spain striker Roberto Soldado and Brazil midfielder Paulinho. The draw for the group stage of Europes second-tier club competition also featured Cypriot side APOEL,who have replaced Fenerbahce,and Norways Tromso,reinstated in place of Besiktas after the Turkish clubs lost appeals against match-fixing bans. APOEL feature in Group F with Frances Bordeaux,Germanys Eintracht Frankfurt and Israels Maccabi Tel Aviv,while Tromso are in Tottenhams group along with Moldovan outfit Sheriff. Former European champions PSV Eindhoven were drawn in Group B alongside Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb,Ukraines Chornomorets Odessa and Bulgarias Ludogorets. Sevilla,who won back-to-back UEFA Cups the predecessor to the Europa League in 2006 and 2007 will face Germanys Freiburg,Portugals Estoril and Czech side Liberec in Group H.
* Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has omitted Chelsea forwards Fernando Torres and Juan Mata out of his squad for next months World Cup qualifier against Finland and a friendly with Chile. The attacking pair were fixtures for the world and European champions recently but are experiencing difficult times at the London club. This fuelled speculation about the Chelsea future of the two players. Del Bosque included forwards David Villa,Pedro,Roberto Soldado and Alvaro Negredo,as well as Negredos Manchester City team mates David Silva and Jesus Navas as Spain seek to protect their one-point lead over France at the top of Group I.
Wont panic buy: Wenger
* Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he would not make any panic buys before the transfer window shuts on Monday and aimed a sly dig about inflated fees at bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur before Sundays north London derby. The Frenchman has failed to bring in any of his top targets in the close season and said he was still in the market for some new talent before Mondays transfer deadline. We will not panic buy,that is for sure, he told a news conference. Its not my strength to panic.
Arsenals only business so far in the close season has been bringing in French youth international forward Yaya Sanogo and re-signing midfielder Mathieu Flamini five years after the Frenchman left the club for AC Milan,both on free transfers. The club failed with a 40 million and one pound bid for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and were linked with Gonzalo Higuain before his move to Napoli from Real Madrid.
No driver news at Monza: Ferrari
* Ferrari has taken the unusual step of announcing that it will not be making a driver announcement at the upcoming Italian GP. With speculation swirling that Kimi Raikkonen could replace Felipe Massa as the teams second driver next season,a statement on the scuderias website Friday said there are no announcements on the horizon. The team adds that no decisions have yet been taken and that important decisions are taken together at the right moment and not because a certain date on the calendar has been reached. The Italian GP is scheduled for Sept. 8. Massas contract expires at the end of the season and he has not won a race since 2009.
Tsonga splits with coach
* French number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has announced that he is splitting with Australian coach Roger Rasheed after just a year together. Tsonga has skipped the US Open and is recovering from a knee injury praised Rasheeds contributions,saying that he had learned much from him since the start of the year. But the language barrier and the difficulties involved in our respective geographic situations hinders our association and at 28 time is running out for me to achieve my objectives, the BBC reports Tsonga as saying.
Ben Johnson against doping
* Disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson is the face of a new anti-doping campaign. The Canadian was sensationally stripped of his Olympic gold medal and world record in the 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul Games after testing positive for steroids,subsequently receiving a lifeban. Now he is promoting an anti-doping campaign,Pure Sport,which has been launched by a sportswear company. Winning a gold medal and being the best in the world it cost me my reputation,my life, Johnson said. Im here to try and change that. Im trying to clear the air and clear my part of life,trying to help future generations and future athletes,athletes of my caliber,who have tested positive and say youre not alone.
India blanked in sepaktakraw
* Indian womens sepaktakraw team ended its disappointing show at the World Super Series with third consecutive loss after suffering a defeat at the hands of South Korea in their last group stage match 3-0 (5-15 8-15 6-15). Indian eves were already out of contention for a semifinal berth. The womens team had earlier lost 10-15 10-15 8-15 to Indonesia and 3-15 7-15 9-15 to second seeds Vietnam on the opening day.
