IN BRIEF (Page 24)
Soccer
City owner Thaksin ordered to show up in Thai court
BANGKOK: A Thai court has ordered ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the new owner of English top flight soccer club Manchester City, to appear for a corruption trial on Aug. 14, a public prosecutor said yesterday.
A panel of nine Supreme Court judges agreed to proceed with charges summarised as "misconduct of a government official and violation of a ban on state officials being party to transactions involving public interests".
If convicted, Thaksin, who lives in exile with his wife, could face up to 10 years in jail, chief prosecutor Seksan Bangsomboon told reporters.
"The court has ordered them to be present at the start of the trial, therefore they must show up in person," Seksan said of Thaksin and his wife.
French winger Malouda seals Chelsea switch
Chelsea confirmed yesterday the transfer of France international Florent Malouda from Lyon on a four-year contract.
The winger switches to Stamford Bridge for an undisclosed fee although press reports had put the fee at upwards of $27.5 million.
Malouda will waste no time in joining his new team-mates in Los Angeles where they are currently preparing for the new season.
"The Chelsea squad landed in California to the news that they have a new team-mate," the official Chelsea website reported.
Real pep up defense with new signing Pepe
Spanish champions Real Madrid have struck an agreement to sign FC Porto's Brazilian central defender Kleper Laveran Lima Ferreira, otherwise known as "Pepe," the clubs said yesterday.
The Portuguese club put the fee at $42 million dollars.
Pepe has agreed a five-year contract and will "immediately" join up with the squad, Real said in a statement.
Porto said the deal was subject to the 23-year-old passing a medical.
Pepe has been a mainstay of Porto's back four since 2004 and has won two league titles as well as a domestic cup.
Real are currently on a new spending spree after Monday unveiling Bernd Schuster as coach in place of the sacked Fabio Capello.
Horse racing
Jockeys banned over information breaches
LONDON: Jockey Tony Culhane was banned for 12 months on Monday and colleague Dean Mernagh for nine months following a probe over the use of inside information in 37 races between July 2003 and Feb. 2004.
The Horseracing Regulatory Authority also punished Culhane's brother-in-law Gary Lyons, a former jockey, and Culhane's father-in-law Dave Watkins.
Culhane is a leading jockey in the north of England but has been out of action since a fall in April.
Baseball
Angels slugger Guerrero wins home run derby
SAN FRANCISCO: Los Angeles Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero won Major League Baseball's home run derby on Monday.
Guerrero smashed three homers in the final round to beat Alex Rios of the Toronto Blue Jays by one. Guerrero hit a total of 17 homers in the three rounds of the competition.
Guerrero, Rios and Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies each had five homers in the opening round. Rios then hit 12 homers to Guerrero's nine in the second round.
The derby is held annually on the eve of the All-Star Game.
Neither San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds, who with 751 career homers is four short of tying all-time leader Hank Aaron, nor New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.
(China Daily 07/11/2007 page24)
