Franz Beckenbauer under investigation amid corruption allegations

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Geneva (AFP) – Swiss federal prosecutors on Thursday announced that they had opened criminal proceedings against German legend Franz Beckenbauer amid corruption allegations in the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany.

Beckenbauer, 70, is under investigation with three other members of the 2006 World Cup organising committee — Hans-Rudolf Schmidt, Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach — said the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in Bern.

The Swiss court also announced that searches had taken place on Thursday at eight unnamed locations, in collaboration with German and Austrian authorities.

“The proceedings relate in particular to allegations of fraud, criminal mismanagement, money laundering and misappropriation,” the office said in a statement.

“The suspects were members of the executive board of the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.”

When contacted, Beckenbauer’s management would give no comment to SID, an AFP subsidiary, with criminal prosecution now threatening their client for the first time.

Under Swiss law, criminal mismanagement is punishable with a fine or, in special cases, imprisonment of between three to five years.

Niersbach and Zwanziger are both former German Football Association presidents and Schmidt is a former general secretary.

Both Zwanziger and Schmidt said they knew “nothing about” the new developments when contacted by SID.

“I have no further knowledge, but will, however, attempt to get some clarity through my lawyer,” Niersbach told SID.

All four were members of Germany’s World Cup organising committee, with Beckenbauer its president.

Beckenbauer captained Germany to the 1974 World Cup and coached the side that won the trophy in Italy in 1990.

German magazine Der Spiegel claimed in October 2015 a secret fund of 10 million Swiss francs ($ 10 million) was used to buy the hosting rights of the 2006 World Cup. 

The money allegedly came from the late Robert Louis-Dreyfus, ex-boss of Adidas, at Beckenbauer’s request, and was handed over in 2000, just before Germany were awarded the 2006 finals by a narrow vote. 

In May, an independent inquiry commissioned by the German Football Association (DFB) said it could not rule out that Germany bought votes to secure the 2006 World Cup.

Beckenbauer has always denied any wrongdoing.

The post Franz Beckenbauer under investigation amid corruption allegations appeared first on World Soccer Talk.

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Under Armour Curry 2.5 ‘Journey to Excellence’ Pack

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Stephen Curry’s all set to make his second consecutive summer trip to Asia. He’ll head east in a few days and will land in Shenyang on September 2.

To celebrate this trip, Under Armour will be releasing the “Journey to Excellence” Pack. The pack contains two new colorways of the 2.5, both inspired by the upcoming trip. Here’s more from UA:

The Sun Wukong is inspired by the hero’s ability to overcome all obstacles, via great power that is often underestimated, just like Stephen. The Erlang Shen colorway is inspired by the novel, “Journey to the West,” by the character of the same name; Shen is always super calm with laser focus, the same as the back-to-back MVP, with his vision to see all possibilities on the court.  

The pack launches exclusively on UA Shop (both iOS and Android) on September 1. Under Armour Brand Houses nationwide and UA.com will drop the colorways on September 3, for $ 135.

Tour dates for Steph include:

September 2: Shenyang
September 3-4: Guangzhou
September 5: Hong Kong
September 6: Taipei

Follow the tour @UnderArmour and @UABasketball.

The post Under Armour Curry 2.5 ‘Journey to Excellence’ Pack appeared first on SLAMonline.

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Chelsea bid to continue solid start under Conte

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Watford (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Chelsea manager Antonio Conte will pit his wits against a familiar face on Saturday as his side travel to face a Watford side coached by fellow Italian Walter Mazzarri.

Conte was recruited by the Stamford Bridge hierarchy partly because of his reputation as a determined and demanding coach, qualities he demonstrated with Italy and Juventus.

The 47-year-old’s animated reaction to Diego Costa’s late winner on Monday in their Premier League opener against West Ham United confirmed that whatever happens during his first season in charge, Conte will lead from the front as he attempts to reverse the decline of last season.

His impact has already been felt, with Costa and Eden Hazard in particular responding positively to the new man’s methods, if that first game is anything to go by.

Centre-back Gary Cahill is clear Conte’s arrival has brought changes in the wake of last season when Jose Mourinho oversaw a disastrous first half of the campaign before Guus Hiddink helped steady the ship.

“He’s added spirit, he’s added organisation and a lot of discipline,” Cahill told the club’s official website.

“Players know exactly what their role should be at each individual time they’re on the pitch.

“He wants to win. You can see how animated he is on the side of the pitch and he’s like that when we’re working. He wants to win, just like the rest of us.”

It will take more than passion, hard work and an energetic celebration or two to steer Chelsea back into title contention although given how badly a league-winning team lost its way last year to finish 10th, creating a new, winning mentality is right up there on Conte’s to-do list.

The manager, though, is also keen to strengthen the squad and hopes to add Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and Everton striker Romelu Lukaku before the end of this month.

Dinamo Zagreb keeper Eduardo also appears to be on his way to west London with the arrival of the Portuguese likely to trigger the departure of Asmir Begovic.

Mazzarri oversaw a creditable opening-day 1-1 draw at Southampton in his first game in charge since being installed as successor to Quique Sanchez Flores.

Like Conte, Mazzarri does not believe his squad is complete and the club is stepping up its efforts to bring in Sunderland centre-back Younes Kaboul and Juventus winger Roberto Pereyra.

Pereyra is believed to be on the brink of signing a five-year deal and the business could even be concluded in time for the Argentina international to face Chelsea.

They will be without Ben Watson, however, after the midfielder was sent off at St Mary’s just 12 minutes after appearing as a substitute.

Isaac Success, the club’s £12.5 million ($ 16.4m, 14.4m euros) signing from Granada, is again unlikely to feature while he builds up his match fitness.

The post Chelsea bid to continue solid start under Conte appeared first on World Soccer Talk.

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Report: Padres under scrutiny over medical records disclosure

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The San Diego Padres were one of the busiest teams ahead of the MLB trade deadline, and now they’re drawing some scrutiny around MLB regarding their disclosure of medical records.

In two separate trades the Padres made ahead of the deadline, teams with whom they dealt may not have felt San Diego completely disclosed all medical issues related to the players, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

In one trade, the Padres dealt All-Star pitcher Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox. Boston reportedly believes Pomeranz has some medical issues that were not fully disclosed during the trade talks. Pomeranz has made four starts with the Red Sox, allowing five runs in two of them, and two runs over six innings in the other two.

Another trade the Padres made was a 7-player deal with the Marlins. San Diego traded Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea and Tayron Guerrero to Miami and received Luis Castillo, Jarred Cosart, Josh Naylor and Carter Capps. After Rea had to leave his first start with the Marlins due to an elbow problem and quickly landed on the DL, Miami was livid. They felt they had been traded damaged goods, so they traded Rea back to the Padres for Castillo.

According to Olney, MLB is aware of the issues and is reviewing the concerns. Standard practice is for teams to share medical records for players involved in trades. It’s also up to the teams receiving new players to conduct their own physical examinations of players they are receiving.

However you look at it, it’s a busy week for Padres executives, especially Ron Fowler, who’s in the middle of a controversy involving other players the team traded.

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