Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/631983
maltatoday, Wednesday, 27 January 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY football Serie a giants investigated over tax evasion, false accounting Police probe targets include former Juventus chief Jean Claude Blanc, napoli president aurelio de Laurentiis, aC Milan chief adriano Galliani, Lazio president Claudio Lotito and current footballers Dozens of serie A and B club officials including Milan chief Adriano Galliani, napoli presi- dent Aurelio De Laurentis and former Juventus president Jean Claude Blanc have been targeted by an Italian police investigation into alleged tax evasion and false accounting. Italian media reported that pros- ecutors in napoli had opened the investigation into tax evasion and false accounting, amid claims that "assets valued at around 12 mil- lion euros" had been seized. A series of raids were carried out by Italy's 'Guardia di Finanza' early on Tuesday morning. The reports claimed a total of 64 people were targeted, including AC Milan vice-president Galliani, napoli president Laurentiis, Lazio president Claudio Lotito as well as players' agent Alessandro Moggi -- the son of disgraced former Ju- ventus official Luciano Moggi. Modena coach Crespo, a former Argentina international who spent most of his career in serie A, and Paris saint Germain player ezequiel Lavezzi, an Argentina international, have also been im- plicated say the reports. other po- layers under investigation include Italy defender Gabriel Paletta and former international household names such as Adrian Mutu and Diego Milito. Adriano Galliani is among 64 people under investigation Alexandre Pato in London to complete Chelsea loan move from Corinthians BrAzILIAn forward Alexan- dre Pato will flew to London yesterday evening to complete a six-month loan move to Chelsea, according to reports. A transfer involving the 26-year-old has been rumoured for a number of weeks, with Pato's agent apparently telling Brazilian television on Tuesday that his client would board a late flight to London in order to complete a move to the reigning Pre- mier League champions. The deal is believed to be an initial six-month loan deal, with an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer for a fee in the region of £10 million. Pato's parent club Corinthians are eager to recoup some money on a player whose contract ex- pires at the end of 2016, and are aware that the former AC Milan striker's value will only diminish further if the transfer saga is al- lowed to rumble on into the next window. Pato's arrival may signal the departure of Loic remy, with clubs in- cluding swansea, Leicester, Crystal Palace and new- castle United believed to be in- terested in signing the forward - who is eager for first-team football in order to press his claims for inclusion in France's european Championship squad. According to reports, Chelsea would prefer to keep remy and return radamel Falcao to parent club As Monaco - but the Co- lombian's injury situation might mean they are forced to retain him until the end of the cam- paign. boxing athleticS Adidas to end IAAF sponsorship soUrCes have confirmed that the sportswear giant's law yers are looking to end the deal four years early but IAAF insiders in- sist that it will not mean major financial blow for the organisa- tion. Adidas would not confirm it wanted to end the sponsorship agreement but said it is in talks with the IAAF. A statement from the company said: "As you know adidas has a clear anti-doping policy in place. Therefore, we are in close con- tact with the IAAF to learn more about their reform process." If follows two damning re- ports by the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) independ- ent commission which revealed "state-sponsored'' doping in russia and raised questions about widespread doping in oth- er countries. The IAAF said in a statement: "The IAAF is in close contact with all its sponsors and part- ners as we embark on our reform process.'' Adidas' action is in contrast to its position with world football's governing body, FIFA, where it did not join with the other major sponsors in demanding reforms and for sepp Blatter to quit as president. The IAAF deal was was signed in 2008 and was reported at the time to be 33million Us dollars (£23m). The BBC has reported that taking into account the 'val- ue in kind' part of the agreement for kit and equipment the value could be as high as £5.6milliona year. IAAF insiders insist it may not suffer financially as its sold the rights to Japanese-based mar- keting agency Dentsu which then sold them on to adidas. Adidas has in recent years tried to position itself as being firmly anti-doping - some observ- ers say as a deliberate tactic to point the finger at its main rivals nike, who sponsor high-profile athletes who have served dop- ing bans such as sprinter Justin Gatlin. Tyson Gay was dropped by adi- das when he tested positive for a banned substance in 2013. nike is expected to be in pole position to step into any gap left by adidas. IAAF president Lord Coe, who succeeded Lam- ine Diack in the role in August last year, was a nike ambassa- dor for many years - including with his own parking place at its oregon headquarters - until he announced in november he was withdrawing from the ambassa- dorship. responding to the story, shad- ow sports Minister Clive ef- ford said: "The IAAF has clearly failed to convince adidas that it can make the changes that will restore public confidence in ath- letics and its governing body. "This latest news is a major blow for athletics, and shows that much more must be done to show that the IAAF is deter- mined to bring about the chang- es that the sport needs." Adidas has pulled the plug on their sponsorship deal with the IAAF David Haye sets date for next fight The former WBA heavyweight champion, who earlier this month knocked out Mark de Mori in 131 seconds of his first fight in 42 months, is yet to finalise an oppo- nent for his next bout. having returned to the top 10 of the WBA rankings after his impres- sive return to the ring, haye plans to continue his quest towards regain- ing the world title in his home city. "After being out of the ring for so long, it was incredible to be fighting in front of a capacity crowd at The o2 Arena in front of my loyal fans," haye said. "I felt so cool and calm in there. I don't believe any heavyweight on the planet could have taken those punches. now is my time to prove they can't. The heavyweight division is once again incredibly exciting, with a number of talented fighters vying for the world titles." The 35-year-old's next bout is six weeks after Anthony Joshua's next scheduled appearance on April 9 and haye is one of several challeng- ers eager to test the unbeaten pros- pect's mettle. WBA 'super' and WBo heavy- weight champion Tyson Fury is dis- cussing a date for his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko but has repeat- edly dismissed the idea of ever fac- ing haye, who previously withdrew from two scheduled dates between the pair. David Haye knocked out Mark de Mori in 131 seconds of his first fight in 42 months david Haye's comeback will continue on May 21 at London's O2 arena, it has been confirmed