Two Clubs Vie for Ronaldo
Brazilian striker Ronaldo is the subject of a $100-million tug-of-war between the club that owns him, Inter Milan of Italy, and the club that wants him, defending European champion Real Madrid of Spain.
On Sunday, Inter’s owner, Massimo Moratti, said in an interview with La Republica newspaper that he did not believe reports that Ronaldo wanted to leave Inter, which acquired him from Barcelona in 1997 for $27.9 million.
And even if he does, Moratti said, Inter is not interested in selling him.
“Inter [has] no intention of giving in on this,” he said. “He is not for sale. We have only fixed a base price, below which we would not go, and that begins at 100-million euros ($98.91 million).”
Ronaldo, 25, is on vacation in Brazil and is not expected back in Milan until later this week. But his agent, Alexander Martin, told the Spanish sports daily Marca on Friday that the 2002 World Cup’s leading goal scorer wants a change of scenery.
“Ronaldo is sad in Italy,” he said. “He has had four unhappy years there and he doesn’t feel it is going to change next season.”
Martin said negotiations between the clubs are at a “very advanced stage,” but the price remains an issue.
Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez, bought Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo from Barcelona for $56.1 million in 2000 and French midfielder Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for $64.45 million in 2001, but is balking at the nearly $100-million price tag Moratti has slapped on Ronaldo.
Real Madrid, which lost to Bayern Munich of Germany, 1-0, on Sunday in the final of its four-team Centenary Tournament in front of 60,000 at Madrid, also is interested in acquiring Mexico defender Rafael Marquez.
Honduras to Conduct Investigation
The Honduran government is launching an investigation to determine whether players on the country’s national team accepted bribes to lose a vital World Cup qualifying match to Mexico in November.
Honduras, which needed only a tie to qualify for Korea/Japan ‘02, lost the Nov. 11 game, 3-0, in Mexico City, allowing Mexico to reach the World Cup.
Rumors have surfaced that the outcome was influenced by bribes and the Honduran Congress has authorized an investigation. Honduras defeated Mexico, 3-1, in Honduras in an earlier qualifying game in June.
“A motion was unanimously approved for Congress’ sports commission to investigate,” a congressional spokesman told Reuters. “And anticorruption authorities have also been asked to open a probe into the elimination of the team from the 2002 World Cup.”
North Korea Will Play South Korea
Only a few weeks after a gunboat battle between the two countries, South Korea announced that North Korea has agreed to a match between the national teams Sept. 8 at the World Cup stadium in Seoul.
The announcement followed three days of negotiations in North Korea aimed at improving relations between the two nations. North Korea and South Korea have not played each other since playing two games in Pyongyang and Seoul in 1990.
Australia Seeks to Stage World Cup
Australia officially entered the race to stage the World Cup in 2014, the same year the United States would like to play host to soccer’s premier event.
Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, president of FIFA, was at the announcement ceremony on the steps of the Sydney Opera House and called Australia’s bid “a realistic initiative.”
In addition to the hugely successful men’s and women’s soccer tournaments at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Australia staged the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1981 and 1993.
The states of New South Wales and Victoria will spearhead the bid, but Basil Scarsella, the Australian who Saturday was elected president of the Oceania Football Confederation, said New Zealand conceivably could be a joint host in 2014, based on the success of 2002 co-hosts South Korea and Japan.
Gascoigne Spurns Offer
English midfielder Paul Gascoigne, who last week was turned away by D.C. United of Major League Soccer, has rejected an offer to play from Darlington in the English third division.
“Paul does not want to play in Division Three, it’s as simple as that,” said Ian Elliott, his agent.
Gascoigne, 35, also has been approached by Dundee of the Scottish Premier League.
Gomes Returns to Benfica
Portugal World Cup striker Nuno Gomes, 26, has rejoined Benfica of the Portuguese league after spending the last two seasons with Fiorentina in Italy. Gomes signed a four-year contract, but the terms were not revealed.
Fiorentina, fighting bankruptcy for several seasons, last week folded after 76 years in existence when it could no longer stave off creditors.
Picerni Fired in Brazil
Jair Picerni, who coached Sao Caetano to the final of the Copa Libertadores, only to lose the South American club championship on penalty kicks to Olimpia of Paraguay on Wednesday, has been fired by the Brazilian club.
